Personal hypothesis testing: The role of consistency and self-schema.

We report the results of two experiments that examined the way individuals test hypotheses about themselves. Both experiments were based on the work of Snyder (e.g., Snyder, 1981; Snyder & Skrypnek, 1981), which suggests that individuals have a confirmatory bias when testing hypotheses about others and about themselves. In Experiment 1, we examined the extent to which this bias toward confirmation persists when a negative (e.g., depression) or nonconsistent (not consistent with the individual's evaluation of him- or herself) personal hypothesis is tested. Results suggest that the negative or positive nature of a personal hypothesis does not directly influence the way individuals test their hypothesis. However, the way individuals tested personal hypotheses was influenced by hypothesis consistency. In Experiment 2, we examined the relation of a cognitive schematic variable (i.e., vulnerability for depression) and hypothesis testing. Results suggest that vulnerability is related to the way individuals test a personal hypothesis about depression. Vulnerable, low-depression participants were confirmatory when testing a depression hypothesis, whereas nonvulnerable, low-depression participants were disconfirmatory. We discuss implications for counseling and future directions for research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Information processing strategies in counselor hypothesis testing: The role of selective memory and expectancy.

The issue of confirmatory bias in counselors' clinical hypothesis testing was explored. Previous research has suggested that counselors are unbiased when constructing questioning strategies to test a client hypothesis. This study proceeded on the assumption that questioning is only the beginning of the hypothesis-testing process. In 2 experiments, the way counselors remembered information about a client was examined, and information from a client narrative was selected. In Exp 1, experienced counselors remembered more confirmatory than disconfirmatory information, even when the report they reviewed contained more disconfirmatory information. In Exp 2, counselors in training selected more confirmatory than disconfirmatory information, even when the report they reviewed contained more disconfirmatory information. Conclusions of the study were the following: Counselors need to be aware of these biases, and counselor education should explicitly train counselors to avoid them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Managing and creating an image in the interview: The role of interviewee initial impressions.

In employment interviews, individuals use impression management tactics to present themselves as suitable candidates to interviewers. However, not all impression management tactics, or the interviewees who employ them, are effective at positively influencing interview scores. Results of this study indicate that the relationship between impression management tactic usage and interview success is contingent on the type of tactic employed. Specifically, self-promotion was found to have a positive relationship (r = .20) and slight (r = –.11) and extensive (r = –.19) image creation were found to have negative relationships with end-of-interview scores. Further, the relationships between these 3 impression management tactics were moderated by interviewees' initial impressions of the interview (ΔR2 ranged from .04 to .10). Interviewees who perceived they were seen as less suitable during rapport building were more effective when using any of the 3 impression management tactics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Diagnostic and confirmation strategies in trait hypothesis testing.

The role of diagnostic and confirmation strategies in trait hypothesis testing is examined. The present studies integrate theoretical and empirical work on qualitative differences among traits with the hypothesis-testing literature. Ss tested trait hypotheses from 2 hierarchically restrictive trait dimensions: introversion–extraversion and honesty–dishonesty. In Study 1, Ss generated questions to test trait hypotheses, and diagnosticity was theoretically defined (e.g., questions associated with nonrestrictive ends of trait dimensions). In Study 2, Ss selected questions from an experimenter-provided list in which diagnosticity was empirically defined. In Study 3, Ss chose between 2 equally diagnostic questions. In each of the studies, Ss showed a primary preference for diagnostic information and a secondary preference for confirmatory information. Ss' preference for diagnostic information suggests that they prefer to ask the most informative questions. The explanation for the confirmation bias is less obvious, and possible reasons for this effect are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counselor hypothesis-testing strategies.

Conducted 2 experiments relevant to the questioning strategies counselors use in testing their hypotheses about clients. In Exp I, 60 undergraduates were asked to select 12 questions from a list of 38 that would be most helpful in getting to know someone. Ss were asked to test a hypothesis that the other person was an extravert or introvert. The questions were categorized by the experimenters as extraverted, introverted, unbiased, or irrelevant. Most Ss selected a strategy that favored unbiased questions over biased ones. In Exp II, 40 Ss played the roles of clients, and 40 advanced doctoral students in counseling or clinical psychology played the roles of counselors. Counselors were advised that they would soon meet with their client to test a hypothesis that the client possessed or lacked self-control. Counselors were instructed to compose 10 questions to ask the client. The actual interviews were then recorded. The frequency with which counselors developed questions that were confirmatory, disconfirmatory, irrelevant, or unbiased in regard to the hypothesis was not influenced by the specific hypothesis. Results of both experiments do not confirm the hypothesis that counselors preferentially seek information to confirm hypotheses about clients. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A developmental study of hypothesis testing and cue selection strategies.

Previous investigators who have evaluated M. Levine's hypothesis testing model of learning have employed blank-trial probes in order to determine which hypothesis was sampled on specific trials. A method of determining which hypothesis was sampled that did not require blank trials was administered to children in Grades 1, 3, and 5, undergraduates, and old adults (mean age = 75 years). A 2-choice, multidimensional discrimination task was presented in which the Ss first chose the stimulus thought to be correct and then pointed to a single cue in a complete set of decomposed cues from the learning task. Results are in accord with other studies of hypothesis testing in that developmental differences were observed. Younger and older children differed in the cue selection strategies used during learning. Undergraduates used very efficient strategies that often led to learning, while the old adults were quite inconsistent and often failed to recognize when they had selected the correct reinforced cue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Explaining sex differences in managerial career satisfier preferences: The role of gender self-schema.

Using survey data from 400 managers, the authors examined whether gender self-schema would explain sex differences in preferences for status-based and socioemotional career satisfiers. Female gender self-schema, represented by femininity and family role salience, completely mediated the relationship between managers' sex and preferences for socioemotional career satisfiers. However, male gender self-schema, represented by masculinity and career role salience, did not mediate the relationship between managers' sex and preferences for status-based career satisfiers. As expected, male managers regarded status-based career satisfiers as more important and socioemotional career satisfiers as less important than female managers did. The proposed conceptualization of male and female gender self-schemas, which was supported by the data, enhances understanding of adult self-schema and work-related attitudes and behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counselor and client responses to hypothesis-testing strategies.

Previous research on the types of hypothesis-testing strategies (HTSs) used by counselors has produced contradictory findings, has not investigated HTSs in an interactive format, and has not investigated client reactions to different HTSs. For this study, 147 college undergraduates and 23 counselors-in-training interacted with a computer-simulated client in Experiment 1 and counselor in Experiment 2 to investigate these issues. The results indicated that of the three HTSs (confirmatory, disconfirmatory, and unbiased), the unbiased HTS was preferred, a person's choice of HTS was stable across time and with different feedback, and the unbiased and disconfirmatory HTSs appeared to be more accurate assessment strategies than the confirmatory. The unbiased HTS was also seen by undergraduates as more trustworthy. Future research and implications for training counselors are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The appropriate use of null hypothesis testing.

The many criticisms of null hypothesis testing suggest when it is not useful and what it should not be used for. This article explores when and why its use is appropriate. Null hypothesis testing is insufficient when size of effect is important, but it is ideal for testing ordinal claims relating the order of conditions, which are common in psychology. Null hypothesis testing also is insufficient for determining beliefs, but it is ideal for demonstrating sufficient evidential strength to support an ordinal claim, with sufficient evidence being 1 criterion for a finding entering the corpus of legitimate findings in psychology. The line between sufficient and insufficient evidence is currently set at p     

Gender identity: The benefits of a self-schema approach.

Questions S. L. Bem's (see record 1983-21087-001) definition of a gender schema and argues that male and female sex-typed individuals do not have equivalent gender schemata. The high-androgynous individuals are the only ones for whom both masculinity and femininity are equally available and who might be properly termed "gender schematic." (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patterns of hypothesis testing in children's discriminative learning: A study of the development of problem-solving strategies.

Reports on 3 studies of elementary school children's problem-solving procedures in intentional discrimination tasks. Obtaining verbalizations of hypotheses on every trial made possible detailed analyses of the techniques used by the children to solve the problems. Exps I and II investigated the procedures used by 192 children in 2 age groups (about 7.5 and 10.5 yrs). These children not only used current stimulus information efficiently, but they also showed a reliable tendency, stronger in the older group, to permanently reject hypotheses that failed. Such use of hypothesis memory indicates strategic information processing. However, these same children failed to show an ideal problem-solving strategy, such as "focusing," or to make any use of stimulus memory. In Exp III, 49 5-yr-olds' performances were observed. These children showed the ability to use current information appropriately. However, unlike the older children, they failed to use hypothesis memory strategically. In fact, the kindergartners exhibited a counterproductive and contrasting tendency to resample previously rejected hypotheses. The findings are discussed as they relate to an understanding of problem solving and its development in children. A critical analysis of previous methodology and conclusions is included. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

N=1 Experiments: hypothesis testing.

Despite the value of one-subject experiments, they have generally been regarded as being incapable of providing statistical inferences about hypotheses. Statistical inferences about populations cannot be made on the basis of only one experimental subject because more than one subject is needed in order to get an estimate of the inter-subject variability within the population. But one-subject experiments do permit statistical inferences about treatment effects on that particular subject, provided there has been appropriate random assignment of treatment times to treatments. Procedures are described for testing hypotheses when only one subject is used in an experiment, and the validity of the statistical inferences is shown by reference to randomization tests. Analogous rank-order tests and parametric tests are specified. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counselor trainee anxiety during the initial counseling interview.

Investigated the nature and extent of anxiety experienced by beginning practicum students in their initial client interviews. Ss were 20 of 21 students enrolled in a master's level course in supervised counseling experience. Anxiety was assessed by self-report, skin conductance, and heart rate measures obtained in anticipation of and during stimulus situations of reading an article and counseling a client. The design was a 2–2 (Periods?×?Sessions) within-Ss factorial. Results indicate that Ss were more anxious on physiological and self-report measures of anxiety during the counseling interview than during reading. Although most of the self-report data were not related to autonomic arousal during the interview, baseline autonomic data were highly related to autonomic response during the interview. Also, self-report predictions of anxiety were related to self-report anxiety during the interview. It is concluded that (a) the counseling interview is an anxiety-evoking situation, (b) much of the anxiety can be accounted for by Ss' expectations, and (c) anxiety is most meaningfully discussed within the framework of response dimensions. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counselor trainee emotional responses to initial counseling-interview stress.

Changes in emotionality as measured by the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List and physiological measures (systolic and diastolic blood pressure, pulse rate, and digital sweat index) were obtained from 37 prepracticum graduate students in 4 different classes during prestress, stress, and poststress periods. Stress was measured immediately prior to the initial interview of a client in a supervised laboratory setting. Significant differences were found on 6 of the 7 dependent measures across conditions. Intercorrelational matrices showed (a) consistently high correlations between pencil-and-paper measures, (b) consistently low correlations between the various physiological measures, and (c) consistently low correlations between pencil-and-paper measures and physiological measures of emotionality. The counselor trainees reported that they were most anxious because of the idea that they had to do a good job, concern over what the client might think about them, the probability that they might do poorly, and the consequence of doing a poor job. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counselor and client sex pairing: The effects of counseling problem and counselor sex role orientation.

291 male and 246 female undergraduates viewed a videotape of a client of the same sex with either a vocational or personal social problem, counseled by either a masculine or feminine male or female counselor. Three times during the videotape, Ss predicted the client's next response by selecting 1 of 4 affective self-reference statements. At the conclusion of the videotapes, Ss rated the counselors using the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory (BLRI) and the Counselor Rating Form (CRF). Results indicate significant main effects and interactions of counselor sex and sex role and client sex and presenting problem for the BLRI, the CRF, and S affective self-references. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stamp collecting versus science: Validation as hypothesis testing.

Discusses the continuing arguments with respect to the unitarian vs trinitarian view of the validation process. It is argued that an emerging position is that the threefold distinction among validation models presented by L. J. Cronbach and P. E. Meehl (see record 1956-03730-001) is not as useful as it once was. The present author suggests that the validation process be considered nothing more and nothing less than traditional hypothesis testing. It is further suggested that as a result of a tendency to label validity approaches as correct or incorrect in a given situation, Title VII cases often resemble a primitive form of stamp collecting, with the test in question as the metaphorical stamp. There are only 3 spaces to be filled—the content, construct, and criterion-related space. Depending on the type of test, the litigants set out if all the requirements have been met in a checklist fashion. The issue of the role of constructs in psychological measurement is considered, as is the general status of construct-validation strategies in employment testing. The unique knowledges, skills, and abilities that psychologists bring to the discussion of validity and inference are discussed. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An example of Bayesian hypothesis testing: The perception of rotary motion in depth.

Illustrates the Bayesian method of employing likelihood ratios in an analysis of an experiment reported by W. A. Hershberger (see 41:7), supposedly disconfirming a theory proposed by R. H. Day and R. P. Power (see 39:4). The original experiment produced results significant at the .02 level when using a 1-tailed test. It is shown that, by interpreting these results as evidence against the null hypothesis, one is making strong assumptions that should be recognized. The Bayesian analysis suggests that the null hypothesis is not discredited nearly as much as is suggested by the classical significance level. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychopathology and academic performance: The role of motivation and learning strategies.

How psychopathology, defined as high psychological distress with concomitant limited coping resources, relates to students' academic performance and its determinants is examined. The correlation between college students' (N?=?326) level of psychopathology and their course grade was not significant. However, psychopathology was significantly related to students' motivation and use of learning strategies that were, in turn, related to academic performance. Specifically, more poorly adjusted students perceived themselves as less competent to succeed, experienced greater test anxiety, and were less likely to regulate their study environment, persist in the face of difficulty, and seek academic assistance when needed. Structural equation modeling (EQS) provided evidence that psychopathology had a significant indirect effect on performance and demonstrated the important role of self-efficacy and resource management. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Agreement on initial impressions: Differences due to perceivers, trait dimensions, and target behaviors.

Assesses agreement as a function of the trait being judged, the information presented, and individual differences to spontaneously use particular trait dimensions. In Experiment 1, there was a reliable amount of agreement in rating the targets, but this was greater if the traits were related to extraversion (Factor 1 traits) than to intelligence, honesty, or conscientiousness (Factor 2 traits). In Experiment 2, Ss viewed videotapes of interviews in which the questions focused on information relevant to either Factor l or Factor 2 traits. Again there was greater agreement in ratings of Factor 1 than Factor 2 traits, but this difference was reliably reduced if Ss saw the tape that focused on Factor 2 information. Regardless of the tape viewed, Ss who frequently used Factor 2 traits gave ratings on these that were in greater agreement with those of judges as a whole. Ss judged Factor 2 traits as more difficult to clearly confirm. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)