Occupational stress: Its causes and consequences for job performance.

Examined occupational stress and its relation with individual characteristics, job conditions, stressful events, affect, and job performance. Study 1, in which 104 nurses participated in group discussions and 96 nurses (mean age 36 yrs) completed a questionnaire, identified 45 stressful events (appended) for nurses. In Study 2, 171 nurses (mean age 34.6 yrs) completed another questionnaire and were rated by a supervisor and/or a coworker. Findings show that ratings of interpersonal aspects of job performance (i.e., sensitivity, warmth, consideration, tolerance) and cognitive/motivational aspects (i.e., concentration, composure, perseverance, adaptability) correlated significantly with self-reported perceptions of stressful events, subjective stress, depression, and hostility. Models developed through path analysis suggest that the frequency and subjective intensity of the 45 events identified in Study 1 caused feelings of stress, leading to depression and causing decrements in interpersonal and cognitive/motivational aspects of job performance. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Abstract-concept learning carryover effects from the initial training set in pigeons (Columba livia).

Three groups of pigeons were trained in a same/different task with 32, 64, or 1,024 color-picture stimuli. They were tested with novel transfer pictures. The training-testing cycle was repeated with training-set doublings. The 32-item group learned the same/different task as rapidly as a previous 8-item group and transferred better than the 8-item group at the 32-item training set. The 64- and 1,024-item groups learned the task only somewhat slower than other groups, but their transfer was better and equivalent to baseline performances. These results show that pigeons trained with small sets (e.g., 8 items) have carryover effects that hamper transfer when the training set is expanded. Without carryover effects (i.e., initial transfer from the 32- and 64-item groups), pigeons show the same degree of transfer as rhesus and capuchin monkeys at these same set sizes. This finding has implications for the general ability of abstract-concept learning across species with different neural architectures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Feature- and rule-based generalization in human associative learning.

Two experiments examined the contributions of feature- and rule-based knowledge in a human associative learning task. Participants were presented with concurrent negative (A?→?O, B?→?O, AB?→?no O) and positive (C?→?no O, D?→?no O, CD?→?O) patterning problems in which certain combinations of foods were associated with an allergy outcome (O). In the test stage, some participants showed normal feature-based generalization to novel trial types, whereas other participants transferred the patterning rule (i.e., a compound and its elements signal opposite outcomes). Mastery of the discrimination presented in the training phase was strongly linked to rule-based generalization. The results suggest that models of human associative learning need to incorporate mechanisms for rule-based as well as for feature-based generalization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Tests enhance the transfer of learning.

Numerous learning studies have shown that if the period of time devoted to studying information (e.g., casa-house) includes at least 1 test (casa-?), performance on a final test is improved—a finding known as the testing effect. In most of these studies, however, the final test is identical to the initial test. If the final test requires a novel demonstration of learning (i.e., transfer), prior studies suggest that a greater degree of transfer reduces the size of the testing effect. The authors tested this conjecture. In 2 experiments, 4th- or 5th-grade students learned to assign regions or cities to map locations and returned 1 day later for 2 kinds of final tests. One final test required exactly the same task seen during the learning session, and the other final test consisted of novel, more challenging questions. In both experiments, testing effects were found for both kinds of final tests, and the testing effect was no smaller, and actually slightly larger, for the final test requiring transfer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Practice effects for auditory localization: a test of a differentiation theory of perceptual learning and development

Practice and transfer of practice in an auditory localization task were observed for three different information conditions (normal, transformed and reduced) to examine four aspects of Gibson's (1969) differentiation theory of perceptual learning and development. Support was found for the propositions that: (i) dimensions of difference, rather than prototypes, are learned; (ii) specificity is a more appropriate response measure than number of correct responses; (iii) perceptual learning will occur regardless of whether feedback is given or not; (iv) transfer of practice will be greater if dimensions of difference (as opposed to prototypes) are learned. It was also found that feedback during practice did not affect transfer. In an apparent contradiction though, specificity increased in the absence of dimension of difference. This increase was interpreted as being associated with the detection of non-task-related information and was seen as lending support to Gibson's hypothesis that, perceptual learning is motivated by intrinsic cognitive drive and is terminated by a reduction in subjective uncertainty.     

Gaze behavior predicts memory bias for angry facial expressions in stable dysphoria.

Interpersonal theories suggest that depressed individuals are sensitive to signs of interpersonal rejection, such as angry facial expressions. The present study examined memory bias for happy, sad, angry, and neutral facial expressions in stably dysphoric and stably nondysphoric young adults. Participants' gaze behavior (i.e., fixation duration, number of fixations, and distance between fixations) while viewing these facial expressions was also assessed. Using signal detection analyses, the dysphoric group had better accuracy on a surprise recognition task for angry faces than the nondysphoric group. Further, mediation analyses indicated that greater breadth of attentional focus (i.e., distance between fixations) accounted for enhanced recall of angry faces among the dysphoric group. There were no differences between dysphoria groups in gaze behavior or memory for sad, happy, or neutral facial expressions. Findings from this study identify a specific cognitive mechanism (i.e., breadth of attentional focus) that accounts for biased recall of angry facial expressions in dysphoria. This work also highlights the potential for integrating cognitive and interpersonal theories of depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The opposite effects on cysteamine on the acquisition of two different tasks in mice are associated with bidirectional testing-induced changes in hippocampal adenylyl cyclase activity.

The hypothesis of a role for hippocampal somatostatin (SS-14) in learning and memory processes was further examined by means of 2 selective learning tasks that were previously shown to be either impaired (spatial discrimination task) or facilitated (barpressing task) by hippocampal lesions. Results showed that subcutaneous injections of cysteamine (160 mg/kg) (a) impaired acquisition of the spatial task while producing an opposite (i.e., facilitative) effect on acquisition of the barpressing task and (b) produced an up regulation of hippocampal adenylyl cyclase (AC) activity, which was antagonized by spatial discrimination training but enhanced by training in the barpressing task. Moreover, opposite task-dependent training induced changes in hippocampal AC activity was observed in saline-treated mice. These results suggest that bidirectional regulatory mechanisms of hippocampal function involving both SS-14 and ACs may occur as a function of the type of learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Training the Trainee as Well as the Trainer: Lessons to be Learned From Clinical Psychology.

The training literature in industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology has benefited from empirical research in experimental psychology on such subject matter as massed vs distributive practice, knowledge of results (KOR), and the transfer of learning from the training setting to the workplace. The purpose of the present paper is to argue that further advances in the field of training will occur when there is a shift in research emphasis from reliance on findings from experimental psychology to building on extant training techniques in clinical psychology, particularly cognitive behavioral psychology. Further advances in the field of training may also occur when there is a shift in emphasis from the recipient of training, namely, the trainee, to the administrator of training, namely the trainer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal stress and pain behaviors in patients with chronic pain.

Evaluated the role of interpersonal stress in eliciting pain behavior. 34 male patients with chronic back pain and their wives participated in a randomized between-groups study examining the effects of 2 interactional conditions (i.e., maritally focused stress interview and neutral talking control task) on subsequent persistence in a physically demanding task and with self-reports of pain. Results show that a greater proportion of patients in the stress interview group terminated the physical activity task prematurely, compared with controls. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of Stress on the Performance of Construction Project Managers

The work of construction project managers (CPMs) is often highly stressful, due to time pressures, and due to the uncertainties and the dynamic social structure involved in construction projects. This study aims to investigate the impact of stress on the performance of CPMs. Correlation analysis and structural equation modeling are employed to uncover the relationships between different types of stress (i.e., objective stress, burnout, and physiological stress) and the work performances (i.e., task performance, interpersonal performance, and organizational performance) of CPMs. Data were collected from 108 CPMs who work in a variety of construction sectors, including prime contractors, subcontractors, developers, consultant firms, and the public sector. Results showed that (1) objective stress reduces the task performance of CPMs while burnout can have a positive effect on it; (2) interpersonal performance is maximized with a moderate level of objective stress (i.e., an inverted-U-shaped relationship between these two variables) and increases in line with the improvement of the task performance of individuals; and (3) organizational performance has U-shaped relationships with both burnout and physiological stresses and is worsened by objective stress. Last, it is suggested to stakeholders that regular reviews of job allocation, stress appraisals, stress management workshops, group or individual counseling, and psychological treatment or physiotherapy be carried out to optimize the stress and the performance of CPMs.     

A factor analysis of programmed learning and ability measures.

An oblique factor analysis of 23 tests of cognitive abilities and 6 measures of performance on a programed learning task given to 104 6th-graders, revealed 8 factors defined primarily by the tests and 2 defined by speed of performance on the programed task. 2 measures of program achievement, i.e., error frequency and posttest performance, did not define a separate factor but exhibited high loadings on 1 of the test factors, i.e., following directions. The intercorrelations among the 10 factors defined 2 2nd-order factors, verbal-numerical-educational and mental speed. Results indicate that measures of performance on a learning program may contain information about human abilities not assessed by tests of well-known cognitive factors. However, this new information is related at a more general level to the information provided by the tests. Results also provide some understanding of the abilities required to perform well on learning programs of the type employed here. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pavlovian to instrumental transfer of control in a human learning task.

Pavlovian learning tasks have been widely used as tools to understand basic cognitive and emotional processes in humans. The present studies investigated one particular task, Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT), with human participants in an effort to examine potential cognitive and emotional effects of Pavlovian cues upon instrumentally trained performance. In two experiments, subjects first learned two separate instrumental response-outcome relationships (i.e., R1-O1 and R2-O2) and then were exposed to various stimulus-outcome relationships (i.e., S1-O1, S2-O2, S3-O3, and S4-) before the effects of the Pavlovian stimuli on instrumental responding were assessed during a non-reinforced test. In Experiment 1, instrumental responding was established using a positive-reinforcement procedure, whereas in Experiment 2, a quasi-avoidance learning task was used. In both cases, the Pavlovian stimuli exerted selective control over instrumental responding, whereby S1 and S2 selectively elevated the instrumental response with which it shared an outcome. In addition, in Experiment 2, S3 exerted a nonselective transfer of control effect, whereby both responses were elevated over baseline levels. These data identify two ways, one specific and one general, in which Pavlovian processes can exert control over instrumental responding in human learning paradigms, suggesting that this method may serve as a useful tool in the study of basic cognitive and emotional processes in human learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Consequences of serial cortical, hippocampal, and thalamic lesions and of different lengths of overtraining on the acquisition and retention of learning tasks.

The ability of the rat brain to acquire or to retain specific learning tasks was tested under conditions of multiple lesions and widely varying amounts of practice in 53 male young adult rats. Ss were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups in which lesions were made in 2 of 3 structural complexes (the medial prefrontal and cingulate cortex, the anterior and mediodorsal thalamus, and the dorsal and ventral hippocampus) or in all 3 before acquisition of the 2 learning tasks (Groups 1–4), or they were assigned to 1 of 3 groups in which lesions of all 3 structural complexes were made following the acquisition of the 2 learning tasks (Groups 5–7). Results question the assumption that serial lesions with intermittent training between lesions have beneficial effects and emphasize the importance of task practice (i.e., behavioral experience). It is argued that prolonged training will lead to a widely distributed storage of information within the brain. The process of wide diffusion of information will, however, be disturbed (or at least retarded) by lesions made shortly after task acquisition or task reacquisition (as was the case for Ss of Group 5). (159 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teaching phonological awareness to young children with learning disabilities

This study examined the feasibility of teaching phonological manipulation skills to preschool children with disabilities. Forty-seven children, 4-6 years old, enrolled in a special education preschool, were randomly assigned to receive training in one of three categories of phonological tasks (rhyming, blending, and segmenting) or a control group. Results indicated that children were able to make significant progress in each experimental category, but that they demonstrated little or no generalization either within a category (e.g., from one type of blending task to another type of blending task) or between categories (e.g., from blending to segmenting). Although the children's level of cognitive development significantly predicted some learning outcomes, it did not appear to limit the learning of phonological tasks.     

Simulation training of psychomotor skills: Teaching the brain-injured to drive.

13 brain-injured individuals (average age 24.2 yrs) completed a set of 7 exercises simulating specific cognitive and behavioral aspects of motor vehicle operation, using an electric-powered vehicle, to test whether training would generalize to a complex functional task (i.e., automobile driving). Training exercises involved visuomotor tracking, divided attention, successive increases in difficulty level, performance feedback, and social reinforcement. Ss were compared with 11 closed-head-injured controls of the same average age, who received experience with the electric vehicle but no training exercises, and with 11 normal high-school students, who had driver's licenses and were trained in some of the exercises (e.g., divided attention). Training consisted of 8 2-hr sessions; at the conclusion of training, experimental and control Ss were evaluated in an on-the-road automobile test. Results indicate that experimental Ss showed improvements on the specific exercises, and training resulted in improved performance on tests of on-the-road driving when compared with closed-head-injured controls, who did not show improvement in their driving performance. Results suggest a significant therapeutic effect of the specific training exercises. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How incidental sequence learning creates reportable knowledge: The role of unexpected events.

Research on incidental sequence learning typically is concerned with the characteristics of implicit or nonconscious learning. In this article, the authors aim to elucidate the cognitive mechanisms that contribute to the generation of explicit, reportable sequence knowledge. According to the unexpected-event hypothesis (P. A. Frensch, H. Haider, D. Rünger, U. Neugebauer, S. Voigt, & J. Werg, 2003), individuals acquire reportable knowledge when they search for the cause of an experienced deviation from the expected task performance. The authors experimentally induced unexpected events by disrupting the sequence learning process with a modified serial reaction time task and found that, unlike random transfer sequences, a systematic transfer sequence increased the availability of reportable sequence knowledge. The lack of a facilitative effect of random sequences is explained by the detrimental effect of random events on the presumed search process that generates reportable knowledge. This view is corroborated in a final experiment in which the facilitative effect of systematic transfer blocks is offset by a concurrent secondary task that was introduced to interfere with the search process during transfer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social anxiety, anxious self-preoccupation, and recall of self-relevant information.

Theoretical and empirical efforts concerning cognitive processes associated with anxiety have typically emphasized either cognitive deficits (i.e., reduced learning, memory, and task performance) or cognitive excesses (i.e., increased self-focused, ruminative thought). Evidence of these 2 types of cognitive processes has primarily been based on different types of sources (performance measures and self-reports), which precludes direct comparisons of the extent to which cognitive deficits and/or excesses characterize anxiety states. The present study attempted to directly compare the cognitive excesses and deficits associated with social anxiety by operationalizing both types of cognitive phenomena with similar performance measures. 97 undergraduates, selected on the basis of high or low scores on the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale, performed a modified self-referent depth-of-processing paradigm under stress or no-stress conditions. Socially anxious Ss in a socially evaluative situation evidenced a specific type of cognitive excess (i.e., concern over evaluations by others) but not cognitive deficits. Results are discussed in terms of person-by-situation models of anxiety and the nature and treatment of social anxiety. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the relation between abilities, learning, and human performance.

Describes the author's research efforts to link basic and applied psychology concepts in each of the following areas: aptitude measurement, learning and training, and human task performance. Several studies are described in detail to illustrate a number of broad issues, particularly the possibility of using combinations of experimental and correlational methods for studying complex human behavior, and the need to develop concepts that allow more dependable generalization of research findings to new situations (particularly to new tasks). A taxonomy of human perceptual-motor abilities is described and related to more complex tasks. Other studies investigated the relationship between abilities and skill acquisition; individual differences in various learning phenomena (e.g., transfer of training); and whether the taxonomic categories are useful for standardizing laboratory tasks and for generalizing results of these tasks to new tasks. Results suggest that (a) experimental-correlational studies can be used to develop a body of principles relating task dimensions to ability requirements; (b) kinesthetic ability factors become more important than spatial ones as psychomotor learning progresses; and (c) it should be possible to develop a data base about human performance, indexed by type of task. (37 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Extrapolation: The sine qua non for abstraction in function learning.

Abstraction was investigated by examining extrapolation behavior in a function-learning task. During training, participants associated stimulus and response magnitudes (in the form of horizontal bar lengths) that covaried according to a linear, exponential, or quadratic function. After training, novel stimulus magnitudes were presented as tests of extrapolation and interpolation. Participants extrapolated well beyond the range of learned responses, and their responses captured the general shape of the assigned functions, with some systematic deviations. Notable individual differences were observed, particularly in the quadratic condition. The number of unique stimulus–response pairs given during training (i.e., density) was also manipulated but did not affect training or transfer performance. Two rule-learning models, an associative-learning model, and a new hybrid model with associative learning and rule-based responding (extrapolation–association model [EXAM]) were evaluated with respect to the transfer data. EXAM best approximated the overall pattern of extrapolation performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)