AN APPLICATION OF THE THEORY OF NEURAL COMPUTATION TO THE PREDICTION OF WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR: AN ILLUSTRATION AND ASSESSMENT OF NETWORK ANALYSIS

Data from two field studies were used to illustrate four applications of neural network analysis, a statistical information technology based on the psychological theories of learning and cognition. Overall results showed that cross-validation multivariate correlations and correct classifications were greater for the neural networks than for the regression model standards of comparison. It was concluded that sufficient evidence exists to warrant further research of the newly developing neural network paradigm for use by personnel scientists and specialists.     

HOW DEFINITIVE ARE CONCLUSIONS BASED ON SURVEY DATA: ESTIMATING ROBUSTNESS TO NONRESPONSE

The problem of nonresponse poses a threat to the external validity of survey conclusions. In this article, procedures are developed to estimate the robustness of survey conclusions to nonresponse by drawing an analogy between studies unavailable for meta-analysis and nonrespondents in a survey. We extended the procedure to assess the effects of systematic differences between respondents and nonrespondents on t- and F -values used to test group differences. Steps to construct robustness tables that are independent of sample size, survey length, and scale width are outlined to determine how definitive conclusions are from survey data.     

THE BIG FIVE PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS AND JOB PERFORMANCE: A META-ANALYSIS

This study investigated the relation of the "Big Five" personality dimensions (Extraversion, Emotional Stability, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience) to three job performance criteria (job proficiency, training proficiency, and personnel data) for five occupational groups (professionals, police, managers, sales, and skilled/semi-skilled). Results indicated that one dimension of personality, Conscientiousness, showed consistent relations with all job performance criteria for all occupational groups. For the remaining personality dimensions, the estimated true score correlations varied by occupational group and criterion type. Extraversion was a valid predictor for two occupations involving social interaction, managers and sales (across criterion types). Also, both Openness to Experience and Extraversion were valid predictors of the training proficiency criterion (across occupations). Other personality dimensions were also found to be valid predictors for some occupations and some criterion types, but the magnitude of the estimated true score correlations was small (ρ < .10). Overall, the results illustrate the benefits of using the 5-factor model of personality to accumulate and communicate empirical findings. The findings have numerous implications for research and practice in personnel psychology , especially in the subfields of personnel selection, training and development, and performance appraisal.     

THE LANGUAGE OF PARTICIPATION AND THE LANGUAGE OF RESISTANCE1

Language and gestures define the involvement of low-status groups with authorities either as joint participation in policymaking or as conflict. Policies that seriously deprive non-elites are often politicized, encouraging the perception that all affected by them participated in their formulation. This perception is problematic and often misleading, for formal decision-making procedures chiefly reflect extant inequalities in the ability of participants to achieve their values and to influence public opinion. It is those who can exercise influence outside the context of formal proceedings who wield real power; but formal proceedings remain vital rituals, for they symbolize participation and democracy and so marshal public support and compliance. The poor lack the informal sanctions and other resources that confer influence, with the important exception that they can create disorder and thereby threaten elites; but in becoming politicized they renounce that political weapon.     

Experiments in Group Decision Making Communication Process and Outcome in Face-to-Face Versus Computerized Conferences

A 2 × 2 factorial design was used to explore the process and outcome of small group problem-solving discussions for two modes of communication (face-to-face and computerized conferencing) and two types of tasks (a qualitative human relations task and a scientific ranking test with a criterion solution). Interaction process was coded using Bales Interaction Process Analysis. There were two to three times as many communication units in the face to-face groups consisting of five members each as in the computerized conferencing mode of communication during the same elapsed time. Group decisions were equally good in the two modes, but the groups were less likely to reach agreement in the computerized conferencing mode. There were proportionately more of the types of task-oriented communication associated with decision quality in the computerized conferences.