The second offspring of General Process Learning Theory: Overt behavior as the ambassador of the mind

Wasserman suggested in a recent book review that the study of intervening cognitive processes represents a current focus of interest in animal learning and that this has led to a revitalization of comparative psychology. An examination of the volume reviewed suggests that he may have overstated the case. Most of the authors to whom he refers expressed dissatisfaction with traditional stimulus-response associationism but few argued for the extreme (information processing) sort of cognitive approach described by Wasserman.     

Eye tracking provides no evidence that young infants understand path obstruction

In two experiments with 47 4-month-olds, we investigated attention to key aspects of events in which an object moved along a partly occluded path that contained an obstruction. Infants were familiarized with a ball rolling behind an occluder to be revealed resting on an end wall, and on test trials an obstruction wall was placed in the ball's path. In Experiment 1, we did not find longer looking when the object appeared in an impossible location beyond the obstruction, and infants did not selectively fixate the object in this location. In Experiment 2, after rolling one or two balls, we measured infants' fixations of a two-object outcome with one ball in a novel but possible resting position and the other in a familiar but impossible location beyond the obstruction. Infants looked longer at the ball in the possible but novel location, likely reflecting a looking preference for location novelty. Thus we obtained no evidence that infants reasoned about obstruction and identified a violation on that basis.     

Tapping into the interplay of lexical and number knowledge using fast mapping: A longitudinal eye-tracking study with two-year-olds

Language skills and mathematical competencies are argued to influence each other during development. While a relation between the development of vocabulary size and mathematical skills is already documented in the literature, this study further examines how children’s ability to map a novel word to an unknown object as well as their ability to retain this word from memory may be related to their knowledge of number words. Twenty-five children were tested longitudinally (at 30 and at 36 months of age) using an eye-tracking-based fast mapping task, the Give-a-Number task, and standardized measures of vocabulary. The results reveal that children’s ability to create and retain a mental representation of a novel word was related to number knowledge at 30 months, but not at 36 months while vocabulary size correlated with number knowledge only at 36 months. These results show that even specific mapping processes are initially related to the acquisition of number words and they speak for a parallelism between the development of lexical and number-concept knowledge despite their semantic and syntactic differences.     

Individual Differences in Categorization Gradience As Predicted by Online Processing of Phonetic Cues During Spoken Word Recognition: Evidence From Eye Movements

Recent studies have documented substantial variability among typical listeners in how gradiently they categorize speech sounds, and this variability in categorization gradience may link to how listeners weight different cues in the incoming signal. The present study tested the relationship between categorization gradience and cue weighting across two sets of English contrasts, each varying orthogonally in two acoustic dimensions. Participants performed a four-alternative forced-choice identification task in a visual world paradigm while their eye movements were monitored. We found that (a) greater categorization gradience derived from behavioral identification responses corresponds to larger secondary cue weights derived from eye movements; (b) the relationship between categorization gradience and secondary cue weighting is observed across cues and contrasts, suggesting that categorization gradience may be a consistent within-individual property in speech perception; and (c) listeners who showed greater categorization gradience tend to adopt a buffered processing strategy, especially when cues arrive asynchronously in time.     

Triggering Creative Self-Efficacy to Increase Employee Innovation Behavior in the Hospitality Workplace

This study investigated how creative personality, psychological empowerment, and job stress affect creative self-efficacy and innovative behavior in hospitality employees. A hypothesized moderating role of knowledge-sharing role in the relationship between creative self-efficacy and innovative behavior was also tested. Three hundred and thirty-nine employees and 89 supervisors employed by International Tourist Hotels in Taiwan participated in the study. A structural equation modeling analysis indicated that creative self-efficacy significantly mediates the effects of creative personality and psychological empowerment on innovative behavior in the hospitality industry. The positive effect of creative self-efficacy on innovative behavior was larger in high knowledge-sharing work environments than in low knowledge-sharing work environments. Theoretical and practical implications are further discussed.     

Belief in a Just World and Employee Voice Behavior: The Mediating Roles of Perceived Efficacy and Risk

Abstract

In this research, we hypothesized that employees’ belief in a just world (BJW) would be positively related to their voice behavior, i.e., the expression of ideas or opinions with the intention of engendering organizational improvement or change, and that this relation would be mediated by perceived voice efficacy and perceived voice risk. To test these hypotheses, we collected self-reported data from employees in two different countries: China (N?=?313) and Germany (N?=?190). The results revealed a positive association between BJW and employee voice behavior in both samples. The two-mediator model was confirmed in the Chinese sample, while only perceived voice efficacy played a mediating role in the German sample. Possible reasons for these differences may be related to differences in cultural dimensions and education levels between the samples. The findings emphasize the importance of bolstering employees’ belief in justice and the organizational climate, which influence perceived voice efficacy and risk, as means to increase organizational voice behavior.     

Getting social in selection: How social networking website content is perceived and used in hiring

The use of social networking websites (SNWs) during employee selection is gaining popularity in organizations. Using a foundation that integrates identity and situational strength theories, we develop a conceptual framework that differentiates SNW information from information gathered through traditional selection procedures, and distinguishes between SNW types. Research questions and hypotheses are tested using a survey of 291 hiring professionals. Results indicate that SNW content is considered useful and is regularly utilized during hiring. Some SNW content is viewed positively (e.g., information supporting qualifications), while other information leads to negative perceptions (e.g., discriminatory comments). Finally, results support a differentiation between personal and professional SNW, as the kind of information sought and the effectiveness of assessing various work‐related constructs differs between these SNW categories.     

Metacognitive components of writing: Construction and validation of the Metacognitive Components of Planning Writing Self-inventory (MCPW-I)

IntroductionWriting and metacognition play an essential function in the learning process, in that writers engage arduous cognitive efforts by selecting and organizing ideas, then reviewing and readjusting them.ObjectiveThe present research aimed to construct and validate a self-report instrument to measure some specific metacognitive processes implicated in writing planning. Two categories of metacognitive components were considered: metacognitive knowledge and self-regulation strategies.MethodBased on exploratory and confirmatory analyses, the Metacognitive Components of Planning Writing Self-inventory (MCPW-I) was constructed and validated. This instrument is composed of three factors: Metacognitive Conditional Knowledge – MCK (6 items), Covert Self-regulation – CSF (4 items), and Environmental self-regulation – ESF (5 items). 1022 undergraduates students engaged in various programs of a French university filled in the inventory.ResultsThe alpha coefficients indicated a reliable internal consistency and the test-retest reliability showed a good temporal stability. Correlational analyses revealed that the CRS factor was related to ESR and MCK factors, and these last two were not correlated with each other. After the analysis of variance, the responses relative to ESR and MCK dimensions differed according to gender, but no differences relatively to the academic disciplines considered was found. Concerning the predictive validity, CSF and MCK were correlated with writing performance.ConclusionThe results confirm the validity and reliability of the MCPW-I which constitutes a new research tool for the study of metacognitive processes of writing.     

Traffic safety competencies in Peruvian high school students

This study aims to comprehend traffic safety competencies in high school students from two specific regions of Peru, as well as to analyze the differences between both groups. For this purpose, a qualitative study was carried out which consisted of eight focus groups in high schools, three of them in the metropolitan area of Lima (Lima region) and five in the province of Rodríguez de Mendoza (the Amazonas region). The focus groups were constituted by 73 students enrolled in the last three years of high school, named 3rd, 4th and 5th grade of secondary education, whose ages ranged from 14 to 18 years. The collected data were analyzed employing elements of Grounded Theory and Axiomatic Set Theory. The main findings reveal that most participants have a general understanding of traffic rules and the proper use of the components of traffic safety. Thus, they understand the traffic rules as road signs that regulate the behavior of drivers and pedestrians. In addition, participants know the proper procedure to follow at traffic lights, pedestrian walkways and how to use seat belts. They also identify the driver’s tiredness/drowsiness, and the consumption of alcohol and drugs as potential factors that cause traffic accidents. No causes that are linked to pedestrian behavior were identified, and only participants from the Amazonas region mentioned speeding as a contributing factor. On the other hand, participants report that in practical situations they engage in risky behavior and fail to comply with transit rules. They justify this behavior by citing poor infrastructure, vehicle malfunctions, and the need get around quickly in order to get things done. Finally, the implications of the results are discussed and compared to the content and implementation of the Peruvian Road Safety Educational Program (PENSV, for its acronym in Spanish), providing recommendations that can aid evidence‐based policy making in Peru.