Employee recognition: A procedure to reinforce work attendance

An employee recognition program to improve work attendance was conducted for one year in 1986 as part of a 3-year study using the awarding and posting of attendance certificates as the primary method of employee recognition. Compared to sick leave usage during 1985, those employees in the recognition group decreased their use of sick leave by 28%. In 1987, the year following the end of the recognition program, the average sick leave returned to a level higher than the 1986 level. In addition, the sick leave of a nonintervention control group of employees showed a sequential increase each year from 1985 to 1987, with their use in 1986 being 16% greater than those employees in the employee recognition group.     

Genetic counseling for deaf adults: Communication/language and cultural considerations

It has been estimated that at least 50% of congenital or early onset deafness loss has a genetic etiology. Genetic services have traditionally been utilized by hearing parents of deaf children. Deaf adults could also greatly benefit from genetic counseling services. However, many deaf adults do not seek genetic services due in part to the communication/language and cultural differences of this group. Deaf people communicate in various ways including the use of sign language, oral communication, writing, or a combination of these modes. Also, while some deaf individuals are part of the hearing culture, others are part of the Deaf culture which has its own language, values, and traditions. Culturally Deaf individuals do not see themselves as handicapped or disabled. The genetic professional's awareness of the communication/language and cultural needs of this group, as well as their agency's responsibilities under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, may increase the accessibility of genetic services and contribute to the provision of successful genetic counseling for deaf adults.Throughout this paper, the term deaf will be used to denote a person who audiologically has a hearing loss which may range from mild to profound and may be sensorineural, conductive, or mixed. However, the term Deaf is used to denote cultural deafness.     

Detection errors in a task with articulatory suppression: Phonological receding and reading

In two experiments, subjects read passages of text and circled instances of a target letter under normal conditions or while engaged in articulatory suppression. In Experiment 1, subjects searching for the letter e made a disproportionately large number of errors on the word “the” and more errors when e occurred in unstressed than in stressed syllables of three-syllable words. In Experiment 2, subjects searching for the letter f made an exceedingly large number of errors on the word “of.” Articulatory suppression significantly reduced the stress effect in the three-syllable words but did not reduce the tendency to make errors on “the” or “of,” suggesting that phonological recoding is responsible for this effect of stress but does not influence the unitization processes of reading.     

Unanswered questions in assessment center research

This study compared the predictive validity of two types of overall assessment center ratings (clinical and mechanical) and two types of performance ratings (supervisor and subordinate). Data were gathered on approximately 50 law enforcement agency managers over a four-year time span. Results indicated that clinical predictions were not significantly better than mechanical ones and that prior performance ratings were better predictors of future performance ratings than were assessment centers. Further, dimension ratings within the assessment center were found to be unrelated to ratings of the same dimensions on the job four years later, supporting the notion of subtle criterion contamination (Klimoski & Strickland, 1977) and raising questions about the central assumptions underlying the assessment center approach.     

Motivations for parenthood among young adult college students

Two hundred and sixty three young adult college students responded to openended questions assessing their specific intentions, motives, and plans for having children. The most commonly stated motives for childbearing reflected a strong interest in establishing an identity and social network. Financial, marital, and emotional stability were identified as important factors influencing the timing of parenthood. Several significant sex differences were found for both motives and the timing of parenthood. These findings are discussed in terms of changing social norms regarding parenthood and changing sex role expectations.Portions of this research were presented at the Eastern Regional Psychological Association Convention in New York, April 1986. This research was funded by a grant from Trenton State College, Committee for Faculty and Institutional Research and Sabbatical Leave.     

Marriage patterns among Havik Brahmins: A 20-year study of change

Data on 94 women gathered during four field trips to a village located in the Malnad area of Karnataka form the basis of this examination of changes in Havik Brahmin marriage patterns over a 20-year period. Four case studies of marriages and two case studies of single women illustrate social change, particularly the influence of increased education, marriage age, and marriage choice. These case studies illustrate that, with an increase in marriage age and an increase in educational level, women have increased independence as daughters, brides, wives, and mothers. Concurrent with this is a decreased emphasis on ritual. Women have become assertive as they have perceived options. The socialization of women into learned helplessness and absolute dependence on men is in the past. Where women were perceived and perceived themselves as forever childlike, they now have grown to maturity. Men have to acknowledge women's educational achievements, especially when sisters achieve more than their brothers. With the recognition of feminine achievement has come increased independence for women. Mothers who have been bitter about their own limitations have encouraged daughters to achieve. With a change from an ascribed status of men as superior to achieved status based on merit has come increased opportunities for women.