Attitudes toward old people: The development of a scale and an examination of correlates.

"The present paper reports on the development of a Likert scale for assessing attitudes toward old people and discusses empirical relations found between such attitudes and other attitudinal and personality variables. Three samples of college undergraduates served as subjects… a scale containing items making unfavorable reference to old people and a scale containing matched favorably worded items [were constructed]… no clear consistent relation obtained between authoritarianism as measured by the F Scale and attitudes toward old people. On the other hand, unfavorable attitudes toward old people were associated with feelings of anomie, and with negative dispositions toward ethnic minorities and a variety of physically disabled groups. A nurturance factor… was significantly correlated with… scale scores, the more nuturant subjects being more positively disposed toward old people." From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:3GD44K. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory for names and faces: a characteristic of social intelligence?

"The Memory for Names and Faces picture subtest of the George Washington University Social Intelligence Test and a miniature social situation testing the association of spoken names with human subjects… were administered to 210 Ss… [under] three conditions of set and non-set… to evaluate the consequences of preparatory instructions upon the social recall task performances… . The relationships between the social recall tasks are small (about .30) but statistically significant… . Sex differences favoring females on both social recall tasks are highly significant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Controlled association scores and engineering success.

"Six different scores from a controlled association test [were] studied, using a… sample of [687] experienced engineers… . The test asks Ss to write, in a limited time, as many synonyms as they can to eight common words. None of the six scores… appears to be related to job placement, but the five… based on the number of common responses given seem to be related to job success… most of the validity coefficients… are well below… 20… . Although not spectacularly high, such a… coefficient… is promising in comparison with over 50 other variables… studied in ETS research on engineering graduate placement tests." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-sectional and longitudinal comparisons of bipolar and unipolar depressed groups on the MMPI.

Compared MMPI admission and remission profiles in 34 patients (17 bipolar and 17 unipolar) hospitalized for depression. There were no significant demographic differences or difference in behaviorally rated depression between the bipolar and unipolar groups. Relatively normal profiles for the bipolar group and abnormal profiles for the unipolar group significantly differentiated the 2 groups at admission, but, with 1 exception, the differences dissipated at recovery. Thus, greater changes over time were found in the self-reported personality characteristics of unipolar Ss than in bipolar Ss. After recovery from the depressive episode, there was a significant shift within unipolar Ss from withdrawal and lack of interest in others to a greater concern for socially approved behavior. The implications of change in the unipolar group and stability in the bipolar group and the more enduring personality characteristics of the 2 groups are discussed. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dogmatism and anxiety in relation to problem solving: An extension of Rokeach's results.

"This study involved a replication and extension of some of Rokeach's work on the relation of Dogmatism (D) and Anxiety (A) to performance in a problem solving task… . Consistent with previous results, Ss with very high D scores performed more poorly on the… problem… and a significant positive relation… was found between D scores and A scores… . A scores were unrelated to performance on [this]… task." From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4HK12F. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Direction of motion relationships between controls and displays moving in different planes.

"… to investigate the direction of motion relationships for seven combinations of display pointer moving at right angles to plane of rotation of control knob, a total of 718 Ss were tested by sequential methods on an apparatus producing a single direction of movement of a pointer, moving along a linear scale, for either clockwise or anticlockwise rotation of the control… where the right hand was used, there was a significant tendency to turn the knob clockwise to produce movement away from the knob [but]… there was also a significant tendency for movement towards the knob to be mediated by clockwise turning… [there were, however] significantly more anticlockwise responses for movement towards the control… . Left-handed combinations gave rise to no significant tendencies; but left-handed Ss gave significantly more anticlockwise responses than right-handers, even when the right hand was used. On the whole it is not advisable to employ any of the combinations explored in this investigation, unless movement is to be restricted to adjustments in one direction only relative to the control." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of aversive stimuli on reaction time in schizophrenia.

"… the experiment was to assess the motivational role of aversive stimuli in modifying the performance of normal and… schizophrenic… males… [on] a visual reaction time task… . During… [one] series Ss responded under… experimental conditions… [part of which] involved the use of intense noise as an aversive stimulus. None of the experimental conditions appreciably altered the performance of normal Ss. However, schizophrenic Ss performing under… [conditions involving noise] displayed greater improvement than control Ss." 22 refs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intellectual and personality correlates of test anxiety.

Ss were administered: Sarason's True-False Test Anxiety Scale, Bendig's 20-item version of the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, Sarason's Lack of Protection Scale, and Edwards' Social Desirability Scale. These data were intercorrelated with 13 measures of intellectual performance. "Although all correlations between anxiety and intellectual measures were small, there was a consistent, significant tendency for… [Sarason's True-False Test Anxiety Scale] to correlate negatively with the intellectual measures. No similar tendency was observed for the… [other scales]." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Shyness and sociability.

Two studies investigated the relationship between shyness (tension and inhibition with others) and sociability (preference for being with others rather than being alone) using 952 undergraduates. A factor analysis of shyness and sociability items revealed 2 distinct factors, indicating that shyness and sociability are distinct personality dispositions. Self-reported shyness showed only a moderate negative correlation with self-reported sociability. Furthermore, the measures of shyness and sociability had different patterns of correlations with other personality scales (e.g., the Public and Private Self-Consciousness scales of the Self-Consciousness Inventory, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the EASI [Emotionality, Activity, Sociability, Impulsivity] Temperament Survey). On the basis of these findings, it is concluded that shyness is not just low sociability. Next, 4 groups of Ss were selected: shy–sociable, shy–unsociable, unshy–sociable, and unshy–unsociable. Pairs of these Ss, matched for both traits, interacted for 5 min. Shy–sociable Ss talked less, averted their gaze more, and engaged in more self-manipulation than did the other 3 groups. In studying social behavior, it should be known whether Ss are shy but also whether they are sociable. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

GSR conditioning, anxiety, and extraversion.

"Hypotheses by Eysenck and Spence relating GSR conditioning to extraversion and anxiety, respectively, were examined… [Ss] scoring on the extremes of anxiety and extraversion were selected… . Using a conditioned response amplitude measure,… a significant positive relationship was found between anxiety and conditioning. No significant relationship was found between extraversion and conditioning… . The results give clear support to Spence's theory while failing to support that of Eysenck." From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4CG27B. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some effects of immediate versus randomly delayed shock on an instrumental response and cognitive processes.

"… Ss were required… to guess whether a right or left light would go on, indicating their guesses by pressing a lever below the appropriate light. Trials… [involved] non-shock… . [and] an immediate shock (IS) every time he pressed one lever and a randomly delayed shock (RDS) every time he pressed the other lever, irrespective of whether he guessed correctly or incorrectly." Results: a significant avoidance of the lever leading to RDS, a significantly greater number of Ss judged the RDS as more unpleasant than IS, a marked impairment of Ss' recall of stimulus events and their behavior during the shock trials. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality differences in spontaneous personality inferences at encoding.

Examined the relationship between individual differences on a trait measure with behavioral correlates—a balanced authoritarianism (F) scale developed by D. Byrne (1974)—and the content of stimulus sentences and their related dispositional retrieval cues. Two sets of sentences were developed in pretesting with 33 undergraduates. In the 1st set, events suggested a consensual disposition for each sentence actor to either high-F (HF) or low-F (LF) Ss. In the 2nd set, events suggested a different consensual disposition to HF and LF Ss. 38 HF and 39 LF undergraduates then read both sets of sentences for a "memory study." Consensual dispositions and semantic associates to the actors were used to cue recall. For the 1st set, there was a significant interaction between S type, sentence type, and cue type. LF dispositions were more effective retrieval cues for LF than for HF Ss. Ss had little accurate awareness of having made trait inferences. No significant effects were found for HF cues alone or for the 2nd sentence set. Results indicate that HF and LF Ss differ in their spontaneous social inferences about others and have little awareness of making these inferences. Implications for integrating trait and cognitive approaches to personality are discussed. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Political orientation and the perceptual effects of an anticipated interaction.

"… to shed further light on the conditions favoring similarity and complementarity in social preference, an experiment was designed to investigate the perception of a political stimulus person… by Ss varying in the strength of their own political orientation… . measured… by… political [scales]… . Ss were led to anticipate interacting with one of the stimulus persons, while in a control condition… there would be no expectation of ever meeting the SP." The results indicated that, "people with a strong need to manipulate their social enviornment tend to devalue others with similar orientation when a competetive interaction is anticipated." 15 refs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Frequency and idiosyncracy of associative responses.

"Two studies were conducted to test five general hypotheses about the frequency and content of verbal associations elicited during a 30-sec. period." 20 Ss responded to 40 stimuli, and the effect of a failure-stress situation on response frequency and content was tested with 24 Ss. "Differences between Ss in frequency and idiosyncracy showed a wide range of values… . There were highly significant consistencies… within Ss across stimulus classes… . The results indicate the utility of 'controlled' associations as an individual difference variable." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anti-semitism and the displacement of aggression.

"… an object's likelihood of receiving displaced aggression varies not only with the objective stimulus factors… but also with the personality characteristics of the angered person… . it was hypothesized… that highly anti-Semitic Ss would be more likely to displace aggression when angered than less anti-Semitic Ss. The results support the hypothesis. Several factors possibly accounting for this displacement are discussed." 17 refs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reactions to unfavorable personal evaluations as a function of the evaluator's perceived adjustment.

"Pairs of Ss listened to two… persons… evaluate the personality of one member of the pair. One of the stimulus persons made derogatory remarks about the 'involved' member, the other was… noncommittal… . In one experimental condition the derogator was pre-identified as… maladjusted, the nonderogator as well-adjusted. In another condition the identifications were reversed." The hypothesis was supported that the combined information, maladjustment and derogation, summate for the bystander to produce a negative impression, but that for the involved S there is a tendency to cancel out hostility that would be arounsed by the derogation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of personal liking, perceived ability, and value of prize on choice of partners for a competition.

"Ss who were told… that they had high ability at… [a] task were strongly inclined to choose partners who also had high skill, even though such choices meant abandoning their original personal preferences and working with their originally less preferred classmates." Monetary remuneration was seen to affect choice by these Ss. "Ss who were told they themselves had low skill scores continued to choose partners according to their original liking preferences, even though the monetary payoff increased." From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4GE98W. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some relationships between the MMPI and a problem checklist.

Problem Checklist responses and MMPI T-scores were obtained for 335 male and 125 female student counselees. The most frequently checked problems dealt with educational and vocational difficulties, and males were nearly twice as variable as females in number of problems checked. "In general, there seems to be some logical correspondence between several of the Checklist problems and personality characteristics as assessed by the MMPI… [but]… Since the number of individuals in most of the high scale groups was so small… valid inference from the… results is impossible." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive complexity-simplicity and predictive behavior.

"A theoretical approach which conceives predictive behavior to be a function of one's perceptions of others is presented as a means of unifying certain empirical data ordinarily subsumed under the labels of social perception, empathy, or social sensitivity… . all these forms of behavior rest operationally upon the predictive behavior of the individual… [which] is assumed to be dependent upon the interpersonal discriminations or constructs which the individual invokes in making his predictions." Two major hypotheses are derived: (1) There should be a positive relationship between degree of cognitive complexity and predictive accuracy, and (2) there should be a negative relationship between cognitive complexity and assimilative projection. The hypotheses are tested by having Ss predict the behavior of classmates on a Situations Questionnaire. Both of the hypotheses are supported by the data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social class and the nature of the incentive in discrimination learning.

"… it… [was] predicted that an interaction exists between social class and the nature of the incentive. Supecifically, it was believed that a nonmaterial incentive is as effective as a material incentive for middle-class Ss, whereas, for lower-class Ss a material incentive is more effective than a nonmaterial one." This belief was tested and results indicate that middle-class "children learn more quickly when given a nonmaterial incentive than when given a material incentive, while the reverse [was] true of lower-class children." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)