Is service climate strength beneficial or detrimental for service quality delivery?

This study examines whether climate strength has a direct, moderating, or curvilinear effect in the relationship between service climate and customer service quality perceptions. To this end, we carried out cross-sectional and lagged empirical studies in the Spanish hospitality sector. Our cross-sectional results confirmed that high climate strength in managerial practices fosters a positive impact of managerial practices on customer service quality evaluations. However, other results related to customer orientation of services question the idea that service climate strength is always a precursor of service quality. High climate strength in customer orientation enhanced the negative relationship between customer orientation and functional service quality in a cross-sectional study, and between customer orientation and relational service quality in a lagged study. In addition, an examination of curvilinear effects of climate strength revealed an inverted U-shaped relationship between climate strength in customer orientation and relational service quality over time. The article concludes with a discussion of these results.     

Decomposing the within-person and between-person sources of variation in physical activity-cognition associations for low-active older adults

Abstract

Objectives: To examine within-person and between-person sources of variation in the relationship between physical activity and cognition in older adults participating in a walking program. To explore whether demographic, health and fitness variables, and their interactions with activity, are significant predictors of cognition.

Design: Brief longitudinal burst design.

Participants: 118 participants (91 females, mean age?=?72.81?+ 5.24 years).

Main Outcome Measures: Cognition, self-reported moderate-to-vigorous walking and self-reported moderate-to-vigorous physical activity were assessed at baseline and 6, 9, 12 and 16 weeks follow-up. Attendance at weekly walks was also recorded.

Results: Within-persons, changes in physical activity were related to select measures of executive functioning, with increased activity predictive of better cognition (three of four cognitive functions, p<.05). Between-persons, activity was also associated with cognition (two of four cognitive functions, p<.05). Younger age and higher education were related to better cognition. Interactions of demographic, health, and fitness variables with changes in within-person activity were generally non-significant.

Conclusion: The results highlight the importance of distinguishing within- from between-person effects in longitudinal analyses of the association between physical activity and cognition. This stringent within-person test of association underscores the potential value of simple physical activity interventions for improving cognitive function.     

Approximate number sense,symbolic number processing,or number–space mappings: What underlies mathematics achievement?

In this study, the performance of typically developing 6- to 8-year-old children on an approximate number discrimination task, a symbolic comparison task, and a symbolic and nonsymbolic number line estimation task was examined. For the first time, children’s performances on these basic cognitive number processing tasks were explicitly contrasted to investigate which of them is the best predictor of their future mathematical abilities. Math achievement was measured with a timed arithmetic test and with a general curriculum-based math test to address the additional question of whether the predictive association between the basic numerical abilities and mathematics achievement is dependent on which math test is used. Results revealed that performance on both mathematics achievement tests was best predicted by how well children compared digits. In addition, an association between performance on the symbolic number line estimation task and math achievement scores for the general curriculum-based math test measuring a broader spectrum of skills was found. Together, these results emphasize the importance of learning experiences with symbols for later math abilities.     

Mapping the structure of perceptual and visual–motor abilities in healthy young adults

The ability to quickly detect and respond to visual stimuli in the environment is critical to many human activities. While such perceptual and visual–motor skills are important in a myriad of contexts, considerable variability exists between individuals in these abilities. To better understand the sources of this variability, we assessed perceptual and visual–motor skills in a large sample of 230 healthy individuals via the Nike SPARQ Sensory Station, and compared variability in their behavioral performance to demographic, state, sleep and consumption characteristics. Dimension reduction and regression analyses indicated three underlying factors: Visual–Motor Control, Visual Sensitivity, and Eye Quickness, which accounted for roughly half of the overall population variance in performance on this battery. Inter-individual variability in Visual–Motor Control was correlated with gender and circadian patters such that performance on this factor was better for males and for those who had been awake for a longer period of time before assessment. The current findings indicate that abilities involving coordinated hand movements in response to stimuli are subject to greater individual variability, while visual sensitivity and occulomotor control are largely stable across individuals.     

‘Who am I?’

The dreams and existential questions of those, who came into being in order to replace a dead person, pivot around a central cry: ‘Who am I?’ If conceived, born or designated as a replacement child, such an individual may suffer—even as an adult—from a rarely recognized unconscious confusion of identity, compounded by grief and survivors’ guilt. From before the child is born, the archetypal forces of death and life are joined in a fateful constellation; the soul of the replacement child bears the shadow of death from the very beginning of life. Hope for the replacement child lies in an emergence of true self as soul recreates original life. Analysis can help the replacement child experience a ‘rebirth into true life’, not as ‘the one who returned’, but as a psychologically newborn individual; the path of individuation countering the replacement child‘s identification with the dead. Jungian analysis offers unique concepts for understanding and healing the replacement child; C.G. Jung himself was born after two stillborn babies and an infant that lived only five days.     

Construction and evaluation of a self rating scale for stress‐induced Exhaustion Disorder,the Karolinska Exhaustion Disorder Scale

Prolonged stress (≥ six months) may cause a condition which has been named exhaustion disorder (ED) with ICD‐10 code F43.8. ED is characterised by exhaustion, cognitive problems, poor sleep and reduced tolerance to further stress. ED can cause long term disability and depressive symptoms may develop. The aim was to construct and evaluate a self‐rating scale, the Karolinska Exhaustion Disorder Scale (KEDS), for the assessment of ED symptoms. A second aim was to examine the relationship between self‐rated symptoms of ED, depression, and anxiety using KEDS and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD). Items were selected based on their correspondence to criteria for ED as formulated by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare (NBHW), with seven response alternatives in a Likert‐format. Self‐ratings performed by 317 clinically assessed participants were used to analyse the scale's psychometric properties. KEDS consists of nine items with a scale range of 0–54. Receiver operating characteristics analysis demonstrated that a cut‐off score of 19 was accompanied by high sensitivity and specificity (each above 95%) in the discrimination between healthy subjects and patients with ED. Reliability was satisfactory and confirmatory factor analysis revealed that ED, depression and anxiety are best regarded as different phenomena. KEDS may be a useful tool in the assessment of symptoms of Exhaustion Disorder in clinical as well as research settings. There is evidence that the symptom clusters of ED, anxiety and depression, respectively, reflect three different underlying dimensions.     

An evaluation of photographic activity schedules to increase independent playground skills in young children with autism

We used photographic activity schedules to increase the number of play activities completed by children with autism during unstructured time on the playground. All 3 participants engaged in more playground activities during and after training, and they continued to complete activities when novel photographs were introduced.     

An investigation of the theoretical content of physical activity brochures

New evidence-based physical activity (PA) guidelines and recommendations for constructing messages supplementing the guidelines have been put forth. As well, recent reviews have identified theoretical constructs that hold promise as targets for intervention: self-regulation, outcome expectancies and self-efficacy. The purpose of this study was to examine the integration of messages targeting self-regulation, self-efficacy and outcome expectancies in existing physical activity brochures. Twenty-two PA brochures from Canadian and American National Health Organizations were assessed for their use self-efficacy, self-regulatory processes and outcome expectancies. Brochures were analyzed line-by-line using a modified version of the validated Content Analysis Approach to Theory-Specified Persuasive Educational Communication (CAATSPEC; Abraham, Southby, Quandte, Krahé, & van der Sluijs, 2007). Two independent raters coded a third of the brochures (n = 7). Inter-rater reliability was acceptable for 17 of the 20 categories (rs > .79). Discrepancies in all categories were discussed and agreement was reached. The remaining brochures were coded by one of the two raters. Usage of the three key theoretical constructs accounted for only 36.43% of brochure content (20.23% self-efficacy, 10.40% outcome expectancies, 5.80% self-regulation). Brochures lacked the use of a variety of theoretical strategies, specifically goal-setting, planning and verbal persuasion and rarely highlighted the affective benefits of physical activity. In the future brochures should aim to place increased emphasis on self-regulation, self-efficacy, and affective outcome expectancies.     

The visuomotor mental rotation task: visuomotor transformation times are reduced for small and perceptually familiar angles

In the visuomotor mental rotation (VMR) task, participants point to a location that deviates from a visual cue by a predetermined angle. This task elicits longer reaction times (RT) relative to tasks wherein the visual cue is spatially compatible with the movement goal. The authors previously reported that visuomotor transformations are faster and more efficient when VMR responses elicit a degree of dimensional overlap (i.e., 0° and 5°) or when the transformation involves a perceptually familiar angle (i.e., 90° or 180°; K. A. Neely & M. Heath, 2010b). One caveat to this finding is that standard and VMR responses were completed in separate blocks of trials. Thus, between-task differences not only reflect the temporal demands of the visuomotor transformations, but also reflect the temporal cost of response inhibition. The goal of this study was to isolate the time cost of visuomotor transformations in the VMR task. The results demonstrated that visuomotor transformations are more efficient and effective when the response entails a degree of dimensional overlap between target and response (i.e., when the angular disparity between the responses is small) or when the transformation angle is perceptually familiar.     

A quasi-experimental study of after-event reviews and leadership development

We examine how structured reflection through after-event reviews (AERs) promotes experience-based leadership development and how people's prior experiences and personality attributes influence the impact of AERs on leadership development. We test our hypotheses in a time-lagged, quasi-experimental study that followed 173 research participants for 9 months and across 4 distinct developmental experiences. Findings indicate that AERs have a positive effect on leadership development, and this effect is accentuated when people are conscientious, open to experience, and emotionally stable and have a rich base of prior developmental experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).