Genetically-determined abnormal behavior in dogs: Results of behavioral tests

Starting with relatively stable and with very timid purebred pointer stock, we have accumulated data on exploratory activity, reactions to a loud noise, and reactions to friendly and threatening humans which demonstrate clear-cut strain differences. These differences appear as early as 2 months on some tests, and later at early maturity on others. A general factor of fear or timidity explains most of the atypical behavior of the unstable animals. Further, the consistency of results over three generations of offspring suggests a relatively simple mode of autosomal inheritance.     

Effect of person on nervous,stable and crossbred pointer dogs

Through selective mating and line breeding of pointer dogs we have developed and continued two strains which are fairly behaviorally distinct. We now have data accumulating from the crossing of these two lines. Although the offspring from the crosses are still young, it can be seen that some stable male parents have had nonenvironmental, i.e., genetic, effects. The offspring are in many respects like their nervous mothers, but in some behavior, notably social behavior, they can be mistaken for the stable strain of dog. Heart rates have mimicked those of the nervous mothers and seem in no way influenced by the stable ancestry in “Effect of Person” tests. There is a marked difference between stable and unstable dogs in the effect of “Person” on heart rate: the unstable dogs show practically no cardiac response to “Person” (petting), whereas the normal dogs show the usual marked bradycardia to petting.     

A technique for correlating measurable traits with freely observed social behaviors

In much research in social psychology it is impractical to get quantitative measure of the degree of effectiveness of certain social behaviors, yet associates can sense that effectiveness sufficiently well to detect those who manifest the behavior in very high or in very low degree. This paper develops a technique of biserial correlation from wide-spread classes to deal statistically with such situations, develops standard error formulas for it, and points to a wide range of usefulness for this type of technique.     

How sensitive are handedness prevalence figures to differences in questionnaire classification procedures?

Questionnaire data from 572 subjects show that the proportion of right-handers to nonright-handers varies greatly (from 1:100 to 92:8) as a function of questionnaire length, graded or forced response to items, and cut-off criteria. For this reason, the right-handed/nonright-hander dichotomy is singularly unsuited as a basis for classification when handedness is to be related to some other neuropsychological factor as an independent variable. This is especially the case when very strict cut-off criteria are used to define right-handedness (e.g., only those individuals who prefer the right hand for all activities listed).     

Trick or trait? The combined effects of employee impression management modesty and trait modesty on supervisor evaluations

Prior research on the benefits of modest self-presentation in organizational contexts has shown positive effects on several career-related outcomes, including employees' reputation, organizational support, and mentoring. However, little is known about the nature, mechanisms, and boundary conditions of this promising impression management tactic. Our study addresses this research gap by integrating two theoretical conceptions of modesty, i.e., impression management modesty (IM modesty) and trait modesty. We developed and tested an overarching theoretical model that postulates positive interactive effects of employees' IM modesty and trait modesty on supervisor ratings of employees' likeability, competence, and job performance. Data on 233 employee–supervisor dyads were analyzed using hierarchical regression and conditional process analyses. As expected, the effects of IM modesty were systematically moderated by employees' trait modesty: For employees with high trait modesty, IM modesty demonstrated significant positive effects on supervisor ratings of employee likeability and competence, which in turn were associated with higher job performance ratings. For employees with low trait modesty, however, using IM modesty was neither beneficial nor detrimental to supervisor evaluations. Implications for theory, practice, and avenues for future research are discussed.