A scale to measure attitudes toward working

The purpose of this study was to develop a scale that could measure attitude toward work and be used to determine the relation between length of unemployment time and work attitudes. Standardization of the Employment Readiness Scale was completed through its administration to three independent groups (N = 430): (1) employed workers: employees who worked in unskilled, semiskilled, and occasionally skilled job classifications; (2) unemployed individuals who were actively looking for regular employment at the Tennessee State Employment Service; and (3) the chronically unemployed: individuals, who, for the most part, were not looking for regular employment and who were seeking night lodging and meals at the Salvation Army or the Knoxville Union Rescue Mission. Through item analysis, it was determined that 43 of the 45-scale items were significant at or beyond the .01 level. It was further established that a relationship existed between work attitudes and length of unemployment. The longer an individual was unemployed, the less positive was his attitude toward work.     

Self-versus drug-produced relaxation and the effects of instructional set in standardized systematic desensitization

Snake fearful college students underwent Standardized Systematic Desensitization (SSD) treatment in which they received instructions designed to induce cognitions of either self- or drug-produced relaxation. Half of the subjects in each of these conditions were also given high expectancy therapy instructions and low expectancy therapy instructions respectively. All four SSD groups showed significantly greater improvement than a no-treatment control group on both the behavior avoidance test (BAT) and the self-report measure of fear. No differences between self- and drug-attributions of relaxation were found on any measure. Subjects' high expectancy ratings were significantly correlated with improvement on self-report measures but not related to BAT performance.     

Selective imitation of the passive construction through modeling

Six 4- to 5-yr-old subjects were exposed to five sessions in which an adult model used passive sentences to describe a set of modeling stimuli. Probe stimuli, which the subjects were asked to describe without benefit of modeling and without selective reinforcement were interspersed among modeling stimuli. A matched group of control subjects received probletrials but no modeling trials. Both groups of subjects were subsequently tested on their ability to comprehend active and passive sentence forms. Every subject in the experimental group produced passive sentences on probe trials even though there was considerable variability in the number of passives produced. No control subject produced passives. The modeling procedure increased the comprehension scores of the experimental group above those of the control group though the scores of both groups were above chance. The results were contrasted with earlier studies in which modeling was ineffective in producing passive usage and in which comprehension of the passive was not demonstrated by even older children.     

Conditions necessary for sand digging in laboratory rats

Continuous availability of a sand blocked tube elicited intense and persistent digging by laboratory rats. Neither training nor prior exposure to the apparatus were necessary for response initiation. Continuous presence of an open pile of sand would not elicit digging. No theoretical explanation is offered.     

Exploring athletes' perceptions of the relationship between mental toughness and dispositional flow in sport

ObjectivesDespite considerable scholarly attention over the last two decades, little is known about the influence of dispositional attributes on flow in sport. In achievement settings, mental toughness (MT) is a personal capacity supporting the process of high performance. Based on common overlaps with peak performance, confidence, control, concentration, and thriving in demanding situations, the present research aimed to explore the relationship between MT and dispositional flow and elucidate the psychological variables underlying dispositional flow.DesignA mixed method explanatory participant-selection design was adopted, whereby a quantitative approach was used to identify individuals for a qualitative follow-up phase to explore the relationship between MT and dispositional flow.MethodAn intensity sampling strategy was used to identify individuals with higher/lower MT and dispositional flow. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 athletes (M age = 25, SD = 3.24; female n = 10; male n = 6). An inductive content analysis was undertaken to interpret data.ResultsSeven general dimensions describing the psychological attributes related to dispositional flow in athletes with higher and lower MT emerged. Specifically, differences in confidence, perfectionism, goal orientation, coping mechanism selection, locus of control, optimism and concentration were apparent and could account for differences in dispositional flow.ConclusionWhile all athletes experienced flow, there were differences in dispositional flow and the processes involved in entering, maintaining and restoring flow between higher and lower MT subgroups. Findings are discussed in relation to the existing literature, and recommendations for future research into the MT-flow relationship are outlined.     

Evil and moral detachment: further reflections on The Mirror Thesis

A commonly accepted claim by philosophers investigating the nature of evil is that the evil person is, in some way, the mirror image of the moral saint. In this paper I will defend a new version of this thesis. I will argue that both the moral saint and the morally evil person are characterized by a lack of conflict between moral and non-moral concerns. However, while the saint achieves this unity through a reconciliation of the two, the evil person does so by eliminating moral concerns from her character.     

The Enlightenment That Won't Go Away: Modernity's Crux

The Critical Process unleashed by the Enlightenment and endlessly resharpening itself to this day has mortally wounded the God of Deism, maybe also of theism, even of Christianity. A temptation of Christian theology is to retreat in denial into an updated version of Deism, seemingly granting full license to modern science but only so long as it does not impugn God's love. The alternative here proposed is to ride out The Critical Process, in fact to encourage it, all the way into modernity's crux: How can a design that is not benign still be divine? The Christian reply is: through a real death of God and of ourselves as well, and through resurrections beginning now, thus freeing The Critical Process from the illusion of insuring our survival and, instead, for the honest Enlightenment task of merely telling the truth.     

Probability of reciprocation in repeated prisoner's dilemma games

Both social cooperation and self‐control require reciprocation. In social cooperation situations a single person's cooperative act, if not reciprocated by others, would be unreinforced both immediately and in the long term. Similarly, a single act of self‐control (refusing a single cigarette, for example), if not followed up by other such acts, would also be unreinforced immediately and in the long term. The present experiments varied probability of reciprocation in a prisoner's dilemma‐like game that could resemble a social cooperation or a self‐control situation. Participants earned points by playing against a computer. The computer offered the participant a choice between 5 or 6 points (‘cooperation’ by the computer) or between 1 or 2 points (‘defection’ by the computer). The participant's choice of the lesser alternative (‘cooperation’) or the greater alternative (‘defection’) on the current trial led, respectively, to cooperation or defection by the computer on the next trial with a probability (probability of reciprocation, PR) which could vary. When PR was greater than 63%, consistent cooperation maximized the participant's earnings. When PR was less than 63%, defection maximized earnings. Three conditions were studied: PR signaled by spinners; PR unsignaled; PR unsignaled with participants believing that they were playing with another person, not the computer. With PR = 100% (‘tit‐for‐tat’) and PR = 50%, the modal participant maximized earnings under all three conditions. With PR = 75%, participants maximized earnings only when PR was signaled. These results indicate that differences between people's tendency to cooperate with other people (social cooperation) and their tendency to cooperate with their own future interests (self‐control) may lie in differences in subjective PR. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.