Interviewer evaluations of interviewee nonverbal behavior

Personnel representatives (N = 52) were shown one of four videotaped job interviews in which the verbal content of the 16-min interview was identical, but the interviewee's nonverbal behavior was manipulated. A “low nonverbal” interviewee was defined by minimal eye contact, low energy level, lack of affect and voice modulation, and a lack of speech fluency. The “high nonverbal” interviewee demonstrated the opposite behavior on each of these components. The subjects were asked to rate the videotaped candidates on dimensions previously identified as critical in influencing a job interviewer's decisions. Nonverbal behavior was found to have a significant effect on almost every rating made by subjects in this study. After reviewing the entire 16-min interview, 23 of the 26 subjects who saw the “high nonverbal” candidate would have invited him/her for a second interview. All 26 of the subjects who saw the “low nonverbal” candidate would not have recommended a second interview.     

The web of work for technical and managerial employees

This study examines aspects of the job and off-job lives of technical and managerial employees. A framework for studying parallel dimensions in these two life spheres is developed. Variables include alienation—powerlessness and meaninglessness—and activities—variety, control, social interaction, and purpose. Findings show strong interaction between alienation from work and that experienced from life off the job. Limited relationships between activity dimensions were found. Overall, results suggest that employees' feelings of alienation carry over strongly between the two life spheres but that only limited carry-over occurs between job activities and those away from work. Findings give no support to the compensatory view of relationships between employees' job and off-job lives.     

Finite-state recall revealed by backward learning curves constructed from confidence ratings

Two experiments were carried out to show that the constancy of Type II d’ in recall is not an artifact, but is due to finite-state processes as suggested by Bernbach (1967). The following conclusions were reached: (1) The constancy of Type II d’ is not an artifact due to the inclusion of intralist intrusions in the class of incorrect responses; (2) backward learning curves constructed from confidence ratings gave clear evidence of all-or-none recall; (3) recall appeared to be all or none whether the subjects learned by rote or with a mnemonic; (4) the discriminability index derived from Luce’s (1959) choice theory did not exhibit constancy over trials, unlike Type II d’ and despite the fact that backward rating curves indicated all-or-none processes.     

Social cues, cognitive style, error magnitude, and male performance on the Felt Figure Replacement Technique.

A series of studies was undertaken to determine possible factors contributing to low predictive utility for Felt Figure Replacement Technique (FFRT) scores from normal, adult males. It was first postulated that normal adult males, compared to normal adult females, are less sensitive to social cues present in the FFRT task. Twenty-six undergraduate males and the same number of undergraduate females were asked to replace both a) department store manikins, thought to be less abstract, and then b) felt figures. While task differences were obtained, these were not dependent on gender, nor did any overall gender differences occur for three types of replacement error. The second study involved 31 college males and 33 college females replacing both felt figures and a male and female confederate. It was assumed that differential attention to social cues would be more visible in this comparison. The general results were identical to the first study.     

The role of affective assessment in intelligence testing

Based on the tenets of logical learning theory and the research in its support, it was predicted that subjects (87 seventh and eighth graders) would score higher on subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children which they had assessed positively than on those which they had negatively assessed. This superiority on liked over disliked subtests was also predicted to be greater for Black than for White subjects and for lower class, compared with middle class, subjects. Subjects performed significantly better on their liked than on their disliked subtests, p < .01, supporting the telic human image advanced by logical learning theory. No racial or social class differences in this effect were seen.     

The effect of rest following massed practice of continuous and discrete motor tasks

Theories of the rest-related phenomena of reminiscence and warm-up decrement regard them as independent, being due to different factors. In this study it was found that rest following massed practice of a continuous task increased performance (reminiscence) and rest following massed practice of a discrete task lowered performance (warm-up decrement). The near-zero correlation found between the phenomena indicates that they are indeed independent and task-specific. Implications of the findings for the prediction of the effect of rest, and the fact that much motor learning and performance is task-specific, is discussed.     

Types produce types—Especially fathers

Employing a larger sample and a more stringent statistical criterion, this study replicated an attempt by T. G. Grandy and R. F. Stahmann (Journal of Vocational Behavior, 1974, 5, 231–239.) to test Holland's hypothesis that parents' personality types foster similar offspring personality development. The relationships between paternal and offspring personality types were consonant with the findings of Grandy and Stahmann but the role of maternal personalities remained unclear. An explanation was offered that fathers' personality types carry more weight in the development of offspring types.     

Police evaluation research: an experimental and cost-benefit analysis of a helicopter patrol in a high crime area

The significance of a helicopter patrol procedure directed toward prevention of home burglaries was evaluated from experimental and cost-benefit perspectives. The helicopter patrolled one city zone from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for two 12-day periods. Each 12-day period was separated by a baseline period in which only normal patrol-car levels were maintained. Significantly reduced burglary levels during the intervention periods, compared to baseline periods, documented the experimental significance of the helicopter procedure. The cash costs of implementing the patrol procedure were compared to two estimates of the resulting cash benefits. This latter cost-benefit analysis was supplemented by a discussion of the intangible costs and benefits of the helicopter procedure. Taken together, these analyses documented that the marginal costs of the helicopter intervention were exceeded by all estimates of benefits.