Nancy J. Stone

Identification and meta-analytic assessment of psychological constructs measured in employment interviews.

There has been a growing interest in understanding what constructs are assessed in the employment interview and the properties of those assessments. To address these issues, the authors developed a comprehensive taxonomy of 7 types of constructs that the interview could assess. Analysis of 338 ratings from 47 actual interview studies indicated that basic personality and applied social skills were the most frequently rated constructs in this taxonomy, followed by mental capability and job knowledge and skills. Further analysis suggested that high- and low-structure interviews tend to focus on different constructs. Taking both frequency and validity results into consideration, the findings suggest that at least part of the reason why structured interviews tend to have higher validity is because they focus more on constructs that have a stronger relationship with job performance. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Exploring the Relationship between Calibration and Self-Regulated Learning

The calibration and self-regulated learning literatures were reviewed. Calibration is a measure of how accurately individuals assess their confidence in their own knowledge. Self-regulated learning is a process of developing goals, using strategies, and monitoring performance in order to complete tasks. Individual characteristics, self-testing, and feedback are common components of both calibration and self-regulated learning; however, the specific aspects of these components often differ. Different levels of calibration might suggest different applications of self-regulated learning or different phases in task completion or learning. Certain types of self-regulation might impact calibration. These reciprocal effects between calibration and self-regulation are unclear and should be evaluated. Determining whether self-regulated learners can and should become well calibrated also is an important instructional design issue. Suggestions for research are presented.

Environmental view and color for a simulated telemarketing task

In two experiments, task type or a break, environmental color, and environmental view were manipulated to determine their effects on mood, satisfaction, motivation, and performance. Mood, specifically negative mood, and performance satisfaction tended to be affected by what one did, not by the environmental design. Individuals working a high demand task reported more negative mood and less performance satisfaction than individuals working a low demand task. As expected, motivation was not affected by any manipulations. Performance appears to be affected by environmental color or view. When performing a low demand task, performance appears to worsen over time in the blue rather than the red environment. When working a high demand task in a red environment, performance was worse unless either a break or a scenic picture were present. These data suggest that blue is a calming color and red is a stimulating color, which may interact with other environmental factors. The impact of a scenic picture may serve a comparative process.

Effect of two and five days of creatine loading on anaerobic working capacity in women.

Law, YLL, Ong, WS, GillianYap, TL, Lim, SCJ, and Chia, EV. Effects of two and five days of creatine loading on muscular strength and anaerobic power in trained athletes. J Strength Cond Res 23(3): 906-914, 2009-The purpose of this study was to establish the effects of 2 and 5 days of creatine loading, coupled with resistance training, on muscular strength and anaerobic performance in trained athletes. Seventeen trained men were randomly assigned to a creatine or a placebo group. The creatine supplementation group consumed 20 g of creatine per day (4 doses of 5 g per day), whereas the placebo group was given a placebo similar in appearance and taste over the 5-day supplementation duration. Anaerobic power and strength performance measures, in addition to blood and urine analysis, were conducted in the morning before the supplementation began and on the third and sixth day to establish the effect of 2 and 5 days of creatine loading, respectively. The study found that a 5-day creatine loading regime coupled with resistance training resulted in significant improvements in both average anaerobic power, as measured by the 30-second Wingate test and back squat strength compared with just training alone. However, 2 days of supplementation was not sufficient to produce similar performance gains as that observed at the end of 5 days of loading in trained men, despite increases in creatine uptake in the body. The standard 5-day loading regime should hence be prescribed to individuals supplementing with creatine for enhanced strength and power.

Effect of Creatine Phosphate Supplementation on Anaerobic Working Capacity and Body Weight After Two and Six Days of Loading in Men and Women

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of 2 and 6 days of creatine phosphate loading on anaerobic working capacity (AWC) and body weight (BW) in men and women. Sixty-one men (n = 31) and women (n = 30) randomly received 1 of 3 treatments (4 3 5 g·d-1 X 6 days) using a double blind design: (a) 18 g dextrose as placebo (PL); (b) 5.0 g Cr + 20 g dextrose (Cr); or (c) 5.0 g Cr + 18 g dextrose + 4 g of sodium and potassium phosphates (CrP). AWC was determined at baseline and following 2 and 6 days of supplementation using the Critical Power Test. BW increased significantly over time, and the mean value for the men was significantly greater compared to that for women, but there were no interactions (p > 0.05). There were gender-specific responses for AWC expressed in both absolute values (kJ) and relative to BW (kJ· kg-1), with the women demonstrating no significant interactions. For the men, CrP loading significantly increased AWC following 2 days (23.8%) and 6 days (49.8%) of supplementation vs. PL (kJ and kJ·kg-1). Cr supplementation increased AWC 13–15% in both genders compared to PL (1.1%–3.0% decline); although this result was not statistically significant, it may have some practical significance.

Understanding coordination in computer-mediated versus face-to-face groups

Groups performed intellective and judgmental tasks in face-to-face (FTF) or computer-mediated communication (CMC) settings after coordination training or no training to determine the impact of CMC, training, and task type on group performance and coordination. Help seeking behaviors were stronger predictors of perceived and actual performance in CMC than FTF groups, but varied based on task type. In turn, training generally increased seeking behaviors, except non-task seeking behaviors in CMC groups; and seeking behaviors were stronger predictors for perceived performance in CMC than FTF groups. In addition, perceived performance was lower in CMC than FTF groups when untrained, but not when trained. Yet, performance agreement was similar on both tasks in FTF groups, but lower on the intellective than the judgmental task in CMC groups.

Performance, Mood, Satisfaction, and Task Type in Various Work Environments: A Preliminary Study

We investigated the influence of windows on performance, mood, and satisfaction for different task types. Forty students worked computational or managerial tasks in offices with or without windows. Contrary to expectation, windowed offices did not effect higher performance, positive mood, or satisfaction. Actually, students felt slightly more confident (p < .10) and more in control (p < .01) in the windowless condition, suggesting a need for privacy to reduce evaluation apprehension. How windows affect performance, mood, and satisfaction remains unclear.

Master’s and Undergraduate Industrial/Organizational Internships Data-Based Recommendations for Successful Experiences

Internships play a vital role in the education of master’s and undergraduate-level industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology students, providing applied learning experiences in organizational settings under qualified supervision. This article presents results collected from surveys of organizational hosts and interns. It addresses locating sites for internships, ensuring an appropriate experience, and the responsibilities of organizational hosts. The authors describe the responsibilities of faculty and students, student competencies, and evaluation of student performance in providing a meaningful internship experience. They provide suggestions for yielding productive and useful internship experiences for master’s I/O students with particular attention on the development of an appropriate internship site and framing requirements with the organizational host. They recommend strategies and techniques for monitoring and evaluating the I/O intern.

Teaching Undergraduate Human Factors: The Need, Activities, and Benefits

In this article, we outline the need for and role of undergraduate human factors education, describe several activities for teaching human factors, and identify the benefits associated with offering the course. The results of a survey of psychology undergraduates (N = 111) revealed that they were unfamiliar with, yet interested in, human factors issues. A human factors course can inform students about the profession, meet their interests, and provide a variety of useful skills. We present 6 successful hands-on activities for teaching about human factors. Students reported that they enjoyed these activities and gained a greater understanding of the principles. Students also noted that the course increased their knowledge about the profession and provided new perspectives for examining systems and applying the principles.

Online Education: The How, Who, Where and When

Undergraduate students completed an online tutorial to investigate the impact of the method of presentation on performance, the relationship between personality characteristics and performance, and where and when students complete the tutorial. Performance on the posttest was not significantly different whether students reviewed the animated video or recorded PowerPoint presentation, but performance improved in both conditions from the pretest scores. Contrary to expectation, personality was not related to performance on the posttest. Students generally completed the tutorial in a private space such as a bedroom or dorm room and there was no specific time of day when students were more likely to complete the tutorial. These data suggest that the method of presenting the tutorial might be less important than the use of elaborative inquiry to focus the students’ attention onto critical aspects of the material and to have students think critically about the subject matter. In addition, it is possible that the use of elaborative inquiry might reduce the relationship between personality and success in online learning.