Memory span and general intelligence: A latent-variable approach

There are several studies showing that working memory and intelligence are strongly related. However, working memory tasks require simultaneous processing and storage, so the causes of their relationship with intelligence are currently a matter of discussion. The present study examined the simultaneous relationships among short-term memory (STM), working memory (WM), and general intelligence (g). Two hundred and eight participants performed six verbal, quantitative, and spatial STM tasks, six verbal, quantitative, and spatial WM tasks, and eight tests measuring fluid, crystallized, spatial, and quantitative intelligence. Especial care is taken to avoid misrepresenting the relations among the constructs being studied because of specific task variance. Structural equation modelling (SEM) results revealed that (a) WM and g are (almost) isomorphic constructs, (b) the isomorphism vanishes when the storage component of WM is partialed out, and (c) STM and WM (with its storage component partialed out) predict g.     

Supervisors’ relational transparency moderates effects among employees’ illegitimate tasks and job dissatisfaction: a four-wave panel study

Despite repeated calls for the inclusion of leadership in research on illegitimate tasks, little is known about what supervisors can actually do to mitigate negative effects of illegitimate tasks. We propose transparent leadership behavior as an effective means that buffers detrimental effects of illegitimate tasks. We further propose reciprocal effects between illegitimate tasks and job dissatisfaction. Based on a short panel study with four surveys across four consecutive weeks, data of 347 employees were analyzed using multiple group structural equation models. For the two facets of illegitimate tasks, results were more consistent for unnecessary than for unreasonable tasks. We found main and moderating effects in both the normal causal and the reversed causal direction for unnecessary tasks, with more consistent main effects in the reversed direction and stronger moderating effects in the normal direction: Job dissatisfaction rather led to unnecessary tasks than vice versa; while high transparency particularly buffered the effects of unnecessary tasks on job dissatisfaction. Thus, by means of transparent leadership behavior, supervisors are able to effectively intervene in the vicious circle between illegitimate tasks and employees’ job dissatisfaction and thereby benefit working conditions for leaders and followers alike.     

The Facilitative Effects of Ambiguous Figures on Creative Solution

Empirical studies of creativity emphasize the importance of ambiguity advantage in idea generation and creative problem‐solving. This study examined whether ambiguous figures could directly induce a mind‐set that would transfer to the creative problem‐solving. In Experiment 1, we examined whether presentation of ambiguous figures would influence participants' performance in alternative uses tasks, and the results showed that prior exposure to ambiguous figures significantly enhanced participants' performance in the dimension of fluency, flexibility, and originality than those exposed to non‐ambiguous figures; in general uses tasks, there were no significant difference in the reaction time and originality between the ambiguous figure condition and non‐ambiguous figure condition. In Experiment 2, the facilitative effect of ambiguous figures on creative thinking was further examined with creative story generation tasks that demand more mental effort and increased cognitive load. Results showed that creativity of stories generated in ambiguous figure condition was scored significantly higher than those in non‐ambiguous figure condition. The current research extends our understanding of the facilitative effect of ambiguous figures on creative problem‐solving.     

Couples, Existential Psychotherapy, and Myocardial Infarction: A Ten Year Evaluation Study

Existential psychotherapy with couples after the occurrence of a myocardial infarction can be a useful, effective, and productive service approach in combination with medical services and cardiac rehabilitation services. In this article the existential treatment dynamics of holding, telling, mastering, and honoring with couples after a heart attack are described and illustrated. In addition, data from a 10-year before-after field evaluation study is reported, which supports the usefulness of the treatment approach.     

略论应用伦理学的对象、任务和方法

应用伦理学以道德与实践的关系为对象。其任务主要有：1．为提高人的道德素质服务;2．为促进社会明发展服务;3．为协调人与自然的关系服务;4．为培育人的理想信念服务。其研究方法有：依托实践,归演理念;一无为主,综合创新;以人为本,德福并举。     

High school students’ career decision-making process: A longitudinal study of one choice

This study investigated high school students’ process of choosing a study in higher education, using a longitudinal design. A sample of 535 adolescents participated at the beginning, middle, and end of Grade 12. Latent curve modeling revealed evidence for a mean developmental increase in the career decisional tasks of orientation, exploration, decisional status, and commitment. In general, the growth trajectories were in line with theoretical models in which orientation and broad exploration are important at the beginning of the career decision-making process whereas in-depth exploration and decisional status are considered important later on. Furthermore, the results showed substantial variability between adolescents in their initial levels of career decisional tasks and in the rate of change. Finally, growth in orientation related to growth in environmental and self-exploration, and growth in environmental exploration related to progress in commitment and decisional status.     

Décalage in infants' knowledge about occlusion and containment events: Converging evidence from action tasks

In the present research, 6-month-old infants consistently searched for a tall toy behind a tall as opposed to a short occluder. However, when the same toy was hidden inside a tall or a short container, only older, 7.5-month-old infants searched for the tall toy inside the tall container. These and control results (1) confirm previous violation-of-expectation (VOE) findings of a décalage in infants' reasoning about height information in occlusion and containment events; (2) cast doubt on the suggestion that VOE tasks overestimate infants' cognitive abilities; and (3) support recent proposals that infants use their physical knowledge to guide their actions when task demands do not overwhelm their limited processing resources.     

Future Directions for Eye Movement Research

Eyemovementdatahaveproventobeex鄄tremelyusefulinthestudyofmanytopicsrelatedtocognitiveprocessing.Indeed,theymaybethebeston-linemeasureofmoment-to-momentcogni鄄tiveprocesses.Thisisnottosaythateyemove鄄mentswillproveusefulineveryaspectofcognitiveprocessing.Forexample,itisdifficulttoseehoweyemovementsmayrevealagreatdealaboutbasicmemoryprocesses(but,evenhere,theycouldbeusefulindeterminingexactlywhatpeoplerememberfromasceneorvisualdisplay).Inthisarticle,Iwillbrieflysummarizesomeimportantfindingsth…     

Relationships Between Sex-Role Attitudes, Division of Household Tasks, and Marital Adjustment

Relationships between sex-role attitudes, household tasks, and marital adjustment were explored. Eighty-five married couples completed the Osmond-Martin Sex Role Attitude Scale (Osmond & Martin, 1975), the Krausz Household Task scale (Krausz, 1986) and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Spanier, 1976). Modern husbands reported greater marital adjustment than traditional husbands. Traditional spouses reported more traditionally male household tasks being completed by husbands and traditionally female tasks being completed by wives. Spouses reported greater marital adjustment when husbands completed male tasks. Sex-role attitudes and household tasks related independently to marital adjustment. The results support assessing husbands and wives separately. Clinicians are advised to assess couples' sex-role attitudes while maintaining neutral attitudes themselves. Several clinical techniques are offered.     

Distress Tolerance and Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy: A New Role for Behavioral Analogue Tasks

Rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT) is a widely utilized treatment approach for many mental disorders, but it has been “relatively neglected in the professional scientific literature” (Ellis 2003b). This neglect has been attributed in part to a lack of solid REBT outcome studies, which in turn stems from the difficulty of measuring constructs of interest in REBT, such as irrational beliefs, via self-report measures. In light of these concerns, the current paper aims to identify the potential utility of behavioral analogue laboratory tasks for advancing the understanding of mechanisms in REBT, as well as treatment outcome using this therapeutic approach. Specifically, we focus on the utilization of behavioral measures of distress tolerance and their application to the key REBT construct of frustration intolerance. In identifying the parallels across distress tolerance and frustration intolerance, we consider how the incorporation of distress tolerance tasks into REBT research can be useful in evaluating the role of frustration intolerance in the initiation, maintenance, and treatment of disordered behavior across a broad range of clinical disorders.