THE CONTRIBUTION OF KINESIC ILLUSTRATORS TOWARD THE COMPREHENSION OF VERBAL BEHAVIOR WITHIN UTTERANCES

The study assessed the extent to which a speaker's visible body movements can improve verbal comprehension for listeners. Subjects responded to multiple-choice items designed to test their comprehension of 12 videotaped spoken utterances which had been obtained by asking speakers to describe either objects in motion (e.g., a tennis ball, a car, spraying water) or abstract concepts. The 60 subjects each responded to stimuli in one of three presentation conditions (audiovisual, audiovisual without lip and facial cues, and audio-alone) over four signal-to-noise ratios. The results indicated that: (1) visual cues can at times significantly improve comprehension scores, even with lip and facial cues not present; (2) visual cues are increasingly useful as noise is introduced; (3) visual cues assist the comprehension of certain grammatical types of verbal segments regardless of semantic content expressed in those type segments.     

ANALYZING NEGOTIATION TACTICS: DEVELOPMENT OF A NEGOTIATION INTERACT SYSTEM

This research has three main objectives: to formulate a set of negotiation tactics based on a qualitative examination of bargaining interaction and prior research, to develop an interact system to code negotiation interaction based on these tactics, and to test the extent to which relative tactical use could be used to determine winners and losers in the negotiation. Three types of tactics were developed: attacking, defending, and regressing. The tactics were further divided into those that cued or constrained the next utterance, and those that responded to the prior utterance. Thus, each utterance was coded twice—as a response and as a cue. The structure of relative tactical use significantly predicted the outcome of experimental negotiations. In addition, it was demonstrated that when the structure of relative tactical use was displayed visually, the researcher could gain a clear picture of the exchange process in the negotiation.     

Meaning and Method in the Social Sciences<Superscript>1</Superscript>

Academia’s mathematical metaphysics are briefly explored en route to an elaboration of the qualitatively rigorous requirements underpinning the calibration and unambiguous interpretation of quantitative instrumentation in any science. Of particular interest are Gadamer’s emphases on number as the paradigm of the noetic, on the role of play in interpretation, and on Hegel’s sense of method as the activity of the thing itself that thought experiences. These point toward and overlap with (1) Latour’s study of the metrological social networks through which technological phenomena are brought into language as modes of being that can be understood, and (2) the way that Rasch’s models for measurement comprise a potential beginning for metaphysically astute, qualitatively and quantitatively integrated, mathematical methods in the social sciences. The paper closes with observations on the general problem that is philosophy, the need to remain open to multiplicities of meaning even as clear understandings are sought and obtained.     

ANALYSIS OF WORK GROUP PRODUCTIVITY IN AN APPLIED SETTING: APPLICATION OF A TIME SERIES PANEL DESIGN

We provide a demonstration of a time series panel analysis applied under typical field research conditions characterized by (a) a small number of groups (b) all of which experience an intervention (thus there is no traditional control group), and (c) perform noncomparable tasks. The time series techniques allow a direct test of Naylor, Pritchard, and Ilgen's (1980) theory of behavior in organizations applied to work group productivity in a large-scale study of work groups conducted by Pritchard and colleagues (1989). The responses of 5 work groups to priority scores for 37 indicators of productivity over 23 months were used to predict month-by-month changes in productivity for each of the 37 group products. The results show that group productivity improvements can be explained by feedback including priority scores derived from nonlinear contingency functions of the productivity indicators. Furthermore, groups differed in their response to priority feedback. Goal setting positively affected productivity gain consistently across work groups, after the effects of priority feedback and the interaction of work groups with priority feedback were accounted for. Implications for group performance strategies and appropriate applications of the time series panel analysis are discussed.     

The Relationship of Spirituality to Cognitive and Moral Development and Purpose in Life: An Exploratory Investigation

In this exploratory study of 152 undergraduate students, the relationships among spirituality, cognitive and moral development, and existential sense of meaning were examined. Results suggest that no relationship exists between spirituality and cognitive development, but that spirituality is positively related to both moral development and purpose in life.     

JUDGMENTS OF FIT IN THE SELECTION PROCESS: THE ROLE OF WORK VALUE CONGRUENCE

Work values were examined as an antecedent of recruiters' judgments of applicant fit with the organization. Data were collected on the work values of recruiters, their organizations, and job applicants in actual job interviews conducted through the placement center of a large university. Following the interviews, recruiters evaluated applicants' general employability and organization-specific fit. Approximately 4 months following the interviews, data on whether the applicants were invited for a second interview were also obtained. Work value congruence between the applicant and the recruiter was found to be related to judgments of general employability and organization-specific fit. Congruence between the applicant and the organization (as perceived by the recruiter) was not related to judgments of employability and organization-specific fit. Recruiter ratings of employability were related to the decision to invite the applicant for a second interview. Work value congruence was not related to second interview decisions. It is concluded that if work values and judgments of applicant fit influence the personnel selection process, they are more likely to do so at later stages when job offer decisions are made. Work values and judgments of applicant fit seem to have minimal impact on decisions to retain the applicant for additional consideration in early stages of the selection process.     

ENLISTED PERSONNEL SELECTION FOR THE U. S. NAVY1

Recently, over 33% of the new male enlistees were prematurely separated from the Navy (i.e., prior to the expiration of active duty obligation). The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a new screening tool, designed to estimate an applicant's chances of completing the first two years of service. Essentially all nonprior service males enlisting during 1973 were included in the study (N = 68,616). Predictors used were: (1) years school completed, (2) mental group, based upon aptitude level, (3) age, and (4) number of dependents. The dichotomous criterion was survival (72%) vs. loss (28%), after a median two years of service. The model developed on the total sample evidenced a multiple point-biserial validity of .31. Double cross-validation evidence showed that the model will produce reasonably accurate and stable predictions. Management-oriented information was prepared to illustrate the various consequences of employing alternative cutting scores. This permitted examination of the tradeoffs involved in raising or lowering standards in the light of the current supply and demand picture for nonprior service enlisted male applicants.     

A SEX COMPARISON OF FACTORS RELATED TO SUCCESS IN NAVAL HOSPITAL CORPS SCHOOL1

Background information, Comrey Personality Scale scores, and a standard Navy aptitude test score were obtained on 600 Navy enlisted men and 600 Navy enlisted women prior to beginning Naval Hospital Corps School training. A comparison of the men and women indicated that the sexes differed on a number of background and personality dimensions. A double-split cross-validation design with multiple regression was then employed in the development of a test battery for predicting school completion. Results indicated that the men were more predictable than the women with cross-validities on the order of .53 for men and .41 for women. For the total sample, cross-validities were approximately .47. An empirical comparison of the utility of these equations for screening candidates for paramedical training suggested that the use of separate equations with the sexes would not produce results which were substantially different from use of the single equation developed on both sexes combined.     

AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF PERCEPTIONS OF RATEE BEHAVIOR FREQUENCY AND RATEE BEHAVIOR CHANGE USING BEHAVIORAL EXPECTATION SCALES (BES)

Behavioral Expectation Scales (BES) research has concentrated upon psychometric properties, while evidence for potential operational advantages has been largely anecdotal. This empirical study explored the operational value of BES as a technique for identifying divergent rater-ratee perceptions of ratee behavior frequency and for facilitating subsequent ratee behavior change. Results indicated that ratees perceived desired behaviors as occurring more often and undesired behaviors occurring less often than did raters. Behavior change was demonstrated both after development and after implementation of BES. Such operational advantages of BES are argued as a crucial factor in the choice of an organization's performance appraisal format.