Readability of prescription drug labels by older and younger adults

This experiment investigated the readability of medication labels using various combinations of fonts, sizes, and weights of print. Older and younger adult reading speeds and error rates for different print types were compared for both bottle and flat labels. Findings of the study indicated significant differences in reading speed, error rates, and subjective evaluations for print characteristics investigated. Furthermore, the effects of these print characteristics varied for different age groups. Implications of these findings for the design of medication labels for older adults are discussed.     

Examination of the Discriminant,Convergent, and Criterion‐Related Validity of Self‐Ratings on the Emotional Competence Inventory

We found that self‐ratings on the Emotional Competence Inventory (ECI) had small relationships with, but a distinct factor structure from, the Big‐Five personality dimensions. ECI self‐ratings were unrelated to academic performance and general mental ability. ECI self‐ratings had significant, albeit small, correlations with EC‐related behaviors and peer nominations of influence during a leaderless group discussion, coworkers' ratings of managerial skills, and number of promotions received. However, with one exception, these significant relationships disappeared after controlling for personality and age.     

Are the characteristics of narrative comments related to improvement in multirater feedback ratings over time?

Researchers have paid almost no attention to the narrative comments that typically accompany multirater feedback reports despite the fact that both anecdotal and empirical evidence suggest that feedback recipients devote considerable attention to such comments. The authors examined improvement in upward feedback ratings over a 1-year period for 176 managers as a function of (a) the number of narrative comments each manager received, (b) whether those comments were favorable (vs. unfavorable), and (c) whether the comments were behavior/task focused (vs. trait focused). The authors found that managers who received a small number of unfavorable, behavior/task-focused comments improved more than did other managers, whereas managers who received a large number of unfavorable, behavior/task-focused comments declined more than did other managers.