Predicting sales performance

This study investigated the relative effectiveness of several types of predictors of sales performance in a human resource consulting firm. These predictors included scores on an assessment center, a structured interview, a test of technical knowledge, and a simulated sales presentation. The criterion measure used was supervisory ratings of overall sales performance, or The extent to which this person accomplishes sales quotas. In addition, the skill to skill validity of the counselor selling dimension, which included relating, discovering, supporting, advocating, and collaborating, was assessed. Results indicated that both the structured interview and the assessment center were effective in predicting sales performance, (R=.63, F=7.90, p=.002). Also, this study indicates that performance in each of the skill areas of an assessment center or of an interview is a valid predictor of on the job performance in each of the same skill areas.     

HOME ACCESS MODIFICATIONS: EFFECTS ON COMMUNITY VISITS BY PEOPLE WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES

We examined the effects of access modifications to home entrances of people with physical disabilities on their reported community outings. An interrupted time-series design was used, in which the introduction of ramps was staggered across the homes of 6 people with moderate to severe mobility impairments. Four participants reported increases in weekly outings following installation of ramps at their entrances, and 2 reported a small decrease. These findings suggest that reducing the response requirements of access to and from the residence of people with mobility impairments may increase community visits, but may be insufficient given other environmental barriers in the community.     

A follow-up study of cognitive bias in generalized anxiety disorder

Patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) without concurrent depression (n = 11) and normal controls (n = 17) were tested twice, about 2 months apart, on a modified Stroop colour-naming task, which presented anxiety-related, depression-related and neutral words in masked and unmasked exposure conditions. GAD patients received cognitive behaviour therapy in the test-retest interval, and were also retested at follow-up, about 20 months after initial testing. GAD patients showed interference in colour-naming negative words across both masked and unmasked conditions before treatment, but not post-treatment, compared with controls. Reduced interference effects of masked threat words over time correlated with reduced ratings of anxious thoughts at post-treatment, and at follow-up, in GAD patients. Thus, the preconscious bias for threat information in GAD appears to vary over time in association with changes in anxious thoughts and worries.     

Lesions of the caudate nucleus selectively impair "reference memory" acquisition in the radial maze

Groups of Long-Evans rats with bilateral lesions of the caudate nucleus, sham lesions, or no lesions were given one trial per day in an eight-arm radial maze. The same four maze arms were baited on each trial. The remaining four arms never contained food. Optimal performance required animals to enter each of the baited arms only once on each trial and to avoid entering the arms in the unbaited set. Rats with caudate lesions learned to enter each of the baited arms only once on each trial. However, these rats were severely impaired in learning to avoid entering the arms in the unbaited set. Implications for dual-memory theories are discussed.     

Attitudinal Consequences of the Preemployment Polygraph Examination1

An important factor concerning the use of the polygraph in employment settings has been overlooked: How does the polygraph experience affect a new employee's work-related attitudes? In two experiments, subjects were exposed to different hiring scenarios-one included a polygraph examination, the other did not—and then responded to a questionnaire of work-related attitudes. Results indicated that preemployment polygraph examinations may induce negative work-related attitudes. These findings suggest that the polygraph experience acts as a symbolic communication from the employer to the prospective employee, imparting information that may induce feelings of distrust and dislike. Moreover, the polygraph experience may be interpreted by prospective employees as evidence of high levels of employee theft, thus establishing a new (higher) norm of peer theft behavior.     

Orientation effects on contour interaction in the Zöllner illusion

The magnitude of the Zöllner illusion was measured as a joint function of the angle of intersection between inducing and test contours and the orientation of the complete display. The intersect angle at which judgmental error was maximal varied as the display was rotated from 0 to 90 deg. An explanation of the Zöllner illusion in terms of selective adaptation of neural orientation specific detectors accounts for the interactive effects of display orientation and intersect angle if it is assumed that different orientation detectors have different tuning characteristics.     

Word frequency and age of acquisition as determiners of picture-naming latency

In multiple-regression analysis of picture-naming latencies from an experiment modelled on Oldfield and Wingfield's (1965), with 94 stimuli and 37 adult subjects, two word frequency measures had insignificant beta weights, while two measures estimating age at which the word was learned had highly significant weights. Objects whose names were learned early were named faster. This result may have important implications for the interpretation of studies using word frequency as a critical variable. It is suggested that word retrieval may be a one-stage process that depends upon the age at which a word was learned.