Rater training revisited: An updated meta‐analytic review of frame‐of‐reference training

The present study updates Woehr and Huffcutt's (1994) rater training meta‐analysis and demonstrates that frame‐of‐reference (FOR) training is an effective method of improving rating accuracy. The current meta‐analysis includes over four times as many studies as included in the Woehr and Huffcutt meta‐analysis and also provides a snapshot of current rater training studies. The present meta‐analysis also extends the previous meta‐analysis by showing that not all operationalizations of accuracy are equally improved by FOR training; Borman's differential accuracy appears to be the most improved by FOR training, along with behavioural accuracy, which provides a snapshot into the cognitive processes of the raters. We also investigate the extent to which FOR training protocols differ, the implications of protocol differences, and if the criteria of interest to FOR researchers have changed over time.     

On the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of free/libre/open source (FLOSS) developers

Motivation in the context of open source software may be seen as fundamentally different due to the presence of unpaid programmers, implicit rather than explicit forms of control and a different methodology for software development. Since software development is a creative task, the motivation of open source programmers can be compared to individuals in creative industries (Caves 2002). This paper summarizes the important trends in the research on motivation in open source and identifies variables that should be included in future research. Specifically, the current literature favors a taxonomy that considers two components of motivation—intrinsic (e.g., fun, flow, learning, community) and extrinsic (e.g., financial rewards, improving future job prospects, signaling quality). I make a case for incorporating both elements in developing an integrative theory about developer motivation. Three elements are identified as being unique to FLOSS development-diversity of project structures, co-existence of companies and communities and co-existence of creative and commercial elements. The important empirical evidence on FLOSS developer motivation is presented and analyzed. Four factors are identified as important mitigating and moderating factors in the conversation surrounding developer motivation- financial incentives, nature of task, group size and group structure. The role of these factors on developer motivation is discussed. He is passionately interested in all aspects of open source software development and has written extensively on the topic. He is also the author of two books on E-Commerce.     

Factor analysis of the McCarthy scales for groups of white and Mexican-American children

Factor analyses of the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (McCarthy Scales) were performed on separate groups of Anglo (N = 186) and Mexican-American (N = 126) children to determine the comparability of underlying structures and to examine the construct validity of the McCarthy Scales for each ethnic group. The subjects, ranging in age from 5.6 to 7.6 years, were randomly selected from school enrollment rosters and stratified by age, sex, and ethnicity. A principal component analysis produced three factors for the Anglo as well as the Mexican-American groups. Examination of the coefficients of congruence indicated a close similarity among the matching factors. Additionally, the factors which emerged for the Anglos and Mexican-Americans corresponded to the scales constituting the McCarthy Scales. The results of the study provide evidence for the construct validity of the McCarthy Scales for children of two ethnic groups.     

Reliability and predictive validity of the WISC-R with native-American Navajos

The reliability and predictive validity of the WISC-R was examined with a sample of 40 Navajo children. Internal consistency reliability estimates of WISC-R subtests as well as composites were found to be low for the Navajo subjects as compared with the reliability coefficients reported in the WISC-R manual. Correlation coefficients between the WISC-R subtests and those of the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) were low. Only the Block Design subtest correlated significantly with the WRAT-Spelling. The predictive validity of the WISC-R IQ scales was similarly found to be very low. Considering the nature and size of sample, cautions in generalizing these findings to other native-American populations are recommended.     

Subitizing and counting depend on different attentional mechanisms: Evidence from visual enumeration in afterimages

Two experiments showed that, when selective eye movements were disabled by the presentation of stimuli in the form of afterimages, increased inspection time and facilitative stimulus configurations failed to increase the subitizing limit of 4 objects. Afterimages of two to eight dots induced by a photographic flashgun were shown to 3 adult subjects. For more than 4 objects, enumeration errors occurred at a rate of 20%–30%. Enumeration was effectively perfect for 2–4 linearly configured dots, with occasional errors surprisingly occurring in that range when dots appeared in groups of up to 3 items. No errors occurred in nonafterimage control conditions. Enumeration errors were attributed to failures of individuating dots to be counted due to the deactivation of selective eye movements in afterimages. A third experiment supported this interpretation by disabling eye movements with briefly presented stimuli and producing results much like those of the afterimage conditions.     

Synthesis of a single phase of high-entropy Laves intermetallics in the Ti–Zr–V–Cr–Ni equiatomic alloy

The high-entropy Ti–Zr–V–Cr–Ni (20 at% each) alloy consisting of all five hydride-forming elements was successfully synthesised by the conventional melting and casting as well as by the melt-spinning technique. The as-cast alloy consists entirely of the micron size hexagonal Laves Phase of C14 type; whereas, the melt-spun ribbon exhibits the evolution of nanocrystalline Laves phase. There was no evidence of any amorphous or any other metastable phases in the present processing condition. This is the first report of synthesising a single phase of high-entropy complex intermetallic compound in the equiatomic quinary alloy system. The detailed characterisation by X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy confirmed the existence of a single-phase multi-component hexagonal C14-type Laves phase in all the as-cast, melt-spun and annealed alloys. The lattice parameter a = 5.08 Å and c = 8.41 Å was determined from the annealed material (annealing at 1173 K). The thermodynamic calculations following the Miedema’s approach support the stability of the high-entropy multi-component Laves phase compared to that of the solid solution or glassy phases. The high hardness value (8.92 GPa at 25 g load) has been observed in nanocrystalline high-entropy alloy ribbon without any cracking. It implies that high-yield strength (~3.00 GPa) and the reasonable fracture toughness can be achieved in this high-entropy material.     

Accelerated lamellar disintegration in eutectoid steel

The fastest kinetics of lamellar disintegration (predicted duration of 44 min) in AISI 1080 steel is obtained with a novel approach of incomplete austenitisation-based cyclic heat treatment involving forced air cooling with an air flow rate of 8.7 m³ h^?1. A physical model for process kinetics is proposed that involves lamellar fragmentation, lamellar thickening, divorced eutectoid growth and generation of new lamellar faults in remaining cementite lamellae in each cycle. Lamellar fragmentation is accentuated with faster rate of cooling through generation of more intense lamellar faults; but divorced eutectoid growth is ceased. Accordingly, as compared to still air cooling, much faster kinetics of lamellar disintegration is obtained by forced air cooling together with the generation of much smaller submicroscopic cementite particles (containing more proportion of plate-shaped non-spheroids) in divorced eutectoid region.     

A gendered approach to workforce participation patterns over the life course for an Australian baby boom cohort

Population ageing and its future implications for governments and individuals have been central to much policy debate and research targeted to retain older people in the workforce. This study identified workforce participation patterns across the adult life course for women and men entering later life, and explored the influences of various early and adult life socio-demographic circumstances. Data were collected from 1261 men and women aged 60 to 64 years in the Life History and Health (LHH) Survey (a sub-study of the Sax Institute's 45 and Up Study, Australia) in 2010–11. LHH provides detailed information on personal histories of paid work, socio-economic resources from childhood (number of books and father's occupation) and adult life factors such as educational attainment, marital histories, childcare and informal caring. Latent class analysis (LCA) was undertaken to identify patterns of workforce participation for participants across their adult life. Significant gender differences were confirmed. Further analysis (LCA with covariates) showed that women who reported having books during childhood, and those who had post-school qualification, were more likely to have mostly been in paid work and less likely to have not been in paid work; while ever partnered women had significantly higher odds of increasing part time work over time. Men who had reported ever having had informal caring activities were likely to have had decreasing participation in paid work over time, and were highly likely to be not in paid work after 55 years. Ever partnered status was protective for being in paid work for men. These findings indicate the need for gender-specific policies and strategies to enable continued workforce participation throughout adult life and into later working years, particularly for people who had fewer social or economic opportunities earlier in life.