bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
"Booster Shots" Following Didactic Parent Training
Authors: McDonald Michael R. , Budd Karen S.
Published: March 2007

This study analyzed the effectiveness of a simple "booster" training procedure for refining a parent's skills in child management following a clinical training package. A mother was trained to use behavior management to increase the compliant behavior of her mentally retarded son. Training resulted in moderate but unstable improvements in the parent's use of child management techniques and in her child's response to them, with gradual deterioration in parent and child performance over sessions. Booster training, consisting of a single one-hour session, was then introduced sequentially in a multiple-baseline design for two parent skills. Parent and child behaviors improved substantially as a result of training, and follow-up data collected up to ten weeks later indicated that the improvements were maintained.
Therapy Outcome Research
Authors: Salend Spencer J.
Published: March 2007

Integrity of treatment refers to the extent to which the intervention conditions in an experiment are implemented as intended. Therapist and subject integrity of treatment violations can influence the results of therapy outcome research. This article identifies potential integrity of treatment transgressions in behaviorally oriented research and offers guidelines to minimize potential integrity of treatment violations.
The Relationship between Cognitions and Anxiety
Authors: Last Cynthia G. , O'Brien Gerald T. , Barlow David H.
Published: March 2007

Six agoraphobics were assessed repeatedly in regard to their cognitions and anxiety level while exposed to a shopping mall. Pearson product moment correlation coefficients were calculated for each subject for: (1) percentage of negative or maladaptive thoughts and self-reported anxiety level during exposure, and (2) percentage of positive or adaptive thoughts and anxiety. In the majority of cases, results showed a significant, positive relationship between negative thinking and anxiety, with larger percentages of maladaptive thoughts corresponding with higher ratings of anxiety. In addition, there was some evidence of an inverse relationship between positive thinking and anxiety, with larger percentages of these thoughts corresponding with lower ratings of anxiety.
Increasing Recreational Behavior in Mentally Retarded Children
Authors: Katz Roger C. , Singh Nirbhay N.
Published: March 2007

Mentally retarded children are frequently observed either to be inactive or to engage in stereotypic behaviors and isolate play. In this study, sign posting, pictorial prompts, and feedback were used to increase the recreational behaviors of 45 moderately and severely mentally retarded children. Treatment was introduced sequentially in a multiple-baseline fashion for ballplay and jungle gym activities across two school recess periods. Results showed large increases in the percentage of children participating in these activities that corresponded with the introduction of treatment. Similarly, the average amount of time the children played was roughly tripled. These gains were maintained over a 12-week follow-up period during which the pictorial prompts and feedback were gradually faded. The results demonstrate the efficacy of a simple, inexpensive, and practical way of generating higher levels of recreational play in large numbers of mentally retarded children.
Training Parents to Become Better Behavior Managers
Authors: Rickert Vaughn I. , Sottolano Donn C. , Parrish John M. , Riley Anne W. , Hunt Frances M. , Pelco Lynn E.
Published: March 2007

Seven parents, each with a clinic-referred noncompliant child, participated in a 6-week group training program designed to teach instruction-giving and time-out skills. A didactic training format (lectures and modeling) was employed in the first three weekly sessions. The final three sessions involved competency-based instruction, during which parents had to demonstrate skills to a criterion level in order to complete training. A multiple baseline design across targeted skill domains was used to examine whether didactic training (with and without supplemental competency-based instruction), resulted in skill proficiency. Skill acquisition was assessed through simulations with adult confederates and the index child prior to training, at the conclusion of the didactic component, and following competency-based instruction. Parents' reports of the child's compliance with parental requests at home, the child's overall adjustment, and the degree of parental satisfaction with each training component were also obtained. In addition, 6-and 12-week follow-up assessments were completed. Results showed that didactic training alone was insufficient to promote skill acquisition to mastery criterion in each case. Following competency-based instruction, however, six of the seven parents achieved 90% skill proficiency with both targeted procedures. Acquired skills were maintained above baseline levels at 6- and 12-week follow-ups. Skill acquisition was typically associated with positive changes in all self-report measures. Results suggest that a group parent training approach to skill acquisition should include a competency-based curriculum along with direct observation outcome measures of targeted parent behaviors.
Training Developmentally Disabled Adults in Independent Meal Preparation
Authors: Sanders Matthew R. , Parr Janette M.
Published: March 2007

This study examined the generalization and maintenance effects of a structured meal preparation training program for mildly and moderately developmentally disabled adults living in a community home. Dependent measures comprised the percentage of self-initiated steps and disruptive behavior during each of two meal preparation settings. The first comprised the training setting and the second a generalization probe setting. A variety of measures of staff implementation of the treatment procedure were also employed, including correct use of prompts and reinforcement. Following baseline sessions, where staff used their existing preferred mode of teaching meal preparation skills, treatment was introduced within a multiple baseline design across subjects. Experimental treatment consisted of a pictorial cookbook and instructions, and feedback to trainers regarding the appropriate use of prompts and social reinforcement. Results showed that training was effective in increasing the number of steps clients were able to complete independently in both the training and generalization settings. Maintenance probes at post training and at 3-month follow-up revealed that skill levels had been maintained and that staff continued to implement training instructions with a high level of accuracy.
Social and Independent Living Skills for Psychiatric Patients in a Prison Setting
Authors: MacKain Sally Joy , Streveler Anthony
Published: March 2007

There is a tremendous need for mental health services in correctional settings. An innovative psychosocial rehabilitation program that emphasizes skills training has been implemented by a state mental health agency within a large state prison. Preliminary results indicate that the treatment is effective in teaching social and independent living skills to mentally ill inmates. However, durability of treatment effects ultimately depends on the ability to track and to provide follow-up services for inmates after they are discharged to the general prison facility or to parole settings. Recommendations for developing and implementing effective systems of delivering mental health services in prisons are offered.
Thermal Biofeedback Treatment of Mild Hypertension
Authors: Wittrock David A. , Blanchard Edward B.
Published: March 2007

Several studies have produced results suggesting that thermal biofeedback treatment is effective in lowering the blood pressure (BP) of individuals with both mild and moderate essential hypertension. This study used thermal biofeedback to treat 9 unmedicated individuals with mild hypertension. Subjects underwent 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring both prior to and following the thermal biofeedback treatment regimen. Four of the subjects were considered treatment successes using standard office blood pressure assessments as the success-fail criteria. However, 24-hour ambulatory BP measures showed a markedly different pattern of results, with several subjects who were considered successes under conventional assessment techniques showing an increase in 24-hour ambulatory BP from pre-to posttreatment. There was a significant decrease in diastolic blood pressure for all subjects as measured by the ambulatory method. There was also a significant decrease in systolic and diastolic standing home blood pressure. The implications of these results are discussed.
Control and Attention During Exposure Influence Arousal and Fear among Insect Phobics
Authors: Mcglynn F. Dudley , Rose Michael P. , Lazarte Alejandro
Published: March 2007

Heart beats, skin conductance, and subjective fear levels were recorded among eight pairs of DSM-III-R spider-phobic subjects (Experiment 1) and among eight pairs of DSM-III-R cockroach-phobic subjects (Experiment 2) who were exposed simultaneously to an approaching specimen during eight 4-minute trials. Control over the approach of the specimen alternated between subjects over trials. On different trials, both subjects were instructed either to attend closely to the features of the specimen or to attend closely to their bodily fear reactions. Among spider-phobic subjects (Experiment 1), Self-Control over the specimen produced higher skin conductance during exposure than did Partner-Control over the specimen; instructions to attend closely to the features of the specimen produced higher skin-conductance than did instructions to attend closely to one's bodily fear reactions. Among cockroach-phobic subjects (Experiment 2), Self-Control over the specimen produced higher skin conductance and higher self-reported fear than did Partner-Control over the specimen during the early exposures. Instructions to attend closely to the specimen produced higher skin conductance and higher self-reported fear through-out the experiment and higher heart rates early during the experiment than did instructions to attend to one's bodily reactions. Empirical generalizations based on these data are intended as contributions toward a fund of experimental information that, in due course, will be used to conceptualize the means by which exposure to feared stimuli leads to fear reduction.
Pain Behavior, Spouse Responsiveness, and Marital Satisfaction in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis
Authors: Williamson David , Robinson Michael E. , Melamed Barbara
Published: March 2007

Although the pain behavior of some diagnostic groups has been shown to be reactive to social influences, the reactivity of pain behavior in a rheumatoid artritis (RA) population remains an open question. The authors in this article combined laboratory and self-report assessment techniques to examine the extent to which the pain report and behavior of 52 RA patients was susceptible to influence of social factors within the marital unit. The authors' findings suggest that (a) different types of spouse responsiveness (e.g., solicitous, punishing) may be viewed differently by the RA population than more general chronic pain populations; (b) the patient's perception of spouse responsiveness is a significant predictor of the pain behavior, whereas the spouse's perception of these same behaviors is not; and (c) the patient's perception of the spouse's responsive behavior adds significantly to the prediction of pain behavior over a model based on "disease impact" variables alone.
Identifying Critical Social Interaction Behaviors among High School Students with and without Disabilities
Authors: Hughes Carolyn
Published: March 2007

This article describes an investigative process used to identify critical behaviors that relate to social interaction among high school students with and without disabilities. A series of studies resulted in the identification of six empirically and socially validated conversational behaviors that could serve as targets of interventions designed to increase social interaction. Findings also indicated that little social interaction occurred among high school students with and without mental retardation in the absence of programming or supports. Implications of the findings are discussed as well as suggestions for future research. Finally, a model for social skills interventions is proposed that may result in increased social interaction among students with and without disabilities.
Self-Assessment as a Learned Reinforcer during Computer Interactive Math Performance
Authors: Chris Ninness H. A. , Ellis Janet , Ninness Sharon K.
Published: March 2007

Following a preexperimental assessment of computer interactive math performance, four 6thgrade students from a regular education classroom participated in an ABAB reversal of treatment design. Prior to training, students were given an opportunity to self-assess their speed and accuracy of math performance at the computer. Treatment entailed computer-displayed monetary reinforcement for correct self-assessments. During treatment, monetary reinforcement for correct self-assessmentswas faded, whereas feedback for accuracy of self-assessmentswas sustained. Following treatment, students were given an opportunity to perform math problems while self-assessing their speed and accuracy independent of any form of monetary reinforcement. Thiswas followed by a session in which all opportunities to self-assess were removed and a final session during which students were again given opportunities to self-assess their performance at the computer. Data indicate that three of four students demonstrated high rates of correct problems/minute during the self-assessment only conditions. Implications from this study support the theory that, with practice, self-assessment may become a source of secondary reinforcement and may sustain high rates of academic behavior in the absence of external reward systems. Ramifications regarding self-assessment as a learned reinforcer are discussed.
The Effects of Perspective Taking on Motivations for Helping: Still No Evidence for Altruism
Authors: Maner Jon K. , Luce Carol L. , Neuberg Steven L. , Cialdini Robert B. , Brown Stephanie , Sagarin Brad J.
Published: March 2007

To investigate the existence of true altruism, the authors assessed the link between empathic concern and helping by (a) employing an experimental perspective-taking paradigm used previously to demonstrate empathy-associated helping and (b) assessing the empathy-helping relationship while controlling for a range of relevant, well-measured nonaltruistic motivations. Consistent with previous research, the authors found a significant zero-order relationship between helping and empathic concern, the purported motivator of true altruism. This empathy-helping relationship disappeared, however, when nonaltruistic motivators (oneness and negative affect) were taken into account: Only the nonaltruistic factors of oneness (merged identity with the victim) and negative affect mediated helping, whereas empathic concern did not. Evidence for true altruism remains elusive.
On-Line Versus Memory-Based Processing: The Role of “Need to Evaluate” in Person Perception
Authors: Tormala Zakary L. , Petty Richard E.
Published: March 2007

Two studies are reported examining individual differences in the need to evaluate as a determinant of memory-based versus online information processing. In each study, participants read statements describing the behaviors of a hypothetical target person and reported their attitudes toward this person. Consistent with expectations, high need to evaluate individuals formed attitudes in a spontaneous, on-line fashion, whereas low need to evaluate individuals formed them in a less spontaneous, more memory-based fashion. This conclusion was supported by two kinds of evidence: attitude-recall valence relationships (Experiments 1 and 2) and response latency measures (Experiment 2). These results suggest that evaluative responding in the domain of person perception is less pervasive than concluded in prior research.
I Never Had a Chance: Using Hindsight Tactics to Mitigate Disappointments
Authors: Tykocinski Orit E.
Published: March 2007

People seem to have a rather rich repertoire of tactics for regulating moods and dealing with unpleasant events. The current work examines one such tactic. It suggests that to render a disappointing reality more palatable, people sometimes change the perceived probabilities of relevant events post facto so that the disappointing reality appears almost inevitable and the more positive alternatives now seem highly unlikely. This “retroactive pessimism” effect was demonstrated in two studies. In the first, participants were asked to imagine themselves in a situation in which they experienced a disappointing outcome and then assess the likelihood that a more favorable alternative could have occurred. In the second, participants were asked to evaluate each candidate’s chances of winning in the recent prime minister race in Israel before and after the elections.
Ideal Standards, the Self, and Flexibility of Ideals in Close Relationships
Authors: Campbell Lorne , Simpson Jeffry A. , Kashy Deborah A. , Fletcher Garth J. O.
Published: March 2007

Two studies tested how romantic ideal standards and their flexibility are associated with relationship quality. In Study 1, individuals rated themselves and their ideal romantic partners on three dimensions: warmth/trustworthiness, vitality/attractiveness, and status/resources. They then reported how flexible their ideals were on each dimension and how closely their current partner matched their ideal standards. Individuals who rated themselves higher on each dimension held higher ideal standards that were less flexible and perceived higher relationship quality the more their partners matched their ideals. This latter effect was moderated by the flexibility of ideals on two dimensions—warmth/trustworthiness and status/resources. In Study 2, members of dating couples reported their ideals, how closely their partners matched their ideals, and their flexibility. People were happier the more they matched their partners’ ideals. Partner discrepancy ratings once again mediated the link between self-perceptions and perceived relationship quality for the warmth/trustworthiness dimension.
Post Hoc Construction of Self-Performance and Other Performance in Self-Serving Social Comparison
Authors: Klein William M. P.
Published: March 2007

Making self-serving social comparisons of performance depends on the freedom with which we can construct post hoc estimates of our own performance and that of comparison others. Three studies test the counterintuitive hypothesis that we make the most self-serving comparisons when (a) it is easy to construct our own standing on a dimension (in a positive direction) and (b) the standing of comparison others is relatively fixed (thus not easily constructed). In the first two studies, participants received performance feedback for themselves and others that each varied in susceptibility to construction. In Study 3, the availability of performance feedback for self and others was varied. Analyses on ratings of comparative performance showed that all studies supported the hypothesis. The effect seemed to derive from self-enhancement rather than denigration of others. Moreover, individuals in the high-self-construction/low-other-construction conditions rated performance as relatively more personally important and showed marginally less negative affect.
Processes in Racial Discrimination: Differential Weighting of Conflicting Information
Authors: Hodson Gordon , Dovidio John F. , Gaertner Samuel L.
Published: March 2007

The present research explored how White college students may exhibit response patterns associated with a subtle and rationalizable contemporary bias, aversive racism. In the study, higher and lower prejudice-scoring participants evaluated applicants for admission to their university, for whom information about high school achievement and college board scores (aptitude and achievement test scores) was independently varied as strong or weak. As predicted, discrimination against Black applicants relative to White applicants did not occur when the credentials were consistently strong or weak; however, discrimination by relatively high prejudice-scoring participants did emerge when the credentials were mixed and hence ambiguous. Moreover, relatively high prejudice-scoring participants weighed the different, conflicting criteria in ways that could justify or rationalize discrimination against Black applicants. The implications of these data for understanding contemporary racism and their relation to the shifting standards model of bias are considered.
Linking Motives and Emotions: A Test of McClelland's Hypotheses
Authors: Zurbriggen Eileen L. , Sturman Ted S.
Published: March 2007

McClelland (1985) hypothesized that motives and emotions are linked in specific ways, with each primary emotion relevant to only one motive. Two studies were generally supportive of the specific links hypothesized by McClelland. In Study 1, participants visualized success at satisfying each of three motives (achievement, affiliation-intimacy, and power); after each visualization, they reported their emotional state. As predicted, levels of interest and surprise were high after the achievement visualization but levels of excitement and focus were also high. Happiness and love were high after the affiliation-intimacy visualization (as predicted) but happiness was also high after the achievement visualization. Levels of anger, disgust, and confusion were highest after the power visualization. In Study 2, participants recalled instances of happiness, sadness, anger, and feeling challenged. Anger stories were most likely to be about power, sadness stories about affiliation-intimacy, and challenge stories about achievement. The most frequent happiness stories were about either affiliation-intimacy or achievement.
Effect of Predictability on Units of Perception and Attribution
Authors: Wilder David A.
Published: March 2007

Research indicates that persons do not employ a constant unit of perception in processing social information. An experiment investigated effects of varying the predictability of an actor's behavior upon the manner in which observers partitioned it into units of action and made attributions of behavioral causality. Subjects viewed a tape of an actor who behaved either predictably throughout, predictably at first and then unpredictably, unpredictably at first and then predictably, or unpredictably all the time. Subjects divided the actor's behavior into more units (a) when the behavior began unpredictably than when it began predictably and (b) when the pattern of behavior changed (from predictable to unpredictable or vice versa) than when no change occurred. Number of units was positively correlated with dispositional attributions of causality.
The Importance of Choice and Sex in Invasions of Interpersonal Space
Authors: Murphy-Berman Virginia , Berman John
Published: March 2007

Research on how invasion of personal distance affects subjects' impressions of male and female invaders is somewhat contradictory. Jones and Davis's theory of correspondent inferences suggests that the context of choice in which a behavior is enacted is an important determinant of how the perceiver evaluates the actor. To test whether choice context would significantly affect subjects' evaluations of invaders, 48 subjects were spatially invaded by confederates in three types of intentional contexts, and their evaluations of the invaders were obtained. Results showed that choice context was a significant determinant of subjects' evaluations, and that as the invasion appeared more intentional and personnally directed, male invaders were evaluated more negatively and female invaders more positively.
Effects of Forwarning of Persuasive Intent and Involvement on Cognitive Responses and Persuasion
Authors: Petty Richard E. , Cacioppo John T.
Published: March 2007

College undergraduates were either warned or not warned of the persuasive intent of a communication which was either of direct or only indirect personal relevance to them. Consistent with the hypothesis based on reactance theory (Brehm, 1966), the inhibiting effect of the forewarning (i.e., reduced persuasion, increased counterargumentation, and reduced favorable thoughts) was greater under high than low involvement conditions.
Attitude toward the Reasons for One's Actions: A Determinant of Perceived Freedom
Authors: Upshawl Harry S.
Published: March 2007

The attitude of an actor toward the reasons for an action has been defended by Dworkin as the basis of freedom of action. This study tested the hypothesis that this consideration contributes to the perception of freedom by laymen. 18 items that described intentional actions were rated by 72 students along four dimensions: the actor's freedom of action, the valence of the actor's alternatives, the difference in valence of alternatives, and the actor's attitude toward the reason for his or her chosen action. Scale values for perceived freedom were correlated with scale values for the other three dimensions. The attitude variable, alone, significantly predicted perceived freedom, and it added significantly to prediction based on the other two variables. Dworkin's conception holds that the reason for an action is logically prior to a judgment of freedom. Some other conceptions imply that perceived freedom is a determinant of causal attribution.
Using Hypothetical P-O-X Situations in Studies of Balance: The Problem of N"Misconstrual"
Authors: Miller Charles E.
Published: March 2007

Each of 48 subjects was presented with four hypothetical situations involving two persons, P and 0, and an impersonal attitude object, X, and asked to make up stories about them. Each situation described P and 0 as either liking or disliking one another and as having either positive or negative attitudes toward X. The stories that subjects made up revealed that they sometimes "misconstrued" the situations. In particular, their stories about situations involving agreement between P and 0 in their attitudes toward X often depicted P and 0 as being in disagreement or conflict with one another, especially when the situations also involved disliking between P and 0. These "misconstruals" represent a discrepancy between the way in which subjects actually interpret hypothetical P-O-X situations of the kind frequently used in studies of balance, and the way in which researchers intend for subjects to interpret the situations. When such misconstruals occur, it is difficult to make sense of the results of research on balance.
Behavioral Effects of Receiving Agreement or Disagreement from a Peer
Authors: Gormly Anne V.
Published: March 2007

To test predictions generated from the affectreinforcement theory of attraction, 42 college students interacted with a peer whose attitudes were highly similar to their attitudes (agreement) and a person whose attitudes were highly dissimilar (disagreement). Following an initial interaction in which the degree of attitude similarity became obvious to the subjects, they had to choose one of the peers for continued discussion about two of the attitude topics. Two-thirds of the subjects chose to talk to the disagreeing peer (az .05); furthermore, more often the subjects chose to talk about topics on which they were in disagreement with the peer (p<.001).
Support for Decisions Varying in Arbitrariness
Authors: Dow Barbara , LaFrance Marianne
Published: March 2007

Forty-eight subjects read eight scenarios in which a decision was made between alternatives varying in arbitrariness. Nonarbitrary solutions were perceived as most deserving of support and unwarrantedly arbitrary solutions were judged least deserving. Warrantedly arbitrary solutions were rated between these two. Subjects rated decisions having personal import more negatively than those concerned with impersonal content. Suggestions for future research on normative change are made.
Faculty Helpfulness to Students
Authors: Harari Herbert , Mohr Deborah , Hosey Karen
Published: March 2007

A total of 154 randomly chosen faculty members at a large public university served as subjects in a study of compliance by professors to students' request for help. The door-in-the-face technique (large initial request, followed by a moderate request) elicited significantly more compliance than the foot-in-the-door technique (small initial request, followed by a moderate request) and the control technique (moderate request only). The foot-in-the-door technique was significantly less effective than the control technique. The results were viewed conceptually and pragmatically.
The Acquisition and Use of Social Knowledge
Authors: Wyer Robert S.
Published: March 2007

The assumptions underlying current research and theory on the acquisition of social knowledge are presented in terms of a set of postulates pertaining to the interpretation, organization, storage, and retrieval of information for use in making judgments. Representative research applying these principles and bearing on their validity is discussed, with particular emphasis given to (a) recency effects in recall and judgments, (b) the role of different goals on the processing of social information, and (c) the role of prototypic schemata in organizing information.
Bibliography of Journal Articles in Personality and Social Psychology: 1979
Authors: Smith Stevens S. , Richardson Deborah , Hendrick Clyde
Published: March 2007

This bibliography consists of 643 journal articles selected from 12 journals. The articles are arranged under 34 subject headings, with headings arranged alphabetically, and authors listed alphabetical under each heading. For ease of use, articles are numbered consecutively 1-643.
Research Impact of Men and Women Social Psychologists
Authors: Over Ray
Published: March 2007

Citation counts were established for 44 men and 44 women who published their dissertation research in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology between 1967 and 1973. Over the six years following publication there was no overall difference in the impact of research reported by men and by women. These data suggest that the under representation of women in lists of the most cited psychologists may reflect the research output of women rather than the quality of research that they publish.
The Discounting Principle in Attribution
Authors: Hull Jay G. , West Stephen G.
Published: March 2007

It is proposed that attributional discounting is more adequately represented by a model based on the proportion of total valence associated with the alternative effects of a given act than it is by a model based on the sheer number of those effects. Evidence for this proportionate valence model is provided in two experiments. In experiment 1, a single high-valenced alternative effect was associated with greater attributional discounting than two lesser-valenced effects. In experiment 2, attributional discounting of a given effect was demonstrated to be a direct. function of the proportion of the total valence associated with alternative effects.
Aspects of the Personological System of Henry A. Murray
Authors: Shneidman Edwin , Barron Frank , Sanford Nevitt , Smith M. Brewster , Tomkins Silvan , Tyler Leona
Published: March 2007

This symposium by six psychologists celebrates their enthusiasm for Henry A. Murray's life and works, especially his Personological System: the multidisciplinary study of human persons, in detail, over time. The presentations touch on various aspects of Murray's Personological System as well as the authors' own lifelong studies catalyzed by Murray's work.
Lonely at the Top
Authors: Earle Walter B. , Giuliano Toni , Archer Richard L.
Published: March 2007

The effect of power- versus nonpower-oriented roles on the exchange of personal information was explored. It was predicted that the form of this exchange would be governed by the role context of the interaction rather than by obligations to reciprocate disclosure. To test this, subject pairs were assigned to a position power, information power, or no power condition in anticipation of a game matrix task. Subjects then chose disclosure topics for themselves and their partners and self-disclosed on these topics, in a pregame getting-acquainted session. Results indicated that high-power subjects offered and requested less intimate information than their low-power counterparts within the position power condition only. However, power-oriented roles did not impinge on actual self-disclosures. These findings point to the existence of role-governed strategies of information exchange, and suggest that reciprocity phenomena based on a principle of equal exchange may be limited to particular relationship contexts.
Evaluating the Physically Disabled
Authors: Russell Dan , Lenel Julia C. , Spicer Cathy , Miller Jean , Albrecht Jane , Rose Jayne
Published: March 2007

A study is reported that examined how the achievement performances of disabled and nondisabled students are evaluated by others, and the possible role of attribution processes in mediating these performance evaluations. Female college students observed a young male confederate being administered a mathematics test. Whether or not the student appeared to be disabled and the level of performance on the mathematics test were varied in a 2 x 2 design. In contrast to expectations, the results indicated that the disabled student was evaluated more negatively for the same level of performance. Consistent with Weiner's attribution model, perceptions of control were found to be predictive of performance evaluations. However, a regression analysis indicated that attribution processes did not account for the differential evaluations received by the disabled and the nondisabled student.
Attributions in the Advice Columns
Authors: Schoeneman Thomas J. , Rubanowitz Daniel E.
Published: March 2007

Two hundred explanatory statements were obtained from a sample of 61 letters and replies published in newspaper advice columns. These items were categorized according to Referent Subject (selflactor, otherlobserver, both), Referent Mode (descriptive, prescriptive), Locus of Explanation (internal, external, both), and Cause versus Reason. Reasons outnumbered causes 135 to 65. For descriptive attributions (n = 161), which describe a behavior and then give an explanation, the actor-observer divergence, as modified by theorists interested in the cause/reason distinction, emerged as predicted: Explanations from actors were most often situational (external) reasons; observers' attributions favored internal causes. Prescriptive attributions (n= 39), which state what a person should do or should have done and then explain why, were always reasons and were generally given by observers who cited the advisee's circumstances as justifying the prescription. Findings for descriptive attributions raise questions about the adequacy of a strictly causal attribution theory and the range of applicability of the internal external locus dimension.
Leadership Orientation as a Moderator of the Relationship between Job Performance and Job Satisfaction of Mexican Managers
Authors: Chemers Martin M. , Ayman Roya
Published: March 2007

A survey of 82 Mexican managers in nine Mexican organizations was conducted. Managers completed measures of leadership style (LPC) and reported job satisfaction on the Job Description Index. Managerial performance on the individual and group level was rated by each manager's supervisor. Consistent with predictions based on the contingency model of leadership, task-motivated leaders evidenced much stronger relationships between job performance and job satisfaction than did relationship-motivated leaders.
Atrocity as a Function of Lynch Mob Composition
Authors: Mullen Brian
Published: March 2007

An archival analysis was conducted to determine whether the atrocities committed by lynch mobs could be accounted for in terms of self-attention processes. In all, 60 newspaper reports of lynching events were coded for information regarding group composition and atrocity. Group composition was operationalized in terms of the Other-Total Ratio (that is, Other-Total Ratio = Number of Victims/[Number of Victims + Number of Lynchers]), an algorithm previously established to predict the effects of group composition on self-attention processes. Atrocity was operationalized in terms of a composite index, representing the occurrence or nonoccurrence of hanging, shooting, burning, lacerating, or dismembering of the victim, as well as the duration of the lynching. The self-attention theory Other-Total Ratio was found to be significantly negatively related to lynch mob atrocity. It was suggested that, as the lynchers became more numerous relative to the victims, the lynchers became less self-attentive, or more deindividuated, leading to a breakdown in normal self-regulation processes, which in turn led to an increase in the transgressive behaviors represented by the composite index of atrocity.
Influence of Subliminal Visual Images on the Experience of Anxiety
Authors: Robles Roxana , Smith Richard , Carver Charles S. , Wellens A. Rodney
Published: March 2007

Can affect-generating cues be processed outside awareness? A study is reported that examined the effect on subjective affect caused by stimuli presented subliminally. Threatening images, neutral images, and humorous images were embedded in three (separate) videotapes, which were shown to subjects at exposure times that precluded recognition of the images. Self-rated state anxiety assessed immediately afterward (via two separate measures) was highest among subjects exposed to the threatening images, lower in the group exposed to the neutral images, and lowest in the group exposed to the humorous images. In contrast, but consistent with expectations, the subliminal stimuli had no effect on a measure of trait anxiety.
Self-Directed Attention, Self-Esteem, and Causal Attributions for Valenced Outcomes
Authors: Brown Jonathon D.
Published: March 2007

Previous research concerned with whether self-directed attention increases self-attributions has produced inconclusive findings. The present research sought to clarify the issue by proposing that the effects of self-directed attention on causal judgments depend upon the match between the valence of the to-be-explained outcome and the attributer's self-esteem. For positively valued outcomes, it was predicted that self-directed attention would increase self-attributions among individuals with high self-esteem, but decrease self-attributions among individuals with low self-esteem. Conversely, for negatively valued outcomes it was predicted that self-directed attention would decrease self-attributions among persons with high self-esteem, but increase self-attributions among persons with low self-esteem. In two investigations, the predictions for positive outcomes were confirmed with respect to both situationally and dispositionally based variations in attentional focus. However, no effects were found regarding attributions for negative outcomes. Implications of the findings for self-awareness theory are discussed.
Predicting Individual Evaluations from Group Evaluations and Vice Versa
Authors: Kunda Ziva , Nisbett Richard E.
Published: March 2007

We examined people's beliefs about how well an individual's evaluations can predict the average evaluations of a group and how well a group's average evaluations can predict those of an individual. The individual in question was either the self or a stranger. Subjects believed that the group predicts a stranger better than the stranger predicts the group, but believed that the self predicts the group as well as or better than the group predicts the self This asymmetry in estimates of predictability mirrors asymmetries found by other researchers for similarity judgments, suggesting that beliefs about predictability may be guided by similarity judgments. This may lead to errors in predictions about self and others, including the false consensus bias.
Loneliness and Communication Problems
Authors: Solano Cecilia H. , Koester Nancy H.
Published: March 2007

In past research, loneliness has been found to be associated with social skill deficits. In the present study, loneliness was also demonstrated to be strongly associated with anxiety over social skills, for both male and female undergraduates and for a variety of social relationships. In a second study, male and female undergraduates were rated on both social skill deficits and anxiety over social skills to determine whether the two factors interacted to produce greater loneliness. Both factors were related significantly but independently to loneliness, with anxiety having a larger effect size.
Social Hypothesis Testing and the Role of Expertise
Authors: Borgida Eugene , DeBono Kenneth G.
Published: March 2007

Research on social hypothesis-testing processes has demonstrated that there is a strong preference for seeking and using hypothesis-confirming evidence when testing hypotheses about other people. An experiment was conducted to examine the extent to which expertise in a particular knowledge domain represents a delimiting condition of this inferential tendency. Expert and novice subjects completed a hypothesis-testing recall task. Recall differences in line with the different strategies commonly used by experts and novices on problem-solving and reasoning tasks were predicted. As expected, novices recalled more hypothesis-matching evidence after a delay interval, regardless of the nature of the hypothesis to be tested. Expert recall, by contrast, was not characterized by this confirmatory preference when experts tested the hypothesis inside their domain of expertise. The extent to which these expert/novice differences provide support for motivated social cognition is discussed.
Self-Handicapping
Authors: Shepperd James A. , Arkin Robert M.
Published: March 2007

A study was conducted to explore the role of individual differences in self-presentational concerns on a public form of self-handicapping. Male and female introductory psychology students, high and low in public self-consciousness, chose either facilitating or interfering music prior to taking a test described either as a valid predictor of academic success or as having unknown predictive ability. In addition, in an attempt to induce protective and acquisitive self-presentational styles, hay the subjects were given instructions that emphasized the likelihood of failure, while the remainder were given instructions that underscored the likelihood of success. Males handicapped more than females. High public self-conscious individuals handicapped more than their low public self-conscious counterparts, but only when they confronted a test characterized as valid. The success-versus failure-oriented instructions had no effect in the present study.
Were the Physiognomists Right?
Authors: Berry Diane S. , Brownlow Sheila
Published: March 2007

Research has revealed that feature babyishness exerts a powerful impact on perceptions of faces. Whereas previous work has focused on the perceptual consequences of such variations in facial configuration, the present study examined the psychological ramifications of exhibiting a particular facial appearance. Specifically, we asked whether baby faced adults perceive themselves in the same way that others do. Facial photographs of 24 male and 24 female stimulus persons were rated on babyishness, physical attractiveness, and several trait dimensions. Facial babyishness was positively correlated with appearance-based perceptions of physical and social weakness and approachability. The stimulus persons also completed several personality scales and rated their own facial babyishness and attractiveness. Relationships between objective and self-ratings of baby facedness and personality measures were revealed, and these paralleled impressions formed about the stimulus persons on the basis of facial appearance alone. Conditions under which a congruence between self and appearance-based perceptions are most likely to develop are discussed.
Cognitive Styles and Proneness to Depressive Symptoms in University Women
Authors: Zemore Robert , Veikle Gail
Published: March 2007

To assess the relations between depressotypic cognitions and depression proneness, the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale and the Attributional Style Questionnaire were administered to 99 university women, along with measures of depression proneness and current affective state. Dysfunctional attitudes and attributional style were both found to correlate significantly with depression proneness, as measured by the Depression Proneness Rating Scales, and with current affective state, as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory and the Depression Adjective Checklist. However, when current affective state was statistically controlled, only dysfunctional attitudes continued to show a reliable association with depression proneness. These results support Beck's cognitive model of depression but not the revised learned-helplessness model of depression.
Research Productivity in Social Psychology
Authors: Gordon Randall A. , Smith Connie J.
Published: March 2007

Research productivity in social psychology was reviewed for the JO-year period 1978-1987. The study assessed the adequacy of basing productivity ratings on a single criterion by examining research productivity across three journals in social psychology. Composite productivity scores were compared with a single index based on publications in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology for the years 1978-1987. To assess changes in productivity over time, comparisons were made between productivity rankings based on publication in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology for the years 1970-1975, 1976-1985, and 1978-1987. Author descriptions from Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin were also used to examine graduate student productivity in this journal. The results revealed a relatively strong relationship between the single-criterion rankings based on the APA journal and the standardized composite productivity rankings. The relative utility of such information for selection of graduate programs in social psychology is discussed.
Perceptual Salience as a Function of Nonverbal Expressiveness
Authors: Sullins Ellen S.
Published: March 2007

This study investigates the stimulus properties characterizing the behavior of nonverbally expressive people and the cues that underlie these properties. Observers viewed brief video clips of 32 female subjects either high or low in expressiveness. While watching each clip, one set of observers segmented the subjects' behavior into meaningful units. A second set of observers rated the behavior on stimulus dimensions related to perceptual salience and also rated how noticeable each subject was. As predicted, expressives' behavior was seen as significantly more intense, more novel, more complex, and more changing, and the subjects themselves were judged to be more noticeable than the unexpressive subjects. Further expressives elicited a significantly higher segmentation rate than unexpressives. Nonverbal cue coding suggests that gestural animation has the stronigest impact on salience. The results are discussed in relation to salience effects and social influence processes.
Attractiveness and Height
Authors: Shepperd James A. , Strathman Alan J.
Published: March 2007

The relationship between height and attractiveness was investigated using self-reports of dating behavior and subjects' ratings of photographs depicting males and females of different heights. Shorter females were preferred more as dates, were dated more frequently, and were rated as more attractive than taller females regardless of the height of the male subjects. For males, the relationship between height and attractiveness was less clear Females expressed a general preference for dating males taller than themselves and reported dating taller males more frequently but did not rate their tall male dates as more attractive. Moreover, no relationship was found between the height of the male subjects and their self-reported dating frequency. Interestingly, females did rate a photographed male as more attractive when he was depicted as tall than when he was depicted as short relative to an adjacent female.