Role of environmental context in eyewitness memory

We investigated whether varying the environmental context will affect the magnitude of retroactive interference produced by misleading postevent information in an eyewitness memory paradigm. Previous eyewitness memory studies have typically presented the original and misleading information in the same environmental context. In this experiment, the physical contexts in which the original information and the misleading information were presented were varied, a procedure that is more analogous to what usually occurs in real world situations. We tested 288 subjects, half using the original and misleading information in the same encoding context and half using a different context for presenting the two types of information. Memory for the original event was assessed using either the standard recognition test procedure or the modified test developed by McCloskey and Zaragoza (1985). Measures of both recognition accuracy and response latency showed no difference in performance attributable to varying the environmental context. The present data replicate the findings of previous single-context experiments that showed the two recognition test procedures to produce different patterns of results. Thus, environmental context seems to play little role in determining the magnitude of the misleading postevent information effect.     

Massed vs. spaced exposure sessions in the treatment of agoraphobia

The differential effects of massed and spaced sessions of exposure in vivo were investigated with 11 agoraphobics in a crossover design. Clients were randomly assigned to one of the following two groups: (a) 10 daily sessions followed by 10 weekly sessions, or (b) 10 once-weekly sessions followed by 10 daily sessions. The results indicated that both massed and spaced sessions of exposure in vivo effected changes in avoidance behavior and subjective anxiety of agoraphobics, massed practice being superior especially with respect to avoidance. It was suggested that the superiority of massed practice is due to the lack of opportunity to engage in avoidance or escape during short inter-session intervals. The relationship between subjective anxiety and avoidance were considered and the differences between clinical and statistical significance were discussed.     

Stereotypes focus defensive projection

Defensive projection is the process of perceiving one's undesirable qualities in others. The present research shows how stereotypes guide and justify the projection of specific traits onto specific group members. In four studies, the authors demonstrated that people who experienced a threat to a specific dimension of their self-concept selectively activated this dimension in a stereotype and derogated stereotyped others on this dimension. They further showed that stereotyped individuals are more likely to serve as targets of projection than are nonstereotyped individuals. These results demonstrate the functional role of stereotypes in guiding and constraining motivated self-enhancement.     

Damages and rewards: assessment of malingered disorders in compensation cases

The assessment of malingering poses unique challenges to forensic practitioners in compensation cases and disability determinations. Beyond malingering itself, false claims can be presented regarding both the source of genuine symptoms and their injurious effects on work and social functioning. The article examines how contextually based psychological factors can affect clients' presentation in compensation cases. Important distinctions between different types of response style (e.g. malingering, feigning, and secondary gain) are presented. In addition, empirically validated detection strategies provide a clinical framework for the assessment of feigned disorders. With an emphasis on compensation cases and clinically relevant disorders, the effectiveness of these detection strategies is considered for specific psychological measures.     

Effects of service provider attitudes and employment status on citizenship behaviors and customers' attitudes and loyalty behavior

The relationship among job satisfaction, affective commitment, service-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty were examined for a sample of 249 hairstylists and 1 of their corresponding customers. Employee satisfaction was positively related to service-oriented OCBs, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty, whereas affective commitment was not related to these outcomes. The extent to which the predictor variables interacted with one another and the role of employment status on these relationships was also explored. High levels of job satisfaction or affective commitment resulted in more service-oriented OCBs for employees and self-employed workers, whereas high levels of both resulted in more service-oriented OCBs for owners.     

On the theoretical foundations of Soviet psychology

Conclusion We are now in a position to examine the claim that Pavlovian physiology and Marxist-Leninist philosophy form two complementary systems.There is certainly a similarity between the Leninist theory of reflection and Pavlov's theory of higher nervous activity. Both present so-called psychic phenomena as a reaction of the organism to the stimuli of the outer world and both insist that this reflection is not a passive reception of impressions but is an active response on the part of the organism.Again both systems are monist; they are united in excluding the possibility of having recourse to a non-material substance as the basis for psychic phenomena. But for Pavlov this exclusion is a scientific axiom while for Marxism-Leninism it is founded on philosophical materialism. However, the most important difference between Pavlov's theories and Marxism-Leninism on this point is that Pavlov's approach to psychic is fundamentally mechanistic and reductionist whereas that of Marxism-Leninism is dialectical and consequently anti-reductionist and anti-mechanist. Soviet psychology is, in consequence, founded partly on a mechanist system which is not materialist in the full sense of the word, and partly on a materialist system which is definitely not mechanist. From this point of view there is a definite discrepancy between the two traditions on which Soviet psychology is founded and which goes a long way towards explaining many of the inconsistencies in Soviet psychological theory.     

A Comparative Study of Knowledge of Changing Demographic Trends and the Importance of HRM Practices in Three European Countries

Recent changes in the demographic structures of industrialized nations pose a potentially serious threat to work organizations in terms of their ability to attract and retain high calibre personnel. Specifically, the number of young people in their late teens and early-to-mid twenties is on the decline at the present time, coupled with a long-term recession, thus posing a dilemma for organizations concerned to develop and maintain a viable workforce. This article reports the findings of a three-country comparative study, conducted in The Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom, designed to investigate the extent to which graduate employers are aware of current demographic trends in the labour market and what HRM policies they are instituting, given this context. The findings reveal considerable levels of ignorance across all three countries, suggesting that attempts by various Government bodies, employers' organizations, professional associations and academics to draw attention to the potentially serious consquences of inadequate planning and future skill provision have largely failed. The results indicate that many organizations are engaging in human resource strategies which are not well suited to meeting the challenges of the 1990s.