Does Teaming Obscure Low Performance? Exploring the Temporal Effects of Team Performance Diversity

Organizations are increasingly using team-based projects to achieve goals. As such, it is important to understand how team members (e.g., their differences) influence team outcomes such as effectiveness. In the present study, we examine performance diversity, differences in members’ past performance, as an antecedent to team effectiveness. In addition, we assessed the length of time the group performed together as a moderator and social loafing among members as a mediator of the performance diversity—team effectiveness relationship. Using multisource data for 673 individuals in 139 project teams, we found that performance diversity had an increasingly negative effect for groups that were together longer. Specifically, greater diversity resulted in more social loafing, thereby diminishing team satisfaction and supervisor-rated team performance.     

Searching for inhibition of return in the rat using the covert orienting of attention task

Inhibition of return (IOR) is an important psychological construct describing inhibited responses to previously attended locations. In humans, it is investigated using Posner’s cueing paradigm. This paradigm requires central visual fixation and detection of cued stimuli to the left or right of the fixation point. Stimuli can be validly or invalidly cued, appearing in the same or opposite location to the cue. Although a rat version of the spatial cueing paradigm (the covert orienting of attention task) does exist, IOR has so far not been demonstrated. We therefore investigated whether IOR could be robustly demonstrated in adult male rats using the covert orienting of attention task. This task is conducted in holed wall operant chambers with the central three holes mimicking the set-up for Posner cueing. Across four samples of rats (overall n = 84), we manipulated the following task parameters: stimulus onset asynchronies (Experiments 1–3), cue brightness (Experiment 1b) and the presence of a central reorienting event (Experiment 4). In Experiment 1, we also investigated strain differences by comparing Lister Hooded rats to Sprague–Dawley rats. Although Lister Hooded rats briefly showed evidence of IOR (Experiment 1a, and see Online Resource 1 data), we were unable to replicate this finding in our other experiments using different samples of this strain. Taken together, our findings suggest that IOR cannot be robustly demonstrated in the rat using the covert orienting of attention task conducted in holed wall operant chambers.     

How does the severity of a learning disability affect working memory performance?

Working memory performance was examined in children aged 11-12 years who had borderline, mild, and moderate learning disabilities. Comparisons with children of average abilities were used to determine whether those with more severe learning disabilities had greater impairments in working memory. Seven measures of working memory span were used to assess temporary phonological short-term storage (digit span, word span), temporary visuo-spatial short-term storage (pattern span, spatial span), and temporary short-term storage with additional processing, or central executive, demands (listening span, odd one out span, reverse digit span). Children with mild and moderate learning disabilities were impaired on all measures of working memory compared to children of average abilities. Children with borderline learning disabilities were just as good as children with average abilities on visuo-spatial and complex span tasks, but showed an impairment on phonological span tasks. Children with moderate learning disabilities were indistinguishable from children with mild learning disabilities on simple span tasks, but were significantly poorer than the mild group on the more demanding complex span tasks. For the group as a whole, working memory was strongly related to mental age.     

Do children use different forms of verbal rehearsal in serial picture recall tasks? A multi-method study

ABSTRACT

Use of verbal rehearsal is a key issue in memory development. However, we still lack detailed and triangulated information about the early development and the circumstances in which different forms of rehearsal are used. To further understand significant factors that affect children’s use of various forms of rehearsal, the present study involving 108 primary school children adopted a multi-method approach. It combined a carefully chosen word length effect method with a self-paced presentation time method to obtain behavioural indicators of verbal rehearsal. In addition, subsequent trial-by-trial self-reports were gathered. Word length effects in recall suggested that phonological recoding (converting images to names – a necessary precursor for rehearsal) took place, with evidence of more rehearsal among children with higher performance levels. According to self-paced presentation times, cumulative rehearsal was the dominant form of rehearsal only for children with higher spans on difficult trials. The combined results of self-paced times and word length effects in recall suggest that “naming” as simple form of rehearsal was dominant for most children. Self-reports were in line with these conclusions. Additionally, children used a mixture of strategies with considerable intra-individual variability, yet strategy use was nevertheless linked to age as well as performance levels.     

Kant's transcendental idealism and contemporary anti‐realism

This paper compares Kant's transcendental idealism with three main groups of contemporary anti‐realism, associated with Wittgenstein, Putnam, and Dummett, respectively. The kind of anti‐realism associated with Wittgenstein has it that there is no deep sense in which our concepts are answerable to reality. Associated with Putnam is the rejection of four main ideas: theoryindependent reality, the idea of a uniquely true theory, a correspondence theory of truth, and bivalence. While there are superficial similarities between both views and Kant's, I find more significant differences. Dummettian anti‐realism, too, clearly differs from Kant's position: Kant believes in verification‐transcendent reality, and transcendental idealism is not a theory of meaning or truth. However, I argue that part of the Dummettian position is extremely useful for understanding part of Kant's position – his idealism about the appearances of things. I argue that Kant's idealism about appearances can be expressed as the rejection of experiencetranscendent reality with respect to appearances.     

Why do people use different forms of complementary medicine? Multivariate associations between treatment and illness beliefs and complementary medicine use

This study investigated associations between complementary medicine use and treatment and illness beliefs. Previously validated questionnaire measures of treatment beliefs, illness beliefs, and complementary medicine use were presented and advertised online. Completed questionnaires were received from 247 participants. Logistic regression analysis showed that demographic characteristics, treatment beliefs, and illness beliefs accounted for approximately 36% of the variance in complementary medicine use. Separate analyses were conducted to predict use of different types of complementary medicine. The strength of associations between beliefs and complementary medicine use was related to the type of complementary medicine used. The results suggest that people use complementary medicine because they are attracted to it rather than because they are disillusioned with orthodox medicine, and that both treatment and illness beliefs have an important role in explaining why people use complementary medicine.     

Effects of a post-hospitalization group health education programme for patients with coronary heart disease

Abstract

Effects of a post-hospitolization group health education programme for patients with coronary heart disease. A health education programme was offered to groups of coronary heart patients and their partners after discharge from hospital. A randomized pre-test post-test control group design was used to evaluate the effects of this experimental intervention. The health education programme was offered to 109 coronary heart patients in groups of between five and eight patients together with their partners in addition to standard medical care and physical training. A control group of 108 patients received only standard medical care and physical training.

The intervention consisted of eight weekly two-hour group health education sessions and one follow-up session. All sessions focused on the promotion of healthy habits and the reduction of adverse psychosocial consequences of the incident.

In the short term (about four months after the incident) the health education programme showed statistically significant intervention effects on knowledge about coronary heart diseases, smoking cessation, healthy eating habits and the number of consultations with the family physician, but no effects on emotional distress. In the long term (one year after the incident) there was only a significant intervention effect on smoking cessation.

These results suggest that the effects of the programme are modest, especially in terms of maintenance of behavioural change. As a consequence, it is suggested that the programme should not be offered to all coronary patients during cardiac rehabilitation, but only to those who can be expected to profit most from it.