Xavier Caroff

Hand preference and hand performance : Cross-sectional developmental trends and family resemblance in degree of laterality

The first aim of the study was to compare developmental trends in the degree of laterality (independent of direction) observed in two handedness tasks. The second aim was to assess family resemblance in the degree of laterality using the same two tasks. The sample was comprised of 186 left-handers and 302 right-handers aged from 6 to 66. Some of the sample were members of the same families. Bishops card-reaching task was used to assess hand preference, and Annetts peg-moving task to assess manual performance. For the card-reaching task, children aged 7 to 10/11 recorded more midline crossings than the other age groups (both younger and older). No general age-related trend was observed for the Annett pegboard. For the card-reaching task, family resemblance was very low and not significant. The degree of laterality, assessed with the peg-moving task, showed a small but significant resemblance in father–offspring pairs (sons and daughters). Putative involvement of a maternally suppressed gene on chromosome 2p12 and of the androgen receptor was discussed.

Multidimensional Approach to Detecting Creative Potential in Managers

Creativity is increasingly recognized as a key component to success in the workplace. This article explores the detection of creative potential in managers. In a first part, creative potential is defined and a multivariate approach concerning the psychological resources for creativity is presented. Then, in a second part, an application of this approach to the detection of creative potential of managers is proposed, with two empirical illustrations. The profile of cognitive and conative characteristics associated with creative managers is examined and contrasted with the profile for a different line of work, creative design. In a further study, managers completed several creative thinking divergent production tasks, the results of which showed some task specificity. Thus, the profile for managerial creativity varies, to some extent, with the kind of managerial task, rather than being a general ability.

Verbal and spatial learning after temporal lobe excisions in children: An adaptation of the Grober and Buschke procedure

Using an adaptation of Grober and Buschkes procedure, we assessed verbal and visuospatial learning abilities in 16 children after left or right anteromesial temporal resection and 16 healthy controls to evaluate material-specific memory deficits. All children had relatively well-preserved verbal and spatial learning capacities after unilateral temporal resection. Children who had left temporal resection showed impaired verbal memory performance despite semantic control by cued recall. No memory deficits with visual material were detected in children who underwent right anteromesial temporal resection. Grober and Buschkes procedure appears relevant for the detection of verbal memory disorders in children with left-sided temporal resection.

What conservation anticipation reveals about cognitive change

Abstract A long-running debate about the nature of the thinking involved in conservation judgments resulted in postulating the existence of two different processes. According to the pluralist approach to cognitive development, the two processes can be simultaneously activated with different weights for different children and are likely to interact. A semi-longitudinal study that tests the pluralist approach is reported. The experimental procedure was based on earlier work by Acredolo and Acredolo, 1979 , Acredolo and Acredolo, 1980 . Children from the last year of nursery school (mean age: 5 years and 6 months) were individually tested in two successive occasions separated by a 3-month interval. The first test occasion consisted of a sequence of liquid-conservation-anticipation and level anticipation tasks. This same sequence was reproduced during the second test occasion, which ended with a classical conservation task. Observed patterns of correct-incorrect answers contradict the predictions of a developmental sequence assumed by the Piagetian model. The patterns of change were compatible with a pluralist approach which hypothesizes different routes in the development of conservation.

Has Creativity Research Become a Trivial Pursuit

Abstract Based on Glăveanu’s target article, issues raised about the psychometric approach to creativity research are examined. Criticisms of divergent thinking tests, such as the unusual uses of an object test, are examined. Arguments supporting the theoretical and practical utility of divergent thinking tests are presented. It is furthermore suggested that tests are best conceived and used in contextualized ways. The example of measures of divergent thinking which were designed for managers is presented. Finally, the psychometric approach encompasses many aspects of creativity beyond divergent thinking, as illustrated by recent work on the evaluation of creative potential (the EPoC battery). In the EPoC assessment, both divergent-exploratory thinking and convergent-integrative thinking are measured in a range of contextual domains, such as the visual-graphic, verballiterary, social problem solving ones. This work contrasts with the simplistic, and restrictive view of the unusual uses of an object test as the epitome of the psychometric approach to creativity.

Measuring Creativity at Work

Creativity at work can be seen as the result of the interaction between individual (cognitive, conative, and affective) and environmental characteristics. Thus, individuals with creative potential will be more or less willing and able to act on this capacity depending on the presence or absence of psychological and environmental factors. The present chapter presents the different individual and environmental factors influencing creativity in organizations. It introduces different tools to assess creative potential and organizational climate for creativity as well as methods to evaluate creative accomplishments.

Detecting High Leadership Potential and Promoting Talent: An Example of an Evidence-Based Approach in a French Blue-Chip Company

Abstract In a time of economic turmoil, finding executive managers with high potential is increasingly important in the business world. Structural constraints (such as flexibility and reactivity linked to constant environmental change), and demographic trends (such as replacement of leaders who retire) are two challenges, among others, that companies have to face. The question of high potential is raised most often with concern to executive management. Who are these high potential managers? What are their profiles and their competencies? How can we identify them and help them develop themselves? These questions are mainly raised by human resource specialists, and those involved in HR career development, whose mission is to anticipate and identify the need of the company by setting up tools and strategies that would be fruitful for the continuous development of the firm. Some authors have described the current situation as a “War of the talents” (e.g., Handfields-Jones, 2001). This article takes an evidence-based management approach (Rousseau, 2006; Pfeffer & Sutton, 2006), based on analysis of real life situations in a French blue-chip company. The practical objective is to elaborate tools and procedures that will identify management potential, and allow a personalized follow up on professional development to promote talent among managers.