ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVE: ANALYZING THE VALIDITY OF THE WOFO

Spence and Helmreich developed the Work and Family Orientation (WOFO) Questionnaire as a multidimensional measure of achievement motivation and attitudes toward family and career because they believed that a unitary construct of achievement motivation was not sufficient to account for broad patterns of behavior in varied situations. This article reviews the evidence for the construct validity of the WOFO questionnaire based on data from a large group (N = 3, 727) of men and women with high educational and career aspirations. Evidence presented includes factor analysis of the WOFO subscale dimensions, subscale reliabilities, and an analysis of the effect of gender and masculinity-femininity on achievement motives. The research confirms new insights regarding the relationship between achievement motives and sex roles for women and men.     

Impact of automation on aircrew communication and decision-making performance

Increasing levels of automation are being introduced into the cockpit. Yet, it is difficult to predict the impact of these automatic systems on other elements of flight, such as crew communication and the ability to arrive at an effective decision. This study attempted to clarify the relation among these variables. Forty-eight pilots were assigned to two-person crews and asked to fly a simulated mission in either automated or manual conditions using a low-fidelity simulator. The scenario was designed to require crewmembers to arrive at a collective decision based on information obtained about an evolving simulated disaster. The results indicated that the introduction of automation was not associated with better performance. However, several significant differences were observed in the communications of crews flying in the automated versus manual conditions. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for communications training for advanced technology aircraft.     

A case study of a psychohistorical figure: The influence of the Holocaust on identity

The Holocaust, as well as being a historical event that contributes to an understanding of the shape of current external reality, is also a psychological event that provides themes and metaphors around which personal identity is organized. The history of a child of a Holocaust Survivor who denies any reaction to her father's Survivor status and sees herself as a Jewish American Princess is discussed in terms of how she has unconsciously organized her identity around Holocaust themes that fuse with psychodynamic issues arising out of her family relationships. The issues of psychic numbing with regard to the crystallization of such a psychohistorical identity is also discussed.     

Acute and chronic stress effects on performance in a forced-swim task

The effects of uncontrollable stressors on performance in a subsequent forced-swim paradigm were assessed in mice. Uncontrollable shock initially induced behavioral invigoration; however, within 24 h of stressor application, swimming behavior was depressed relative to nonstressed mice. The controllability of the stressor did not influence the initial invigoration, being present among escapably shocked mice as well as among mice that received (yoked) inescapable shock. In contrast, the depression of responding evident 24 h after stressor application was related to the availability of behavioral coping methods. Finally, following repeated exposure to footshock there was no indication of adaptation to the behavioral changes ordinarily induced by acute shock stress. The data were related to the effects of uncontrollable stressors on escape performance, and with respect to the use of this preparation as an animal model of human depression.     

Effects of orienting tasks on sentence comprehension and cued recall

In three experiments, cued recall of sentences was found to vary with the type of orienting task performed during sentence presentation. Retrieval cues referred to information probably inferred from the sentences. Each of the semantic tasks led to greater recall than did the nonsernantic task; this task effect occurred in a between-subjects design and in a within-subjects design. Furthermore, the use of a task-indicating signal after each sentence, in the within-subjects design, allowed the manipulation of the timing and type of orienting task. The task effect on recall appeared even with a delay of the task-indicating signal and/or the addition of an initial semantic task (performed prior to the indicated task). The findings suggest both a processing explanation and an interruption explanation of task effects.     

Comparing infants’ preference for correlated audiovisual speech with signal‐level computational models

How much of infant behaviour can be accounted for by signal‐level analyses of stimuli? The current paper directly compares the moment‐by‐moment behaviour of 8‐month‐old infants in an audiovisual preferential looking task with that of several computational models that use the same video stimuli as presented to the infants. One type of model utilizes only signal‐level properties of visual motion whereas the other adds audiovisual integration (either through correlation or instantaneous addition of audio and visual signals). Together these models account for a significant portion of the variance in infant looking.     

Attachment security differs by later autism spectrum disorder: A prospective study

Although difficulties with social relationships are key to autism spectrum disorder (ASD), no previous study has examined infant attachment security prior to ASD diagnosis. We prospectively assessed attachment security at 15 months in high‐risk infants with later ASD (high‐risk/ASD, n = 16), high‐risk infants without later ASD (high‐risk/no‐ASD, n = 40), and low‐risk infants without later ASD (low‐risk/no‐ASD, n = 39) using the Strange Situation Procedure. High‐risk/ASD infants were disproportionately more likely to be classified as insecure (versus secure) and more likely to be classified as insecure‐resistant (versus secure or avoidant) than high‐risk/no‐ASD and low‐risk/no‐ASD infants. High‐risk infants with insecure‐resistant attachments were over nine times more likely to receive an ASD diagnosis than high‐risk infants with secure attachments. Insecure‐resistant attachment in high‐risk infants suggests a propensity toward negative affect with the parent in conditions of stress. Insecure‐resistant attachment may prove useful as a potential early index of propensity toward ASD diagnosis in high‐risk siblings, while insecure‐resistant attachment in the context of emergent autism may contribute to difficulties experienced by children with ASD and their families.