Pride, prejudice, and ambivalence: Toward a unified theory of race and ethnicity.

For more than a century, hundreds of psychologists have studied race and ethnicity. Yet this scholarship, like American culture at large, has been ambivalent, viewing race and ethnicity both as sources of pride, meaning, and motivation as well as sources of prejudice, discrimination, and inequality. Underlying this ambivalence is widespread confusion about what race and ethnicity are and why they matter. To address this ambivalence and confusion, as well as to deepen the American conversation about race and ethnicity, the article first examines the field's unclear definitions and faulty assumptions. It then offers an integrated definition of race and ethnicity--dynamic sets of historically derived and institutionalized ideas and practices--while noting that race, although often used interchangeably with ethnicity, indexes an asymmetry of power and privilege between groups. Further, it shows how psychology's model of people as fundamentally independent, self-determining entities impedes the field's--and the nation's--understanding of how race and ethnicity influence experience and how the still-prevalent belief that race and ethnicity are biological categories hinders a more complete understanding of these phenomena. Five first propositions of a unified theory of race and ethnicity are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a unified conceptual framework of psychotherapy.

The increase in theoretical redundancy and the fact that all theories of psychotherapy possess weaknesses as well as strengths suggest that the time may be ripe for the emergence of a unified theory of psychotherapy. Three questions are addressed that are prerequisite to the development of a unified conceptual framework in psychotherapy: (1) What is the current state of the field of psychotherapy integration? (2) How do we move toward a unified theory of psychotherapy? and (3) What must a unified psychotherapy theory include? Unification is merely the next step in the evolution of psychotherapy theory, which is expected to oscillate between stages of unification and differentiation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a theory of consciousness.

Posits that an adequate explanation of psychological phenomena that have a conscious aspect implies a theory of awareness that is now lacking. On psychological, physical, and philosophical grounds, a preliminary model is presented, postulating awareness as a field effect with 2 primary modes: detector and effector. Any adequate field theory of awareness seems to entail a set of field equations; an outline of preconditions for their eventual derivation is presented, partially based on C. T. Tart's (1975) paradigm for the experimental investigation of consciousness. It is argued that the field paradigm of physics provides a fruitful precedent for dealing with an unobservable event having observable consequences. (French abstract) (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a theory of followership.

Unlike most of the leadership literature, which focuses on the leaders themselves, the point of departure in this paper is that the psychology of the followers is the key to understanding the leaders' influence. Followers' attraction to leaders is analyzed from three theoretical perspectives: (a) psychodynamic, according to which the leader represents a protective parental figure; (b) psycho-cognitive, in which the leader serves as a convenient explanation for a complex reality; and (c) social-psychological, in which the leader becomes a kind of narrative that grants meaning and strengthens social identity. The article illustrates how these perspectives can help in the choice of concepts and models of leadership and in examining their validity in predicting and explaining leaders' influence in various contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Detecting differential item functioning with confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory: Toward a unified strategy.

In this article, the authors developed a common strategy for identifying differential item functioning (DIF) items that can be implemented in both the mean and covariance structures method (MACS) and item response theory (IRT). They proposed examining the loadings (discrimination) and the intercept (location) parameters simultaneously using the likelihood ratio test with a free-baseline model and Bonferroni corrected critical p values. They compared the relative efficacy of this approach with alternative implementations for various types and amounts of DIF, sample sizes, numbers of response categories, and amounts of impact (latent mean differences). Results indicated that the proposed strategy was considerably more effective than an alternative approach involving a constrained-baseline model. Both MACS and IRT performed similarly well in the majority of experimental conditions. As expected, MACS performed slightly worse in dichotomous conditions but better than IRT in polytomous cases where sample sizes were small. Also, contrary to popular belief, MACS performed well in conditions where DIF was simulated on item thresholds (item means), and its accuracy was not affected by impact. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a perceptual theory of transparency.

Theories of perceptual transparency have typically been developed within the context of a physical model that generates the percept of transparency (F. Metelli's episcotister model, 1974b). Here 2 fundamental questions are investigated: (a) When does the visual system initiate the percept of one surface seen through another? (b) How does it assign surface properties to a transparent layer? Results reveal systematic deviations from the predictions of Metelli's model, both for initiating image decomposition into multiple surfaces and for assigning surface attributes. Specifically, results demonstrate that the visual system uses Michelson contrast as a critical image variable to initiate percepts of transparency and to assign transmittance to transparent surfaces. Findings are discussed in relation to previous theories of transparency, lightness, brightness, and contrast-contrast. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a theory of dream recall.

Examines evidence for 3 hypotheses of dream recall in studies of variables characteristic of presleep, sleep, and postsleep periods. Neither correlational nor experimental data show consistent support for the hypothesis that repression affects dream recall. Salience and interference concepts are strongly supported and if taken together with cognitive and motivational variables, suggest a promising model for dream recall based on interactions among situational, organismic, and individual difference factors. (117 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a cognitive theory of catharsis.

Reviews 4 counseling analog studies which conclude that (1) expression of anger, either verbally or physically, does not automatically reduce anger, and (2) a cognitive process needs to accompany emotional expression. Results contradict the "hydraulic model" (J. Breuer and S. Freud, 1937) of emotions. An alternate model is proposed suggesting that anger expression will lead to anger reduction if it leads to coping with the anger-instigating event. Coping is achieved through dealing with the environment or through changing one's self-perceptions and attitudes. The model is extended to the emotion of sadness, and it is suggested that the experience and expression of emotions in general are therapeutic only if they facilitate a cognitive assimilation or working through process. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a theory of motivational interviewing.

The widely disseminated clinical method of motivational interviewing (MI) arose through a convergence of science and practice. Beyond a large base of clinical trials, advances have been made toward “looking under the hood” of MI to understand the underlying mechanisms by which it affects behavior change. Such specification of outcome-relevant aspects of practice is vital to theory development and can inform both treatment delivery and clinical training. An emergent theory of MI is proposed that emphasizes two specific active components: a relational component focused on empathy and the interpersonal spirit of MI, and a technical component involving the differential evocation and reinforcement of client change talk. A resulting causal chain model links therapist training, therapist and client responses during treatment sessions, and posttreatment outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a dialect theory: Cultural differences in the expression and recognition of posed facial expressions.

Two studies provided direct support for a recently proposed dialect theory of communicating emotion, positing that expressive displays show cultural variations similar to linguistic dialects, thereby decreasing accurate recognition by out-group members. In Study 1, 60 participants from Quebec and Gabon posed facial expressions. Dialects, in the form of activating different muscles for the same expressions, emerged most clearly for serenity, shame, and contempt and also for anger, sadness, surprise, and happiness, but not for fear, disgust, or embarrassment. In Study 2, Quebecois and Gabonese participants judged these stimuli and stimuli standardized to erase cultural dialects. As predicted, an in-group advantage emerged for nonstandardized expressions only and most strongly for expressions with greater regional dialects, according to Study 1. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a theory of motive acquisition.

"Too little is known about the processes of personality change at relatively complex levels." Empirical study of the problem is hampered by both practical and theoretical difficulties. Despite difficulties "a program of research has been under way for some time which is attempting to develop the achievement motive in adults." Motives are learned; they are "affectively toned associative networks" arranged in a hierarchy of strength within a given individual. A short course to develop n Achievement in some form or another has been established. 12 propositions dealing with means of producing motive change are specified and discussed. A table of variables (independent, intervening, and dependent) conceived as entering into the motive change process is presented. The "propositions should hold best… narrowly for motives and especially the achievement motive." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a statistical theory of learning.

(This partially reprinted article originally appeared in Psychological Review, 1950, Vol 57, 94–207. The following abstract of the original article appeared in PA, Vol 24:5093.) An attempt has been made to clarify some issues in current learning theory by giving a statistical interpretation to the concepts of stimulus and response and by deriving quantitative laws that govern simple behavior systems. Dependent variables, in this formulation, are classes of behavior samples with common quantitative properties; independent variables are statistical distributions of environmental events. Laws of the theory state probability relations between momentary changes in behavioral and environmental variables. From this point of view it has been possible to derive simple relations between probability of response and several commonly used measures of learning, and to develop mathematical expressions describing learning in both classical conditioning and instrumental learning situations under simplified conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a theory of open and closed groups.

4 characteristics differentiate groups in which membership is in a constant state of flux (open groups) as opposed to groups in which the membership is relatively stable (closed groups): time perspective, equilibrium, frame of reference, and changing group membership. The significance of these characteristics for social behavior was explored. A number of tested and testable propositions concerning group stability and social behavior emerged from a rapprochement of research, relevant subtheories, and concepts associated with open and closed group behavior. The failure to consider the dimension of group stability in most previous social psychological research poses a question concerning the generality of social-psychological theories which are based upon research which ignores the pervasive dimension of group stability. (2 p. ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a unified account of spacing effects in explicit cued-memory tasks.

Memory for repeated items improves when presentations are spaced during study. This effect is found in memory tasks using different types of material, paradigms, and participant populations. Although several explanations have been proposed, none explains the presence of spacing effects in cued-memory tasks for unfamiliar stimuli. Two experiments assessed the spacing effect on a yes-no recognition-memory task using nonwords and words as targets. The main results showed that changing the font between repeated occurrences of targets at study removed the spacing effect for nonwords only. A 3rd experiment using lexical decision showed that the font manipulation reduced repetition priming of nonwords when items were repeated at Lag 0. These results suggest that short-term perceptual priming supports spacing effects in cued-memory tasks for unfamiliar stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward generative theory.

Argues that much contemporary theory lacks generative potency, that is, the capacity to challenge prevailing assumptions regarding the nature of social life and to offer alternatives to contemporary patterns of conduct. This deficit may be traced primarily to the commitment of the field to traditional positivist assumptions that (a) give preeminent weight to "the fact," (b) demand verification of theoretical ideas, (c) encourage disregard for the temporal dependency of social pattern, and (d) recommend dispassionate comportment in scientific affairs. Shortcomings are demonstrated in each of these cases, and the groundwork is laid for developing generative theory, liberated both from the press of immediate fact and the necessity for verification. Such theory may properly function to sustain value commitments and to restructure the character of social life. (85 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a unified fielder theory: What we do not yet know about how people run to catch a ball.

Linear optic trajectory theory claims that people catch balls by running in a direction that keeps an optic trajectory of the ball linear. The authors show a range of ball trajectories for which departures of the optic trajectory from linearity do not predict which direction people will run, and the direction they choose does not correct these departures. Data from a wide range of ball trajectories show that people run so that the angle of elevation of gaze to the ball increases at a decreasing rate. But it is not yet known why people choose the particular path they do from the many that would achieve this. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a viable theory of individual differences.

This article deals with 2 metatheoretic issues: (a) the problem of making scientific inferences and (b) the problem of the conceptual framework. Inability to overcome inductive uncertainty lies at the core of the debates concerning the interpretation of factors and how they are organized. Failure to embed factors in a viable, process-oriented conceptual framework has also obstructed progress. Theoretical structures based on the information-processing paradigm and invariant factors are the most promising extant approaches. (49 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a strong phonological theory of visual word recognition: true issues and false trails

A strong phonological theory of reading is proposed and discussed. The first claim of this article is that current debates on word recognition are often based on different axioms regarding the cognitive structures of the mental lexicon rather than conflicting empirical evidence. These axioms lead to different interpretations of the same data. It is argued that once the implicit axioms of competing theories in visual word recognition are explicated, a strong phonological model presents a viable and coherent approach. The assumptions underlying a strong phonological theory of reading are outlined, and 4 theoretical questions are examined: Is phonological recoding a mandatory phase of print processing? Is phonology necessary for lexical access? Is phonology necessary for accessing meaning? How can phonology be derived from orthographic structure? These issues are integrated into a general theory that is constrained by all of the findings.     

Motor imagery theory of a contralateral handedness effect in recognition memory: Toward a chiral psychology of cognition.

The assumption that cognitive processes are independent of handedness was questioned. Five experiments with left-handed and right-handed participants centered on investigating recognition memory for the orientation of heads. Their results provided consistent evidence of a general contralateral handedness effect: Left-facing heads are more likely to be remembered correctly by right-handed participants, whereas right-facing heads are more likely to be remembered correctly by left-handed participants. Motor imagery and hemispheric differences explanations were compared. The results supported the hypothesis that the effect is a consequence of differences between handedness groups in terms of specific patterns of underlying motor activation rather than in terms of more general differences in function between cerebral hemispheres. The possibility of a chiral psychology of cognition that takes note of a person's handedness is considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)