Role perceptions of successful and unsuccessful supervisors.

The self-perceived role of first-line supervisors was compared with the role perceived by their superiors. 18 items (word pairs) differentiated between the "high" and "low" groups at the 5% level or better. "The most outstanding self-perception of the 'poor' supervisor is his sales approach to human relations… [while]… the 'good' supervisor… sees himself as respecting the rights and dignity of others." Conclusions are explored on the basis of the assumptions that (1) the self-perceptions are in approximate accord with the superiors' perceptions, and (2) the differences in self-perception reflect qualities that distinguish good from poor supervisors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal reinforcement in schizophrenia.

"The common clinical observation of impaired 'reality contact' in schizophrenia implies a deficit in the intensity or direction of responsiveness to social cues… specifically those involved in verbal interactions… . [Therefore] it may be predicted that the reinforcing function of listener reactions (i.e., verbal reinforcement) will be negligible for them as compared with nonschizophrenic control Ss… . The… results [of this experiment] confirm the hypothesis… ." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of high intensity noise on retention.

48 male Ss practiced 3 verbal learning tasks under quiet and high intensity sound conditions (111 db. approximately flat to 6000 cps). It was concluded that: "1. Noise of the intensity and frequencies employed in this experiment does not significantly affect the recall of verbal material learned under controlled conditions. 2. The recall of material learned by means of auditory stimulation is not interfered with by noise to a greater extent than the recall of material learned by visual stimulation. 3. According to… subjective reports… the noise stimulus… aroused [disturbing] minimal reactions… . 4. Subjective reports… indicated some initial disturbances… but that adaptation was quickly achieved." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conflict and repression during sleep deprivation.

"A series of three TAT cards representing a continuum of low, medium, and high sleep suggestions was selected on the basis of rankings by 10 psychologists and 10 lay people. These three cards were administered… to 24 experimental Ss after about 86 hours of sleep deprivation, as well as to 24 control subjects… . [On these TAT cards] the sleep-deprived group gave fewer sleep themes than did the control group… . The results… were interpreted as indicating that the subjects were avoiding thoughts or verbal responses which might arouse overpowering sleepiness… . An analysis of these phenomena in terms of the Dollard-Miller theory of repression was made." 23 refs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interfering and facilitating effects of test anxiety.

Performance on a conceptual task (embedded figures) varying in difficulty was related to levels of anxiety and intelligence. "The results… were interpreted as supporting the thesis that the effect of anxiety on performance, whether facilitating or interfering, is mediated primarily by defensive reactions to the anxiety… . [and] that the differential effects of anxiety upon performance may vary systematically depending upon both intelligence level and type of task and instructions." (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)     

To perceive is to know.

"Perceiving is a cognitive process involving knowing, understanding, comprehending, organizing and even cognizing… . [The] factors known in perception are properties of sets of stimuli, not properties of individual stimuli (to say nothing of the elements which make up these individual stimuli)… . [Perceiving] is an active process, 1 in which the perceiver participates fully." The experiments cited illustrate "that to perceive is to know. It is to know and comprehend the nature of a stimulus; it is to know the nature of the alternatives to a stimulus; and it is to know the structure and organization of sets of stimuli." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

EPPS n Achievement and verbal paired-associates learning.

"In the present study, performance on two lists of verbal paired-associates learning materials is used to examine the role of n Achievement as a possible drive variable… . Ss high in EPPS n Achievement demonstrated significant superiority over low n Achievers in… verbal learning situations." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's attitudes toward rational versus inhibitory parental authority.

"Starting with Fromm's (1941) distinction between rational and inhibitory authority, the study investigates children's attitudes towards their parents' restrictive norms and checking actions… . The results indicate that if parents' restrictive norms and checking actions are accompanied by authoritarian motivations (inhibiting authority), the children's positive attitudes towards these are negatively correlated with chronological age, verbal intelligence… and preference for altruistic alternatives to authoritarian ones… . If the… actions are accompanied by rational motivations (indicating rational parental authority), the attitudes have a tendency to correlate positively with these three independent variables." From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4FG15P. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antisemitism and the expression of fantasy aggression.

"In order to test a hypothesis derived from the scapegoat theory of prejudice [Dollard, et al, 1939], two groups… chosen on the basis of… high and… low scores on the Levinson Anti-Semitism Scale, [A-S] were subjected to an aggression arousing situation. Following aggression arousal a specially designed fantasy test was administered, which yielded measures of aggression expressed toward fantasy characters with Jewish or non-Jewish names. Control subjects, matched with Arousal group subjects on… A-S scores, took the fantasy test without prior aggression arousal. Aggression arousal produced significant differences in the fantasy aggression of High and Low A-S subjects… . [supporting] the hypothesis that persons high in anti-Semitism have a greater… tendency… to displace aggression selectively onto Jews." From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4GD54W. (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)     

The unconscious perception of the meaning of verbal stimuli.

"The hypothesis was investigated that the meaning of a verbal stimulus may be responded to without prior recognition of the stimulus. Four treatment groups were employed of 16 Ss each. The experimental procedure used… consisted essentially of obtaining the S's guesses to a series of verbal stimuli, dichotomized in affective connotation, which were presented at or slightly below the S's previously determined absolute threshold… . there was no evidence that the Ss could make better than chance matches… . It was concluded that no evidence was obtained that Ss respond to the meaning of verbal stimuli prior to recognition of the stimuli." From Psyc Abstracts 36:02:2HL32F. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of interpersonal relationships upon verbal conditioning.

"Two conditioning experiments were conducted in which E used 'mmm-hmm' to reinforce sentences which S began with pronouns 'I' or 'We.' Experiment I relied upon instructions to create a condition of either High- or Low-Attraction between S and E. Experiment II utilized… [a] scale to establish Compatible and Incompatible groups in terms of interpersonal needs… . Ss who were incompatible, or not attracted to E, suppressed the effects of reinforcement until removed from E's presence. The implications of these findings for generalizing from verbal conditioning situations to the patient-therapist relationship in clinical settings was discussed." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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)     

Individual versus group goal conflict.

"An experiment was performed in which a conflict was produced between individual and group goal attainment. An overt situation was compared to a covert situation, and a high individualistic… with a low individualistic motivation condition… . [The] finding that individuals… feel freer to change secret… than public decisions is discussed." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Three faces of intellect.

An analysis of human intelligence into its components is presented. "The preservation of our way of life and our future security depends upon our most important national resources: our intellectual… [and] creative abilities… . The discovery of the components of intelligence has been by means of the experimental application of the method of factor analysis." Factors may be classified according to: basic processes or operations (cognition, memory, convergent thinking, divergent thinking, evaluation), material or content (figural, symbolic, semantic), products (units, classes, relations, systems, transformations, implications). Major sections are: The Structure of Intellect, Some Implications of the Structure of Intellect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and Negro-white intelligence.

"The hypotheses tested were confirmed: the Negro group scored lower on the ACB [Army Classification Battery] than did the whites; the Negro group manifested a greater lack of self-confidence than did the whites… . Although statements of causality cannot be made from the data… the evidence can be seen as warranting further research on the proposition that Negroes as a group, lacking support from pride in significant historical achievement, and developing in an environment of negative experiences, incorporate intellectually defeating personality traits that play a significant role in their ability to score on measures of intelligence." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between real similarity and assumed similarity with favorability controlled.

"The present study tests the hypothesis that subjects who share a number of characteristics in common with a stimulus person tend to assume greater similarity to him in common with him. Special attention is given to controlling the influence of favorability on the measurements of assumed similarity… . The data almost completely fail to support the hypothesis that… [assumed similarity] varies with… [real similarity] when the favorability component is controlled… . the data suggest that, when the stimulus object is relatively socially acceptable and has characteristics with which all S's are relatively familiar… [assumed similarity] is determined primarily by the favorability response set… and is almost uninfluenced by… [real similarity]." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Minority group belonging, social preference, and the marginal personality.

"… marginal Jews… nonmarginal Jews, and… Presbyterians of North European background" selected 1 of 16 photographs with whom they would prefer to have lunch. "Presbyterians… preferred North Europeans and Mediterraneans, nonmarginal Jews preferred Jews, and marginal Jews preferred Mediterraneans… . A measure of… security failed to show differences between the three groups. However, marginal Jews who preferred North Europeans… tended to be less secure than those who favored Mediterraneans… [suggesting] that marginal Jews [who] tend to identify… with non-Jewish groups which do not reject them… do not maintain the tension which is associated with identifying with an aggressor." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)