Blocked vs. interleaved presentation and proactive interference in episodic memory

Although a number of theoretical accounts of proactive interference (PI) in episodic memory have been proposed, existing empirical evidence does not support conclusively a single view yet. In two experiments we tested the predictions of the temporal discrimination theory of PI against alternative accounts by manipulating the presentation schedule of study materials (lists blocked by category vs. interleaved). In line with the temporal discrimination theory, we observed a clear buildup of (and release from) PI in the blocked condition, in which all the lists of the same category were presented sequentially. In the interleaved condition, with alternating lists of different categories, a more gradual and smoother buildup of PI was observed. When participants were left free to choose their presentation schedule, they spontaneously adopted an interleaved schedule, resulting again in more gradual PI. After longer delays, we observed recency effects at the list level in overall recall and, in the blocked condition, PI-related effects. The overall pattern of findings agrees with the predictions of the temporal discrimination theory of PI, complemented with categorical processing of list items, but not with alternative accounts, shedding light on the dynamics and underpinnings of PI under diverse presentation schedules and over different time scales.     

Psychological contract breach and workplace deviance: Does emotional intelligence matter?

This study investigated the influence of emotional intelligence on the relationship between psychological contract breach and workplace deviance with feelings of violation. The participants were 232 employees of a Nigerian public sector organisation (125 males and 107 females). The employees completed measures of workplace deviance, psychological contract breach, feelings of violation, and emotional intelligence. Results of the moderated hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that psychological contract breach was positively related to feelings of violation and workplace deviance. Emotional intelligence significantly buffered the negative effect of psychological contract breach on feelings of violation and workplace deviance. This implies that emotionally intelligent employees who perceived contract breach are less likely to experience feelings of violation and engage in workplace deviance. Emotional regulation appears to reliably moderate between breach-outcome relationships.     

Adventures in Supervision: Implications for Supervision of Adventure Based Counseling

Supervision is a key component of counselor education. Although a variety of models guide the supervision process, few address the needs of counselors engaging in Adventure Based Counseling (ABC), a mode of treatment that uses experiential activities in a group setting. To address the experiential nature of ABC, the authors propose an integrative supervision approach comprised of the discrimination model of counseling supervision and the ENHANCES model for ABC. The authors also address training needs of ABC supervisors as well as supervision best practices. Finally, the article includes a case-study demonstrating the implementation of an integrative model of ABC supervision, addressing both the technical and clinical skills.     

The propagation of everyday prosociality in the workplace

Prosocial behaviors typically benefit those who perform them but can create mixed emotions in recipients. Yet, how does prosociality affect the well-being of those who merely observe it? The current study aimed to answer this question by experimentally prompting employees to perform prosocial acts at work (Givers), be the recipient of such acts (Receivers), or to do neither (Observers). Our focus was on everyday prosociality, which involves kind acts directed at those in one’s social circle, rather than at individuals in need. Social proximity to Givers, but not Receivers, positively predicted boosts in well-being. Indeed, social proximity to Receivers was associated with a nonsignificant trend toward decreased well-being. However, both social proximity to Givers and social proximity to Receivers predicted increases in prosocial behavior among Observers. These results suggest that prosocial behavior and its emotional benefits propagate through social networks, particularly for those in close social proximity to prosocial actors.     

On French listeners’ ability to use stress during spoken word processing

Previous studies have suggested that French listeners experience difficulties when they have to discriminate between words that differ in stress. A limitation is that these studies used stress patterns that do not respect the rules of stress placement in French. In this study, three stress patterns were tested on bisyllabic words (1) the legal stress pattern in French, namely words that were unstressed compared to words that bore primary stress on their last syllable (/?u?i/-/?u’?i/), (2) an illegal stress location pattern, namely words that bore primary stress on their first syllable compared to words that bore primary stress on their last syllable (/’?u?i/-/?u’?i/) and (3) an illegal pattern that involves an unstressed word, namely words that were unstressed compared to words that bore primary stress on their first syllable (/?u?i/-/’?u?i/). In an ABX task, participants heard three items produced by three different speakers and had to indicate whether X was identical to A or B. The stimuli A and B varied in stress (/?u’?i/-/?u?i/-/?u’?i/), in one phoneme (/?u’?i/-/?u’???/-/?u’?i/) or in both stress and one phoneme (/?u’?i/-/?u???/-/?u’?i/). The results showed that French listeners are fully able to discriminate between two words differing in stress provided that the stress pattern included an unstressed word. More importantly, they suggest that the French listeners’ difficulties mainly reside in locating stress within words.     

The effect of variations of emotional expressions on mnemonic discrimination and traditional recognition memory

Face recognition occurs when a face is recognised despite changes between learning and test exposures. Yet there has been relatively little research on how variations in emotional expressions influence people’s ability to recognise these changes. We evaluated the ability to discriminate old and similar expressions of emotions (i.e. mnemonic discrimination) of the same face, as well as the discrimination ability between old and dissimilar (new) expressions of the same face, reflecting traditional discrimination. An emotional mnemonic discrimination task with morphed faces that were similar but not identical to the original face was used. Results showed greater mnemonic discrimination for learned neutral expressions that at test became slightly more fearful rather than happy. For traditional discrimination, there was greater accuracy for learned happy faces becoming fearful, rather than those changing from fearful-to-happy. These findings indicate that emotional expressions may have asymmetrical influences on mnemonic and traditional discrimination of the same face.     

Being tolerated: Implications for well-being among ethnic minorities

Tolerating or condoning practices that one finds objectionable is typically considered a positive way to negotiate intergroup differences. However, being the target of tolerance might harm well-being, which we examined in three studies (a survey and two experiments) among a total of 1,054 members of various racial/ethnic minority groups in the United States. In Study 1, we found that perceiving oneself to be tolerated on the basis of one’s ethnic group membership was associated with more negative well-being. In Study 2, we found that bringing to mind experiences of being tolerated results in less positive and more negative affect than thinking about experiences of acceptance, but more positive and less negative outcomes than thinking about overt discrimination experiences. In Study 3, we replicated the results of Study 2 while demonstrating that threat to social identity needs mediates the tolerance–well-being link. These results suggest that being tolerated is related to minority targets’ well-being in ways that are intermediate between being treated with outright discrimination and full acceptance, but that being tolerated follows a pattern closer to discrimination.     

Le développement d’un outil de mesure des comportements inadaptés au travail auprès de directions d’établissements scolaires du Québec

This study focuses on developing a measuring tool for unsuitable behaviour in the workplace. The tool has been developed from school principals. To do so, exploratory factor analyses have been conducted. Data have been collected from 232 senior staff members from school facilities across Quebec. Participants were invited to answer an online questionnaire. The results obtained help to classify inappropriate work behaviour into one factor. In addition to its theoretical value, this research brings several significant contributions to practice.     

Resilience in elite sport and at work – A comparative analysis among German elite athletes and employees

ObjectiveThe first purpose was to examine and compare the different levels of resilience for elite athletes and employees. Second, we investigated the relationship between resilience and personality traits for both groups. Finally, we explored how resilience is linked to sporting success.DesignCross-sectional, self-report survey.MethodA total of 720 participants (mean age = 28.59, SD = 22.02, males = 51.7%, 256 elite athletes, 132 dual students, and 332 employees) were surveyed and completed scales about resilience, personality traits, and sporting success. Analysis of variance to identify mean level differences between groups and regression analysis to examine the effect of resilience on sporting success.Results and conclusionsThe group of athletes shows significantly higher levels of resilience than the groups of dual students and employees. We find positive relationships between resilience and all considered personality traits but find that the level of correlations varies. Resilience is rather a prerequisite for top-level sports participation than a predictor for sporting success.     

Auditory–Visual stimuli: Effects on derived relations with compound stimuli

This research explored the effect of teaching conditional discriminations with three procedures on the derivation of 36 stimuli relations (derived relations). The stimuli used consisted of three characteristics musical instruments, along with the corresponding picture. In the first experiment six university students were trained with simple stimuli and tested with compound auditory–visual samples; therefore, a one‐to‐many structure was used. In the second experiment, auditory stimuli were replaced by visual stimuli, for the samples used, for new students. A third experiment was implemented with an extra phase of training with compound stimuli for six new students. The structure of the experiments was: pretests (Xbcd–A; Xacd–B; Xabd–C; Xabc–D), training (A–B; A–C; A–D), and posttests (same as pretests). The difference between these conditions was the kind of stimuli used and a new phase of teaching used in condition 3: (Xbcd–A). The results indicate that training with simple stimuli on discriminations that include stimuli that are easy to discriminate from each other (words and sounds) is a sufficient condition for good posttest performance. However, when comparisons are made difficult (words only), participants show better performance on new tests if they have a learning history with compound stimuli.