Task control and cognitive abilities of self and spouse in collaboration in middle-aged and older couples.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 22(4) of Psychology and Aging (see record 2007-18670-006). Due to an editing mistake, the order of authorship was incorrect. The correct order is as follows: Berg, Smith, Ko, Beveridge, Story, Henry, Florsheim, Pearce, Uchino, Skinner, & Glazer.] Collaborative problem solving may be used by older couples to optimize cognitive functioning, with some suggestion that older couples exhibit greater collaborative expertise. The study explored age differences in 2 aspects of collaborative expertise: spouses' knowledge of their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities and the ability to fit task control to these cognitive abilities. The participants were 300 middle-aged and older couples who completed a hypothetical errand task. The interactions were coded for control asserted by husbands and wives. Fluid intelligence was assessed, and spouses rated their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities. The results revealed no age differences in couple expertise, either in the ability to predict their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities or in the ability to fit task control to abilities. However, gender differences were found. Women fit task control to their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities; men only fit task control to their spouse's cognitive abilities. For women only, the fit between control and abilities was associated with better performance. The results indicate no age differences in couple expertise but point to gender as a factor in optimal collaboration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationships among students' future-oriented goals and subgoals, perceived task instrumentality, and task-oriented self-regulation strategies in an academic environment.

The authors performed path analysis, followed by a bootstrap procedure, to test the predictions of a model explaining the relationships among students' distal future goals (both extrinsic and intrinsic), their adoption of a middle-range subgoal, their perceptions of task instrumentality, and their proximal task-oriented self-regulation strategies. The model was based on R. B. Miller and S. J. Brickman's (2004) conceptualization of future-oriented motivation and self-regulation, which draws primarily from social-cognitive and self-determination theories. Participants were 421 college students who completed a questionnaire that included scales measuring the 5 variables of interest. Data supported the model, suggesting that students' distal future goals (intrinsic future goals in particular) may be related to their middle-range college graduation subgoal, to their perceptions of task instrumentality, and to their adoption of proximal task-oriented self-regulation strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationships among asymmetry in task dependence, perceived helping behavior, and trust.

Social relations analyses involving 132 working relationships among 60 individuals from 29 teams revealed that an increase in a team member's task dependence on another team member was associated with higher levels of perceived help from and interpersonal trust in that specific team member, provided the other member was highly task dependent on the focal member. The degree to which an actor perceived a relationship with a partner to be helpful partially mediated the relationship between task dependence and trust. These findings highlight the importance of attending to asymmetries in task dependence and provide valuable insights into mechanisms that can explain the development of trust in organizational work teams. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Religiousness, Spirituality, and Psychosocial Functioning in Late Adulthood: Findings From a Longitudinal Study.

This study used longitudinal data to examine the relations among religiousness, spirituality, and 3 key domains of psychosocial functioning in late adulthood: (a) sources of well-being, (b) involvement in tasks of everyday life, and (c) generativity and wisdom. Religiousness and spirituality were operationalized as distinct but overlapping dimensions of individual difference. In late adulthood, religiousness was positively related to well-being from positive relations with others, involvement in social and community life tasks, and generativity. Spirituality was positively related to well-being from personal growth, involvement in creative and knowledge-building life tasks, and wisdom. Neither religiousness nor spirituality was associated with narcissism. The relations between religiousness, spirituality, and outcomes in late adulthood were also observed using religiousness scored in early and spirituality scored in late middle adulthood. All analyses were controlled for gender, cohort, social class, and the overlap between religiousness and spirituality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship among performance of instrumental activities of daily living, self-report of quality of life, and self-awareness of functional status in individuals with multiple sclerosis.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between self-awareness of functional status and performance of Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL), and self-reports of quality of life (QOL) in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). Design: A between-groups design, using a correlational approach to examine the relationship between self-awareness of functional status, IADL and QOL. Participants: We studied 47 individuals with clinically definite MS and 26 healthy controls (HCs). Measures: The Functional Behavior Profile was completed by both participants and their informants. Participants' scores were subtracted from those of their informants', and the absolute value was used as the self-awareness/concordance score. The Executive Function Performance Test measured IADL performance; QOL was measured with the Functional Assessment of Multiple Sclerosis. Results: MS participants showed lower levels of self-awareness relative to HCs. Significant correlations were observed between performance of IADL, reports of QOL and self-awareness levels of functional status. However, reports of QOL were not significantly correlated with performance of IADL. Conclusions: The positive association between self-awareness of functional status with IADL performance and QOL reports provides support for the role of awareness in rehabilitation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)