Instance-based categorization: Automatic versus intentional forms of retrieval

Two experiments are reported which attempt to disentangle the relative contribution of intentional and automatic forms of retrieval to instance-based categorization. A financial decision-making task was used in which subjects had to decide whether a bank would approve loans for a series of applicants. Experiment 1 found that categorization was sensitive to instance-specific knowledge, even when subjects had practiced using a simple rule. L. L. Jacoby’s (1991) process-dissociation procedure was adapted for use in Experiment 2 to infer the relative contribution of intentional and automatic retrieval processes to categorization decisions. The results provided (1) strong evidence that intentional retrieval processes influence categorization, and (2) some preliminary evidence suggesting that automatic retrieval processes may also contribute to categorization decisions.     

Computerized fuzzy ratings: The concept of a fuzzy class

In this paper, we outline the concept of a fuzzy class used in programs for eliciting computerized fuzzy ratings. Fuzzy ratings allow respondents to provide symmetrical or asymmetrical latitudes of acceptance around a preferred point. These ratings have been used in research testing career theories and person-environment fit models. The variables defining the fuzzy class and the various functions that can be performed by it are described in the paper. The idea of a fuzzy class may be of interest to those involved in expert systems, knowledge engineering, or in fuzzy classification and measurement in general. A program, FUZRATE, written in object-oriented C++ code that uses the concept of a fuzzy class, is available on request. Both source code and a binary (executable) file are available.     

Status Quo Effects in Decision-Making about Training and Career Development

Within the context of the Theory of Work Adjustment and Image Theory, two studies examined status quo effects in “mini” decisions about training and career development. In Study 1 (N= 78), 32% of the employees demonstrated a status quo effect in that they were not considering any training or skill development options. As predicted by consistency theory, positive information was considered more important than negative information among the non status quo group, particularly for the non status quo alternative. In Study 2 (N= 114) training was given a low priority, although a “major change” frame of reference did increase the priority accorded to training to improve future job prospects. Results are discussed in relation to theoretical issues and the wider implications of encouraging investment in skill development where outcomes are delayed.     

An examination of learning processes during critical incident training: implications for the development of adaptable trainees

Three experiments are reported that examined the process by which trainees learn decision-making skills during a critical incident training program. Formal theories of category learning were used to identify two processes that may be responsible for the acquisition of decision-making skills: rule learning and exemplar learning. Experiments 1 and 2 used the process dissociation procedure (L. L. Jacoby, 1998) to evaluate the contribution of these processes to performance. The results suggest that trainees used a mixture of rule and exemplar learning. Furthermore, these learning processes were influenced by different aspects of training structure and design. The goal of Experiment 3 was to develop training techniques that enable trainees to use a rule adaptively. Trainees were tested on cases that represented exceptions to the rule. Unexpectedly, the results suggest that providing general instruction regarding the kinds of conditions in which a decision rule does not apply caused them to fixate on the specific conditions mentioned and impaired their ability to identify other conditions in which the rule might not apply. The theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of the results are discussed.     

Processing strategy moderates the cultivation effect

This study tested the hypothesis that processing strategy moderates the effect of television viewing on social perceptions (cultivation effect). One hundred twenty‐two male and female students provided estimates of the prevalence of crime, occupations, affluence, and marital discord under one of three conditions. Some participants were induced to process heuristically (heuristic group) through instructions to provide their estimates spontaneously with little elaboration. Other participants were induced to process systematically (systematic group) through an accuracy motivation/task importance manipulation. A third (control) group received instructions to simply answer the questions. The results indicated that processing strategy moderated the cultivation effect such that cultivation effects were noted in the heuristic and control groups but not in the systematic group. These results are consistent with the notion that the cultivation effect can be explained in part as the result of heuristic processing through lack of source discounting, and they provide support for the heuristic processing model of cultivation effects.     

Careers Advice and Tertiary Decision-Making “Downunder” in Australia

This article provides a broad outline of career services in Australia, highlighting distinctive issues relevant to indigenous people, the multicultural context of Australia, and the industrial relations climate. Three studies are summarized, each involving three waves of data collection over the period during which Year 12 students make tertiary education decisions. These studies document the uniquely centralized processing of university admissions with a comment about the implications of the structure for career planning and decision-making.     

Why Openness to Experience is not a Good Predictor of Job Performance

Recent meta‐analyses investigating the relationship between personality and job performance have found that openness to experience is the least predictive of the Big Five factors. Unlike other research that has sought to explain the low criterion‐validity with relation to job performance, this study explores the actual construct of openness to experience, suggesting that it consists of two dimensions that relate differentially to job performance thus reducing correlations between overall measures of openness to experience and performance criteria. Exploratory factor analysis of the six sub‐dimensions, or facets, of the NEO PI‐R (a popular measure of the Big Five factors) produced two factors of openness to experience corresponding to different areas to which people are open. A confirmatory factor analysis on a second set of data provided some support for this result. A pattern of differential relationships between the two factors and other variables including personality, biodata and supervisor‐rated performance offered further support for the multidimensionality of openness to experience. The implications of these findings for future research in the selection context are discussed.     

Tailoring computerised interventions to client needs

The results are reported of an experimental study in which 91 subjects rated the perceived helpfulness of three computerised interventions - a work values inventory (WAPS), a job-bank (JOB), and a decisions exercise (DECISIONS) - for hypothetical clients with identity, self-awareness, opportunity-awareness, decision-making and implementation problems. As predicted, WAPS was perceived as most helpful for clients with a self-awareness problem, JOB for clients with an opportunity-awareness problem, and DECISIONS for clients with a decision-making problem. Potential applications of the model implicit in the study to counsellor training, to the assessment of client problems and to careers education programmes are discussed.     

Decision-making style and career decision-making behaviors among school leavers

This study examines the relationship of self-rated decision style to vocational decision-making behaviors among school leavers before leaving school and to the implementation of their plans after leaving school. Support was found for the active-passive dimension in decision style and for the advantage of using an active logical style. It is suggested that future research examine the relationship of style to locus of control and social desirability.