Double Jeopardy Upon Resumé Screening: When Achmed Is Less Employable Than Aïsha

Applicants belong to multiple categories (e.g., male, ethnic minority) and a complex set of factors affects category activation and inhibition when making hiring decisions. Two field experiments with recruiters who regularly engage in resumé screening showed that the role of multiple categories (applicants’ ethnicity and sex) in discrimination depended on job type and prejudice. Specifically, in both low‐ and high‐demand (i.e., complex) jobs, Arab women were rated more favorably than Arab men, particularly when considering levels of client contact. Across both studies, recruiters high in explicit ethnic prejudice were discriminatory only when applicants’ job qualifications fit the job position less, lending support for the attributional‐ambiguity effect. Implicit attitudes did not play a strong role. Our study findings point to the complex nature of multiple categorization effects in the hiring process. Implications are considered as to how to avert hiring discrimination during resumé screening.     

The Centrality of Schools in the Lifecourse: The Case for Focusing on School-Related Influences in Developmental Theory and Research

While the strength of the lifecourse/developmental (LCD) perspective in the examination of antisocial behavior has been clearly demonstrated, this work has given little attention to schools and education as salient influences. By contrast, there is much research using other theoretical frameworks to examine school-related risk factors of deviance. Given what we know about the importance of schooling and education on individual development and subsequent implications for behavior, we contend that academic influences should be more prevalent in LCD theories of deviance and that research using an LCD theoretical perspective should embrace non-LCD work examining school-related risk factors of antisocial behavior.     

Effect of motivation on academic fluency performance in survivors of pediatric medulloblastoma

It has been proposed previously that extrinsic motivation may enable survivors of childhood medulloblastoma to significantly improve aspects of neurocognitive performance. In healthy populations, enhanced motivation has been shown to promote academic fluency, a domain likely more relevant to the educational outcomes of pediatric medulloblastoma survivors than academic skill development. The present study investigates the effect of enhanced extrinsic motivation on fluent (i.e., accurate and efficient) academic performance in pediatric medulloblastoma survivors. Participants were 36 children, ages 7–18, who had completed treatment for medulloblastoma. Participants completed a neuropsychological battery that included administration of equivalent tasks on Forms A and B of the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement. Half were randomly assigned to an incentive condition prior to the administration of Form B. Provision of a performance-based incentive resulted in statistically significant improvement, but not normalization of function, in performance on measures of academic fluency. No demographic, treatment-related, academic, neuropsychological, or self-perception variables predicted response to incentive. Findings suggest that academic performance of survivors may significantly improve under highly motivating conditions. In addition to implications for educational services, this finding raises the novel possibility that decreased motivation represents an inherent neuropsychological deficit in this population and provides a rationale for further investigation of factors affecting individual differences in motivational processes. Further, by examining effort in a context where effort is not inherently suspect, present findings also significantly contribute to the debate regarding the effects of effort and motivation on neuropsychological performance.     

Effects of g‐Loading and Time Lag on Retesting in Job Selection

Understanding influence on and effects of retesting is important to the selection practitioner. This article examines retesting effects on a series of selection measures for mechanically related positions to extend research that has been conducted in more controlled environments. While validity was not significantly different on retesting, time between test attempts and score increase on Spatial Reasoning were positively related, indicating the possibility of learning effects. Lower score increases were found for highly g‐loaded measures, and individuals who showed an increase scored more highly on average on their first attempt. Men tended to increase their scores more than women. We close with a discussion of the practical implications of our findings and how to build on them with future research.     

Refusal Self‐Efficacy Among SMART Recovery Members by Affiliation Length and Meeting Frequency

Using the Brief Situational Confidence Questionnaire, the authors examined the refusal self‐efficacy of 105 Self‐Management and Recovery Training (SMART Recovery) members according to their affiliation length and meeting frequency. Results demonstrated that longer affiliation with SMART Recovery and higher meeting frequency significantly enhanced substance refusal self‐efficacy.