Aesthetic properties and message customization: navigating the dark side of web recruitment

The authors examined recruitment message viewing time, information recall, and attraction in a Web-based context. In particular, they extended theory related to the cognitive processing of recruitment messages and found that the provision of customized information about likely fit related to increased viewing time and recall when good aesthetics were also present. A 3-way interaction among moderate-to low-fitting individuals further indicated that objective fit was most strongly related to attraction when messages included both good aesthetics and customized information. In particular, given this combination, the poorest fitting individuals exhibited lower attraction levels, whereas more moderately fitting individuals exhibited invariant attraction levels across combinations of aesthetics and customized information. The results suggest that, given good aesthetics, customized information exerts effects mostly by causing poorly fitting individuals to be less attracted, which further suggests a means of averting the "dark side" of Web recruitment that occurs when organizations receive too many applications from poorly fitting applicants.     

Can training improve the quality of inferences made by raters in competency modeling? A quasi-experiment

A quasi-experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of frame-of-reference training on the quality of competency modeling ratings made by consultants. Human resources consultants from a large consulting firm were randomly assigned to either a training or a control condition. The discriminant validity, interrater reliability, and accuracy of the competency ratings were significantly higher in the training group than in the control group. Further, the discriminant validity and interrater reliability of competency inferences were highest among an additional group of trained consultants who also had competency modeling experience. Together, these results suggest that procedural interventions such as rater training can significantly enhance the quality of competency modeling.     

Quantitative and qualitative sex differences in spatial navigation

We examined sex differences in spatial navigation performance using an ecologically relevant experimental paradigm in which virtual maze-like museums are projected in front of a treadmill. Thirty-two 20-30-year-old adults (16 women/16 men) performed a way-finding task in city-block (straight corridors) or variable (irregular corridors) topographies while walking on the treadmill. Sex differences in spatial navigation performance were reduced in variable topographies, suggesting less reliance on spatial relational learning among women. Also, spatial geometric knowledge of the mazes continued to be higher in men after all participants had attained perfect place-finding performance. Results indicate that sex differences in spatial navigation performance are modulated by interactions between environmental demands and sex differences in spatial processing.     

Time (also) flies from left to right

Everyday linguistic expressions in many languages suggest that back and front space is projected onto temporal concepts of past and future (as in the sentencewe are years ahead of them). The present experiment tested the psychological reality of a different space-time conceptual metaphor—projecting the past to left space and the future to right space—for which there are no linguistic traces in any language. Participants categorized words as referring to the past or to the future. Irrelevant to this task, words appeared either to the left or right of the screen, and responses were given by keypresses of the left or right hand. Judgments were facilitated when word position and response mapping were congruent with the left-past right-future conceptual metaphor. These results are discussed in the context of current claims about the embodiment of meaning and the possible mechanisms by which conceptual metaphors can be acquired.     

Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Men and Anger: Three Single Case Studies

The treatment of men with anger problems presents significant challenges for practitioners. This article discusses a cognitive-behavioral, individual therapy, approach within the framework of three single case studies involving men. Treatment challenges and methodology are presented. Key treatment issues included: establishing a therapeutic relationship; facilitating understanding of the cognitive basis of anger; and addressing male-role socialization messages and male-identity schema that contributed to the experience and expression of anger in these men. Limitations relative to the small sample (n = 3) and the lack of a randomized control group preclude any definitive statements regarding the effectiveness or generalizability of the intervention. Nevertheless, the study highlights important theoretical and practical concerns for practitioners and future researchers to consider when working with men and anger.     

Underlying dimensions of ecocentric and anthropocentric environmental beliefs

This study focuses on the cognitive components of general environmental attitudes. Taking as a starting point the scale of Thompson and Barton (1994) to identify ecocentric and anthropocentric motives in environmental conservation, the beliefs that guide attitudes in the person-environment relationship are analyzed. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to contrast the tripartite structure of these beliefs--based on egoistic, socioaltruistic, and biospheric aspects-with a two-dimensional structure that confronts ecocentric and anthropocentric orientations. The results obtained from two samples, a student sample (n = 212) and a sample from the general population of Madrid (n = 205), indicate the existence of a three-dimensional structure of environmental beliefs: an anthropocentric dimension based on the instrumental value of the environment for human beings, a biospheric dimension that values the environment for its own sake, and, lastly, an egobiocentric dimension that values the human being within nature as a whole.     

Gender differences in pressure pain threshold in a repeated measures assessment

The objective of this study was to evaluate gender differences in the pain threshold, considering the type of pressure point, its location and the repetition of the assessment. The pressure pain threshold was evaluated in 30 healthy volunteers (12 men and 18 women) in three assessment sessions separated by 15 min and 7 days, respectively. Each assessment session was in turn composed of two trials in each of which 24 different pressure points (symmetrically located), representing the 18 tender points for the diagnosis of fibromyalgia and six control points, were assessed. Gender differences were found in the pain threshold for all of the points and the measures taken, women showing a lower pain threshold in comparison to men and being these differences more pronounced for control points than for tender points, the former reaching statistical significance in all cases. The analysis of the influence of repeated measures on gender differences in the pain threshold showed a distinct pattern of recuperation in men than in women, although only one difference in pain threshold was significant. The utility of the tender point concept to study gender differences in pain threshold and the mechanisms that may explain different patterns of recuperation between genders are discussed.     

Question answering and database querying: Bridging the gap with generalized quantification

Even though Questions Answering and Database Querying have very different goals and frameworks, collaboration between the two fields could be mutually beneficial. However, the different assumptions in each field makes such collaboration difficult. In this paper, we introduce a query language with generalized quantifiers (QLGQ) and show how it could be used to help bridge the gap between the two fields.     

类似性比较对3～5岁儿童内隐推理的影响

本研究以三个实验探讨了3～5岁儿童词汇学习的内隐推理过程。实验1首先让被试者看一个熟悉物体的标准图片,分别以熟悉的或者不熟悉的名词命名,然后要求从两个选项中选择一个图片与标准图片匹配。结果表明3～4岁儿童可以不熟悉名词完成词汇扩展作业,但是只有5岁儿童可以熟悉名词完成词汇扩展作业,这表明5岁儿童可能有一个内隐推理加工过程。实验2以不熟悉物体作为标准图片,以熟悉名词与指代词分别作为指导语进一步测试5岁儿童的内隐推理过程,结果表明这个年龄阶段儿童的类概念形成有一种自上而下加工的内隐推理过程。实验3呈现基本概念的图片检验什么因素影响3～5岁儿童词汇学习的内隐推理过程,结果表明在类似性比较条件下与3～4岁儿童相比,5岁儿童更加明显地表现了内隐推理的加工过程。最后以类似性理论讨论了本研究的结果。     

课间缓解学习疲劳的一项探索性研究

学习疲劳是影响学生心理健康和学习效率的重要因素。学生课间心理保健操是根据我国大、中、小学生的生理、心理特点,参考Jacobson的渐进放松技术编制而成的,一般在学生学习最疲劳的课间组织实施。经过8所大、中、小学921名被试的实验研究,结果显示:学生课间心理保健操对大、中、小学生都有作用,能够有效地缓解学生的学习疲劳,恢复认知水平,特别是注意水平;对男生和女生普遍适用。适合大面积推广。