Manifesto for the future of work and organizational psychology

This manifesto presents 10 recommendations for a sustainable future for the field of Work and Organizational Psychology. The manifesto is the result of an emerging movement around the Future of WOP (see www.futureofwop.com), which aims to bring together WOP-scholars committed to actively contribute to building a better future for our field. Our recommendations are intended to support both individuals and collectives to become actively engaged in co-creating the future of WOP together with us. Therefore, this manifesto is open and never “finished.” It should continuously evolve, based on an ongoing debate around our professional values and behavior. This manifesto is meant, first of all, for ourselves as an academic community. Furthermore, it is also important for managers, decision makers, and other stakeholders and interested parties, such as students, governments and organizations, as we envision what the future of WOP could look like, and it is only through our collective efforts that we will be able to realize a sustainable future for all of us.     

Relating derived relations as a model of analogical reasoning: reaction times and event-related potentials

The current study aimed to test a Relational Frame Theory (RFT) model of analogical reasoning based on the relating of derived same and derived difference relations. Experiment 1 recorded reaction time measures of similar-similar (e.g., "apple is to orange as dog is to cat") versus different-different (e.g., "he is to his brother as chalk is to cheese") derived relational responding, in both speed-contingent and speed-noncontingent conditions. Experiment 2 examined the event-related potentials (ERPs) associated with these two response patterns. Both experiments showed similar-similar responding to be significantly faster than different-different responding. Experiment 2 revealed significant differences between the waveforms of the two response patterns in the left-hemispheric prefrontal regions; different-different waveforms were significantly more negative than similar-similar waveforms. The behavioral and neurophysiological data support the RFT prediction that, all things being equal, similar-similar responding is relationally "simpler" than, and functionally distinct from, different-different analogical responding. The ERP data were fully consistent with findings in the neurocognitive literature on analogy. These findings strengthen the validity of the RFT model of analogical reasoning and supplement the behavior-analytic approach to analogy based on the relating of derived relations.     

Public health, well-being and reciprocity

Public-health measures are very effective and efficient means of improving health, yet public health is either neglected by the literature or fraught with unease, mainly due to the combination of the aggregate-distributive tension with the element of compulsion. I argue that this unease can be decreased by 1) a pluralist-holistic view of health, situating the normative value of health in its effect on well-being, incorporating both the objective and subjective source of the value of health; and 2) by a rich concept of reciprocity. This article supports Martha Nussbaum's critique of social-contract thinking for placing too much weight on the scale of normal functioning and productive reciprocity, as well as Sen's distinction between well-being and agency freedom. To reach an adequate understanding of the value and goal of public health within the general setting of health care, a pluralist conception of health, well-being and reciprocity is necessary.     

Use of a task-oriented self-instruction method to support children in primary school with poor handwriting quality and speed

Two studies were conducted to investigate the effect of a task-specific self-instruction intervention to improve handwriting ability of children with poor handwriting quality in schools for regular education (Study 1) and children with poor handwriting quality in schools for special education (Study 2). Study 1 showed that children with poor handwriting quality who received handwriting intervention on an individual basis for three months improved on average more on quality of writing than control children without handwriting problems who did not receive intervention. In contrast, the control group improved more in speed of writing after the intervention period. At an individual level, three out of the seven children with poor handwriting quality before intervention were not classified as such anymore after the intervention period. Study 2 showed that after six months of intervention in a group setting children with poor handwriting quality improved their quality of writing more so than children with poor handwriting quality who had not received intervention. On speed of handwriting no significant group differences emerged. We conclude that the task-oriented self-instruction method applied in this study seems to improve especially the quality of handwriting, not speed, of children initially identified as having poor handwriting quality.     

Parent Toddler Play with Feminine Toys: Are All Dolls the Same?

Play with toys provides children with theopportunity to practice behaviors that have relevance togender role development. By 18 months, toddlersconsistently choose to play with sex-appropriate toys. This study was designed to investigate parents'and toddlers' initiation of play with baby dolls and astuffed clown to determine whether boys are providedwith the same opportunity for feminine play as girls are when playing with the same type oftoys. 42 parent toddler dyads from Caucasianmiddle-class families were observed playing with twobaby dolls and a soft stuffed clown for four minutes.Parent toddler play was coded for doll appropriate andinanimate object-type play. The baby dolls and the clownelicited different play behaviors from both the parentsand the toddlers. Same-sex dyads engaged in different types of play than opposite-sexparent toddler dyads. Findings of this study lendevidence that not all dolls are alike. Consequently,parents who provide their toddlers with baby dolls are providing different experiences from parentswho provide soft stuffed toys. Implications for genderrole development are discussed.     

The potential of the visual image at the interface

This article shows how the study of graphic interfacing has great potential for being an important applied domain for testing, evaluating, and implementing basic cognitive theories. It also describes various applications in which the inclusion of computer graphics can be beneficial while being inappropriate for others. Emphasis is placed on the need for future developments to be based on psychological and ergonomic principles in order that the merit of computer graphics is not based purely on cosmetic grounds. Concomitantly, it is argued that academic research needs also to continue refining our understanding of human performance and subsequently to direct these findings into a set of practical guidelines for designers. If this approach is taken, we may indeed find ourselves in an Information Age in which the visual image is seen to be playing a much more prominent role. In particular, the situation may arise in which tasks previously performed only through difficult and tedious programming language will become more accessible through easy-to-use and enjoyable graphic interfaced systems. The ultimate challenge, however, will be to see how the combination of visual and other forms of symbolic communication can be utilized at the interface, in such a way that a variety of computer systems for a diversity of applications can be designed that will be readily accessible to a greater number. Ours is the visual age. We are bombarded with images from morning till night. —Gombrich (1982)     

Evidence for a visuo-spatial scratch-pad in working memory

Experiments are reported which address the nature of the working memory system. Articulatory suppression (continuous recital of the digits 1 to 4) disrupted concurrent performance of a verbal reasoning task, but had no effect upon performance of a spatial reasoning task. In contrast, spatial suppression (continuous sequential tapping) produced reliable interference only with spatial reasoning. These findings are taken as consistent with Baddeley's argument for two slave systems in working memory: the articulatory loop and the more controversial visuo-spatial scratch-pad.     

The social impact of emotional tears

The question what specific functions the production of emotional tears fulfills has received only limited attention of behavioral scientists. We report the results of two studies on the social impact of emotional tears. In Study 1 (96 Dutch females), perceived helplessness and felt connectedness predicted the willingness to help a person depicted as crying tearfully, while perceived friendliness did not. In Study 2 (US sample, 128 males, 68 females) all three of these variables mediated the effect the display of tears had on the willingness to help. Our results replicate and extend previous work and add to current knowledge by showing that tearful crying facilitates helping behavior and by identifying reasons why people are more willing to help criers. These findings help to put forth novel predictions on the impact of tearful crying on others.