Time for Reflection: A Critical Examination of Polychronicity

Both researchers and practitioners are increasing their attention to the multitasking demands of contemporary work contexts, and previous work suggests polychronicity plays a central role in the motivation of individuals to perform multiple tasks simultaneously. However, our detailed examination of existing literature reveals a wide range of conceptualizations and operationalizations of this construct, as well as incongruent results concerning the effects of polychronicity on behavior and performance. In this article, we develop recommendations for defining and measuring polychronicity more precisely, we examine and compare existing work on predictors of polychronicity, and we address the equivocal relationship between polychronicity and performance. We conclude with implications for future research.     

Carving nature at its joints: Paul Meehl's development of taxometrics

This article presents a brief summary of Paul Meehl's development of taxometrics. Of special concern is the question, Why did Paul Meehl develop taxometrics? It is shown that taxometrics played an integral role in Meehl's broader research program on the genetics of schizotaxia.     

Egocentric and nonegocentric coding in memory for spatial layout: Evidence from scene recognition

Much contemporary research has suggested that memories for spatial layout are stored with a preferred orientation. The present research examined whether spatial memories are also stored with a preferred viewpoint position. Participants viewed images of an arrangement of objects taken from a single viewpoint and subsequently were tested on their ability to recognize the arrangement from novel viewpoints that had been translated in either the lateral or the depth dimension. Lateral and forward displacements of the viewpoint resulted in increasing response latencies and errors. Backward displacement showed no such effect, nor did lateral translation that resulted in a centered "canonical" view of the arrangement. These results further constrain the specificity of spatial memory, while also providing some evidence that nonegocentric spatial information is coded in memory.     

Lack of set size effects in spatial updating: Evidence for offline updating

Four experiments required participants to keep track of the locations of (i.e., update) 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, or 15 target objects after rotating. Across all conditions, updating was unaffected by set size. Although some traditional set size effects (i.e., a linear increase of latency with memory load) were observed under some conditions, these effects were independent of the updating process. Patterns of data and participant strategies were inconsistent with the common view of spatial updating as an online process. Instead, the authors concluded that participants formed enduring, long-term memory representations of the layouts at learning that were used to reconstruct spatial information about the layouts as needed (i.e., offline updating). These results support M. Amorim, S. Glasauer, K. Corpinot, and A. Berthoz's (1997) 2-system model of spatial updating that includes both online and offline updating.     

Orientation specificity and spatial updating of memories for layouts

This article examines the degree to which knowledge about the body's orientation affects transformations in spatial memory and whether memories are accessed with a preferred orientation. Participants learned large paths from a single viewpoint and were later asked to make judgments of relative directions from imagined positions on the path. Experiments 1 and 2 contribute to the emerging consensus that memories for large layouts are orientation specific, suggesting that prior findings to the contrary may not have fully accounted for latencies. Experiments 2 and 3 show that knowledge of one's orientation can create a preferred direction in spatial memory that is different from the learned orientation. Results further suggest that spatial updating may not be as automatic as previously thought.     

The role of Afrocentric features in person perception: judging by features and categories

Four studies were conducted to test the hypothesis that group-related physical features may directly activate related stereotypes, leading to more stereotypic inferences over and above those resulting from categorization. As predicted, targets with more Afrocentric features were judged as more likely to have traits stereotypic of African Americans. This effect was found with judgments of African Americans and of European Americans. Furthermore, the effect was not eliminated when a more sensitive measure of categorization processes (category accessibility) was used or when the judgement context made category distinctions salient. Of additional interest was the finding that category accessibility independently affected judgment, such that targets who could be more quickly categorized as group members were judged more stereotypically.     

Voluntary assent in biomedical research with adolescents: a comparison of parent and adolescent views

An informed consent and voluntary assent in biomedical research with adolescents is contingent on a variety of factors, including adolescent and parent perceptions of research risk, benefit, and decision-making autonomy. Thirty-seven adolescents with asthma and their parents evaluated a high or low aversion form of a pediatric asthma research vignette and provided an enrollment decision; their perceptions of family influence over the participation decision; and evaluations of risk, aversion, benefit, and burden of study procedures. Adolescents and their parents agreed on research participation decisions 74% of the time, yet both claimed ultimate responsibility for the participation decision. Both rated most study procedures as significantly more aversive than risky. Parents were more likely to rate aspects of the hypothetical study as beneficial and to provide higher risk ratings for procedures. Disagreements concerning research participation decisions and decision-making autonomy have implications for the exercise of voluntary assent in biomedical research.     

Somatoform dissociation in eating-disordered patients

This study investigated the role of somatoform dissociation in eating disorders and pathological eating behaviour, relative to the established association of eating pathology with psychological dissociation. The participants were 131 women with DSM-IV diagnoses of anorexic or bulimic disorders and 75 women who had no such disorder. Each woman completed measures of psychological and somatoform dissociation, as well as a measure of bulimic attitudes. The current presence or absence of specific bulimic behaviours was identified during the clinical interview. Levels of both forms of dissociation were higher in the women who had diagnoses of disorders with a bulimic component (bulimia nervosa; anorexia nervosa of the binge/purge subtype) than in the non-clinical or restrictive anorexic women. Somatoform dissociation showed particularly strong links with the presence of bulimic behavioural features (excessive exercise, laxative abuse, diet pill abuse, diuretic abuse) and with bulimic attitudes. The formulation and treatment of cases where there are bulimic features is likely to be enhanced by the assessment of somatoform dissociation.     

When a kiss is not just a kiss: Relating violations of consent in kissing to rape myth acceptance

This study examined the relationship rape attitudes have to violations of consent in kissing. We found that the association between rape myth acceptance and responses to violations of consent in kissing was significant regardless of whether these violations took place within the context of a first date, long-term dating, or marriage. We also found that male subjects had higher rape myth acceptance than females and were more supportive of a man's right to violate a woman's consent in kissing. Finally, the association between gender and responses to forced kissing was significant independent of the context in which the forced kiss occurred.