Subject effects in laboratory research: An examination of subject roles, demand characteristics, and valid inference.

Presents 4 conceptualizations of the role that Ss adopt in laboratory experiments, and assesses empirical support for each. There is no unconfounded evidence that Ss adopt a good S role and seek to confirm hypotheses or that they adopt a negativistic role and seek to sabotage experiments. There is some evidence that in specific contexts Ss may adopt a faithful S role, and there is considerable evidence that Ss are apprehensive about how their performance will be evaluated. Furthermore, providing S with a hypothesis about a study consistently produces bias. These relationships are then examined with respect to their implications for improving research in general and for drawing valid inferences from experimental data. (69 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential effects of demand characteristics on teacher and pupil behavior.

Asked 40 teachers of Grade 1–3 classes to manipulate the behavior of disruptive and withdrawn children in accordance with a socially desirable instructional set. Measures of disruptiveness and withdrawal were obtained using independent observers who recorded pupil and teacher behavior prior to, during, and following the manipulation. Results show that teachers were unable to decrease inappropriate behavior in disruptive children but were successful in raising the level of prosocial responding of withdrawn children. It is recommended that future interventions for withdrawn children include a provision for controlling the potential effects of demand characteristics. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of superior female performance and sex-role orientation on gender conformity.

Assessed the effects of gender, sex-role orientation, and demonstrated female task superiority on influenceability in 54 mixed-gender dyads. The dependent variable was the number of items changed on a social judgment questionnaire subsequent to the influence attempt. The female superiority manipulation rather than gender- or sex-role orientation emerged as the strongest factor in determining influenceability. As predicted, the gender-relatedness of the measuring instrument also played an important role, with females conforming more on masculine items and males conforming more on feminine items. Results are interpreted as consistent with expectation states theory. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A closer examination of subject roles.

Investigated S. J. Weber and T. D. Cook's (see record 1969-04069-001) notion of "subject roles" by assigning 45 undergraduates to 1 of 6 role-playing groups. Ss performed a word selection/memory task designed to discriminate among the roles. Ss with different role-play motivations differed significantly in their attention to various facets of the instructions and in their behavioral responses on the experimental task. Discriminant analysis indicated that the 6 groups could be distinguished within a 2-dimensional space. However, uninstructed control Ss were located near the center of this discriminant space, revealing few of the characteristics determined to be typical for good, faithful, apprehensive, or negativistic Ss. It is concluded that while the subject-role constructs discussed by Weber and Cook are largely valid, such roles may not be a severe threat in laboratory research. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physiological and subjective effects of Zen meditation and demand characteristics.

Undergraduates studied a Zen meditation exercise under 3 demand conditions: deactivation (modeling and suggesting relaxation outcome), neutral (no specific outcome), and activation (arousal outcome). Results show that Zen meditation produces small physiological changes in naive, unpracticed Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of information source status and dogmatism upon conformity behavior.

This study explored the relationship between degree of authoritarianism, as measured by Rokeach's (1960) Dogmatism Scale, and susceptibility to influence by individuals of high and low social status. College Ss were placed in the autokinetic problem (see 10: 1332); a confederate of E, introduced as either a research scientist or a high school senior, gave his responses to the situation prior to S. The confederate's judgments were contrived so as to disagree with S's. Ss high in authoritarianism tended to agree with (conform to) the responses of the "scientist"; Ss low in authoritarianism, with the "high school student." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Demand characteristics or conformity?: Suspiciousness of deception and experimenter bias in conformity research.

Administered to 87 undergraduates (a) the Psychology Research Survey (PRS), a measure of attitudes toward psychology experiments; and (b) a battery of attitude scales on current issues. 6 advanced undergraduate Es, led to believe that Ss had high- or low-conformity scores on the battery, presented R. Wyer's dot-estimation conformity task to Ss. Results of a postexperimental questionnaire indicate Ss' suspiciousness of deception was quite common (43.7%) and suspicious Ss conformed less. The prediction that suspicious Ss would be more positive in their attitudes on the PRS than nonsuspicious Ss was not supported. However, Ss who were aware that they were being deceived and nevertheless conformed had significantly more positive attitudes on the PRS than aware Ss who conformed less. In addition, Es who tested Ss of the opposite sex biased their results according to their expectations, while for Ss of the same sex the bias was reversed. It is apparent that conformity studies are quite susceptible to the effects of demand characteristics and that only with controlled E-S interaction and more attention to deception procedures can results be generalized. (French summary) (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The generalization of the effects of agreement and correctness on relative competence mediating conformity.

Presented a social communication task to 215 Canadian high school students (Grades 8-13). Results show that correctness and group agreement interacted with grade level, producing varying degrees of perceived competence relative to a simulated group. For Ss in Grades 8-10 only, the experimental manipulation of relative competence influenced conformity; Ss who were told that they were more competent than the group conformed less than those who were told that they were either less competent than or as competent as the group. Ss who perceived themselves to be more competent than the group also conformed less. Other findings are that: (a) females showed significantly higher conformity, (b) Ss in Grades 11-13 indicated more suspicion and awareness of the possibility of deception, and (c) no differences in conformity existed between suspicious and nonsuspicious Ss. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dissociation, duality, and demand characteristics in hypnosis.

Examined hypnotic dissociation (as indexed by the "hidden-observer" method), duality in age regression, and the potential impact of situational cues on these phenomena. 12 high- and 9 low-susceptible undergraduates (as determined by the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale) were tested in an application of the real–simulating paradigm of hypnosis; 10 high- to medium-susceptible Ss were also employed. Inquiry into Ss' experiences was conducted through the experiential analysis technique, which involves Ss viewing and commenting on a videotape playback of their hypnotic session. Results demonstrate that neither the hidden-observer effect nor duality could be explained solely in terms of the demand characteristics of the test situation. The hidden-observer effect was observed in high-susceptible Ss only; all Ss who displayed the hidden-observer effect also displayed duality in age regression. High-susceptible Ss were distinctive in their reports of multiple levels of awareness during hypnosis. Findings are discussed in terms of the cognitive skills that Ss bring to hypnosis and the degree to which the hypnotic setting encourages the use of dissociative cognitive processes. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The mediation of mothers' self-fulfilling effects on their children's alcohol use: Self-verification, informational conformity, and modeling processes.

This research examined whether self-fulfilling prophecy effects are mediated by self-verification, informational conformity, and modeling processes. The authors examined these mediational processes across multiple time frames with longitudinal data obtained from two samples of mother-child dyads (N? = 486; N? = 287), with children's alcohol use as the outcome variable. The results provided consistent support for the mediational process of self-verification. In both samples and across several years of adolescence, there was a significant indirect effect of mothers' beliefs on children's alcohol use through children's self-assessed likelihood of drinking alcohol in the future. Comparatively less support was found for informational conformity and modeling processes as mediators of mothers' self-fulfilling effects. The potential for self-fulfilling prophecies to produce long-lasting changes in targets' behavior via self-verification processes are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some effects of feedback from the experimenter on conformity behavior.

The first experiment dealt with the importance of continuous feedback from the experimenter as a factor in conformity behavior as contrasted with discontinued feedback. Discontinued feedback was shown to be less effective but only when the feedback reinforced independence. The second experiment tested the generality of the previous finding that feedback in line with consensus has little or no effect whereas feedback in favor of objective reality drastically reduces the level of conformity behavior. It was found that reinforcement of conformity had a strong effect and that the effect of reinforcing independence was still significant but reduced. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Goal orientation and task demand effects on motivation, affect, and performance.

Two studies tested the joint effects of goal orientation and task demands on motivation, affect, and performance, examining different factors affecting task demands. In Study 1 (N?=?199), task difficulty was found to moderate the effect of goal orientation on performance and affect (i.e., satisfaction with performance). In Study 2 (N?≠&189), task consistency was found to moderate the effect of goal orientation on self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation. Results are discussed in relation to self-regulatory processes cued by goal orientations, attentional resource demands, and the need to match goal orientations to the nature of the task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The characteristics of subject matter in different academic areas.

Performed multidimensional scaling on scholars' judgments about the similarities of the subject-matter of different academic areas. 168 university scholars made judgments about 36 areas, and 54 small-college scholars judged similarities among 30 areas. G. A. Miller's method of sorting was used in collecting data. 3 dimensions were common to the solutions of both samples: existence of a paradigm, concern with application, and concern with life systems. It appears that these dimensions are general to the subject-matter of most academic institutions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of situational and instructional demand on indices of speech anxiety.

Assessed the effects of contextual (experimental location) and instructional cues on behavioral, self-report, and physiological indices of speech anxiety. 42 male and 48 female undergraduates were randomly assigned within sex to 1 of 4 conditions in the 2 * 2 design: (a) fear-anxiety clinic, (b) fear-speech laboratory, (c) simulate relaxation therapy-anxiety clinic, and (d) simulate relaxation therapy-speech laboratory. The clinic setting produced more behavioral anxiety than the laboratory setting. The fear test instructions produced both more behavioral and self-report anxiety than the simulate relaxation therapy instructions. The fear-clinic condition produced the greatest behavioral anxiety. No significant differences were obtained for the physiological measures. The demand and expectancy effects were comparable to those obtained for rat, spider, and snake phobic Ss in earlier studies. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Birth order, need achievement, and conformity.

"… first born persons have a higher need for achievement than later born persons; first born females exhibit greater resistance to influence… and first born males exhibit less resistance to influence than later born males." The results are explained in terms of the psychological significance of order of birth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of person-group relationships on conformity processes.

"An experiment was designed to test hypotheses derived from assuming distinctive processes called social reality and group locomotion, each of which generates forces to conform under specified conditions. Four types of person-group relations were created by experimentally varying subject's attraction to the group and acceptance as a member. A modification of Asch's line problem and experimental situation was used to test the conformity behavior of subjects. The results are in accord with hypotheses advanced about the conformity behavior of highly accepted persons, thus supplying evidence in favor of the assumptions about social reality and group locomotion processes." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group cohesiveness, communication level, and conformity.

"The predictions that both communication level and conformity behavior within groups vary positively with the degree of group cohesiveness were clearly confirmed. Measures of the three variables under investigation were obtained, in a laboratory setting… . Data pertaining to the validity of a cohesiveness index, derived from the conceptual definition of cohesiveness, were also obtained… . the obtained results lend support to attempts to predict group behavior on the basis of… general behavior principles." From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4GE08L. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Egocentrism, conformity, and agreeing to disagree.

The development of strategies for resolving peer disputes was studied by presenting 22 kindergartners and 22 2nd graders with self–peer disagreements, which varied on 2 factors: whether self and/or a peer had access to more valid information and whether the disagreement was about objective perceptions or subjective preferences. The self-valid and other-valid problems were accurately resolved by the youngest Ss. The both-valid problem was accurately resolved (evaluating both positions as right) both as a function of age and of the objectivity of the disagreement. It is concluded that the ability to differentiate the perceptual from the evaluative judgment was critical in distinguishing between egocentric/conforming Ss and nonegocentric independent/cooperative Ss. The finding that motivational factors increased conformity in older Ss is explained in terms of social comparison processes rather than in terms of the need of peer approval. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group size, prior experience, and conformity.

An effort was made to validate the findings of 2 previous workers regarding the effect of the size of a group (Asch, 1952) and prior experience (Mausner, 1953, 1954, 1957) upon conformity in the judgment of the length of lines. The results of Asch and Mausner were reproduced; there is a curvilinear relationship between size of a group (from 2 to 5) and influence on S to conform to what he believes are the estimates of the lines made by others. Prior experience in making judgments of the lines was also found to influence the accuracy of judgment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A further assessment of attention-placebo effects and demand characteristics in studies of systematic desensitization.

Selected 28 female college students with high scores on the Fear Inventory by J. Wolpe and A. Lazarus. It was predicted that Ss receiving systematic desensitization would show greater reductions on both fear-related behavior measures (approach test and reported fearfulness) and simulated fear (i.e., control) measures than Ss receiving relaxation or no treatment. The simulated fear measure entailed crossing out selected numbers on pages of random numbers, scored for both performance (number of crossed-out numbers) and subjective evaluation (self-report of "felt frustration or aversion"). Results of group comparisons of pre- and posttreatment difference scores confirm the prediction. Suggestions for the improvement of the control and assessment of nonspecific treatment effects in therapy outcome studies are made. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)