Do people do what they say? Further studies on the situational interview.

In Study 1, an interview consisting of 20 situational questions plus 5 past-experience questions was administered to 29 female clerical workers who had worked for the company an average of 6 yrs, and responses were correlated to the observations of supervisors and peers collected by means of an on-the-job appraisal instrument. S responses and appraisals correlated significantly; however, no relationship was found between what Ss said they had done in the past and current appraisals. In Study 2, the predictive validity of the situational interview with 157 entry-level employees (mean age 28.51 yrs) was tested by comparing interview ratings with performance appraisals 3 yrs later. Results show a significant relationship but, since hired Ss performed no differently than the 192 Ss (mean age 29.76 yrs) who were not hired on the situational interview, it had no practical significance. A follow-up study with 29 of the hired Ss who were reinterviewed showed that the original interviewers had not used the situational interview correctly. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Global precedence: The effect of exposure duration.

Stimuli consisting of large letters constructed from small letters were presented to 26 undergraduates for 10, 40, or 100 msec, and Ss were required to identify either the large letters or the small letters. At the 10-msec exposure duration, only unidirectional or global to local interference was observed. This finding is consistent with D. Navon's (see record 1978-11488-001) global precedence hypothesis. However, at the longer exposure durations equivalent global to local and local to global interference patterns were observed. Results limit the generality of any global precedence hypothesis, either perceptual or attentional, to conditions in which there are large discrepancies in the quality of the local and global information. (French abstract) (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Corpus d'extraits musicaux: indices relatifs à la familiarité, à l'age d'acquisition et aux évocations verbales.

Studied the degree of familiarity, the age of acquisition, and verbal associations with regard to 144 musical excerpts drawn from the repertory of tunes that is expected to be shared by all French-speaking Quebec university students. Human Ss: 60 normal male and female Canadian adults (aged 21–45 yrs) (university students) (Group 1). 60 normal male and female Canadian adults (aged 19–43 yrs) (university students) (Group 2). The excerpts were presented to all Ss in synthesized, monophonic recordings. Ss in Group 1 were asked to indicate their degree of familiarity with each excerpt and the age at which they learned the excerpt. Ss in Group 2 were asked to indicate whether the original tune was vocal or instrumental and to provide verbal associations for the excerpts. The degree of familiarity, developmental period of acquisition, frequency of verbal associations, and dominant verbal association were determined for each excerpt. (English abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relative deprivation theory and the Quebec nationalist movement: The cognition–emotion distinction and the personal–group deprivation issue.

Investigated the effect of unfavorable intergroup comparisons on feelings of group discontent and the importance of various types of relative deprivation (RD) to explain militant sociopolitical attitudes (nationalism). 80 22–50 yr old Francophones answered a questionnaire that either informed them that according to several studies, Francophones have a lower average annual income than Anglophones or did not inform them at all. Results reveal that informed Ss perceived a wider economic difference between groups than uninformed Ss, but this manipulation had no effect on other variables including fraternal RD (group discontent). The feeling of fraternal RD was as strongly related to a global index of nationalism as the perceived economic gap between the groups. In contrast, measures of egoistic RD (personal discontent) were not related to this index. Results support theories that conceptualize RD as being more than simply a cognition or a perception of deprivation and imply that fraternal RD, rather than egoistic RD as current theories suggest, is an important factor in the explanation of protest movements. (50 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Tip-of-the-tongue states reveal age differences in the syllable frequency effect.

Syllable frequency has been shown to facilitate production in some languages but has yielded inconsistent results in English and has never been examined in older adults. Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) states represent a unique type of production failure where the phonology of a word is unable to be retrieved, suggesting that the frequency of phonological forms, like syllables, may influence the occurrence of TOT states. In the current study, we investigated the role of first-syllable frequency on TOT incidence and resolution in young (18–26 years of age), young-old (60–74 years of age), and old-old (75–89 years of age) adults. Data from 3 published studies were compiled, where TOTs were elicited by presenting definition-like questions and asking participants to respond with “Know,” “Don't Know,” or “TOT.” Young-old and old-old adults, but not young adults, experienced more TOTs for words beginning with low-frequency first syllables relative to high-frequency first syllables. Furthermore, age differences in TOT incidence occurred only for words with low-frequency first syllables. In contrast, when a prime word with the same first syllable as the target was presented during TOT states, all age groups resolved more TOTs for words beginning with low-frequency syllables. These findings support speech production models that allow for bidirectional activation between conceptual, lexical, and phonological forms of words. Furthermore, the age-specific effects of syllable frequency provide insight into the progression of age-linked changes to phonological processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Level set topology optimization considering damage

This paper provides a level set based topology optimization approach to design structures exhibiting resistance to damage. The geometry of the structures is represented by the level set method. The design domains are discretized by the extended finite element method allowing for fixed non conforming meshes. The mechanical model represents quasi-brittle materials. Undamaged material behavior is assumed linear elastic while a loss of stiffness is introduced through a non-local damage model. Small strains are assumed. The sensitivities are evaluated by an analytical derivation of the discretized governing equations of the system and considering the adjoint approach. As the damage process is irreversible, the structural responses are path-dependent and this dependency is accounted for in the sensitivity analysis. The optimization problems are solved by mathematical programming algorithms, in particular using the GCMMA scheme. The proposed approach is illustrated with two dimensional examples that highlight the influence of degradation on the optimized designs.     

Engagement scolaire, bien-être personnel et autodétermination chez des étudiants à l’université.

This article describes a study that was conducted with a sample of 266 university students and which was guided by two objectives: (a) applying a three-dimensional model of commitment to the academic area, while therein including new motivational considerations and, (b) exploring the nature of the psychological mechanisms by which academic commitment and self-determination interact to predict students’ personal well-being. Exploratory factor analyses allowed the validation of a first version of the Academic Commitment Scale. Correlational and multiple regression analyses permitted the corroboration of the hypothesis pertaining to the positive relationship between academic commitment and personal well-being amongst students. Exploratory and confirmatory analyses led to the corroboration of the hypothesis pertaining to the mediating role of academic commitment in the association between students’ self-determination and personal well-being. The worth of using academic commitment, self-determination, and personal well-being as main targets of investigation while trying to elaborate a model of optimal academic functioning is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)