Age-related equivalence and deficit in knowledge updating of cue effectiveness.

Knowledge updating involves learning about cue effectiveness based on task experience. Prior research has yielded inconsistent conclusions regarding age and knowledge updating. To resolve this inconsistency, the authors analyzed the effects of aging within a single paradigm. Participants studied cue-target associates during 2 study-test trials. Cues included rhyme cues and highly effective category cues. On each study-test trial, different items were presented, and participants predicted recall performance, received a cued recall test, and postdicted performance. Knowledge updating was operationalized as an improvement in the accuracy of predictive judgments across trials. An age deficit was evident in improvements in absolute accuracy, whereas age equivalence was evident in relative accuracy. Evidence suggested that deficient inferential processes contributed to the age deficit in knowledge updating. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adults' knowledge about memory: Awareness and use of memory strategies across tasks.

Two studies investigated college students' knowledge about the effectiveness of alternative memory strategies for different tasks and the relationship of this knowledge to strategy use and performance. In Experiment 1 students made paired-comparison judgments of the relative effectiveness of six strategies for increasing performance on one of three memory tasks. For each task some strategies were judged to be significantly more effective than others, whereas across tasks certain strategies were more likely to be judged effective for one task than for another. Experiment 2 examined the relationship of judgments of strategy effectiveness to actual strategy use and memory performance. Results indicated that different strategies were adopted across tasks and students were more likely to adopt strategies subsequently judged effective for that task. Students in Experiment 2 showed clearer discrimination among the strategies and an increased awareness of the efficacy of task-specific strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of exemplars and abstractions in trait judgments: A model of trait knowledge about the self and others.

According to pure exemplar models, trait judgments about the self and others are accomplished by retrieving from memory trait-exemplifying behaviors and computing the similarity between the trait and the exemplars retrieved. By contrast, pure abstraction models argue that trait judgments are made by directly accessing abstract, summary knowledge of the person's traits. In a series of 4 studies, the role of behavioral exemplars and abstract trait knowledge in trait judgments about others and about the self was examined. The findings show that both types of information are used to make trait judgments but that the relative importance of each type is determined by the amount of trait-exemplifying behavioral experience one has with the person being judged. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A social relations analysis of agreement in liking judgments.

Using a round-robin design in which every subject served both as judge and target, subjects made liking judgments, trait ratings, and physical attractiveness ratings of each other on each of 4 days. Although there was some agreement in the liking judgments, most of the variance was due to idiosyncratic preferences for different targets. Differences in evaluations were due to at least 2 factors: disagreements in how targets were perceived (is this person honest?) and disagreements in how to weight the trait attributes that predicted liking (is honesty more important than friendliness?) When evaluating the targets in specific roles (as a study partner), judgments showed much greater agreement, as did the weights of the trait attributes. A 2nd study confirmed the differential weighting of trait attributes when rating liking in general and the increased agreement when rating specific roles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory for Star Trek : The role of prior knowledge in recognition revisited.

Prior studies have found robust knowledge effects on recall of text ideas but have seldom found comparable effects on recognition. This inconsistency was examined in light of recent research on the component processes that underlie recognition memory. Using the remember/know paradigm, the authors found that experts made more remember judgments than novices, but only in response to text ideas relevant to their domain of expertise. Using the process-dissociation procedure, the authors found knowledge effects on recollection estimates, but not on familiarity estimates. The authors contend that knowledge effects have been difficult to detect in recognition because knowledge primarily affects recollection, whereas familiarity gives rise to good performance even among novices. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examining corporate reputation judgments with generalizability theory.

The researchers used generalizability theory to examine whether reputation judgments about corporations function in a manner consistent with contemporary theory in the corporate-reputation literature. University professors (n = 86) of finance, marketing, and human resources management made repeated judgments about the general reputations of highly visible American companies. Minimal variability in the judgments is explained by items, time, persons, and field of specialization. Moreover, experts from the different specializations reveal considerable agreement in how they weigh different aspects of corporate performance in arriving at their global reputation judgments. The results generally support the theory of the reputation construct and suggest that stable estimates of global reputation can be achieved with a small number of items and experts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological mediators of the effects of opposing expert testimony on juror decisions.

This study examined the effectiveness of the opposing expert safeguard against unreliable expert testimony and whether beliefs about experts as hired guns and general acceptance mediate the effect of opposing expert testimony on juror decisions. We found strong evidence that the presence, but not the content, of opposing expert testimony affected jurors’ trial judgments and that these effects were mediated by mock jurors’ beliefs about general acceptance. The presence of an opposing expert affected jurors’ ratings of the general acceptance of research investigating sexual harassment in the workplace. Jurors’ beliefs about general acceptance then affected jurors’ ratings of plaintiff expert competence and research, which affected juror ratings of the probability that the plaintiff experienced a hostile work environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of job experience and ability on job knowledge, work sample performance, and supervisory ratings of job performance.

Based on data from 4 independent studies reported by R. Vineberg and E. N. Taylor (1972) with a total sample size of 1,474, path analysis was used to examine the causal impact of job experience on job knowledge, performance capability as measured by job sample tests, and supervisory ratings of job performance. Findings support the conclusion that (1) when mean job experience is 2–3 yrs, there is substantial variance in job experience and (2) when the jobs are of an intermediate complexity level, job experience has a substantial direct impact on job knowledge and a smaller direct impact on performance capabilities as assessed by job sample measures. Job experience also has a substantial indirect effect on work sample performance through its effect on job knowledge, which, in turn, was found to be the strongest determinant of work sample performance. The pattern and magnitude of causal effects of general mental ability were similar to those of job experience. The effect of job knowledge on supervisory ratings was several times stronger than the effect of job sample performance, confirming the findings of J. E. Hunter (1983). When job experience was held constant, the direct impact of ability on the acquisition of job knowledge increased substantially, and this, in turn, increased the indirect effect of ability on job sample performance. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of ability and prior knowledge in complex training performance.

A causal model of the role of general cognitive ability and prior job knowledge in subsequent job-knowledge acquisition and work-sample performance during training was developed. Participants were 3,428 US Air Force officers in pilot training. The measures of ability and prior job knowledge came from the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test. The measures of job knowledge acquired during training were derived from classroom grades. Work-sample measures came from check flight ratings. The causal model showed that ability directly influenced the acquisition of job knowledge. General cognitive ability influenced work samples through job knowledge. Prior job knowledge had almost no influence on subsequent job knowledge but directly influenced the early work sample. Early training job knowledge influenced subsequent job knowledge and work-sample performance. Finally, early work-sample performance strongly influenced subsequent work-sample performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The necessary common knowledge approach to broad and general education for professional psychologists.

This paper advocates the necessary common knowledge approach to meaningful broad and general scientific education (as distinct from professional/clinical education) for professional psychologists. Adopting this plan leads to an explicit core curriculum. The current view of the American Psychological Association's Commission on Accreditation regarding broad and general is described. “Common” and “essential” knowledge in medicine are described along with law's core curriculum. A general rationale for broad and general education is developed, and preferred kinds of experiences are suggested. As an example for psychology, a broad and general course on cognitive and affective bases of behavior is described. The way the necessary common view fits with the educational competency movement is explained. High quality broad and general education will have a positive impact on both research and professional practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job knowledge, ratee familiarity, conceptual similarity and halo error: An exploration.

The results of numerous social perception studies have led researchers to conclude that raters' implicit cognitive schemata regarding trait and behavior covariance may play a crucial role in the rating judgment process. W. H. Cooper (see PA, Vol 66:9176 and 9262) proposed one such cognitive schema, semantic conceptual similarity, as a key source of halo error in job performance ratings but was unable to reproduce the results of previous social perception research. The present study, with 186 undergraduates, employed baseball players as target ratees to examine the effects of job and ratee knowledge on the relations of raters' conceptual similarity schemata with rating and true score covariance. The results are consistent with the systematic distortion hypothesis presented by R. A. Shweder (see record 1976-07240-001). The association between conceptual similarity and rating covariance was significantly greater when Ss lacked sufficient job and/or ratee knowledge. Moreover, the degree of halo was also significantly greater when Ss lacked relevant job and ratee knowledge. The advantages of using objective measures of actual performance as true score estimates in the study of rater cognitive processes are discussed. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Further consideration of the use of narrow trait scales.

This study examined whether inclusion of narrow personality trait scales improved prediction of job performance enough to overcome increased capitalization on chance characteristics of the sample. Data were obtained from 262 midlevel managers who had completed a personality inventory and had been assessed using multisource performance ratings. Three methods of combining trait scores organized under the 5-factor model were compared in order to better understand the contribution of variance specific to the narrow traits in the prediction of performance: common factor scores, unit-weighted composite scores, and regression-weighted composites. Results showed that on average the sets of facet scores explained an additional 9% of the variance in performance beyond summated composites and 10% beyond the factor scores (4% and 5% after correction for shrinkage). Contrary to the idea that broadband predictors would fare better with broad criterion constructs, the increment was similar whether the criterion was a single dimension of performance or overall job performance. Recommendations include reporting results from multiple levels of the personality hierarchy, and suggestions are made for situations where sample size limits the number of predictors advisably entered into a regression equation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of dispositional and situational antecedents in prosocial organizational behavior: An examination of the intended beneficiaries of prosocial behavior.

Research has not adequately separated the factors responsible for prosocial behaviors intended to benefit specific individuals from those intended to benefit an organization. Antecedents of the behavior of 100 secretaries were examined as a function of the beneficiary of the behavior. The value of concern for others and empathy explained significant variance in prosocial behaviors directed only at specific individuals (prosocial individual behavior). Perceptions of reward equity and recognition explained significant variance in behaviors directed only at the organization (prosocial organizational behavior). With these effects removed, the relationship between job satisfaction and prosocial organizational behavior was no longer significant, whereas the relationship between job satisfaction and prosocial individual behavior remained significant. Results suggest that the psychological processes that underlie prosocial behavior are different depending on the beneficiary of the behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determinants of individual differences and gender differences in knowledge.

The authors investigated the abilities, self-concept, personality, interest, motivational traits, and other determinants of knowledge across physical sciences/technology, biology/psychology, humanities, and civics domains. Tests and self-report measures were administered to 320 university freshmen. Crystallized intelligence was a better predictor than was fluid intelligence for most knowledge domains. Gender differences favoring men were found for most knowledge domains. Accounting for intelligence reduced the gender influence in predicting knowledge differences. Inclusion of notability predictors further reduced the variance accounted for by gender. Analysis of Advanced Placement test scores largely supported the results of the knowledge tests. Results are consistent with theoretical predictions that development of intellect as knowledge results from investment of cognitive resources, which, in turn, is affected by a small set of trait complexes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The realism in older people's confidence judgments of answers to general knowledge questions.

The study investigated 2 aspects of the accuracy (i.e., realism) of confidence judgments of persons age 60–93 years (N = 1,384) regarding their answers to general knowledge questions. These aspects are the level of confidence (calibration) in relation to the proportion of correct answers and the ability to discriminate between correct and incorrect answers by means of confidence judgments. No age differences were found for either of the 2 aspects. Gender differences were found for proportion of correct answers and confidence but not for the realism in the confidence judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Partial knowledge of abstract words in patients with cortical degenerative conditions.

Partial knowledge is a common but rarely studied consequence of damage to conceptual representations and is characterized by the retained ability to retrieve crude, superordinate information but not specific, detailed information about a conceptual entity. Previous studies have described partial knowledge for concrete items particularly following semantic dementia (SD). The present study was designed to investigate the occurrence of partial knowledge effects in the conceptual domain of abstract words. A novel 3-level synonym comprehension test was administered to 9 patients with SD, 20 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 40 healthy control subjects. All subject groups showed weaker performance on tasks requiring a fine specification of word meaning compared with those for which a broad sense of meaning or valence was necessary. However, this gradient of partial knowledge was significantly greater for SD and AD subjects than for controls. These results demonstrate that partial knowledge is a general property of a degraded knowledge base and is not restricted to the concrete word domain. It constitutes a normal phenomenon that is exacerbated in the context of neurodegenerative disease. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between job knowledge and the reliability of conceptual similarity schemata.

Several investigators have argued that raters often rely on the conceptual similarity among performance dimension labels to guide the pattern of their performance ratings. Recent studies have used individual-level conceptual similarity (COS) judgments to investigate this systematic distortion hypothesis and related performance rating issues. In this article the results from 4 studies are reported in which 171 subjects completed COS judgments on 2 occasions. In 3 separate studies the reliability of COS schemata was found to be positively related to the rater's relevant job knowledge. In a 4th study it was found that changes in COS schemata over a 9-week interval may result from COS unreliability as much as from any meaningful reconceptualization of COS structure. Implications for performance rating research are reviewed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of ratee task performance and interpersonal factors on supervisor and peer performance ratings.

The study examines the effects of a wide array of rater–ratee relationship and ratee-characteristic variables on supervisor and peer job-performance ratings. Interpersonal ratings, job performance ratings, and ratee scores on ability, job knowledge, and technical proficiency were available for 493 to 631 first-tour US Army soldiers. Results of supervisor and peer ratings-path models showed ratee ability, knowledge, and proficiency accounted for 13% of the variance in supervisor performance ratings and 7% for the peer ratings. Among the interpersonal variables, ratee dependability had the strongest effect for both models. Ratee friendliness and likability had little effect on the performance ratings. Inclusion of the interpersonal factors increased the variance accounted for in the ratings to 28% and 19%, respectively. Discussion focuses on the relative contribution of ratee technical and contextual performance to raters' judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)