Emotional intelligence in young and middle adulthood: cross-sectional analysis of latent structure and means

Differentiation of the construct of emotional intelligence was investigated in young and middle-aged adults, on the basis of hypotheses generated from differential emotions theory, discrete emotions functionalist theory, and empirical literature on age-related changes in affective complexity and differentiation of abilities. Both age groups were characterized by the same set of comparably related dimensions. However, midlife adults reported significantly greater use of optimism as a mood-regulation strategy than was reported by young adults. This study considers implications of possible structural continuity in emotional intelligence in conjunction with mean increases in the use of optimism as a strategy for managing affect.     

Continuum and discrete models of dislocation pile-ups. II. Pile-up of screw dislocations at the interface in a bimetallic solid

The methodology developed in the precursor to this paper is used to find the positions of n screw dislocations in a pile-up against an interface bonding two crystalline solids. The pile-up is caused by a constant applied stress and, as n →∞, the dislocations are located with sufficient accuracy to predict the large but finite stress distribution at the interface. Such a prediction is impossible using a conventional continuum dislocation density.     

Ten years of career success in relation to individual and situational variables from the employee development literature

Individual, situational, and socio-demographic variables from the employee development literature were combined with theory and research on career success in a ten-year study of 289 workers from across many jobs and industries in the workforce. Support for employee development by one's employer ten years prior and a trend of increasing/accumulating support contributed to career success, providing the first long-term confirmation of the value to careers from support for development by employers. Proactive personality had unique effects on success not accounted for by a broad array of other variables, strengthening conclusions from prior research about the predictive value of proactive personality which were based on data not controlling for these variables. Finally, achievement goal orientation influenced success in a unique way via “profile effects:” Goal orientation dimensions interacted to predict success, suggesting simple linear effects (e.g. being more learning-oriented) may be inadequate in explaining career success. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

Barth and Darwin: What is Humanity?

Abstract

Karl Barth proposed that secular texts including scientific theories could be understood as parables of aspects of the revealed truth not as such available to natural science. I explore that suggestion, seeking to understand what human biology in succession to the work of Charles Darwin has to contribute alongside Barth's doctrine of the human person.     

Measuring pain: an introspective look at introspection

The measurement of pain depends upon subjective reports, but we know very little about how research subjects or pain patients produce self-reported judgments. Representationalist assumptions dominate the field of pain research and lead to the critical conjecture that the person in pain examines the contents of consciousness before making a report about the sensory or affective magnitude of pain experience as well as about its nature. Most studies to date have investigated what Fechner termed "outer psychophysics": the relationship between characteristics of an external stimulus and the magnitude and nature of pain experience. In contrast, Fechner originally envisioned that "inner psychophysics" should investigate the relationship between physiological states and subjective experience. Despite the lack of established research tradition, inner psychophysics has a potential utility in elucidating underlying mechanisms for the production of phenomenal self-report. We illustrate this, using causal modeling analyses of the accuracy of self-reported pain ratings from our laboratory. We submit that the results are inconsistent with representationalist assumptions. Converging trends from several domains of consciousness studies seem to suggest that we need to abandon the unquestioned doctrine of representationalism and search for a more viable framework for understanding the generation of subjective self-report.     

Formation and use of covariation assessments in the real world

In this study we examined covariation assessments made using real‐world information held by individual participants about an important preventive health behaviour: receiving an influenza vaccine (‘flu shot’). Four hundred and seventy‐seven healthy adult participants completed a questionnaire, indicating both their personal experience and vicarious experience (knowledge of other people's experiences) with the flu shot and the flu. Additionally, participants provided a covariation assessment by indicating how effective they thought the flu shot is in preventing the flu. We examined whether the experience information was related to the covariation assessment, and whether it in turn was related to the decision to receive a flu shot. Our results indicated that people use a simple intuitive strategy to combine their personal experience information. For vicarious experience information, we found evidence for use of a normative strategy, as well as simpler intuitive strategies. Consistent with our hypothesis, both types of experience information were associated with the effectiveness judgement, which was subsequently related to the decision to obtain a flu shot. Practical applications of these findings are discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Driving experience, attentional focusing, and the recall of recently inspected events

How does a driver’s perception of roadway events change with experience? A laboratory study addressed this question by comparing novice and experienced drivers as they watched video recordings taken from a moving vehicle. While watching the recordings, the drivers had their eye movements monitored. When the recording was paused, memory for immediately prior events was tested, and recall performance related to what the viewer had been inspecting. The recordings were taken from a vehicle as it travelled along a series of roads, and questions were asked about other road users and about roadway features. The experiment asked about the relationship between driving experience and attentional capture, and about the recall of events recently seen. What attracted attention were objects of central interest such as other road users appearing close to the camera, and moving objects. When the memory test was administered immediately after a hazardous event had occurred, such as a pedestrian stepping into the path of the camera vehicle, then there was evidence of attentional focussing and reduced availability of details about incidental objects. Recall performance generally reflected the pattern of eye fixations, but viewers did not always recall details about fixated objects, and were sometimes able to recall information about objects that were not fixated. Experienced drivers recalled more of the incidental events than the novices, but they were similar in their recall of central events. This supports the association between driving experience and the extent of the effective perceptual field.