Examiner sex bias and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children scores.

Administered the WISC (excluding Mazes and Digit Span) to 64 3rd graders randomly selected for IQ. Eight examiners, 4 males and 4 females, each tested 8 children, 4 boys and 4 girls. Female examiners elicited higher Full Scale IQ, Verbal IQ, Comprehension, Similarities, and Vocabulary scores from all children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of subject sex, examiner sex, and test apparatus on Halstead Category and Tactual Performance Tests.

80 undergraduates, equally divided by sex, were administered either standard or abbreviated versions of the Halstead Category Test (HCT) and the Tactual Performance Test (TPT) by 4 male and 4 female examiners. Results indicate a significant apparatus effect for TPT Time and significant S Sex?×?Sex of Examiner interactions for both TPT Memory and Location scores. Opposite-sexed pairs were associated with superior Memory and Location scores relative to same-sexed combinations. HCT scores were nonsignificant. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of subject and experimenter sex in psychological research.

Reports that a survey of recent volumes of 2 american psychological association journals indicates that psychologists frequently neglect sex of e and s in designing, analyzing, and reporting studies. Close examination of the influence of sex in the areas of schizophrenia, psychological testing, and sexual attitudes and behaviors suggested that sex of e and s can influence results of research. This variable should be explicitly considered when designing experiments, and neglected only when its contribution can be ruled out empirically. Appropriate controls include use of both male and female ss and a broad sampling of a male and female e population to insure generality of results. (35 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult performance as a function of sex of experimenter and sex of subject.

8 male and 8 female Es each tested 8 male and 8 female Ss in a simple sorting task. During an initial 1.5 min. each S's base rate of response was ascertained; following this, the E delivered a supportive statement every 30 sec. for the next 5.5 min. Performance did not increase as a function of the introduction of the supportive statements. Significant differences in base rate and in performance after the base rate period were found as a function of sex of E and of the interaction between sex of E and sex of S. Highly reliable differences appeared in the performance of Ss tested by different Es. The rank-order correlations of men and women tested by men and by women were significant, indicating a similar hierarchy in level of performance of male and female Ss tested by the male Es and a similar hierarchy for Ss tested by female Es. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of sex, occupation, and confidence of model and sex and grade of subject on imitation of language behaviors.

Asked 144 5th and 6th graders to write sentences after being exposed (experimental group) to 1 of 8 audiotaped modeling conditions in which the models' sex, occupation, and expressed confidence in ability to construct good sentences were varied. The results confirmed the practicability of using audiotaped models, group settings, and written responses in studies of modeling of language behaviors. Findings suggest the importance of social variables in affecting such behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Humor production as a function of sex of subject, creativity, and cartoon content.

Asked 44 female and 40 male high- and low-creative (Remote Associates Test) college students to devise humorous captions to cartoons containing sexual, aggressive, or neutral themes. Males generated funnier captions than females to sexual and aggressive stimuli but not to neutral stimuli. Moreover, creativity was positively related to humor production. The influence of traditional sex role typing on the production of humor is discussed. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of sex of subject and sex of interpreter on responses to test feedback.

100 undergraduates received falsified psychological test results that were discrepant with their own reports on self-referring attitudes. They were then given a chance to change their self-reports and/or derogate the source of the interpretation. A significant interaction between sex of S and sex of interpreter was found on the change in self-report measure. Both female and male Ss changed their self-reports more when the interpreter was of their own sex. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of objective evidence of expertness, nonverbal behavior, and subject sex on client-perceived expertness.

The effects of objective evidence of specialized training, expert nonverbal behaviors, and S sex were studied in a counseling analog setting. 80 undergraduates viewed videotapes of a standardized counseling interaction between a confederate counselor and client. Ss then rated the counselor on a credibility checklist. The results of a 2?×?2?×?2 ANOVA indicate that both objective evidence and nonverbal behaviors significantly affected perceived expertness and that there was no difference in the credibility ratings of the counselor between male and female Ss. There were mixed interactions from the data. Objective evidence and sex did interact significantly, as did objective evidence and nonverbal behavior. The interaction of sex and nonverbal behavior and of sex, objective evidence, and nonverbal behavior did not achieve significance. Implications for practice and research are discussed. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anhedonia, perceptual aberration, and the Rorschach.

26 college students who scored deviantly high on a scale of physical anhedonia and 27 who scored high on a scale of perceptual aberration were compared with 26 normal control Ss on the Rorschach scored for the delta index of thought disorder and the alpha index of deviancy. The anhedonic Ss and perceptual aberration Ss gave more schizophrenic-like Rorschach responses than the control Ss. This finding indicates the importance of follow-up studies to determine whether Ss who score deviantly high on these scales are at high risk for schizophrenia and/or other psychosis. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mood and personality correlates of IQ by race and sex of subject.

Administered the WISC, Mood Adjective Check List, Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, the Janis-Field Personality Questionnaire, and Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale to 416 Black and 416 White junior high and high school students. Results show that mood and personality were significantly related to IQ and that this effect was differentially patterned, depending on Ss' race and sex. Stepwise multiple regression analyses indicated that for all females, externality was the strongest predictor of IQ; for all males, aggression was the strongest or 2nd strongest predictor. Blacks tended to show stronger relationships and higher mean scores on variables that correlated negatively with IQ, and weaker relationships and lower mean scores on variables that correlated positively. A factor analysis indicated that the mood scales could be combined into 3 dimensions: Emotional Upset, Defensive Overconfidence, and Task Interest. The Emotional Upset factor is conceptualized as an index of the degree of internal arousal experienced during examination. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Meta-analytic methods, the Rorschach, and the MMPI.

In response to concerns described by H. N. Garb et al(see record 2001-05665-003), the authors present the weighted and unweighted means and medians of the effect sizes obtained by J. B. Hiller et al (see record 1999-11130-005). These indices of central tendency are presented separately for MMPI and Rorschach effect sizes, both for all the studies in the meta-analysis and for a 10% trimmed sample designed to obtain more robust estimates of central tendency. The variability of these 4 indices is noticeably greater for the MMPI than for the Rorschach. Meta-analysts must compute, compare, and evaluate a variety of indices of central tendency, and they must examine the effects of moderator variables. The authors also comment briefly on the use of phi versus kappa, combining correlated effect sizes and possible hindsight biases. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Rorschach: Facts, fictions, and future.

A large body of empirical evidence supports the reliability, validity, and utility of the Rorschach. This same evidence reveals that the recent criticisms of the Rorschach are largely without merit. This article systematically addresses several significant Rorschach components: interrater and temporal consistency reliability, normative data and diversity, methodological issues, specific applications in the evaluation of thought disorder and suicide, meta-analyses, incremental validity, clinician judgment, patterns of use, and clinical utility. Strengths and weaknesses of the test are addressed, and research recommendations are made. This information should give the reader both an appreciation for the substantial, but often overlooked, research basis for the Rorschach and an appreciation of the challenges that lie ahead. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of different sets of disclosure instructions on subject productivity and rated satisfaction.

Investigated the effects of 4 different sets of instructions (feeling disclosure, logical disclosure, placebo control, and control) to discuss personal concerns on S productivity and S satisfaction ratings to test the relative importance of rational problem solving vs emotional disclosure in counseling. 100 1st-yr college women were preselected and assigned to conditions on a block randomization basis by problem severity. ANOVAs on ratio scores of productivity measures indicated the instructional manipulation was effective in producing different kinds and amounts of talk by condition. Analyses of questionnaire (S satisfaction) items indicated significant condition effects were infrequent and found only on the follow-up questionnaire. These results are discussed in terms of the demand characteristics of the experimental setting. Results suggest that the theoretical argument regarding the overall superiority of an affective or rational approach to counseling is oversimplified. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexual disturbances, Rorschach sexual responses, and mediating factors.

Developed and demonstrated reliability for a list of Rorschach sexual responses. Sexual offenders (n?=?40) and child abusers (n?=?40) took the Rorschach to investigate differences in these responses. These adult male Ss were randomly assigned to either a permissive or neutral instructional set, and hypothesized differences between groups were found to exist only within the sexually permissive instruction set. Post hoc analysis suggests that subtle and gender-confusion Rorschach responses, rather than those that are obviously sexual, discriminate best between groups. Results support a 2-step model of sexual responses on the test. Gender of the examiner was not related to the results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectancies for counselors as a function of counselor gender specification and subject sex.

20 male and 20 female undergraduates were randomly selected at each of 2 time periods for inclusion in each of 3 experimental groups: male counseling psychologist (CP), female CP, and gender-unspecified CP. Ss filled out a modified version of the Expectations About Counseling (EAC) questionnaire that included a reference to the sex of the CP for the appropriate groups. An additional sample of 92 Ss was enlisted to aid in a manipulation check; on completion of the EAC, they were queried as to whether the sex of the CP had been mentioned. Results indicate that specification of the counselor's gender had no significant effect on Ss' expectations, but that sex of S was a potent factor. Females expected stronger facilitative conditions, more personal involvement in counseling, and a more positive counseling outcome than did males. The importance of Ss' sex and interpersonal style and the CP's professional role in expectation-setting processes are discussed. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of interviewer self-disclosure and interviewer-subject sex pairing on perceived and actual subject behavior.

The content (positive or negative) of interviewer self-disclosure regarding their own procrastination and study behavior as undergraduates was manipulated with all additional parameters of self-disclosure controlled. 16 male and 16 female college students discussed their tendency to procrastinate with either male or female interviewers who positively or negatively self-disclosed. Results indicate that (a) after the interview, Ss in the positive disclosure condition expected to study significantly more hours and did study significantly more hours than Ss in the negative disclosure condition; (b) Ss in the positive disclosure condition perceived that they procrastinated significantly more after the interview than before, while the opposite was true for Ss in the negative disclosure condition; and (c) negatively disclosing interviewers were perceived as significantly higher on unconditionality of regard and credibility than positively disclosing interviewers. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interaction of subject and experimenter sex with the body percept in verbal concept identification.

Classified 64 male and 64 female undergraduates as having a high or low body percept based on Holtzman Inkblot Technique scores. Ss were then given a task involving verbal concept identification of body parts. Variables measured included verbal concept identification, talk time, number of responses, intelligence, and abstract ability. The Es were 1 male and 1 female, each of whom tested 1/2 of Ss of each sex. When paired with Es of the same sex, high percept Ss solved the problem sooner and talked more. The opposite occurred for low percept scorers. Solution also came more quickly for high percept Ss. (38 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Test anxiety and Rorschach performance.

"This study was designed to test the validity of certain Rorschach anxiety indices which have been shown to reflect the effects of exposure to a stressful situation, and to examine the generality of certain hypotheses derived from a theoretical framework… . The results provide encouraging evidence as to the validity of certain anxiety indicators and support the theoretical assumptions from which most of them were derived." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex of subject and sex composition of the group as determinants of reward allocations.

Conducted 2 studies with 322 undergraduates in which the sex composition of the group was systematically varied. In Study 1, sex of the low-input group member determined allocation norm choice. In Study 2, which differed from other research in the area in that triads had to arrive at an allocation decision through free, unrestricted communication, equality was the dominant choice in all conditions. To understand when and why sex differences occur and to integrate the present results with past research, the variables affecting sex differences in allocation behavior were explored. Results indicate that women and men differ in their interpersonal orientations, which generally leads them to differentially prefer equality and equity. However, situations differ in the extent to which equity or equality is appropriate, with sex composition of the group considered as a situational demand. It was found that sex differences will most likely occur when situational demands are weak or ambiguous and that members of each sex will attempt to change the situation to make it congruent with their interpersonal orientation. It is suggested that sex differences and support for equity have been exaggerated in past research by restricting research to same-sex groups in settings in which equity is congruent with the situational demands. (60 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of the sex of both interviewer and subject on reported manifest dream content.

Examined the effects of the sex of both interviewer and S on the reported content of dreams. Three male and 3 female interviewers each interviewed 5 male and 5 female Ss to elicit dream reports. All Ss were 17–32 yrs old. In contrast to previous studies, no sex differences in the sexual content of dreams were found, although the dreams of males were more vivid, active, and aggressive. Opposite-sex pairing mobilized reports of conflict within dreams, whereas same-sex pairing increased the sexual content. Results support the hypothesis that environmental factors are influential in determining the dream content that is reported. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)