bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Schizophrenic Thought Disorder and the Nature of Personal Constructs
Authors: RADLEY A. R.
Published: July 2011

Using a personal construct theory approach, Bannister (1960) has put forward the hypothesis that schizophrenic thought disorder is the result of progressive loosening of construct relationships. This paper reviews the evidence for this hypothesis both in the light of recent claims that schizophrenic thinking is not ‘loose’ but is inconsistent, and with respect to the issue of cognitive complexity, a measure of normal thinking which is operationally similar to ‘looseness’. Based upon a comparison of normal, paranoid and non‐paranoid schizophrenic thinking, discussed within the framework of interpersonal construing, an attempt is made to trace the course of schizophrenic thought disorder. An alternative interpretation of ‘loose construing’ is offered, based not upon the association between constructs, but upon the way in which the schizoid person frames his constructs about the people towards whom he is attempting to maintain a consistent attitude.
Justice and Generosity in Social Exchange: an Experimental Study of Reactions to Winning or Losing a Game
Authors: WHITE JAMES H.
Published: July 2011

It was predicted from exchange theory that distributive justice would be fulfilled in a game when a player with high investments defeated an opponent with low investments. Were the reverse to occur, the ‘low’ winner should feel embarrassment and the ‘high’ loser anger. This hypothesis was tested experimentally. Unacquainted boys whose leadership status was high or low raced model cars, winning or losing being predetermined. After racing, the boys were separately asked to divide a sum of money between them, which provided a measure of their anger or embarrassment over the outcome. The boys behaved in accordance with predictions in that high status boys who had lost to low status were less generous than low status who had lost to high status. Parallel results were obtained amongst the winners.
Towards the Investigation of Personality Deviance
Authors: McIVER DAVID , PRESLY ALLAN S.
Published: July 2011

This study derives from Foulds' (1971) model of personality deviance and is concerned with identifying measures of deviant traits characteristic of personality deviants of the ‘psychopathic’ type. The Character Disorder Scale of the SSI (Foulds, 1967) was employed as the criterion measure and three groups of female patients were studied. By the Kolmogorov‐Smirnov one‐sample test, 16 PF G, L and Q3 satisfied Foulds' distribution criterion for measures of deviant traits. Patients were described in terms of patterns of scores on these factors and two patterns associated with personality deviance were identified. These patterns accounted for half of the sample. None of the other six logically possible patterns was clearly associated with personality deviance. Cross‐validation was considered satisfactory. Further support was obtained using a different criterion of personality deviance (a rating scale devised by Presly & Walton, 1973). Since this study dealt only with the distributions of 16 PF scores, evidence of the temporal stability of G, L and Q3, and also the relevance of these measures to personality deviance of the psychopathic type, are discussed. Finally, some of the problems arising from the use of personality categories are considered.
Factors Affecting the Declaration and Communication of Symptoms by Psychiatric Patients
Authors: SHACKLETON V. J.
Published: July 2011

Two experiments are reported which examine the effect of different situations on the responses of psychiatric patients to self‐report personality and symptom measures. The first experiment compares the responses of patients seen in a psychiatric out‐patient clinic with a comparable group seen at home. The second experiment investigates the effect of a first psychiatric interview on patients' responses. Results showed that female patients consistently reported more symptoms, and a greater intensity of symptoms, than males. The different situations had no significant effect on neuroticism, extraversion and symptom scores. It was concluded that the situational variables investigated can be regarded as insignificant influences on the responses of similar psychiatric patients.
Eysenck's Personality Dimensions: a Model for the MMPI
Authors: WAKEFIELD JAMES A. , YOM BYONG‐HEE LEE , BRADLEY PEGGY E. , DOUGHTIE EUGENE B. , COX JOHN A. , KRAFT IRVIN A.
Published: July 2011

Nine of the ten clinical scales of the MMPI were considered as measures of the neuroticism, psychoticism and extraversion personality dimensions of Eysenck. The correspondence between the conceptual placement of the subtests in Eysenck's three‐dimensional space and their empirical placement in factor space was tested for 205 married males and again for 205 married females. The correspondence was significant for both sexes but considerably stronger for the females than for the males.
An Analysis of Gaze in Schizophrenics
Authors: WILLIAMS EDERYN
Published: July 2011

Two possible theoretical explanations of schizophrenic gaze‐avoidance are considered. The first supposes that it is due to stimulus‐avoidance, while the second considers it to be specifically person‐avoidance. An experiment designed to distinguish between these explanations is reported, and it is considered that the findings correspond more closely to the person‐avoidance than the stimulus‐avoidance explanation.
Effect of Type and Size of Family on Risk‐taking Behaviour
Authors: CHAUBEY N. P.
Published: July 2011

In an attempt to explain cross‐cultural differences in results of research relating family environment to achievement motivation and risk‐taking behaviour, the differing conceptions of a ‘family’ and the resulting effects on risk‐taking behaviour are examined in this study. Risk‐taking scores from 75 Indian boys, belonging to joint or nuclear families of variable size, were obtained through the use of the ‘Ball‐and‐Glass’ game. Results did not show a consistent or strong relationship between nuclear, small family membership and intermediate risk‐taking, as is often found in Western countries. Thus different conceptions of the term ‘family’ do not seem likely to account for the cross‐cultural differences in research results. Future research directed at explaining these differences might examine the variable child‐rearing practices in conjunction with the family type and size distinctions between Western and Eastern countries.
Effects of Dominance and Competence on Heterosexual Attraction
Authors: TOUHEY JOHN C.
Published: July 2011

To clarify previous findings concerning the relationship between physical dominance and heterosexual attraction, 40 unacquainted couples worked as partners on a problem‐solving task. Couples performed the task with the male physically or verbally dominating his partner, and the couples were led to believe that their success on the task was markedly above or below average. Findings showed that females were more attracted to competent rather than incompetent partners (P <0.001), but that mode of dominance interacted with competence, with physically dominant and competent males liked most and physically dominant and incompetent partners liked least (P 0.05). The findings are interpreted in the context of social power and non‐verbal behaviour and they re‐emphasize the need to examine situational determinants of interpersonal attraction.
A Note on Sex Differences on the Semantic Differential
Authors: MILLER P. McC.
Published: July 2011

One hundred and forty‐five male and 129 female university students made Semantic Differential ratings of eight concepts concerned with education on Osgood's evlauation, potency and activity factors (Osgood et al., 1957). In 23 cases out of 24 the women's means were higher than the men's. This held good in 16 cases when the comparisons were restricted to subjects whose ratings were opposite to the general trend. When the activity and potency findings were adjusted for evaluation many of the differences on these two factors were greatly reduced. It is suggested that greater need for social approval rather than greater impulsivity in adult women may account for Semantic Differential sex differences.
The Modification of Personality and Lie Scale Scores by Special ‘Honesty’ Instructions
Authors: EYSENCK S. B. G. , EYSENCK H. J. , SHAW L.
Published: July 2011

Four experiments are reported in which the effects of ordinary instructions on scores on various personality inventory scales and a Lie scale score are compared with scores under ‘honesty’ instructions, i.e. when subjects are explicitly warned about the presence of items which might enable detection of dissimulation. In the first experiment, random samples of British subjects were tested under conditions of low motivation for dissimulation; relatively little in the way of change in neuroticism or psychoticism scores was found, although the L scale scores did change. In the second experiment, samples of black South African subjects were tested under conditions of high motivation for dissimulation; quite considerable changes in neuroticism, psychoticism and L scale scores were found. In the third experiment groups of prisoners were employed; here ‘honesty’ instructions produced a sizable change in N and L scores. In all three experiments, the correlation between L and the pathological scores bore out the previously found rule that degree of motivation for dissimulation in a group is positively correlated with the size of these correlations (which are, of course, in the negative direction). It was concluded that in conditions which are likely to provide high motivation for dissimulation (or are actually shown to provide such motivation by virtue of the high correlation between L scale and the pathological scales), it may be useful to employ ‘honesty’ instructions in order to obtain scores on the personality scales nearer to the levels which would have been achieved under low motivating conditions. Extraversion scores were not influenced by either motivating conditions or differences in instructions. In the fourth experiment, normal subjects were given ‘fake good’ instructions, and it was observed that increases in E and L were balanced by decreases in N and P; the expected increase in NL and PL correlations was also found.
Stereotypes in the Judgement of Personality from Handwriting
Authors: VINE IAN
Published: July 2011

The role of stereotypes in the judgement of personality features from handwriting style has hitherto been neglected in experimental investigations of graphology. When 63 judges ranked sets of handwriting samples according to the judged relative positions of the writers on Introversion‐Extraversion or Stability‐Neuroticism dimensions, relatively high inter‐judge agreements were found for either task. Comparisons of judges' rankings with criterion rank‐orders based on the writers' EPI E or N scores showed that judgement accuracy was low for almost all judges. Inter‐judge agreement thus appears to depend on the sharing of graphological stereotypes which may be of low validity.
A New Theory of Fashion Change: a Test of Some Predictions
Authors: GIBBINS KEITH , GWYNN TONYA K.
Published: July 2011

Various theories of why fashion occurs are critically discussed. An alternative theory is presented which suggests that clothes are used as media of communication whose message describes the wearer. The assumption is made that the clothes actually worn are a compromise between what the wearer sees herself to be and what she would like to be, but closer to the former. To explain the spread of fashion, it is hypothesized that fashionable outfits bear a fairly consistent message which is different from that carried by unfashionable clothes. This is borne out by the results of an investigation in which female psychology students judged the wearer of 10 unfashionable and 10 fashionable outfits. The theory predicts that for potential adopters of a fashion, i.e. a group of girls unselected for fashionability, the ideal self image (ISI) will be nearer the impression conveyed by fashionable clothes than will the self image and that women who are regarded as fashionable differ in their perceptions of themselves from unfashionable women. Investigations were carried out, the results of which are consistent with these hypotheses. If these results are generally repeatable it follows from this theory that fashion change can occur either because, with the general adoption of a style its message changes, or because the average aspirations of women (ISI) change. The latter suggestion implies that fashions do as, for example, Laver (1945) has suggested, reflect the ‘Spirit of the Age’ in quite a straightforward sense.
Social Evaluation Orientation, Task Orientation and Deliberate Cueing in Experimenter Expectancy Effect
Authors: TODD JUDY
Published: July 2011

In this investigation of experimenter expectancy effect (EEE), children were classified as Social Evaluation Oriented (SEO) or Task Oriented (TO) according to Nakamura's Hypothetical Situation Questionnaire. It was predicted that SEO and not TO children serving as subject‐analogues would show EEE. The role of a deliberate cue in EEE was also studied. Three paid subjects served as experimenter‐analogues to administer a photo‐rating task individually to eight subject‐analogues, aged 8–12 years, under two different expectancies of performance. Another three subjects serving as experimenter‐analogues gave a deliberate cue (slight inclination of head) in line with their expectancies. EEE was demonstrated with SEO children. The cue was negatively reinforcing, especially for SEO children.
Encoding and Decoding of Ingratiation in Modes of Smiling and Gaze
Authors: LEFEBVRE LUC M.
Published: July 2011

The present research is a first attempt to explore the ingratiation ingredients of non‐verbal attractiveness. In particular, the ingratiator's paradox is investigated. This occurs when an increase in attractiveness of A makes B aware of an ingratiation attempt. A first experiment was set up to detect the ways in which ingratiation overtures are displayed in smiling and gaze during task‐orientated behaviour. As predicted from empirical research and from Argyle & Dean's (1965) ‘intimacy equilibrium’ model, a higher percentage of smiling and gaze, together with more frequent smiling and longer gaze, occurred under the ingratiation than control condition. A second experiment investigated if the ingratiation and spontaneity behaviours that were displayed would be differentially evaluated. To this purpose, observers naive to the conditions were confronted with the videotaped behaviours. As predicted from ingratiation and attributional frameworks, ingratiation behaviours were more favourably evaluated, though they were considered as strategic in nature. This discussion highlights the subtlety involved in non‐verbal ingratiation.
Covariation of Conflict and Mood in Depression
Authors: LAUTERBACH W.
Published: July 2011

The proportion of conflict involved in the personal problems of neurotic and depressed inpatients was assessed and correlated with the patients' mood over a period of several months. Mood correlated highly with conflict, i.e. when conflict was high, patients felt more depressed, fatigued and tense. Conflicts in the patients' beliefs about themselves also tended to correlate highly with mood, while conflict connected with their attitudes concerning their problems did not. Individual patients seemed to ‘react’ to conflict with different kinds of mood.
Impaired Recall and the Memory Disturbance in Presenile Dementia
Authors: MILLER BYEDGAR
Published: July 2011

Although subjects with presenile dementia have a very poor ability to retrieve material previously presented for learning under conditions of free recall and the usual type of recognition test, their performance was found to be not significantly different from normal controls when the initial letters of the correct words were provided at the time of recall. This finding raises the possibility that the long‐term memory failure in presenile dementia may not be due to an inability to establish new material in the long‐term store, as had previously been thought, but to a difficulty in retrieving that information.
Mental Abilities: Sibling Constellation and Social Class Correlates
Authors: MARJORIBANKS KEVIN , WALBERG HERBERT J. , BARGEN MARK
Published: July 2011

Verbal, number, reasoning and spatial ability scores were obtained for 185 11‐year‐old boys. The relations between the mental abilities, social status characteristics and sibling constellation variables were examined using a series of multiple regression equations. A three‐term equation including father's occupational status, inverse of the number of children in the family, and the product of the two variables parsimoniously accounts for as much significant variance in the data as complex many‐termed equations. Birth order, crowding ratio, their squares and products provide no better prediction beyond that afforded by the three‐term equations. The constellation variable, inverse of sibsize, is strongly associated with higher verbal and number ability scores of boys in families of low socio‐economic status, but the effect is attenuated in families of higher socio‐economic status. The results suggest that birth order may be a superfluous sibling constellation variable in research, but that the inclusion of the variable, inverse of sibsize, may lead to a greater understanding of the relation between social status and mental ability performance.
Reward Allocation Between High and Low Test Anxious Boys
Authors: BENTON ALAN A.
Published: July 2011

Dyads composed of same and opposite type test anxious boys (TASC) were constituted and one randomly determined member in each pair passed an arithmetic test which made toys available for play. Results indicated that (a) high test anxious passing and failing children preferred an equal allocation solution; (b) allocation based on productivity was most acceptable among the pairs of low test anxious children; (c) low test anxious failers rated favourable allocations more acceptable than equalitarian and unfavourable ones when their partner was a high test anxious passer. The findings are discussed in terms of differences between high and low test anxious boys in their response to evaluation.
Personality and Value Orientations in Early Adolescence
Authors: BROWN GEOFFREY
Published: July 2011

An analysis of the Psychoticism, Extraversion, Neuroticism and Lie scores of 674 13‐year‐old pupils in comprehensive schools revealed that they held specific relationships to six value orientations: Family Loyalty, Intolerance, Complacency, Passivity, Cynicism and Educational Primacy. These relationships are seen as pointing to an area which, by systematic investigation, would permit the psychology of personality and the sociology of values to be more closely integrated. The existence of three basic ‘life orientations’, ‘Asocial’, ‘Unsocial’ and ‘Hypersocial’, is suggested.
Some Effects of Anxiety and Cognitive Style upon Pursuit Rotor Learning
Authors: HICKS LOU E.
Published: July 2011

The present study sought to investigate the interrelationships between anxiety level and cognitive style upon pursuit rotor learning under conditions of relatively massed practice. The empirical specifications of anxiety were chosen so as to render the study comparable to previous investigations executed within the general framework of Spence's (1956, 1958) developments of Hull's (1943) notions concerning the relationship of drive level and learning task performance. The results were also related to Eysenck's (1956, 1964, 1965) elaborations of Hullian theory as related to motor learning phenomena. The cognitive style variable was assessed by a single measuring instrument, the Stroop Test. The variables tapped by this instrument were expressed within the framework of neo‐Hullian theory, and predictions made from an expanded version of the theory. Subjects were constituted into four groups: Cognitive High‐anxiety, Cognitive Low‐anxiety, Perceptual‐motor High‐anxiety, and Perceptual‐motor Low‐anxiety. When the pursuit rotor task was administered, Perceptual‐motor subjects excelled, as expected, as compared to Cognitive subjects. High‐anxious Perceptual‐motor subjects exhibited greater amounts of reminiscence than did Low‐anxious Perceptual‐motor subjects; unexpectedly, the reverse effect obtained within the Cognitive group, with the Low‐anxious subjects showing more reminiscence. It is suggested that conditioned inhibitory effects might have appeared differentially within the groups.
Reversing the Process of Thought Disorder: a Serial Validation Experiment
Authors: BANNISTER D. , ADAMS‐WEBBER J. R. , PENN W. I. , RADLEY A. R.
Published: July 2011

Previous personal construct theory studies of thought disorder suggest that it can be viewed as a state of grossly loosened construing (a weak and unstable network of links between ideas) and that it can fairly be measured by grid method. Later studies in the series indicated that it is people not things which bewilder the thought‐disordered patient ‐ it is his role as a ‘psychologist’ that is specifically damaged.

The serial invalidation hypothesis argued that thought disorder is the long‐term consequence of a repeated failure to predict accurately the behaviour of others and self, resulting in the disintegration of any organized, personal ‘theory’ about relationships.

The present experiment attempts to reverse the process of thought disorder by first identifying whatever weak, remaining system of expectations the thought‐disordered patient manifests and then fulfilling these expectations. Such a process of serial validation might lead to a strengthening of the ‘theory’ which generated these expectations ‐ a tightening of the construct system.

Experimental and control group were closely studied over a two‐year period. Results ‐ while tending in the predicted direction ‐ yield a not proven verdict though they leave the argument viable and the experiment worth modified replication.
The Accuracy and Correlates of Psychiatric Patients' Self‐assessment of Their Work Behaviour
Authors: GRIFFITHS R. D. P.
Published: July 2011

A preliminary study demonstrated that psychiatric patients' evaluation of their work behaviour was unrelated to assessments made by experienced supervisors. Patients involved in clerical work were shown to be more accurate in self‐assessment than patients in the manual assembly section of a rehabilitation unit; clerical patients underestimated, and manual patients overestimated their performance. These findings were confirmed in a second study, which also identified some of the differences between the ‘clerical’ and ‘manual’ groups, and showed that underestimation was associated with higher intelligence, a general tendency to admit to undesirable behaviours, and a relatively long period of contact with psychiatric services. Neuroticism was also related to underestimation, and schizophrenic patients overestimated their performance. Work satisfaction was found to be unrelated to work performance.
Recognition Memory in Dementia
Authors: WHITEHEAD ANTONIA
Published: July 2011

The experiment was designed to look at the effects of two parameters on the recognition memory of dementing subjects. These were a forced‐choice compared with a free format; and verbal compared with pictorial material. For the entire sample, neither of the comparisons gave significant differences; when those subjects with the best recognition scores were considered separately, the forced‐choice condition was found to give significantly better scores; but there was still no significant tendency in favour of the pictorial material.
Social Progression and Polarization: a Study of Discussion and Negotiation in Groups of Mining Supervisors
Authors: STEPHENSON G. M. , BROTHERTON C. J.
Published: July 2011

Ninety‐six mining supervisors completed a Role Perception Questionnaire. On the basis of their replies two‐person and four‐person groups were formed in which members of the group were cither Agreed (were on the same side) on three items for discussion, or Divided (half and half on opposite sides). Following discussion subjects individually recorded their opinions on the item in question. Social progression (movement in a given direction) and position extremity (movement to extreme positions) were examined within this 2 × 2 factorial design. Agreed groups became significantly more extreme than Divided groups at post‐discussion, and four‐person groups produced greater polarization than two‐person groups. Divided subjects, on the other hand, progressed negatively (contrary to their initial polarization) and Agreed subjects progressed positively (in line with their initial polarization). This difference was significantly greater in the two‐person than in the four‐person condition. Greater attitude change overall occurred in the Divided than in the Agreed conditions. Explanations are proffered, and some implications discussed.
The Personal Space of Hard‐of‐Hearing Children after Extended Contact with ‘Normals’
Authors: MALLENBY TERRY W. , MALLENBY RUTH G.
Published: July 2011

A group of hard‐of‐hearing children integrated into a normal public school for a year were found to exhibit similar personal space to that of normal children. Another group of hard‐of‐hearing children who attended a special institutional school for the deaf, on the other hand, exhibited greater interaction distances under varying dyadic interactions with a ‘normal’ person. Practical application of the present results is discussed.
The Use of Current Reading Ability in the Assessment of Dementia
Authors: NELSON HAZEL E. , McKENNA PAT
Published: July 2011

Word‐reading ability and general intelligence level were shown to be highly correlated in a group of normal adults; from this data a regression equation was obtained. Using this regression equation, IQ levels were predicted from reading scores in a group of dementing patients. The evidence strongly suggested that these predicted IQ levels provided close approximations to the premorbid IQ levels. Furthermore, the evidence implied that reading ability is potentially a better indicator of premorbid level of functioning than vocabulary level. The advantages and limitations of using the regression equation in the detection and evaluation of dementia in the individual patient are considered.
Some Characteristics of Schizophrenics and Their Parents
Authors: WINTER DAVID A.
Published: July 2011

This study was designed to test four hypotheses: (a) parents of schizophrenics constitute a discrete group amongst the parents of psychiatric patients with regard to aspects of their construing; (b) schizophrenics can be differentiated from other psychiatric patients by aspects of their construing; (c) the construing of parents of psychiatric patients is related to that of their disturbed children; and (d) parents of schizophrenics differ from parents of other psychiatric patients in their personality and attitudes. An experimental group of parents of acute schizophrenics and a control group of parents of acute non‐schizophrenic psychiatric patients were given a battery of psychological tests, and their hospitalized children completed a shortened battery. There was some confirmation of each hypothesis. Both experimental groups structured supplied, but not their own personal, constructs more abnormally than the corresponding control groups, and showed more deviant sexual identification, though this latter was a function of social class. The parents' structuring of supplied constructs was related to that of their children. There were also some differences in personality between the groups of parents.
Consistency and Relativity in Selective Recall with Differing Ego‐Involvement
Authors: SPIRO RAND J. , SHERIF CAROLYN W.
Published: July 2011

In appraising equal numbers of pro and con attitude‐relevant statements, subjects created twice as many balanced as imbalanced structures, thus later also recalled more balanced information. However, relative to the available pools they created, they recalled proportionately more imbalanced than balanced information. Higher ego‐involvement accentuated all of these processes. Instructional set and delay time did not alter the pattern, although immediate recall was superior. Recall results do not support simple selective hypotheses, favouring either agreed‐with or attitude‐favourable information. Selective recall for imbalanced information suggests revision of balance hypotheses tested previously by data reflecting larger pools of balanced structures created by subjects with ego‐involving attitudes.
Stimulus Generalization and Anxiety in Schizophrenic and Normal Subjects
Authors: AL‐ISSA IHSAN , BAKAL DONALD , LARKIN NORMAN
Published: July 2011

Sixty schizophrenics and 60 normal subjects were compared on a test of stimulus generalization. The generalization stimuli were lines differing in length. Both schizophrenics and normals were divided into two groups (30 subjects each) and trained either on a short line or on a long line. In addition to the generalization stimuli, subjects were presented with an irrelevant stimulus (circle). Although there was a significant difference between the generalization gradients of the groups, this difference was limited to generalization stimuli away from the negative training stimulus. The concept of peak shift was invoked to interpret these data. That the groups did not respond to the irrelevant stimulus is inconsistent with interference theory and gives some support to the differentiation between conceptual overinclusion and perceptual overinclusion. The relationship between stimulus generalization and scores on the Manifest Anxiety Scale was inconsistent.
An Analysis of the Marke‐Nyman Temperament Scale
Authors: JOHNSON ANTHONY L. , METCALFE MARYSE , COPPEN ALEC
Published: July 2011

The responses to the items of the Marke‐Nyman Temperament Scale (MNTS) from 163 recovered unipolar depressed patients and 208 controls were analysed by a factor analysis of the matrix of inter‐item correlation coefficients and Varimax rotation. The object of the investigation was to examine how the factors obtained agreed with the three dimensions of personality, Validity, Solidity and Stability, measured by the MNTS, and further to elucidate the definition of these three dimensions. The results were in partial agreement with the existing definitions of Validity, Solidity and Stability but also indicated that the MNTS may measure four dimensions of personality instead of three.
Attitudes and the Prediction of Social Conduct
Authors: DAVEY A. G.
Published: July 2011

Both theories and definitions of attitudes have been strongly influenced by the belief that the ultimate validating referent of an attitude is behaviour. Nevertheless, the yield from some 50 or more years of research which has sought to establish that a knowledge of an individual's verbally expressed attitudes would enable one to predict his conduct has been meagre. This paper attempts to clarify some of the conceptual issues involved in the prediction of action from psychological events, in particular those associated with the dispositional or latent process concept of attitudes. It is argued that the wrong sort of explanatory work has been demanded from the concept of attitude. In stable social settings, where some success has been achieved in establishing a degree of attitude‐behaviour congruence, an equally accurate prediction could probably be made without reference to attitudes. In shifting social contexts, where repeatedly predictions from attitudes have failed to come off, an inquiry into attitudes is likely to be fruitful, not because there could be a simple deterministic relationship between attitudes and conduct, but because it could contribute to our understanding of the interaction between social change and individual choice.
The Validity of the Jesness Inventory with British Delinquents
Authors: SAUNDERS G. R. , DAVIES M. B.
Published: July 2011

This paper presents evidence concerning the validity of the Jesness Inventory. Two types of validity are examined. Firstly, evidence is given that some of the subscales of the Inventory are able to differentiate between different levels of delinquency. Secondly, it is reported that some of the subscales are able to predict from a group of offenders those who are destined to continue their delinquent careers. There seems good evidence to suggest that the scales purporting to measure social maladjustment, value orientation, alienation and manifest aggression are related to the concept of ‘deviant personality’. It is concluded that the Inventory has some limited validity; and, tentatively, that the recidivist is more likely to be unsocialized, aggressive, anti‐authority, and unempathic as measured by the Inventory. Those scales that attempt to measure more ‘neurotic’ characteristics do not validly predict recidivism.
Responsiveness of Delinquents and Non‐delinquents to Social Reinforcement
Authors: JOHNSTON MARIE
Published: July 2011

A series of six experiments, involving 198 subjects, examined the hypothesis that delinquents are less responsive than non‐delinquents to social reinforcement and punishment. The hypothesis received support (a) using two different experimental techniques, one in which the subjects' judgements of autokinetic movement were modified and one using the Taffel (1955) verbal conditioning paradigm; (b) with a female adult administering the reinforcement and with a peer; (c) when the contingent social cues were rewarding (‘Good’ or ‘Fine’) and when they were punishing (‘No’). The hypothesis was not supported when the verbal reinforcement was varied. Control studies using no reinforcement and money reinforcement indicated that the social reinforcement did indeed have a specific reinforcement effect and that delinquents did not show a general learning deficiency.
Evaluation of Choice‐Dilemma Alternatives: Utility, Morality and Social Judgement
Authors: EISER J. RICHARD
Published: July 2011

One hundred non‐psychology students completed a questionnaire in which they rated the desirability of the possible outcomes and the morality of the action alternatives for ten (mainly novel) choice‐dilemmas. They also indicated their own recommendations and rated the cautious and risky alternatives on (a) C+ scales, defined by a positive term denoting caution and a negative term denoting risk (e.g. careful‐foolhardy) and (b) R + scales, defined by a negative term denoting caution and a positive term denoting risk (e.g. cowardly‐courageous). The pattern of each subject's recommendations across the ten dilemmas was more closely related to how the subject judged the morality of the action alternatives than to how he rated the desirability of the outcomes. For cautious dilemmas, the judged discrepancy between the cautious and risky alternatives was larger on C+ than R+ scales, but for risky dilemmas, it was larger on R + than C + scales, as predicted from findings in attitudinal judgement. No evidence was found for the notion that risk is generally evaluated more positively than caution. Implications for SEU and value theory interpretations of risk‐taking are discussed.
Language Behaviour in Acute and Chronic Schizophrenia
Authors: WILLIAMS RUTH M. , HEMSLEY DAVID R. , DENNING‐DUKE C.
Published: July 2011

A prediction made by Broen (1968) regarding the performance of acute and chronic non‐paranoid schizophrenics on measures of dominant verbal response bias was tested in a group of 40 hospitalized schizophrenic patients. A subgroup of 10 chronic patients were found to show an abnormal dominant response bias on two different language tasks and on one task showed a bias significantly greater than that shown by a group of 10 acute patients matched on verbal IQ and rated symptomatology. A correlational analysis of the bias scores of the total sample in relation to three indices of chronicity also showed a trend in the predicted direction of a greater dominant response bias with increasing chronicity. The data are consistent with Broen's (1968) theory of dominant response bias as a learned defence against aversive response interference in acute schizophrenia.
Relationship Between Conceptual Judgements and Stimulus Dimensions Among Schizophrenics and Normals
Authors: NEUFELD RICHARD W. J.
Published: July 2011

Eighteen paranoid schizophrenics, 18 non‐paranoid schizophrenics and 18 normal subjects were shown a set of 36 schematic drawings of human faces. The faces varied along four dimensions: nose length, chin length, distance between the eyes, and forehead height. Subjects were asked to rate each face as either ‘intelligent’ or ‘unintelligent’ and then as either ‘contented’ or ‘discontented’. The paranoid schizophrenics were less systematic than both the normals and non‐paranoid schizophrenics in their use of the stimulus dimensions in the judgements, the latter two groups not significantly differing in this respect. It was also found that there were significant differences among the groups regarding the average importance given to the different physical features, the profiles for the two schizophrenic groups being flatter than that of the non‐schizophrenics. The results suggested there were two aspects of consistency in dimension utilization involved in the overall group differences‐between‐subject and within‐subject consistency. The paranoid schizophrenics displayed low within‐subject consistency, the non‐paranoid schizophrenics displayed high within‐subject consistency but low between‐subject consistency (i.e. an idiosyncratic weighting of dimensions in their judgements), and the non‐schizophrenics displayed high within‐ and between‐subject consistency.
The Role of Visual Communication in Social Exchange
Authors: STEPHENSON G. M. , AYLING K. , RUTTER D. R.
Published: July 2011

Twelve male and twelve female pairs of subjects, assuming management and union roles, engaged in a negotiation‐type task either face‐to‐face or in separate rooms communicating via a headphone–microphone link. Transcripts of their discussions were taken and analysed using Conference Process Analysis, a new system for describing the content of negotiations.

It was predicted that in comparison with face‐to‐face conversations, conversations by audio link would be ‘depersonalized’ and ‘task‐oriented’. Results supported both hypotheses. In the absence of visual communication there was less praise for one's opponent and more ‘party’ references. The second hypothesis was supported by a significantly greater exchange of ‘offers of information’ in the absence of visual communication, while union representatives exchanged more ‘offers of information about their opponent's party’ by audio link than face‐to‐face. Results highlighted interesting and unpredicted differences in behaviour between the representatives of the two sides in relation to medium of communication. Taken together, the results suggest that visual communication has three main effects upon the content of exchanges: it encourages spontaneity and, hence, a more wide‐ranging discussion, while at the same time promoting the adoption of conventional role relationships by the participants.
The Number and Kind of Invariant Personality (Q) Factors: a Partial Replication of Eysenck and Eysenck
Authors: VAGG PETER R. , HAMMOND S. B.
Published: July 2011

A study by Eysenck & Eysenck (1969) investigated the invariance across sex of factors derived from the Eysenck, Cattell and Guilford personality inventories. They found only neuroticism and extraversion invariant. The present study was designed as a partial replication of their study, but employed simpler, common‐sense methods that gave the more moderate sized factors a chance to demonstrate the extent of their invariance across sex. Four invariant factors were found: the first two, neuroticism and sociability, were large and demonstrated almost complete invariance across sex; the third and fourth factors were moderate‐sized and showed less, but substantial invariance across sex. They were called ‘sensitivity v. practicality’ and ‘group‐centred morality v. self‐centred independence’.
The Specificity of Schizophrenic Thought Disorder: a Replication and Extension of Previous Findings
Authors: HEATHER NICK
Published: July 2011

Eight thought‐disordered schizophrenics, eight non‐thought‐disordered schizophrenics and eight normal subjects each completed four repertory grids, formed by combinations of two types of construct, psychological and physical, and two types of element, photographs and known people. The finding of McPherson & Buckley (1970) that thought‐disordered schizophrenics are relatively less disordered when using physical constructs than when using psychological constructs was replicated. Further, this specificity of schizophrenic thought disorder was extended from grids employing photographs of strangers to grids employing known people, thus disconfirming an explanation of schizophrenic grid performance (Williams, 1971) in terms of ‘cue insensitivity’.
The Measurement of Expressed Emotion in the Families of Psychiatric Patients
Authors: VAUGHN CHRISTINE , LEFF JULIAN
Published: July 2011

In a series of studies of the influence of family life on the course of an established schizophrenic illness, it has been shown that the level of emotion expressed by relatives shortly after a schizophrenic patient is admitted to hospital is strongly associated with symptomatic relapse during the nine months following discharge (Brown et al., 1962, 1972). This paper states the case for an abbreviated version of the primary research instrument used in these studies, the Camberwell Family Interview Schedule. In the 1972 study the single most important measure contributing to the overall expressed emotion index proved to be the number of critical remarks made about the patient by the relative when interviewed alone. An analysis of 15 tape‐recorded interviews from this study showed that the majority of critical comments were produced within the first hour and there was virtually no relationship between total number of critical comments and length of interview (r = 0.08). This analysis supported the use of a shortened interview in which the areas most likely to produce any criticism were given priority in the sequence of questioning. This abbreviated version has been used successfully in a replication and extension of the 1972 study. A group of 37 schizophrenic patients is being compared with a group of 31 depressed neurotic patients. Patterns of emotional response of these patients' relatives are discussed.
The Effects of Manipulation of the CS and Variations in the Duration of Response Prevention on Extinction of Avoidance Responses
Authors: WARD WENDY D.
Published: July 2011

Rats were trained to avoid 0.5 mA shock and, following learning, were divided into two groups ‐ control and experimental. Following acquisition trials, the control animals were left in the shuttle box for 5 min and the experimental animals were removed from the shuttle box and placed in a plastic pail. The CS was presented continuously for 5 min. The rats were then returned to the shuttle box and extinction trials began. The results showed that response prevention was ineffective when it occurred in the presence of the discrete CS. After learning to avoid 0.5 mA shock, animals in the second experiment were divided into the following four groups: controls and three groups which received response prevention for 10 sec, 3 min and 5 min, respectively. The results showed that there was no significant difference between the groups. Clinical implications of the results of both experiments are discussed.
Group Compatibility and the Modification of Affective Verbalizations
Authors: FROMME DONALD KARL , CLOSE STEPHEN RADLEY
Published: July 2011

To investigate group compatibility effects as measured by the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation‐Behaviour (FIRO–B) test, 30 male and 18 female undergraduates were selected from an initial pool of 96 students. Four‐person groups, high or low on compatibility on FIRO–B dimensions, were chosen. The resulting 12 groups were assigned to levels of a three‐factor experiment: compatibility, FIRO–B dimension and reinforcement. The principal dependent variable was frequency of here‐and‐now affect, empathy or feedback statements. Significant reinforcement and compatibility effects were found. The latter were primarily present when reinforcement was given. Minor findings were discussed and it was concluded that the superiority of compatible groups is attributable to greater cohesion and mutual support for risk‐taking.
Obedience and Responsibility
Authors: MANTELL DAVID MARK , PANZARELLA ROBERT
Published: July 2011

Milgram's theory of obedience was tested with 93 subjects in three variations of the ‘obedience’ paradigm. The amounts of compliance in shocking a victim were higher in a baseline condition than in Milgram's experiments and, as expected, lower in a self‐decision and in a modelling de‐legitimization condition. However, compliant subjects did not consistently disown responsibility for their behaviour in shocking a victim. The data of these experiments did not support Milgram's theory that obedience is an agentic state in which a person no longer views himself as responsible for his own actions but defines himself as an instrument of an authority figure. Objections are raised regarding Milgram's interpretation of the subjects' behaviour in the shock experiments and the relevance of these experiments to wartime atrocities.
Evaluation of Accent Convergence and Divergence in Cooperative and Competitive Intergroup Situations*
Authors: DOISE WILLEM , SINCLAIR ANNE , BOURHIS RICHARD YVON
Published: July 2011

In this paper a link is made between two different research fields: sociolinguistics and intergroup relations. The experiment presented tests the hypothesis that accent convergence is considered more natural in an intergroup cooperation situation and accent divergence more natural in an intergroup competition situation. Sixty‐eight subjects from a Swiss regional ethnolinguistic group participated in four experimental conditions: (1) intergroup cooperation‐accent convergence; (2) intergroup cooperation–accent divergence; (3) intergroup competition‐accent convergence; (4) intergroup competition–accent divergence. The hypothesis that accent divergence would be evaluated more favourably than accent convergence during intergroup competition was verified. The ingroup member was perceived more favourably during competition when his accent diverged from the outgroup member's than during cooperation when his accent converged toward the accent of the outgroup member.
Drivers Use of Seat Belts as a Function of Attitude and Anxiety
Authors: ASHTON STEPHEN , WARR PETER
Published: July 2011

It is shown that drivers' reported and actual use of seat belts are predictable from their opinions about the comfort and effectiveness of belts. These relationships are, however, moderated by anxiety about possible accidents, in that low‐anxiety drivers exhibit a stronger association between attitude and behaviour than do high‐anxiety drivers.
Associative and Conceptual Organization in Thought Disorder
Authors: RICHARDS BOYD S.
Published: July 2011

Thought disorder has frequently been described either as a disturbance of associative response hierarchies or as an inability to deal with objects or events as representative of classes. The tendency of normal subjects to organize free recall by clustering associatively or conceptually related words suggested the recall task as a means to investigate these views of thought disorder. Two groups of psychiatric patients, one with high scores on Lovibond's version of the OST, one with low (thought‐disordered and non‐thought‐disordered, respectively), were presented with randomly ordered word lists containing pairs related associtively and pairs related taxonomically. Thought‐disordered and non‐thought‐disordered groups were not differentiated by any tendency to cluster more of one kind of pair than another. Rather, the thought‐disordered showed a general lack of organization in recall, and significantly less improvement over trials in amount recalled. The results do not support the view that thought disorder is specifically a disorder of concept use or conceptual mediation. Research needs to be addressed to variables which affect the activation or inhibition of mediational links in thinking.