Servant Leadership Behaviour Scale: A hierarchical model and test of construct validity

Servant leadership is widely believed to be a multidimensional construct. However, existing measures of servant leadership typically suffer from highly correlated dimensions, raising concerns over discriminant validity. We set out in this study to examine the dimensionality of the hypothesized six-factor Servant Leadership Behaviour Scale (SLBS) and validate a hierarchical model of servant leadership. Using structural equation modelling, convergent and discriminant validity of the higher-order servant leadership construct was examined in relation to measures of character-related behaviour, Machiavellian leadership orientation, and social desirability. Our findings suggest that the SLBS assesses a single, higher-order construct of servant leadership with evidence of construct validity and absence of social desirability bias. The high correlation between servant leadership and character-related behaviour supports our expectation that servant leadership reflects in large part the character strength of the leader.     

Hearing living symbols and nonliving icons: Category specificities in the cognitive processing of environmental sounds

The neurocognitive processing of environmental sounds and linguistic stimuli shares common semantic resources and can lead to the activation of motor programs for the generation of the passively heard sound or speech. We investigated the extent to which the cognition of environmental sounds, like that of language, relies on symbolic mental representations independent of the acoustic input. In a hierarchical sorting task, we found that evaluation of nonliving sounds is consistently biased toward a focus on acoustical information. However, the evaluation of living sounds focuses spontaneously on sound-independent semantic information, but can rely on acoustical information after exposure to a context consisting of nonliving sounds. We interpret these results as support for a robust iconic processing strategy for nonliving sounds and a flexible symbolic processing strategy for living sounds.     

Learnability of embedded syntactic structures depends on prosodic cues

The ability to process center-embedded structures has been claimed to represent a core function of the language faculty. Recently, several studies have investigated the learning of center-embedded dependencies in artificial grammar settings. Yet some of the results seem to question the learnability of these structures in artificial grammar tasks. Here, we tested under which exposure conditions learning of center-embedded structures in an artificial grammar is possible. We used naturally spoken syllable sequences and varied the presence of prosodic cues. The results suggest that mere distributional information does not suffice for successful learning. Prosodic cues marking the boundaries of the major relevant units, however, can lead to learning success. Thus, our data are consistent with the hypothesis that center-embedded syntactic structures can be learned in artificial grammar tasks if language-like acoustic cues are provided.     

The role of prior exposure in the capture of attention by items in working memory

The Biased Competition Model (BCM) suggests both top-down and bottom-up biases operate on selective attention (e.g., Desimone & Duncan, 1995). It has been suggested that top-down control signals may arise from working memory. In support, Downing (2000) found faster responses to probes presented in the location of stimuli held vs. not held in working memory. Soto, Heinke, Humphreys, and Blanco (2005) showed the involuntary nature of this effect and that shared features between stimuli were sufficient to attract attention. Here we show that stimuli held in working memory had an influence on the deployment of attentional resources even when: (1) It was detrimental to the task, (2) there was equal prior exposure, and (3) there was no bottom-up priming. These results provide further support for involuntary top-down guidance of attention from working memory and the basic tenets of the BCM, but further discredit the notion that bottom-up priming is necessary for the effect to occur.     

The basic components of adult playfulness and their relation with personality: The hierarchical factor structure of seventeen instruments

The primary aim of this study was testing the structure of adult playfulness in a joint analysis of seventeen questionnaires and testing the relation of the factors with the big five personality traits. A sample of 244 adults completed the questionnaires and a five factor-solution fit the data best; i.e., (a) Humorousness; (b) Cheerfulness–Uninhibitedness; (c) Expressiveness; (d) Other-directedness; and (e) Intellectuality–Creativity. Correlation analyses (bivariate, canonical) and regression analyses indicated strong overlap of the broader personality factors and the Cheerfulness–Uninhibitedness-factor (extraversion and emotional stability) as well as the Expressiveness-factor (extraversion). The study contributes towards a better understanding of the structure of playfulness in questionnaires developed for adults. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Abducted by Bayesians?

This paper discusses the role of theoretical notions in making predictions and evaluating statistical models. The core idea of the paper is that such theoretical notions can be spelt out in terms of priors over statistical models, and that such priors can themselves be assigned probabilities. The discussion substantiates the claim that the use of theoretical notions may offer specific empirical advantages. Moreover, I argue that this use of theoretical notions explicates a particular kind of abductive inference. The paper thus contributes to the discussion over Bayesian models of abductive inference.     

Effects of variation in teacher organization on classroom functioning

This study examined effects of variation in teacher organization on how time is spent in classrooms, focusing on time spent in transitions and instruction, including child skill by teacher organization interactions. Forty-four first-grade classrooms were observed three times over the school year. Timed narratives of each activity were recorded. “Orient-organize” referred to time teachers spent orienting students to classroom procedures or organizing the class for specific assignments, and included instructional clarity, where teachers described objectives of activities to students. Using hierarchical linear modeling, substantial variation across teachers in orient-organize was observed. Overall, classrooms spent less time in organization as the school year progressed. In addition, spending more time in organization was related to less time spent in transition. Students in classrooms that spent more time in organization in the fall also experienced greater amounts of time in child-managed activities in the spring. There was also an interaction between child vocabulary and amount of orient-organize in the winter. Students with lower vocabulary scores were more likely to be in classrooms that spent more time in spring child-managed activities if they continued to receive substantial amounts of orient-organize in the winter. The opposite was the case for students with high vocabulary skills.     

The form of the forgetting curve and the fate of memories

Psychologists have debated the form of the forgetting curve for over a century. We focus on resolving three problems that have blocked a clear answer on this issue. First, we analyzed data from a longitudinal experiment measuring cued recall and stem completion from 1 min to 28 days after study, with more observations per interval per participant than in previous studies. Second, we analyzed the data using hierarchical models, avoiding distortions due to averaging over participants. Third, we implemented the models in a Bayesian framework, enabling our analysis to account for the ability of candidate forgetting functions to imitate each other. An exponential function provided the best fit to individual participant data collected under both explicit and implicit retrieval instructions, but Bayesian model selection favored a power function. All analysis supported above chance asymptotic retention, suggesting that, despite quite brief study, storage of some memories was effectively permanent.     

教师背景变量对教师教学效果影响的多层线性分析

用《教师教学效果评价问卷(学生版)》问卷对高校181名教师的教学效果进行调查,用多层次分析法对影响教师教学效果的教师背景变量:教师性别、年龄、学历、职称、所教专业、年级、班级大小以及课程类别对教师教学效果影响程度进行分析,目的在于通过用多层分析法更合理分析教师背景变量对教学效果产生的影响,为客观比较教师教学效果之间的差异提供依据。研究结果表明:(1)多层次分析法得到比传统回归分析和方差分析更合理更准确的结果;(2)教师背景变量教师中性别、学历、专业以及所教班级的大小对于教师教学效果评价效果没有显著影响;(3)教师职称、年龄、所教学生年级、课程类别对教师的教学效果有显著影响;(4)所考察的教师水平背景变量对教学效果各个维度教师水平总变异的解释率介于3351%-4278%之间。     

Predicting anxious response to a social challenge: the predictive utility of the social interaction anxiety scale and the social phobia scale in a college population

Trait anxiety is believed to be a hierarchical construct composed of several lower-order factors (Adv. Behav. Res. Therapy, 15 (1993) 147; J. Anxiety Disorders, 9 (1995) 163). Assessment devices such as the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, the Social Phobia Scale (SIAS and SPS; Behav. Res. Therapy, 36 (4) (1998) 455), and the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI; Behav. Res. Therapy, 24 (1986) 1) are good measures of the presumably separate lower-order factors. This study compared the effectiveness of the SIAS, SPS, ASI-physical scale and STAI-T (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press (1970)) as predictors of anxious response to a social challenge (asking an aloof confederate out on a date). Consistent with the hierarchical model of anxiety, the measures of trait anxiety were moderately correlated with each other and each was a significant predictor of anxious response. The specific measures of trait social anxiety were slightly better predictors of anxious response to the social challenge than was either the ASI-physical scale or the STAI-T. The results provide evidence of the predictive validity of these social trait measures and some support for their specificity in the prediction of anxious response to a social challenge.