Responses to "neutral" pronoun presentations and the development of sex-biased responding.

Investigated whether 36 kindergarten and 36 1st-grade children, like college students, would give male-biased responses to a "he" presentation and examined how Ss would respond to the use of "they" and "he or she" pronoun presentations. The effects of pronoun use on memory were also investigated, as were possible sex differences in responding. Each S was assigned to 1 of 3 pronoun presentation groups, each of which contained an equal number of girls and boys. Ss in the different groups listened to the exact same story except that Group I Ss heard the pronoun "they" used throughout the story, Group 2 Ss heard "she" or "he" used throughout the story, and Group 3 Ss heard the pronoun "he" throughout the story. Ss were then asked to retell the story and were shown pictures of a boy and a girl and asked to indicate which one the story was about. Results support the pronomial dominance theory of pronoun functioning for young children. Results also support the hypothesis that boys initially use a self-imaging response to neutral presentations. The time of transition away from this response was identified as the 1st-grade level. There was no indication that kindergarten or 1st-grade girls use the self-imagining approach. The "they" presentation appeared to be the most neutral. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

If you are gender schematic, all members of the opposite sex look alike.

96 male and 96 female undergraduates classified on the basis of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory were asked to recall "who said what" after listening to a taped conversation either among 3 men and 3 women (the gender study) or among 3 Blacks and 3 Whites (the race study). Analysis of Ss' errors revealed that both sex-typed and cross-sex-typed Ss confused the members of the opposite sex with one another significantly more than androgynous or undifferentiated Ss did. In contrast, no individual differences related to sex typing emerged in the race study, which suggests that the greater gender schematicity of sex-typed individuals is specific to gender, as S. L. Bem's (see record 1981-25685-001) gender schema theory implies. The finding that cross-sex-typed Ss were significantly more gender schematic than anyone else and the apparent inconsistency of the data with the self-schema theory of H. Markus et al (see record 1982-23588-001) are discussed. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of children's understanding of the metalinguistic term word..

Designed 3 experiments to assess 24 preschool (mean age 64.63 mo), 24 1st-grade (mean age 76.25 mo), and 24 2nd grade (mean age 88.61 mo) children's understanding of the term word. A modified aural discrimination task was used in which Ss were required to discriminate word from nonword stimuli along only 1 dimension at a time. Exp I tested Ss' discrimination of words and sounds. Exp II examined word–phrase differentiation. Both of these experiments followed previous research in examining children's comprehension of the term word in relation to nouns. Exp III examined Ss' understanding of word with stimuli from a variety of form classes. Results indicate that Ss' word concepts have been underestimated in past research suggesting that young children lack an adequate word concept: although preschool Ss did not understand the term properly, by 1st grade word was understood. These experiments also show that Ss benefited from brief training in which they were taught to attach the metalinguistic label word to their developing concept of the word as a unit of spoken language. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physiological arousal, dissonance, and attitude change: Evidence for a dissonance-arousal link and a "Don't remind me" effect.

Two experiments, with 80 undergraduates, replicated and extended research by R. T. Croyle and J. Cooper (see record 1984-11595-001) indicating that cognitive dissonance involves physiological arousal. In Exp I, Ss wrote counterattitudinal essays under conditions of high or low choice and, to assess arousal effects owing to effort, with or without a list of arguments provided by the experimenter. In high-choice conditions only and regardless of effort, Ss showed both arousal (heightened galvanic skin response) and attitude change. Arousal, however, did not decline following attitude change. The more effortful task (no arguments provided) produced increased arousal but not greater attitude change. In Exp II, the opportunity to change one's attitude following a freely chosen counterattitudinal essay was manipulated. As in Exp I, arousal increased following the essay but did not decline following a postessay attitude change opportunity. When Ss were not given an attitude change opportunity, however, arousal did decline. It is suggested that if dissonance is a drive state, drive reduction typically may be accomplished through gradual cognitive change or forgetting. (47 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Field independence–dependence and cognitive restructuring.

Investigated the hypothesis that field-independent (FI) individuals are more efficient in their use of cognitive restructuring skills than are field-dependent (FD) individuals. 32 FI and 32 FD female undergraduates, as assessed by the Hidden Figures Test, were required to solve a series of anagrams under either an easy or difficult anagram condition. Ss received 5 anagrams constructed from "social" words and 5 anagrams constructed from "nonsocial" words. The resulting repeated measures design allowed for an assessment of the performance effectiveness of FI and FD as well as an examination of the possible differential influences of word "socialness" and anagram difficulty. Analysis of anagram performance indicated that FI Ss found it easier than FD Ss to provide a disorganized field with organization. FI Ss solved the anagrams significantly quicker than did FD Ss. Consistent with this finding, FD Ss perceived the anagram task as being significantly more difficult than did FI Ss. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of usual and experimental patients in a psychiatric day center.

In a previously reported study by the authors (see record 1976-28530-001) of inpatient and day hospitalization, 59 seriously ill female psychiatric patients were randomly assigned to an inpatient or a day hospital setting. The present study compared the 29 seriously ill patients randomly assigned to the day hospital with a control group of 34 "usual" day patients. Ss were assessed on 14 outcome measures, some of which were derived from the Psychiatric Status Schedules and the Psychiatric Evaluation Form. The experimental group showed significantly more improvement from baseline to subsequent time periods in 3 distinct areas: global mental status, subjective distress, and family adjustment. The controls, on the other hand, spent fewer nights in the hospital, used the hospital facilities significantly less during the 1st 3 mo, and incurred a significantly lower cost for the same period. Two measures—number of social work contacts and amount of time spent in the treatment milieu—indicated that experimentals initially required more staff effort than controls, but at later time periods the reverse was true. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of assigned versus participatively set goals, knowledge of results, and individual differences on employee behavior when goal difficulty is held constant.

In Exp I, 60 female clerical workers were randomly assigned to participative, assigned, and "do best" goal conditions on a clerical test. Specific goals led to higher performance than did the "do best" goals. With goal difficulty held constant, there was no significant difference between the assigned and participative conditions on performance or goal acceptance. Goal attainment, however, was higher in the assigned condition than it was in the participative condition. No main or interaction effects were found for knowledge of results (KR) or for individual difference measures with performance or goal acceptance. However, high self-esteem Ss who received KR attained their goals more often than did Ss with low self-esteem when the goals were participatively set. Exp II was conducted with 28 employees from the same sample in a performance-appraisal setting over an 8-mo period. Assigned goals resulted in higher performance and greater goal acceptance than participatively set goals. There was a positive linear relationship between goal difficulty and performance in the participative condition only. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of success and failure on depressive cognitions

A cognitive social-learning approach to depression emphasizes biases or distortions in depressed persons' evaluation of information about self, future, and environment. 33 depressed and 34 nondepressed female undergraduates participated in a task that ostensibly assessed therapeutic potential; they received success, failure, or no feedback about their performance on this realistic social interaction task. It was anticipated that depressed women, especially as a function of feedback would respond in characteristic ways that could be construed as depression-enhancing on both self-rating and expectation-of-performance measures. The predictions were largely confirmed. A task developed to assess depressed-distorted responses to stories also revealed significant differences in types of response choices between depressed and nondepressed Ss. Results reinforce attempts to assess not what depressed people are or have , but what they do . (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vocal onset latency in the study of question answering.

A study of the adequacy of the vocal response measure in studying question answering among 12 undergraduates showed that vocal answer latencies to yes–no questions closely resembled previously measured buttonpress latencies obtained by the author (1984). On a small number of read-only trials, Ss viewed the phrases "yes," "no," or "don't know" in place of a question. On these trials, the Ss simply recited the phrase on the screen. The resulting "yes" latencies were faster than the others, which did not differ. This result is consistent with the hypothesis that an internal response index is initialized "yes" in yes–no question answering. It is concluded that the vocal onset latency measure and the read-only trial procedure are useful in question answering research. (French abstract) (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reappraisal of the A-B therapist "type" distinction in terms of the Personality Research Form.

Assessed personality dimensions involved in the A-B therapist "type" distinction which has proven predictive of therapist-patient compatibility in several clinical and analogue studies. The A-B scale scores of 223 male undergraduates were related to the 22 variables of Jackson's Personality Research Form. Multiple discriminant analyses and factor analyses strongly supported the hypothesis that A-B status is explicable in personality terms: so-called A-type Ss (predicted to be compatible with schizoid patients) were characterized by cautious self-expression, social ineptness, and a restricted cognitive scope; B-type Ss (presumably compatible with neurotic patients) appeared socially ascendant and "open" to complex experiences. Results were supported by a cross-validation study of 50 professional Ss. As in prior research, the variables differentiating A-B statuses appeared to involve a prominent "masculinity-femininity" component. (30 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"How good is the evidence for a production deficiency among learning disabled students?": Correction to Shepherd et al.

Reports an error in "How good is the evidence for a production deficiency among learning disabled students" by Margaret J. Shepherd, Lynn M. Gelzheiser and Roberta A. Solar (Journal of Educational Psychology, 1985[Oct], Vol 77[5], 553-561). Figures 1 and 2 (p. 557 and 559, respectively) are reversed. The captions are correct, but Figure 1 should be above the caption for Figure 2 and Figure 2 should be above the caption for Figure 1. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1986-14779-001.) Investigated the spontaneous use of mnemonic strategies by learning disabled (LD) and non-LD children and adolescents to examine whether LD Ss can be distinguished from their non-LD peers on the basis of strategy use and recall. In Exp I, 105 LD and 105 non-LD 9-15 yr olds were administered a picture study/recall task, in which the strategies of interest were categorical organization during study and clustering during recall. In Exp II, 140 LD and 140 non-LD 11-17 yr olds were administered a paired-associate recall task, in which the strategy of interest was elaboration. In both studies, LD Ss earned lower mean recall scores than did the non-LD Ss. As a group, LD Ss did not differ from non-LD Ss in the use of categorical organization during study but showed less categorical clustering at recall. Fewer LD Ss used elaboration. Despite these differences, recall and strategy use were not useful predictors of classification as LD or non-LD and were only weak to moderate correlates of academic achievement. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Target groups for preventing AIDS among intravenous drug users: II. The "hard" data studies.

Studies were reviewed with respect to three different target groups for preventing AIDS among intravenous (IV) drug users by (a) providing drug abuse treatment for those who want to stop injecting drugs, (b) providing "safer" injection for those who are likely to continue injecting, and (c) preventing drug injection among those who are at high risk for beginning to inject. The studies reviewed were limited to those that include "hard" data: validated self-reports, seroprevalence outcomes, or self-reports of behavior that is opposed to any of the demand characteristics generated by the research setting. For two groups of current IV drug users—those entering drug treatment and those continuing to inject—these hard data studies show rapidly induced AIDS risk reduction but suggest a need for large-scale change maintained over long time periods. In terms of preventing initial injection, alternative forms of intense drug use have emerged but have not supplanted drug injection, and basic knowledge of AIDS does not appear to deter initial drug injection. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The "hidden observer" phenomenon in hypnosis: Some additional findings.

23 highly hypnotizable undergraduates (Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility) underwent 2 specially constructed 7-item hypnotic inductions. Over the 14 items, the main finding was of a relationship between E. R. Hilgard's (1973, 1977, 1979) "hidden observer" effect and 2 aspects of hypnotic age regression. Ss reporting a hidden observer experienced duality during regression to age 5, in which they were aware of being both adult and child. When asked to write a complex sentence, most did so, usually without spelling errors. The Ss not reporting this effect experienced quasi-lateral age regression in which they had the exclusive feeling of being 5 yrs old, with no sense of an adult identity. Most of these Ss were unable to write the same complex sentence when requested to during age regression. The study replicated Hilgard's finding of the hidden observer phenomenon in terms of its incidence and obtained similar verbal reports from Ss experiencing it. At the same time, the results suggest that a neodissociation account of hypnosis may need some modifications to accommodate these additional findings. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Therapists' liking of their psychotherapy patients: Some issues related to severity of disorder and treatability.

57 American and Israeli psychotherapists completed the MMPI and questionnaires on professional background and personal experience in psychotherapy. Ss each nominated 1 "easy" and 1 "difficult" patient, and MMPIs and personal information were obtained from these patients. Several factors appeared to differentiate easy from difficult psychotherapy patients. The general characteristics of easy as compared to difficult patients indicated significantly less pathology on the MMPI, a more favorable psychotherapy prognosis, greater physical attractiveness if female, and less of a tendency to be labeled "personality disorder." The positive "liking" ratings of therapists toward their easy patients appeared to override all ideological differences in therapeutic orientation. The impact of the therapist's affective response is discussed in terms of "nonspecific" treatment factors that may affect the outcome of therapy. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"What is learned during automatization? The role of attention in constructing an instance": Correction to Logan and Etherton.

Reports an error in "What is learned during automatization? The role of attention in constructing an instance" by Gordon D. Logan and Joseph L. Etherton (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 1994[Sep], Vol 20[5], 1022-1050). In the aforementioned article, the Appendix on page 1050 was incomplete. The complete Appendix is presented in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1995-04305-001.) Seven experiments with 372 Ss were conducted to examine the role of attention in automatization. Ss searched 2-word displays for members of a target category in divided-attention, focused-attention, and dual-task conditions. The main issue was whether attention conditions would affect what Ss learned about co-occurrences of the words in the displays. The attention hypothesis, derived from the instance theory of automaticity, predicts learning of co-occurrences in divided-attention and dual-task conditions in which Ss attend to both words but not in focused-attention conditions in which Ss only attend to 1 word. The data supported the attention hypothesis and therefore the instance theory. [A correction concerning this article appears in Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory & Cognition, 1994(Nov), Vol 20(6), 1390. The Appendix was incomplete and the complete Appendix is presented.] (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting contraceptive behavior from attitudes: A comparison of within- versus across-subjects procedures.

Within- vs across-Ss procedures for predicting behavior from attitudes were contrasted. Each procedure required a comparison among attitudes to generate a prediction; the comparison was either among the same attitudes held by different people (across Ss) or among different attitudes held by the same person (within Ss). It was hypothesized that the within-S model would provide a more adequate explanation of behavior from attitudinal constructs and, hence, more accurate prediction of behavior from attitudes than the across-Ss model. 349 married couples were administered a questionnaire containing measures of 3 attitudinal components—affect, cognition, and conation—toward each of 4 contraceptive methods—oral contraceptives, intrauterine device, diaphragm, and condom. Contraceptive behavior was assessed 1 yr later. In support of the hypothesis, the within-S predictions bore a significantly stronger relation to the behavioral criteria than did the across-Ss predictions. This effect was consistent for each of the 3 components of attitude, for the prediction of behavior and behavioral intention, for male and female Ss, and for a variety of contraceptive behaviors. In addition, both the within- and the across-Ss analyses demonstrated a clear rank ordering in the predictive validity of the 3 attitudinal components: Conation was a better predictor of behavior than was the affect, which, in turn, was better than cognition. (2 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Falsification of the forced-choice guilt inventory.

Administered D. Mosher's Forced-Choice Guilt Inventory (FCGI) to 70 male adjudicated delinquents. All Ss took the test under standard instructions and then under "fake bad" and "fake good" instructions. Results were significantly different under the 3 conditions. Ss had high guilt scores under the good condition and low scores under the bad. Standard condition scores were not highly related to the other scores. The difference in scores in the bad and good conditions was significantly related to IQ, indicating that only brighter Ss could fake successfully on the test. It is concluded that the FCGI is a useful research tool, but that caution must be exercised in evaluation when used as a diagnostic tool. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inspecting expectancy: Some laboratory results of relevance for teacher training.

Because the principal requirement of any "purposive system" is feedback, the dynamic system of teacher-student interaction having as a purpose the advancement of student problem-solving abilities could, therefore, be expected to show the importance of feedback. 80 male college students were required to assist 1 "bright" and 1 "dull" hypothetical student on a problem-solving task. Dimensions of teacher-student feedback were evaluated as a function of teacher expectancy and awareness of possible expectancy effects. Results show that teacher expectancy effects were evident when Ss were unaware of the possibility of such effects and thus were unprepared to deal with students of differing abilities grouped together. Unaware Ss directed both greater levels of encouragement and criticism toward the student of presumed greater ability. Ss who were given special instruction that heightened awareness of expectancy effects were able to guard successfully against qualitatively different treatment of students of differing abilities. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal and emotional problem solving among narcotic drug abusers.

"Real-life" interpersonal and emotional problem solving was measured in 40 narcotics abusers in ambulatory treatment, 20 in "good" standing and 20 in "poor" standing. A modified means–ends problem-solving procedure was used that required narrative responses containing relevant means (RMs) for solving 7 problems. Good Ss had more total RMs, used more introspective and emotional RMs, were better at RM recognition, but did not have more sufficient narratives than the poor Ss. Results are consistent with those of previous studies of problem-solving thinking. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Social categorization and the truly false consensus effect": Correction to Krueger and Zeiger.

Reports an error in "Social categorization and the truly false consensus effect" by Joachim Krueger and Joanna S. Zeiger (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1993[Oct], Vol 65[4], 670-680). In this article, the second and third column headings of Table 2 were inadvertently transposed. The corrected table is provided in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1994-33435-001.) The false consensus effect involves adequate inductive reasoning and egocentric biases. To detect truly false consensus effects (TFCEs), item endorsements were correlated with the differences between estimated and actual consensus within Ss. In Exp 1, Ss overgeneralized from themselves to gender in-groups and to the overall population, but not to gender out-groups. Exps 2 and 3 demonstrated intuitive understanding of consensus bias. Another person's choices were inferred from that person's population estimates or estimates about the gender in-group. In Exp 4, Ss inferred that consensus estimates for a behavior were higher among people who were willing to engage in that behavior than among those who were not. Implications of these findings for general induction, social categorization, and the psychological processes underlying TFCEs are discussed. [A correction concerning this article appears in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1993, Vol 65(6), 1090. The second and third column headings of Table 2 were inadvertently transposed and the corrected table is included.] (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)