Four techniques of group decision making under uncertainty.

4 techniques of group decision-making—authoritarian, leader suggestion, census, and chairman—under risk and uncertainty were compared using a survival situation with 45 aircrews. "1. In a conflict situation, when a group discussion method… is involved, the members' reactions to the alternatives are relatively undifferentiated in contrast to the condition in which the leader alone makes the decision… . 2… . the groups appear to be least favorably disposed toward the authoritarian technique of decision-making… . 3. When the decision-making procedure is group centered the group reaches a decision involving greater personal risk to the members." (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)     

Einstellung effect and goal-setting behavior.

"Goal-setting behavior of rigid Ss was compared to that of nonrigid Ss… . The two groups were found to differ on six of the 11 measures derived from the level-of-aspiration situation. Four measured variability of goal-setting behavior and two described height of aspiration. The rigid group was more heterogeneous on all six measures; as a group they scored higher on the measures of variability and set lower aspiration levels." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some effects of individually prominent behavior upon group effectiveness and member satisfaction.

"An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that in unstructured situations, behavior oriented toward individual prominence in the group is negatively correlated with group performance and positively correlated with member satisfaction… . Twenty-two four-person groups were observed… . Groups were required to solve five problems… . After completion of the problem, Ss rated their satisfaction with the group, the degree to which group members cooperated, and group performance… . It was concluded that in the undifferentiated situation behavior oriented toward individual prominence interferences with effective group action." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An examination of children's attributions and achievement-related evaluations in competitive, cooperative, and individualistic reward structures.

Studied how the reward structure of an achievement setting would affect children's attributions and evaluations of achievement outcomes. An achievement situation describing 2 children successfully and unsuccessfully performing a task in competitive, cooperative, and individualistic reward structures was presented to 400 children across 5 grade levels (1–5). Results show that different evaluative beliefs about the concepts of ability and reward allocation were associated with each reward contingency. Competitive and individualistic structures accentuated perceptions of individual differences and the value placed on achievement outcomes. Evaluations of cooperative vs competitive outcomes were dependent on the level of individual performance within the groups and the success of the cooperative group. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The achievement motive, goal setting, and probability preferences.

"This study deals with the effect of individual differences in strength of achievement motive on… goal setting… [and] preferences for imaginary bets equated for expected monetary value but differing in probability of winning… . Measures of n Achievement were obtained by content analysis of responses to the French Test of Insight. Persons with high n Achievement scores were assumed to have relatively stronger motives to approach success and those with low n Achievement scores relatively stronger motives to avoid failure… . The results are consistent with the theory concerning motivational determinants of risk taking behavior and constitute evidence of the… effects of individual differences in… achievement motive… in games of chance as well as… skill." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Test-anxiety and blame-assignment in grade school children.

"… an attempt was made to measure the relationship between test-anxiety in elementary school children and the propensity for self-blame assignment in regard to the experience of failure in a test situation… . The general hypothesis… was that in a failure situation, high test-anxious S's assign blame for a failure to themselves to a greater extent than do non-test-anxious S's… . The overall results… tend to support the hypothesis, but with qualifications that… change the perspective… of test-anxiety and blame assignment." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of cooperative and individualistic reward on intrinsic motivation

The effects of cooperative versus individualistic reward on students' intrinsic motivation were investigated. The controlling aspects of extrinsic reward may be heightened or produce greater ego threat in the individualistic situation when compared with a group situation. We predicted that students in the cooperative social situation would show higher levels of intrinsic motivation. Fifth-grade students from existing cooperative groups were assigned randomly to receive a tangible reward based on either cooperative or individualistic achievement for completing pattern block designs. Cooperation affected intrinsic motivation positively. Students in the cooperative dyad solved the block designs more quickly, interacted positively, and viewed the task as easier than did those in the individualistic situation, and they reported that their peers were helpful. There was little evidence that the controlling functions of reward or ego-threat were factors in producing the outcome. Some evidence supporting the importance of the social nature of cooperation was provided.     

Displacement of preference as a function of avoidance-avoidance conflict.

"An earlier study [see 34: 804]… has demonstrated that approach and avoidance gradients of preference could be obtained from children, following positive or negative reinforcement (success or failure) applied to their response to a training task." This experiment is an extension of that study, and attempts to establish a condition under which preference displacement may occur. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vicarious trial and error and related behavior.

Empirical material relating to "vicarious trial-and-error" (VTE) is summarized and evaluated critically in terms of criteria for VTE, of antecedents to and response correlates of VTE, and of VTE and learning efficiency. It is proposed that the criterion for scoring VTE behavior should be the AB unit [S's "… looking at or facing one side or card and then turning toward and looking at (or facing) the other side or card before making a choice… "]. Doubts are raised concerning the Muenzinger and Tolman VTE and learning efficiency hypothesis and an alternative explanation is advanced, "… based on an analysis of the role of position preferences supplemented by principles of conflict… ." 63 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Religious experience and psychological conflict.

"I shall center my attention upon the constructive aspects of the profounder variety of psychological conflict to which we give the name of 'schizophrenia.' I shall submit and defend the position that psychological conflict, even in its schizophrenic manifestations, has religious significance." There are "forms of mental illness which are manifestations of healing power analogous to fever or inflammation of the body." An illustrative case history is presented. "Fundamental mental disorder is best understood as an attempt to deal with an intolerable sense of personal failure and guilt… . Other things being equal, the outcome of an acute schizophrenic episode is likely to be constructive insofar as it represents an honest attempt on the part of the patient to grapple with his real difficulties… . In order to understand either mental disorder or religious experience, the one should be studied in the light of the other." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Displacement as a function of conflict.

"Miller's theory of displacement was extended by integration with his conflict theory into a three-dimensional model… . To test deductions from this model rats were first trained to get food at one end of an alley and then shocked while eating until they no longer approached the food cup. They then left this alley and entered other alleys differing slightly from the original alley. Here they went closer to the food end than in the original alley. Tracings of their movements followed a pattern predicted from the model… . After making goal responses in the generalized alleys, the rats returned to eat in the original alley, showing a 'therapeutic' effect." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of television for remote control: A preliminary study.

"Future air weapon and space flight systems… require a wide range of remote control and manipulation activities." An experimental test of the use of television in a remote performance situation was made in which 15 male right-handed air force officers were utilized as Ss. "The task required S to follow a pursuit rotor target with a stylus while viewing the rotor turntable and stylus tip in a 17 in. black and white television monitor screen… . The usefulness of closed circuit television… to provide visual feedback for a remote performance field appears to be seriously limited when the visual field is displaced. This limitation can be partially overcome by repositioning the monitor screen in the operator's visual field in such a manner as to compensate for the camera displacement." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Promoting early adolescents' achievement and peer relationships: The effects of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic goal structures.

Emphasizing the developmental need for positive peer relationships, in this study the authors tested a social-contextual view of the mechanisms and processes by which early adolescents' achievement and peer relationships may be promoted simultaneously. Meta-analysis was used to review 148 independent studies comparing the relative effectiveness of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic goal structures in promoting early adolescents' achievement and positive peer relationships. These studies represented over 8 decades of research on over 17,000 early adolescents from 11 countries and 4 multinational samples. As predicted by social interdependence theory, results indicate that higher achievement and more positive peer relationships were associated with cooperative rather than competitive or individualistic goal structures. Also as predicted, results show that cooperative goal structures were associated with a positive relation between achievement and positive peer relationships. Implications for theory and application are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A path-goal approach to productivity.

"If a worker sees high (or low) productivity as a path to the attainment of one or more of his personal goals in the work situation, he will tend to be a high (or low) producer, assuming that his need is sufficiently high, or his goal is relatively salient, and that he is free from barriers to follow the desired path (high or low productivity). The results of this study… provide a clear confirmation of the importance of the role of rational aspects in the determination of productivity behavior and serve to re-emphasize the fact that productivity is a function of both facilitating and inhibiting forces, forces of an individual as well as of a situational character." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cooperative behavior in dyad as a function of reinforcement parameters.

"Reinforcement parameters for a dyadic cooperative situation were defined and varied in a series of three experiments… . Each S was required to perform the simple motor response of turning a small concealed knob in a series of 50 trials. A reinforcing stimulus was delivered to each S separately after each trial… . The degree to which optimal cooperative behavior… developed in these situations, was studied as a dependent variable… . Other experimental parameters were suggested and the implications of these… for analysis were sketched." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal motivations and self-conceptions associated with effectiveness and ineffectiveness in emergent groups.

"The present study tested five hypotheses concerning the relationship of underlying motivations and self-conceptions to sociometrically measured effectiveness in an emergent group situation… . After the subjects… wrote brief stories in response to eight pictures, they participated in a 20-minute leaderless group discussion… . The results may be interpreted as indicating that effectiveness in an initially unstructured group situation is systematically related to the individual's personal motivations and self-concepts." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Retention of classroom and television learning.

Comparison of retention three years after instruction was made for four conditions of learning introductory psychology: An off-campus television group (n = 40), a traditional classroom group (n = 22), a TV-in-studio class (n = 11), and a kinescope class (n = 10). The original-test-retention-test differences were not significant, nor was the test x group interaction. "The results… indicate that… long-term retention of… material learned by television… is as good as that learned by traditional means… ." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job content and worker's opinions.

A 71-item questionnaire was used to survey opinions of automotive assembly operators toward supervisor and the general work situation. In 4 production departments "no difference was observed in the favorableness of opinions… on two jobs of clearly different content… . The instrument… sensitive enough to show differences between assembly operators and utility men when utility men were singled out by management for special treatment and had their jobs further expanded." (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)