The Importance of Restraint in Gauging the Effects of Ego Depletion on Alcohol Motivation

Despite increased awareness of complications, the use and abuse of alcohol remains a problem in the United States. With regard to drinking, individuals encounter situations in which they must maintain a balance between temptation to drink and the need to regulate alcohol intake. Maintaining this balance requires the use of self-control. For this reason, lack of self-control has been implicated a potential influence on excessive alcohol consumption. The Strength Model of Self-Control (Baumeister, Vohs, & Tice, 2007) posits that self-control draws on a limited resource that becomes depleted following repeated use. The term “ego depletion” is used to refer to this temporary loss of self-control. The current study examined the effect of ego depletion on alcohol-related cognitions to determine if the strength of alcohol-related cognitions is affected by temporary loss of self-control, as well as if its effects can be gauged using an implicit measure of alcohol motivation. There was not a significant effect of ego depletion on implicit attitudes toward alcohol. Limitations and future directions are discussed

Proctored versus unproctored online testing using a personality measure: Are there any differences?

Impetus in recruiting and testing candidates via the Internet results from the popularity of the World Wide Web. There has been a transition from paper-pencil to online testing because of large number of benefits afforded by online testing. Though the benefits of online testing are many, there may be serious implications of testing job applicants in unproctored settings. The focus of this field study was two-fold: (1) to examine differences between the proctored and unproctored online test administrations of the ipsative version of Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ32i and (2) to extend online testing research using OPQ32i with a U.S population. A large sample (N = 5223) of archival selection data from a financial company was used, one group was tested in proctored and the other in unproctored settings. Although some statistical differences were found, very small to small effect sizes indicate negligible differences between the proctored and unproctored groups. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation was conducted. The scales not only loaded differently from the Great Eight factor model suggested by SHL, but also differently for the two groups, limiting their interpretability. In addition to the limitations and future directions of the study, the practical implications of the results for companies considering unproctored, online personality testing as a part of their selection process are discussed

The Relationship Among Beginning and Advanced American Sign Language Students and Credentialed Interpreters Across Two Domains of Visual Imagery: Vividness and Manipulation

Given the visual-gestural nature of ASL it is reasonable to assume that visualization abilities may be one predictor of aptitude for learning ASL. This study tested a hypothesis that visualization abilities are a foundational aptitude for learning a signed language and that measurements of these skills will increase as students progress from beginning ASL students to advanced language learners and, ultimately to credentialed interpreters. Participants in this study consisted of 90 beginning and 66 advanced ASL students in five interpreter education programs in four southern states along with 68 credentialed interpreters. Students and interpreters were administered the Vividness of Visual Imagery (WIQ) self-report questionnaire and the objective Mental Rotations Test, Version A (MRTA). All ASL students and their instructors were asked to rate students\u27 sign language competency on the Sign Communication Proficiency Interview Rating Scale. All participants completed demographic questions regarding their age, gender, ethnicity, parental hearing status, number of years using ASL, number of years working with deaf professionals who use ASL, and their interpreting credential(s). Students and their instructors rated students\u27 sign communication proficiency similarly. Beginning ASL students were rated significantly lower than the advanced ASL students by both instructors\u27 rating and students\u27 self-rating. No significant relationships were reported: a) among beginning and advanced students and credentialed interpreters with respect to either the W IQ or the MRT-A, and b) among the students\u27 W IQ and MRT-A scores and instructors\u27 ratings on the SCPI. There was suggestive evidence of an increase in mean W IQ scores from beginning ASL students to advanced ASL students to credentialed interpreters, but not to the level of significance. When advanced ASL students and lower level state credentialed interpreters were removed from analyses, a significant difference in visual vividness was reported. Nationally certified interpreters scored significantly higher than beginning ASL students on the VVIQ, but not the MRT-A

Weightism: Can Personality Characteristics Predict Prejudice in College Students?

Bias toward individuals who are obese is one of the last bastions of permissible prejudice. The people who are obese report discrimination in a variety of settings; they experience it with families, employers, teachers, and health-care professionals. Research regarding obesity bias indicates that attribution of personal responsibility is correlated with negative attitudes toward individuals who are obese. Attribution of causality and resulting bias has been linked to specific personality characteristics, specifically the Big Five traits Agreeableness and Openness to Experience. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between personality characteristics and obesity bias. Students at a large mid-Atlantic University completed three measures; one personality measure, the NEO---PI---R and two measures of obesity bias, the Anti-fat Attitudes Questionnaire and a Weight Implicit Association Test. It was predicted that low Agreeableness and Openness to Experience was would predict anti-fat bias. Regression analyses did not indicate relationships between these variables, as expected. However, the obesity bias measures demonstrated bias was present within this sample. These findings are inconsistent with previous research regarding prejudice which used the NEO---PI---R. Limitations of this study, recommendations for future research, and clinical implications are discussed, including reducing myths regarding obesity, and advocacy for individuals who are obese

Measuring the impact of inquiry mode above and beyond situational characteristics and experimenter contact in research relating to self-reported sexual attitudes and behaviors

Factors related to the research context such as inquiry mode, experimenter contact, and setting may affect participants’ comfort with and willingness to admit to engaging in sensitive sexual behaviors or to disclose certain sexual attitudes. Three-hundred-and-thirty-seven undergraduates (77% female, 41% non-White) completed a survey containing measures of sexual behavior, sexual attitudes, sexual victimization, and sexual perpetration history. The level of experimenter contact (high vs. low contact), setting of completion (in lab vs. out of lab), and inquiry mode (pencil-and-paper vs. computer) were manipulated, and participants were randomly assigned to one of eight conditions I hypothesized that low contact, out of lab, computer conditions would be associated with the highest rates of reported sexual behaviors (including higher frequencies, a wider variety of behaviors, and higher rates of reported victimization and perpetration). I also predicted that these same experimental conditions would be associated with more liberal attitudes towards sex and sexuality. Further, I hypothesized that these effects would be moderated by race, such that differences across conditions would be greater for non-White participants than for White participants because non-White participants might fear that reporting socially undesirable sexual behavior will fuel racial stereotypes. For female participants, a general pattern emerged across sexual behavior measures suggesting that mode interacts with race to impact responding: Non-White women tended to report more sexual behaviors on pencil-and-paper surveys than on computers. White women either demonstrated no mode-related differences or reported more sexual behaviors in computer conditions than in paper-and-pencil conditions. One exception was sexual victimization, with White women reporting more victimization on pencil-and-paper measures than on computer. For attitudinal measures, experimenter contact tended to be the most important experimental variable, though effects were again moderated by race. White women endorsed more liberal attitudes towards sex in high contact conditions, and non-White women endorsed more liberal attitudes in low contact conditions. Evaluation of differences for men was hampered by a small sample of male participants. Overall, these results suggest that methodological factors such as experimenter contact and mode have a significant impact on sexual self-report and the direction and magnitude of impact is often moderated by race

The development of a fraction testing and tutoring system

One of the major areas in Computer Aided Learning (CAL) research has been the development of Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) for tutoring individual subjects through the application of cognitive tutor technology. In parallel to the use of computer aided learning (CAL), Computer Based Testing (CBT) has also been widely used for a variety of purposes. Studies have shown that fractions are one of the most difficult subjects to learn due to the complexity of the concepts and skills involved. Although there are various fraction tutoring systems available, most of them lack user interactivity and do not provide intuitive insight into the many concepts and skills associated with fractions. Furthermore, these systems are generally intended for longer-term learning use (e.g. weeks or even longer) and the effectiveness of using such systems is therefore usually difficult to assess. This paper presents the development of an interactive computerised Fraction Testing and Tutoring System (FTTS) delivered through the World Wide Web that incorporates learning capabilities for the purpose of both tutoring and testing fractions for school students aged 10-12. The system implements the cognitive learning model proposed by Derry in 1990. This system can perform fraction tutoring and at the same time undertake fraction testing. Results obtained from the use of this system can therefore be used to assess the effect of tutoring on students’ performance

Coping Strategies and Self-Efficacy in University Students: A Person-Centered Approach

[Abstract] In daily academic life, students are exposed to a wide range of potentially stressful situations which could negatively affect their academic achievement and their health. Among the factors that could be weakened by academic stress, attention has been paid to expectations of self-efficacy, which are considered one of the most important determinants for student engagement, persistence, and academic success. From a proactive perspective, research on academic stress has emphasized the importance of coping strategies in preventing harmful consequences. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in discovering the extent to which individuals are able to combine different coping strategies and the adaptive consequences this flexibility entails. However, studies using this person-centered approach are still scarce in the academic context. On that basis, this current study had two objectives: (a) to examine the existence of different profiles of university students based on how they combined different approach coping strategies (positive reappraisal, support seeking, and planning) and (b) to determine the existence of differences in general expectations of self-efficacy between those coping profiles. A total of 1,072 university students participated in the study. The coping profiles were determined by latent profile analysis (LPA). The differences in the self-efficacy variable were determined using ANCOVA, with gender, university year, and degree type as covariates. Four approach coping profiles were identified: (a) low generalized use of approach coping strategies; (b) predominance of social approach coping approaches; (c) predominance of cognitive approach coping approaches; and (d) high generalized use of approach coping strategies. The profile showed that a greater combination of the three strategies was related to higher general self-efficacy expectations and vice versa. These results suggest that encouraging flexibility in coping strategies would help to improve university students’ self-efficacy.This work was financed by the research projects EDU2013-44062-P (MINECO), EDU2017-82984-P (MEIC), and the Consejería de Empleo, Industria y Turismo del Principado de Asturias (Department of Employment, Industry and Tourism of the Principality of Asturias, Spain) (ref. FC-GRUPIN-IDI/2018/000199)Principado de Asturias; FC-GRUPIN-IDI/2018/00019

Variations in Online Survey Designs

The purpose of the current study was to extend the literature on the use of survey design elements in the construction of online surveys. More specifically, this study aimed to assess the effects of online survey design characteristics on participants' responses to online questionnaires presented in different visual survey designs. The 216 participants in this study were Oklahoma State University (OSU) students, enrolled at the OSU-Stillwater campus during the Fall 2013 semester. Sixteen individual survey testing conditions were created in which the survey content was identical but the visual design characteristics varied. These conditions were designed with the purpose of revealing statistically significant differences between survey conditions.The four independent variables used in the study were selected based on their relatively prevalent use in online survey design. Participants responded to questions on three instruments (i.e., knowledge test, attitudinal questionnaire, and computer self-efficacy scale). Response rate and completion time were also measured. Regardless of the visual presentation, all participants viewed the same questionnaire items (i.e., content). A series of four 2x2x2x2 completely randomized factorial (CRF) analysis of variances (ANOVAs) were performed in order to determine the effects of the independent variables on the dependent measures. Qualitative analyses were also performed and data involved identifying and analyzing participants' text responses to an invitation to provide feedback regarding their experience during the survey.This study implored a mixed mode strategy in which different forms (N=16) of the same online survey were administered to different groups. In general, participants revealed a strong dislike for the survey colors selected for this study. Taken together, the results of this study provide considerable evidence for the influence of color in online survey design. While the present study explored the effects of color on participants responses to questionnaire items presented in an online format, the unanticipated effects of the participants' physical environments necessitates future investigation. Future studies should bear in mind that surveys should be designed to be aesthetically pleasing and incorporate color in a way that makes the survey interesting while producing salient, quality data.Education (all programs