Denise D. Guastello

Origins of Coordination and Team Effectiveness: A Perspective From Game Theory and Nonlinear Dynamics

Coordination occurs when 2 or more people do the same or complementary tasks at the same time; it takes several forms. The form of coordination studied here was similar to behavior at a 4-way stop traffic intersection. The performance task involved 12 4-person groups and a special card game. Split-plot analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that coordination rules were implicitly learned and then transferred successfully to new rules of similar difficulty and that coordination can occur without verbal mediation or leadership actions. Transfer of coordination was less positive to a task of greater difficulty. Nonlinear regression showed that fixed-point attractors could be extracted from all learning curves. The difficult shift contained a second chaotic process and a critical utility threshold at which the difficult rule could be mastered ar not. Work-group effectiveness has been studied from a variety of perspectives; central themes have included cooperation, cohesion, incentives, task structure, size, and leadership attributes. In this project we focused on the dynamics of group coordination and traced its conceptual origins; here we report new theory, an experiment, and analytic techniques that explore the origins of coordination in groups. Coordination occurs when two or more people do the same or complementary tasks at the same time. Coordination is vital to group effectiveness in situations where a successful outcome for the entire group is the end result of numerous contributions or efforts by all group members and where successful contributions by one participant are contingent on a correct and timely contribution by another participant. Coordination among team members has been recognized as an important correlate of team performance (Bowers, Baker, & Salas, 1994; Brannick, Prince, Prince, & Salas, 1995; Brannick, Roach, & Salas, 1993; Cannon-Bowers, Tannenbaum, Salas, & Volpe, 1995; Coovert, Campbell, Cannon-Bowers, & Salas, 1995; Daily, 1980; Leedom & Simon, 1995; Stout, Salas, & Carson, 1994). Coordination has been operationalized

Androgyny, Gender Role Behavior, and Emotional Intelligence Among College Students and Their Parents.

Androgyny, gender role behavior, and emotional intelligence were measured in 576 students and their parents to examine the extent to which these variables exhibited generational effects or consistencies within families. Chi-square analyses indicated that sons were more androgynous in personality than their fathers, but that there was no significant difference in androgyny between daughters and mothers. The men also showed an increase in androgynous behavior across generations, whereas the women showed an increase in masculine gender-typed behavior and a decrease in feminine gender-typed behavior. ANOVA revealed that fathers scored significantly lower on emotional intelligence than mothers and students. Significant correlations on emotional intelligence for mothers and their respective students indicated a strong influence on this construct; no such relationship was found between students and fathers. The strongest correlations in masculine and feminine personality and behavior were obtained for mothers and daughters. It was also hypothesized that androgyny would predict higher emotional intelligence; multiple regression supported this hypothesis for students, mothers, and fathers.

A Study of Cynicism, Personality, and Work Values

ABSTRACT Kanter and Mirvis (1989) reported that 43% of Americans are cynical and that confidence in business and leadership has fallen from approximately 76% in the late 1960s to about 15% today. The purpose of the present study was to investigate interrelationships among cynicism, depersonalization, estrangement, work values, and basic personality traits. College students (N = 106) completed the 16PF (Cattell, Eber, & Tatsuoka, 1970), Gordons (1978) Personal Profile-Inventory, Coopersmiths (1967) Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI), and a Life Attitudes Questionnaire containing the Kanter and Mirvis cynicism scales, four measures of work values (Buchholz, 1977), and some new items. Cynical students believed that workers are exploited and alienated from productive activity (Marxist exploitive belief system, r = .40; Buchholz). Unexpectedly, cynicism was positively correlated with the Buchholz Protestant Work Ethic Scale (r = .44), negatively correlated with selfesteem (r = −.39), and not correlated with the bas...

The relation between the locus of control construct and involvement in traffic accidents.

We investigated the relation between the Rotter (1966) locus of control concept and involvement in automobile accidents. Subjects were 184 college students who completed a survey measuring accident involvement, the Rotter scale, and scales featuring beliefs and behaviors in traffic situations that would be expected from internally oriented persons. No significant relation was found between the Rotter scale and traffic accidents. Accident involvement was best explained by internal beliefs about accident control, and the reported number of near-miss accidents per week. A path diagram relating survey variables is included.

Assessment of the Barnum Effect in Computer-Based Test Interpretations

ABSTRACT A prototypic experiment for validating computer-based test interpretations (CBTIs) was conducted. Undergraduates (N = 63) completed the Comprehensive Personality Profile Compatibility Questionnaire (CPPCQ; Craft, 1987). One treatment group rated real CBTIs for relative accuracy, and another group rated bogus CBTIs. A significant main effect for differences in ratings indicated that the real CPPCQ profiles were rated as 74.5% accurate whereas the bogus CBTIs were rated as 57.9% accurate. Several covariate effects were tested, but none were significant.

The relationship between work group size and occupational accidents

Abstract Guastello, D.D. and Guastello, S.J., 1987. The relationship between work group size and occupational accidents. Journal of Occupational Accidents , 9: 1–9. Work group size and its effect on industrial accidents was investigated. Previous studies on the topic have been inconclusive. This study also investigated whether group size is correlated with other psychosocial variables that have been shown in the past to relate to accident rate. Subjects were 435 employees in 79 work groups drawn from 9 Midwestern metal foundries and mills. Results revealed both a linear and curvilinear component of the relationship between group size and group accident rates. A scattergram revealed a breakpoint at a group size of about 15 people above which only large accident rates occurred, but below which disparately high and low rates were observed. Size was not correlated with any of the other psychosocial variables related to accidents. Implications of the findings for accident control are discussed.

Personality trait theory and multitasking performance: implications for ergonomic design

Although system designers usually minimise the role of individual differences in operation, personality variables could explain differences in multitasking performance. A concomitant theoretical issue is whether primary or surface personality traits do a better job of predicting performance than the Five-Factor Model (FFM) or global traits. A sample of 174 undergraduates completed the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF), which was followed by a performance task. A computer-based task that measured simultaneous performance on an arithmetic task and a mental rotation task was used to measure multitasking performance; scores measured the percent accuracy. Primary traits for low emotional sensitivity and high abstractedness, self-control, and general reasoning were all correlated with performance (R 2 = .11), but global or traits corresponding to the FFM were not, except in one sporadic task trial. There was also a strong gender effect on performance. Implications for the study of personality traits in ergonomics are discussed.

Parenting Style and Generativity Measured in College Students and Their Parents

The logical consistency between generativity and the authoritative parenting style led to the hypothesis that the two behavior patterns or orientations were related. Survey measurements of perceived parenting style (authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive) and generativity in 559 university students and their respective parents were compared. The authoritative parenting style correlated positively with generativity for both students and parents. Both students and mothers scored significantly higher on generativity than fathers, but no significant difference was found between students’ and mothers’ generativity. Hierarchical regression showed that students’ generativity was proximally related to their perceptions of their mothers’ authoritative parenting style, their mothers’ reports of parenting style, and their mothers’ generativity. Father’s generativity or parenting style did not make any additional contributions. The pattern of results suggested that generativity is a learned orientation and more often from mothers than from fathers. The role of maturation might not be as strong as developmental theory would suggest. Several avenues of future research were outlined.

The Potential Impact of Psychotherapy on Emotional Intelligence Scores: Mood Disorders

The construct of emotional intelligence (EI) appears to have properties of both an ability and a personality characteristic. A variety of psychotherapies include a modicum of emotional learning as part of their programs. The present study investigated the possible impact of therapies on EI with a sample of 412 undergraduates, 17.5% of whom were either in therapy or completed therapy for mood disorders. ANOVA showed that people who completed therapy for mood disorders or who did not consider therapy scored significantly higher on Schutte et al.s measure of EI than people who had not completed therapy or who considered therapy but had not started it (η2 = .05). It appears that therapy has the potential to restore EI to levels comparable to those of the non-clinical participants.