bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Importance of Instructions in Assessing Sequential Effects in Impression Formation
Authors: LEACH CHRIS
Published: July 2011

Sequential effects in impression formation have frequently been investigated by presenting subjects with conflicting descriptions of a person's behaviour. A recency effect is commonly found using this type of material when the subject's impression is measured after each component of the description is presented. This paper describes an experiment in which the recency effect is shown to be the result of inadequate instructions. With standard instructions, subjects view the conflicting components of a description as being independent and referring to different people; they therefore only report their impression based on the immediately preceding component and a recency effect is obtained. When the instructions stress that the two parts of the description refer to the same person, the recency effect disappears and most subjects attempt to form an integrated impression of the person.
Quality Professionals: Does Training Make a Difference? A Personal Construct Theory Study of the Issue
Authors: LIFSHITZ MICHAELA
Published: July 2011

A shortened group form of the Construct Repertory Test was used to study common characteristics and changes that take place in outlook during training. The personal perceptions and attitudes of a group of good social‐work students, as compared to their older and more experienced supervisors, were studied in a design based on Kelly's Personal Construct theory (1955). Significant differences (P < 0.01) were found between the superordinate constructs of the two groups. The student group used most often concrete descriptive categories, such as age, sex and profession. Primary figures, such as father, mate or best same‐sex friend, were the most influential in their construing process. The constructs of their supervisors showed a more abstract ability of concern with themselves, others and their task. Their concepts centred on the professional ideal and revealed an internalization of cherished values. The study suggests a developmental pattern of concept internalization, from the more concrete to the more abstract, from leaning on immediate external cues to relying on oneself and aspiring for professional ideals. This change is consistent with the goal of academic training in social work.
Factors in the Learning Deficit of Elderly Depressives
Authors: WHITEHEAD ANTONIA
Published: July 2011

Separate groups of elderly depressives were tested on serial learning tasks prior to treatment or on remission of symptoms. Those tested whilst ill made fewer correct responses and transposition errors and more omission errors than the remitted patients. There was no evidence that the depressed patients were differentially impaired whilst learning unfamiliar material or with pacing, although the latter was not looked at with rapid speeds. Correct responding tended to be related to vocabulary knowledge and (negatively) to severity of subjective feelings of depression and tension. There was no evidence of differential impairments for the duller depressed patients. These results, together with those of earlier workers, are considered and a tentative model is proposed.
Authoritarianism, Rebelliousness, and Their Correlates among British Undergraduates
Authors: KOHN PAUL M.
Published: July 2011

The development and validation of an anglicized version of Kohn's (1972) Authoritarianism–Rebellion Scale is described. It proved adequately reliable and related predictably to the following: Conservatism; Ethnocentrism; Intolerance of Ambiguity; Dogmatism; membership in each of four political groups; and demographic information on political preference, religious preference and religious attendance. Principal components analysis yielded five rotated factors interpreted as sociopolitical rebelliousness, general right‐wing authoritarianism, authoritarian submission, a prepolitical authoritarian‐rebellious dimension and ethnocentrism. Several pertinent analyses failed to support the hypothesis of an ‘authoritarianism of the left’.
Psychometric Prediction of Institutional Adjustment: a Validation Study
Authors: DAVIS H. M.
Published: July 2011

This study investigated the ability of questionnaire scales and psychomotor tests to predict institutional adjustment. The tests were administered to 42 male patients in a refractory ward of a maximum security hospital. The results were compared with measures of sociability, aggression and conformity, derived from rating scales and naturalistic observations. Sociability was predicted by the MMPI scales of Extraversion, Depression, Psychopathic Deviation and Impulsivity. Scales of Extraversion and Impulsivity predicted aggression, as did scales of Hostility and Aggression. Conformity was predicted by the Gibson Spiral Maze corrected error score. Generally, however, the level of prediction was poor; the best measure was the Extraversion scale, which predicted rated sociability at 10·2 per cent better than chance. The use of multiple correlations improved predictive efficiency by very little. The reasons for low predictive validity are discussed.
Some Personality Effects on Extreme Responding and on the Relative Weighting of Items in Combination
Authors: WARR PETER , ROGERS COLIN
Published: July 2011

Variations in judgement associated with differences in ethnocentrism‐authoritarianism are examined. The tendency to make extreme responses is seen here to derive from the content of the belief system in question rather than from any stylistic features of judgement. Both high and low scorers may be more extreme than their counterparts, according to the content of the belief being recorded. A second feature studied is the relative importance of cues in combination. Previous work has demonstrated the prepotence of negatively evaluated material, but this overall pattern is now shown to require modification when personality‐relevant judgements are made. In such cases greater importance is given to the inference which is consistent with the personality belief‐system. This suggests the operation of two types of stimulus importance: ‘importance in context’ and ‘overall salience’.
Age, Group Decisions on Risk‐related Topics and the Prediction of Choice Shifts
Authors: SPENCER CHRISTOPHER , WILLIAMS MARYLIN , OLDFIELD‐BOX HILARY
Published: July 2011

Assertions in the literature that the elderly are less willing to make decisions involving risk than are the young were tested by comparing the decision‐making of two samples: one of 36 undergraduates and one of 26 subjects aged 55–65. Neither on their initial decisions nor in their group discussions of choice dilemma items did the older differ from the younger sample. The predictive validity of Stoner's Value Ranking Instrument was tested with both samples; and in neither was the instrument successful in indicating which items subsequently produced cautious shifts and which shifts to greater risk following group discussion. One reason for the inadequacy of Stoner's method of examining particular cultures' value for risk may lie in the abstractness of the instrument he has developed.
Judgement of Emotion: Attention versus Accuracy
Authors: WESTBROOK MARY
Published: July 2011

An attempt was made to account for reported failures to find sex and related personality correlates of ability to judge emotions accurately, in terms of attention to emotional cues. It was hypothesized that attention to emotional cues is (a) independent of accuracy, (b) consistent across different types of cues, and also (c) characterizes women, and people who are (d) socially orientated, and (e) field dependent. It was predicted that accuracy is related to (f) field independence and (g) intelligence. One hundred subjects were tested and support found for hypotheses a, b, c, f and g. A canonical analysis revealed a cognitive style‐intellectual factor relating accuracy to field independence and intelligence.
Variables Influencing the Sources, Frequency and Intensity of Worry in Secondary School Pupils
Authors: SIMON A. , WARD L. O.
Published: July 2011

This study attempts to seek data on the main sources of worry among secondary school pupils, the extent to which the type of worry and its frequency vary with age, and the influence of the type of school attended, grammar or secondary modern, upon the frequency and intensity of the type of worry. Two worry list questionnaires were constructed. There was a general decrease with age in the frequency and intensity of worry, and no significant worry differences between grammar and modern pupils, except for the 13‐year‐old group, where the secondary modern pupils had more frequent and intense worries than the grammar. The percentages for the frequency and intensity of worry were similar in both groups for each type of worry, the most frequent sources of worry being the family, social relationships and school, and the least frequent being animals, economic and personal health concerns. Some significant differences existed: grammar school pupils reported significantly more frequent and intense economic and school worries, secondary modern pupils significantly more imagination and health worries, and the only significant difference between the sexes was the tendency for grammar school girls to worry more frequently and intensely than grammar school boys.
Overcoming the ‘Subject Artifacts’: A Critique
Authors: KRUGLANSKI ARIE W. , EILAM ZOHAR
Published: July 2011

This paper attempts a critical survey of the various methodological innovations aimed at counteracting the ‘subject artifacts’ thought to be present in the typical experiment in psychology, primarily on account of (1) the practice of non‐representative sampling and (2) a failure to consider the several contaminating motivations aroused in the subjects of psychological research. It is argued that (1) efforts aimed at the elimination of selection biases are misapplied, being founded in an altogether unreasonable approach to scientific inquiry; (2) the various proposed modifications in research procedures intending to circumvent the motivational artifacts are themselves beset by serious difficulties and are likely to lessen rather than enhance the quality of data obtained in psychological research.
Social Desirability and Need Approval: Some Paradoxical Data and a Conceptual Re‐evaluation
Authors: SHULMAN ARTHUR D. , SILVERMAN IRWIN
Published: July 2011

Research with Marlowe & Crowne's Social Desirability Scale (MCSD) has generally proceeded on the assumption that the scale measures a need for social approval and/or avoidance of disapproval. The present study explored the tenability of these assumptions. High and low MCSD subjects participated in either success or failure treatments, and had the options of arranging a consultation with a psychologist about their performance. Contrary to expectations, high MCSD subjects tended to avoid the meeting more than lows under success conditions and to seek the meeting more than lows under failure conditions. Various interpretations of these findings, as they pertain to generally held concepts of MCSD scale scores, are discussed.
Separation of Normals, Neurotics and Simulating Malingerers on the MPI by means of Discriminant Function Analysis
Authors: POWER R. P. , MacRAE K. D. , MUNTZ HILARY J.
Published: July 2011

In order to establish whether subjects asked to simulate neuroticism (i.e. malinger) can be discriminated from control subjects and genuine neurotics, a sample of each type of subject was given the Maudsley Personality Inventory (MPI). Keehn's malingerer scale was included in the inventories to see whether it improved the discrimination. Discriminant function analyses were carried out, and they showed that, while the usual form of the MPI gave a misclassification rate of 25 per cent, inclusion of the malingerer scale gave a misclassification rate of only 11 per cent. The main improvement was to reduce the bad error of classifying neurotics as malingerers. Analysis of the scores of a second sample of the three types of subject showed that the predictive accuracy of the discriminant weights established with the first groups was slightly reduced, as would be expected, but still highly satisfactory for a personality questionnaire.
Errors in Decoding Tone of Voice during Dyadic Interaction
Authors: SUMMERFIELD ANGELA B.
Published: July 2011

Predictions derived from evidence on projection, behavioural assimilation and attribution theory suggest differing ways in which one individual may perceive another's tone of voice in dyadic interaction. Pairs of male subjects undertook a competitive or cooperative counting task. One member of each pair was instructed that he could best influence the dyad's performance by the use of an angry or pleased tone of voice. The results indicate that while subjects in the cooperative condition tended to attribute their own tone of voice to their (neutral) partner, competitive subjects attributed a discrepant or neutral tone. The findings are interpreted in terms of attribution theory. Implications for studies of non‐verbal communication are discussed.
The Role of Gaze in Impression Formation
Authors: COOK MARK , SMITH JACQUELINE M. C.
Published: July 2011

Three hypotheses about the effects of amount of gaze on the impression created of six confederates were tested, using rating scales and free descriptions. The first hypothesis ‐that favourableness of impression would be a linear function of amount of gaze — was partly confirmed. The second hypothesis — that favourableness of impression would be a curvilinear function of amount of gaze — was not confirmed, nor was the third hypothesis — that effect of gaze would be a complex function of sex of subject and sex of gazer. The effects of gaze were not as marked as had been predicted. The free descriptions also provided data on the number and type of subjects who commented on the amount of gaze of the confederate. Three possible explanations of the results are discussed.
Assessing Psychological Conflict
Authors: LAUTERBACH W.
Published: July 2011

A method was constructed to assess cognitive conflict. It uses a large number of a subject's beliefs and attitudes which may be connected with his personal problems. The subject rates the direction and the degree of these beliefs and attitudes and the proportion of conflict involved in them is then calculated by computer according to a model basically derived from Heider's cognitive balance theory.
Recall of Medical Advice: Comprehensibility and Specificity
Authors: BRADSHAW PETER W. , LEY PHILIP , KINCEY JOHN A. , BRADSHAW JENNIFER
Published: July 2011

Two laboratory experiments are described in which volunteer subjects read advice on how to develop self‐control over eating behaviour. Formulating the communications in terms of specific instructions rather than general rules and the use of simple language as determined by a readability formula led to increased recall of the advice. These findings were confirmed in a naturalistic setting in which the same material was presented orally to patients receiving treatment for obesity. The results of these investigations are believed to have implications for improving communications between doctors and their patients and possibly for increasing the degree to which patients comply with medical recommendations.
A Two‐stage Model of Attention in Schizophrenia Research
Authors: HEMSLEY D. R.
Published: July 2011

This paper attempts to indicate the relevance of Broadbent's recent views on the methods by which the systematic selection of information takes place, for the study of attention deficits in schizophrenia. A two‐stage model of attention is briefly described, the distinction between ‘filtering’ (stimulus set) and ‘pigeon‐holing’ (response set) being emphasized. In an attempt to clarify the nature of the schizophrenics attention defect, various experiments are reviewed and interpreted within Broadbent's theoretical framework. Studies indicate inefficiencies in both the ‘filtering’ and ‘pigeon‐holing’ mechanisms. The need for experiments specifically designed to identify the locus of the schizophrenic attention defect, in various subgroups of schizophrenics, is indicated.
Value Systems and Delinquency: Parental and Generational Discrepancies in Value Systems for Delinquent and Non‐Delinquent Boys
Authors: FEATHER N. T. , CROSS D. G.
Published: July 2011

A sample of 82 delinquent boys in two institutions and a matched sample of 82 non‐delinquent boys from three secondary schools ranked values from the Rokeach Value Survey in their order of importance for self, mother and father. Order of rankings was counterbalanced. Results indicated that the sets of rankings (value systems) were more discrepant between boys and their parents and between the parents themselves in the delinquent sample than in the non‐delinquent sample, but only in regard to the set of terminal values. Marked differences in the relative importance of particular values occurred between the two groups both in relation to rankings for self and for parents, and (for both groups) between the boys and their parents (generational) and between mother and father (parental). Favourability towards father correlated positively with degree of value similarity between sons and fathers but only for the terminal values.
Value Constructs: Relationships with Intelligence and Social Background
Authors: GLOSSOP JOHN , ROBERTS CYRIL , SHEMILT DENNIS
Published: July 2011

Using a version of Kelly's Role Construct Repertory Grid Test, experiments were conducted amongst samples of adolescents to investigate their modes of construing value concepts. Analysis concentrated on the definition of levels of abstraction and insight associated with individual perceptions of such concepts, a hierarchical structure involving three levels of abstraction being indicated. Results suggested that measured intelligence and social background were significantly correlated with the use of higher levels of abstraction, these correlations remaining significant when the correlation between measured intelligence and social background had been taken into account. No significant relationship was found between the sex of subjects and the levels of abstraction.
The Paired‐Associate Learning Subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale: Six New Parallel Forms
Authors: NOTT PETER N.
Published: July 2011

A list of easy pairs was constructed using word frequency (Thorndike & Lorge, 1944) and association value (Miller, 1970). Similarly, a list of hard pairs was constructed with words of known frequency and zero association values. These were then used to construct six tests which appeared prima faciae to be of similar difficulty to the Wechsler lists. The order in which Wechsler interspersed easy and hard pairs was copied in each case.

The two Wechsler tests and the six new tests were then all given to each of a series of eight subjects. The subjects throughout were current psychiatric patients excluding only those who had an acute psychotic disorder or those who for other reasons were unable or did not wish to complete the tests. An 8 times 8 randomized Latin square design was used. The Latin square was selected randomly from Fisher and Yates, both the order of tests and subjects being randomized in the design. The tests were given and scored according to Wechsler's original instructions. A correct easy pair scores 1, a correct hard pair scores 2, the total is divided by 2 to give the final score. The maximum score for combined easy and hard pairs on three recalls is 21.
National Differences in Extraversion and Neuroticism
Authors: LYNN R. , HAMPSON S. L.
Published: July 2011

A method is proposed for measuring national differences in extraversion and neuroticism from demographic and epidemiological data. The method is to use national prevalence rates of a number of variables and treat them as indices of the levels of extraversion and neuroticism in national populations. The variables taken are the national rates of divorce, illegitimacy, accidents, crime, murder, suicide, alcoholism, chronic psychosis and coronary heart disease; and the per capita consumption of calories, cigarettes and caffeine. Data for these indices arc presented for the advanced western nations. The relationship of these variables to extraversion and neuroticism among individuals is used to set up a model for their relationship among nations. The variables were factored by principal components analysis and this yielded two major factors identified as extraversion and neuroticism. The factor scores of each nation on the two factors were then computed. These indicate that the most extraverted nation is the United States and the most introverted is Japan. The most neurotic nation is Austria and the least neurotic is Ireland.
Arousal and Speed of Recall
Authors: EYSENCK MICHAEL W.
Published: July 2011

Subjects were divided into four groups based upon the possible combinations of high or low Extraversion and high or low General Activation. They learned two lists of paired associates in an A‐B, A‐Br paradigm, with a record being kept of the number of errors and the latency of correct responses. The groups were found to differ considerably more in terms of response latency than in terms of the probability of responding correctly. A number of the analyses indicated an interactive effect of Extraversion and General Activation on retrieval performance, in which high General Activation led to reduced response latencies for extraverts, but to slower latencies for introverts. This finding was interpreted with reference to arousal theory. Additional findings suggested that the poor performance of high arousal subjects was partially due to their tendency to take in information from dominant sources, a hypothesis suggested by Broadbent (1971).
Relationship of Mental Status, Functioning and Stress to Readmission of Schizophrenics
Authors: SERBAN GEORGE
Published: July 2011

A study was conducted to determine the interrelations among the variables of patient functioning, life stress, mental status and readmission to the hospital after release. The population consisted of 516 chronic and 125 acute schizophrenic men and women. Stress and functioning were measured by the Social Stress and Functionability Inventory for Psychotic Disorders. Mental status was assessed through the use of a standard Problem Appraisal inventory. Results demonstrated that mental status variables correlated at a low level with readmission, accounting for a minimal amount of variance, and that the factor of patient functioning had more predictive value, but its effectiveness was hampered by the long‐standing cycle of admission‐release‐readmission in regard to chronic patients. Apparently there is no justification for considering mental status as a factor in prognosis, as some researchers have done in the past, based on the same low correlations.
Extraversion and Pain
Authors: BARNES GORDON E.
Published: July 2011

According to Eysenck's (1957, 1960, 1967) theory of personality, extroverts are posited as having higher pain thresholds and greater pain tolerance than introverts. The evidence for these hypothesized relationships is reviewed. Findings appear inconclusive in both cases. Probability pooling (Mosteller & Bush, 1954) is therefore performed, grouping the comparable studies and carrying out overall tests of significance. Results support the hypothesized relationships between extraversion and pain threshold and between extraversion and pain tolerance. Possible reasons why certain studies failed to find these results are discussed.
The Structure of Social Attitudes
Authors: EYSENCK H. J.
Published: July 2011

A factor‐analytic study is described of the relationships of 88 social attitude questions‐social class, sex and age, for a random sample of the population (n = 368). Ten meaningful correlated factors were extracted from the matrix of intercorrelations. The intercorrelations between these ten factors were in turn factor‐analysed, and three second‐order factors extracted. These were interpreted to represent (1) general conservative‐radical ideology; (2) socio‐economic conservatism v. socialism; (3) tough‐mindedness v. tender‐mindedness. These factors were almost completely orthogonal and independent of each other; thus there are clearly two kinds of ‘conservatism’, independent of each other, and related in different ways to social class. Middle‐class people tend to be more radical with respect to general attitudes, but more conservative with respect to economic attitudes, than working‐class people.
The Use and Recognition of Sequential Structure in Dialogue
Authors: CLARKE DAVID D.
Published: July 2011

Two experiments are reported. In the first, four spontaneous dialogues were tape‐recorded and a 20‐line passage from each one transcribed. The 20 lines were then typed on separate file cards, and the set of 20 cards shuffled and given to 10 student subjects, with instructions to reconstitute the original order of each passage. This they were able to do with far greater than chance accuracy, suggesting that the original speakers were producing their conversation in accordance with certain sequencing procedures also known to other members of the speech community. In the second experiment the same task of sequence reconstitution was performed on four artificial dialogues whose individual utterances were produced in standard syntactic forms, so as to remove cues to the overall sequence carried by syntactic variations. In this way a second hypothesis was tested and confirmed: that the constraint upon the ongoing form of a verbal interaction operates over the domain of semantics as well as syntax.
Altruism and Cognitive Development in Children
Authors: RUSHTON J. PHILIPPE , WIENER JANET
Published: July 2011

The study examined the interrelationships between a number of age‐related cognitive tasks and three different behavioural measures of altruism in 60 7‐ and 11‐year‐olds. The cognitive tasks included measures of role‐taking ability, egocentricity, cognitive complexity, and conservation. It was intended to assess (a) the notion of generalized cognitive developmental levels, (b) the generality of altruistic behaviour, and (c) the degree to which cognitive‐developmental level predicted altruistic behaviour. As expected, highly significant age differences were found on all cognitive tasks. Eleven‐year‐olds were also significantly more altruistic than were seven‐year‐olds. Although some generality emerged across altruistic behaviours, no such generalities emerged either between the cognitive measures themselves or between the cognitive measures and altruism. Some of the implications of the findings are discussed.
Relations between Performance on the Advanced Matrices and the EPI in High‐Intelligence Subjects
Authors: GIBSON H. B.
Published: July 2011

This study continues the investigation of the relationship between performance on tests of intelligence, and the personality parameters of the Eysenckian theoretical framework. Candidates for admission to an honours degree course (n = 281) were given the Advanced Progressive Matrices as a screening device. Those admitted to the course were on later occasions given both forms of the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI). In view of problems of test‐retest on the EPI, scores were analysed in a novel fashion to give three groups: ‘introverts’, ‘extraverts’ and ‘ambiverts’. The ‘introverts’ scored significantly highest on the Matrices, but the scores of the ‘ambiverts’ were lowest. Neuroticism showed little interaction with other variables. These results are discussed in terms of the theory of reactive inhibition. New data on the Advanced Progressive Matrices are given which are significantly higher than the published university norms.
A Developmental Approach to Delineate Components of Cognitive Dysfunction in Schizophrenia
Authors: KAY STANLEY R. , SINGH MAN MOHAN
Published: July 2011

Two developmentally based tests were devised to study the nature of schizophrenic cognitive dysfunction within a psychopharmacological framework and to relate the data to developmental and psychophysiological models. The Colour‐Form Preference Test was designed to evaluate cognitive style in terms of early maturational stages and provided a subscale for assessing arousal‐related cognitive disturbance. The Egocentricity of Thought Test, adapted from Piaget's developmental study of right‐left positional concepts, enabled investigation in terms of the later stages of cognitive growth. These and other clinical measures were taken of schizophrenic patients at various points of treatment and also administered to a non‐psychotic comparison group. Test results supported their validity, reliability, longitudinal sensitivity and capacity for nosological and prognostic discriminations. The data also suggested a distinction between two components of schizophrenic cognitive dysfunction ‐one drug‐sensitive, which could be considered as arousal‐related, and the other drug‐resistant, which might best be described as developmental. A two‐factor model encompassing the psychophysiological and developmental hypotheses is thus offered as a more comprehensive representation of the cognitive disorder.
Colour Form Representation Test: A Developmental Method for the Study of Cognition in Schizophrenia
Authors: KAY STANLEY R. , SINGH MAN MOHAN , SMITH JAMES M.
Published: July 2011

The Colour Form Representation Test (CFR) was devised as one of a series of develop‐mentally rooted objective measures of schizophrenic cognitive dysfunction. Based on the observations of Piaget and others in relation to the conceptual use of colour, form and representational cues, it provided a four‐level response hierarchy corresponding to the preverbal and early verbal stages of cognitive growth. The CFR was tested with 66 schizophrenics and 42 non‐psychotic subjects and found to distinguish between these two groups and among schizophrenic subtypes. It showed significant correlations with measures of cognitive and attentional dysfunction and, longitudinally, was observed to be a reliable instrument that reflected the differential therapeutic outcome of various schizophrenic groups. The research potential of the CFR and its relevance to developmental and psychophysiological theories of schizophrenic cognitive disorder were discussed.
Man or Machine as Diagnostic Tool: a Comparison between Clinical Psychologists and Discriminant Function Analysis
Authors: POWER RODERICK P. , MUNTZ HILARY J. , MacRAE KENNETH D.
Published: July 2011

Power et al. (1974) gave the Maudsley Personality Inventory plus a malingerer scale to three groups—neurotics, controls and students asked to malinger—and found, using discriminant function analysis, that 89 per cent were correctly classified on the basis of their test scores. When a second sample of the three types of subject was allocated using the weights established by the first analysis 78 per cent were correctly classified. Experienced clinical psychologists were given the norms established with the original three groups, and the scores of 20 of the individuals in the second set of groups, and were asked to state group membership of these individuals. The psychologists performed, on average, as well as did the discriminant analysis. This was better than expected, since several variables had to be considered at the one time. Some interesting discrepancies are discussed, as is the extent to which the results can be generalized.
Changes in Religious Beliefs, Practices and Attitudes among University Students over an Eleven‐Year Period in Relation to Sex Differences, Denominational Differences and Differences between Faculties and Years of Study
Authors: PILKINGTON G. W. , POPPLETON PAMELA K. , GOULD JUDITH B. , McCOURT MARGARET M.
Published: July 2011

A questionnaire investigation into university students' religious beliefs, practices and attitudes, originally carried out in 1961, was repeated in 1972 on a comparable sample of students. Eight indices of religious belief, practice or attitude were used. A substantial and statistically highly significant movement away from religion by the students was found for all indices. Sex differences in religious behaviour, highly prominent in 1961, were less marked in 1973, although five of the eight indices still showed a statistically significant sex difference. Further analysis of changes in the men's and women's responses between 1961 and 1972 led to the conclusion that the women students had declined more than the men. Findings concerning denominational differences and differences between faculties and years of study in 1961 and 1972 were also presented and discussed. It was suggested that the Religious Attitude Scale was as valid a measure of the strength of Christian belief in 1972 as it was in 1961.
Cognitive Complexity and Social Prediction
Authors: HONESS TERRY
Published: July 2011

Problems in definition and measurement of ‘cognitive complexity’ are discussed and the importance of examining the predictive validity of the different measurement techniques is stressed. An experiment is described which examines the intercorrelations between several measures of ‘complexity’ and their relation to the subjects' predictions of how others' personal constructs are employed. The ‘hierarchical complexity’ measure of Smith & Leach (1972), Bannister's (1960, 1962) ‘Intensity’ score and Mehrabian & Komito's (1968) measure of factorial complexity share no variance with any scores derived from the prediction task developed in the reported experiment. The hypothesis that more ‘cognitively complex’ persons (Bieri's definition, 1966) are ‘set’ to seek less common features in their social environment receives strong support from the experiment. That this ‘set’ may lead to a significant, but spurious, association between ‘complexity’ and accuracy in social predictions is suggested by an analysis of the prediction tasks used in other studies. Bannister's Intensity is highly related to Mehrabian & Komito's measure, but contrary to expectation is unrelated to Bieri's complexity.
PENmanship: Faking the P‐E‐N
Authors: FARLEY FRANK H. , GOH DAVID S.
Published: July 2011

The fakeability of the PEN was tested experimentally in 108 college students using instructional sets of best impression (social desirability), worst impression (psychiatrically ill) and normal instructions. The response set most important to the invalidity of the PEN – the best impression set – had significant effects only on neuroticism (N) and lie scores. It was suggested that this and previous work have identified N as being particularly susceptible to social desirability responding, and that further psychometric work on this dimension may be in order. The ‘psychiatrically ill’ set significantly influenced all scales, in the direction of increased psychoticism, neuroticism and introversion. Significant effects of instructions on scale reliabilities were also obtained for the psychoticism (P) and lie scales. Many of the reliability effects could be attributed to the low P reliability on this sample. Caveats to the present findings were considered, and further research at the item level was proposed.
Choice Reaction Times in Depressive States
Authors: BYRNE D. G.
Published: July 2011

An experiment was performed in which two components of response latency, decision time (DT) and movement time (MT), were measured in two relatively homogeneous samples of neurotic and psychotic depressive patients, together with a normal control group. It was found that whereas both DT and MT were significantly longer in the depressive samples than in the control sample, only DT was significantly longer in the psychotic than in the neurotic depressive sample. Thus while both DT and MT were elevated among the depressive samples relative to the control sample, only DT was further sensitive to clinical variations within the depressive state. DT was found to increase directly with depressive severity among an undifferentiated sample of acute depressives, which on further analysis proved to hold for the neurotic depressive sample only. MT was found to increase directly with age among the psychotic depressive sample. No other age influences were found on response latencies of depressive patients. These results are discussed in terms of a postulated impairment of the central information‐processing mechanisms, as an explanation of psychomotor slowing among depressive patients.
A Further Attempt to Cross‐validate the Grid Test of Schizophrenic Thought Disorder
Authors: POOLE A. DESMOND
Published: July 2011

A retrospective investigation to assess the validity of the Grid Test of Schizophrenic Thought Disorder (Bannister & Fransella, 1966, 1967) is reported. Analysis of the data revealed that, while there is some evidence to support the validity of the test, it failed to discriminate between clinically assessed thought‐disordered and non‐thought‐disordered patients at an acceptable level of significance, and that the rate of misclassification was too high to justify the use of the test in the assessment of an individual case. The results are compared with the findings of other published studies, and weaknesses in methodology, due to the retrospective nature of the study, are also discussed.
Test Anxiety, Observation, and Range of Cue Utilization
Authors: GEEN RUSSELL G.
Published: July 2011

Sixty females scoring high on the Sarason Test Anxiety Scale and 60 scoring low on the same scale served as subjects in an experiment on cue utilization. One‐third of all subjects were given a simple learning task with relevant cues added, and one‐third were given the task with irrelevant cues added. Half of all subjects in each cue condition were observed by the experimenter as they performed and half were not observed. Relative to subjects in the other conditions combining observation and anxiety, those subjects who were high in test anxiety and also were observed showed a narrower range of cue utilization. The results are discussed in terms of current research on social facilitation.
Goal‐setting Behaviour and Coronary Heart Disease
Authors: RIMÉ BERNARD , BONAMI MICHEL
Published: July 2011

In order to test Dunbar's (1943) theory about goal‐setting behaviour in cardiovascular subjects, measures of performance and goal levels were taken on 25 coronary subjects, 25 hypertensive subjects and a control group of 25 fracture subjects. The hypertensive pattern of goal‐setting behaviour appeared not significantly discriminated from that of control subjects, although the data were in the direction predicted by Dunbar, hypertensive subjects being higher for success and for low goals. For coronary subjects, the results were in complete agreement with the tested theory, these subjects showing a significantly higher rate of high goals than control subjects, and recording a higher rate of failure.
The Expectancy Beliefs, Instrumentality Beliefs and Job Reward Valences of Black and White Workers in South Africa
Authors: ORPEN CHRISTOPHER
Published: July 2011

A comparison was made between white and black clerks in their (a) beliefs that effort would lead to effective performance (expectancy), (b) beliefs that effective performance would be rewarded (instrumentality) and (c) the relative importance attached to relevant rewards in the work situation (valences). The results showed that the disadvantaged black clerks held weaker expectancy and instrumentality beliefs than the advantaged white clerks and attached different amounts of importance to certain rewards. It is hypothesized that these differences are due to current reward practices in South Africa and the effect of discriminatory laws and practices. In terms of the valence‐expectancy model, the results suggest that blacks will not be motivated to perform as well as whites in similar jobs.
A New Personal Disturbance Scale (DSSI/sAD)
Authors: BEDFORD A. , FOULDS G. A. , SHEFFIELD B. F.
Published: July 2011

A brief self‐report measure of personal disturbance is presented. Being derived from the Delusions‐Symptoms‐States Inventory, it focuses exclusively on recent symptomatology, uncontaminated by personality attributes. Data are presented which show significant agreement (a) for the allocation of the items to syndromes by experienced raters, and (b) between patients' self‐report and their psychiatrists' ratings.

At the anxiety, depression, and total sAD scale levels a high discrimination is found between the normal and patient groups. Comment is made on the change in sAD scores over time, and their abnormal distributions, both of which are in contrast to personality measures. The scales appear relevant to treatment evaluation and for detecting the personally disturbed in general populations.
Towards a Theory of Auditory Hallucinations: Outline of an Hypothetical Four‐Factor Model
Authors: SLADE P. D.
Published: July 2011

The research findings of the writer to date on auditorily hallucinated patients are briefly summarized and an hypothetical four‐factor model outlined to account for them. This general working model envisages auditory hallucinations as stemming from the interaction of psychological stress with an underlying hallucinatory predisposition which is to a large extent genetically determined. A third factor of external stimulation is seen as exerting an inhibitory effect on the conscious experience of the hallucination. While a fourth speculative factor of a positive feedback loop is introduced to account for a number of otherwise incompatible observations.

Each of the four factors in the hypothetical model is defined as precisely as is possible at present and discussed in relation to other research findings in this area and to the literature more generally. An attempt is made to spell out some of the theoretical predictions and clinical implications of the model.
Biofeedback Control of Migraine: A Pilot Study
Authors: READING CLIVE , MOHR PETER D.
Published: July 2011

A group of six subjects was trained, using biofeedback procedures, in the voluntary regulation of hand temperature as a means of controlling migraine attacks. The training procedure and its relationship to migraine activity is described. Daily records of migraine activity were kept during base‐line, training, and follow‐up periods. Analysis of this data revealed statistically and clinically significant improvement on several indices of migraine activity. Evidence for a concomitant improvement in the ability of subjects to produce voluntary increases in hand temperature is presented.
Some experiences with the F scale in Yugoslavia
Authors: Stankov Lazar
Published: July 2011

Two studies in which the original F scale (Adorno, Frenkel‐Brunswik, Levinson & Sanford, 1950) has been used in Yugoslavia are reported. The first one considers inter‐item correlations whereas the second relates total score to several personality variables. It has been found that these studies provide evidence for the existence of several hard‐to‐interpret first‐order factors which do lead to one higher‐order factor. The F scale measures anxiety, independence (dominance) and also unexpected social adjustment second‐order personality factors. Both political and cultural influences could be considered as explanations for these results but the latter seem to be more pronounced. That being the case, revisions of the scale have been suggested.
The importance of both judgemental scales and aspects of an attitudinal issue for dimensional salience
Authors: Osmon B. E. , White C. J. Mower
Published: July 2011

This study contributes to the accentuation theory of social judgement, which explains the judgement of attitude statements in terms of both the judge's attitude and the value connotations of the rating scale. It was hypothesized that subjects who were favourable towards two aspects of an issue (the value of work and interest in work) would give more polarized ratings to statements emphasizing a particular aspect when the rating scale used was specifically relevant to that aspect. It was also hypothesized that subjects who were more favourable towards one aspect of the issue than to the other would give more polarized ratings to statements emphasizing the more favoured aspect, irrespective of the specific relevance of the rating scale used. Both predictions were supported, and their relation to dimensional salience was discussed.
Fluctuations in national levels of neuroticism and extraversion, 1935–1970
Authors: Lynn R. , Hampson S. L.
Published: July 2011

National levels of neuroticism and extraversion in 18 advanced Western nations are measured at intervals from 1935 to 1970. It is shown that levels of neuroticism rose significantly in the nations that suffered military defeat and occupation in the Second World War and then declined during the 1950s to prewar levels. National levels of extraversion have been generally rising over this period.
The effect of distractor strength versus rate of item presentation on retention in schizophrenics
Authors: Berg Phyllis A. , Leventhal Donald B.
Published: July 2011

Predictions made from Chapman & McGhie's attentional dysfunction theory of schizophrenia were compared with those made from Yates' slow information processing theory. Retention in a free‐recall, short‐term memory task was studied with 20 chronic nonparanoid schizophrenics and 20 psychiatric controls matched on age, educational level and intelligence as subjects. Schizophrenics performed consistently poorer than controls, but no differences between groups were found as a function of either variation in distractor strength or in item presentation rate. Thus, neither theory was supported, but several uncontrolled aspects of the task variable were suggested as possible reasons for some of these conflicting findings.
Neuroticism and dreaming sleep: A case for interactionism in personality research
Authors: Cohen David B.
Published: July 2011

The value of a trait approach to sleep and dreaming characteristics is evaluated by reviewing recent research on differential patterns and interactions manifest by high and low neuroticism subjects. Differential patterning of dream content and REM sleep characteristics under positive and negative presleep conditions suggest a qualitative difference in experience and behavior, and a quantitative difference in ‘importance’ attributable to the dreaming sleep process. It is hypothesized that, under ‘normal’ conditions, low neuroticism individuals make more exclusive use of the dreaming period, while under ‘artificial’ conditions, they demonstrate a greater motivation to compensate for restricted REM by intensification of the REM process (shortened REM onset latencies, greater REM rebound, intensified dream experiences). Finally, it is suggested that theories of dreaming sleep should recognize the importance of traits, as well as situational factors to the psychology of dreaming sleep.
The prediction of psychiatric patients' work adjustment in the community
Authors: Griffiths R. D. P.
Published: July 2011

Five aspects of patients' work behaviour were assessed by supervisors in a rehabilitation unit. The assessments involved task competence, response to supervision, relationships with other patients, motivation and enthusiasm, and confidence‐initiative. These assessments were compared with work adjustment after discharge, and also with intelligence, personality, chronicity and age.

All aspects of work behaviour correlated with work success in the community. Predictions based on both the workshop and clerical assessments were very accurate, and the predictions of outcome were better for the clerical than the ‘manual’ patients.

Work behaviour was, in general, unrelated to intelligence, personality, age and chronicity, though there were specific exceptions to this trend. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.
Automated psychological testing: A review
Authors: Denner S.
Published: July 2011

Automated psychological testing has great potential for facilitating the work of the psychologist, psychiatrist, or indeed, anyone who uses psychological tests. A great deal of research has been done with computer‐assisted methods, and very real progress has been made in this direction. Computer facilities are not necessarily required, for many psychological tests may be fully automated by less expensive and less cumbersome means, and it is the purpose of the review article to investigate the work that has been done with automated testing systems, not requiring computer facilities, and to outline some of the arguments concerning the advantages of such automated testing methods.