Enhanced recognition of memorable pictures in ultra-fast RSVP

Long-term recognition memory for some pictures is consistently better than for others (Isola, Xiao, Parikh, Torralba, & Oliva, IEEE Transaction on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (PAMI), 36(7), 1469–1482, 2014). Here, we investigated whether pictures found to be memorable in a long-term memory test are also perceived more easily when presented in ultra-rapid RSVP. Participants viewed 6 pictures they had never seen before that were presented for 13 to 360 ms per picture in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) sequence. In half the trials, one of the pictures was a memorable or a nonmemorable picture and perception of this picture was probed by a visual recognition test at the end of the sequence. Recognition for pictures from the memorable set was higher than for those from the nonmemorable set, and this difference increased with increasing duration. Nonmemorable picture recognition was low initially, did not increase until 120 ms, and never caught up with memorable picture recognition performance. Thus, the long-term memorability of an image is associated with initial perceptibility: A picture that is hard to grasp quickly is hard to remember later.     

Predicting staff retention from employee motivation and job satisfaction

This study investigated the role of employee motivation and job satisfaction as predictors of staff retention in a foreign exchange bank. Participants were 341 employees of a South African foreign exchange bank division (female?=?62.8%; black?=?31.1%; managers?=?37%, mean years of experience?=?10 years). The employees completed the following self-report measures: Work Preference Inventory, Job Satisfaction Survey, and Employee Retention Questionnaire. Structural equation modelling was applied in the analysis to test the prediction effect of employee motivation and job satisfaction on staff retention. The findings of the model fit revealed that the model (employee motivation and employee job satisfaction) explained an estimated 46% of the variance in the employee retention construct. The job satisfaction construct in the model explained an estimated 66% of the variance in the employee retention construct; while the employee motivation construct explained only 8% of the variance. Organisational talent management should seek to identify employee motivation and job satisfaction interventions that might help to retain talented staff.     

Serial and subjective clustering on a verbal learning test (VLT) in children aged 5–15: The nature of subjective clustering

This study investigated which strategies children aged 5–15 years (N?=?408) employ while performing a multitrial free recall test of semantically unrelated words. Serial clustering (i.e., a relatively passive strategy) is an index of the sequential consistency of recall order. Subjective clustering (i.e., a more active strategy) is based on similar word groupings in successive trials. Previously, Meijs et al. (2009 Meijs, C. J. C., Hurks, P. P. M., Kalff, A. C., Slaats-Willemse, D. I. E., Rozendaal, N. and Jolles, J. 2009. Differential development of learning strategies on a Pictorial Verbal Learning Test (PVLT) in primary school children. Child Neuropsychology, 15: 247–261. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) found that the level of (serial and subjective) clustering increases with age. At all ages, the level of serial clustering correlates positively with the ability to recall information on VLT trials. However, subjective clustering is more predictive of VLT performance than serial clustering after ≥ 3 trials, but only in children aged 8+. Knowledge on how children organize words (based on, for example, sound or meaning) and how this relates to developmental stage is still lacking. This study revealed that the level of subjective clustering is primarily determined by the position of words in a VLT list. More specifically, primacy (i.e., recall of words 1–3 of the VLT list — whether recalled in the same order or reversed) and recency (i.e., recall of words 14–15) effects primarily determine level subjective organization over successive trials. Thus, older children still organize words based on the serial position of the VLT list and are much less likely to organize them based on any other feature of the words, for example, sound or meaning. This indicates that the most important information to be learned needs to be presented first or last, even in older children and even with repeated presentations.     

Report on work in progress: “Towards a new science of the human”

A multidisciplinary and global study of the evolutionary process of the universe in general and mankind in particular is proposed, drawing from both modern science, approached by taking into consideration its various interdependent aspects; and the study of western and eastern ancient traditions, which prove to have a common foundation that is the comprehension and the control of the evolutionary process itself.

Such a study will lead to the compilation of a “Corpus Unus” of the new science of the human, a science which does not belong to a race, a culture or an age, but is specific to the human being as such.

Such a science will imply the exploration of mankind and of the evolutionary process, and applying the results in a pragmatic way to the betterment of human beings, society, and universe.     

Feedback type as a moderator of the relationship between achievement goals and feedback reactions

The aim of the current study is to shed new light on the inconsistent relationship between performance‐approach (PAp) goals and feedback reactions by examining feedback type as a moderator. Results of a field experiment (N = 939) using a web‐based work simulation task showed that the effect of achievement‐approach goals was moderated by feedback type. Relative to individuals pursuing mastery‐approach goals, individuals pursuing PAp goals responded more negatively to comparative feedback but not to task‐referenced feedback. In line with the hypothesized mediated moderation model, the interaction between achievement goals and feedback type also indirectly affected task performance through feedback reactions. Providing employees with feedback is a key psychological principle used in a wide range of human resource and performance management instruments (e.g., developmental assessment centres, multi‐source/360° feedback, training, selection, performance appraisal, management education, computer‐adaptive testing, and coaching). The current study suggests that organizations need to strike a balance between encouraging learning and encouraging performance, as too much emphasis on comparative performance (both in goal inducement and in feedback style) may be detrimental to employees' reactions and rate of performance improvement.     

The developing role of prosody in novel word interpretation

This study examined whether children use prosodic correlates to word meaning when interpreting novel words. For example, do children infer that a word spoken in a deep, slow, loud voice refers to something larger than a word spoken in a high, fast, quiet voice? Participants were 4- and 5-year-olds who viewed picture pairs that varied along a single dimension (e.g., big vs. small flower) and heard a recorded voice asking them, for example, “Can you get the blicket one?” spoken with either meaningful or neutral prosody. The 4-year-olds failed to map prosodic cues to their corresponding meaning, whereas the 5-year-olds succeeded (Experiment 1). However, 4-year-olds successfully mapped prosodic cues to word meaning following a training phase that reinforced children’s attention to prosodic information (Experiment 2). These studies constitute the first empirical demonstration that young children are able to use prosody-to-meaning correlates as a cue to novel word interpretation.     

Dominant achievement goals of older workers and their relationship with motivation-related outcomes

The aim of this study was to increase our insight into older employees' achievement motivation by examining the prevalence of dominant achievement goals among a “unique” group of 172 Dutch workers who remained active after their post-statutory retirement age. Moreover, we investigated how their dominant achievement goals were linked to motivation-related outcomes (i.e., work engagement and meaning of work). Our results showed that, relative to younger workers, a significantly higher amount of older workers endorsed dominant mastery-avoidance goals. In addition, as expected, older workers with dominant mastery-approach goals scored highest, while the workers with dominant mastery-avoidance goals scored lowest in work engagement, social and personal meaning of work. Theoretical as well as practical implications of these results are discussed.     

Depressive symptoms and unmitigated communion in support providers

In this research, we argue and demonstrate that the association between enacted (un)supportive behaviour and depressive symptoms is a function of the providers' levels of unmitigated communion (UC). UC is characterized by overinvolvement in others' problems, self‐neglect and externalized self‐evaluation. These characteristics appear to predispose individuals high in UC to experience depressive symptoms. As anticipated, we show that enacted supportive behaviour was negatively associated with depressive symptoms (Study 1 and 2), and enacted unsupportive behaviour was positively associated with depressive symptoms (Study 2), but only among individuals low in UC. Our findings are consistent with the idea that for high UC individuals, enacting supportive behaviour, or not enacting unsupportive behaviour, is insufficient to reduce their high levels of depressive symptoms. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Psychiatric nurses' experiences with inpatient aggression

Using a survey instrument, the experiences of psychiatric nurses with inpatient aggression were investigated in East London, U.K. On this “Perceptions of Prevalence Of Aggression Scale” (POPAS), annual experiences with 15 types of disruptive and aggressive behavior were rated anonymously. Staff members were also asked to disclose the number of days missed from work due to inpatient violence. On the basis of these POPAS forms, internal consistency of the instrument, mean reported aggression frequencies, and days missed from work due to violence were calculated. Internal consistency of the POPAS appeared to be reasonable. Verbal abuse and threats were experienced by most of the psychiatric nurses during a one‐year period (i.e., by about 80–90 percent of nurses). Sexual harassment or intimidation was also experienced relatively often on an annual basis (68 percent), particularly by female and young staff members. A minority of staff members (i.e., 16 percent) had experienced severe physical violence. Although not prevalent, this type of behavior was most strongly connected with reporting sick. In particular, staff members working with involuntarily admitted patients experienced much (severe) violence during their work. Although the validity of estimates of aggression prevalence with the POPAS instrument needs to be investigated further, such a survey may be helpful in gaining insight rather quickly into the level of day‐to‐day contact with aggressive behavior. Also, since information on verbal, physical, and sexual violence, and on days missed from work, can be provided anonymously, this rather delicate, but essential management information, may be accessed relatively easily with the POPAS. Aggr. Behav. 00:000–000, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.