学前儿童自我控制行为家长评定问卷的编制及其结构验证

目的:编制学前儿童自我控制行为家长评定问卷并对其结构进行验证。方法:在理论分析和开放式问卷调查的基础上,编制了学前儿童自我控制行为家长评定问卷,并采用探索性因素分析与验证性因素分析相结合的方法,分别对263名和387名学前儿童的自我控制行为进行结构的探索与验证。结果:学前儿童自我控制行为由独立性、自觉性、坚持性、自制力和自我延迟满足五个维度构成;学前儿童自我控制行为问卷具有较好的信效度,其结构在不同性别、城乡样本中具有稳定性。结论:学前儿童自我控制行为是一个五因素的结构,所编制的问卷可作为学前儿童自我控制行为家长评定的工具。     

Relating the Spherical representation of vocational interests to the HEXACO personality model

The present study extends previous research on interests–personality relations by comparing recent models of vocational interests (using the Personal Globe Inventory; PGI, Tracey, 2002) and personality (using the HEXACO-PI-R; Ashton, Lee, & de Vries, 2014) with each other. First, the structure of the Spherical representation was adequately replicated in a Dutch sample (N = 656). Second, in so far as comparisons were possible, the relations between interests and personality were found to be congruent with previous findings. Third, Prestige interests, the defining feature of the Spherical representation, were related, albeit weakly, to Openness to Experience and to Extraversion. Last of all, Honesty–Humility and Openness to Experience were related to profile elevation in interest scores. All results were obtained for normative and ipsatized scales, revealing several meaningful differences in interests–personality relations depending on the type of interest scoring procedure.     

Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Warr,Cook, and Wall's (1979) Job Satisfaction Scale

Warr, Cook, and Wall's Job Satisfaction Scale (JSS) is a widely used measure of job satisfaction in industrial/organisational (I/O) psychology research and practice. However, the factor structure has not been adequately explored, with two‐factor and three‐factor solutions previously proposed. This study tested the factor structure of the JSS using robust analysis methods on data gathered from a convenience sample of 381 (females = 264, males = 116) Australian employees. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a hierarchical three‐factor model of job satisfaction in terms of model adequacy coefficients; however, the three factors were highly correlated, thereby rendering a multifactorial approach to the JSS untenable. The results support the continued use of an overall score of job satisfaction when using this measure in I/O psychology research and practice. Further testing of the structure is recommended within a range of employment sectors, as the assumed multifactorial structure of the JSS common in the literature was not supported by the current study.     

The personality systems framework: Current theory and development

The personality systems framework is a fieldwide outline for organizing the contemporary science of personality. I examine the theoretical impact of systems thinking on the discipline and, drawing on ideas from general systems theory, argue that personality psychologists understand individuals’ personalities by studying four topics: (a) personality’s definition, (b) personality’s parts (e.g., traits, schemas, etc.), (c) its organization and (d) development. This framework draws on theories from the field to create a global view of personality including its position and major areas of function. The global view gives rise to new theories such as personal intelligence—the idea that people guide themselves with a broad intelligence they use to reason about personalities.     

Reliability and validity of the Leuven Perceptual Organization Screening Test (L‐POST)

Neuropsychological tests of visual perception mostly assess high‐level processes like object recognition. Object recognition, however, relies on distinct mid‐level processes of perceptual organization that are only implicitly tested in classical tests. Furthermore, the psychometric properties of the existing instruments are limited. To fill this gap, the Leuven perceptual organization screening test (L‐POST) was developed, in which a wide range of mid‐level phenomena are measured in 15 subtests. In this study, we evaluated reliability and validity of the L‐POST. Performance on the test is evaluated relative to a norm sample of more than 1,500 healthy control participants. Cronbach's alpha of the norm sample and test–retest correlations for 20 patients provide evidence for adequate reliability of L‐POST performance. The convergent and discriminant validity of the test was assessed in 40 brain‐damaged patients, whose performance on the L‐POST was compared with standard clinical tests of visual perception and other measures of cognitive function. The L‐POST showed high sensitivity to visual dysfunction and decreased performance was specific to visual problems. In conclusion, the L‐POST is a reliable and valid screening test for perceptual organization. It offers a useful online tool for researchers and clinicians to get a broader overview of the mid‐level processes that are preserved or disrupted in a given patient.     

Neighbourhood preferences,active travel behaviour,and built environment: An exploratory study

In the current study we investigated the extent to which neighbourhood preferences could be used as a base to group people in order to explore their residential and travel choices. The basic idea of this study was that the preferences people would have for their residential and travel choices might be a robust predictor of their actual travel behaviour, and that the neighbourhood preferences might distinguish people in terms of the characteristics of their living environment. We used a moderation model to test whether the effect of built environment on travel behaviour varied in terms of resident’s type. A total of 3403 inhabitants of the city of Tampere in Finland participated in the study. A web-based public participation GIS survey combining the questionnaires with a map (SoftGIS technique) was used to collect the data. We identified two distinct groups of residents in terms of general neighbourhood preferences. The findings showed that clustering residents based on neighbourhood preferences moderated the association between some features of density measures and travel behaviour. We found significant differences between the two clusters in both the frequencies and the distance of pedestrian and bike travel. The findings revealed that inhabitants of neighbourhoods with a larger percentage of green surroundings had a greater perception of neighbourhood stability than did the residents of neighbourhoods with a smaller percentage of green surroundings.     

On the Stability of Psychological Hardiness: A Three-Year Longitudinal Study

More than 30 years of research has established psychological hardiness as an important individual resiliency resource. One important question still remaining is whether psychological hardiness can be trained. The present study explored this question longitudinally within the context of a 3-year military academy training program. Cadets from 3 different Norwegian military academies (N = 293) completed hardiness questionnaires during the first week of their training, and then again at the end of each year, resulting in a total of 4 waves of data. Using hierarchical linear modeling, no statistically significant effect of time on hardiness scores was found. The nonsignificant growth parameter was examined further using Bayesian statistics as an indicator of the relative evidence for the null hypothesis of no change over time versus the alternative hypothesis of change. The resulting Bayes factor provided substantial support in our data for the null hypothesis of no hardiness development during the 3-year officer training programs.     

Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement in the Endorsement of Asylum Seeker Policies in Australia

Moral disengagement is a process whereby the self-regulatory mechanisms that would otherwise sanction unethical conduct can be selectively disabled. The present research proposed that moral disengagement might be adopted in the endorsement of asylum seeker policies in Australia, and in order to test this, a scale was developed and was validated in two studies. Factor analysis demonstrated that a 2-factor, 16-item structure had the best fit, and the construct validity of the scale was supported. Results provide evidence for the use of moral disengagement in the context of asylum seekers as a means of rationalizing conduct that may otherwise be sanctioned.     

Book Reviews

Using a latent variable modelling strategy we study individual differences in patterns of answers to the selection task and to the truth table task. Specifically we investigate the prediction of mental model theory according to which the individual tendency to select the false consequent card (in the selection task) is negatively correlated with the tendency to judge the false antecedent cases as irrelevant (in the truth table task). We fit a psychometric model to two large samples (N = 486, twice), and find no evidence for this negative correlation. We examine which of the assumptions of the model theory must be amended to accommodate our findings.     

Category structure affects the developmental trajectory of children's inductive inferences for both natural kinds and artefacts

Inductive reasoning is fundamental to human cognition, yet it remains unclear how we develop this ability and what might influence our inductive choices. We created novel categories in which crucial factors such as domain and category structure were manipulated orthogonally. We trained 403 4–9-year-old children to categorise well-matched natural kind and artefact stimuli with either featural or relational category structure, followed by induction tasks. This wide age range allowed for the first full exploration of the developmental trajectory of inductive reasoning in both domains. We found a gradual transition from perceptual to categorical induction with age. This pattern was stable across domains, but interestingly, children showed a category bias one year later for relational categories. We hypothesise that the ability to use category information in inductive reasoning develops gradually, but is delayed when children need to process and apply more complex category structures.