A case of blurred vision: Stereotyping in career information illustrations

In this paper two studies are described which examine racial and sex role stereotyping in career information illustrations. In Study 1 over 2000 illustrations, from sources including the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) and The Encyclopedia of Careers, were analyzed according to seven dimensions. In Study 2 a follow-up analysis was done comparing illustrations in the original OOH with a revised edition. Findings are discussed from the perspective of practical implications for vocational counselors.     

Simultaneous Discrimination Learning in Pigeons: Value of S - Affects the Relative Value of its Associated S+

In a simple simultaneous discrimination involving a positive stimulus (S+) and a negative stimulus (S-), it has been hypothesized that positive value can transfer from the S+ to the S- (thus increasing the relative value of the S-) and also that negative value can transfer from the S- to the S+ (thus diminishing the relative value of the S+; Fersen, Wynne, Delius, & Staddon, 1991). Evidence for positive value transfer has been reported in pigeons (e.g. Zentall & Sherburne, 1994). The purpose of the present experiments was to determine, in a simultaneous discrimination, whether the S- diminishes the value of the S+ or the Sis contrasted with the S+ (thus enhancing the value of the S+). In twoexperiments, we found evidence for contrast, rather than value transfer, attributable to simultaneous discrimination training. Thus, not only does the S+ appear to enhance the value of the S-, but the S appears to enhance rather than reduce the value of the S+.     

Stranger Danger: The Role of Perpetrator and Context in Moderating Reactions to Sexual Harassment

The majority of research on sexual harassment focuses on achievement contexts where the perpetrator of the harassment is known to the victim. More recent work has begun to explore sexual harassment perpetrated by strangers in public places. The current work sought to bridge the gap between research on sexual harassment in achievement contexts and stranger harassment. In doing so, the current work manipulated factors related to three important distinctions between these topics: the relationship between the perpetrator and victim, the location, and the type of sexually harassing behavior. The current study provides evidence that stranger harassment elicits more negative reactions than harassment from a coworker. Additionally, harasser type interacted with harassment type, with situations involving strangers making physical contact eliciting the most negative reactions. Thus, the current work suggests a need for more research on stranger harassment, as well as on additional factors that may operate differently depending on harasser type.     

Examining Project Commitment in Cross-Functional Teams: Antecedents and Relationship with Team Performance

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to test a model positing both antecedents and consequences of project commitment for members of cross-functional teams. Signaling theory and previous research guided study hypotheses.

Design/Methodology/Approach

We collected primary data from 142 team members and 31 team leaders across 24 cross-functional product development teams nested within six manufacturing organizations in the US and Canada.

Findings

Findings suggest that project commitment among team members is an important driver of team performance as rated by the team leader. In addition, several factors contribute toward shaping project commitment among cross-functional team members, including team leaders’ encouragement of self-expectation, as well as team members’ perceptions of an organization’s support for the team project.

Implications

Cross-functional teams are often charged with completing projects critical to the profitability, growth, and even survival of a firm. Especially as we show that members’ project commitment is a meaningful predictor of team performance, managers may draw insight from study results as to what actions may be taken to promote the development of this important psychological state among members of cross-functional teams.

Originality/Value

Use of cross-functional teams for accomplishing a wide variety of firm objectives is becoming commonplace in organizations. Although theorized as an important construct in cross-functional team settings, empirical examinations of the nature and implications of project commitment have been limited. By examining both antecedents and potential team performance consequences of project commitment in multiple organizations, we contribute toward filling this gap.     

Longitudinal assessment of short‐term memory deterioration in a logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia with post‐mortem confirmed Alzheimer's Disease pathology

In the field of dementia research, there are reports of neurodegenerative cases with a focal loss of language, termed primary progressive aphasia (PPA). Currently, this condition has been further sub‐classified, with the most recent sub‐type dubbed logopenic variant (PPA‐LV). As yet, there remains somewhat limited evaluation of the characteristics of this condition, with no studies providing longitudinal assessment accompanied by post‐mortem examination. Moreover, a key characteristic of the PPA‐LV case is a deterioration of phonological short‐term memory, but again little work has scrutinized the nature of this impairment over time. The current study seeks to redress these oversights and presents detailed longitudinal examination of language and memory function in a case of PPA‐LV, with special focus on tests linked to components of phonological short‐term memory function. Our findings are then considered with reference to a contemporary model of the neuropsychology of phonological short‐term memory. Additionally, post‐mortem examinations indicated Alzheimer's disease type pathology, providing further evidence that the PPA‐LV presentation may reflect an atypical presentation of this condition.     

How do you choose and how well does it work?: the selection and effectiveness of emotion regulation strategies and their relationship with borderline personality disorder feature severity

There is little research examining whether the selection of emotion regulation strategies is compromised among individuals characterised by emotion dysregulation. In a sample of 149 undergraduates, we examined the selection and effectiveness of 2 emotion regulation strategies (reappraisal or distraction) in response to emotionally evocative stimuli, and their relationship with emotion dysregulation, measured by borderline personality disorder (BPD) feature severity. Stimulus intensity and self-reported negative emotional intensity were also compared as predictors of strategy selection. Results indicated that self-reported negative emotional intensity was a stronger predictor of strategy selection than stimulus intensity, and participants generally selected reappraisal over distraction. However, increases in self-reported negative emotional intensity was associated with an increased likelihood of choosing distraction, particularly among individuals higher in BPD features. In general, distraction exhibited less effectiveness than reappraisal, and higher BPD features did not differentially impact such effectiveness. Our findings indicate that individuals higher in emotion dysregulation prefer to use distraction as self-reported negative emotional intensity increases, a strategy which, overall, may not be as effective as reappraisal. Selection, rather than effectiveness of emotion regulation strategy might be a key feature of individuals characterised by emotion dysregulation.     

Language facilitates event memory in early childhood: Child comprehension,adult-provided linguistic support and delayed recall at 16 months

Adult-provided supportive language facilitates memory for the past in preverbal and verbal children. Work conducted with 18-month-olds indicates that children benefit from supportive adult language when tested after a 4-week delay but not when tested immediately after sequence demonstration; moreover, findings reveal that supportive language provided only at test may be more facilitative of recall after a delay relative to supportive language provided only at encoding. In the present study, we examined whether child language comprehension abilities moderated the extent to which preverbal children benefitted from supportive language provided at encoding and test. The findings indicated that child language comprehension and supportive language provided at encoding were unassociated with performance at baseline or immediate imitation; however, the moderating effect of child language comprehension on adult-provided supportive language at encoding and test was observed after a 1-week delay. Correlations revealed continuous associations between general comprehension scores and recall performance after the 1-week delay on sequences presented in the most supportive condition at encoding. Taken together, the presented findings reveal that the complex interplay between language and cognition is established in early childhood, with foundational relations emerging before children are capable of verbally reporting on the past.     

Sister of the Heart and Mind: Healing and Teaching with Family System Constellations

This article honors the author's mentor, Suzi Tucker, a major contributor to Hellinger's systemic family constellation work. The current understanding of empathy is expanded to include multigenerational systemic empathy. Further, in this paradigm the relationship to the mother represents the relationship to the body and to life itself, and an intimate glimpse is offered of how Tucker also assisted the author toward completing the critical reaching-out gesture toward her own mother and ultimately to both lineages. In this way, the teacher – student relationship becomes a sister of the heart connection. As obstacles to receiving the most enduring source of strength and love are resolved, an even more trustworthy maturity develops that represents new possibilities for feminist therapeutic success.     

Support for religio-political aggression among teenaged boys in Gaza: part II: neuroendocrinological findings

Hormones seem to play important roles in the regulation of human aggression. Multiple studies have confirmed that testosterone (T) levels exhibit complex relationships with aggression, dominance, and/or risk-taking behavior. Some evidence suggests that cortisol (CORT) interacts with T and may also be associated with aspects of mood and aggression. However, almost no research to date has investigated the possibility that these neuroendocrine factors are associated with variations in political attitudes or with political aggression. During the second intifada, we tested the hypothesis that morning salivary T and/or salivary CORT levels might be associated with self-rated aggression or with support for religio-political aggression (RPA) among 14-year-old Palestinian boys living in Gaza. We obtained and averaged weekly 09:00 hr salivary measures of T and CORT for more than 1 month. Averaged morning T levels did not correlate with self-rated aggression, but were positively associated with agreement with the statement "religious ends justify any means," (r = .355, P = .014) and marginally associated with a composite measure of support for RPA (r = .247, P = .094). Average CORT levels were inversely correlated with self-rated aggression (r = -.328, P = .037) and with anger (r = -.373, P = .016), but CORT levels were not associated with support for RPA or with the statement "religious ends justify any means." Acknowledging that a modest sample size and methodological issues necessarily limit confidence in our conclusions, these results may represent the first findings regarding neurobiological correlates of support for political aggression.