The role of enactment in prospective remembering

This study investigated, in a laboratory setting, whether prospective memory (remembering to perform intended actions in the future) would be improved by self-enactment of the to-be-remembered tasks. The subjects, 45 university students, were asked to remember later to perform five tasks that they initially enacted themselves, watched the experimenter perform, or had described to them. These tasks were to be performed, ostensibly in preparation for the next subject, at the end of 30 min of filler activity, which was presented as the experimental task. Surprisingly, self-enactment produced the poorest prospective remembering. Speculative explanations are offered in terms of both metacognitive expectations about memory and output-monitoring deficiencies.     

The role of enactment in implicit and explicit memory

Enactment during the encoding of simple imperatives has been found to improve substantially performance on conceptually driven explicit-memory tests. In two experiments the effect of this manipulation on a conceptually driven implicit test (category association) was studied. A conceptually driven explicit test (free recall) was also included. In Experiment one three different study conditions (enactment with real objects, reading, and generation) were considered. In Experiment two there were two study conditions (enactment with imaginary objects and reading). Compared to reading, generation was found to improve the performance on both free recall and category association, whereas enactment affected free recall only. In a final experiment subjects imagined that they performed the tasks, and this manipulation was found to improve the memory performance on both tests. Taken together, this pattern of results is interpreted as suggesting that free recall and category association have a process in common that is sensitive to semantic processing at study (promoted by generation and imagery, but not by enactment), and that free recall involves a retrieval process in addition that is facilitated by a rich encoding environment (provided by enactment).     

Cooperation and competition in means-interdependent triads.

A task was presented to 40 male triads wherein the performance of each participant was maximally determined by the behavior of the other 2. 20 triads received cooperative instructions, 20 received competitive instructions. As predicted the differences between cooperative and competitive groups were particularly great in such a task: cooperative triads, as compared to competitive triads, were more rapid in solving the problem, evaluated fellow team members more favorably, showed less indication of hostility, were more attracted to the task, were more likely to develop leaders. In addition, and contrary to prediction, there was greater concern for personal performance in the cooperative triads. Hypotheses regarding concern for team performance, coalition formation, and the effects of interference with the operations of one member were not supported. (20 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anticipatory imagery and spatial operations.

Performed 5 experiments with approximately 152 students in Grades 1-5 to identify levels of children's operatory development on a task requiring the transformation of objects in accord with stipulated rotations through space and to determine whether observed operatory levels would predict performance on tasks requiring other types of imagined movements. In Exp I, Ss anticipated the results of rotating an object 180Deg.. Three types of imagery performance were found: transposition, in which change of location was acknowledged but changes in the object's features were not; transformation, in which changes of location were coordinated with changes in the object's features; and intermediate, which included elements of the 2 other approaches. These approaches were correlated with age. In Exp II and III, findings were replicated with 90Deg. rotation and with the referent object shielded from sight. In Exp IV, Ss were assessed on a version of the traditional perspective-taking task. Degree of success was lowest for Ss who had manifested spatial transposition on the rotation problem. Finally, in Exp V, Ss from each grade who took extreme approaches were studied. Again, performance on rotation was related to perspective taking and also to imagining water level in a tilted bottle. (1971) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Achievement and nurturance in triads varying in power distribution.

"… to determine the effect of motivational differences on play in a competitive three-person game where initial strength of participation varies. In each of 20 groups, one member was high in achievement but low in nurturance, one high in nurturance but low in achievement and one intermediate in both variables. Each group played 12 games, three each of four types of power pattern. Performance was analyzed in terms of coalitions… and final outcome… . It is suggested that the person high in achievement employs a strategy, adapted to immediately relevant conditions, that serves to capitalize upon his assets." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Negotiation in triads: Communication constraints and tradeoff structure.

Researchers examined the impact of communication constraints and tradeoff structures on negotiations within 3-member groups in a simulated architectural firm. Groups were faced with the task of designing a house to meet a client's needs and budget constraints. Groups restricted to dyadic-only communication (between 2 members at any given time) perceived other group members and themselves to be more competitive than groups that engaged in full-group communication (3 members present). When groups were allowed to communicate in full, they were more likely to discover circular tradeoffs than reciprocal tradeoffs; however, when communication was restricted to dyadic interactions, reciprocal tradeoffs were more likely than circular tradeoffs. Joint profit was greater for tasks requiring reciprocal rather than circular tradeoffs. Furthermore, reciprocal tradeoff structures led to a more equal division of profits among group members than did circular tradeoffs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Power relations in emotionally distrubed and normal family triads.

14 normal and 14 disturbed family triads attempted to reach family decisions about problem situations over which they initially completely disagreed. A series of outcome and process measures delineating their differential power structures were formulated. Disturbed families (a) were impaired in their ability to reach group decisions, (b) shared relatively equally between members in the frequency of decisions "won" and amount of support recieved, (c) were impaired in coalition formation, and (d) showed weakness in the (parental) relationship having the greatest potential for unitary action. Normal families were able to form coalitions and reach mutually acceptable solutions, and a clear-cut power structure emerged where the father was in ascendency, the mother ranked 2nd, and the child last. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sharing secrets: Disclosure and discretion in dyads and triads.

Explored the impact of group size on sharing secrets to develop a more comprehensive picture of the variables that influenced disclosure patterns. It was hypothesized that Ss would be more willing to disclose intimate information in a dyad than in a triad (V. J. Derlega et al; see record 1979-21044-001). The results of Exp I with 21 undergraduates, which used a role-playing methodology, confirmed the hypothesis. The main effect of group size was observed over a range of roles and items of information. In addition to the main effect, group size interaction effects also indicated that the difference between dyad and triad disclosure rates increased with more intimate items of information and with more intimate roles. These interaction effects suggested that the importance of a closed dyadic boundary depends in part on the expected confidentiality of the interchange. In Exp II with 35 undergraduates, the conversations of groups of acquaintances were recorded and rated for intimacy. As predicted, the conversations of dyads were more intimate than those of triads. Suggestions for understanding the intimate quality of dyads are discussed. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived pitch class of isolated musical triads.

A paired-comparisons task was used to determine which note of a pure-tone triad sounded most similar to the triad. Musically inexperienced Ss showed no systematic preference, experienced Ss consistently preferred the highest note in the triad, and professional musicians split equally between preferring the highest note and the root note. Preference for the root note shifted to preference for the highest note as the triad type became increasingly inharmonic, suggesting that the former depended on inference of a missing fundamental. When Ss were asked to vocally reproduce the pitch they heard when listening to a triad, similar results were obtained, except that a root-note preference was now detectable in Ss with less musical experience. Preference for the root note was also facilitated by use of octave-replicated tones, and this increase was shown to be due to obscuring of pitch-height cues, rather than harmonic complexity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An empirical test of structural balance in sociometric triads.

"Cartwright and Harary's graph-theoretical extension [see 31: 6811] of Heider's theory of balance was tested in… three possible balanced sociometric triads. Three theoretical predictions were made from these triads… . The results indicated that unsolved problems exist regarding the intensity of relationships, the social context in which the relationships occur, and the effect of structures composed primarily of negative relationships. Experimental and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed, including the particular need for research on the growth and decay of sociometric structures." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of assumed reciprocation of sentiment and assumed similarity in the production of attraction and agreement effects in p-o-x triads.

Conducted 2 experiments with 1,600 undergraduates to explore the adequacy with which balance theory can account for attraction and agreement effects in p-o-x triads. Exp I provided evidence for the importance of assumed reciprocated sentiment in the production of attraction effects, and Exp II provided evidence for the importance of assumed p-o similarity in the production of agreement effects. In addition, both experiments replicated past results concerning the importance of contact for attraction and agreement effects and also found that attraction and agreement effects were more apparent with affective rating scales (pleasantness and harmony) than with more cognitive scales (expectancy, consistency, and stability). An unexpected finding of Exp II was that the p-o similarity (or social comparison) interpretation of the agreement effect held only for the more cognitive scales. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relational and overt aggression in preschool.

This research was designed as an initial attempt to assess relational aggression in preschool-age children. Our goal was to develop reliable measures of relational aggression for young children and to use these instruments to address several important issues (e.g., the relation between this form of aggression and social–psychological adjustment). Results provide evidence that relationally aggressive behaviors appear in children's behavioral repertoires at relatively young ages, and that these behaviors can be reliably distinguished from overtly aggressive behaviors in preschool-age children. Further, findings indicate that preschool girls are significantly more relationally aggressive and less overtly aggressive than preschool boys. Finally, results show that relational aggression is significantly related to social–psychological maladjustment (e.g., peer rejection) for both boys and girls. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anticipatory load torques produced by voluntary movements.

The stability of an object held between the finger and thumb depends on friction developed by grip force, normal to the contact surfaces, to overcome tangential load force. Previous research has shown that in lifting an object, grip force rises with the increase in gravitational load force as the hand takes the weight and that in moving an object, grip force is adjusted to meet movement-induced inertial load force. Those results demonstrated the anticipatory nature of coordination of grip force with load force. Whether grip force anticipates load torque was studied in this research. When participants were constrained to use grasp points where the grasp axis was manifestly distant from object center of mass, it was found that they made grip force adjustments in anticipation of load torques that tended to destabilize an object as a result of lifting or moving it. These adjustments imply use of information about object center of mass in movement planning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mothers and fathers interacting in dyads and triads with normal and hyperactive sons.

Mother–son and father–son interactions of families with hyperactive and normal 6- to 12-yr-old sons were observed in dyadic and triadic settings. There was more frequent coercion in families with hyperactive boys, especially when mothers and sons interacted in the dyadic setting. This mother–son acrimony carried over to the triadic context, wherein fathers exhibited a rescue-coercion pattern of behavior. Fathers increased, whereas mothers decreased, their demands of sons in triads over dyads, and both fathers and sons became more aversive toward each other in triads than in dyads. This pattern was not as clearly evident in the interactions of families with normal sons. Boys in both groups of families behaved more negatively toward mothers than toward fathers in dyadic interactions. Compared with fathers, mothers made more demands and were more emotionally expressive toward their sons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptual and enactment measurement of self-care

The concept of self-care was conceptualized as having three major components: enabling perceptual elements (motivation, values, responsibility, and decision making); domains for enactment (cognitive/ perceptual, psychosocial/affective, and physical functioning); and self-care enactment factors (capacity), which included self-care action and knowledge adequate for self-care. A new tool, The Self-Care Agency Inventory, was designed to discriminate between those who will enact self-care and those who will not because of either a lack of knowledge or a lack of motivation. Content validity was demonstrated (.77 or greater from each scale) and concurrent validity documented. Alpha reliability for the new scale and principal components factor analysis of the scale items did not achieve desired levels, although a pilot sample demonstrated test-retest reliability of .82. The conceptual model is presented.     

Anticipatory anxiety in women receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer.

Examined (1) the prevalence and course of anxiety before the 1st 6 infusions of cancer chemotherapy and (2) the contribution of trait anxiety, side effect expectations, and prior occurrence of posttreatment side effects to anxiety before infusions. 53 women receiving adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer participated. Anxiety was most prevalent and intense before the 1st infusion. Trait anxiety predicted anxiety before the 1st and subsequent infusions. Prior occurrence of posttreatment nervousness also predicted anxiety before subsequent infusions, even after accounting for trait anxiety and other posttreatment side effects. Results are discussed in terms of the role that anxiety proneness, response expectancy, and classical conditioning may play in the development of anxiety before repeated chemotherapy infusions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problem solving in triads composed of varying numbers of field-dependent and field-independent subjects.

Investigated the interactive effects of situational task demands and interpersonal group environment on small group performance. High-structure and low-structure tasks were solved by 3 types of small groups: 3 field-dependent Ss; 3 field-independent Ss; and triads with both field-dependent and field-independent Ss. Ss were 231 male college students who were tested with the Group Embedded Figures Test. The lower and upper third of the test distribution were defined as field dependent and field independent, respectively, and assigned to 1 of the 3 small groups. It was hypothesized that field-dependent Ss would perform tasks more efficiently than would field-independent Ss when the task environment provided structure. This hypothesis was not supported. The field-independent Ss had the fastest completion times, whereas the field-dependent Ss had the slowest times of all. It was also hypothesized that the difference in performance attributable to task structure would be greater for field-dependent Ss than it would be for field-independent Ss. This hypothesis was supported. Results demonstrate the relative ability of field-independent Ss to solve the tasks and the potential for coalition formation within the mixed triads. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)