Janice Langan-Fox

Intuition: a fundamental bridging construct in the behavioural sciences.

The concept of intuition has, until recently, received scant scholarly attention within and beyond the psychological sciences, despite its potential to unify a number of lines of inquiry. Presently, the literature on intuition is conceptually underdeveloped and dispersed across a range of domains of application, from education, to management, to health. In this article, we clarify and distinguish intuition from related constructs, such as insight, and review a number of theoretical models that attempt to unify cognition and affect. Intuitions place within a broader conceptual framework that distinguishes between two fundamental types of human information processing is explored. We examine recent evidence from the field of social cognitive neuroscience that identifies the potential neural correlates of these separate systems and conclude by identifying a number of theoretical and methodological challenges associated with the valid and reliable assessment of intuition as a basis for future research in this burgeoning field of inquiry.

Personality and the occupational stressor-strain relationship: the role of the Big Five.

The role of the Big Five traits in the occupational stressor-strain relationship was investigated among 211 managers. Direct, mediated, and moderated effect models were used to investigate whether the Big Five affect strain directly (independently of stress), indirectly (via stress and coping), or interactively with stress. Personality, stress, coping, and strain variables were measured and analyzed with path analysis and hierarchical regression. The Neuroticism-physical strain relationship was partially mediated by perceived role conflict and substance use, and the Neuroticism-psychological strain relationship was mediated by perceived stress. Extraversion had a direct, positive effect on physical and psychological strain, and there was preliminary support for a moderating role of Conscientiousness in the perceived stressor-strain relationship. Agreeableness and Openness were unrelated to strain.

Human Factors Measurement for Future Air Traffic Control Systems

Objective: This article provides a critical review of research pertaining to the measurement of human factors (HF) issues in current and future air traffic control (ATC). Background: Growing worldwide air traffic demands call for a radical departure from current ATC systems. Future systems will have a fundamental impact on the roles and responsibilities of ATC officers (ATCOs). Valid and reliable methods of assessing HF issues associated with these changes, such as a potential increase (or decrease) in workload, are of utmost importance for advancing theory and for designing systems, procedures, and training. Method: We outline major aviation changes and how these relate to five key HF issues in ATC. Measures are outlined, compared, and evaluated and are followed by guidelines for assessing these issues in the ATC domain. Recommendations for future research are presented. Results: A review of the literature suggests that situational awareness and workload have been widely researched and assessed using a variety of measures, but researchers have neglected the areas of trust, stress, and boredom. We make recommendations for use of particular measures and the construction of new measures. Conclusion: It is predicted that, given the changing role of ATCOs and profound future airspace requirements and configurations, issues of stress, trust, and boredom will become more significant. Researchers should develop and/or refine existing measures of all five key HF issues to assess their impact on ATCO performance. Furthermore, these issues should be considered in a holistic manner. Application: The current article provides an evaluation of research and measures used in HF research on ATC that will aid research and ATC measurement.

Modelling skill acquisition in acquired brain injury

Abstract Acquired brain injury (ABI) is a debilitating condition often requiring extensive rehabilitation. Although cognitive rehabilitation is concerned with overcoming a skills deficit, the application of skill acquisition research in this context has been non-existent. Examining post-injury learning in terms of the qualitative variables associated with different phases of skill acquisition is likely to be beneficial in assessing patient status and monitoring progress, as well as identifying changing needs over the course of learning. However, current models of skill acquisition overlook the potential impact of variables such as emotion, implicit learning, metacognition, motivation, and strategies that can be leveraged to improve skill acquisition. The current paper attempts to lay the groundwork for modelling and improving skill acquisition in ABI.

The Effectiveness of Sentence Cues in Measuring the Big Three Motives

Despite the popularity of free response measures in the motivation literature, research geared toward the development of a standard battery of cues for measuring the Big Three motives (achievement, affiliation, power) has been lacking. The current research examined the effectiveness of sentence cues in eliciting motive imagery in two studies (students, entrepreneurs) comprising 242 men and women. Results indicated that sentence cues were effective in eliciting achievement and affiliation imagery, but not power imagery. In addition, an examination of the subcategories underlying each motive scoring system indicated that there were several infrequently scored subcategories in the achievement and power motive scoring systems that could be considered for removal.

Instructional Treatments, Advance Organizers and Novice Performance on a Telecommunications Network

Recent advances in technologies designed for general population use (eg. autobank, mobile phone, video recorder) necessitate users to acquire information quickly and easily, about how a particular device should be oeprated. However it is often the case that technological devices and accompanying instructions, are not ‘user-friendly’, and are difficult to operate for ‘lay learners’, since learning must often occur individually, without verbal instruction, or assistance from experts or teachers. The current study set out to investigate the usability of a mobile phone network in an experiment lasting 4 hours with 94 student participants. It aimed to investigate (a) how advance organizers might affect performance and (b) the interaction between cognitive ability and effects of advance organizers. Participants were allocated to three experimental conditions: control, ‘text’ advance organizer, and ‘graphic’ advance organizer. Results showed that the ‘text’ group performed better than the ‘graphic’ group, and that as predicted, both advance organizer groups performed better than the control group. Further, low ability groups (associative memory and verbal reasoning) performed better in advance organizer groups, especially the text condition, than the control group suggesting that the effect of an advance organizer can ameliorate the influence of low ability, on performance. High ability groups were relatively unaffected by the influence of advance organizers. Further research is needed with common technological devices, into the effects of advance organizers on different ability groups amongst the population at large.