Academic Procrastination in Two Settings: Motivation Correlates,Behavioral Patterns,and Negative Impact of Procrastination in Canada and Singapore

Two studies are reported examining academic procrastination and motivation in 1,145 university students from Canada and Singapore. In Study 1, relationships between procrastination and motivation variables were found to be similar across contexts, with self‐efficacy for self‐regulated learning most strongly associated with procrastination in both contexts. In Study 2, patterns of procrastinating behavior and the negative impact of procrastination were examined and compared in Canadian and Singaporean undergraduates. Participants in both contexts reported writing to be the academic task most prone to procrastination. More Singaporeans than Canadians were classified as negative procrastinators (i.e. rated procrastination as a negative influence on academic functioning). In both contexts, negative procrastinators spent more time procrastinating than neutral procrastinators and displayed lower self‐efficacy for self‐regulated learning. On décrit deux recherches portant sur la motivation et la procrastination universitaire (tendance à remettre au lendemain) de 1145 étudiants du Canada et de Singapour. Dans la première étude, les relations entre la motivation et la procrastination sont apparues être analogues dans les deux pays, la variable la plus fortement associéà la procrastination étant l'auto‐efficience pour l'apprentissage autorégulé. Dans la deuxième étude, les schémas comportementaux de procrastination et son impact négatif ont été analysés et comparés chez les étudiants de 1° cycle canadiens et singapouriens. Les sujets des deux pays ont mentionné la rédaction comme étant la tâche universitaire la plus soumise à la procrastination. Davantage de Singapouriens que de Canadiens été classés en procrastinateurs négatifs (c'est‐à‐dire que la procrastination est considérée comme étant un handicap pour les études). Dans les deux cas, les procrastinateurs négatifs gaspillaient plus de temps que les procrastinateurs neutres et manifestaient une moindre auto‐efficience pour l'apprentissage autorégulé.     

Understanding action control: predicting physical activity intention-behavior profiles across 6 months in a Canadian sample.

Intention is theorized as the proximal determinant of behavior in some theories of motivation, but the need to understand predictors of action control (i.e., translating an intention into behavior) is warranted to tailor physical activity intervention efforts. The purpose of this study was to examine constructs of the transtheoretical model of behavior change (TTM) as predictors of physical activity intention-behavior profiles across 6 months in a large Canadian sample (N = 1,192). Results showed that 5 of the 8 possible intention-behavior profiles had a substantial number of participants: nonintenders, unsuccessful adopters, successful adopters, unsuccessful maintainers, and successful maintainers. Constructs of the TTM distinguished (p < .01) intention-behavior profiles. Self-efficacy and the behavioral processes of change were particularly good predictors of action control (p < .01), but disaggregated beliefs and processes identified specific intervention targets for successful physical activity adoption and maintenance. The results validate that both action planning and action control are important when understanding physical activity behavior.     

To know where the bodies are buried: The use of the cognitive interview in an environmental scale spatial memory retrieval task

Missing body homicide cases have gained public interest globally due to some high-profile cases. In many of these cases, the task of locating the victim's remains relies on the information investigators can gain through the interviewing of willing suspects. To date, investigative interviewing research has largely focused on the retrieval of episodic memory (events) without focusing on spatial memory, a prominent cognitive task required in locating a victim's remains. The current experiment tests the enhanced cognitive interview (ECI) against a free recall strategy in a mock homicide scenario where participants are required to hide and retrieve an object in a natural bushland setting. The results showed that those in the ECI condition produced more coarse- and fine-grained details of landmarks and their actions at and journeying to the deposition site. This demonstrates the value of using the ECI in generating more valuable information to assist in successive search attempts.     

Psychologists' evaluations of individual assessments: A comparison on the basis of graduate training and professional affiliation

Recent research on individual psychological assessments for personnel decision-making purposes has indicated a great deal of variability in practice. This study compared the responses of psychologists who evaluated the same set of assessment protocols on the basis of graduate training and professional affiliation. Results indicated few differences in evaluations of those assessed or in the way assessments were conducted. Concerns about training for and the practice of individual assessment are discussed.     

Aristotle and the tradition of rhetorical argumentation

The first part of this paper contends that argumentation is central and essential to Aristotle's Rhetoric, and recounts a number of arguments in support of that view, particularly the recognition that deliberative rhetoric or the rhetoric of counsel is the primary concern of Aristotle's work. The second part of the paper reviews the work that follows in this present volume to show that the other writers' views fit in perfectly with this thesis.     

Stereotypical beliefs about overweight and smoking and decision-making in assignments to sales territories

This study examined job bias associated with business students' role-playing as sales managers who assigned trainees to sales territories. Personal characteristics of being extremely overweight and being a heavy smoker were studied. Research participants were given a personnel record (training record) of a sales trainee and asked to make a sales territory assignment decision; three vacant territories were also described. The participants were told to assign the trainee to one of the territories or to indicate a preference to not have the recruit assigned to any territory within the role-playing manager's region. Analysis indicates that a sales recruit described as extremely overweight was less likely to be assigned to an important or desirable sales territory and more likely to be assigned to an undesirable territory or not selected at all for an assignment within a sales region. Those described as heavy smokers were similarly treated but to a lesser degree. Overweight saleswomen were discriminated against more than overweight salesmen.     

Suppression of corticosterone synthesis alters the behavior of hippocampally lesioned rats

The suppression of corticosterone synthesis with metyrapone (25 mg/kg) reduced the hyperactivity and altered the exploratory activity of hippocampally lesioned animals (HPC) in the open field to the level of cortical and sham controls (Experiment 1). In a second experiment, corticosterone (600 micrograms/kg) pretreatment 2 h, but not 1 h, before metyrapone partially restored the hyperactivity of HPC animals that had been decreased by the corticosteroid-suppressant drug. Alterations in exploratory behavior induced by metyrapone were also prevented by corticosterone pretreatment. The results suggest that the suppression of corticosterone in hippocampally lesioned animals produces a normalization of behavior that can be prevented by pretreatment with corticosterone.     

The formalin test and the opioid nature of stress-induced analgesia

Exposure to electric shock produces an analgesic reaction (SIA) that is reversed by opiate antagonists ("opioid" SIA) under some conditions but not under other conditions ("nonopioid" SIA). A number of studies using tail-flick to radiant heat as the measure of pain sensitivity have found that a small number of shocks lead to nonopioid SIA, while a large number of shocks produce opioid SIA. In contrast, a small number of shocks have been reported to produce opioid SIA when the Formalin test was used to measure pain reactivity. However, the Formalin test involves administering a chronic pain stimulus (injection of Formalin into the paw) for an extended period before the shocks. Here it is reported that this "preexperimental" stress is sufficient to convert the SIA after a small number of shocks measured by tail-flick to the opioid form.