Texas A&M International University: Research Information Online (RIO)
Not a member yet
951 research outputs found
Sort by
Using the Model Statement to Elicit Information and Cues to Deceit from Native Speakers, Non-native Speakers and Those Talking Through an Interpreter
No full textWe examined how the presence of an interpreter during an interview affects eliciting information and cues to deceit, whilst using a method that encourages interviewees to provide more detail (model statement, MS). Sixty native English speakers were interviewed in English, and 186 non-native English speakers were interviewed in English or through an interpreter. Interviewees either lied or told the truth about a mock security meeting, which they reported twice: in an initial free recall and after listening to the MS. The MS resulted in the native English speakers and those interviewed with an interpreter providing more reminiscences (additional detail) than the non-native English speakers interviewed without an interpreter. As a result, those interviewed through an interpreter provided more detail than the non-native English speakers, but only after the MS. Native English participants were most detailed in both recalls. No difference was found in the amount of reminiscences provided by liars and truth tellers. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Reputation and regulation effects on director turnover and change of directorships
No full textPurpose-This study aims to examine the reputation effect by assessing whether fraudulent financial reporting is associated with high board turnover and significant loss of directorship held by directors affiliated with fraud firms. Although the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and major stock exchanges enhance board independence and formalize committee requirements, the new rules also create a high demand for qualified directors in the director labor market. Thus, this study further examines the change in the reputation effect of directors at fraud firms after SOX. Design/methodology/approach-This paper intends to answer two research questions: Do directors suffer significant loss of reputation when firms are caught in fraudulent financial reporting schemes? Is the loss of reputation of directors at fraud firms affected by the regulation of SOX? To examine the reputation effect, this paper investigates the differences in director turnover and loss of directorships between fraud and non-fraud firms. To examine the regulation effect, this paper investigates the differences in director turnover and loss of directorships of directors at fraud firms by comparing non-fraud firms\u27 director turnover and directorship loss between the pre-SOX and post-SOX periods. Findings-Consistent with the reputation effect, this paper found that director turnover at fraud firms is significantly higher than that at non-fraud firms. It also found that the loss of directorships of directors at fraud firms is not significantly higher, which is consistent with findings of some prior research. The paper also investigates whether this reputation effect has changed after SOX but found no significant difference in the reputation effect at fraud firms. In conjunction with prior research that finds an increased demand for qualified directors in the labor market after SOX, the results imply that this shortage of qualified directors does not help fraud firms discipline directors after SOX. Research limitations/implications-The findings are limited by the sample selection of only the initial litigation of US firms which are charged of fraudulent financial reporting. The findings suggest that SOX creates an increased demand for qualified directors, and consequently results in a shortage of qualified directors in the post-SOX labor market. The shortage of qualified directors slows the director turnover and weakens firms\u27 ability to replace culpable directors. Future research is needed on how governance practices might contribute to the lack of turnover among board members and how to promote ongoing overhauls of boards. Practical implications-The decision process for removing a director is complicated and lacks transparency. Shareholders often do not know the real reason for a director\u27s departure from the board. To increase the accountability of individual directors and information transparency, new rules are needed for the disclosure of evaluations of individual directors\u27 governance effectiveness. Originality/value-Survey of previous studies (Helland, 2006; Srinivasan, 2005; Fich and Shivdasani, 2007) indicates mixed evidence on reputation effect and no evidence so far on the SOX regulation effect. This study fills the gap by extending the findings of prior research to investigate the reputation effect along with the regulation effect of SOX at fraud firms. Different from findings of some previous studies (Helland, 2006; Fich and Shivdasani, 2007), this paper provides evidence consistent with the reputation effect. It also provides new evidence on the unintended consequences of SOX on director turnover
Male and female perception of physical attractiveness: An eye movement study
No full textWaist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and breast size are morphological traits that are associated with female attractiveness. Previous studies using line drawings of women have shown that men across cultures rate low WHRs (0.6 and 0.7) as most attractive. In this study, we used additional viewing measurements (i.e., first fixation duration and visual regressions) to measure visual attention and record how long participants first focused on the female body and whether they regressed back to an area of interest. Additionally, we manipulated skin tone to determine whether they preferred light- or dark-skinned women. In two eye tracking experiments, participants rated the attractiveness of female nude images varying in WHR (0.5-0.9), breast size, and skin tone. We measured first fixation duration, gaze duration, and total time. The overall results of both studies revealed that visual attention fell mostly on the face, the breasts, and the midriff of the female body, supporting the evolutionary view that reproductively relevant regions of the female body are important to female attractiveness. Because the stimuli varied in skin tone and the participants were mainly Hispanic of Mexican American descent, the findings from these studies also support a preference for low WHRs and reproductively relevant regions of the female body
Perceptions matter: Faculty caring, campus racial climate and academic performance
No full textAim: Examine the influence of students\u27 perception of faculty caring on academic performance and the moderating role of students\u27 perceptions of campus racial climate. Background: There is limited knowledge on how students\u27 perceptions of faculty caring, campus racial climate and academic performance are linked. Understanding this nexus is crucial to improving nursing education. Design: Secondary analysis of a cross-sectional data obtained from seven undergraduate nursing programs in Texas, USA. Method: Data were from 385 students enrolled in Medical-Surgical 1 over three semesters (March 2010 - December 2010). Six sets of factor analytic scores derived from 31 original perceptions of faculty caring items served as predictors; one set of scores derived from seven original perceptions of campus racial climate items served as moderating variable in a regression model. Numeric grade was the outcome variable. Results/findings: Perception of faculty having a positive outlook/compassion had an enhancing effect on performance. As students\u27 perceptions of campus racial climate became increasingly discriminating, the positive association between perceptions of faculty\u27s trust in students\u27 judgment and academic performance became increasingly strong. Conclusion: Results highlight ways by which students\u27 perception of micro-level social reality (dyadic interaction) might interact with their perception of meso-level social reality (social environment) to influence their academic performance
Cultural Intelligence and Job Performance in International Transportation Business Settings
Get PDFMotivating language (ML) is a technique used by managers to motivate subordinates using a three-part method aimed at reducing uncertainty, creating meaning, and establishing empathy. Preliminary research has shown that ML can help to improve such worker outcome variables as satisfaction, intent to stay, innovativeness, and performance. This study posits that a supervisor’s use of ML will significantly improve a subordinate’s cultural intelligence (CQ), which identifies an individual’s ability to adapt to new cultural situations through another multi-part method involving a person’s cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, and behavioral dynamics. Furthermore, CQ is examined against the same worker outcome variables as ML, which will help practitioners identify whether CQ development will result in meaningful financial figures and benchmarks. An examination of the employee outcome variables was conducted to help identify and confirm existing relationships in the literature. ML research on mediating effects is relatively scant, so this study contributes to the literature by examining ML’s effects on the employee outcome variables through CQ. This study examined a market leader in the motorcoach transportation industry by surveying employees from one of its largest divisions. Of the returned surveys, 257 were usable, with responses from all departments and each level of the organizational hierarchy. This industry has a large number of non-traditional workers who do not report to a traditional office setting but complete tasks outside the workplace. Hypotheses were examined using a linear model initially. However, an exploratory nonlinear test was also conducted to identify relationships that may have the shape of a U and J curve. Initial results indicated significant relationships between ML and the employee outcome variables, CQ and the employee outcome variables, and interrelationships among the employee outcome variables. Results of tests on the ML and CQ relationship, CQ as a mediator, and model differences were non-significant. Further examination of the scatter plots revealed the presence of a few select outliers possibly skewing the model results in a negative way. Thus, outliers were then controlled for by ranking the data. The results for the ML and CQ relationship and CQ as a mediator both proved to be significant and positive
Development of Microsatellite Markers for Loxosceles devia Gertsch & Mulaik (Araneae: Sicariidae) using Next Generation Sequencing
Get PDFBrown recluse spiders in the genus Loxosceles are known for causing severe necrotic skin lesions. Despite their impact on human health, very little is known concerning the genetic diversity or population structure of this genus. The development of a suite of molecular markers (microsatellites) would allow us to obtain genetic data and expand the resources available to study Loxosceles devia, the species found throughout south Texas. Microsatellites are long tandem repeats about 1-6 nucleotides long of DNA, also known as simple sequence repeats. Their co-dominant method of inheritance, wide spread distribution across the nuclear genome, ease of scoring, and high mutation rates make microsatellites an ideal molecular marker. Unfortunately, the cost of developing microsatellites has limited their availability until now. The Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine® was used to shotgun sequence libraries of genomic DNA derived from L. devia. The program MSATCOMMANDER™ was used to identify and design primers for di-, tri-, and tetra- microsatellite repeats from these shotgun sequences. Seventeen microsatellite markers were designed and polymerase chain reaction conditions were optimized for each primer to develop a suite of novel molecular markers for this species
A six-stage framework for evolutionary IS research using path models: Conceptual development and a social networking illustration
No full textPurpose – The purpose of this study is to fill a gap in evolutionary theorizing in the field of information systems. Evolutionary theorizing has recently been added as a useful tool to the research repertoire of information systems investigators. However, the literature on evolutionary theorizing and related empirical research lacks a clear framework that explicitly shows how information systems researchers can go, step-by-step, from a generic model of the evolution of traits in our ancestral past to a more specific model depicting the effects of technology facilitation of those traits among modern humans. The purpose of this study is to fill this gap through a framework composed of six stages. Design/methodology/approach – To discuss and illustrate the framework, the authors develop an easy-to-understand generic path model explicitly depicting relationships among variables related to events that occurred in our evolutionary past. We then incrementally adapt this generic path model, eventually arriving at a focused path model depicting causal relationships among social networking site use, job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job performance. In doing so, the authors also develop a theoretical model about how social networking site use can affect job performance, where a positive total effect is predicted via positive intermediate effects on job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Findings – To discuss the final stage in the framework, the authors present an illustrative example where the focused path model is tested based on a study of the effect of Facebook use on job performance among 178 working professionals across the USA. This illustrative example provides general support for the theoretical model. Research limitations/implications – The counterintuitive hypothesis that Facebook use is associated with increased job performance is supported. Practical implications – Social networking site use by organizational employees is likely to be associated with improved job performance. Originality/value – This study provides a clear framework that shows how researchers can go from a generic evolutionary path model in our ancestral past to a more specific model comprising technology effects in modern humans
Surprise-enhanced and technology-mediated learning: a two-country study
No full textWe develop a theoretical model of surprise-enhanced technology-mediated learning (STL) that builds on evolutionary biological ideas. The model predicts that in technology-mediated learning tasks made up of several discrete learning modules, the presence of a simulated surprise event eliciting negative emotions immediately before a discrete learning module will lead to enhanced learning associated with the module. An experiment involving 617 participants in two countries, USA and Mexico, is used to test the STL model. The participants reviewed six Web-based learning modules about terms used in international trade transactions and then took a test on what they had learned. Data from three experimental conditions were contrasted: two treatment and one control conditions. The two treatment conditions incorporated negative surprises in the form of Web-based screens immediately before Module 4. The surprise screens showed a snake in attack position and a computer malfunction warning, and were absent in the control condition. The participants in both surprise conditions performed significantly better than those in the control condition for Module 4. The learning enhancements were virtually the same regardless of country and type of surprise stimulus (snake attack or computer malfunction screen)
Statistical power with respect to true sample and true population paths: A PLS-based SEM illustration
No full textMonte Carlo experiments aimed at assessing the statistical power of structural equation modelling (SEM) techniques typically focus on true population path coefficients, ignoring true sample path coefficients. We demonstrate the limitations stemming from such practice in statistical power assessments. This is done in the context of SEM techniques employing the partial least squares (PLS) method, where power claims have led to much recent debate. We show that the sample sizes at which power is greater than .8 differ significantly when we consider true population and true sample paths, and that the difference increases with decreases in the magnitudes of the paths being considered. Finally, we illustrate empirically how these differences affect the conclusions we can draw from the analysis of a relatively small sample of size 193
Methods in bilingual reading comprehension research
No full textThe collected essays in this volume present an overview and state-of-the-field of traditional and recently developed methodological approaches to the study of bilingual reading comprehension. It critically reviews and examines major findings from classical behavioral approaches such as the visual moving window, rapid-serial visual presentation (RSVP), and eye-tracking, as well as newly developing neuropsycholinguistic methodologies such as Event-Related Potentials (ERPS), and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Written to address a timely topic, Methods in Bilingual Reading Comprehension Research updates the field of bilingual reading by critically examining the contributions of the various behavioral and technologically-based reading techniques used to understand psychological processes underlying written language comprehension. Each topic is covered first from a theoretical, and then from an experimental, viewpoint. Moreover, the volume contributes to the development and establishment of Bilingual Reading as a subfield of bilingual sentence processing and fills a significant gap in the literature on bilingual language processing and thought. Significantly, Methods in Bilingual Reading Comprehension Research presents an overall view of some of the typical psycholinguistic techniques and approaches, as well as proposing other possible tasks that may prove viable in investigating such theoretical issues as bilingual lexical ambiguity resolution, or how bilingual speakers might resolve multiple sources of potentially conflicting information as they comprehend sentences and discourse during the communicative process. In addition, to aid reader comprehension and encourage readers to acquire “hands on” experience in the creation and development of experiments in the realm of bilingual reading research, each chapter includes a list of key words, suggested student research projects, and questions to both help the reader review the chapter and expand upon the reading. With its comprehensive coverage of a crucial subfield of psycholinguistics and language processing, Methods in Bilingual Reading Comprehension Research is an invaluable and informative resource for all students and researchers in bilingualism, neurolinguistics, bilingual cognition, and other related fields