The Search for Mathematical Creativity: Identifying Creative Potential in Middle School Students

The identification of creative potential in mathematics poses many challenges. Much of the research into the identification of mathematical creativity has focused on the development of measurement instruments. Scoring of these instruments is time consuming and subject to scorer interpretation, limiting their use. This study sought a simpler means to obtain indicators of creative potential in mathematics. Existing instruments were used to explore the relationship between mathematical creativity and mathematical achievement, attitude towards mathematics, self-perception of creative ability, gender, and teacher perception of mathematical talent and creative ability. Data were gathered from 89 7th graders in a suburban Connecticut school. The regression model predicted 35% of the variance in mathematical creativity scores. Mathematical achievement was the strongest predictor accounting for 23% of the variance. Student attitudes towards mathematics, self-perception of their own creative abilities, and gender contributed the remaining 12% of variance. Interpretation of the relative importance of the independent variables was complicated by correlations among them.     

Refocusing Effort Across Job Tasks: Implications for Understanding Temporal Change in Job Performance

This study introduces a component of adaptability, namely, a shift in the relative emphasis among different job tasks, to the measurement of employee job performance. Using a multiyear longitudinal data set on the performance of professional basketball players, the results indicate that (a) refocusing one's efforts among different job tasks exists in this context, (b) refocusing accounts for variation in performance, and (c) refocusing increases the odds of continued employment the following year. These findings have implications for understanding temporal change in job performance.     

Lottery Semantics: A Compositional Semantics for Probabilistic First-Order Logic with Imperfect Information

We present a compositional semantics for first-order logic with imperfect information that is equivalent to Sevenster and Sandu’s equilibrium semantics (under which the truth value of a sentence in a finite model is equal to the minimax value of its semantic game). Our semantics is a generalization of an earlier semantics developed by the first author that was based on behavioral strategies, rather than mixed strategies.     

Detecting smugglers: Identifying strategies and behaviours in individuals in possession of illicit objects

Behaviour detection officers' task is to spot potential criminals in public spaces, but scientific research concerning what to look for is scarce. In two experiments, 52 (Experiment 1A) and 60 (Experiment 2A) participants carried out a mission involving a ferry crossing. Half were asked to smuggle an object; the other half were non-smugglers. In Experiment 2A, two confederates appeared to approach as if looking for someone on the ferry. Smugglers, more than non-smugglers, reported afterwards to have felt nervous, self-conscious, and conspicuous and to attempt behavioural control during the ferry crossing. The secretly videotaped ferry crossings were shown to 104 (Experiment 1B) and 120 (Experiment 2B) observers, tasked to identify the smugglers. Although they reported paying attention mostly to signs of nervousness, lie detection accuracy rate was poor (48% in Experiment 1 and 39.2% in Experiment 2) because their perceptions of nervousness did not match the experiences of nervousness reported by the (non)smugglers.     

Parental perceptions of mathematical talent

Parents often become frustrated when their perception of their child’s talent in mathematics differs from that held by the school. Yet for the young child, research suggests parents have a much deeper insight into the interests and talents of their child. Failure to recognize talent can result in lost opportunities for the child as well as a loss to society. This article evaluates the development of an instrument designed to assess parent perceptions of mathematical talent. Parental perceptions and family demographics were collected for third grade students participating in Project M³: Mentoring Mathematical Minds, a research program conducted collaboratively by the University of Connecticut, Northern Kentucky University and Boston University, and for second grade students under consideration for the program. The data were correlated with other identification tools used for the identification of talented second graders for Project M³ to explore a research-based means of parent identification of mathematical talent.

'People-work': emotion management, stress and coping

Workers involved in 'people-work' are expected to engage in a great deal of emotion management as they attempt to convey the appropriate emotions (which they may not genuinely feel) to their clients or customers whilst perhaps suppressing inappropriate ones. Should this emotion management be unsuccessful within some industries, a customer may be lost as they choose to take their business to a competitor; however, within the 'caring' business, such as the counselling and guidance professions, a failure to display the appropriate emotion (e.g. sympathy) or a leakage of an inappropriate one (e.g. boredom) can have much more serious implications for the well-being of the client and their continued relationship with the professional. This paper will thus argue that emotion management or 'emotional labour' is a vital skill within the counselling and guidance professions, but one that can also be a significant source of work stress. Strategies for coping with the stress of performing emotional labour are suggested.     

Opportunities in public policy to support infant and early childhood mental health: the role of psychologists and policymakers

Infant and early childhood mental health practices can be supported by policies and professional standards of care that foster the healthy development of young children. Policies that support infants and toddlers include those that strengthen their families to provide a family environment that promotes mental wellness. Policy issues for infants, toddlers, and young children have come to the forefront of thinking as children need a "voice" to advocate for their support and care. This article (a) highlights several important policy areas that support the social-emotional development of very young children and (b) gives examples of current policy accomplishments and challenges. The article offers a policy agenda to promote the mental health of infants and young children and suggests ways that psychologists can engage with policymakers to promote policies that foster infant mental health, including contributing to the knowledge base that informs policy decisions, educating the public and policymakers about early childhood development and mental wellness, forming community partnerships to identify and address infant mental health risks, and participating in the development of policy recommendations that improve access to evidence-based practices in infant mental health.     

Detecting concealed information about person recognition

We examined a common, but understudied phenomenon: Assessing interviewees' truthfulness when they attempt to conceal their knowledge about another person. We argue that this should be mentally taxing because truthful answers are activated automatically, and hence, need to be suppressed when liars conceal their knowledge. Participants were shown three photographs of three females, only one of whom was known by the participants. The participants were asked questions about each female depicted in the photograph. Truth tellers were instructed to give the correct answers when discussing the female they know whereas liars were asked to conceal their knowledge about this female. Independent observer ratings revealed that liars appeared to be thinking the hardest when discussing the female they know, whereas truth tellers appeared to be thinking the hardest when discussing the females they did not know. Truth tellers looked the most at the photographs of the unknown females, whereas liars' gaze did not differ across photographs. Finally, liars' answers about the female they know contained substantial truthful elements. In summary, truth tellers' and liars' responses differed substantially and those different responses are valuable cues to detect deceit. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.