A META-ANALYSIS OF THE CRITERION-RELATED VALIDITY OF ASSESSMENT CENTER DIMENSIONS

We used meta-analytic procedures to investigate the criterion-related validity of assessment center dimension ratings. By focusing on dimension-level information, we were able to assess the extent to which specific constructs account for the criterion-related validity of assessment centers. From a total of 34 articles that reported dimension-level validities, we collapsed 168 assessment center dimension labels into an overriding set of 6 dimensions: (a) consideration/awareness of others, (b) communication, (c) drive, (d) influencing others, (e) organizing and planning, and (f) problem solving. Based on this set of 6 dimensions, we extracted 258 independent data points. Results showed a range of estimated true criterion-related validities from .25 to .39. A regression-based composite consisting of 4 out of the 6 dimensions accounted for the criterion-related validity of assessment center ratings and explained more variance in performance (20%) than Gaugler, Rosenthal, Thornton, and Bentson (1987) were able to explain using the overall assessment center rating (14%).     

Perceived Parenting Style of Fathers and Iranian Adolescents' Self-efficacy: The Moderating Role of Gender and Education

The authors examined the moderating role of adolescent's gender and father's education on the associations between perceived paternal parenting styles and self-efficacy in a socioeconomical diverse sample of Iranian ado-lescents (n = 382). Results revealed that paternal authoritative parenting was significantly and positively related to self-efficacy. Interestingly, a significant and positive relation was also found between paternal authoritarian parenting and self-efficacy. This finding might have been the result of the fact that this study was conducted as part of a collectivist culture. In addition, the results indicated that boys who perceived their fathers as highly authoritative indicated higher self-efficacy than girls did. Furthermore, the findings demonstrated that higher educational levels attenuate the negative impact of the permissive parenting style on self-efficacy. The present findings underscore the need to focus on the role of gender and father's education when assessing the link between parenting style and adolescents' self-efficacy.     

Merit in the Midst of Grace: The Covenant with Adam Reconsidered in View of the Two Powers of God

Abstract:  The position of Barth and others, that the covenant with Adam is thoroughly legalistic, is based on the incorrect assumption that grace and works cannot coexist as covenant principles. However, the difficulty of seeing the harmony between these principles is real. This article reconsiders the covenant with Adam in light of the medieval concept of the two powers of God, or as we shall argue here, the two perspectives on God's power. These two perspectives, part of the original intellectual milieu in which covenant theology arose, demonstrate that the divine covenant with humanity may include aspects of both God's grace and human merit simultaneously. God's grace is apparent de potentia absoluta , from the perspective of God's absolute power, and God's justice and the possibility of Adam's merit are apparent de potentia ordinata , from the perspective of God's ordained power. Both perspectives, what God could do and what he has in fact chosen to do, are valid and necessary perspectives for understanding God's covenant dealings.     

Localized attentional interference reflects competition for reentrant processing

Visual performance is compromised when attention is divided between objects that are near one another in the visual field. It has been postulated that this effect, termed localized attentional interference (LAI), reflects competition between visual-object representations for the control of cortical neural responses. To determine whether LAI arises during feedforward processing or during reentrant processing, the present study examined the influence of poststimulus pattern and four-dot masks on the strength of the effect. Experiment 1 found that pattern masks, which are believed to compromise feedforward processing, do not produce stronger LAI than do four-dot masks, which are believed to leave feedforward processing undisrupted. Experiment 2 found that LAI is weaker when reentrant processing is interrupted shortly after initiation than it is when reentrant processing is allowed to run to completion. The results suggest that LAI emerges from competition between objects during reentrant processing.     

Spoken word recognition by eye

Spoken word recognition is thought to be achieved via competition in the mental lexicon between perceptually similar word forms. A review of the development and initial behavioral validations of computational models of visual spoken word recognition is presented, followed by a report of new empirical evidence. Specifically, a replication and extension of Mattys, Bernstein & Auer's (2002) study was conducted with 20 deaf participants who varied widely in speechreading ability. Participants visually identified isolated spoken words. Accuracy of visual spoken word recognition was influenced by the number of visually similar words in the lexicon and by the frequency of occurrence of the stimulus words. The results are consistent with the common view held within auditory word recognition that this task is accomplished via a process of activation and competition in which frequently occurring units are favored. Finally, future directions for visual spoken word recognition are discussed.     

Why Odd Pricing?1

The practice of setting prices a few pennies or a few dollars below an even (whole) number is referred to as odd pricing. Most attempts to explain odd pricing use an argument that, in part, draws on varying degrees of consumer irrationality. In this note, a justification for odd pricing is provided that assumes rational and informed consumers and businesses. Empirical evidence is offered in support of this view.     

LITURGICALLY TRAINED MEMORY: A READING OF SUMMA THEOLOGIAE III.83

Drawing on Ciceronian rhetorical tropes, Thomas Aquinas treats the rite of the Eucharist in terms of the classical ars memoriae. The Eucharist, for Aquinas, is the schooling in desire whereby we are trained to order the associations of our memory to their proper objects in terms of their relations to God. He thus conceives of the liturgy of the Mass as rhetoric proper, which truly teaches, moves and delights. Since memory is the condition of all thought, as both Thomas and Augustine claim, the Eucharist is the “site” of all theological production, and therefore the liturgy is the art of memory of which all other similar arts are derivative.