Personal factors in talent retention in the South African banking industry

This study explored the influence of personal factors on job retention in a banking services sector setting. South African banking sector employees (n = 262) participated in the study (age range = 18–45 years; female = 62%, white = 57%). The participants were equally distributed in the different geographical locations (metropolitan areas = 53%, inland areas = 47%). The employees self-reported on their personal factors (emotional intelligence and self-esteem) and job retention factors. Regression analysis revealed personal factors as a composite variable to predict the talent retention factors of job characteristics, supervisor support, career opportunities, and work/life balance. Furthermore, the results indicated no significant differences in personal factors and retention factors by geographical location. The findings contribute new insights to the talent retention literature by presenting the importance of the personal attributes and demographical differences of employees.     

Ethics culture and ethics climate in relation to employee engagement in a developing country setting

The study investigated the relationship between employees’ perceived workplace ethics culture and climate variables and their level of engagement. A non-probability sample (N?=?839; females?=?32%) was permanently employed in a railway organisation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The research constructs were measured using the Corporate Ethical Virtues (CEV) Scale, Ethical Climate Questionnaire (ECQ), and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES). A canonical analysis indicated that the participants’ perceived workplace ethics culture and workplace ethics climate were significantly and positively related to their level of engagement. Structural equation modelling indicated a moderate fit between the workplace ethics culture, workplace ethics climate and employee engagement canonical variate constructs. The findings provide evidence that individual's perception of work ethics culture and work ethics climate explain their level of work engagement.     

Measuring memory monitoring with judgements of retention (JORs)

Most prior research has examined predictions of future memory performance by eliciting judgements of learning (JOLs). In six experiments, we explored monitoring with an alternative prospective measure. Specifically, participants made judgements of retention (JORs) predicting how long (in min) they would be able to remember information. Results revealed that participants provided relatively short predictions of how long they would remember information. Further, participants' JORs were sensitive to recall performance as well as manipulations that influenced memory performance indicating that they were able to effectively monitor learning using JORs. JORs influenced study decisions as well, with participants selecting more items for restudy following JORs than following JOLs or no monitoring judgement. However, restudy selection did not vary between a JOR and a JOL condition framed in terms of forgetting. Thus, we suggest that, much like forget-framed JOLs, JORs may bring different information—such as memory failure—to mind. In all, the inferential mechanisms underlying metacognitive monitoring with JOLs extends to monitoring when measured with JORs. Assessing monitoring with JORs provides information not available with JOLs (i.e., memory duration estimates) and a different basis for study decisions from remember-framed JOLs.     

The Influence of Reminder Trials on Contextual Interference Effects

Two experiments investigated the proposition of the elaboration explanation for contextual interference that more than one task is present in working memory when multiple tasks are practiced in a random schedule but that only one task is present in working memory when multiple tasks are practiced in a blocked schedule. Three motor tasks were performed as fast as possible in either a random or blocked practice schedule. At the end of practice, a reminder trial for each task was either given or not given. Acquisition performance was slower for the random practice conditions than for the blocked practice conditions. Retention performance was faster for the random practice conditions than for the blocked practice condition that did not receive a reminder trial for each task. Importantly, performance differences were not found between the random practice conditions and the blocked practice condition that did receive a reminder trial for each task. A blocked practice condition with a beneficial acquisition and reminder task order pairing performed faster during both acquisition and retention than a comparable random practice condition. Reminder trials can facilitate detailing of task characteristics, and their effectiveness is determined by the elapsed time and number of intervening tasks during acquisition and retention.     

Perceived responsibility for disease onset affects HIV/AIDS Education

Abstract

Ninety-nine participants were assigned to one of three experimental conditions in which they viewed an AIDS education videotape that systematically manipulated whether or not the educator would be perceived as responsible for HIV infection. Participants were administered pre and post-video affect measures, and an HlV/AIDS knowledge test after watching the video. Participants who viewed the speaker who acquired HIV through a blood transfusion (perceived not responsible) and those who viewed the speaker who did not reveal mode of acquisition (control) performed significantly better on the knowledge test compared to those who viewed the speaker who acquired HIV through unprotected sexual inttrcourse (perceived responsible). In addition. male participants in the perceived responsible condition reported a significant increase in sensation-sceking after viewing the video. Finally, females experienced a significantly greater increase in anxiety as a result of seeing the video than did males. Implications of these tindings for the design and implmentation of AIDS education programs were discussed.     

Solving the problem of partner infidelity: Individual mate retention,coalitional mate retention,and in-pair copulation frequency

Humans deploy various strategies to solve adaptive problems associated with a long-term partner’s infidelity. We investigated the relationships among three such strategies: individual mate retention, coalitional mate retention (i.e., mate retention with assistance from allies), and in-pair copulation frequency. Participants (n = 387; 176 women) in a committed, heterosexual relationship reported how often they (1) perform individual mate retention, (2) request coalitional mate retention, and (3) had sexual intercourse with their partner. The results indicate that women’s individual mate retention and men’s coalitional mate retention are positively associated with in-pair copulation frequency. The discussion notes limitations of this research and highlights the diversity of strategies humans deploy to address the adaptive problems of partner infidelity.     

基于客体工作记忆内容的保持对时间判断的影响

本研究通过操作工作记忆内容的有效性,探讨了记忆内容的保持对时间判断的影响。采用不规则的客体作为实验材料,使时间任务中的刺激与工作记忆内容匹配或不匹配。实验1采用工作记忆和时间判断的双任务范式,要求被试首先记忆一个客体,然后在每个试次的最后判断测试刺激是否与记忆项相同。在延迟阶段,被试判断连续出现的两个刺激的时距哪个更长（或更短）。实验2中,要求被试忽略第一个刺激,仅完成时间判断任务。结果发现,相比单任务的计时,双任务条件下,工作记忆内容的保持延长了时间判断的时间。而且,在记忆匹配和知觉匹配条件下,匹配刺激呈现的时间越长,正确率越低,反应时越长。这说明记忆内容的保持增加了决策的难度,工作记忆内容对时间判断的可能是由记忆内容引起的注意定向造成的。     

The Ape That Thought It Was a Peacock: Does Evolutionary Psychology Exaggerate Human Sex Differences?

This article looks at the evolution of sex differences in sexuality in human beings and asks whether evolutionary psychology sometimes exaggerates these differences. According to a common understanding of sexual selection theory, females in most species invest more than males in their offspring, and as a result, males compete for as many mates as possible, whereas females choose from among the competing males. The males-compete/females-choose (MCFC) model applies to many species but is misleading when applied to human beings. This is because males in our species commonly contribute to the rearing of the young, which reduces the sex difference in parental investment. Consequently, sex differences in our species are relatively modest. Rather than males competing and females choosing, humans have a system of mutual courtship: Both sexes are choosy about long-term mates, and both sexes compete for desirable mates. We call this the mutual mate choice (MMC) model. Although much of the evolutionary psychology literature is consistent with the MMC model, the traditional MCFC model exerts a strong influence on the field, distorting the emerging picture of the evolved sexual psychology of Homo sapiens. Specifically, it has led to the exaggeration of the magnitude of human sex differences, an overemphasis on men's short-term mating inclinations, and a relative neglect of male mate choice and female mate competition. We advocate a stronger focus on the MMC model.     

Retention of Implicit Sequence Learning in Persons Who Stutter and Persons With Parkinson's Disease

ABSTRACT. The authors investigated the retention of implicit sequence learning in 14 persons with Parkinson's disease (PPD), 14 persons who stutter (PWS), and 14 control participants. Participants completed a nonsense syllable serial reaction time task in a 120-min session. Participants named aloud 4 syllables in response to 4 visual stimuli. The syllables formed a repeating 8-item sequence not made known to participants. After 1 week, participants completed a 60-min retention session that included an explicit learning questionnaire and a sequence generation task. PPD showed retention of general learning equivalent to controls but PWS's reaction times were significantly slower on early trials of the retention test relative to other groups. Controls showed implicit learning during the initial session that was retained on the retention test. In contrast, PPD and PWS did not demonstrate significant implicit learning until the retention test suggesting intact, but delayed, learning and retention of implicit sequencing skills. All groups demonstrated similar limited explicit sequence knowledge. Performance differences between PWS and PPD relative to controls during the initial session and on early retention trials indicated possible dysfunction of the cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical loop. The etiological implications for stuttering, and clinical implications for both populations, of this dysfunction are discussed.     

Oral sex as mate retention behavior

Men perform “mate retention” behaviors to reduce the likelihood of their partner’s infidelity. One mate retention strategy men use is to increase their partner’s relationship satisfaction by provisioning her with benefits. We recruited 351 men to investigate whether men perform oral sex on their partner as part of a broader benefit-provisioning mate retention strategy. In support of the predictions, men who reported performing more mate retention behaviors, in general, and more benefit-provisioning mate retention behaviors, in particular, also reported greater interest in and spent more time performing oral sex on their partner. We present limitations of the research and discuss the benefits of an evolutionary perspective for investigating oral sex as a mate retention behavior.