The role of pattern recognition in children's exact enumeration of small numbers

Enumeration can be accomplished by subitizing, counting, estimation, and combinations of these processes. We investigated whether the dissociation between subitizing and counting can be observed in 4‐ to 6‐year‐olds and studied whether the maximum number of elements that can be subitized changes with age. To detect a dissociation between subitizing and counting, it is tested whether task manipulations have different effects in the subitizing than in the counting range. Task manipulations concerned duration of presentation of elements (limited, unlimited) and configuration of elements (random, line, dice). In Study 1, forty‐nine 4‐ and 5‐year‐olds were tested with a computerized enumeration task. Study 2 concerned data from 4‐, 5‐, and 6‐year‐olds, collected with Math Garden, a computer‐adaptive application to practice math. Both task manipulations affected performance in the counting, but not the subitizing range, supporting the conclusion that children use two distinct enumeration processes in the two ranges. In all age groups, the maximum number of elements that could be subitized was three. The strong effect of configuration of elements suggests that subitizing might be based on a general ability of pattern recognition.     

Goal orientation profiles and task performance growth trajectories

Goal orientation theories were used to generate predictions regarding the moderating effect of goal orientation profiles on task performance growth trajectories. Participants were given multiple trials of practice on an air traffic control task. Analyses were conducted using growth curve modeling. As expected, individuals with high performance-approach orientation improved their task performance scores faster than their counterparts. The interaction between mastery and performance-avoid orientations moderated the performance growth curve such that individuals with high mastery and low performance-avoid orientation improved their performance at the fastest rate. The interaction between performance-approach and performance-avoid orientations also moderated the performance growth curve. Individuals with low performance-approach and high performance-avoid orientation improved their performance at the slowest rate. These findings contribute to theory and practice by elucidating how various combinations of goal orientations influence the rate of skill acquisition.

Sensorimotor synchronization with adaptively timed sequences

Most studies of human sensorimotor synchronization require participants to coordinate actions with computer-controlled event sequences that are unresponsive to their behavior. In the present research, the computer was programmed to carry out phase and/or period correction in response to asynchronies between taps and tones, and thereby to modulate adaptively the timing of the auditory sequence that human participants were synchronizing with, as a human partner might do. In five experiments the computer's error correction parameters were varied over a wide range, including "uncooperative" settings that a human synchronization partner could not (or would not normally) adopt. Musically trained participants were able to maintain synchrony in all these situations, but their behavior varied systematically as a function of the computer's parameter settings. Computer simulations were conducted to infer the human participants' error correction parameters from statistical properties of their behavior (means, standard deviations, auto- and cross-correlations). The results suggest that participants maintained a fixed gain of phase correction as long as the computer was cooperative, but changed their error correction strategies adaptively when faced with an uncooperative computer.     

Transfer of adaptation between ocular saccades and arm movements

Previous studies found little or no transfer of adaptation from reactive saccades to arm pointing movements, which suggests that the two motor systems rely on distinct adaptive mechanisms. However, this conclusion is based on experiments about the adaptation of response amplitudes, which is known to follow somewhat different principles than the adaptation of response directions. In the present study, we therefore investigate whether adapting the direction of reactive saccades will transfer to arm movements. We also test transfer in the opposite direction, from the arm to the eyes. Participants executed aimed saccades or arm movements from a central starting point towards visual targets in the participants' frontal plane. Targets were presented in eight possible locations along a circle of 20 cm radius about the starting point; each remained for 200 ms in one position, and was then displaced along the circle by -15 degrees . Participants from group E adapted to these double-stepped targets while executing eye movements, and were then tested for transfer while executing arm movements. The reciprocal design was used in participants from group A. Adaptive change in group A was about 14 degrees , while in group E it was only about 7 degrees . Transfer of adaptation was substantial, and was more pronounced when using the arm (i.e., eye-to-arm transfer in group E) rather than the eyes (i.e., arm-to-eye transfer in group A). Strong aftereffects were yielded in both groups. This pattern of findings implies that the adaptive change observed in our study was mainly based on recalibration rather than on cognitive strategies (strong aftereffects), that eyes and arm had access to a common adaptive mechanism (substantial transfer), and that the arm had better access than the eyes (larger adaptation and transfer when using the arm). When considering this outcome along with the available literature, it appears that arm and eyes may rely sometimes on a common and sometimes on distinct adaptive mechanisms, depending on the adapted parameter and on the nature of the motor task.     

Cognitive ability, personality, and academic performance in adolescence

Does positive thinking predict variance in school grades over and above that predicted by cognitive ability? Six hundred and thirty nine high school students participated in a three-year longitudinal study that predicted grades using cognitive ability and three positive thinking variables – self-esteem, hope, and attributional style. Hope, positive attributional style and cognitive ability predicted higher grades, whilst self-esteem was a less consistent predictor of academic performance. Structural equation modelling revealed significant paths from cognitive ability, gender, and a second order positive thinking factor to grades. The results suggest that intelligence, gender, and positive thinking each play a unique role in predicting academic performance in youth. Some suggestions for further research are made.     

Construct of job performance: Evidence from Chinese military soldiers

The construct of job performance has been one of the important topics in job performance research. The present study investigated the construct of job performance among Chinese military soldiers using both qualitative and quantitative methods. First, after interviewing 95 officers and soldiers, we categorized and conceptualized eight sets of typical behavioural incidents related to soldiers' job performance, and designed a questionnaire measuring job performance. Then, using a sample of 1402 Chinese soldiers, questionnaire reliability and validity were tested, and then the questionnaire was revised. The construct of job performance was further refined using confirmatory factor analyses and regression analyses using another sample of 1068 soldiers. The results showed that Chinese military soldiers' job performance consisted of two dimensions of task performance and contextual performance. Furthermore, task performance had three subfactors: military training, task accomplishment and work capability, whereas contextual performance encompassed four factors: helping others, love of learning, promoting organizational benefit and self-discipline. Task performance and contextual performance contributed independently to overall job performance.     

品牌信任的前因后果驱动机制研究

本研究通过大样本问卷调查,采用结构方程建模的方法探讨品牌信任的前因后果驱动机制.结果表明:品牌的直接经验和间接经验通过品牌态度和品牌信任的中介作用对品牌绩效发生影响,其中品牌直接经验比品牌间接经验对品牌态度的影响更大.这说明只有消费者对品牌产生了亲身体验以后,才会实质性地改变对品牌的态度和信任.品牌信任是导致品牌绩效的直接因素.     

工作设计对知识型员工和体力工作者的差异化影响：一个现场准实验研究

虽然泰勒主义似乎已被工作设计所替代, 但是近来有些学者们注意到工作设计并未起到预期的效果。该研究旨在探讨工作类型作为一个重要的调节变量, 影响着这两种观点的适用性。通过一个纵向现场准实验设计研究, 结果证实了工作类型的调节作用, 即工作丰富化对知识型员工和体力工作者工作产出的影响存在显著差异。这一结果表明, 泰勒主义和工作设计思想并无优劣之分。该文的研究结果对人力资源管理实践的发展, 具有一定的现实指导意义。     

互动公正对员工绩效与主管承诺的影响及其机制

采用问卷调查法和结构方程建模技术探讨互动公正对员工绩效与主管承诺的影响及其机制。通过分析215份员工和其直接主管的配对数据,结果发现：(1)互动公正通过主管认知信任的部分中介作用正向影响员工的任务绩效,即一方面直接影响员工的任务绩效,另一方面通过认知信任间接影响员工的任务绩效;(2)互动公正通过主管情感信任的完全中介作用正向影响员工的进谏行为;(3)互动公正通过主管认知信任和情感信任的完全中介作用正向影响员工的主管承诺。     

加法和乘法算式的表征方式

探讨加法和乘法算式的心理表征方式问题 ,检验加法和乘法算式表征分离假设 :对于加法算式主要形成视觉 -阿拉伯数字表征 ,对于乘法算式主要形成听觉 -言语表征。要求 2 4位大学生 (男女生各半 )回答一位数加法和乘法问题 (例如 ,2 +3 ,2× 3) ,这些问题中的算数用阿拉伯数字 (1～ 9)呈现或者汉字数字 (壹～玖 )呈现。结果是与阿拉伯数字条件相比 ,汉字数字条件对加法问题产生更大的影响 ,这与假设一致 ,支持Campbell等人的编码复杂性假设 (Encodingcomplexhypothesis) ,但又具体化和发展了这一假设