Meta-motivational dominance and sensation-seeking effects on motor performance and perceptions of challenge and pressure

AimsThe current study aimed at delineating the effects of meta-motivational dominance and sensation seeking on performing challenging and boring tasks under pressure-filled conditions. Apter's (Apter, M. J. (2001). An introduction to reversal theory. In M. J. Apter (Ed.), Motivational styles in everyday life: A guide to reversal theory (pp. 3–35). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association) reversal theory and Zuckerman's (Zuckerman, M. (1979). Sensation seeking: Beyond the optimum level of arousal. Hillsdale: Erlbaum) sensation-seeking (SS) theory were used to postulate that high SS and paratelic individuals would perform better on challenging tasks in pressure-filled situations than low SS and telic individuals. They have also been hypothesized to differ on perceived pressure, challenge perception, and determination.Study's designSeventy-three young adults were divided into two distinct groups, telic and sensation avoiders vs. paratelic and sensation seekers, based on two distinct questionnaires. The participants performed boring and challenging tasks under pressure-filled and normal conditions in a counter-balanced order. Each performance consisted of 3-blocked trials of 10 min each. Number of completions and errors were recorded.ResultsPressure had little to no effect on performance regardless of participants' meta-motivational dominance. Under pressure, perceived challenge was higher than under normal condition, and participants, as expected, felt more challenged when performing the apparatus task than when performing the vowel-circling task. Paratelics completed more vowel-circling and apparatus completions than did telic participants, but not to the desired level of significance.ConclusionsIt seems likely that paratelic individuals tried harder than telic individuals when put into a unique, measurable, and uncertain situation. It is likely that paratelics needing varied, novel, and challenging sensations along with playful and enjoyment felt more inclined to participate in both tasks with vigor and enthusiasm to fulfill their needs. It is suggested that it may be the intrinsic form of motivation, which paratelics possess, that allow for better performances.     

Reactions to Different Types of Forced Distribution Performance Evaluation Systems

Purpose  We isolate and describe four key elements that distinguish different forms of forced distribution systems (FDS). These key elements are the consequences for low performers, differentiation of rewards for top performers, frequency of feedback, and comparison group size. We examine how these elements influence respondents’ attraction to FDS. Design/methodology/approach  Undergraduate students (n = 163) completed a policy capturing study designed to determine how these four FDS elements influence their attraction to FDS. We examine the relative importance of these elements that most influence attraction to different FDS, as well as individual attributes (i.e., cognitive ability, gender, and major) that may affect those preferences. Findings  Respondents were most attracted to systems with less stringent treatment of low performers, high differentiation of rewards, frequent feedback and large comparison groups. Consequences for low performers were nearly twice as influential as any other element. Respondents with higher cognitive ability favored high reward differentiation and males were less affected by stringent consequences for low performers. Implications  Before practitioners implement FDS, it would be prudent to consider all four elements examined in this study—with the treatment of low performers being the most salient issue. Future accounts of FDS should clarify the nature of these elements when reporting on FDS. Such precision will be useful in generating a knowledge base on FDS. Originality/value   We add precision to the discussion of FDS by identifying four key elements. This is one of the first studies to examine perceptions of FDS from a ratee perspective.

Time of Day Affects Episodic Memory in Older Adults*

ABSTRACT

The neuropsychological test scores of 2,030 cognitively normal older adults were examined to evaluate performance patterns as they related to time of day (TOD) at which testing was initiated. Multiple regression analyses were used to examine the association of TOD with scores on seven neuropsychological tests used in the clinical evaluation of dementia. Episodic memory performance was significantly related to TOD, while memory span and verbal fluency were not. Best performance occurred during early morning hours and late afternoon; worst performance occurred mid-day (i.e., noon). These findings may have implications for clinical assessment, the design of research on dementia, and the daily functioning of older adults.     

A League of Their Own? Evaluating Justifications for The Division of Sport into ‘Enhanced’ and ‘Unenhanced’ Leagues

Cheating through the use of illegal performance enhancements (such as doping) is a persistent problem in sport. It has been suggested that one response to this problem is to separate sport into two parallel leagues. One league would resemble sport as it is currently practised – i.e. with restrictions on use of particular enhancements – and the other would not possess these restrictions, allowing those that wish to use currently illegal enhancements to do so. In this paper I articulate the ‘two leagues’ proposal further and subject it to critical scrutiny. The proposal fails. It does so by failing to address conceptual confusion regarding enhancement use in sport; by replicating in the new league the current problems associated with enhancement-based cheating; and by creating new problems. In an attempt to revive it I describe other possible justifications for the proposal, based on its promotion of personal autonomy, and rights-based justifications. These fail, with the exception of a group right claiming provision of the enhanced league as a participatory good. I conclude that this latter use of the proposal is the only sensible one, but it nevertheless faces significant obstacles.     

基于胜任特征模型的人才招聘与选拔

胜任特征模型理论在企业人力资源管理过程中应用越来越广泛。尤其是在人才招聘与选拔过程中的作用更为重要。本文以胜任特征模型为切入点,分析该模型的基本理论和特点、模型的构建过程以及在实际人才聘任与选拔过程中的应用,为企业人力资源管理者更好地实现人职匹配提供方法和依据,有助于企业人力资源得到合理配置,提高组织绩效,赢得竞争优势。     

The effects of member expertise on group decision-making and performance

This study assesses the effects of member expertise on group decision-making and group performance. Three-person cooperative groups and three independent individuals solved either an easy or moderately difficult version of the deductive logic game Mastermind. Experimental groups were given veridical performance information, i.e., the members' rankings on prior individual administrations of the task. Control groups were not provided with this information. Results supported the predictions of this study: (1) groups gave more weight to the input of their highest performing members with the group decision-making process being best approximated by post hoc “expert weighted” social decision schemes and (2) groups performed at the level of the best of an equivalent number of individuals.     

The enhancement of psychological wellness: Challenges and opportunities

Developed the concept of psychological wellness and made the case that proportionally more resources should be directed to the pursuit of this goal. Five pathways to wellness are considered, implicating aspects of individual development and the impact of contexts, settings, and policies. The five pathways are: forming wholesome early attachments; acquiring age- and ability-appropriate competencies; engineering settings that promote adaptive outcomes; fostering empowerment; and acquiring skills needed to cope effectively with life stressors. Although these noncompeting pathways have differential salience at different ages and for different groups and life conditions, each is an essential element in any comprehensive social plan to advance wellness. Examples of effective programs are cited in all five areas, including recent comprehensive, long-term programs embodying multiple pathways to wellness. Some ideas in this paper were first presented in a talk at the W. T. Grant Foundation-sponsored conference on “Risk, Resiliency and Development,” Kiawah Island, S. Carolina, May 30, 1992. The author gratefully acknowledges support from the Grant Foundation in writing this article.     

Criterion Shaped Behaviour: Pitfalls of Performance Appraisal

Behavioural consequences of performance appraisal, of students, teachers, and schools, or of workers, managers, and offices, are analyzed in terms of a newly proposed theory of Criterion Shaped Behaviour (CSB). Unstated assumptions of advocates for the extensive use of performance appraisal, using performance-based rewards and punishments, are scrutinized, and many are found to be insupportable. CSB Theory predicts that numerous behavioural effects, not all of which are desirable, will be shaped by the use of rewards and punishments made contingent upon criterion measure scores. Using cognitive expectancy theories of learning and performance, in conjunction with traditional measurement theory, it anticipates the types of behaviour change likely to result from imposition of different performance appraisal systems, and suggests alternatives less likely to result in undesirable effects.