The effect of positive or negative frame on the choices of students in school psychology and educational administration.

School psychologists and educational administrators are responsible for decisions regarding both programs and individuals in the schools. Research in cognitive psychology has suggested that the framing (i.e., the wording) of decision alternatives may greatly affect which options are chosen. The authors examined whether framing affected choices of doctoral students in school psychology and educational administration. 109 participants responded to 5 decision problems whose outcomes were framed either positively as gains or negatively as losses. Frame and profession significantly affect the number of risky choices. Negative framing led to more risky choices than positive framing, consistent with Prospect Theory. In addition, educational administration students made more risky choices than school psychology students, regardless of framing. The presence of framing effects suggests a barrier to effective decision making because objectively identical versions of alternatives led to different choices. The difference between professions regarding the number of risky choices may represent a barrier to understanding and effective cooperation between these 2 groups. Creatively addressing this challenge may improve interdisciplinary collaboration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Framing of task performance strategies: effects on performance in a multiattribute dynamic decision making environment

It is well documented that the way a static choice task is "framed" can dramatically alter choice behavior, often leading to observable preference reversals. This framing effect appears to result from perceived changes in the nature or location of a person's initial reference point, but it is not clear how framing effects might generalize to performance on dynamic decision making tasks that are characterized by high workload, time constraints, risk, or stress. A study was conducted to examine the hypothesis that framing can introduce affective components to the decision making process and can influence, either favorably (positive frame) or adversely (negative frame), the implementation and use of decision making strategies in dynamic high-workload environments. Results indicated that negative frame participants were significantly impaired in developing and employing a simple optimal decision strategy relative to a positive frame group. Discussion focuses on implications of these results for models of dynamic decision making.     

"Team negotiation: An examination of integrative and distributive bargaining": Correction.

Reports an error in "Team negotiation: An examination of integrative and distributive bargaining" by Leigh Thompson, Erika Peterson and Susan E. Brodt (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1996[Jan], Vol 70[1], 66-78). Susan E. Brodt's department affiliation was listed incorrectly on p. 66. Her correct affiliation is The Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1996-01707-006.) Two experiments compared the effectiveness of team and solo negotiators in integrative and distributive bargaining. When at least 1 party to a negotiation was a team, joint profit increased. Teams, more than solos, developed mutually beneficial trade-offs among issues and discovered compatible interests. The presence of at least 1 team increased information exchange and accuracy in judgments about the other party's interests in comparison with solo negotiations. The belief by both teams and solos that teams have a relative advantage over solo opponents was not supported by actual outcomes. Unexpectedly, neither private meetings nor friendships among team members improved the team's advantage. Teams of friends made less accurate judgments and reached fewer integrative agreements compared to teams of nonfriends. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring psychological uncertainty: Verbal versus numeric methods.

The authors argue that alternatives to the traditional numeric methods of measuring people's uncertainty may prove to hold important advantages under some conditions. In 3 experiments, the authors compared verbal measures involving responses such as very likely, and numeric measures involving responses such as 80% chance. The verbal measures were found to show more sensitivity to various manipulations affecting psychological uncertainty (Experiment 1), to be better predictors of individual preferences among options with unknown outcomes (Experiment 2), and to be better predictors of behavioral intentions (Experiment 3). Results suggest that numeric measures tend to elicit deliberate and rule-based reasoning from respondents, whereas verbal measures allow for more associative and intuitive thinking. Given that there may be many types of situations in which human decisions and behaviors are not based on deliberate and rule-based thinking, numeric measures may misrepresent how individuals think about uncertainty in those situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temporal framing and persuasion to adopt preventive health behavior: Moderating effects of individual differences in consideration of future consequences on sunscreen use.

Objective: Previous work on temporal framing of health communications has focused upon detection behaviors that possess an inherent immediate risk of negative consequences. The present studies evaluate the role of temporal frame for a preventive behavior, using sunscreen. Design: Two experimental field studies manipulated the temporal frame in which positive and negative consequences of using sunscreen were presented. Main Outcome Measures: Cognitive responses, intention, and behavior (experiment 2). Results: Consistent with hypotheses, Experiment 1 showed that individual differences in consideration of future consequences (CFC; A. Strathman, F. Gleicher, D. S. Boninger, & C. S. Edwards, 1994) moderated (a) the processing of long- versus short-term consequences and (b) the persuasive impact of the different temporal frames on behavioral intentions. In Experiment 2, the balance of positive versus negative thoughts generated by reading the persuasive communications was shown to mediate the effects of the Temporal Frame × CFC interaction on a behavioral measure. Conclusion: Findings extend previous work by demonstrating the importance of individual differences in CFC to the processing of health communication about a preventive health behavior and to a behavioral outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning to be risk averse.

Experimental learning that conforms to standard learning models is shown to lead learners to favor less risky alternatives when possible outcomes are positive. This learning disadvantage for risky alternatives is likely to be quite substantial and persistent, particularly among relatively fast learners. Learning to choose among alternatives whose outcomes lie in the negative domain, on the other hand, leads to favoring more risky alternatives in the short run but tends to become risk neutral in the long run. Thus, the fact that human beings exhibit greater risk aversion for gains than for losses in a wide variety of situations may reflect accumulated learning rather than inexplicable human traits or utility functions. Some implications of an experiential learning interpretation of risk preferences are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Negativity bias in attribution of external agency.

This research investigated whether people are more likely to attribute events to external agents when events are negative rather than neutral or positive. Participants more often believed that ultimatum game partners were humans rather than computers when the partners offered unusually unfavorable divisions than unusually favorable divisions (Experiment 1A), even when their human partners had no financial stake in the game (Experiment 1B). In subsequent experiments, participants were most likely to infer that gambles were influenced by an impartial participant when the outcomes of those gambles were losses rather than wins (Experiments 2 and 3), despite their explicitly equal probability. The results suggest a negative agency bias—negative events are more often attributed to the influence of external agents than similarly positive and neutral events, independent of their subjective probability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The suppression of exciting thoughts.

We examined how the suppression of an exciting thought influences sympathetic arousal as indexed by skin conductance level (SCL). Subjects were asked to think aloud as they followed instructions to think about or not to think about various topics. Experiment 1 showed that trying not to think about sex, like thinking about sex, elevates SCL in comparison to thinking about or not thinking about less exciting topics (e.g., dancing). Experiment 2 revealed that the suppression of the thought of sex yielded SCL elevation whether or not subjects believed their think-aloud reports would be private or public, and it also revealed that the effect dissipated over the course of a few minutes. Experiment 3 found such dissipation again but showed that subsequent intrusions of the suppressed exciting thought are associated with further elevations in SCL over 30 min. Because such an association was not found when subjects were trying to think about the exciting thought, it was suggested that the suppression of exciting thoughts might be involved in the production of chronic emotional responses such as phobias and obsessive preoccupations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The affective regulation of cognitive priming.

Semantic and affective priming are classic effects observed in cognitive and social psychology, respectively. The authors discovered that affect regulates such priming effects. In Experiment 1, positive and negative moods were induced before one of three priming tasks; evaluation, categorization, or lexical decision. As predicted, positive affect led to both affective priming (evaluation task) and semantic priming (category and lexical decision tasks). However, negative affect inhibited such effects. In Experiment 2, participants in their natural affective state completed the same priming tasks as in Experiment 1. As expected, affective priming (evaluation task) and category priming (categorization and lexical decision tasks) were observed in such resting affective states. Hence, the authors conclude that negative affect inhibits semantic and affective priming. These results support recent theoretical models, which suggest that positive affect promotes associations among strong and weak concepts, and that negative affect impairs such associations (Clore & Storbeck, 2006; Kuhl, 2000). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Framing and conflict: Aspiration level contingency, the status quo, and current theories of risky choice.

The effect of positive vs negative frames on risky choice was examined for a variety of scenarios and risks. Preferences in the positive domain were strong and mainly risk averse, with notable exceptions. Preferences in the negative domain, however, were marked by their inconsistency, shown both by an overwhelming lack of significant majority preferences and a surprisingly strong tendency of individual Ss to vacillate in their negatively framed choices across presentations. This finding is accounted for by a proposed aspiration level contingency in which aspiration levels are systematically set to be more difficult to achieve in the face of a perceived loss than a gain. The implications of the results, and the aspiration level contingency, are explored with respect to current theories of risky choice, including D. Kahneman and A. Tversky's (1979) prospect theory and L. L. Lopes's (1987, 1990) security-potential/aspiration theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A decision-making technique for choosing a psychology internship.

Anew method, the paired-comparison ranking technique, is proposed for assisting with internship selection decisions. This technique is discussed in terms of its ability to minimize the effects of decision frames (cf. D. Kahneman & A. Tversky, see record 1981-31998-001) as internship sites are selected. The technique is also compared with M. C. Jacob's (see record 1988-15125-001) internship decision grid. The paired-comparison ranking technique requires a greater number of choices to be made about internship sites and may require internship applicants to think more deeply about their alternatives. Specific instructions and a detailed example are provided to illustrate how to complete and interpret the paired-comparison ranking technique. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The claiming effect: Why players are more generous in social dilemmas than in ultimatum games.

The term procedural frames is introduced and defined as different representations of structurally equivalent allocation processes. Study 1 compared 2 well-known games, sequential social dilemmas and ultimatum bargaining, that share the same structure: Player 1 creates an allocation of a resource and Player 2 decides whether to allow it or deny it. Study 1 found that Player 1 made more favorable allocations and Player 2 accepted more unfavorable allocations in a social dilemma frame than in an equivalent ultimatum bargaining frame. Study 2 revealed the critical determinant was whether Player 2 had to respond to an allocation by accepting or rejecting it (as in the ultimatum game) or by making a claim (as in the social dilemma). Two additional studies explored how these actions are perceived. The inconsistency of behavior across procedural frames raises methodological concerns but illuminates construal processes that guide allocation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Negotiation in small groups.

The impact of issue agendas, decision rule, and power balance on the quality of negotiated agreements in small groups was examined. Three-person groups negotiated an agreement on three issues, with each issue having five alternative levels. Groups using sequential agendas were less likely to achieve mutually beneficial agreements than groups using package agendas. Groups following sequential agendas under majority rule achieved significantly less beneficial agreements than did groups following sequential agendas/unanimous rule, package agendas/majority rule, or package agendas/unanimous rule. As the predetermined alternatives to a negotiated agreement increased, so did individual profit. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for the quality of decision making in mixed-motive small groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Chromatin structure and the expression of cardiac genes

Three experiments investigated visual search for singleton feature targets. The critical dimension on which the target differed from the nontargets was either known in advance or unknown--that is, the critical difference varied either within a dimension or across dimensions. Previous work (Treisman, 1988) had shown that, while the search reaction time (RT) functions were flat in both conditions, there was an intercept cost for the cross-dimension condition. Experiment 1 examined whether this cost would disappear when responses could be based on the detection of any (target-nontarget) difference in the display (by requiring a "heterogeneity/homogeneity" decision). The cost remained. This argues that pop-out requires (or involves) knowledge of the particular dimension in which an odd-one-out target differs from the nontargets; furthermore, that knowledge is acquired through the elimination of dimensions not containing a target. In Experiment 2, the subjects had to eliminate (or ignore) one potential source of difference in order to give a positive response (displays could contain a "noncritical" difference requiring a negative response). The result was a comparatively large cost in the within-dimension (positive) condition. This can be taken to indicate that pop-out as such does not make available information as to the particular feature value in which the target differs from the nontargets. Experiment 3 examined whether search priorities can be biased in accordance with advance knowledge of the likely source of difference. The subjects were found to have a high degree of top-down control over what particular dimension to assign priority of checking to. The implication of the results for models of visual search and selection are discussed.     

The organizational application of groupthink and its limitations in organizations.

This study examined groupthink and team activities in 30 organizational teams faced with impending crises. The results show that the groupthink symptoms consisted of 2 factors. Surprisingly, 1 factor of groupthink was significantly and positively related to team performance, whereas the other showed an insignificant negative correlation to performance. Moreover, the symptoms of defective decision making were not significant predictors of team performance. Overall, team activities had a stronger impact on performance than groupthink. The results imply that groupthink may have an indirect effect on performance mediated by team activities. This study demonstrates the potential positive implications of groupthink in organizational teams and raises a question about the empirical coherence of groupthink as a phenomenon. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Automatic vigilance: The attention-grabbing power of approach- and avoidance-related social information.

The automatic processing of information was investigated, varying valence (positive vs. negative) and relevance (other-relevant traits [ORT] vs. possessor-relevant traits [PRT]; G. Peeters, 1983) of stimuli. ORTs denote unconditionally positive or negative consequences for persons in the social environment of the holder of the trait (e.g., honest, brutal) whereas PRTs denote unconditionally positive or negative consequences for the trait holder (e.g., happy, depressive). In 2 experiments using the Stroop paradigm, larger interference effects were found for ORTs than PRTs. This is due to the behavior-relatedness of ORTs. In a go/no-go lexical decision task (Experiment 3), participants either had to withdraw their finger from a pressed key (i.e., "avoid") or had to press a key (i.e., "approach") if a word was presented. Responses to negative ORTs were relatively faster in the withdraw condition, whereas positive ORTs were relatively faster in the press condition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decision risk in dynamic two-stage contexts: Beyond the status quo.

Developed and tested a dynamic model of decision risk that integrates the economic literature on the "house money effect" with the psychological literature on image theory. 135 participants made 35 decisions during the course of a longitudinal, randomized experiment. These decisions were made by high and low past performers under 1 of 4 different conditions resulting from crossing the decision frame (gain vs loss) with goal specificity (specific vs do your best). The results imply that the effect of decision frames on risk that have been well documented in static contexts do not generalize to dynamic decision contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Skeletal Structure of Printed Words: Evidence From the Stroop Task.

Do readers encode the sequencing of consonant (C) and vowel (V) phonemes (skeletal structure) in printed words? The authors used the Stroop task to examine readers' sensitivity to skeletal structure. In Experiment 1, CVC nonwords (e.g., pof) facilitated the naming of colors with congruent frames (e.g., red, a CVC word) but not with incongruent ones (e.g., green). In Experiment 2, the color black (a CCVC frame) was named faster with a congruent CCVC frame (e.g., grof) compared to either CCVCC (e.g., groft) or CVC (e.g., gof) incongruent controls. Finally, in Experiment 3, the color pink (a CVCC frame) was named faster with a CVCC frame (e.g., goft) compared to either CCVCC or CVC incongruent controls. In most cases, congruent frames shared no segments with the color name. These findings demonstrate that readers automatically assemble the skeletal structure of printed words. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)