Suchergebnisse

The dominance of the "psychometric" paradigm and the consequent emphasis on personality profiles of hazards has resulted in little attention being given to individual variability in risk judgments. This study examines how far differences in experience of risk activities can explain individual variability in risk assessments. A questionnaire study (n= 172) was used to explore the relationships between experience and risk perceptions in relation to 16 risk activities. It was expected that these relationships would differ for voluntary and involuntary activities. Measures of experience included assessments of "impact" and "outcome" valence as well as "frequency." These three aspects of experience each related to risk assessment but their relationship depended on whether the risk experiences were voluntary or not. The results indicate the importance of developing more fine‐grained ways of indexing risk experience.

Objective The aim of this study was to explore individual differences in voluntary and involuntary driver-distraction engagement. Background Distractions may stem from intentional engagement in secondary tasks (voluntary) or failing to suppress non-driving-related stimuli or information (involuntary). A wealth of literature has examined voluntary distraction; involuntary distraction is not particularly well understood. Individual factors, such as age, are known to play a role in how drivers engage in distractions. However, it is unclear which individual factors are associated with voluntary- versus involuntary-distraction engagement and whether there is a relation between how drivers engage in these two distraction types. Method Thirty-six participants, ages 25 to 39, drove in a simulator under three conditions: voluntary distraction with a self-paced visual-manual task on a secondary display, involuntary distraction with abrupt onset of irrelevant visual-audio stimuli on the secondary display, and no distraction. Results The number of glances toward the secondary display under voluntary distraction was not correlated to that under involuntary distraction. The former was associated with gender, age, annual mileage, and self-reported distraction engagement; such associations were not observed for the latter. Accelerator release time in response to lead-vehicle braking was delayed similarly under both conditions. Conclusion Propensity to engage in voluntary distractions appears to be not related to the inability of suppressing involuntary distractions. Further, voluntary and involuntary distraction both affect braking response. These findings have implications for design of in-vehicle technologies, which may be sources of both distraction types.

This research examines the use of non-cognitive personality measures as supplements to traditional cognitive ability measures for predicting training performance. The Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) significantly predicted an overall performance measure (R2 = .17) for Navy BE&E Students (N = 155). However, when applied as a supplemental predictor composite to the military cognitive measure (ASVAB), the resulting increase in R2 (.04) failed to attain significance, F(6, 144) = 2.17, p > .05). In further analyses, several HPI and ASVAB scales combined to significantly predict selected performance criteria. The ASVAB remained as the primary source of information. It is quite possible that, for traditional academic training, cognitive ability measures provide the most valuable insight in terms of individual potential. Personality may have a more profound effect in cases of unconventional skill training or training for occupations of risk.

Abstract
Pragmatics is foundational to language use and learning. Computational cognitive models have been successfully used to predict pragmatic phenomena in adults and children – on an aggregate level. It is unclear if they can be used to predict behavior on an individual level. We address this question in children (N = 60, 3- to 5-year-olds), taking advantage of recent work on pragmatic cue integration. In Part 1, we use data from four independent tasks to estimate child-specific sensitivity parameters to three information sources: semantic knowledge, expectations about speaker informativeness, and sensitivity to common ground. In Part 2, we use these parameters to generate participant-specific trial-by-trial predictions for a new task that jointly manipulated all three information sources. The model accurately predicted children's behavior in the majority of trials. This work advances a substantive theory of individual differences in which the primary locus of developmental variation is sensitivity to individual information sources.

What does having power mean, not for, but to an individual at work? In this article, we focus on the individual's concerns and experiences in the work setting and discuss how individuals conceptualise and construct their own power at work. This perspective is important due to its corresponding implications for how individuals choose their jobs, how they show proactive work behaviours and how they are engaged in power relations in organisations. In-depth interviews with 11 participants were subjected to interpretative phenomenological analysis and key themes were identified to explain how these individuals cognitively, socially and operationally crafted their 'own' versions of power in their organisations. Despite the idiosyncratic similarity among the participants, our analysis revealed a clear divide: 'position-based power holders' and 'territory holders'. We first present our findings and results with interview excerpts and implications drawn from the emergent themes based on participant accounts. Next, we focus on two individual cases to explain how these individuals identified themselves as power holders within their own organisational contexts. Finally, we discuss our findings in association with other theoretical frameworks and concepts including the meaning of power, the organisational context and proactive work behaviours.

Abstract: A public opinion survey of youth crime and justice was conducted with a sample of 496 people in Swansea. Gender and age differences in estimations of youth crime were compared to official and self‐reported youth offending statistics nationally and locally. Attitudes to sentencing and preventative measures were evaluated with reference to Swansea's positive, inclusionary approach to young people. Findings indicate that the Swansea public overestimates the extent of youth crime locally, yet it remains ambivalent about appropriate sentencing responses, favouring both punitive and preventative measures. This suggests that local public opinion is shaped by national media and political rhetoric, rather than the local realities of youth offending.

AbstractTwo studies examined fifth‐ and sixth‐grade students' perceptions of antisocial and prosocial teasing among peers and potential correlates of individual differences in their tendencies to engage in both forms of teasing. The children were rated as showing a greater tendency to be prosocial teasers than antisocial teasers by both teachers and peers. In addition, the children indicated that they generally experienced and observed prosocial teasing more frequently than antisocial teasing at home and in school. Although boys were perceived to tease in a hostile, antisocial manner to a greater extent than were girls, the evidence for a gender difference in affiliative, prosocial teasing among these children was relatively weak. Additionally, systematic relations were found among ratings of the children's tendencies to engage in antisocial and prosocial teasing with peers, teachers' ratings of their general level of antisocial and prosocial behavior with peers, ratings of the frequency with which they experienced antisocial and prosocial teasing at home and at school, and their attitudes toward antisocial and prosocial teasing.