Machiavellian managers: Do they perform better?

This study investigates the relationship between Machiavellianism and job performance, as measured by sales per square foot, gross margin percentage, and inventory turnover, among 60 retail store managers. Except for a significant relationship between male store managers' gross margin percentage no other relationships were observed between Machiavellianism and job performance. Several explanations for the absence of significant relationships were discussed.     

Reducing skin picking via competing activities

This study examined the outcomes of a competing activities intervention to decrease skin picking exhibited by a 9-year-old student with comorbid diagnoses. Results of an ABCBAB design revealed that the use of student-selected manipulatives resulted in reduced skin picking.     

Approach and avoidance social motives and goals

ABSTRACT It was predicted that approach social motives and goals would be linked to outcomes characterized by the presence of positive social features, and avoidance social motives and goals would be linked to outcomes characterized by the presence of negative social features and that the link between approach motives and outcomes would be mediated by different processes than the link between avoidance motives and outcomes. These hypotheses were examined in three studies (two of them longitudinal) that measured participants' dispositional social motives, short-term social goals, and social outcomes (e.g., loneliness). Approach motives and goals were reliably associated with less loneliness and more satisfaction with social bonds, whereas avoidance motives and goals were reliably associated with more loneliness, negative social attitudes, and relationship insecurity. Results also suggested that these associations were mediated by different processes. Implications for the conceptualization of close relationships along these two dimensions are discussed.     

Approach and avoidance motivation in the social domain

This research put Gable's (in press) hierarchical model of approach-avoidance social motivation to empirical test using newly developed measures of friendship-approach and avoidance goals. The results from Study 1 supported the psychometric soundness of the new goal measures and showed the anticipated differential predictive patterns for the two goals. The results from Study 2 provided further evidence of the psychometric soundness of the new goal measures and provided support for the full hierarchical model in longitudinal analyses of subjective well-being and physical symptomotology. Implications of the present research for understanding motivation both within and beyond the social domain are discussed.     

Perceived internal depth in rotating and translating objects

Previous research has indicated that observers use differences between velocities and ratios of velocities to judge the depth within a moving object, although depth cannot in general be determined from these quantities. In four experiments we examined the relative effects of velocity difference and velocity ratio on judged depth within a transparent object that was rotating about a vertical axis and translating horizontally, examined the effects of the velocity difference for pure rotations and pure translations, and examined the effect of the velocity difference for objects that varied in simulated internal depth. Both the velocity difference and the velocity ratio affected judged depth, with difference having the larger effect. The effect of velocity difference was greater for pure rotations than for pure translations. Simulated depth did not affect judged depth unless there was a corresponding change in the projected width of the object. Observers appear to use the velocity difference, the velocity ratio, and the projected width of the object heuristically to judge internal object depth, rather than using image information from which relative depth could potentially be recovered.     

Influence of a stereo surface on the perceived tilt of a monocular line

This study addressed the issue of how a stereo-specified surface influences the perceived twodimensional orientation of a monocularly viewed line. In a series of three experiments, it was found that, in general, when a monocular line was embedded in a disparity field specifying a planar surface slanted about the horizontal axis, the tilt of the line depended on the slant of the surface in which it was embedded and on whether the line was presented in the left or in the right visual field. These results, predicted by perspective geometry, are compatible with the hypothesis that the monocular line is perceived as part of the stereo surface. Moreover, it was found that timing is a crucial factor in determining the strength of the effect. The effect was at a maximum when the monocular line and the stereo surface were presented together, with no prior presentation of the surface. The influence of the stereo surface on the monocular line was substantially reduced, however, when the surface alone preceded the combined presentation of the line and the surface.     

Automatic and self-reported attitudes in romantic relationships

Two studies used response latency measures to assess automatic attitudes that individuals are unwilling or unable to reveal about their partners. In Study 1, participants (n = 51) in dating relationships completed two response latency measures (Time 1) and several relationship self-reports (Times 1 and 2). Participants who faced high barriers to exiting (BTE) their relationship generally showed a negative association between their relationship self-reports and automatic attitudes, and there was some evidence that automatic attitudes at Time 1 predicted relationship satisfaction at Time 2. Study 2 (n = 41 couples) replicated the BTE finding and showed that image-based response latency measures may assess automatic attitudes more effectively than word-based measures. A negative correlation between self-reported and automatic attitudes among high-BTE participants suggests that they may overreport relationship positivity to quell feelings of doubt about a relationship they cannot feasibly dissolve.     

Functional magnetic resonance imaging responses relate to differences in real-world social experience

Although neuroimaging techniques have proven powerful in assessing neural responses, little is known about whether scanner-based neural activity relates to real-world psychological experience. A joint functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)/experience-sampling study investigated whether individual differences in neurocognitive reactivity to scanner-based social rejection related to: (a) moment-to-moment feelings of social rejection during real-world social interactions ("momentary social distress") and (b) the extent to which these momentary feelings corresponded with end-of-day global assessments of social disconnection ("end-of-day social disconnection"). Individuals who showed greater activity in regions associated with affective and pain processing (dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, amygdala, periaqueductal gray) during scanner-based social rejection reported feeling greater momentary social distress during their daily social interactions. In contrast, individuals who showed greater activity in regions associated with memory and self-referential memory encoding (hippocampus, medial prefrontal cortex) showed a stronger correspondence between momentary social distress and end-of-day social disconnection, such that greater momentary social distress was associated with greater end-of-day social disconnection. These findings complement previous work showing a dissociation between momentary and retrospective reports of affect and suggest that these processes rely on dissociable neural systems.     

The Effects of Precision Teaching and Self-regulated Learning on Early Multiplication Fluency

Fluent recall of basic facts is essential to the development of more complex math skills. Therefore, failure to develop fluency with basic facts may impede the development of these skills. The present study used a between-group experimental design to investigate whether a basic facts fluency program, implemented within a self-regulated learner (SRL) framework, could lead to increased fluency with multiplication facts for Year 5 and Year 6 New Zealand students (9–10 years old). This study also investigated the extent to which the SRL program altered students’ basic facts practice behavior outside of school hours. The study found that the SRL program resulted in rapid fluency development that was maintained over time. Nomothetic and idiographic analysis confirmed that the program was suitable for use within Tier 1 of the response to intervention framework. In addition, the study also found that students who received the program altered their practice behavior outside school hours. The results from this study show how elements of self-regulated learning and precision teaching can be successfully combined to enhance students’ mathematics achievement.