bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Information Processing in Schizophrenia: The Effect of Varying the Rate of Presentation and Introducing Interference
Authors: HAWKS D. V. , ROBINSON K. N.
Published: July 2011

Payne and McGhie offer explanations of schizophrenic thought disorder which emphasize a breakdown in the selectiveness of Broadbent's filter. Yates has observed that an explanation emphasizing the slowness of information processing in schizophrenia equally well follows from Broadbent' model and accords with the experimental literature.

Eighteen male chronic schizophrenics and nine male psychiatric nurses matched for age and intelligence were asked under one experimental condition (the complete recall condition) to reproduce digits presented dichotically at three different rates of presentation, and under another condition (the interference condition) to reproduce only those digits received through a designated channel. There were four different length lists and four presentations of each list length. The chronic schizophrenics were divided into two groups of nine in accordance with their scores on the Venables‐O'Connor Paranoid Scale.

An analysis of variance was performed in the complete recall condition using difference scores obtained by subtracting the number of digits correctly reproduced in order in the second half list from the number reproduced from the first half list. In the interference condition the scores employed were the total number of relevant digits correct, the number of relevant lists completely correct and the number of digits reproduced from the irrelevant channel. While group was a significant source of variance in the complete recall condition, contrary to prediction from Yates' theory, the interaction of group and rate was insignificant. This was the case even when the analysis was repeated using difference scores adjusted for variation in the reproduction of the first half list and only the normal and non‐paranoid schizophrenic groups compared. There was some evidence that the recall of the second half list improved for all groups at faster rates of presentation. Nor were the three groups differentially affected by variations in the rate of presentation under the interference condition. As predicted from Payne and McGhie, however, the schizophrenics were most affected by distraction from the irrelevant channel.

It is suggested that at slower rates of presentation the digits presented first in the complete recall condition are rehearsed with the result that the reception of those presented later is confused. The need to consider the total length of time over which information is to be processed is discussed. The view is put that retardation in schizophrenia may constitute a secondary adjustment to a state of information overload and an empirical test of this hypothesis proposed.
Adapting Dawson's Traditional versus Western Attitudes Scale and Presenting Some New Information from Africa
Authors: WOBER MALLORY
Published: July 2011

This paper extends work on a compound scale of Traditional and Western values, developed by Dawson (1967) in Sierra Leone. Eighteen topics yield scores on westernness of response for each topic; overall subscale scores for approval of Traditional and Western items are also available. Two groups of respondents are manual workers and clerks, in a South Nigerian industry. Differences from Dawson's studies include: some shortening and changes in the scale; ‘logicality’ in the responses received, in that approval of western items by a group is accompanied by some rejection of traditional ones; lack of whole‐scale high correlations between western attitudes and rated work efficiency. It is suggested that the method of presentation differed between the two studies and may have affected results. An element of comprehension may have affected Dawson's studies which could be partly responsible for strong correlations between measures of attitude and work efficiency; this element of comprehension may not have been so salient in the present study. A similarity with Dawson's findings is that some signs of ‘resurgence’ of less western views is found among some more (western‐)educated people. There is also similar evidence of dissimilar attitudes being held at once by certain groups, on certain topics. The overall design of Dawson's device is presented as being very useful and capable of suggesting sensitive pointers to an area of study which may question one of the basic assumptions of balance or consistency theories of attitudes.
Self‐Esteem and Sex as Factors Affecting Influenceability
Authors: LINDSKOLD SVENN , TEDESCHI JAMES T.
Published: July 2011

A total of 60 fifth‐graders (30 males, 30 females) were drawn from high and low scorers on the Coopersmith self‐esteem (S‐E) scale. In a modified Prisoner's Dilemma Game played for M & M candies, subjects were made the targets of either promises of extra reward for cooperating or threats of punishment for not cooperating which were sent by a simulated other player.

High S‐E subjects rationally complied more to both threats and promises than did low S‐E subjects, giving support to Cohen's (1959) hypothesis that high S‐E is associated with avoidance or denial defences, while low S‐E is associated with expressive or destructive defences. Subjects receiving promises were more open and truthful in indicating their compliance intentions than were threat‐condition subjects; subjects in both message conditions were more cooperative overall than were no‐message control subjects. A series of interactions of S‐E with sex suggested a confounding effect of adopted sex‐role as a possible explanation for the frequent failure to find with female subjects the direct relationship of low S‐E to persuasibility or compliance that is typically found with males.
Characteristics and Validity of the Grid Test of Thought Disorder
Authors: BANNISTER D. , FRANSELLA FAY , AGNEW JOYCE
Published: July 2011

A sample of 316 psychiatric admissions were given the Grid Test of Thought Disorder (Bannister & Fransella, 1966, 1967). Test indices were shown to relate to case note judgements and marginally to prognostic data of the ‘condition on discharge’ type. The relationship between grid scores and diagnostic category was examined. A measure of the degree of abnormality of patterning of construct relationships (Social Deviation) was derived from the grid and shown to relate to structural thought disorder, sex and presence of a precipitating factor for the ‘illness’. The process implications of the findings are discussed.
Rate of Information Processing in a Schizophrenic and a Control Group: The Effect of Increasing Task Complexity
Authors: SLADE P. D.
Published: July 2011

In recent years two cognitive models of schizophrenic dysfunction have been elaborated which involve the basic proposition that schizophrenic patients process information at a slower rate than non‐schizophrenic controls (McGhie, 1965; Yates, 1966). Both models predict (1) that schizophrenic patients will make decisions at a slower rate than controls at all levels of task complexity, and (2) that their relative slowness will increase as a function of increasing task complexity. The available evidence is consistent with the first prediction but ambiguous with respect to the second.

All previous studies relating to the above issues have utilized discrete reaction time measures. It was hypothesized that a more sensitive test of the predictions would be provided by a continuous performance task involving responding over a longer time period. A study is reported in which a group of chronic schizophrenic patients was compared with a group of non‐schizophrenic control patients on a series of four card‐sorting tasks in which the ‘information to be processed’ was systematically varied. In general, the findings were consistent with expectations.
Social Support and Conformity: The Effect of Response Order and Differentiation from the Group
Authors: ALLEN VERNON L. , LEVINE JOHN M.
Published: July 2011

Several recent investigations (Allen & Levine, 1968, 1969, 1971) have supported Asch's (1951) conclusion that the presence of one person who answers prior to a naive subject, and correctly dissents from an erroneous group consensus, significantly reduces conformity relative to a unanimous group. The present study investigated two unexplored variables of potential theoretical importance in explaining the effectiveness of such social support from a partner: (1) response position of the partner, and (2) nature of the social relationship between the subject and the partner relative to other group members.

In previous studies the social supporter has typically answered fourth and the subject fifth (last) in a five‐person group (Allen & Levine, 1968, 1969, 1971). Whether it is crucial to conformity reduction that the social supporter respond immediately prior to the subject—and hence after the other group members have established a norm—is open to question. One line of argument would predict that a partner answering fourth will be more effective in reducing conformity than a partner answering first. A social supporter responding fourth appears to have bravely taken a stand against a unanimously opposing group. Such attribution of courage may create a positive impression of the social supporter, thereby increasing the subject's willingness to agree with the supporter in opposition to the group.
‘Psychological’ Constructs, Thought‐Process Disorder and Flattening of Affect
Authors: McPHERSON F. M. , BUCKLEY FELICITY , DRAFFAN JOAN
Published: July 2011

The frequency with which schizophrenics spontaneously use ‘psychological’ constructs, as opposed to other categories of construct, when describing photographs of people is significantly and negatively correlated with the extent of disorder (‘looseness’ and ‘inconsistency’) shown when they are required to use ‘psychological’ constructs, on the Bannister‐Fransella test.
Test‐Retest Results on the Conservatism Scale Completed under Conditions of Anonymity and Identification
Authors: NIAS D. K. B. , WILSON G. D. , WOODBRIDGE JOAN M.
Published: July 2011

The C scale has been reported to have a very high (0.94) split‐half internal consistency (Wilson & Patterson, 1968), in spite of the wide range of social attitudes covered by the 50 items. Data on the factor structure of the scale and evidence for its validity are summarized by Wilson & Patterson (1970). The present study was carried out to provide information, firstly on test‐retest reliability, and secondly on the effects of the scale being completed anonymously or by name.

Four groups of female students from a college of education were tested twice, with an interval of 12 weeks. Group 1 were asked on the first occasion of testing to give their names, and on the second occasion to remain anonymous. (The two sets of answer sheets were later linked by employing a code system.) For group 2 the procedure was reversed; group 3 were asked to give their names on both occasions and group 4 to remain anonymous. Table 1 shows the mean C scores for each group on the two occasions of testing. Reliabilities were computed using product‐moment correlations.
Interference, Extraversion and Paired‐Associate Learning
Authors: BONE RONALD N.
Published: July 2011

Recently, McLaughlin & Eysenck (1967) found extraverts superior to introverts on both easy and difficult paired‐associate tasks. These data were interpreted by assuming that introverts possess higher cortical arousal which interferes with the integration on the lists. This inference is supported by Jensen's (1964) finding of introverts being less resistant to response competition in a serial‐learning task.
A Fully Automated Intellectual Test
Authors: BRIERLEY HARRY
Published: July 2011

A number of writers, e.g. Miller (1968) and Peck & Gathercole (1968), have commented upon the use of automated testing techniques. Whilst methods such as those of Heron (1953) and Zenkteler (1968) represent efforts to make personality inventories more palatable and to simplify scoring, little evidence is available concerning the use of automated testing of intellectual functioning. Gedye (1966) has reported the use of an automated technique administering a novel procedure but not one readily compared with conventional intellectual testing methods. Experiments with automated forms of Perceptual Mazes and Raven's Matrices have been employed by Elithorne and Berger (personal communications, 1969).
Introversion, Extraversion and Social Perception
Authors: BROWN STEVEN R. , HENDRICK CLYDE
Published: July 2011

Three studies are conducted on the subjective perceptions of extraverts and introverts, using Q technique and factor analysis. In the first two studies, intensive analyses indicate that both introverts and extraverts have extraverted aspirations. These results are confirmed and extended in the third study with a larger sample of subjects. Both introverts and extraverts have veridical perceptions of actual private self and actual social self; however, the ideal conceptions of both personality types tend to be extraverted in nature. Introverts express their potential private self, potential social self and ideal leader perceptions as those of an extravert; similarly, extraverted subjects hold extraverted ideals. Extraverts are highly consistent in their perceptions of actual and ideal selves, but introverts have ideals incongruent with perceived actual selves. Implications for political theory and behaviour, interpersonal perception and attraction are discussed.
Changes in Moral Belief among Sixth‐form Boys and Girls over a Seven‐Year Period in relation to Religious Belief, Age and Sex Difference
Authors: WRIGHT DEREK , COX EDWIN
Published: July 2011

The results of replicating in 1970 a survey first conducted in 1963 show that there have been highly significant changes in the moral beliefs of sixth‐form boys and girls in maintained grammar schools in England. The changes are greatest for sexual behaviour but extend to such issues as colour bar and gambling. In general, the change is away from the uncompromising condemnation of behaviour towards a more qualified, permissive or undecided position. Though moral and religious beliefs are strongly associated in both surveys, the results show that changes in moral belief are very largely independent of religious commitment. They were also found to be unrelated to age in this sample, though there were clear signs that girls had changed more than boys.
Symptom Assessment in Epidemiology: A Comparison between Two Methods
Authors: WOOD M. M.
Published: July 2011

A self‐administered form of subjective symptom assessment is described, based on a method evolved by Ingham. The self‐administered scales provided data in a form which could be collected easily and quickly without the necessity of a skilled interviewer. Although the information required decoding, this could be carried out by clerical staff under supervision. When compared with Ingham's individually administered form, there were indications that the self‐administered scales produced slightly more inconsistent responses and for this reason were sometimes more difficult to score. Further investigations using the self‐administered scales after slight modification have achieved notable success, especially where there has been some supervision.
Hostility and Personality in a Student‐Teacher Population
Authors: MAYO P. R. , BELL J. M.
Published: July 2011

Eighty men and 72 women student teachers completed the HDHQ and EPI questionnaires. A principal component analysis gave support to the HDHQ as measuring hostility, which may be expressed both intropunitively and extrapunitively. Mean group scores in the present study are compared with previously reported studies and found to be higher than expected. The significance of this and the relation of the HDHQ to the EPI measures are discussed.
The Principal Components of Sexual Preference
Authors: MATHEWS ANDREW M. , BANCROFT JOHN H. J. , SLATER PATRICK
Published: July 2011

Fifty pictures of women were rated for sexual attractiveness by 75 male subjects, who were divided into groups according to occupational status and sexual orientation. A principal component analysis of the ratings revealed a general factor on which all subject groups loaded positively, and other factors which appeared to relate to specific preferences. Loadings on the latter factors significantly differentiated between the subject groups. One component (labelled ‘sexy‐sexless’) differentiated homosexual from heterosexual groups, while another (labelled ‘conventional‐unconventional’) distinguished a group of manual workers from all others.
Why Does the Repertory Grid Test Indicate Thought Disorder?
Authors: FRITH C. D. , LILLIE F. J.
Published: July 2011

Low scores on the Bannister & Fransella (1967) Grid Test of Schizophrenic Thought Disorder need not necessarily be the result of a loose construct system. For example, a low discriminability of the elements would cause subjects to make ‘errors’ in assigning ranks to elements giving low Intensity and Consistency scores. A direct estimate of the extent of these ‘errors’ is given by the Element Consistency score which is equivalent to test‐retest reliability. A retrospective study of the performance of 95 psychiatric patients on the Grid Test was carried out. There was a significant relation between test performance and psychiatric assessment of thought disorder. However, Element Consistency scores also successfully predicted psychiatric assessments of thought disorder and Intensity and Consistency scores. When Intensity and Consistency scores uncontaminated by ‘errors’ in performance were estimated by partialling out Element Consistency they showed no relationship to psychiatric assessments of thought disorder. It is therefore proposed that the poor performance of thought‐disordered patients on the Grid Test need not be due to a loose construct system, but could be due to a difficulty in extracting relevant information from complex visual stimuli which results in a low discriminability of the elements presented in the Grid Test.
Affective Feeling for a Film Character and Evaluation of an Anti‐Social Act
Authors: HOWITT DENNIS , CUMBERBATCH GUY
Published: July 2011

The hypothesis that liking for a film‐mediated character results in a more favourable evaluation of that character's actions was tested. A group of adolescent boys and girls was shown the film Chick's Day and their affective feeling for the central character, Chick, was measured by self‐report. The subjects were then randomly assigned to either the experimental group which was led to believe that Chick had performed a violent act, or to the control group which was led to believe that another character, John Davies, had performed the act. The results were analysed by analysis of variance and by comparing the sizes of correlation between affect and evaluation for both groups. It is concluded that positive affect for a mass‐media character does not influence a child to be more favourably disposed towards the violent behaviour of that character.
Is Risky Shift Due to Disproportionate Influence by Extreme Group Members?
Authors: MYERS DAVID G. , MURDOCH PETER J.
Published: July 2011

The extremity‐influence explanation of risky and cautious shifts is examined in two ways. First, mathematical models based on the assumption that extreme initial responders have more influence than moderates are derived from congruity theory. Their success at predicting group decisions is compared with the simple averaging of initial responses. Second, influence is defined in terms of talking time and correlated with initial extremity. Both analyses fail to support the hypothesis that extreme responders to an item exert greater influence than less extreme responders.
The Stability of Cognitive Complexity in Construing Social Issues
Authors: EPTING FRANZ R.
Published: July 2011

The stability of the amount of cognitive differentiation involved in construing social issues was investigated. Using a common set of construct dimensions, three cognitive complexity instruments were built, each containing a different set of social issues. The three instruments were readministered one week later. The stability indices obtained here, on social issues, were comparable in magnitude to those reported in studies of interpersonal construing. During the second administration of the complexity instruments, there was an increase in the correlations across social issues and a decrease in complexity level.
The Effects of Cognitive Expectancies on Vicarious Conditioning
Authors: OGSTON KAREN M. , DAVIDSON PARK O.
Published: July 2011

The effects of altering cognitive expectancies through administration to the subject of high shock, low shock or no shock prior to vicarious classical conditioning were investigated using a model who apparently received high shocks following presentation of a light as a CS. GSRs to test trials of light alone during 45 acquisition and 10 extinction trials were recorded. Results indicated that pre‐exposure to high shock produced better conditioning than low shock or no shock. The low and no shock groups did not differ except in the first nine trials. All three groups showed habituation effects but at differential rates. These findings are discussed in terms of avoidance procedures and cognitive dissonance theory.
The Dimensionality of Religion
Authors: WEARING A. J. , BROWN L. B.
Published: July 2011

A persistent question in the psychological analysis of religion has been the number of dimensions necessary to describe religious belief and behaviour. The responses of 420 university students to a questionnaire containing a number of religious measures were subjected to factor analysis. It was found that the various religious measures in general fell on a single dimension, and that a person's religion can be summarized by a single score. Some apparent differences between these results and those of other investigators are discussed, and some possible reasons for these differences advanced.
Parental and Sex‐Role Identification of Students Measured with a Repertory Grid Technique
Authors: RYLE A. , LUNGHI M.
Published: July 2011

A sample of students completed a repertory grid test in which supplied constructs relating to instrumental and expressive qualities were applied to a range of elements made up of self, ideal self, parents and other role‐defined people known to the subject. The distances between elements were used as measures of perceived similarity, and loadings of elements on the class foci of Instrumental and Expressive constructs provided measures of the relative instrumentality and expressiveness of each element. The relationship of the sex‐role attributes of subjects to those of their parents and factors associated with the identification of subjects with their parents were investigated and the results are related to previous research findings. The advantages and limitations of the method are discussed.
An Item Factor Analysis of the Eysenck Personality Inventory
Authors: HOWARTH EDGAR , BROWNE JAMES A.
Published: July 2011

Considering the wide usage of the Eysenck Personality Inventory, it was deemed desirable to critically examine the factorial nature of its Extraversion and Neuroticism scales. Of prime concern were the questions: (1) is the inventory a univocal measure of extraversion and neuroticism, for which it was designed, (2) are primary personality factors replicable ? An item factor analysis (60 variables, 1319 subjects) extracted 15 interpretable, orthogonal (Varimax) factors: Sociability I, Adjustment‐emotionality, Inferiority, Impulsivity, Mood‐swings‐readjustment, Sleep, Superego I, Jocularity, Sociability II, Dominance, Social conversation, Hypochondriac‐medical, Superego II, and two Lie factors. Obliquity of the primaries was determined by a Promax solution. It was concluded that the Extra version and Neuroticism scales are not univocal and that primary personality factors are replicable, as has been shown by a number of researchers including Eysenck. It is suggested that, until a more comprehensive and accurate inventory, to assess primary factors, is available, the EPI be scored for primary factor scales in order to present a more detailed picture of extraversion and neuroticism for the clinician and the researcher.
Field Dependence and Personality Structure in Abnormal Offenders
Authors: BLACKBURN R.
Published: July 2011

Witkin et al. (1962) have postulated that field dependence is the perceptual component of a pervasive cognitive style, related to an individual's level of psychological differentiation. They have hypothesized that field‐dependent (FD) individuals place greater reliance on external sources of reference than field‐independent (FI) subjects, and in support of this they describe a number of studies which have shown that, relative to FIs, FDs are more passive, submissive, authoritarian, gregarious, impulsive and dependent on others. It has also been suggested that, while FDs and FIs do not differ in level of adjustment, FDs use repression and denial as coping mechanisms, whereas FIs are more likely to show isolation and intellectualization. These characteristics have been observed in several studies employing interview ratings and projective tests. However, less consistent findings have emerged from recent studies using self‐report personality tests, although these have been conducted mainly in student samples. The present study was carried out to determine whether FD and FI individuals in a sample of offenders differ in personality trait variables in the direction proposed by Witkin.
Social Attitudes of Salvationists and Humanists
Authors: WILSON GLENN D. , LILLIE FRANCIS J.
Published: July 2011

The social attitudes of 43 Salvation Army cadets and 31 Young Humanists were compared using the Wilson‐Patterson Conservatism Scale. The distributions of Conservatism scores for the two groups were clearly separated with minimal overlap, and it was demonstrated that this discrimination could not be accounted for by religious items alone. The Salvationists were not only more conservative in terms of religion, but were relatively more anti‐hedonistic, punitive, militaristic, politically conservative and conventional. The two groups did not differ on racial issues or artistic conservatism. Results are discussed in relation to general and two‐factor theories of social attitudes.
The Devaluation by Children of their Own National and Ethnic Group: Two Case Studies
Authors: TAJFEL HENRI , JAHODA GUSTAV , NEMETH CHARLAN , RIM Y. , JOHNSON N. B.
Published: July 2011

In a previous study, conducted in several European countries with children between the ages of 6 and 11, it was found that the subjects expressed a preference for people whom they assumed to be nationals of their own country in a photograph‐sorting task. One exception to the general pattern of results was found in the data obtained with Scottish children from Glasgow who did not express a preference for their own nationals. The present paper reports two further studies conducted in Glasgow, one in Oxford and one in Haifa. The common purpose of these studies was to test the hypothesis that, even in situations which are not characterized by intense intergroup tensions and/or by a clear ‘visibility’ of differences between groups (as in the case of the Scots and the English or of Israeli Jews of ‘European’ and of ‘Oriental’ origin), the children are sensitive to subtle social influences which lead to a ‘devaluation’ of their own group as compared with an outgroup conceived in some sense to be ‘dominant’ or ‘superior’. This hypothesis was confirmed. The implications of the data are discussed in relation to the general literature on the attitudes towards their own group held by children who are members of racial and ethnic groups which are underprivileged.
The Cross‐cultural Validity of the Eysenck Personality Inventory: A Test in Afrikaans‐speaking South Africa
Authors: ORPEN CHRISTOPHER
Published: July 2011

To test the cross‐cultural validity of the EPI, an Afrikaans version of the scale was given to a group of Afrikaans‐speaking school children reared in the relatively ‘authoritarian’ climate of white South Africa. They were also given a social‐distance measure of prejudice and a version of Eysenck's Tender‐mindedness scale. Immediately after responding to the EPI, the subjects rated themselves on nine‐point scales of introversion‐extraversion and neuroticism‐stability. Each class member rated every other member of the class on these two dimensions as well. The significant correlations between the EPI measures and the self‐and other‐ratings of the respective dimensions suggest that the EPI is fairly valid in this new context. The insignificant correlations between the EPI scales and the measures of tender‐mindedness and prejudice suggest that these latter social attributes are unrelated to extraversion and neuroticism in this setting. The results are discussed and interpreted in the light of other cross‐cultural findings with the inventory.
Primaries or Second‐order Factors: A Critical Consideration of Cattell's 16 PF Battery
Authors: EYSENCK H. J.
Published: July 2011

Intercorrelations between certain Cattell 16 PF scales contributing to the second‐order factors exvia‐invia and adjustment‐anxiety were corrected for attenuation, in order to test Cattell's views about the relative importance of primary and second‐order factors. It was found that when the contribution of second‐order factors was extracted from the battery, very little was left over for primaries to measure, and it was concluded that in Cattell's own data there is no good evidence to suggest that primaries make any independent contribution to measurement apart from the higher‐order factors.
Accelerative Trends in Intellectual Development
Authors: KOPPEN‐THULESIUS LIV KAREN , TEICHMANN HELFRIED
Published: July 2011

In this study we present data from comparative investigations showing that human developmental processes have changed during the course of several generations.

The fact that secular physical development shows accelerative trends is relatively well known. In addition to evidence for the physical accelerative development, we also present data in support of the existence of an accelerative secular development of psychological characteristics.

In the field of intellectual development we have shown that the average scores on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Raven's Progressive Matrices and the Army Alpha Intelligence Test show an increasing tendency compared with standardizations from different generations. We thus find the accelerative tendency in verbal as well as in non‐verbal intelligence tests.

Comparisons between the rate of mental‐motor development in infants and pre‐school children from different generations likewise show accelerative trends. Improvements have been found in, for instance, language development and perceptual development.

In the field of ‘Belastungs’ tests we present results of an investigation comparing old and relatively new standardizations of the Pauli Test with a new one (1968). Our sample consisted of 343 school children from Rostock, GDR. The older averages were taken from samples of German school children with equivalent educational level. According to our comparisons, the average performance in general shows a slight increase, although some of the Rostock averages show a decrease compared with new West German averages. In general, however, the averages of the Rostock samples show a marked improvement on the older averages.

These results are interpreted in a discussion of the influence of the different educational systems in the two German states, and of other factors in accelerative secular development. The importance is stressed of working towards a complete picture of accelerative secular development, its extension, causes and consequences in all fields of human development.
Are Conservatism Scales Irreversible?
Authors: RAY J. J.
Published: July 2011

It is proposed that the low negative correlation observed between positive and negative halves of balanced F scales is not atypical of scales in this general content area. An extreme form of this view is Kerlinger's theory that liberalism and conservatism are innately orthogonal. This theory was tested using two conservatism scales: one a revision of Wilson & Patterson's C Scale and one a scale using items in the conventional format. Low negative correlations between positive and negative halves were found in both cases. It was reasoned that orthogonality between one‐way worded scales indicates a negative relationship in the real attitudes being measured. Kerlinger's theory is therefore rejected as inadequate and as contraindicated by the results. It is concluded, however, that some balanced versions of the California F Scale may have been too hastily rejected. Conversely, it is held that the Wilson & Patterson C Scale might be rejected in favour of one of the new conservatism scales developed in this study. This is because the original C Scale showed a positive correlation between its supposedly negative and positive halves.
Operant Conditioning of Social Speech in the Severely Subnormal and the Use of Different Reinforcers
Authors: BARTON ELIZABETH SPINDLER
Published: July 2011

A small group of severely subnormal female patients was conditioned with reinforcement procedures to interact verbally. A reversal design showed the effect of reinforcement on the dependent variable, and allowed comparison between the effect of candy and token reinforcement. Candy was demonstrated to increase social speech only slightly above baseline level; tokens increased it approximately 30 per cent (almost to ceiling) and reduced the amount of response variability. Reliability checks on the data collection showed it to be highly reliable. A cue light used during reinforcement sessions had little effect as a conditioned reinforcer in extinction sessions. Although the rate of social speech dropped in the final extinction session, it never returned to the original baseline levels.
Achievement Motivation and Delinquency
Authors: TUTT N. S.
Published: July 2011

A survey aimed at measuring the levels of achievement motivation in a population of a Home Office approved school (n = 94) and their matched controls showed that the delinquent boys scored significantly lower than their controls. This finding was further supported by a standardized interview study of the eight highest and lowest scoring delinquents and controls (n = 32). The significance of the results is discussed in terms of their relevance to current psychological and sociological explanations of delinquency.
Attributions of Intention to a Simulated Partner in a Mixed‐motive Game
Authors: EISER J. RICHARD , AIYEOLA CARL N. , BAILEY SALLY M. , GASKELL ELAINE J.
Published: July 2011

This study examined the extent to which the intentions which a subject will attribute to his partner in a particular type of bargaining game may be affected by the subject's own outcomes, the costs incurred by the partner, and the subject's own intentions. It was found that a simulated partner whose apparent behaviour produced favourable outcomes for the subject tended to be seen as more cooperative than one whose behaviour produced unfavourable outcomes, unless his behaviour appeared to be purely determined by his own system of costs. Also, subjects who attributed to their partner intentions similar to their own tended to be more competitive than those who attributed dissimilar intentions, when their own outcomes were unfavourably affected but not when they were favourably affected.
Habituation and Over‐extinction of the GSR Component of the Orienting Response in Anti‐social Adolescents
Authors: SIDDLE DAVID A. T. , NICOL A. R. , FOGGITT ROGER H.
Published: July 2011

The present study was designed to investigate GSR orienting activity in anti‐social adolescents. On the basis of Quay's (1965) theorizing, it was hypothesized that high anti‐social subjects would display (1) smaller orienting responses (ORs) to the first presentation of a novel stimulus, (2) faster OR habituation and (3) slower return of the OR (over‐extinction) than low anti‐social subjects. The data provided clear evidence for hypothesis (1), suggesting that anti‐social adolescents will display learning deficiencies with both appetitive and aversive reinforcers. The predictions concerning habituation and over‐extinction were not supported.
Schizophrenic Thought Disorder, Loose Construing, Personal Construct Theory and Scientific Research
Authors: HAYNES ELSIE T. , PHILLIPS J. P. N.
Published: July 2011

Bannister (1972) has made a number of critical comments on our experiment on inconsistency, loose construing and schizophrenic thought disorder (Haynes & Phillips, 1973). Unfortunately, his critique is based on an abstract (Haynes & Phillips, 1972) of a preliminary version of our paper, and is consequently incorrect in a number of respects. Further, even his account of the abstract omits the most relevant two‐thirds of our results, and gives a back‐to‐front account of the logic of the experiment; it is thus also incorrect in other respects. Finally, his general criticism of the strategy of our approach appears to be based on misunderstandings both of our specific hypothesis and of the nature of scientific research in general.
A Psychophysical Investigation of the Influence of Attitude on the Judgement of Social Stimuli
Authors: FRASER R. S. , STACEY B. G.
Published: July 2011

The often reported finding that a person's attitude on an issue can be a potent influence on judgements relating to that issue is discussed with reference to three theories of social judgement—assimilation contrast, adaptation‐level, and variable perspective. It is pointed out that the study of social judgement has been dominated by the measurement technique of equal‐appearing intervals, and that this domination has led to a potentially biased and restricted view of judgemental processes. In an attempt to remove such restriction an investigation is reported which extends the study of social judgement by utilizing some of the newer techniques of psychophysical scaling.

A sample of students judged 18 statements with respect to statement favourability toward the church. Four scales—partition (equal‐appearing intervals), confusion (based on the method of successive categories), magnitude estimation and ratio estimation—were derived from the judgemental data. When the subjects were divided into five groups on the basis of their own religious attitudes it was found that the more favourable the attitude of subjects towards the church (1) the higher are their ratings of statements expressing favourable opinions about the church and (2) the lower their ratings of statements expressing neutral or unfavourable opinions about the church. Although some differences between the partition, confusion, magnitude estimation and ratio estimation scales were found concerning the extent of these two effects, the general pattern for all four scales was similar. It is concluded that the adaptation‐level and variable perspective theories are inadequate to account for the results. The third, assimilation contrast theory, is seen to fit the pattern of results reasonably well.
The Structure of the Wechsler Memory Scale and its Relationship to ‘Brain Damage’
Authors: KEAR‐COLWELL J. J.
Published: July 2011

The paper investigated the factor structure of the Wechsler Memory Scale using a sample of 250 patients referred for cognitive assessment to a department of clinical psychology. Three significant factors were found: (i) the learning and immediate recall of complex novel information—Logical Memory, Visual Reproduction and Associate Learning, (ii) attention and concentration—Mental Control and Digit Span, and (iii) orientation and recall of long‐established verbal information—Information and Orientation. The three factors significantly intercorrelated and were highly saturated with intelligence, as measured by the WAIS. The verbal‐performance discrepancy on the WAIS was independent of the general level of intellectual and memory functioning. Factor scores were calculated for the three factors and patients with different types of organic pathology (dementias, head injuries and ‘others’) were compared with patients for whom no such pathology had been confirmed by neurological or neurosurgical techniques. The general conclusion was that the more diffuse the involvement of brain tissue the greater the memory disturbance, as measured by the Wechsler Memory Scale. Some definite organic lesions of the brain, however, produced no measurable memory deficit. The evidence does not support a unitary view of brain damage and its cognitive effects.
A Questionnaire Study of Situations and Response Styles in Anxiety: A Pilot Study
Authors: COLMAN S. W. , HALSTEAD H.
Published: July 2011

A pilot study is described in which an anxiety questionnaire, combining both the manifestations of anxiety and the situations which might evoke anxiety, was distributed to a group of 60 neurotic patients and a group of 60 non‐patients, both groups being dichotomized by sex. The results indicated that neurotics as a group endorsed significantly more items on both parts of the scale, and also indicated greater severity, than did the normal group. A sex difference was apparent for the neurotic group but not for the normal group. Chi‐square analysis revealed that a number of items on both parts of the scale discriminated normal and neurotic respondents at a high level of confidence (P < 0·01), although the relative importance of the items in terms of rank‐ordering was very similar for all groups. The implications of the present findings are discussed with regard to future work on the scale.
Probability Learning and Width of Attention in Normal and Schizophrenic Groups
Authors: JOHNSTON D. W. , BURSILL A. E.
Published: July 2011

Venables' (1964) theory that chronic schizophrenics display narrowed attention was tested in a probability learning task. Contrary to prediction, normals, paranoid schizophrenics and non‐paranoid schizophrenics did not differ in their probability learning on a 2:1 ratio, nor when that ratio changed to 100 per cent occurrence of one stimulus. On measures of the dependence of the subjects' current behaviour on previous stimuli and responses the schizophrenics were no less dependent on the more distant events than the normals, again contrary to prediction. These findings also fail to support the ‘immediacy hypothesis’ of Salzinger et al. (1970). There was some evidence that the non‐paranoid schizophrenics were more influenced by their own previous responses and less by the stimulus series than were the paranoid schizophrenics or normals.
A Comparison of Two Scoring Systems for the Sexual Orientation Method
Authors: WOODWARD R. , McALLISTER H. , HARBISON J. J. M. , QUINN J. T. , GRAHAM P. JOAN
Published: July 2011

Two groups of male subjects, one of unselected normals and one of homosexuals referred for treatment, are compared on their SOM scores using both the original scoring system as outlined by Feldman et al., and Phillips' suggested modifications. The utility of the two methods for discriminating between the groups of subjects is investigated, and the results indicate that the shorter Phillips system is as efficient as the original scoring method.
Polarization and the Established Group
Authors: SEMIN GÜN R. , GLENDON A. IAN
Published: July 2011

In research the general practice is for experimental studies to be derived from real‐life observations, and particularly those from field research. The study here reverses this practice. A real‐life situation has been discovered, the conditions of which correspond to those generally employed in risky‐shift studies. The quantitative nature of the decisions made in the established group studied enables the data to be treated in comparable fashion to data derived from risk‐taking and polarization studies. In the case studied here no shift in any direction was found. An examination of the possible factors accounting for this finding indicated that the two most important ones were the amount of information at the disposal of the group, and the reference system within which decisions were made, which was common to all the group members. These variables are put forward as worthy of further experimental analysis. Discussion focuses on the implications of research such as this for the external validity of experimental studies.
Resistance to Change: Differential Effects of Favourable and Unfavourable Initial Communications*
Authors: BEIGEL ASTRID
Published: July 2011

This study investigated the differential resistance to change of initially favourable and unfavourable impressions when counter‐communications are given. The results support the hypothesis that unfavourable initial impressions are more resistant to change than favourable initial impressions over a 10‐day interval, though the difference is not apparent immediately following the counter‐communication. These findings are discussed with respect to their implications for interpersonal and social change and the need for the development of a comprehensive theory to account for the empirically observed phenomenon.
An Exploratory Study of Interaction Amongst British and Immigrant Children
Authors: BROWN G. A.
Published: July 2011

The frequencies of aggressive and non‐aggressive verbal and bodily contacts of a sample of 36 British and 37 immigrant 9‐ to 10‐year‐old children were compared. Immigrant children were more aggressive with each other than with British children. A language barrier between British and immigrant children was detected.
Inter‐Rater Agreement on the Memory‐for‐Designs Test
Authors: McIVER DAVID , McLAREN SUSAN A. , PHILIP ALISTAIR E.
Published: July 2011

Inter‐rater agreement on the Memory‐for‐Designs Test was examined by comparing the scores given by each of three independent raters on the test protocols of 50 psychiatric patients. The test reproductions ranged from those seen to be error‐free to those obtaining maximum error scores. Analysis of variance showed disagreement between raters in the scoring of six designs and yielded intra‐class correlations for individual designs varying from 0ṁ67 to 1ṁ00. Reliability estimates for total test score were above 0ṁ90, being similar to the findings of previous studies. In discussing the results it is suggested that these high correlations are misleading because of the very large number of error‐free reproductions obtained from a varied group of subjects such as those tested here. Disagreement between raters occurred on those designs with fewest error‐free reproductions. It is argued that agreement on degree of error on reproductions is more important in this test than simple agreement of an error/no error kind. To achieve this end the scoring criteria must be improved, or alternatively, a simpler system of scoring should be introduced.
Salience, Centrality and Self‐relevance of Traits in Construing Others
Authors: LEMON NIGEL , WARREN NEIL
Published: July 2011

Salient traits were hypothesized as having importance for the individual in two respects: (i) because they allow more effective inferences to other traits (centrality); (ii) because they are typically used in characterizing the self, and thus afford self‐other comparison (self‐relevance). The study reported assessed the differences between salient and non‐salient traits on measures of centrality and self‐relevance, and found support for both hypotheses. Centrality and self‐relevance appeared to be relatively distinct features of salient traits, in that the overlap between them was fairly small. Other aspects of the data are also discussed.