Aging and intraindividual variability in performance: analyses of response time distributions

It has been suggested that older adults are more variable in their performance because they are more prone to lapses of either attention or intention. In the present experiment, 9 young and 9 older adults each performed nearly 2000 trials of a same-different judgment task. As expected, older adults were slower and more variable than young adults. When the age-related difference in speed was taken into account, however, the older adults were, if anything, less variable than the young adults. When younger and older adults' RT distributions were analyzed using quantile-quantile plots and by fitting ex-Gaussian and Weibull functions, there was no consistent evidence that older adults' distributions were more skewed than young adults', as would be predicted by age-related increases in lapses of attention or intention. Importantly, there was a positive, linear relation between RT and intraindividual variability, and the same relation was observed both within subjects (practice increased speed and reduced variability) as well as between subjects (regardless of age, slower individuals were more variable). Thus, the present results suggest that there may be a general law governing the relation between average RT and variability, and that the greater performance variability of older adults primarily reflects their greater average RTs.     

Reflections on the Experience of Counseling Supervision by a Team of Genetic Counselors from the UK

Despite it being generally acknowledged that counseling supervision is a vital part of the work for experienced genetic counselors and not just students, not all practising genetic counselors in the United Kingdom and Eire have access to this yet. This case study documents the supervision experience of our team of genetic counselors from Cambridge in the U.K. We document our retrospective thoughts on working practice before supervision was available in our department. We also give an overview of the individual and collective views of having one-to-one supervision only and then one year later, the impact of adding group supervision. Our ‘supervision journey’ is recorded using a practitioner-centred approach with a mixed method of data collection. Two focus group discussions and two written questionnaires were used, at different time points to gather attitudes. This paper captures experiences as our practice of supervision has evolved. This work is relevant to practising genetic counselors around the world who either do not yet have access to supervision, are planning its implementation or else are adding different types of supervision to their practice.     

军队士气研究述评

在军事领域中,士气是军事力量的重要组成部份,对士气的研究一直是军事心理学研究的热点。文章总结了军队士气研究的几个方面:定义,影响因素,测量,对降低战场应激反应的作用,并提出培育士气的思考和建议。     

关于我国投资者从众行为的实证研究

由于广大投资者的行为决策与心理因素密切相关,因而深入分析从众行为对于投资决策的影响．对于推动我国证券市场健康发展以及促使投资者形成理性投资决策具有重要的现实意义。本研究发现：我国投资者从众行为的特征差异可以从信息权威性、关系亲密性、环境一致性、团组压力性、知识充分性、情绪稳定性、专注耐心性、信息敏感性这八个因素进行分析;投资者可分为“从众追风型”、“环境适应型”以及“独立稳定型”三类。     

Heart rate variability and drawing impairment in hypoxemic COPD

We studied 54 patients with hypoxemic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The Mini Mental State Examination and the Mental Deterioration Battery were used for neuropsychological assessment. Heart rate variability (HRV) was assessed based on 24-h Holter ECG recording. Mann–Whitney test was used to compare HRV parameters of patients performing normally or abnormally on individual neuropsychological tasks. Spearman’s rho was used to investigate the correlations between HRV parameters and neuropsychological scores, indexes of health status or COPD severity. Patients with defective performance at copying drawings with landmarks (CDL) test (N = 23) had lower very low frequency (VLF) power with respect to patients with normal performance (N = 31) (24 h: median 213; interquartile range 120–282 vs. 309; 188–431 ms², p = 0.043; daytime: 202; 111–292 vs. 342; 194–397 ms², p = 0.039). The CDL score correlated with the VLF power (24 h: ρ = 0.27, p = 0.049; daytime: ρ = 0.30, p = 0.028), and the normalized low frequency/high frequency (LF/HF) ratio (24 h: ρ = 0.27, p = 0.05; daytime: ρ = 0.33, p = 0.015). Sympathetic modulation decreased for increasing severity of COPD. In conclusion, drawing impairment correlates with depressed sympathetic modulation in patients with COPD, and both might be indexes of COPD severity.     

The Construct Validity of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale: Multisample and Longitudinal Evidence

This study investigated the factor structure and factorial group and time invariance of the 17-item and 9-item versions of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES; Schaufeli et al. (2002b) Journal of Happiness Studies 3:71–92). Furthermore, the study explored the rank-order stability of work engagement. The data were drawn from five different studies (N = 9,404), including a three-year longitudinal study (n = 2,555), utilizing five divergent occupational samples. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesized correlated three-factor structure—vigor, dedication, absorption—of both UWES scales. However, while the structure of the UWES-17 did not remain the same across the samples and time, the structure of the UWES-9 remained relatively unchanged. Thus, the UWES-9 has good construct validity and use of the 9-item version can be recommended in future research. Moreover, as hypothesized, Structural Equation Modeling showed high rank-order stabilities for the work engagement factors (between 0.82 and 0.86). Accordingly, work engagement seems to be a highly stable indicator of occupational well-being.     

Perception of achievement attribution in individual and group contexts: Comparative analysis of Japanese, Korean, and Asian-American results

The present study focuses on the relational dynamics between individual and group attributions and examines cultural variations of people's perceptions of self-enhancing and group-enhancing attributions. Middle school students in Japan, Korea and the USA (Hawaii) were asked to read a vignette and to evaluate the stimulus person who makes an internal or external attribution for his personal or team's success. The results revealed that: (i) the self-effacing attributor was perceived as likable by the participants from all three cultures, but as less self-confident by Asian-Americans; and (ii) although Japanese and Koreans share similar cultural backgrounds, they had different preferences for the group-enhancing or group-effacing attributions. The different systems of self-enhancement across cultures are discussed.     

决策者-建议者系统模型的回顾与前瞻

自从决策者-建议者系统于1995年被提出以来,在决策领域引起了广泛的关注。通过总结决策者-建议者系统的研究范式和过程模型,比较了其与群体决策和团队决策的异同。目前在该系统模型中的主要研究变量涉及信任、建议者信心、专门知识、报酬、任务难度和相似性,已有的理论解释主要包括心理契约理论、态度改变理论、信念修正理论和沉没成本理论。未来的研究应当从变量关系、信任机制、建议提出和任务类型的角度进行专题探讨,并应当开展跨文化研究。     

大学生职业成熟度的干预研究

随着高校就业率逐年滑坡,大学生就业同题日趋严峻.本研究通过自编团体咨询方案,以团体职业咨询的方式对大学生的职业成熟度进行干预.结果显示通过团体职业咨询大学生职业成熟度显著提高,本研究设计的团体职业咨询方案是可行的有效的,经完善可以应用到我国职业指导和咨询的实践当中.     

Being in Berlin: A large group experience in the Berlin Congress

In July 2007, the International Psychoanalytic Congress convened for the first time since the war in the former Nazi capital, Berlin. An open large group forum was held at this meeting, where attendees (Jewish, German and others) had the opportunity to explore the emotional aspects stirred up by being in Berlin. Hundreds of people participated in the event and described it as the 'heart of the Congress'. We examine several aspects of the event, including the passions stirred, the containment of the setting, and the voices present and absent.