The effect of response bias on recall performance, with some observations on processing bias

We explored Roediger and Payne's proposal that response bias does not affect recall performance and that it is therefore not necessary to control for response productivity in recall studies. Two initial experiments, contrary to expectation, corroborated Roediger and Payne's findings: Forced recall did not produce more correct recalls than free recall, even though forced recall produced substantially more false alarms than did free recall. However, in succeeding experiments involving pictorial and verbal stimuli, reliable response-bias effects on recall were demonstrated. The stimuli yielding response-bias effects were those associated with higher probabilities of being guessed by chance. In addition, some of the data suggest that processing-bias effects (differential retrieval effort) may be unintentionally induced by instructions and may significantly affect recall memory. Consequently, it is necessary to assess or to control response-bias effects and, possibly, processing-bias effects in recall experiments in which level of recall is of interest.     

Political and Nonpolitical Authority in Values Education

This article is an examination of the political (public consensus) and nonpolitical authority as a basis for values education in a democratic society. The author advocates that nonpolitical authority can be a basis for defending the teaching of values in public schools.     

Mental Health Values and Response to Alcoholism Treatment

Mental health values consist of the subset of values that refer to what constitutes good mental health. Torrey (1972) suggested that agreement between patient and therapist about such values may influence psychotherapy outcome. The authors found mixed support for this hypothesis using a sample of 100 chemical dependency inpatients. Positive treatment effects were associated with pretreatment agreement between counselor and patient about some mental health values, but with pretreatment disagreement about others. Because outcome measures assess general personality functioning, the authors suggest that attitudes about what constitutes good mental health may predict general psychotherapy effects as well as response to alcoholism treatment.     

DO PUBLIC SCHOOLS TEACH SECULAR HUMANISM? WHY WE MAY NEVER KNOW

Members of the New Right regularly charge that public schools teach secular humanism. This alleged teaching of secular humanism is held responsible for varied social ills and is perceived as a violation of constitutional prohibitions against the advocacy of one set of religious beliefs over others. Although New Right attacks may be perceived as political tactics, the author explores them as empirical claims that schools are in fact teaching secular humanism. Currently, there is no persuasive body of research supporting the New Right allegations. The author questions whether or not such research could be designed and concludes that it could but, for various reasons, is unlikely ever to be enacted.     

Characteristics of Alcoholism Among Catholic Sisters: Results of a National Survey

In this article the author reports results from a national survey of recovering alcoholic Catholic Sisters, describing their addiction history, treatment, and the role of the community.     

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RECRUITING SOURCE, APPLICANT QUALITY, AND HIRE PERFORMANCE: AN ANALYSIS BY SEX, ETHNICITY, AND AGE

This study investigated both an applicant pool and its resulting class of new hires in an attempt to clarify a number of empirical questions concerning recruiting source effectiveness. A pre-established database of applicants and hires for the job of life insurance agent in a large insurance company was analyzed for recruiting activity. Differences in applicant quality and new hire survival were found in favor of the informal recruiting sources. A second measure of hire success, new business commission credits, failed to show differences across recruiting sources. The informal recruiting sources yielded significantly higher selection ratios than did formal sources for all groups. Examination of recruiting source use showed significant group differences, with females and blacks using the formal recruiting sources more frequently than males, non-minorities, and Hispanics. While the informal recruiting sources yielded higher quality applicants and more successful hires for all groups, this research cautions that the implementation of revised recruiting policies must be carefully monitored for adverse effects on protected groups.     

REACTANCE AND INTENTIONALITY ATTRIBUTIONS AS DETERMINANTS OF THE INTENT TO FILE A GRIEVANCE

Experimental studies were conducted in two unions to examine the effects of perceptual variables–namely, reactance and intentionality attributions–on the intent to seek redress from management action. Participants responded to a series of vignettes, each of which described a management action (formal punishment, informal warning, promotion denial) taken against an employee. The vignettes varied systematically in terms of the perceived threat to worker freedom posed by the action and the degree to which the action was motivated by a dispositional rather than an environmental attribution. Both studies demonstrated that greater threat and dispositional attributions provoked stronger intent to file a grievance. Implications of the findings were discussed for investigating and screening grievances.     

KIRKPATRICK'S LEVELS OF TRAINING CRITERIA: THIRTY YEARS LATER

Kirkpatrick's model (1959a, 1959b, 1960a, 1960b) of training evaluation criteria has had widespread and enduring popularity. This model proposed four "levels" of training evaluation criteria: reactions, learning, behavior, and results. Three problematic assumptions of the model may be identified: (1) The levels are arranged in ascending order of information provided. (2) The levels are causally linked. (3) The levels are positively intercorrelated. This article examines the validity of these assumptions, the frequency of each level in published evaluation studies, correlations from the literature in regard to Assumptions 2 and 3, and implications for the researcher and training manager.     

A FIELD STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ORGANIZATIONAL FEEDBACK ENVIRONMENT AND PERFORMANCE

This field study used the Job Feedback Survey (Herold & Parsons, 1985) and performance data gathered from multiple sources to examine the relationship between the perceived organizational feedback environment and performance. Regression analyses indicated that, while holding the other feedback variables constant, feedback from supervisory and organizational sources was related to reported job performance while feedback from peers and self was not. Most of the unique variance in performance explained by feedback was also accounted for by feedback from organizational and supervisory sources. Negative expressions from organizational/supervisory sources (e.g., the supervisor expressing anger, the company communicating dissatisfaction with poor performance) were related to lower performance, and positive job changes initiated by these sources (e.g., increasing responsibility, assignment to special jobs) were related to higher performance. Higher performers did not receive more feedback than lower performers but did receive more total positive feedback. Supplemental issues, possible explanations, and implications of the findings are discussed.