An In-Depth Look at Dispositional Reasoning and Interviewer Accuracy

Dispositional reasoning is defined as general reasoning about traits, behaviors, and situations. Although earlier accuracy studies found that it predicted interview judgment accuracy, they did not distinguish between its underlying components (i.e., trait induction, trait extrapolation, and trait contextualization). This drawback has hampered insight into the nature of the dispositional reasoning construct. Therefore, we use a componential approach to test if dispositional reasoning adheres to classical criteria for an intelligence. Results from 146 managerial interviewers who observed videotaped interviewees showed that the dispositional reasoning components had positive manifold and predicted interview accuracy. Moreover, they demonstrated discriminant validity with personality and incremental validity over cognitive ability in predicting interview accuracy. Together, findings suggest that dispositional reasoning broadly adheres to the classical criteria for an intelligence.     

Starting to Solve the Method Puzzle in Salesperson Self-Report Evaluations

The performance effect is used to explain the significant differences between salespersons’ self-evaluation and supervisors’ ratings of job performance. It is shown that bottom performers overestimate, whereas top salespeople underestimate their performance. Also, results indicate that bottom performers are significantly more inaccurate than top salespeople in their job performance estimation. Finally, results indicate that the relationship between inaccuracy of self-evaluation and job performance is curvilinear. Managerial implications are provided as well as directions for future research and limitations.     

High-efficiency single-layer organic light-emitting diode based on green fluorescent protein

We have fabricated a molecular organic light-emitting device comprising indium–tin oxide/a molecular organic layer/aluminum in which the organic layer is a green fluorescent protein. The device exhibits peak external quantum and power efficiencies of 8?±?0.2% and 13?±?0.7?lm?W?^??1 at a current of J?=?1.5?A?m^?2, respectively. In addition, the turn-on voltage is 2.5?V for 1?cd?m^?2 and the maximum luminance achieved is 1275?cd?m^?2. This good performance can be explained by the presence of singlet-excited states, leading to a high internal efficiency.     

Novice motor performance: Better not to verbalize

Offline verbalization about a new motor experience is often assumed to positively influence subsequent performance. Here, we evaluated this presumed positive influence and whether it originates from declarative or from procedural knowledge using the explicit/implicit motor-learning paradigm. To this end, 80 nongolfers learned to perform a golf-putting task with high error rates (i.e., explicit motor learning), and thus relied on declarative knowledge, or low error rates (i.e., implicit motor learning), and thus relied on procedural knowledge. Afterward, they either put their memories of the previous motor experience into words or completed an irrelevant verbal task. Finally, they performed the putting task again. Verbalization did not improve novice motor performance: Putting was impaired, overall, and especially so for high-error learners. We conclude that declarative knowledge is altered by verbalization, whereas procedural knowledge is not.     

Within reach but not so reachable: Obstacles matter in visual perception of distances

A large number of studies have shown that effort influences the visual perception of reaching distance. These studies have mainly focused on the effects of reach-relevant properties of the body and of the objects that people intend to reach. However, any influence of the reach-relevant properties of the surrounding environment remains still speculative. We investigated this topic in terms of the role of obstacle width in perceiving distances. Participants had to estimate the straight-line distance to a cylinder located just behind a transparent barrier of varying width. The results showed that participants perceived the straight-line distance to the cylinder as being longer when they intended to grasp the cylinder by reaching around a wide transparent barrier rather than by reaching around narrower ones. Interestingly, this effect might be due to the anticipated effort involved in reaching. Together, our results show that reach-relevant properties of the surrounding environment influence perceived distances, thereby supporting an embodied view of the visual perception of space.     

Risk and Protective Factors for Comorbid Posttraumatic Stress Disorder among Homeless Individuals in Treatment for Substance-Related Problems

Homeless individuals undergoing treatment for substance use disorders (SUD) can pose clinical challenges. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms have been observed in the most difficult clients. The study sample consisted of 51 homeless individuals, 9 women and 42 men, undergoing consultation for SUD in Montreal. The mean age was 46 years (SD = 7.19). Of the sample, 49% had a potential PTSD diagnosis. Most participants had the following characteristics: an alcoholic parent, a history of an early trauma, and little social support. The participants with a potential PTSD diagnosis were significantly more likely to have had an alcoholic parent, to have experienced an early trauma, and to use more maladaptive coping strategies. The study results and limits are discussed.     

Implicit learning in rule induction and problem solving

Using the Chinese Ring Puzzle (Kotovsky & Simon, ; P. J. Reber & Kotovsky, ), we studied the effect on rule discovery of having to plan actions or not in order to reach a goal state. This was done by asking participants to predict legal moves as in implicit learning tasks (Experiment 1) and by asking participants to make legal moves as in problem-solving tasks (Experiment 2). Our hypothesis was that having a specific goal state to reach has a dual effect on rule discovery. The first effect is positive and related to feedback from moves done in order to attain the goal: generalising the results of action and associating them to the conditions in which they were obtained allows discovery of the rule and learning it. The second effect is negative. In attempting to reach a specific goal, participants first tend to reduce the distance that separates the current state from the goal state (hill climbing) and so neglect the kind of exploration that facilitates rule and procedure discovery because this would seem to be a detour from the goal. Results show that having to plan actions improved performance in implicit learning tasks (Experiment 1), yet it impaired performance in problem-solving tasks (Experiment 2). Although implicit learning and problem solving are based on rule discovery, and entail noticing regularities in the material, in both cases, rule discovery processes appear to be task-dependent.     

The grim reasoner: Analytical reasoning under mortality salience

The human species enjoys uniquely developed capacities for analytical reasoning and rational decision making, but these capacities come with a price: They make us aware of our inevitable physical death. Drawing on terror management theory and dual-process theories of cognition, we investigate the impact of mortality awareness on analytical reasoning. Two experiments show that experimentally induced thoughts of death impair analytical reasoning performance, just as cognitive load would. When made aware of their own mortality, reasoners allocate their executive resources to the suppression of this disturbing thought, therefore impairing their performance on syllogisms that require analytic thought. This finding has consequences for all aspects of rational thinking that draw on executive resources, and calls for an integrated approach to existential psychology and the psychology of rational thought.