Fragile X syndrome: Neural network models of sequencing and memory

A comparative framework of memory processes in males with fragile X syndrome (FXS) and typically developing (TYP) mental age-match children is presented. Results indicate a divergence in sequencing skills, such that males with FXS recall sequences similarly to TYP children around five and a half years of age, but the males with FXS recall significantly worse when compared to TYP children around seven and a half years of age. Performance on one working memory measure, an n-back Card Task, is modeled with a neural network. To date, no network models explicate the sequencing and memory processes in those with FXS. Noise was added to various levels (weight matrices) in the FXS model and outputs approximated human FXS performance. Three models were compared: (1) FXS; (2) younger mental age-TYP matches; (3) older reading level-TYP matches. Modeling can help to reify conceptualizations of deficits and to guide in the creation of more valid, science-based remediations. The FXS model suggested that the levels of phonological representation and sequencing in memory were candidates for targeted therapies in males with FXS.     

The Challenge of Being a Challenger: Social Dominance Orientation Shapes the Impact of “Challenger vs. Leader” Comparisons

The current research investigates when and how comparative advertising effectiveness is shaped by social dominance orientation (SDO), that is, the degree to which one desires to maintain the status quo in social hierarchies. We examine these issues with regard to “challenger vs. leader” comparisons that seek to change the relative standing of competitors in a product category by documenting the superiority of challenger brands over market leaders. Findings demonstrate that the resistance to change characterizing high (vs. low) SDO individuals makes them respond (1) less favorably to “challenger vs. leader” comparisons that seek to alter the existing category hierarchy and (2) more favorably to “leader vs. challenger” comparisons that preserve this status quo in the category hierarchy. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed, as are avenues for future research.     

Social Media,Work and Nonwork Interface: A Qualitative Inquiry

Flourishing social media, easy access to smartphones and tablets, and ready availability of the internet in the past decade have made it possible for people to be connected to social media almost anywhere at any time. In this qualitative study, we interviewed 41 individuals in multiple professions in the United Kingdom to examine the role of social media in how they navigate their personal and professional lives. We find social media to be a virtual domain that has boundaries with nonvirtual personal and professional domains. Focusing on spatial and temporal boundaries, our findings revealed four boundary transition modes employees used to switch between the social media domain and their work and nonwork domains: boundary switch avoidance; disciplined boundary switch; integrated boundary switch; and boundary switch addiction. We also describe 15 mechanisms through which engaging with social media platforms enriches or conflicts with individuals’ personal and professional lives. Our findings extend work-nonwork scholarship and boundary theory to include virtual as well as nonvirtual domains.     

The impact of vacation and job stress on burnout and absenteeism

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that vacation relief decreases psychological and behavioral strains caused by job stressors. We examined the impact of job stress and vacation on strain on 87 blue-collar employees in an industrial enterprise in central Israel. Whereas former respite research focused on the impact of vacation only on psychological strains such as burnout and job and life satisfaction, the current study also examined a behavioral strain, absenteeism. The employees completed questionnaires before and after vacation and again four weeks later. Our findings show that vacation alleviated perceived job stress and bumout as predicted, replicating findings that a respite from work diminishes levels of strain to lower than chronic, on-the-job levels. We found declines in burnout immediately after the vacation and a return to prevacation levels four weeks later, and a similar pattern with regard to absenteeism.     

Half a Century of Work–Nonwork Interface Research: A Review and Taxonomy of Terminologies

The extensive interest in the work-nonwork interface over the years has allowed scholars from multiple disciplines to contribute to this literature and to shed light on how professional and personal lives are related. In this paper, we have identified 48 terminologies that describe the interface or relationship between work and nonwork, and have organised them into mature, intermediate, and immature categories according to their stage of development and theoretical grounding. We also provide a taxonomy that places work-nonwork interface terminologies into a matrix of six cells based on two dimensions: (1) type of nonwork being narrow or broad; and (2) nature of the mutual impact of work and nonwork domains on one another, characterising the impact as negative, positive, or balanced. The type of nonwork dimension was informed by Frone’s (2003) classification of employees’ lives into multiple subdomains; the mutual impact dimension was informed by frameworks that organised the literature in part by negative, positive, and balanced work-nonwork interface constructs (e.g., Allen, 2012; Greenhaus & Allen, 2011). Theoretical contributions of the proposed taxonomy are discussed along with suggestions on important avenues for future research.     

Crossover of job demands and emotional exhaustion within teams: a longitudinal multilevel study

This study investigated the crossover of job demands and emotional exhaustion among team members and the moderating effect of cohesiveness and social support on this process. Participants were 310 employees of an employment agency in the Netherlands, working in one of 100 teams. Multilevel analysis using a longitudinal design did not reveal a main effect of crossover. However, consistent with the study's hypotheses, the results showed a moderating effect of team cohesiveness and social support. We detected crossover of job demands and emotional exhaustion across time from the group to individual team members only in teams characterized by high levels of cohesiveness and social support. Teams characterized by low levels of cohesiveness and social support showed no crossover of job demands and exhaustion. The findings demonstrate that team-level moderators play an important role in crossover processes. Moreover, social support and cohesiveness may not always be positive.     

The Grouping Process Across Cultural Change

Based on their extensive experience working with individuals, families, groups and organizations in Greece, the authors describe therapeutic techniques for helping individuals understand and work through the acculturation process. Tasks and procedures employed at various social levels--dyads, triads, small groups of four to six members, and large groups of 18-25--are catalysts for the exploration and clarification of the ways in which old norms and roles are being modified, weakened, or distorted by cultural change, and for the redefinition of values and expectations.     

Swedish primary school pupils' inter-ethnic relationships

The aim of the Swedish educational policy is educional participation and academic achievement for all children, irrespective of ethnic backgroud. Majority lauguage instruction is an imortant tool used to achieve this goal. We argue that taking lessons in Swedish-as-a-second-lanuage (S2) sets children apart in their class and limits their possibilities to interact with Swedish children and the immigrant children, who do not receive S2-lessons. In accordance with the contact hypothesis, we assumed that this limitation would have a negative impact on peer evaluation of these pupils' social competence. 394 children in ethnically mixed classes (grades 4–6) participated in the study reported in this article. As hypothesized, S2-children's sociability was evaluated significantly lower than that of Swedish children. Immigrant children, who do not have S-2 lessons, do not have significantly lower scores. These findings were confirmed, using teachers' evaluations of children's social competence. It is suggested that more research is needed to investigate whether communicative skills, academic competence, or, perhaps, the organizational consequences of extra language lessons play a role in children's assessments of peer social competence.