Reconsidering the Job‐Performance—Turnover Relationship: The Role of Gender in Form and Magnitude1

Research assessing the relationship between job performance and turnover has historically yielded mixed results. Reported findings have reflected no relationships, linear associations, or U‐shaped forms between these constructs. The current study attempted to shed light on the intricate relationship between job performance and voluntary turnover by investigating gender boundaries and relevant controls. After controlling for age, tenure, and job satisfaction, the data provided evidence of a U‐shaped association between job performance and turnover. However, once the data were partitioned into male and female subsamples, a different pattern emerged, whereby males continued to reflect the U‐shaped relationship and females reflected no job‐performance‐turnover relationship. Implications of these findings for both theory and research are provided.     

Interpreting references to group membership in context: feelings about intergroup contact depending on who says what to whom

Contact research often manipulates the salience of group membership, with little consideration of how such manipulations affect feelings toward intergroup contact, and how contextual features may moderate its effects. We propose that feelings toward intergroup contact may not depend solely on the degree to which group membership appears to be salient, but on how references to group membership are interpreted in the intergroup context. Two experimental studies examined how references to group membership may be interpreted differently depending on their source (ingroup or outgroup) and the recipient (minority or majority), and how these interpretations predict feelings toward cross‐group interactions. In Study 1, references to group membership were interpreted more negatively from an outgroup source among majority participants, yet a reverse pattern was observed for minority participants. Similar effects were obtained in Study 2, yet participants tended to respond negatively when an outgroup member referred specifically to their group. Moreover, feelings about cross‐group interactions were predicted only (Study 1) and strongly (Study 2) by the degree to which outgroup members' references were interpreted negatively, beyond what was predicted by participants' general awareness of group membership. Implications of these findings for future research on contact and salience are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Source-monitoring judgments about anagrams and their solutions: Evidence for the role of cognitive operations information in memory

Generating solutions to anagrams leads to a memory advantage for those solutions, with generated words remembered better than words simply read. However, an additional advantage is not typically found for solutions to difficult anagrams relative to solutions to easy ones, presenting a challenge for the cognitive effort explanation of the generation effect. In the present series of experiments, the effect of manipulating anagram difficulty is explored further by introducing two new source-monitoring judgments. These studies demonstrate that when attention is directed at test to the operations activated during encoding (by way of source-monitoring judgments focused on solving vs. constructing anagrams), a source advantage is observed for difficult anagrams. However, when attention is directed to the anagrams themselves, asking participants to remember the kinds of anagrams generated or solved (based on kind of rule rather than subjective impressions of difficulty), a similar source advantage is not observed. The present studies bring a new perspective to the investigation of difficulty manipulations on memory for problem solving by illustrating the impact of a shift in focus from the effort mediating cognitive operations to specifics about the cognitive operations themselves.     

New York City young adults’ psychological reactions to 9/11: findings from the Reach for Health longitudinal study

This research examines psychological distress among 955 economically disadvantaged New York City residents surveyed during high school and again after the September 11th terrorist attacks (9/11), when they were young adults. As part of the longitudinal Reach for Health study, young adult surveys were conducted from 6–19 months post-9/11 (average 8 months), providing opportunity to assess types of exposures and psychological distress, including symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, hopelessness, and anger. Regressions of psychological distress on 9/11 exposure were performed, controlling for high school distress, prior exposure to violence victimization, and socio-demographic characteristics. Exposure to 9/11 was positively associated with anger, hopelessness, and PTSD symptoms and a measure of global distress. The relationship was greater among women for PTSD symptoms. Although those who reported high school distress also reported more distress in young adulthood, prior psychological distress did not moderate the relationship between exposure and psychological outcomes. Greater exposure is related to distress among those who, during high school, reported lower distress, as well as among those who reported prior greater distress.     

Effect of prefrontal cortex damage on resolving lexical ambiguity in text

The function of suppression of context-inappropriate meanings during lexical ambiguity resolution was examined in 25 adults with prefrontal cortex damage (PFCD) localized to the left (N=8), right (N=6), or bilaterally (N=11); and 21 matched Controls. Results revealed unexpected inverse patterns of suppression between PFCD and Control groups, with measures suggesting decreased interference across time in the PFCD group and increased interference in the Control group. The PFCD group, however, had significantly lower accuracy rates for the context-inappropriate condition. Results suggest a loss of the control aspects of inhibitory processes in lexical ambiguity resolution following PFCD. An aging effect on suppression function is also suggested.     

Hemispheric asymmetries in visual word-form processing: progress, conflict, and evaluating theories

The ubiquitous left-hemisphere advantage in visual word processing can be accounted for in different ways. Competing theories have been tested recently using cAsE-aLtErNaTiNg words to investigate boundary conditions for the typical effect. We briefly summarize this research and examine the disagreements and commonalities across the theoretical perspectives. This work may provide a good example why a multi-level, multi-method, and multi-paradigm approach holds the greatest promise for rapid theoretical progress.     

Training conditional and cumulative risk judgements: the role of frequencies,problem‐structure and einstellung

Two experiments implement and evaluate a training scheme for learning to apply frequency formats to probability judgements couched in terms of percentages. Results indicate that both conditional and cumulative probability judgements can be improved in this manner, however the scheme is insufficient to promote any deeper understanding of the problem structure. In both experiments, training on one problem type only (either conditional or cumulative risk judgements) resulted in an inappropriate transfer of a learned method at test. The obstacles facing a frequency‐based training programme for teaching appropriate use of probability data are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evidence-based psychological treatments for insomnia in older adults

The review describes evidence-based psychological treatments (EBTs) for insomnia in older adults. Following coding procedures developed by the American Psychological Association's Committee on Science and Practice of the Society for Clinical Psychology, two treatments were found to meet EBT criteria: sleep restriction-sleep compression therapy and multicomponent cognitive-behavioral therapy. One additional treatment (stimulus control therapy) partially met criteria, but further corroborating studies are needed. At the present time, there is insufficient evidence to consider other psychological treatments, including cognitive therapy, relaxation, and sleep hygiene education, as stand-alone interventions beneficial for treating insomnia in older adults. Additional research is also needed to examine the efficacy of alternative-complementary therapies, such as bright light therapy, exercise, and massage. This review highlights potential problems with using coding procedures proposed in the EBT coding manual when reviewing the existing insomnia literature. In particular, the classification of older adults as persons age 60 and older and the lack of rigorous consideration of medical comorbidities warrant discussion in the future.     

Does a Marriage Ideal Exist? Using Q-Sort Methodology to Compare Young Adults’ and Professional Educators’ Views on Healthy Marriages

This study sought to understand whether young adults and family educators share beliefs about the components of a successful relationship. Young adults viewed successful relationships as having partners who agree on most issues. Educators characterized successful partners as exhibiting positive communication patterns and using relationship maintenance strategies. A third prototype included young adults and educators who described successful relationships in terms of agreement and problem solving behaviors. Implications for researchers and practitioners conclude the article.     

Neurocognitive sequelae of pediatric sickle cell disease: a review of the literature.

This literature review summarizes all studies relating neuropsychological performance to neuroimaging findings in pediatric sickle cell disease (N=28; published 1991-2005). Although inconsistencies exist within and across domains, deficits in intelligence (IQ), attention and executive functions, memory, language, visuomotor abilities, and academic achievement have been identified. Overall neurocognitive compromise was revealed to be related to the level of neurological injury and the location of silent infarct. Attentional and executive dysfunction is prevalent and related to frontal lobe abnormalities.