The Job Interview and Cognitive Performance: Does Structure Reduce Performance on Selection Batteries,and Can Explanation of Purpose Improve It?

Structuring job interviews is a method of decreasing bias and increasing the predictive validity of job performance, but research suggests that applicants can react negatively to structure (Chapman & Zweig, 2005) and that negative attitudes about selection tools can predict performance (Hausknecht, Day, & Thomas, 2004). The current exploratory study investigates how structuring the job interview in conjunction with priming the ethnicity and sex of the applicant, and in some conditions providing an explanation of the structure, affected post‐interview cognitive ability performance. Three levels of structure were randomly assigned. Those who experienced a structured interview without an explanation of its purpose scored lower than those who experienced an unstructured interview, but those who experienced a structured interview with an explanation of its purpose did not score lower than those who experienced an unstructured interview. Scores differed for females and Hispanics depending on the structure condition, but not in the same manner. Implications for recruitment, selection, and performance management are discussed.     

Effects of institutionalization on the self‐concept and outerdirectedness of adolescents with mental retardation

Abstract

Some professionals have used empirical work indicating that institutions have deleterious effects on their mentally retarded residents to support deinstitutionalization. In the present study, we compared 17 institutionalized mentally retarded adolescents with 29 noninstitutionalized mentally retarded adolescents on measures of self‐image and outerdirectedness. We found no deleterious effects of institutionalization on the global self‐image or on self‐image scores in the cognitive, social, or physical abilities content areas. For both groups, however, global scores were higher than scores in the social and physical abilities domains. Overall, institutionalized adolescents were no more dependent on external cues in solving problems (i.e., outerdirected) than were noninstitutionalized adolescents. We found, however, an interaction effect indicating that at higher mental ages, institutionalized, relative to noninstitutionalized, adolescents relied more on external cues. The results suggest that the effects of institutionalization may be dependent on numerous factors including the specific area of adjustment assessed, the developmental level of the individual, and the quality of the institution.     

Cultural Beliefs about Autism in Indonesia

Cultural beliefs about parenting have an important influence on parenting behaviours, including considerations about appropriate ways to parent children with autism. Although Indonesia has one of the largest and most ethnically diverse populations in the world, little is known about cultural beliefs regarding children with autism within Indonesian cultures. The goal of the present study was to investigate how Indonesian mothers from a range of backgrounds and without a child with autism understood autism and the most appropriate ways to parent such a child. The study was a qualitative investigation using semi-structured interviews with nine Indonesian mothers. Five aspects were investigated: understanding about autism, beliefs about causes of autism, possible reactions to having a child with autism, perceptions of parenting a child with autism, and perceptions of parent-child relationships. The interviews revealed five related themes about autism, including traditional cultural beliefs about appropriate behaviour during pregnancy, karma, and God’s plan, that are not usually reported in the literature from western countries.     

Does Part-Time Faculty's Self-Efficacy Predict Critical Dimensions of Online College Teaching?

Surveys have repeatedly depicted a dismal picture of part-time teaching in academia, including low pay, scant benefits, limited institutional support, and lack of job security. Thus, the main purpose of the present study was to delve deeper into part-time faculty's ability to sustain the demands of a tough work environment by examining the extent to which specific psychological characteristics predict key self-reported dimensions of teaching in such faculty. The sample selected comprised part-time online instructors, as they are a relatively new and growing entity in academia. Teaching dimensions upon which faculty rated themselves belonged to three categories of factors known to shape satisfaction of faculty in the online environment (i.e., instructor-related, student-related, and institution-related). They included current satisfaction with the teaching profession, preparation to teach subject matter, responsibility for students' academic success, beliefs in the impact of one's teaching on student learning, perceived institutional support, and desire to remain in the teaching profession (i.e., commitment). Psychological characteristics examined were self-efficacy and self-monitoring. In this study, each key dimension of teaching was found to be positively related to one or more self-efficacy measures, whereas no links with self-monitoring were uncovered. The findings involving self-efficacy confirm those of studies of full-time faculty in that beliefs of one's capability are a source of resilience and, as such, a staple of the teaching profession.     

Community Child Care Inclusion: the development of two children

The development of two children with severe disabilities who were fully included in a community child care centre that implemented a developmentally appropriate play‐based curriculum is chronicled in this paper. The children's development was monitored over the course of a 9‐month school year using the traditional measure of a standardised assessment instrument, as well as monthly observations of the children in various play activities. The data are presented in a case study format and provide evidence that the children in this study made progress in all areas of development. The findings are important in that they show the children with severe disabilities progressed without intensive intervention, indicating that a play‐based curriculum utilising developmentally appropriate practice may provide an effective structure for the instruction of young children with disabilities.     

How do pre-kindergarteners spend their time? Gender,ethnicity, and income as predictors of experiences in pre-kindergarten classrooms

The current paper considers how children spend their time in state-funded pre-kindergarten programs and how time use relates to ethnicity, gender, and family income, based on the assumption that how time is spent in pre-kindergarten is relevant for the programs’ success in narrowing achievement gaps. Classroom observations of 2061 children in 652 pre-k programs in 11 states were analyzed. Findings indicated that the pre-kindergarten day was roughly equally divided among free choice, teacher-assigned activities, and meals/routines. Children spent much of their time in language/literacy, social studies, and art, and less time in math and gross motor activities. Much of the pre-k day was spent in ‘no coded learning activity.’ Children in classes with lower proportions of Latino and African American children and higher average income-to-need ratios were generally engaged in richer and more stimulating experiences. The child-level variables of ethnicity and income were generally unrelated to how children spent their time, above and beyond the effects of classroom-level ethnicity and income. There were generally small, but significant gender differences – always in the gender-stereotyped direction – in how time was spent, especially during free choice time.     

The Contribution of Neighborhood and Family Income to Developmental Test Scores over the First Three Years of Life

The effects of neighborhood and family income and family risk factors on developmental test scores at ages 1 through 3 are examined using a subsample (N = 347) from the Infant Health and Development Program. Beneficial effects of low numbers of risks were found for scores at ages 1 through 3. Family poverty was associated with lower scores at ages 2 and 3. Neighborhood affluence was associated with higher scores at age 3. The family risks-test score association at ages 1 through 3 and family income-test score association at ages 2 and 3 were mediated by home environment. Mediated effects were stronger for family income-test score associations at age 3 than for neighborhood income. Moderating effects of family risk on family and neighborhood income effects revealed an interaction between family poverty and risks for scores at age 3. Explanations for the early links between family risks and test scores and the later links between income and test scores are discussed.     

Maternal Math Talk in the Home and Math Skills in Preschool Children

Research Findings: The current study analyzed the relation between the amount of mathematical input that preschool children hear (i.e., math talk) from their mothers in their homes and their early math ability a year later. Forty mother–child dyads recorded their naturalistic exchanges in their homes using an enhanced audio-recording device (the Language ENvironment Analysis System). Results from a sample of naturalistic interactions during mealtimes indicated that all mothers involved their children in a variety of math exchanges, although there were differences in the amount of math input that children received. Moreover, being exposed to more instances of math talk was positively related to children’s early mathematical ability a year after the recordings, even after we controlled for maternal education, self-regulation, and recorded minutes. Practice or Policy: These findings improve the understanding of how mothers use math with their preschool children in naturalistic contexts, providing some insight for parents into how to foster children’s math skills through verbal input in their normal routines. Moreover, these findings inform kindergarten teachers and practitioners about the math input that children receive at home, which may encourage them to adapt their practice by considering the home environment.     

The Short-Term Effects of a Computer-Based Pregnancy,STD, and HIV Prevention Program

A computer- and Internet-based intervention was designed to influence several variables related to the prevention of pregnancy, STDs, and HIV in rural adolescents. Three-hundred and thirty-eight tenth-graders enrolled in two rural public high schools participated in this field experiment. Results indicate that students in the experimental school had greater knowledge, greater condom negotiation efficacy, greater situational efficacy, and more favorable attitudes toward waiting to have sex than students in the control school. In tandem, the results suggest that computer-based programs may be a cost-effective and easily replicable means of providing teens with basic information and skills necessary to prevent pregnancy, STDs, and HIV.     

Representing self‐in‐society: education for citizenship and the social‐subjects curriculum in Scotland

The documented social‐subjects curricula for Scottish 5–16 year olds are analysed for representations of ‘self‐in‐society’. Such representations are important in Scotland because it is expected that the new Education‐for‐Citizenship framework will in part be delivered through the social subjects. However, citizenship education is also relevant throughout the UK and beyond and our analysis of the social subjects has wider relevance.

An ideal‐type analysis was used on documents including national guidelines, examination syllabuses, examination papers, and assessor instructions. Our analysis suggests that in these documents: the self is seen as an abstract; people are understood by category; society is the sum of discrete institutions; self‐in‐society is fully defined; and this representation of society is not contested. This representation becomes increasingly exclusive with age/ability and may be linked to assumed modes of curricular division, teaching and assessment. We discuss how this overall picture might affect students’ sense of ‘agency’ in the light of citizenship education. We conclude that the social‐subjects’ curricular representation of self‐in‐society may not fully support the Scottish Education‐for‐Citizenship framework.