bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
From gaze aversion to eye‐movement suppression: An investigation of the cognitive interference explanation of gaze patterns during conversation
Authors: Ehrlichman Howard
Published: June 2011

To test the commonly held assumption that people avert gaze during dyadic conversation to reduce cognitive interference engendered by the visual presence of the other participant's face, cognitive interference while answering questions was assessed when the interviewer's face was either visible on a video screen or not visible, and when subjects were either required to look continuously at the screen or were permitted free eye movements. Data from 88 female subjects revealed no evidence of greater interference during continuous gaze at the face, providing no support for the interference explanation of gaze patterns. Electro‐oculographic recording of subjects' eye movements also indicated that the visual presence or absence of the face affected gaze and eye movements only when subjects were listening to the question. When thinking and speaking, subjects tended to look away from the screen and produced relatively high rates of eye movements irrespective of the stimulus displayed on the screen. The results suggest that gaze during conversation may be a function of two opposing tendencies, the tendency to monitor the other's facial expressions and the tendency to make saccadic eye movements during thinking and speaking.
A further investigation of the cognitive interference hypothesis of gaze patterns during conversation
Authors: Beattie Geoffrey W.
Published: June 2011

This study attempts to directly test the hypothesis that continuous gaze at the face of another person interferes with the production of spontaneous speech. In a quasi‐interview situation subjects answered either verbal or spatial questions and either had to look continuously at the face of the interviewer or were permitted free eye movements. Measures were taken of response latency, fluency of verbal response, and in addition a number of measures of filled hesitation were made. Continuous gaze at the face of the interviewer had no significant effect on the speed or fluency of response but filled hesitations, and especially false starts, increased significantly. An interpretation in terms of the mediating effects of arousal is provided.
Nature of the witnessed incident and status of interviewer as variables influencing eyewitness recall
Authors: Hollin Clive R.
Published: June 2011

Early writers argued that the ‘emotion’ associated with witnessing a violent crime mitigated against accurate testimony (e.g. Whipple, 1914) and some experimental evidence (e.g. Clifford & Hollin, in press) has supported this contention. Whilst Sussman & Sugarman (1972) failed to find any effect of violence, witnesses here, unlike real life, knew before viewing that their memory was to be tested.

Marshall (1966) investigated the effect of interviewer status on witness recall. Although this study has a confound in reporting instructions to experimental and control groups (see Hollin, 1980a), Marshall found that students gave less accurate recall with a high status interviewer (a professor), whilst police cadets' recall was more accurate with a high status interviewer (a police captain). The present experiment sought to expand upon Marshall's lone finding.

Wells et al. (1979) reported that the public — potential witnesses and jurors — believe in a strong link between confidence and memory accuracy. However, most investigators have failed to find any substantial relationship (e.g. Clifford & Hollin, in press).
Do lawyers' references to ‘common sense’ have anything to do with what ordinary people think?
Authors: Lloyd‐Bostock Sally
Published: June 2011

Shotter's (1981) suggestion that psychology experiments have, and in principle can have, no relevance to lawyers' questions about common‐sense concepts is as oversimple and dangerous as the view he attacks. His argument takes no account of the contexts in which lawyers actually invoke ‘common sense’, and rests on (a) a view of jurisprudence most jurists would reject, and (b) the fallacy that where authoritative conclusions cannot be established, no more modest contribution can be made.
British attitudes towards Europe: An exploration of their inner structure
Authors: Wober Mallory
Published: June 2011

Political scientists and communications researchers have recently studied the question of whether the European Common Market will develop from being a primarily economic entity, towards a possible future as a federal European State. At the same time, regional movements have shown a resurgence in several European countries; so politically centripetal forces are opposed in some areas by centrifugal tendencies. Existing nation states are thus challenged as foci for providing identity for their populations, and the leadership elites are set great problems of constitutional design.

Psychologists should see this context as an important one in which to make a contribution that can be both analytic, and empirical. As a start, a representative British sample has been surveyed with a set of questions covering attitudes towards Europe. The underlying factorial structure of these attitudes has been shown not to be unitary, but multiple. There is not just one ‘attitude towards Europe’ dimension, but at least three. Individuals' standing on each of these dimensions has been shown to relate differently to a variety of cultural and behavioural variables. These findings raise important questions for planning acceptable and effective policies in the political and administrative fields.
The next‐in‐line effect and the recall of structured and unstructured material
Authors: Innes J. M.
Published: June 2011

Brenner (1973) has reported a ‘next‐in‐line’ effect in which people, who have to perform in turn before an audience and then have to recall what they themselves and others produced, show a significant decrement in recall for material presented immediately before and after their own presentation, compared with the recall of the same material by people who merely listened without any threat of performing.

An experiment is reported which examines in such a situation the effect upon recall of variation in the structure of material. Subjects who had to recall words which had been read out and which were strongly associated showed little difference in amount of recall whether they had themselves read out the words or had merely listened. Where the words were more loosely related, however, readers showed a significant decrement compared with listeners, especially for words which had been read out prior to their own performance. The results have implications for the role of performance in front of others in the encoding and retrieval of material for recall.
Role differentiation and seating arrangements: A further study
Authors: Roger D. B. , Reid R. L.
Published: June 2011

In a previous study the authors investigated the relationship between role differentiation and seating arrangements in freely formed groups. However, the design of that experiment did not permit constant monitoring of the groups so that the strategies employed in effecting the final seating positions were not revealed. The present paper reports on the process of spatial adaptation in four‐man problem‐solving groups throughout the period of role differentiation. Results showed that the non‐dominant member, who was subsequently chosen as having contributed the least to the solution of the problem, became isolated from a subgroup formed by the remaining members. Other aspects of task performance in the groups were also recorded, including solution times, role selection times, verbal interaction patterns and the effects of initial chair positions. Secondary analyses performed on these data indicated that the more egalitarian groups took longer to arrive at a solution, and that initial chair placement distances did not affect the seating arrangements adopted in the groups.
Perceived social support for opinions: A test of the magnitude and diversity hypotheses
Authors: Manstead A. S. R.
Published: June 2011

This study tested the hypotheses that the perceived magnitude and diversity of an opinion group are enhanced by membership of that group, and that perceptions of the magnitude and diversity of opinion groups are not confounded with each other. Subjects were asked (i) to indicate their own opinions on each of four issues, and (ii) to estimate the proportion of their peers who would fall into each of three specified opinion groups on each issue, and rate the diversity of membership of each opinion group. The order in which these questions were posed was reversed for half the subjects. Results were consistent with the magnitude hypothesis, but there was little support for the diversity hypothesis. Correlations between magnitude and diversity ratings tended to be positive and reliable. Question sequence exerted no consistently reliable effects. Discrepancies between present and previous findings are discussed.
Social categorization and personal similarity as determinants of attribution bias: A test of defensive attribution
Authors: Fincham Frank , Hewstone Miles
Published: June 2011

Shaver's (1970) defensive attribution hypothesis was tested systematically. Personal similarity, situational relevance and outcome severity were manipulated. Also studied was the importance of social categorization as a determinant of responsibility attribution bias, as an extension of ‘minimal’ intergroup studies. Seventy‐six schoolboys were assigned to the cells of a 2 (categorization) ×2 (similarity) factorial design. Each subject read three accidents ostensibly involving unidentified others from the same experimental condition. Judgements of blame, situational relevance, perceived similarity and carelessness were elicited.

Neither similarity nor situational relevance affected attributions, but similarity had an effect on carelessness ratings (P < 0.05). Outcome severity affected blame (P < 0.025) and carelessness (P < 0.01). Categorization had no effect. Thus, no support for the defensive attribution hypothesis nor for attributional bias based on such minimal similarity and categorization manipulations was found.
Public issue or private achievement? A further comment on the issues of the social ecology of intelligence and educational attainment
Authors: Kirby Andrew
Published: June 2011

In an earlier paper, the author made detailed methodological criticisms of Lynn's work on the social ecology of intelligence (Lynn, 1979; Kirby, 1980). These have been overlooked in a further study which extends the existing methodology to an analysis of French data (Lynn, 1980). In response, this present paper attempts three things: first, a reiteration of the critique of ecological studies; second, a detailed criticism of Lynn's causal reasoning with respect to the French data; and third, a brief review of the recent research that emphasizes the role of public provision in the process of educational attainment.
The free‐rider principle, the charity market and the economics of Mood
Authors: Johnson David B.
Published: June 2011

This article summarizes some recent developments in the economics of the charity market, presents some applications of the analyses and highlights areas which need interdisciplinary research. A brief summary of the fairly recent extension of economic analyses to non‐private market institutions is presented, followed by an overview of economic analysis applied to the charity market, interspersed with examples of policy applications. The article concludes with a generalized application of economic analyses to the policy debates on the roles of the volunteer and commercial blood procurement systems in the United States.
The market for offences and the public enforcement of laws: An equilibrium analysis
Authors: Ehrlich Isaac
Published: June 2011

The general proposition developed in this paper is that the frequency of offences of specific types is determined, by and large, not as the capricious outcome of biological or social idiosyncracies, but as the result of the equilibrating interplay of systematic ‘supply and demand’ forces. The role of public intervention via police, courts, correctional institutions, and economic policy in general, is then viewed in terms of its impact on the equilibrium level of activity in illegitimate markets, rather than in terms of its effect on either the supply or the demand sides of these markets separately. From a policy perspective the implication is that the efficacy of public intervention in the ‘business of crime’ must be assessed through the relevant comparative statics or dynamics of market equilibrium, rather than by reference to partial settings. For example, one would seek to know not just whether a rehabilitative project can enhance the likelihood that a group of known offenders will be successfully absorbed in legitimate or socially desirable pursuits, but whether the rehabilitative project, even if successful, would lead to a corresponding reduction in the overall volume of crime. Recognition of the existence and role of the ‘market for offences’ is shown to lead to important modifications in previous economic analyses of illegitimate activities concerning not only the efficacy of rehabilitation and other means of direct control of individual offenders, but of means of general deterrence as well.

The paper states conditions under which individual control is efficacious and shows that it will be ineffective precisely where general deterrence is effective. Generally, the relative efficacy of all means of public enforcement of laws is shown to be a function of both supply and demand elasticities rather than a function of supply elasticities alone. The analysis includes a brief discussion of what is meant by the supply and demand notions in crime, and, indeed, by the more provocative concept of the ‘market for offences’.
The related but distinct ‘sciences' of economics and of political economy
Authors: Buchanan James M.
Published: June 2011

The raison d'être of natural science is to provide knowledge and to control natural processes. Most economists believe that they should practise economics in the same manner, i.e. accumulate knowledge of the behaviour of men and of the economy that enables the powerful to control other people's behaviour with increasing efficiency. This paper argues that in doing so, economists forget the moral basis of their science and thereby miss the raison d'être of economics. The true purpose of the distinctive ‘science of political economy’ is to design alternative legal structures and to evaluate their potentialities in enhancing efficiency in the exploitation of the mutuality of advantage. This means that the ‘science of political economy’ is categorically distinct from the ‘science of economics’. The former uses the knowledge of behavioural regularities, which the latter may discover, in order to allow the community of free individuals to make informed institutional choices. This approach has, as a necessary prerequisite, a different conception of human nature from that used by the ‘science of economics’, which characterizes human beings as mere net‐wealth maximizing beasts. Such an assumption makes the stability of civil order totally incomprehensible. The ‘science of political economy’ also leads to quite different consequences as to a proper understanding of government and of society. The paper discusses the differences between a morally indifferent ‘science of economics' or behavioural theory, and a morally relevant ‘science of political economy’ and urges social scientists to remember the basic truths of their forefathers, the moral philosophers of the 18th century.
Drive theory of social facilitation: A critical reappraisal
Authors: Glaser Anthony N.
Published: June 2011

Social psychology is concerned with the effects of the presence of others; the study of social facilitation, which specifically addresses such effects, should therefore be identifiable as the central focus of the discipline. However, since Zajonc's (1965) seminal integration, this field has been dominated by the asocial drive‐theoretical interpretation which he proposed. This interpretation is challenged on five main grounds: that it fails to explain adequately the early findings in the field; that the most influential subsequent tests of it are unsatisfactory; that a large number of studies which appear to contradict it have gone uncited and unheeded; that Hull‐Spence drive theory is problematic per se: and that its application to the core of social psychology is inappropriate and has led to an impoverished conceptualization of the field.
Pre‐emptive game behaviour and the emergence of leadership
Authors: Kremer John M. D. , Mack David
Published: June 2011

The investigation considers the relationship between pre‐emptive behaviour in the mixed‐motive experimental game known as Leader, and the emergence of leadership roles in small groups. Forty male and 45 female subjects each played 100 trials of the Leader game against a non‐contingent other, before subsequently interacting in five‐person, sexually homogeneous groups engaged upon a number of mixed‐motive tasks. A relationship was established between pre‐emptive play in the game situation and nominations for leadership roles in the groups. Specifically, male task leaders were characterized by low levels of pre‐emption and female task leaders by high rates of pre‐emption.

The results are interpreted within the context of differential structuring in male and female groups, with a more authoritarian rigidly defined role system in the former case. The investigation points not only to the potential usefulness of game pre‐emption as a leadership measure, but also to the links between behaviour in laboratory games and other less strictly controlled interaction settings.
Effects of person and situation expectations on explanation seeking and causal attributions
Authors: Nesdale Andrew R.
Published: June 2011

To examine the effects of person and situation expectations on explanation seeking and causal attributions, subjects in the present experiment observed a situation‐expected or ‐unexpected negative act which was person‐expected or ‐unexpected. The results indicated that explanation seeking was instigated by violations of person and situation expectations although the former exerted little influence when the behaviour was situation‐unexpected. In addition, regardless of situation expectations, behaviour which confirmed a person expectation was attributed to the actor's dispositions, whereas behaviour which disconfirmed a person expectation was attributed more to the situation. The latter attribution, however, appears to be a provisional judgement which is made pending additional information which would enable a more confident judgement. The results are discussed in relation to the existing models of the attribution process.
Preference for occupations in relation to masculinity, femininity, and gender
Authors: Feather N. T. , Said John A.
Published: June 2011

Male students (n=95) and female students (n=77) in their penultimate year at a metropolitan high school completed the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) to provide masculinity (M) and femininity (F) scores and also nominated their choices of ideal and realistic occupations, the former being the occupation they would most prefer to work in and the latter the occupation that they realistically expected to choose. They then rated each choice for male dominance and status or prestige. Those subjects who indicated that they would not continue in the realistically chosen occupation until retirement also rated the likelihood that each of 10 reasons would be their reason for leaving. Results indicated strong gender effects for the male dominance ratings, males preferring gender‐congruent ideal and realistic occupations more than females. Strong gender effects also occurred from the analyses of the likelihood ratings for some of the reasons. Effects involving masculinity (M) and femininity (F) scores and their joint classification (androgynous, masculine, feminine, undifferentiated) were mostly non‐significant but the significant effects that did emerge were theoretically meaningful, especially those that concerned reasons for quitting the realistic occupation. Results were taken as support for the view that the effects of sex‐role expectations and attitudes should be distinguished from the effects of instrumental and expressive personality traits when occupational choices are considered.
What is social about social cognition?
Authors: Forgas Joseph P.
Published: June 2011

Interest in social cognition is one of the major new developments in social psychology in recent years. This paper argues for a radically expanded view of social cognition as not merely the information‐processing analysis of social domains, but as a field genuinely devoted to the study of the relationship between individual cognition and socio‐cultural representations. Social cognition as a field of research thus has the unique potential of unifying the hitherto separated individual and social realms in psychology. Four relevant lines of argument are considered: (1) The implications of the currently dominant information‐processing metaphor are contrasted with traditional social psychological theories. (2) Next, the historical roots of social cognition research in sociology, psychology and phenomenology are outlined, in support of an expanded conceptualization of the field. (3) The expansion of current research in three specific directions is suggested, to include (a) developmental, (b) affective and motivational, and (c) collective processes in social cognition. (4) The methodological implications of this expanded view of social cognition are discussed. It is concluded that a genuinely social approach to cognition as advocated here is not only congruent with historical formulations, but also offers exciting new opportunities for empirical research in social psychology.
A subjective probability approach to responsibility attribution
Authors: Fincham F. D. , Jaspars J. M.
Published: June 2011

The studies reported assess the utility of a quantitative subjective probability approach to attribution of responsibility. In the first two experiments the perceived likelihood of a specified outcome given the situation portrayed, the outcome given a particular act and the act given the situation are used to predict judgement of cause, responsibility and blame/praise. Some support was found for the utility of all three estimates especially in relation to responsibility and blame judgements. Experiment 3 attempts to show that the subjective probability of the act given the situation is causally related to responsibility attribution. Only perceived blame/praise was altered by manipulating this probability estimate. The last two experiments investigate further the causal relationship between the subjective probabilities and the attributions measured by using the former as independent variables. Judgements of blame were affected most although responsibility and, to a lesser extent, cause also varied as a function of the manipulated probabilities. Both the nature of the subjective probabilities examined and the reasons for their utility in relation to attributions are discussed.
Superordinate goals and intergroup conflict
Authors: Deschamps Jean‐Claude , Brown Rupert
Published: June 2011

We have examined the effects of different types of superordinate goals on intergroup differentiation and attraction. On the basis of Social Identity Theory it was hypothesized that a reduction in social conflict would be most probable when groups enjoyed distinctive or non‐comparable roles in a cooperative activity. Accordingly, 55 arts and science students participated in a cooperative intergroup task in which the groups' roles were either comparable or non‐comparable. For half the subjects the group division was explicitly based on faculty membership; for the remainder the groups appeared to be ad hoc. Measures of intergroup liking and differentiation were taken before and after the task, which involved a superordinate goal of substantial financial gain. Results indicated that comparability of roles increased intergroup differentiation when the faculty categorization was made explicit, and decreased liking for the out‐group when it was not. It was concluded that there are therefore circumstances when superordinate goals may not reduce intergroup conflict, and that these are predictable from a consideration of group distinctiveness and the implications of this for social identity.
A critique of role play terminology in social psychology experimentation
Authors: Yardley Krysia M.
Published: June 2011

Recently a great deal of attention has been paid to the task of conceptualizing and describing role play techniques. Most commonly, heavy reliance is placed on role theory terminology to achieve this task. In the present paper the author argues that such reliance, particularly on the part of the humanistic proponents of role play, is inappropriate given certain theoretical limitations of role theory. Further this leads to inadequate and misleading notions of what role play actually involves and also to unacceptable implications with respect to the ecological validity of role play experiments. New descriptive conceptualizations of role play are offered, pertaining to concepts of as‐ifness. Lastly the theatrical process is also examined in some detail to elucidate the processes of role play, and to illustrate the distinction between ecological and functional validity.
Visual communication and impression formation
Authors: Kemp N. J. , Rutter D. R. , Dewey M. E. , Harding A. G. , Stephenson G. M.
Published: June 2011

Although it is widely believed that visual cues play an important part in person perception, the experimental literature is inconclusive. Two issues in particular remain unresolved: whether visual information affects participants in conversations in the same way it affects observers; and how the accuracy, quality, and confidence of impressions are related to one another. The purpose of the present experiment was to explore both issues, by incorporating participants and observers in one design, and examining all three aspects of impressions at once. Participants were video‐recorded in pairs, either face‐to‐face or over an audio‐only link, and the recordings were subsequently played to observers under conditions of sound and vision, vision only, or sound only. There were several differences in confidence estimates between participants and observers, but there was no evidence for either accuracy or quality effects. In addition, there was no evidence that observers were affected by whether or not they had visual information, or that face‐to‐face and audio participants differed in the impressions they created. It is concluded that visual cues play a smaller part in impression formation than has generally been supposed.
Equity and social categorization effects on intergroup allocation of rewards
Authors: Ng Sik Hung
Published: June 2011

The effects of equity and social categorization on reward allocation were tested by inserting a veridical input factor into the minimal categorization paradigm unconfounded by any need for inequity prevention. Forty‐seven Hong Kong Chinese students divided a monetary reward between two recipients who had contributed unequally to the reward. The more productive recipient was either an in‐group or out‐group member, or there was no group distinction between them (i.e. non‐categorization). Significant main effects of equity (favouritism to the more productive recipient) and social categorization (in‐group bias) were found on intergroup allocation, as was the main effect of equity on interpersonal allocation. When the forces of social categorization and equity were in harmony, equity effect was accentuated and nearly all the subjects behaved equitably; when in conflict, equity effect was neutralized and subjects were evenly split into equitable and inequitable allocators. No sex effect was found. The need for integrating equity and social categorization is highlighted.
Gender stereotypes and personal adjustment: Employing the PAQ, TSBI and GHQ with samples of British adolescents
Authors: Keyes Susan
Published: June 2011

A pair of studies assessed the validity of two American instruments for use with British samples: the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ) as a measure of masculine/instrumental and feminine/expressive traits, and the Texas Social Behavior Inventory (TSBI) as a measure of social self‐esteem. Relationships also were explored between gender stereotypes and psychological malaise, as measured by the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Data from both studies verified the suitability of the PAQ and the TSBI for use with British adolescent samples. In Study 2, relationships between gender stereotypes and measures of personal adjustment were obtained, providing a partial replication of results previously reported for American samples (Spence & Helmreich, 1978).
Friendship choices in an integrated primary school in Northern Ireland
Authors: Davies J. , Turner I. F.
Published: June 2011

Friendship choices of 100 children between 7 and 11 years of age were examined. Little religious bias emerged from their choices of friends in class and in the playground. Out of school, however, Protestants tended to play with co‐religionists. This may reflect demographic factors rather than religious in‐group bias.
Reported behaviour changes after job loss
Authors: Warr Peter
Published: June 2011

Reports of change since job loss in 38 behaviours were obtained from 954 unemployed British working‐class men. Longer duration of unemployment was found to be significantly associated with several reported changes, and substantial age differences were also present. Associations between psychological distress and reported changes in behaviour were widely significant.
Attitudinal politics in intergroup behaviour: Interpersonal vs. intergroup determinants of attitude change
Authors: Reid Fraser J. M. , Sumiga Lita
Published: June 2011

Recent studies have found an attitudinal tendency for individuals to overconform to in‐group norms when the cognitive salience of their group membership is increased. The experiment described here investigated this effect in the context of anticipated intergroup interaction. Student subjects, selected to represent academic course groups, expected to debate social attitudes with members of a student out‐group or with other in‐group representatives. Subjects prepared for this debate individually by rehearsing relevant arguments or by engaging in intragroup discussion. Contrary to predictions derived from social identity theory, subjects forewarned of an intergroup debate moderated their positions on important in‐group attitudes. Attitude moderation was not supported by a cognitive reappraisal of relevant arguments. These findings suggest that the motive to present a favourable personal identity during intergroup interaction had a greater impact on expressed attitudes than subjects' social identity as representatives of a salient membership group.
Selective impact of reattribution of failure instructions on task performance
Authors: Brewin Chris R. , Shapiro David A.
Published: June 2011

In an experiment designed to test the attributional reformulation of learned helplessness theory, the relationship between subjects' attributions for failure on an experimental task and their subsequent performance on a test task was investigated. Following debriefing, in which an external and specific cause of the original failure was supplied, it was expected that the greatest improvement in performance would be shown by subjects who had made internal and global attributions for failure. The results indicated that attributions for failure along the global/specific dimension predicted generalization of helplessness to the test task and that debriefing selectively aided subjects making internal/stable and internal/global attributions. The importance of these results for attribution therapies is discussed.
Perception of personal and interpersonal action in a cartoon film
Authors: Oatley Keith , Yuill Nicola
Published: June 2011

In two experiments subjects viewed versions of Heider & Simmel's (1944) cartoon film in which two triangles and a circle move in and round a diagram of a house. The film was shown in stages. After each stage subjects wrote accounts of what had happened and what they thought might happen next. Accounts were analysed by assigning each verb phrase to one of four categories ranging from impersonal description of movement, to personal description of human emotion and dramatic interaction. Subjects used progressively more personal descriptions as the film proceeded, implying assimilation of events of the film by social schemata. In a second experiment, giving the film the title of ‘The jealous lover’ encouraged earlier use of verbs in the more personal categories. Summaries written after the stage‐by‐stage accounts showed elaboration on the original perceptions.
Predicting our own aggression: Person, subculture or situation?
Authors: Campbell Anne , Bibel Daniel , Muncer Steven
Published: June 2011

Using a self‐report technique, teenaged subjects (stratified by sex and social class) were asked to report their predicted behaviour over 24 conflict scenarios involving 12 male and 12 female targets. In terms of degree of aggression predicted, there was a strong effect of situation. Towards male targets, lower middle‐class subjects were more aggressive than upper middle‐class subjects and males were more aggressive than females. With respect to female targets, the social class difference again appeared but there was no simple sex difference. The interaction of sex and social class indicated that lower middle‐class females were most aggressive toward female targets. Cross‐situational consistency was low even controlling for class and sex, indicating little support for a generalized ‘aggressive personality’. The most powerful single effect was the situation being judged. Feature analysis of situations tending to produce fight vs. flight responses suggested that flight is associated with perceived high risk encounters whereas fighting is the modal response in ‘fair fight’ situations where the risk of injury is lower. It is suggested that impression management concerns operate only in these low risk situations.
Three theories of coalition behaviour: A probabilistic extension
Authors: Nail Paul , Cole Steven G.
Published: June 2011

A major weakness with recent research and theoretical advancements in the area of coalition formation is that most of the efforts have been limited strictly to deterministic formats, while in many instances outside the laboratory the success of a coalition is not certain. Extensions of three theories of coalition formation behaviour (minimum resource theory, bargaining theory and equal excess theory) to take into account probability of success were derived employing the expected value concept. The theories were tested by having subjects play the role of company stockholders engaged in a power struggle to gain control of a company. The results offered strongest support for the extended bargaining theory and suggested that subjects combined considerations of resources and probabilities in reaching coalition decisions.
Television and sex‐role acquisition. 2: Effects
Authors: Durkin Kevin
Published: June 2011

This paper is the second in a three‐part review series of television and sex‐role acquisition. In the preceding paper, evidence was reviewed which establishes that much of television sex‐role content is highly stereotyped. This paper points out that the effects of this content upon young viewers have often been assumed rather than demonstrated. The less extensive but growing literature on the relationship between television viewing and sex‐role development is reviewed. Correlational and experimental studies are discussed. It is argued that the evidence of modest associations between amount of viewing and degree of sex typing claimed in some studies must be interpreted with caution, and it is pointed out that correlations have not always been found. Some interesting experimental work is taken as indicative of possible effects, but it is stressed that there is a fundamental need for more sophisticated theoretical accounts than the assumption that viewing time and effects are linearly related. Theoretical prospects are reviewed with reference to recent work in social‐cognitive development.
Social roles and social perception biases: The questioner superiority effect revisited
Authors: Davies Martin F.
Published: June 2011

It is argued that the findings of a study by Sumpton & Gregson (1981) which failed to show a questioner superiority effect for non‐quiz knowledge in the Ross et al. (1977) social roles paradigm were due to implied memory demands. In a replication of the Sumpton & Gregson design, a significant questioner superiority effect was found for non‐quiz knowledge when implied memory demands were minimized. A second experiment provided further evidence for the robustness of the questioner superiority effect by demonstrating persistence of the effect after evidential discrediting. The results are discussed with reference to the behavioural consequences of attributional judgements, the salience and relevance of contextual information, and the generality of the fundamental attribution error.
Coalition behaviour: Effects of coalition values and monetary stakes
Authors: Miller Charles E.
Published: June 2011

Previous studies of coalition behaviour have failed to find any significant effects of monetary stakes. The study described here proposes a possible explanation for these previous failures and tests this explanation, along with the equal excess model of coalition formation, which makes specific predictions regarding the effects of stakes. Each of 288 four‐person groups played one of two apex games, for either high ($30) or low ($3) monetary stakes. The two games were alike in that the pay‐offs (values) per member were greater in the apex (AB, AC, AD) coalitions than the base (BCD) coalition, and the value of the AB coalition was greater than the values of the other apex coalitions. The games differed in that, compared to the AB coalition, the values of the other apex coalitions were greater in Game 1 than Game 2. Player A thus had better alternatives to the AB coalition in Game 1 than Game 2. As predicted by the equal excess model, in Game 1 the apex player (A) received a larger share of the pay‐off in the AB coalition—but the AB coalition formed less frequently—under high stakes than under low stakes. Contrary to the predictions of the equal excess model, however, monetary stakes had no effect on coalition behaviour in Game 2. The findings suggest that the failure of previous studies to find significant effects for monetary stakes has probably been due to their use of weak stakes manipulations and/or their use of games such as Game 2, in which one of the coalitions has a value per member that is relatively large.
A critical comparison of bargaining theory and the weighted probability model of coalition behaviour
Authors: Nail Paul R. , Cole Steven G.
Published: June 2011

Two theories of coalition behaviour, bargaining theory (Komorita & Chertkoff, 1973) and the weighted probability model (Komorita, 1974), were tested utilizing data from a single trial of bargaining. It is proposed that previous studies did not adequately compare the two theories either because they employed aggregate data which masked information relevant to bargaining theory, or because they utilized coalition games which did not provide a sensitive test of the weighted probability model. For coalition preferences and coalitions formed, bargaining theory was superior. Pay‐off division was not predicted well by either theory, although bargaining theory did seem to be based on the proper assumptions about the process involved. In spite of the overall predictive superiority of bargaining theory, anecdotal evidence supported one of the primary assumptions of the weighted probability model—that subjects prefer two‐way coalitions over three‐way coalitions because they are easier to form. It is concluded that a complete picture of coalition behaviour will probably be facilitated by assumptions from both theories.
What the subjects have to say
Authors: Aitkenhead Marilyn , Dordoy Jackie
Published: June 2011

It is argued that if professional codes of ethics are to be effective in preventing unethical actions by psychologists, they should be partly based upon empirical research documenting how participants in our research feel about our research procedures. If, for instance, participants do not object to deception and if being deceived does not make them regard psychological research in a negative light, on what grounds would it be regarded as unethical to deceive them? In order to make informed decisions about the likely consequences of our research procedures upon participants, we need to rest such decisions upon research findings rather than upon professional prejudgements. An exploratory experiment is described which examines the effects of deception, physical discomfort (stress), and experimenter considerateness upon subjects' reactions both to the experiment in which they participated and upon their feelings about psychological research in general. Whilst the manipulations did affect subjects' reactions somewhat adversely, on the whole their reactions were positive. In addition, a direct comparison is made between the reactions of subjects in a passive role‐playing condition (PRPs) and those who actually took part, to see if the reactions of the PRPs could be a useful guide to those of actual participants. If so, then investigators concerned about the possible adverse effects of their research upon participants could use the reactions of PRPs as one criterion by which to judge the ethicality of their proposed research. It was found that PRPs overestimate the degree of stress involved, but are otherwise reasonably accurate in predicting how actual participants feel. Implications of the results for our ethical codes are discussed.
The astrological doctrine of ‘aspects’: A failure to validate with personality measures
Authors: Startup Michael
Published: June 2011

A series of three studies was designed to test the astrological doctrine of ‘aspects’. In the first, a group of astrologers was asked to specify how personality varies with specific aspects between 32 pairs of planets; these predictions were tested against scores on 10 personality dimensions. In the second, a comparison of ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ aspects was made using multivariate methods. The third study ignored the traditional aspects and simply investigated whether personality varies in any manner as a function of the angular separation between planets at birth. No evidence for the validity of astrological ideas was found in any of these studies.
Social comparison processes among cancer patients
Authors: Molleman Eric , Pruyn Jean , van Knippenberg Ad
Published: June 2011

This study focuses on two problems of cancer patients: uncertainty and anxiety. The significance of fellow‐patients in coping with uncertainty and anxiety was studied by means of a questionnaire which was completed by 418 patients. The results show that patients who experience uncertainty prefer to address themselves to experts for information. The need for social comparison with fellow‐patients increases as information available from experts diminishes. For social comparison patients prefer fellow‐patients perceived as equals because they are perceived as most informative. Furthermore, it appears that patients who perceive others as instrumental in reducing uncertainty show a greater need for social comparison as uncertainty increases. Fellow‐patients are generally perceived as more informative as more uncertainty is experienced. With increasing anxiety the significance of fellow‐patients for evaluation of this anxiety proves to increase. Only at a very high level of anxiety does this significance diminish greatly, presumably because the interaction has negative affective consequences.
In‐group inferiority, social identity and out‐group devaluation in a modified minimal group study
Authors: Wagner Ulrich , Lampen Ludger , Syllwasschy Jörg
Published: June 2011

Social identity theory predicts an interdependence between the relative evaluation of a person's in‐group, his or her social identity, and the degree of his or her in‐group‐out‐group differentiation. Three hypotheses were tested in an experiment that extended the original minimal group paradigm to one further out‐group as a second comparison group. The results show that an experimental devaluation of the in‐group in comparison to a first out‐group: (a) led to a more negative evaluation of those areas of the self which are substantially connected to the dimension on which the intergroup comparison took place (hypothesis 1); (b) did not result in a higher mean devaluation score for the second out‐group, which is inconsistent with hypothesis 2a; and (c) made the comparison dimension less important to the in‐group, thereby supporting hypothesis 2b. In an internal analysis, self‐evaluation in those aspects which relate to the intergroup comparison proved to be negatively correlated with the devaluation of the second out‐group. Hypothesis 3 proposed that self‐esteem would increase following devaluation of the second out‐group. The data pattern with respect to this prediction showed contradictory results.
The effects of age and gender on social behaviour in very young children
Authors: Lloyd Barbara , Smith Caroline
Published: June 2011

Children aged 19–42 months were video‐recorded while playing in an experimental room equipped with gender‐stereotyped toys. Children played first with their mothers and then with a familiar same‐ or opposite‐gender partner. Thirteen categories of social behaviour were coded from the videotape record using a computer‐assisted coding system. Twelve categories were combined in an aggregate measure—total social behaviour which increased with age and was more common in same‐gender pairs, except among boys in the oldest age group. Subcategory analyses revealed different patterns. Prosocial behaviour was more common in mixed pairs and the frequencies of assertion and withdrawal behaviour provided mirror images. Girls in the first three age groups and boys in the oldest group displayed more assertion but boys in the first three age groups and girls in the oldest group showed more withdrawal. At all ages boys were more successful in their assertive bids.
The image‐arousing potential of proverbs as a function of source and mode
Authors: Benjafield John , Carson Eleanor
Published: June 2011

In keeping with the recent trend towards studying cognitive products from a social perspective, this study examined the imagery values of 203 proverbs as a function of their source and form. The sources of some proverbs can be identified, while others are anonymous: the latter are higher in imagery. Negative proverbs warn against widely held beliefs, and these are higher in imagery than their affirmative counterparts. It is suggested that these findings may reflect the social origins of anonymous negative proverbs.
Television advertisements and the portrayal of gender
Authors: Livingstone Sonia , Green Gloria
Published: June 2011

The portrayal of men and women in a sample of British television adverts was examined in an extension of the study by Manstead & McCulloch (1981). The central figures in 175 adverts were coded for their sex, mode of presentation, relationship to product, role, argument, product type and product price. The results were similar to those found by Manstead & McCulloch, namely, the portrayal of men and women conformed closely to traditional gender roles. A cluster analysis was performed to determine the main types of character portrayed in adverts. Of the eight types which resulted, five were mainly male and three were mainly female. Expensive products were advertised by the most stereotypic males: the most stereotypic females were silent. The few women presented as product authorities differed from the men not only in number but in role, product type and mode of presentation.