Counselor hypothesis testing strategies: The role of initial impressions and self-schema.

Tested, in 2 experiments, the robustness of the findings of the 1st author and L. A. Newman (see record 1984-04824-001) concerning the lack of confirmatory bias in the way that counselors collect data to test their hypothesis. In Exp I, 40 counselors (aged 25–55 yrs) were asked to develop their own clinical hypothesis to determine whether investment or involvement in the hypothesis may influence counselors to be biased in the questions they ask. In Exp II, 40 counseling students (aged 22–54 yrs) were given a hypothesis to test that was consistent with their self-schema to determine whether bias toward confirmation occurs when the counselor is testing a hypothesis that is also an important part of their own self-concept. Confirmatory bias in hypothesis testing was not supported in either experiment. Results support the position that the bias toward constructing confirmatory questioning strategies reported in social judgment literature may be more a function of the methodology used than of a strong tendency for individuals to be confirmatory. (20 ref) (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)     

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)     

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)     

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)     

Solving compare problems: An eye movement test of Lewis and Mayer's consistency hypothesis.

According to A. Lewis and R. E. Mayer's (1987) simulation model for understanding compare problems, students make more comprehension errors when the order of the terms in the relational statement is not consistent with the preferred order. Three eye movement experiments, designed to test a number of hypotheses directly derived from this model, are discussed. The 1st experiment with university students solving 1-step compare problems revealed no evidence in favor of the model; the data of the 2nd experiment with 3rd graders, on the other hand, provided good support. To explain the results of the 1st experiment, a 3rd experiment was carried out in which university students were given a set of 2-step compare problems. The results from that study also fit with the model well, suggesting that the model holds true only when the task puts some cognitive demands on the S. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory for real-world scenes: The role of consistency with schema expectation.

This study tested the generalizability of the consistency effect to real-world settings. The consistency effect refers to the finding that items inconsistent with expectations are better recalled and recognized than items consistent with expectations. In two experiments, subjects walked into a graduate student's office or a preschool classroom. Half of the items in each setting were consistent with expectations about that setting, and half were inconsistent. A recall and a same-changed recognition memory test followed immediately or 1 day later. In both experiments, the consistency effect was affirmed; items inconsistent with expectations were significantly better recalled and recognized than items consistent with expectations. This result is discussed in terms of differences in the encoding processes that operate on inconsistent and consistent items. The present study extends the generalizability of results from picture memory studies to real-world settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Belief relevance and attitude–behavior consistency: The moderating role of personal experience.

Examined whether belief relevance enhances the degree of attitude–behavior consistency when the behavioral implications of a global attitude contradict the behavioral implications of prior personal experience in a pertinent action domain. It was generally expected that belief relevance would promote attitude–behavior consistency only for those individuals with little prior personal experience. 68 undergraduates participated in the study. As predicted, enhancing cognitive accessibility substantially increased the consistency between global environmental attitudes and petition-signing behavior but only for those Ss who had minimal prior personal experience with the consequences of an on-campus parking shortage. For those Ss with relatively extensive personal experience, cogitive accessibility did not increase attitude–behavior consistency. The theoretical importance of considering the nature and extent of respondents' prior personal experiences in attitude–behavior research is discussed. (24 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)     

Group norms and attitude–behavior consistency: The role of group salience and mood.

This study tested the social identity–self-categorization theory reconceptualization of the role of norms in attitude–behavior relations. Specifically, the study investigated how the effects of in-group norms on the relationship between people's attitudes and their behavior vary as a function of the salience of group membership and mood. Participants' (N?=?131) attitudes toward students being responsible for picking up litter on campus grounds were examined. As expected, the effects of the attitudinal congruency of norms varied as a function of group salience under neutral mood (i.e., deliberative processing) conditions. In-group norms were more influential for high-salience individuals than for low salience individuals in a neutral mood. These findings indicate that in-group norms influence behavioral decision making for individuals high in group salience only when there is an opportunity to carefully process the normative information. (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)     

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)     

One cheer for null hypothesis significance testing.

Null hypothesis testing as a tool in research is defended. Six examples are offered of situations in which, if all the researcher could do was "reject H? at α?=?.05" the scientific contribution would still be substantial. The examples are drawn from physics, cosmology, psychology, geophysics, career counseling and theology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Confirmation, disconfirmation, and information in hypothesis testing.

A number of philosophers and psychologists stress the importance of disconfirmation in reasoning and suggest that people are instead prone to a general deleterious "confirmation bias." In particular, it is suggested that people tend to test those cases that have the best chance of verifying current beliefs rather than those that have the best chance of falsifying them. We show, however, that many phenomena labeled "confirmation bias" are better understood in terms of a general positive test strategy. With this strategy, there is a tendency to test cases that are expected (or known) to have the property of interest rather than those expected (or known) to lack that property. We show that the positive test strategy can be a very good heuristic for determining the truth or falsity of a hypothesis under realistic conditions. It can, however, lead to systematic errors or inefficiencies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Null hypothesis significance testing: A review of an old and continuing controversy.

Null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) is arguably the most widely used approach to hypothesis evaluation among behavioral and social scientists. It is also very controversial. A major concern expressed by critics is that such testing is misunderstood by many of those who use it. Several other objections to its use have also been raised. In this article the author reviews and comments on the claimed misunderstandings as well as on other criticisms of the approach, and he notes arguments that have been advanced in support of NHST. Alternatives and supplements to NHST are considered, as are several related recommendations regarding the interpretation of experimental data. The concluding opinion is that NHST is easily misunderstood and misused but that when applied with good judgment it can be an effective aid to the interpretation of experimental data. (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)     

Statistical methods in epidemiology: I. Statistical errors in hypothesis testing

PURPOSE: Although scientific journal editors are making use of statisticians in the review process, the quality of statistical reporting in many journals remains poor. In many cases the problem for the scientist would appear to be a lack of understanding of basic statistics. The focus of the scientist is on showing 'p < 0.05', when what is actually required is a statement about effect size and interval estimation. The aim of this paper is to show the inadequacy of reporting of results using p-values alone. This paper is the first in a series detailing common statistical methods, with a view to aiding potential authors in their statistical presentation of data. METHOD: A review of the basic hypothesis test, using examples from the author's own teaching experiences. RESULTS: Type I and type II errors are defined; the problem of multiple comparisons is highlighted; interval estimation is introduced. CONCLUSIONS: The case for considering the p-value as an error probability is made which suggests ways of improving statistical presentation and thus expediting the statistical review process.     

Private and public self-consciousness and articulation of the self-schema.

Two studies assessed recognition memory of interpersonal traits that subjects had rated according to either private self-reference (Study 1) or public self-reference (Study 2). Both studies also administered the Self-Consciousness Scale, which permitted a dual classification of subjects according to private self-consciousness (high and low) and public self-consciousness (high and low). Study 1 revealed a private false alarms effect (FAE), the strength of which was moderated by private self-consciousness, whereas Study 2, revealed a public FAE, the strength of which was moderated by public self-consciousness. From the convergent and discriminant evidence, two hypotheses received support—namely, that (a) individuals articulate both private and public components of the self-schema, and (b) private self-consciousness predicts the extent to which individuals articulate the private component, whereas public self-consciousness predicts the extent to which individuals articulate the public component. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)