Women''s yielding to social group pressure as a function of alcohol and type of pressure

Thirty-six women participated in an experiment exploring whether alcohol intoxication facilitates yielding to social persuasive information. Subjects were randomly assigned to either an Alcohol, a Placebo, or a Control Group. The alcohol dose was 1.0 ml of 100% alcohol/kg body weight. Subjects first estimated the length of a line and were then given faked feedback from either a male or a female peer reference group. This procedure was repeated 60 times. Analyses indicated that the Placebo group yielded more often than the Alcohol group irrespective of type of feedback. A measure of locus of control indicated no significant mean differences as a function of alcohol group but correlations between externality and yielding were strong for placebo subjects, that is, externally oriented placebo subjects yielded more than internally oriented placebo subjects. This was discussed in terms of feelings uneasiness caused by the discrepancy between feelings of intoxication and information about drink content.     

THE EFFECTS OF CHOICE AND TASK PREFERENCE ON THE WORK PERFORMANCE OF ADULTS WITH SEVERE DISABILITIES

We evaluated the effects of choice versus the assignment of tasks of varying preferences on the work engagement of adults with severe disabilities. The combined results of two experiments suggest that the relative preference for a task may be an important variable in the effectiveness of choice for some individuals.     

A SUPERVISORY STRATEGY TO IMPROVE WORK PERFORMANCE FOR LOWER FUNCTIONING RETARDED CLIENTS IN A SHELTERED WORKSHOP

A multiple component strategy was investigated for aiding staff responsible for supervising production of lower functioning retarded clients on contract tasks in an institution-based sheltered workshop. The strategy was assessed in a combined multi-element, multiple baseline across groups design with a reversal component. Production performance increased during the production supervisory strategy with all 16 clients, with the range of increase varying from a few percentage points to 150% of baseline production. Both the clients and staff (responsible for conducting the research) preferred working under experimental conditions rather than under baseline conditions which approximated those found in “typical” sheltered workshops.     

Human performance on conjunctive fixed-interval fixed-ratio schedules

Eighteen young adults performed a lever-pulling task for money. Subjects were initially exposed to a fixed-interval 80-second schedule and subsequently to one of three conjunctive schedules in which the added fixed-ratio requirement was set at either 10, 80, or 120 responses. Three fixed-interval response patterns emerged: high constant rate, intermediate rate, or low rate, with most subjects displaying the last. Conjunctive performance was related to the subjects' prior fixed-interval patterns and the conjunctive ratio requirements. Low-rate subjects tended to optimize reinforcement (maximum reinforcers for minimum responses) on conjunctive schedules. Response rate was directly related to ratio requirements. Subjects' performance closely corresponded to their verbal statements of the contingencies.     

EVALUATION OF BIOFEEDBACK IN THE TREATMENT OF BORDERLINE ESSENTIAL HYPERTENSION1

Direct biofeedback of blood pressure was compared with frontal EMG biofeedback and with self-instructed relaxation for the treatment of essential hypertension in a controlled group outcome study. Patients were followed up for four months after the end of treatment. Generalization of treatment effects was assessed through pre- and posttreatment measurements of blood pressure under clinical conditions in a physician's office. There were no significant reductions in diastolic blood pressure. The systolic blood pressure (SBP) of the patients receiving blood pressure biofeedback decreased 8.1 mm mercury (p = 0.07) and the SBP of the patients in the relaxation condition decreased 9.5 mm mercury (p = 0.05). In the generalization measures, there were significant reductions in SBP for the relaxation group. The results are discussed in terms of the general lack of replicability within the area of biofeedback treatment of hypertension.     

Precriterion stationarity in markovian learning models

Two forms of stationarity prior to criterion in absorbing Markov chains are examined. Both forms require that the probability of a particular response on a particular trial before absorption be independent of trial number. The stronger of these forms holds that this is true independent of starting state; the weaker, only for a specified set of starting probabilities. Simple, necessary and sufficient conditions for both forms are developed and applied to several examples.The author would like to thank Charles Lewis for his help in developing this article, and Peter Polson of the University of Colorado and an anonymous referee for several fruitful suggestions made in reviews of earlier versions.     

群体绩效和团队效能研究的新进展

近几年来 ,在群体和团队方面的研究比较活跃 ,并取得了不少新的进展。本文在近几年的国内外文献的基础上 ,着重讨论几个与群体绩效有关的长期存在的问题 ,主要包括群体构成、凝聚力、激励、领导、群体目标等因素。同时探讨团队与组织之间的内在联系。然后 ,讨论团队效能研究中的几个开放性问题 ,以及将来研究的新动向新趋势。最后 ,对影响团队效能的几个关键的调节因素作一简要的讨论。     

腔内泌尿外科技术应用中的若干思考

近年来腔内泌尿外科迅速发展,在泌尿外科领域广泛应用.回顾历史,腔内泌尿外科器械是在与多种学科相互交叉和渗透的过程中发展的,学科交叉促进了腔内泌尿外科器械的发展和应用;腔内泌尿外科技术是医学人文关怀的体现,符合现代医学模式的要求.我们应加强医学与其它学科的交叉,促进腔内泌尿外科的发展,使疾病诊治更具人文精神.     

管理培训背景下适应性绩效的结构分析

本研究以适应性绩效理论为基础,在上海、北京、广州、浙江、江苏、重庆等地用问卷调查了十多个企业的管理培训实施情况,得到了334个有效样本。对数据进行探索性因素分析和验证性因素分析后,得到了管理培训背景下的四因素适应性绩效结构模型,四个因素分别被命名为:压力和应急处理、创新解决问题、岗位持续学习以及人际和文化适应。该适应性绩效结构为管理培训评估研究中效标的确定提供了新思路。最后讨论了今后研究需要进一步注意的问题。     

供应链伙伴间的信任、承诺对合作绩效的影响

本文通过问卷调查的方式探讨供应链伙伴间的信任、关系承诺对合作绩效的影响。研究结果显示组织信任、个人信任与合作绩效存在正相关关系,组织信任通过关系承诺对合作绩效的间接影响明显高于其直接影响,个人信任通过关系承诺对合作绩效的间接影响明显不及其直接影响。