Update: School-age stutterers

Field-test data is reported on 48 school-age stutterers evaluated with the Assessment of Fluency in School-Age Children during the 1980–1981 school year in East-Central Ohio, which is largely rural in character with small industrial cities. The data answers questions proposed in 1977 regarding issues relating to the identification of young stutterers, their awareness of disfluent speech, and management problems in a school setting.     

Exploring the forgetting mechanisms in working memory: Evidence from a reasoning span test

In working memory (WM) span tests participants have to maintain to-be-remembered information while processing other, potentially distracting, information. Previous studies have shown that WM span scores are greater when span lists start with a long processing task and end with a short processing task than when these processing tasks are presented in the reverse order (e.g., Towse, Hitch, & Hutton, 2000). In Experiment 1, we obtained a similar stimulus order effect in a reasoning span test, using reasoning sentences that were equated for length in terms of the number of constituent words, but which differed in processing complexity; span scores were greater when lists began with a complex sentence and ended with a simple sentence than when this stimulus order was reversed. In Experiment 2, the stimulus order effect was not found when processing duration was held constant while sentence complexity was varied using a computer-paced moving window presentation paradigm. These results suggest that duration-based constraints can affect degree of forgetting independently of the load generated during processing phases in WM span performance and therefore imply that time-related forgetting can occur in WM span tests, particularly when the difficulty of the processing component blocks active maintenance of to-be-remembered material.     

Sampling and decision rules used by honey bees in a foraging arena

Animals must continuously choose among various available options to exploit the most profitable resource. They also need to keep themselves updated about the values of all available options, since their relative values can change quickly due to depletion or exploitation by competitors. While the sampling and decision rules by which foragers profitably exploit a flower patch have attracted a great deal of attention in theory and experiments with bumble bees, similar rules for honey bee foragers, which face similar foraging challenges, are not as well studied. By presenting foragers of the honey bee Apis cerana with choice tests in a foraging arena and recording their behavior, we investigate possible sampling and decision rules that the foragers use to choose one option over another and to track other options. We show that a large part of the sampling and decision-making process of a foraging honey bee can be explained by decomposing the choice behavior into dichotomous decision points and incorporating the cost of sampling. The results suggest that a honey bee forager, by using a few simple rules as part of a Bayesian inference process, is able to effectively deal with the complex task of successfully exploiting foraging patches that consist of dynamic and multiple options.     

The Structure of Social Exchange in Self-help Support Groups: Development of a Measure

Self-help support groups are indigenous community resources designed to help people manage a variety of personal challenges, from alcohol abuse to xeroderma pigmentosum. The social exchanges that occur during group meetings are central to understanding how people benefit from participation. This paper examines the different types of social exchange behaviors that occur during meetings, using two studies to develop empirically distinct scales that reliably measure theoretically important types of exchange. Resource theory informed the initial measurement development efforts. Exploratory factor analyses from the first study led to revisions in the factor structure of the social exchange scales. The revised measure captured the exchange of emotional support, experiential information, humor, unwanted behaviors, and exchanges outside meetings. Confirmatory factor analyses from a follow-up study with a different sample of self-help support groups provided good model fit, suggesting the revised structure accurately represented the data. Further, the scales demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validity with related constructs. Future research can use the scales to identify aspects of social exchange that are most important in improving health outcomes among self-help support group participants. Groups can use the scales in practice to celebrate strengths and address weaknesses in their social exchange dynamics.     

Spatial correspondence between onsets and offsets of stimuli and responses

The Simon effect denotes faster responses when the task-irrelevant stimulus position corresponds to response position than when it does not. A common explanation is that a spatial stimulus code is formed automatically and activates a spatially corresponding response code. Previous research on stimulus–response (S–R) compatibility has focused on the ability to initiate movements to stimulus onsets. The present study investigates spatial-compatibility effects (i.e., the Simon effect) in the ability to initiate and to terminate actions both to stimulus onsets and to stimulus offsets. There were four major results. Firstly, offset stimuli produced normal Simon effects suggesting that stimulus offsets can automatically produce spatial codes. Secondly, onset stimuli produced larger Simon effects than offset stimuli, which is consistent with the attention-shift account of spatial coding. Thirdly, Simon effects were also observed in action termination. Fourthly, Simon effects in action initiation and in action termination were of similar size.     

The “Sprinter effect”: When self-control and involvement stand in the way of sequential performance

This research examines the joint effect of dispositional self-control and situational involvement on performance in two successive resource-demanding tasks. We demonstrate that being highly involved and having high self-control facilitates high performance in the first task but, contrary to intuition, may jeopardize performance in a second, unexpected task. We term this the “sprinter effect” and demonstrate it in both lab and field settings. We further explore how a “marathon” mindset can debias this effect.     

Preference for distribution by equal outcome in 5- and 6-year-old children

This study investigated preferences for types of fairness applied in resource distribution. We consider two types of equal distribution: according to the equal-allocation principle (new resources are distributed evenly without considering currently possessed resources) or the equal-outcome principle (equal outcome amounts result after distribution because current resources are considered). Children aged 5–6 and adults participated. The participant initially had two sets of two marbles (participant condition) or each of two puppets initially had two marbles (puppet condition). Then one puppet distributed new marbles between itself and the participant by equal-outcome. Next, the other puppet distributed new marbles by equal-allocation. The results showed that the majority of children and adults selected the distribution by equal-outcome for both conditions. This suggests that people prefer distribution by equal-outcome to distribution by equal-allocation. However, some children aged 5–6 thought that distribution by equal-allocation was better only when they already had resources.     

基于胜任特征模型的人力资源开发

基于胜任特征模型（CompetencyModel）的探索,建立新型的人力资源开发与管理体系,是上世纪70年代以来,组织行为学和人力资源管理理论研究的前沿课题之一。文章主要介绍作者及其领导的课题组自80年代以来,基于我国社会经济转型时期和文化背景的差异,在不同行业的胜任特征模型的建构、及其相关的领导行为研究方面的探索和发现。由于胜任特征模型也是人力资源开发和应用方面的热点问题,文章还介绍了胜任特征模型在国内人力资源开发、管理体系建设实践应用方面的进展。并对于未来开展本领域的理论研究和实践应用提出了建议     

The Determinants of a Quality of Life Indicator for Farm Operator Households: Application of Zero-Inflated Count-Data Models

The assessment of the determinants of quality of life in the USA has long been a focus of many researchers. This paper contributes towards that effort by focusing on the quality of life attributes of a segment of the population; namely, farm operator households. To assist in this effort, a quality of life indicator is constructed based on data from the 2004 Agricultural Resource Management Survey along with some auxiliary databases. The determinants of this indicator have been assessed by means of count-data models with special emphasis being given to the role of the preponderance of zeros in the constructed index. Based on the findings, some policy recommendations on how to improve the quality of life in the rural communities are provided.