Locomotor strategies in response to altered lower limb segmental mechanical properties

The present study sought to use stilt walking as a model to uncover modifications to gait dynamics caused by changes in lower limb anthropometrics. We examined 10 novice and 10 expert stilt walkers, each walking with and without stilts, to determine the specific adaptations brought about by experience. Three-dimensional kinematics and force platform data were used to calculate the intersegmental forces, net joint moments and moment powers at the ankle, knee and hip. Spatio-temporal data were computed to aid the interpretation of these data. Non-dimensional scaling was used to facilitate comparison between stilt- and normal-walking. In general, the stilts induced largely the same alterations in the locomotor patterns of both novices and experts, which did not allow for the conclusion that the experts employed locomotor dynamics that were better suited to the challenges imposed by alterations to limb length, mass and mass moment of inertia induced by the stilts. Nevertheless, the experts exhibited a lesser reduction in dimensionless stride length and velocity and generated larger concentric knee flexor and hip extensor powers, relative to the novices, which may be indicative of enhanced dynamic stability control.     

Choosing job-related personality traits: Developing valid personality-oriented job analysis

Although personality assessment has proven utility in pre-employment testing, little is known about how one should choose the personality traits that are most job-related. We developed a Personality-oriented Job Analysis (POJA) process for choosing job-related personality traits. We evaluated this process using 15 expert raters and approximately 330 medical students who each completed six different “jobs” in which their performance was evaluated. There was consistency across experts in POJA ratings of the job-relevance of personality traits. Also, POJA ratings of the personality traits correlated with the actual criterion-validity of the traits. Traits that received the highest POJA ratings tended to predict job performance. To our knowledge, this is the first published work to present evidence of the criterion-validity of POJA.     

小学生数学应用题解题水平影响因素的实验研究

该研究采用四因素混合实验设计考察不同的问题呈现方式对不同视空间能力、场认知方式以及不同年级小学生的数学应用题解题水平的影响情况,研究得出以下结论:有一定视觉提示的问题呈现方式在不同程度上促进了小学生数学应用题解题水平的提高,但不同的问题呈现方式对不同被试影响情况不同;低空间能力-场依存型被试在图形提示的呈现方式下解题水平提高程度最大。     

It depends on your perspective: The role of self-relevance in stereotype-based underperformance

Much research has examined how stereotype threat leads to the underperformance of stereotyped targets. The underlying cause for this effect, however, remains unclear. Some researchers argue that stereotype threat can be explained from a behavioral-priming perspective, while others claim that it necessarily involves concerns about confirming a negative self-relevant stereotype. The current experiment highlights the critical role of self-relevance in distinguishing between stereotype priming and stereotype threat. Results showed that when participants wrote about a stereotyped target from a first-person perspective, both targets and non-targets performed poorly under stereotype threat conditions, because writing from a first-person perspective made the stereotype self-relevant for non-targets. But when participants wrote about a stereotyped target from a third-person perspective, only targets underperformed since the stereotype was already self-relevant. Moreover, when the stereotype was made self-relevant non-targets experienced the same threat-based concerns that targets experience under stereotype threat conditions.     

The impact of individualist and collectivist group norms on evaluations of dissenting group members

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the impact of individualist and collectivist norms on evaluations of dissenting group members. In the first experiment (N = 113), group norms prescribing individualism or collectivism were manipulated and participants were asked to evaluate a group member who expressed an attitude dissenting from or concordant with the group. In line with predictions, group members with concordant attitudes were evaluated more positively than group members with dissenting attitudes when norms prescribed collectivism. However, for high identifiers, we found an attenuation of the preference for concordant over dissenting attitudes when norms prescribed individualism. These findings were replicated in a second experiment (N = 87), where dissent was operationalized in a way that did not reveal the content of the attitude. The discussion focused on the importance of individualist norms for broadening latitudes of acceptable group member behavior.     

Reconceptualizing difficult groups and difficult members

Group leaders can expect to encounter group and member behaviors and attitudes that are usually termed as difficult. This article presents a different perspective that focuses on how the group leader can better understand and make visible what the troubling behavior is communicating about unspoken or unconscious needs, fantasies and desires. Suggestions for more effective interventions are proposed.     

The Political Color Line in America: Many “Peoples of Color” or Black Exceptionalism?

Despite the successes of the civil rights movement, a largely impermeable color line continues to restrict African Americans from assimilation into the broader American society. In the meantime high rates of immigration have produced an increasingly culturally diverse population. A "people of color" hypothesis suggests that the color line the new immigrants face resembles that imposed on African Americans. A "black exceptionalism" hypothesis suggests instead that the color line will be more porous for them, allowing for greater assimilation over successive generations, including a gradual weakening of politicized racial and ethnic group consciousness. Using data from Los Angeles County Social Surveys, we find that the largest new immigrant group, Latinos, like blacks, show strongly group-interested policy preferences and strong group consciousness. However, both effects are stronger for recent Latino immigrants than for the U.S.-born. We conclude that the new immigrant groups are increasingly likely to assimilate politically into the broader society in future generations, whereas a rather strict color line will continue to restrict blacks and maintain their distinctiveness.     

Effectiveness of a Social Skills Training Program with School Age Children: Transition to the Clinical Setting

Interventions that mobilize the parents to coach and reinforce their children's social skills have been shown to improve children's social functioning and decrease inappropriate social behaviors in the home and at school. However, few studies have examined whether these treatment outcomes can be successfully transferred from the research to the clinical setting. We examined the effectiveness of a 12-session manualized social skills intervention involving parent participation. As part of regular clinical practice, measures of children's social skills, self-control, and psychopathology were collected pre- and post-treatment. Findings suggest that parent ratings of children's social skills and self-control improved and aggressive behavior decreased.     

ProjectA对我军士兵心理选拔研究的启示

美国军队选拔与分类项目（The Army’s Selection And Classification Project,Project A）是美军20世纪80年代为改进军队人员的选拔、分类和使用,加强军队质量建设而进行的一项大规模的研究工作,其目的是建立一套完整、科学、符合军队建设需要的军队人员选拔与分类方法,形成一整套用于军队人员军队人员选拔与分类的预测工具。本文简要介绍了Project A产生的背景、研究目的、基本实验设计、绩效评价系统建立、预测工具以及预测效度,并对我军开展士兵心理选拔分类以及安置的必要性和可行性做了简要分析,提出了基本构想     

学校组织气氛与教师工作绩效的关系分析

本研究借助于自编的学校组织气氛量表和教师工作绩效量表,通过对分层随机抽取的378名教师进行了调查,探讨了学校组织气氛与教师工作绩效的关系,结果发现学校组织气氛与教师工作绩效相关非常显著。回归分析和差异检验的结果进一步揭示:学校组织气氛是教师工作绩效的较好预测变量。其中,教学气氛是教师工作绩效的显著预测变量。同时,本研究还发现学校组织气氛对教师任务绩效影响非常显著,但对教师情境绩效影响不显著。