EVEN MORE IDEAS ABOUT METHODOLOGIES FOR DETERMINING JOB DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES

McIntyre and Farr (1979), Hanser, Mendel, and Wolins (1979), and Lissitz, Mendoza, Huberty, and Markos (1979) comment on the repeated measures Analysis of Variance design suggested by Arvey and Mossholder (1977) to detect job differences and similarities. These authors propose alternative procedures to determine job differences. We, in turn, point out here that the problems specified by these critics may not be as severe as they indicate, and that some problems are even nonexistent. Moreover, the alternative solutions they suggest also have their own limitations. Finally, we propose an additional procedure–a multivariate approach to repeated measures data–which might be useful in the context of detecting job differences. It appears as if there are assumptions and limitations to both the univariate and multivariate approaches to the problem; these assumptions and limitations are delineated more precisely in the present paper.     

Language transfer and blocking in second language vocabulary learning

The influence of different vocabulary instructional techniques upon the acquisition of different language words was examined in two experiments. In Experiment 1, comparisons were made between the learning of Chinese and French words employing both paired-associate presentations and spacing procedures. The results supported the view that language transfer affects the acquisition of second language words, with more French words being learned than Chinese words. The superiority of the spacing procedure over the paired-associate presentation found in these results suggested that the spacing method diminished the adverse effects of blocking and thus enhanced learning. However, no significant interaction between the teaching procedures and different language words was detected. That is, under the spacing procedure, greater improvement in learning of Chinese words was not found. The experiment was thus modified by substituting the spacing procedure with aural feedback in Experiment 2. In this experiment, a significant interaction between these two factors was detected. That is, the recall for French was more than Chinese in the paired-associate condition, however, under the aural feedback, performance in Chinese was statistically equivalent to that in French. Hence, these findings may contradict the prediction of language transfer. It appears that the phenomenon of language transfer may be far less important in vocabulary learning than the use of a method of instruction which neutralises the negative effects of blocking.     

The effect of aural feedback in second language vocabulary learning

We examined instructional procedures in the teaching of second language vocabulary, using a paired-associate paradigm. Four presentation methods were investigated, including simultaneous standard, simultaneous reversal, aural feedback, and visual feedback. The study involved 16 grade 7 school children as subjects. Subjects were tested on 28 second language words during the post-test stage. Orthogonal comparisons were carried out for the obtained data. The two feedback conditions proved to be the most beneficial and the more favourable out of these was the aural feedback condition. Also, reversing the two inputs proved to be better than the conventional paired-associate (e.g. presenting the second language word first with the first language word second). Based on the results of this study, it is advocated that the feedback procedures, in particular, be used in second language learning with aural feedback replacing visual feedback.     

ON THE INTERCHANGEABILITY OF OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE MEASURES OF EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE: A META-ANALYSIS

A meta-analysis of studies containing both objective and subjective ratings of employee performance resulted in a corrected mean correlation of .389. This value, although significantly greater than zero, indicates that objective and subjective performance measures should not be used interchangeably. Moreover, in no moderator subgroup examined did the correlation suggest convergent validity. After discussing issues related to resolving the previous anomalies of primary and meta-analytic results, a secondary analysis suggested that objective and subjective measures of the same construct at the same level may be used inter-changeably. The secondary analysis, however, was based on a very limited sample. Future research should address the appropriate dimensionality of employee performance.     

INDIVIDUAL AND SITUATIONAL INFLUENCES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-EFFICACY: IMPLICATIONS FOR TRAINING EFFECTIVENESS

We proposed a model that included individual and situational antecedents of self-efficacy development during training. Initial performance and self-efficacy levels, achievement motivation, and choice were examined as individual variables. Constraints, operationalized at both the individual and aggregate levels of analysis, were examined as situational influences. Mid-course efficacy was hypothesized to have positive linear relationships with training reactions and subsequent performance, and an interactive relationship with performance when training reactions were considered as a moderator. Survey data were gathered at two points in time from 215 students enrolled in 15 eight-week long university bowling classes. All of the hypothesized antecedents of mid-course self-efficacy were significant except aggregate and individual situational constraints, although both constraints related negatively to training reactions. Time 2 self-efficacy exhibited significant positive influences on training reactions and subsequent performance, but the hypothesized moderated relationship was not supported.     

On the devalued self: Implications for a transtheoretical psychotherapy

An outline of a transtheoretical psychotherapy dealing with the participants' individual and interacting self-concepts is presented. It is believed that this approach (1) is consistent with social learning and conflict theories of psychopathology, (2) provides a concise definition of the patient's central problem and of the relevant goals of treatment, (3) suggests ways of understanding the centrally important covert processes of psychotherapy and of dealing with the participants' resistances to treatment, (4) offers empirical criteria for determining treatment progress and for terminating treatment, and (5) suggests possibilities for psychotherapy research based on empirical criteria.     

A METHOD FOR ESTABLISHING THE REPRESENTATIONAL VALIDITY OF INTERACTION CODING SYSTEMS: DO WE SEE WHAT THEY SEE?

This paper offers a new methodological approach to establishing the validity of interaction coding schemes, and it reports research which applies these procedures to three coding systems that have been used to study small group decision making: Bales' (1950) Interaction Process Analysis System, Fisher's (1970) Decision Proposal Coding System, and Mabry's (1975) Pattern Variable Coding System. The procedures offered here provide a method for determining whether the functions or constructs identified by a coding system are part of the common meanings ascribed to the participants in the interaction. Of the three coding systems evaluated in the study, the IPA System represented subjects' interpretations of decision-making interaction better than the Decision Proposal System, which, in turn, performed better than the Pattern Variable System.     

Transparency and Photographic Contact

Kendall Walton famously argues that photographic images—in contrast with handmade images—are transparent; we see through them to the persons or objects that were in front of the camera at the moment of exposure. Walton also argues, separately, that our philosophical investigations in the representational arts generally should adopt the methodology of theory construction. This article brings together these two strands of Walton's thought by rendering his argument for photographic transparency in the form of a theory consisting of a perceptual natural kind and an underlying naturally dependent process, the former postulated in order to account for various photographic explananda. The surprising result is that Walton's theory, thus construed, yields at least one prediction that is in conflict with what we observe and that, because of this, he is forced to embellish his theory in ways that render it psychologically implausible and that raise the worry of ad hoc patching up.