Thomas V. McGovern

Interviewer evaluations of interviewee nonverbal behavior

Abstract Personnel representatives (N = 52) were shown one of four videotaped job interviews in which the verbal content of the 16-min interview was identical, but the interviewees nonverbal behavior was manipulated. A “low nonverbal” interviewee was defined by minimal eye contact, low energy level, lack of affect and voice modulation, and a lack of speech fluency. The “high nonverbal” interviewee demonstrated the opposite behavior on each of these components. The subjects were asked to rate the videotaped candidates on dimensions previously identified as critical in influencing a job interviewers decisions. Nonverbal behavior was found to have a significant effect on almost every rating made by subjects in this study. After reviewing the entire 16-min interview, 23 of the 26 subjects who saw the “high nonverbal” candidate would have invited him/her for a second interview. All 26 of the subjects who saw the “low nonverbal” candidate would not have recommended a second interview.

Learning About Writing, Thinking About Teaching

A students story and our participation on a general education renewal project prompted us to learn more about writing. In the process, we discovered the writing activities developed by psychologists, the strategies for assessing writing used by colleagues in other disciplines, and the means used by departments and universities to develop effective writing programs. The theme of this article is that learning about writing led us to think more about our teaching and about how our students learn.

Teaching the Ethical Principles of Psychology

Despite an increasing emphasis on ethical issues in recent textbooks and journal articles, teaching the graduate course in ethics and psychology has received almost no attention. This article describes my rationale, method, and evaluations for such a course. Broader issues, such as liberal arts versus specific, discipline-oriented outcomes for graduate courses and the teacher as scientist-practitioner, are also discussed in relation to my experience with teaching ethics.