One Size Does Not Fit All: Managing Radical and Incremental Creativity

This research extends creativity theory by re‐conceptualizing creativity as a two‐dimensional construct (radical and incremental) and examining the differential effects of intrinsic motivation, extrinsic rewards, and supportive supervision on perceptions of creativity. We hypothesize and find two distinct types of creativity that are associated with different motivational factors. We further consider how combinations of motivational factors are linked to the different types of creativity. Finally, theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

Characteristics of affected third parties and cooperative behavior in social dilemmas

ABSTRACT

The studies described in this article explore the influence of an under-emphasized determinant of cooperative behavior in social dilemmas: affected third parties. Two experiments examined the effect of characteristics of third parties on individual cooperative behavior in social dilemmas, and identified mechanisms associated with these relationships. Study 1 demonstrated that third-party need affects individual cooperative behavior, and tested prosocial motivation and intra-group trust as mediators of this relationship. Study 2 provided further elaboration by demonstrating that individual cooperative behavior was reduced when a needy third party was low on reliability, and by showing that prosocial motivation and intra-group trust mediated this relationship. This research connects the literatures on individual cooperation in social dilemmas and relational job design, and demonstrates why third parties influence individuals’ cooperative behavior.     

The inertness of reason and Hume's legacy

Hume argues against the seventeenth-century rationalists that reason is impotent to motivate action and to originate morality. Hume's arguments have standardly been considered the foundation for the Humean theory of motivation in contemporary philosophy. The Humean theory alleges that beliefs require independent desires to motivate action. Recently, however, new commentaries allege that Hume's argument concerning the inertness of reason has no bearing on whether beliefs can motivate. These commentaries maintain that for Hume, beliefs about future pleasurable and painful objects on their own can produce the desires that move us to action. First, I show that this reading puts Hume at odds with Humeans, since the latter are committed, not only to the view that beliefs and desires are both necessary to action, but also to the view that beliefs do not produce desires. Second, I review textual, philosophical and historical grounds for my interpretation of Hume's argument for the inertness of reason. I argue that the new line on Hume, while consistent with a certain reading of the Treatise, is not supported by the Dissertation on the Passions and the second Enquiry, where Hume argues that all motivation has an origin in “taste”, which I take to be different from belief. Thus, Hume's arguments do support the contemporary Humean theory of motivation.     

Motivating Hume's natural virtues

Many commentators propose that Hume thinks that we are not or should not be motivated to perform naturally virtuous actions from moral sentiments. I take issue with this interpretation in this paper, arguing that Hume fully incorporates the moral sentiments into his understanding of how human beings act when it comes to the natural virtues and that he does not see the moral sentiments as a problematic kind of motivation that threatens or weakens the virtuous status of the action.     

An Intervention to Help Community-Based Organizations Implement an Evidence-Based HIV Prevention Intervention: The Mpowerment Project Technology Exchange System

Considerable resources have been spent developing and rigorously testing HIV prevention intervention models, but such models do not impact the AIDS pandemic unless they are implemented effectively by community-based organizations (CBOs) and health departments. The Mpowerment Project (MP) is being implemented by CBOs around the US. It is a multilevel, evidence-based HIV prevention program for young gay/bisexual men that targets individual, interpersonal, social, and structural issues by using empowerment and community mobilization methods. This paper discusses the development of an intervention to help CBOs implement the MP called the Mpowerment Project Technology Exchange System (MPTES); CBOs’ uptake, utilization and perceptions of the MPTES components; and issues that arose during technical assistance. The seven-component MPTES was provided to 49 CBOs implementing the MP that were followed longitudinally for up to two years. Except for the widely used program manual, other program materials were used early in implementing the MP and then their use declined. In contrast, once technical assistance was proactively provided, its usage remained constant over time, as did requests for technical assistance. CBOs expressed substantial positive feedback about the MPTES, but felt that it needs more focus on diversity issues, describing real world implementation approaches, and providing guidance on how to adapt the MP to diverse populations.     

Reconsidering the ‘heresy’ of using treatment manuals

Some argue that the medical model and the experimental design that underlies the use of treatment manuals to prove the efficacy of a psychotherapeutic treatment clashes with the theoretical basis of family therapy. From the point of view of the empirically supported treatments (ESTs) movement, treatment manuals are the operationalization of the independent variable in a clinical trial; the therapist is only part of the procedure and the therapeutic relationship is a confounding variable. Applying that logic to the practice of family therapy might be considered a heresy. This article argues that paradoxically, this heresy has a lot to offer the practice of family therapy. Research is the best way to answer questions like ‘how does family therapy work?’ ‘What makes ‘good therapy’ good?’ ‘Do therapists do what they say they do'? This article recommends an alternative framework for integrating ESTs into practice by proposing empirically informed guides to practice which, being less formulaic, encourage process‐outcome research, are coherent with the systemic model and do not constrain the therapist's creativity. Such guidelines allow therapists to use manuals flexibly so that they deepen the understanding of the process of therapy. We encourage you to listen to the JFT Editor, Mark Rivett, as he interviews the author on Manuals in the Practice and Research of Family Therapy. Available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1467‐6427/homepage/jft_podcast_series.htm .     

Motivating Operations Affect Stimulus Control: A Largely Overlooked Phenomenon in Discrimination Learning

Several recent studies have explored what Michael (e.g., 1982) termed the value-altering effect and the behavior-altering effect of motivating operations. One aspect of the behavior-altering effect that has garnered no recent attention involves changes in stimulus control produced by motivating operations. To call attention to this aspect of the behavior-altering effect, we herein review 11 studies that are concerned with the influence of varying levels of food or water deprivation on stimulus generalization. These studies suggest that motivating operations influence stimulus control (a) by changing the evocative strength of not just an established discriminative stimulus, but also of stimuli that are physically similar to it; (b) by changing the range of stimuli that evoke the operant in question; and (c) by exerting these effects in a graded fashion. These findings are potentially of conceptual and applied significance, and it appears that further research examining how motivating operations alter stimulus control, including some studies suggested herein, is warranted.     

Evolution of Research on Interventions for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Implications for Behavior Analysts

The extraordinary success of behavior-analytic interventions for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has fueled the rapid growth of behavior analysis as a profession. One reason for this success is that for many years behavior analysts were virtually alone in conducting programmatic ASD intervention research. However, that era has ended. Many investigators from other disciplines are now carrying out large-scale intervention studies and beginning to report successes of their own. The increasing number and range of studies has the potential to improve services for individuals with ASD, and it challenges behavior analysts to intensify their research efforts.