Le Développement de l'Identité Notionnelle

Cette étude vise à déterminer, dans le domaine des surfaces, les relations entre la genèse des invariants qualitatifs (identité, transitivité de l'identité) et celle des invariants' quantitatifs (identité, transitivité de l'identité). Afin d'éliminer les effets possibles d'interaction dans la mesure de ces notions, un groupe ‘A’ (n = 56, âges moyens: 5;6 et 6;6 ans) subit les épreuves Identité Qualitative et Transitivité Qualitative alors qu'un autre groupe ‘B’ (n = 82, âges moyens: 5;6, 6;6 et 7;6 ans) subit les épreuves Identité Quantitative et Transitivité Quantitative. L'analyse statistique nonparamétrique des résultats permet d'attester l'authenticité des principaux stades obtenus pour les invariants qualitatifs et les invariants quantitatifs. Pour chaque type d'invariants, le stade 3 marque le synchronisme d'acquisition des notions d'identité et de transitivité. En outre, l'âge d'acquisition des invariants qualitatifs (6;3 ans) et celui des invariants quantitatifs (7;2 ans) confirment l'antériorité génétique des premiers.     

Managers are potential levers of discrimination within organizations: the role of group identification,assimilation endorsement and power

Two studies examined the relationship between identification with a high‐position group in organizational settings (managers) and bias toward immigrants. In Study 1, (N = 182; N = 145), results showed positive relationships between identification with the managers' group and both in‐group bias and prejudiced attitudes, indirectly through assimilation endorsement. In Study 2 (N = 117), in addition to replicating the results of Study 1, we found a significant interaction, revealing that power moderated the link between identification with a high‐position group and bias. Moderated mediation analysis indicated that linking managers' group identification to bias and prejudiced attitudes through assimilation was only significant for high perceived power. Results are discussed in light of interethnic ideologies and the social identity theory. Some practical implications are provided.     

Individual differences in nostalgia proneness: The integrating role of the need to belong

Who is the nostalgia-prone person? The ‘sociality view’ sees an individual who frequently recalls meaningful memories rich in social content. The ‘maladaptation view’ sees an emotionally unstable, neurotic individual. In four studies, we integrated these contrasting views. We hypothesized that the link between neuroticism and nostalgia proneness arises because (a) neuroticism is associated with the need to belong and (b) the need to belong triggers nostalgia, with its abundant social content. Consistent with this hypothesis, Studies 1–2 found that the correlation between neuroticism and nostalgia proneness was eliminated when controlling for the need to belong. The need to belong predicted increased nostalgia proneness, above and beyond neuroticism. Specifically, Study 2 revealed that a deficit-reduction (rather than growth) belongingness orientation predicted increased nostalgia proneness. When the role of this deficit-reduction belongingness orientation was controlled, the positive correlation between neuroticism and nostalgia disappeared. Studies 3–4 showed that experimental inductions of a belongingness deficit augmented nostalgia, providing support for its compensatory role.     

The effects of formal order and spatial content on reasoning in three dimensions

This study investigates the effects of formal order and spatial content on reasoning in three dimensions in view of the Formal Rules theory and the Mental Models theory of spatial reasoning. Twenty‐six subjects solved 144 spatial deductive problems that varied by the formal order of the entities (referential order, referential continuity) and the spatial content (dimension, orientation, and direction). There were two dependant variables: the correct responses and their response times. The number of mental models and the formal derivations underlying the deductions allowed comparison of opposite predictions made by the Formal Rules theory and the Mental Models theory of spatial reasoning. The results overwhelmingly supported the Mental Models theory's predictions. The effects of referential order showed that problems yielding two possible mental models were significantly more difficult than problems based on one mental model, although the former problems involved a shorter formal derivation than the latter. The effects of referential continuity also generalized the Mental Models theory's prediction to reasoning in all three dimensions. The effects of referential continuity showed that problems that required independent layouts in memory were reliably more difficult than problems that allowed the continuous integration of the entities in a mental model. We obtained these results despite the fact that the former condition required a shorter formal derivation than the latter. The effects of spatial content were also reliable despite the fact that the formal derivations were the same across spatial content. Thus, spatial deductions were significantly easier to make in 1D than in 2D and in 2D than 3D. Deductions were also significantly easier to make from left to right along the horizontal axis of a mental model, and from top to bottom along the vertical axis rather than from the respective opposite directions. The effects of spatial content suggest that mental models reproduce spatial relations relative to reference frames.     

Organizational Politics and Deviance: Exploring the Role of Political Skill

Building on social exchange theory, this study examines the relationship between perceptions of organizational politics and employee performance and interpersonal skills. We hypothesized that perceptions of organizational politics create an imbalance in the exchange relationship between employee and organization, which leads to organizational deviance. We also hypothesized that supervisors may attempt to rebalance the exchange relationship by providing lower performance and interpersonal skills ratings. Finally, we suggest that politically skilled employees avoid an increase in negative ratings. The present study demonstrates that perceptions of organizational politics may lead to negative employee behaviors and reduced supervisors’ ratings in an effort to rebalance the exchange relationship. In addition, politically skilled employees may avoid increased negative ratings when politics perceptions are high.     

The Development of Hyperactive–Impulsive Behaviors During the Preschool Years: The Predictive Validity of Parental Assessments

The objectives of this study were to establish the different developmental trajectories of hyperactive-impulsive behaviors on the basis of both mother and father ratings at 19, 32, 50, and 63 months, and to examine the predictive validity of these trajectories with respect to later hyperactive-impulsive behaviors, as rated by teachers in the first 2 years of school. Hyperactive-impulsive behaviors were assessed in a population-based sample of 1,112 twins (565 boys and 547 girls) at 19, 32, 50, and 63 months of age. The results revealed a differentiated and consistent view of developmental trajectories of hyperactive-impulsive behaviors derived from these repeated assessments, with 7.1% of children seen by mothers (7% for fathers) as displaying high and stable hyperactive-impulsive behaviors. According to mother ratings, children on a high-chronic trajectory were more likely than other children to display hyperactive-impulsive behaviors at 72 and 84 months according to their teachers. Repeated measures over time and father-based trajectories significantly added to the prediction teacher later ratings of hyperactive-impulsive behaviors. These results support the predictive validity of parental assessment of hyperactive-impulsive behaviors during the preschool years and their use to identify children at risk for further evaluation and possible intervention.     

A longitudinal twin study of the genetic and environmental etiology of maternal hostile-reactive behavior during infancy and toddlerhood

Children's negative characteristics are thought to be a factor in evoking hostile parenting responses. This can result in genotype/environment correlations (rGE) in which children's heritable traits influence the parenting they experience. We did genetic analyses on 292 mothers' self-reported hostile-reactive behaviors toward each of their twins at 5, 18 and 30 months. Finding heritability for a parenting behavior analyzed as a child phenotype is evidence of rGE correlation. The heritability of maternal behavior was modest (29% at 5 months, 0% at 18 months, and 25% at 30 months) and longitudinal analyses indicated that genetic factors at 5 and 30 months were uncorrelated. Common environment factors, probably reflecting characteristics of the mothers, were the main source of variance at the three ages and were highly correlated through time. We concluded that children's heritable characteristics evoked maternal negative response at specific times, but were not responsible for the stability of maternal hostility from infancy to toddlerhood.     

Locus of the redundant-signals effect in bimodal divided attention: a neurophysiological analysis.

We reanalyzed the data from the study of Lamarre, Busby, and Spidalieri (1983). In that study, the activity of single neurons in area 4 of the motor cortex was recorded during a bimodal detection task in which a monkey (Macaca mulatta) had to respond as quickly as possible to a visual or an auditory signal or to both (redundant trials). Manual responses on redundant trials were speeded by the presence of both signals, as is typically found. The times between signal onsets and the first changes in neuronal activity were also speeded by redundant signals, but there was no difference between redundant-signals and single-signal trials in the time between the change in neuronal activity and movement onset. These results suggest that late motor processes are not speeded by redundant signals in bimodal detection tasks.