Strong Predictor Of Performance Research Articles

Competence to Waive Interrogation Rights and Adjudicative Competence in Adolescent Defendants: Cognitive Development, Attorney Contact, and Psychological Symptoms.

Although there is growing evidence of developmental differences in competency to waive interrogation rights and adjudicative competence, the correlates of adolescents' legal capacities remain unclear. This study examined the relationship of legal capacities to cognitive development, legal learning opportunities, and psychological symptoms. Participants were 152 male and female defendants aged 11-17, who completed Grisso's Instruments for Assessing Understanding and Appreciation of Miranda Rights, the Fitness Interview Test (Revised Edition), the Woodcock-Johnson III Cognitive Assessment Battery, and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale for Children. Legal capacities relevant to interrogation and adjudication increased with age. These developmental differences were partially mediated or explained by cognitive development. Of the specific cognitive abilities examined (general intellectual ability, verbal ability, reasoning, long-term retrieval, attention, and executive functioning), verbal ability was a particularly strong predictor of performance on competency measures. Also, defendants obtained lower scores on competency measures if they showed evidence of attention deficits or hyperactivity, had spent limited time with their attorneys, and/or were from low socioeconomic backgrounds.

Fit, Flexibility and Performance in Manufacturing: Coping with Dynamic Environments

This research develops the notion of environmental fit and flexibility and illustrates the importance of such fit empirically using survey data from 101 manufacturing firms. Two dimensions of environmental dynamism are identified and the fit between them and different approaches to flexibility are assessed. Hierarchical regressions provide evidence that flexibility is a stronger predictor of performance in more dynamic environments. Specifically, presence of the unpredictability or the volatility aspects of environmental dynamism each warrant the use of different types of manufacturing flexibility strategies. Statistical results are interpreted with the caveat that while implemented capability must be used to study performance effects, this study uses perceived importance scales for flexibility.

Examining the effectiveness of sales management control practices in developing countries

Management control consists of managers’ initiatives to direct and influence employees for the purpose of achieving an organization’s objectives. Sales management control is identified as an important antecedent of several salesperson and organizational consequences in prior developed country studies. We examine the impact of management control in combination with incentive pay and territory design on salesperson performance and sales unit effectiveness for sales organizations in three developing countries (Greece, India, and Malaysia). The results point to territory design as a strong predictor of performance and effectiveness. Management control is also a relevant predictor of performance and effectiveness. Surprisingly, incentive pay has no effect on salesperson performance, although it has a positive impact on sales unit effectiveness in Greece and India. Several important managerial implications are highlighted by the study findings.

Sample Selection in Models of Academic Performance

This article shows how admission and enrollment processes affect the interpretation of simple validation studies of academic performance. In a competitive market for students, optimal behavior of admissions committees and applicants drives the simple correlation between test scores and performance toward zero, regardless of the relationship in the population of prospective students. Data from our university's MBA program support the prediction that applicants exhibit a higher correlation between test scores and undergraduate GPAs than do current students. This suggests that standard validation studies will understate the importance of GMAT scores in predicting performance of potential MBA students. (JEL C24, I121, C52)

Comparison of student performance using web and paper‐based homework in college‐level physics

AbstractHomework gives students an opportunity to practice important college‐level physics skills. A switch to Web‐based homework alters the nature of feedback received, potentially changing the pedagogical benefit. Calculus‐ and algebra‐based introductory physics students enrolled in large paired lecture sections at a public university completed homework of standard end‐of‐the‐chapter exercises using either the Web or paper. Comparison of their performances on regular exams, conceptual exams, quizzes, laboratory, and homework showed no significant differences between groups; other measures were found to be strong predictors of performance. This indicates that the change in medium itself has limited effect on student learning. Ways in which Web‐based homework could enable exercises with greater pedagogical value are discussed. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 1050–1071, 2003

Learning Negotiation Skills: Four Models of Knowledge Creation and Transfer

Our review of the learning and training literature revealed four common methods for training people to be more effective negotiators: didactic learning, learning via information revelation, analogical learning, and observational learning. We tested each of these methods experimentally in an experiential context and found that observational learning and analogical learning led to negotiated outcomes that were more favorable for both parties, compared to a baseline condition of learning through experience alone. Information revelation and didactic learning were not significantly different from any other condition. Process measures revealed that negotiators’ schemas about the task (reflected in open-ended essays) were strong predictors of performance in the analogical learning condition, but were poor predictors of performance in the remaining conditions. Interestingly, negotiators in the observation group showed the largest increase in performance, but the least ability to articulate the learning principles that helped them improve, suggesting that they had acquired tacit knowledge that they were unable to articulate.

The Intensity and Directional Interpretation of Anxiety: Fluctuations Throughout Competition and Relationship to Performance

The purposes of the present investigation were twofold: (a) to investigate the fluctuations of anxiety and self-confidence throughout competition by measuring these variables retrospectively before, during, and after competition and (b) to investigate the relationship between the intensity and directional interpretation of anxiety and perceived performance across competition. Field hockey players (N = 62) completed the modified Mental Readiness Form-Likert (MRF-2) within 30 minutes after competition using the method of retrospective recall. Results indicated significant fluctuations across competition for cognitive anxiety intensity and direction, somatic anxiety intensity, and self-confidence intensity. Results also revealed that the strongest predictors of performance across both halves were self-confidence intensity and direction and cognitive anxiety direction. These findings should have important implications for practitioners and sport psychologists because anxiety measurement and confidence are critical parts of most psychological skills training programs.

Correlating selection criteria with subsequent performance as residents.

The objective of this study was to determine which criteria in the residency application had the highest correlation with subsequent performance of orthopaedic residents. Data collected from the application files of 58 residents included scores on standardized tests, number of honors grades in the basic and clinical years of medical school, election to Alpha Omega Alpha, numbers of research projects and publications, and numbers of extracurricular activities. Measures of performance included scores on the Orthopaedic In-Training Examination and American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery Part I Examination, and faculty evaluations of overall, cognitive, affective, and psychomotor performance. The number of honors grades on clinical rotations was the strongest predictor of performance, whereas election to Alpha Omega Alpha was second. The only other significant correlation was between the number of fine motor activities and psychomotor performance. None of the predictor variables had a significant correlation with Orthopaedic In-Training Examination or American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery Examination scores. Consistency between faculty rankings in each of the four categories was supported by regression analysis. From the results of this study, it appears that academic performance in clinical clerkships in medical school is the most predictive of resident performance. Range restriction in the data available for orthopaedic residency applicants, however, likely precludes the development of a reliable model to assist in the selection of orthopaedic residents.

The effects of self-explanation training on students' problem solving in high-school mathematics

The performance of a group of grade 9 mathematics students trained to use a self-explanation procedure during study of a new theorem in geometry was compared with that of students who used their usual study procedures. The processing activities used by the students during the study session and those used in a subsequent problem-solving test were observed. The focus of analysis on both occasions was on the knowledge access, knowledge generation, management and elaboration activities used by students. The self-explanation group showed more frequent use of each type of activity and also obtained higher scores on the problem-solving test. The difference in post-test performance of the groups was greatest on a set of far-transfer items. These items required the students to extend their use of the newly learned theorem to problem types that were substantially different from those presented in the original study material. Of particular note was the carryover effect of self-explanation training to students' processing in the subsequent problem-solving session. The relationships among the processing activities, students' beliefs, prior knowledge and post-test performance were examined using a partial least-squares path analysis procedure. Use of the self-explanation method had an indirect effect on performance, this effect being mediated by associated knowledge access and knowledge generation activity. There was no direct effect of method on performance. The strongest predictor of performance was the level of knowledge generation activity during which students showed evidence of making novel connections, either within the newly presented study material or between parts of that material and their existing geometry knowledge. In the final path model derived from the analysis of student performance, the students' prior knowledge measure had both a weak direct on their problem-solving performance and an effect on that performance that was mediated by relationships with the knowledge access and knowledge generation variables in the model.

Is Spatial-Visualization Ability a Stronger Predictor of Performance for Males than for Females on Computer-Based Tasks?

In research on cognitive issues in automation, spatial visualization ability (SVA) was investigated as a mediator of performance. Prior to performing the experimental task in a simulation environment, 83 undergraduate psychology students completed an on-line version of a test of SVA. The two basic experimental conditions were “monitoring” and “on-call.” In the monitoring condition, participants monitored status messages and responded to system alerts. In the on-call condition, participants performed an unrelated task in between responding to alerts. Dependent measures included decision accuracy. A correlational analysis of SVA scores with decision accuracy found a higher correlation for men than for women. Further analysis indicated that SVA was not a significantly stronger predictor of performance for men than it was for women in the simulated environment. With a larger sample size, however, differential prediction is likely. If confirmed, this finding has implications for the use of SVA in personnel selection. Textual and tabular alternatives to graphical displays may be helpful to low-SVA users.

Editorial

Editorial

PSYCHOMETRIC CHALLENGES IN DEVELOPING A COLLEGE ADMISSION TEST FOR JORDAN

In 1998, the Jordanian Council of Higher Education authorized the construction of a standardized aptitude test that would be used to assist colleges and universities in admissions decisions. This paper reports the results of a study that examined whether test items were operating as desired and path analyses that explored predictors of student performance for a highly selective sample of Jordanian students. Item analyses indicated that thirty percent of the items showed inadequate discrimination or inappropriate difficulty levels, and an additional nineteen percent of the items showed evidence of differential item functioning attributable to sex. The path analyses indicated that the strongest predictors of performance emerged for female students and included parental educational level and whether students attended a government-sponsored school or a private school. For males, the same predictive relationships were negligible.

Making the most of ecological interface design: the role of individual differences

As advanced control rooms for new process control plants are being designed, the question arises as to whether operators of the future need to have a particular set of cognitive characteristics to make the most of those advanced control rooms. This issue was investigated by examining the interaction between ecological interface design (EID) and individual differences in the context of a process control microworld. A number of potential predictors of performance were investigated, including: demographic data, type of interface, type of instruction, and data from two cognitive style tests. Eight linear regression analyses were conducted to determine which variables were the strongest predictors of performance. The results indicate that the strongest and most consistent predictor of performance was the interaction between a holist cognitive style score and an interface based on the principles of EID. That is, individuals who used an EID interface and who had high holist scores were the best performers. It seems that these individuals have the relational thinking ability that is required to exploit the value of the higher-order functional information provided by an EID interface. This empirical result has practical implications for operator selection.

The relationship between total quality management practices and operational performance

AbstractTotal quality management (TQM) has been a widely applied process for improving competitiveness around the world, but with mixed success. A review of the literature revealed gaps in research in this area of quality/operations management, particularly in the area of empirical testing of the effectiveness of TQM implementation. The aim of this study was to examine the total quality management practices and operational performance of a large number of manufacturing companies in order to determine the relationships between these practices, individually and collectively, and firm performance. We used a large data base of 1200 Australian and New Zealand manufacturing organisations. The reliability and validity (construct, content, criterion) of the practice and performance measures were evaluated. Our study showed that the relationship between TQM practice and organisational performance is significant in a cross‐sectional sense, in that TQM practice intensity explains a significant proportion of variance in performance. Some but not all of the categories of TQM practice were particularly strong predictors of performance. The categories of leadership, management of people and customer focus were the strongest significant predictors of operational performance. This is consistent with literature findings that behavioural factors such as executive commitment, employee empowerment and an open culture can produce competitive advantage more strongly than TQM tools and techniques such as process improvement, benchmarking, and information and analysis.

DIFFERENTIAL EFFECTS OF LEARNER EFFORT AND GOAL ORIENTATION ON TWO LEARNING OUTCOMES

Training research is beginning to examine the trainee as an active participant in the learning process. One component of this process involves the choices learners make about the effort they will apply to the learning task. Learner effort was examined in two ways: amount of effort and type of effort. Both amount and type of effort were measured in multiple ways. The results indicated that mastery orientation and time on task were the strongest predictors of performance on the knowledge learning outcome, while perceived mental workload and the use of an example during learning predicted performance on the application learning outcome. Implications for training practice and research are discussed.

Use of the Berg Balance Test to predict falls in elderly persons.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the Berg balance test could be used to predict an elderly person's risk of falling. Sixty-six residents of two independent life-care communities, aged 69 to 94 years (X = 79.2, SD = 6.2), participated. Subjects completed a questionnaire pertaining to their fall history and activity level. The Berg balance test, consisting of 14 functional subtests, was then administered. Six months later, subjects again completed the questionnaire. Performance of activities of daily living predicted 43% of the subjects' scores. There was a difference between the subjects who were prone to falling and those who were not prone to falling, but the test demonstrated poor sensitivity for predicting who would fall. The specificity of the test was very strong. The use of an assistive device was a strong predictor of performance on the Berg balance test. No relationship was noted between increasing age and decreasing performance on the Berg balance test. Although the Berg balance test demonstrated only 53% sensitivity, the results support the test developers' use of 45 (out of 56) as a generalized cutoff score. Older adults who scored higher than the cutoff score on the test were less likely to fall than were those adults who scored below the cutoff score. Decreased scores, however, did not predict increased frequency of falls. Results must be viewed cautiously because self-report was the sole means of documenting fall history.

Expectations, perceived performance, and customer satisfaction for a complex service: The case of bank loans

The models currently used to describe customers' satisfaction with products and services presume that customers have well-formed performance expectations. The present study uses data from the Swedish Customer Satisfaction Barometer to show that these models fail to describe customer satisfaction with bank loans, a complex, heterogeneous, and infrequently purchased service. Performance expectations are more likely an artifact of performance in this case and have no effect on satisfaction. This is quite different from other products and services where expectations are a stronger predictor of performance and have a positive effect on customer satisfaction.

Relationship between Self-Efficacy, Wrestling Performance, and Affect Prior to Competition

This study examined the relationship between self-efficacy, wrestling performance, and affect prior to competition. 15 minutes prior to competition, 70 male high school wrestlers (M = 16.03 years) completed a self-efficacy assessment, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988), and the Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety Inventory-2 (Martens, Burton, Vealey, Bump, & Smith, 1990). Self-efficacy was found to be significantly associated with positive and negative affect and cognitive and somatic anxiety. Consistent with social cognitive theory, self-efficacy was a stronger predictor of performance when the measure was process oriented rather than win-loss. The findings suggest that confusion and equivocality in the literature could be removed if researchers assessed self-efficacy in a microanalytical fashion. Future research investigating the affective antecedents of performance should go beyond merely assessing negative states and recognize the potential role positive affect may play in sport behavior.

Personality and cognitive ability predictors of performance in graduate business school.

A cross-validation study is reported in which both personality variables and cognitive ability variables were evaluated as predictors of two separate performance criteria in a sample of 450 Master of Business Administration students. Whereas verbal and quantitative aptitudes of the students were found to be strong predictors of performance at written work, they were weak predictors of an in-class performance criterion. The opposite was true when specific personality trait variables were used as predictors. The personality characteristics of the students predicted classroom performance better than they predicted written performance. The Big Five factors of personality (Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience) did not predict either criterion consistently

Joint impairment and ambulation in the elderly.

To test the impact of joint impairment on ambulation in the elderly, using a multivariate model. Cross-sectional observational study (baseline data from an ongoing longitudinal study). Five hundred thirty-two persons over age 60, including continuing care retirement community (CCRC) (n = 222), homebound (n = 63), and ambulatory (n = 247) respondents. Mean age at assessment = 76.6 (SD = 6.6). Independent variables included sociodemographics, physician measures of lower joint impairment, an index of cormorbidities derived from physical examination or chart abstract, self-assessed arthritis pain, depression, and anxiety. The dependent variable, ambulation, was measured as walk-rate, based on the time required to walk 50 feet. For the total sample, 61% of the subjects were impaired in more than one lower joint group, with almost 50% of the homebound impaired in more than three joint groups. Demographics (particularly age and education) explained much of the variance in walk-rate. After controlling for demographics and membership in the groups purposely sampled (CCRC, homebound, ambulatory), lower joint impairment accounted for an additional 7% of the variance in walk-rate. Total amount of variance explained by the model was 56% (Adjusted R2 = .56). A 3-point change in lower joint impairment score, equivalent to the maximum impairment score for a single joint group, is associated with a 4-second change in the mean time required to walk 50 feet. The knee and lower spine joints contributed most to the impact of the lower joint impairment measure. Among the elderly, age and education are strong predictors of performance on a walk-rate test. Independent of demographics and non-musculoskeletal conditions, joint impairment is associated with diminished walking ability in this population.