Special issue on leadership falls behind.

A special issue of the American Psychologist (January 2007) was devoted to leadership. The six articles, by W. Bennis (see record 2006-23492-002); S. J. Zaccaro (see record 2006-23492-003); V. H. Vroom and A. G. Yago (see record 2006-23492-004); B. J. Avolio (see record 2006-23492-005); R. J. Sternberg (see record 2006-23492-006); and R. J. Hackman and R. Wageman (see record 2006-23492-007), were written from an "industrial" perspective that places primary emphasis on positional leaders and their actions. Some readers of this series might conclude that the industrial model best explains leadership. It does not. The ecological perspective offers an alternative that deserves consideration. It is time to end the dominance of the industrial perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Delay of reinforcement in instrumental discrimination learning of rats.

Assigned 4 groups of 8 male albino rats each to a 2-choice discrimination task. Ss were reinforced for pressing 1 lever in the presence of 1 auditory stimulus and for pressing an alternative lever in the presence of a 2nd auditory stimulus. Acquisition of the discrimination was retarded when reinforcement was delayed for all or a random half of the correct responses in the presence of each stimulus. However, performance was facilitated when reinforcement was delayed for all of the correct responses in the presence of 1 stimulus but not the other. Results are interpreted in terms of both classical and operant mediational processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpreting low scores on the WISC—R Third Factor: It's more than distractibility.

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised consists of three factors: Perceptual Organization, Verbal Comprehension, and the Third Factor, also called Freedom from Distractibility. Children referred for learning and behavioral problems frequently obtain low Third Factor scores. Although resistance to the effects of distracting stimuli may be necessary for optimum performance on the Third Factor, many other hypotheses may account for low scores. This article reviews studies that elucidate the meaning of low Third Factor scores. One promising interpretation is that the Third Factor reflects "executive" and short-term memory processes involved in planning, monitoring, and evaluating task performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An ecological perspective on leadership theory, research, and practice.

Current theories of leadership are based mainly on the industrial paradigm emphasizing the preeminence of positional leaders and the machine-like qualities of organizations. Evolutionary and attributional biases tend to reinforce the industrial paradigm. The authors propose an ecological theory of leadership that makes 4 important assertions: (a) Effective leadership processes involve temporary resolutions of a tension between the traditional industrial approach and the neglected ecological approach; (b) specific leaders are less important than they appear because the ecological context is more important than what leaders decide to do; (c) organizations are more adaptive when there is a diversity of genuine input into decision-making processes; and (d) leadership itself is an emergent process arising from the human interactions that make up the organization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)