Effect of self-efficacy, goals, and task strategies on task performance.

Manipulated self-efficacy and task strategies in the training of 209 undergraduates under high strategy, low strategy, and control conditions. Ss underwent 5 trials and were administered a self-efficacy scale after each trial. Results show that ability, past performance, and self-efficacy were the major predictors of goal choice. Ability, self-efficacy, goals, and task strategies were related to task performance. Self-efficacy was more strongly related to past performance than to future performance but remained a significant predictor of future performance even when past performance was controlled. Self-efficacy ratings for moderate to difficult levels of performance were the best predictors of future performance; a reanalysis of 2 previous goal-setting studies by the first author confirms this finding. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of the CPI, Franck, MMPI, and WAIS Masculinity-Femininity indexes.

Compared the WAIS Masculinity-Femininity (M-F) index with 3 other measures of masculinity-femininity: the Femininity scale of the CPI, the Masculinity-femininity score of the Franck Drawing Completion Test, and the Mf scale of the MMPI. All 4 measures differentiated significantly between the sexes of 60 undergraduate Ss. The WAIS M-F index did not correlate significantly with any of the other measures for either sex and should not be interpreted as a personality indicator of sexual inversion or homosexuality. It represents solely sex differences in certain aspects of intellectual performance. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adjustment, mental health opinions, and proficiency of child care personnel.

Intercorrelated MMPI validity and K-corrected diagnostic scale scores, responses to a mental health opinion questionnaire, biographical data, and job performance ratings of 52 child care personnel. There were significant (p     

Body image, self-esteem, expectations, self-assessments, and actual success in a simulated job interview.

98 female undergraduates completed the Body Image Satisfaction Scale, Self-Cathexis Scale, Janis-Field-Eagly Self-Esteem Scale, and a job interview performance expectation scale prior to participating in a 15-min simulated job interview. After the job interviews, Ss rated their own performance. Two judges independently rated each S's performance by viewing videotapes of the job interviews. Expectations for job interview success were significantly related to both body satisfaction and self-esteem. Job interview self-ratings and the tendency to overrate or underestimate how well one actually performed were significantly related to self-esteem but not to body satisfaction. Body satisfaction was found to be subsumed by self-esteem in ability to predict interview expectations and self-assessments. Actual quality of interview performance was not related to either self-esteem or body attitudes. Discussion focuses on self-esteem consistency theory and implications for assisting applicants to assess more accurately their behavior in actual job interviews. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Extraversion, neuroticism, and motor learning.

"The Extraversion and Neuroticism scales of the Maudsley Personality Inventory were administered to 72 college students who were dichotomized on the basis of their scale scores. The inverted alphabet printing task was used to provide measures of motor learning performance. Analyses of variance of the motor learning scores showed that the women learned significantly faster than the men, but the main effects of Extraversion and Neuroticism were not significant." 17 refs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ocular trauma following penetrating keratoplasty: incidence, outcome, and postoperative recommendations

OBJECTIVES: To assess the specific contribution to overall scale performance of each of the five items that constitute the Norton pressure ulcer prediction scale. DESIGN: A comparison of statistical models based on cross-sectional surveys of hospitalized patients. SETTING: An urban teaching hospital in Geneva, Switzerland. PARTICIPANTS: 2373 hospitalized patients who were free of pressure ulcers on admission. MEASUREMENTS: Norton scale items measuring activity, mobility, physical condition, mental condition, and incontinence on a 4-point scale were examined as predictors of stage 1 or greater pressure ulcers. RESULTS: A total of 245 new pressure ulcers occurred between admission and patient observation. After adjustment for other independent predictors in proportional hazards models, only the activity and mobility items remained associated significantly with the risk of pressure ulcer. A simplified 2-item scale was more strongly associated with pressure ulcer risk than was the classic 5-item Norton scale. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that the activity and mobility items of the Norton scale are sufficient to express the risk of pressure ulcers in hospitalized patients. Confirmation of this finding in prospective studies is warranted.     

Relations between discrimination, apparatus stress, and the Taylor Scale.

The hypothesis that S's anxiety and thus performance in a threatening experimental situation is a function of his familiarity with the apparatus is tested. 70 Ss were required to perform a discrimination task motivated by avoidance of shock. Familiarity with the apparatus was tested by means of a mechanical information and aptitude test. There were significant relations between mechanical aptitude and measures of both latency and frequency of responding, while Taylor's scale of manifest anxiety tended to be unrelated to performance. It is suggested that the data of studies relating the Taylor Scale to eyelid conditioning may be attributable to the mechanical aptitude-Taylor Scale relation or "apparatus stress." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Premedication with oral midazolam in children--an assessment of psychomotor function, anxiolysis, sedation and pharmacokinetics

We studied 30 children, aged 4 to 12 years, undergoing elective circumcision, premedicated with midazolam 0.5 mg.kg-1 and atropine 0.02 mg.kg-1 by mouth. A modified postbox test and the coding component of the Wechsler intelligence scale (WISC-R) was used to assess the preoperative effect of premedication on psychomotor function. Mood and sedation were also scored and related to serum midazolam concentrations. The children showed a significant decline in psychomotor performance 30 and 60 minutes after premedication when compared with their best unmedicated performance recorded the previous evening. This decline in psychomotor performance was only weakly associated with serum midazolam concentrations (r = 0.1). The postbox toy ratio is a suitable measurement of psychomotor performance in children because of its simplicity and ease of use in the clinical environment, although it may suffer the "test-retest" limitations of similar types of assessment. The sedative and anxiolytic effects of midazolam provide a quiet environment for a smooth induction of anaesthesia.     

Mode of failure, interference tendencies, and achievement imagery.

The relative effects upon addition performance of failure to reach goals set by the subject himself and failure to reach goals set by the experimenter are studied, as well as the relative performance of groups differing in scores on the Interfering Tendency Questionnaire (IT) and the Achievement Imagery (AI) scale of the Iowa Picture Interpretation Test. The major findings were as follows: (1) There was no overall difference in the effects of the two failure procedures. High AI Ss showed greater improvement following failure to reach goals they had set for themselves while low AI Ss showed greater improvement following failure to reach experimenter set goals. (2) Under failure conditions, low IT Ss were superior, while under non failure conditions, high IT Ss were superior. (3) High AI Ss worked significantly faster than low AI Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of anxiety, threat, and racial environment on task performance of Negro college students.

This study dealt with the effect on Negro efficiency of variations in degree of stress and in the race of other persons in the task situation. 115 Negro students at Fisk University performed individually a digit-letter substitution task in the presence of an administrator and a confederate posing as another S, both of whom were either white or Negro. In addition, Ss were told to expect either mild or strong nonavoidance electric shocks while working. The main findings, that (a) performance was better in White-Mild Threat than in Negro-Mild Threat, and (b) Strong Threat, as compared with Mild Threat, was more detrimental to performance in the White condition than in the Negro condition, are consistent with the hypothesis of an inverted U shaped relationship between arousal and performance. In addition, there was evidence of an inverted U shaped function between Manifest Anxiety scale scores and 1st trial performance in the White condition. The results have implications for interpreting various types of Negro performance including scores on intellectual tests in racially mixed environments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of task difficulty, goal setting, and strategy on performance of a heuristic task.

Investigated the relative contribution of goal setting and task difficulty to performance on a heuristic computer task with 128 undergraduates who attempted to solve either easy or difficult maze puzzles. Each S was assigned either an easy, moderate, or difficult goal or told to do his/her best. One month prior to the experiment, Ss responded to the Neuroticism scale of the Eysenck Personality Inventory to collect data on arousal. Data were also collected on acceptance, commitment, task complexity, and performance. Results show that both goals and task difficulty affected task performance, arousal, and perceptions of task complexity. A linear, rather than curvilinear, relationship was found between task arousal and performance. Contrary to prior research by G. A. Bassett (see record 1980-33518-001), results also show that, when the task was difficult, the setting of a difficult goal led to significantly lower performance. The decrease in performance in the difficult goal condition was attributed to the variation in performance strategy employed by these Ss as opposed to other Ss. It is argued that the setting of difficult goals may not be an effective motivational strategy when a heuristic, rather than algorithmic, solution is needed. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relation between perception and behavior, or how to win a game of Trivial Pursuit.

The authors tested and confirmed the hypothesis that priming a stereotype or trait leads to complex overt behavior in line with this activated stereotype or trait. Specifically, 4 experiments established that priming the stereotype of professors or the trait intelligent enhanced participants' performance on a scale measuring general knowledge. Also, priming the stereotype of soccer hooligans or the trait stupid reduced participants' performance on a general knowledge scale. Results of the experiments revealed (a) that prolonged priming leads to more pronounced behavioral effects and (b) that there is no sign of decay of the effects for at least 15 min. The authors explain their results by claiming that perception has a direct and pervasive impact on overt behavior (cf. J. A. Bargh, M. Chen, & L. Burrows, 1996). Implications for human social behavior are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gastrulation initiation in Caenorhabditis elegans requires the function of gad-1, which encodes a protein with WD repeats

Although the role of dopamine dysfunction is well established in Parkinson's disease, the effect of nigrostriatal degeneration on motor performance during normal aging is less well understood. In this study, aged rhesus monkeys (25-27 years old) displayed significant impairments relative to young (3-5 years old) cohorts in motor function as assessed on a fine motor task and home cage activity. Additionally, the clinical motor function of aged monkeys was impaired relative to young monkeys as assessed on a clinical rating scale. Unbiased stereologic measurements of the substantia nigra revealed a significant age-related loss of tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive (TH-ir; 50.3%) and dopamine transporter-immunoreactive (DAT-ir; 33.2%) nigral neurons. The monkeys performance on the fine motor task and on the clinical rating scale was correlated with TH-ir neuronal counts. The number of DAT-ir nigral neurons was correlated with activity and clinical rating scale scores. Our results suggest that age-related motor impairments in nonhuman primates are associated with spontaneous decreases in TH-ir and DAT-ir nigral cells. The correlation of motor deficits with the loss of TH-ir and DAT-ir nigral neurons suggests that aged nonhuman primates may provide a useful model for mimicking changes seen in human aging and early Parkinson's disease.     

When Is the Ball Going to Hit the Ground? Duration Estimates, Eye Movements, and Mental Imagery of Object Motion.

Performance in 2 versions of a computer-animated task was compared. Participants either indicated the time of arrival of a target that rolled off a horizontal surface and fell--hidden from view--onto a landing point (production task) or judged flight time on a rating scale (judgment task). As predicted, performance was significantly better in the production task (Experiment 1), in which imagery of object motion probably replaced reasoning processes. Participants who exhibited eye movements suggesting mental tracking performed particularly well in the production task (Experimenl 2). There was, however, no decrement in performance when participants were asked to fixate the point where the target disappeared. For motion duration estimations, eye movements seem to be only a by-product of mental tracking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Locus of control, prediction, and performance on university examinations.

52 undergraduates were classified as internals or externals by the Fatalism subscale of D. W. Reid and E. E. Ware's multidimensional locus of control scale. Ss estimated what their outcomes would be for 2 term exams and their final grade. Internals' estimates and actual outcomes tended to be higher than those of externals. Accuracy of predictions as assessed by difference scores did not differentiate the 2 groups. However, internals' estimates from the 1st to 2nd exam were characterized by more typical expectancy shifts demonstrating a greater responsiveness to their initial performance feedback. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anxiety, structure, or social desirability?

A control (C) scale in which the items do not match those in the Manifest Anxiety (MA) scale or those in the Kimble-Posnick (K-P) scale in grammatical structure was found to have a correlation with the MA scale of approximately the same magnitude as the K-P scale. It is suggested that the correlation between the K-P scale and the MA scale is not the result of similarity in the grammatical structure of the items in the 2 scales, but rather results from the fact that most of the items in the K-P scale are, like those in the C scale, keyed for socially undesirable responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Task difficulty, relaxation, and anxiety level during verbal learning and recall.

Tested and supported the hypothesis that relaxation instructions help the recall of verbal material by anxious Ss but hinder the recall by nonanxious Ss. High- and low-anxious groups were selected on the basis of their performance on the Anxiety scale of the MMPI. 121 undergraduates were presented either 10 easy or 10 difficult paired associates under 4 conditions of relaxation: (1) no relaxation, (2) relaxation prior to acquisition, (3) relaxation prior to delayed recall, or (4) relaxation prior to both acquisition and delayed recall. Ss were tested immediately following acquisition and 48 hr. later. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of role conflict on counselor trainees' self-statements, anxiety level, and performance.

Counselor trainees play a dual role—subordinate in relation to their supervisors, superordinate in relation to their clients. The present study investigated if and how role conflict affects trainees' self-statements, anxiety level, and performance. 52 graduate student counselors responded to a counseling dilemma and then were exposed to 1 of 4 experimental manipulations: conflict (the supervisor recommended action contradictory to the trainee's intended action), no conflict (the supervisor supported the trainee's intended action), neutral (the supervisor stated that the trainee's intent and the opposing option were equally valid), or control (no supervisory input). Measures included the State scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, a self-efficacy inventory, and a thought-listing procedure. Results suggest that role conflict produced few adverse effects on Ss' self-evaluations, affect, or behavior. Ss' performance, however, was inversely related to anxiety level, and anxiety was inversely related to the strength of Ss' self-efficacy expectations. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Student/instructor attitude similarity, student ratings, and course performance.

Investigated the validity of student ratings of instructional effectiveness by exploring the relations among student ratings, course performance, and the perceived attitude similarity of students and their instructors. 349 college students enrolled in 22 classes first rated instructor effectiveness on a 28-item rating form and then rated their own attitudes plus instructor attitudes on an attitude scale adapted from D. Byrne (1971). Another 296 college students enrolled in 19 classes rated instructor effectiveness and then their own attitudes plus instructor attitudes on an attitude scale adapted from F. E. Hofman and L. Kremer (see record 1980-33352-001). For both S groups, official end-of-term grades were also collected. Consistent with prior research, modest correlations were found between student ratings and perceived attitude similarity. There was also a modest relation between similarity and course grades. These relations were greatly reduced (56.2 and 44.5%, respectively) when the large influence of instructors on ratings and achievement was removed. Findings fail to support the claim that perceived attitude similarity is a substantial source of bias in student ratings. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)