Loneliness and social skill deficits.

Exp I compared conversational behaviors of 48 high-lonely and low-lonely college students (UCLA Loneliness Scale) during brief heterosexual interactions. Results indicate that the 2 loneliness groups differed significantly in their use of a specific class of conversational behaviors termed partner attention, with high-lonely as compared to low-lonely Ss giving less attention to their partners. Exp II directly manipulated the use of partner attention in a group of 18 high-lonely male undergraduates. For that group, increased use of partner attention during dyadic interactions resulted in a significantly greater change in loneliness and related variables relative to interaction-only and no-contact control groups. The utility of conceptualizing loneliness as a social skills problem is discussed. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Methods of skill selection in social skills training: A review.

32 social skills training studies utilizing a social learning or social-cognitive approach and published between 1980 and 1984 were reviewed with respect to methods used to select skills targeted for training. Operational definitions of social skills selection methods were used to classify studies on 2 dimensions—type of social validity and degree of individualization. A gap between recommended methods for selecting skills for inclusion in social skills training programs and actual research practices was found. Of the 32 studies reviewed, 18 reported no prior empirical evidence that the targeted skills were socially valid and 20 did not report an attempt to verify that trainees were deficient in the targeted skills prior to treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A social interactionist account of developing decontextualized narrative skill.

The ability to produce decontextualized language is a crucial skill underlying literacy acquisition. This study investigated the role of parental interaction styles on children's developing skill at providing contextual orientation in one type of decontextualized discourse, personal experience narratives. A researcher elicited narratives monthly for 18 mo from 10 children age 26–43 mo. At intervals, mothers were asked to tape record "talk about past events" with their children. The children's increasing skill at independently providing context about when and where was correlated with mothers' frequencies of using specific types of prompts in their narrative elicitations. Cross-lagged correlations showed that parents who frequently prompted for context orientation had children who most frequently provided subsequent orientation to when and where in their stand-alone narratives when they were over 3 years of age. Results were interpreted in terms of Vygotskian theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-ratings and judges' ratings of heterosexual social anxiety and skill: A generalizability study.

The performance of 79 male undergraduates in 2 heterosexual social situations was rated by questionnaires (including the Social Anxiety and Skill Questionnaire), self-ratings in role plays, self-ratings of videotapes of role plays, ratings by confederates, and ratings of videotaped role plays by judges. These ratings were characterized with respect to mode, method, and situation facets; the consistency of ratings was obtained under different conditions of these facets, which were investigated by use of a generalizability approach in which estimates of variance components and generalizability coefficients were calculated. Self-report and judges' ratings of anxiety and social skill based on a fairly large number of observations were found to be at best moderately generalizable across the various facets investigated; the relationship between anxiety and skill was found to vary considerably among the various methods; substantial proportions of variance, indicative of level differences, were found within judges for anxiety ratings and within judges and methods for skill ratings; and substantial proportions of variance were influenced by mode of measurement. The implications of these findings for obtaining reliable ratings of heterosexual social anxiety and skill are discussed. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Systems in development: Motor skill acquisition facilitates three-dimensional object completion.

How do infants learn to perceive the backs of objects that they see only from a limited viewpoint? Infants’ 3-dimensional object completion abilities emerge in conjunction with developing motor skills—independent sitting and visual–manual exploration. Infants at 4.5 to 7.5 months of age (n = 28) were habituated to a limited-view object and tested with volumetrically complete and incomplete (hollow) versions of the same object. Parents reported infants’ sitting experience, and infants’ visual–manual exploration of objects was observed in a structured play session. Infants’ self-sitting experience and visual–manual exploratory skills predicted looking at the novel, incomplete object on the habituation task. Further analyses revealed that self-sitting facilitated infants’ visual inspection of objects while they manipulated them. The results are framed within a developmental systems approach, wherein infants’ sitting skill, multimodal object exploration, and object knowledge are linked in developmental time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attenuating the effects of social stress: The impact of political skill.

This study investigates the impact of perceived social stressors on job and career satisfaction. Additionally, the authors investigate whether individuals' reported levels of political skill could attenuate the negative effects of social stressors on these outcome variables. The authors test these hypotheses with a sample of 246 alumni from a private, Midwestern university. The authors' results provide support for the hypothesized negative influence of social stressors on job and career satisfaction and indicate that political skill can moderate these relationships. Practical implications and directions for future research are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Construct validity and the relation between depression and social skill.

Lewinsohn and his colleagues proposed an important theoretical relationship between subjects' social skills and their level of depression, and numerous studies have furnished support of a modest relationship between social skill and depression. The purpose of this article is twofold: first, to compare alternative methods for examining the relationship between two constructs, and second, to estimate the true relationship between social skill and depression. Sixty-eight subjects were assessed for levels of social skills and depression via multiple methods. When analyzed in the traditional manner, the results were consistent with previous research (correlations between the social skill and depression ranged from .11 to .42). When confirmatory factor analysis was used to estimate the theoretical relationship between social skill and depression (not attenuated because of measurement error), a correlation of .85 was found. Thus multitrait-multimethod data sets, analyzed via confirmatory factor-analytic techniques, can greatly enhance theory testing and development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of race on ratings of social skill.

Black and White judges rated the behavior of 12 schizophrenics participating in a comprehensive social skills training program. Results indicate that Black and White judges rated the same behavior in a different manner and are discussed in terms of how such practices could affect outcome in social skills research. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improving the social behavior and peer acceptance of rejected boys: Effects of social skill training with instructions and prohibitions.

Thirty-two boys who were rejected by their peers in Grades 1–3 were identified on the basis of negative sociometric nominations and negative social behavior. They were randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions: (a) instructions to promote positive social behavior, (b) prohibitions to reduce negative social behavior, (c) a combination of instructions and prohibitions, or (d) no treatment. Interventions were applied during 10 half-hour school play sessions. Behavioral observations and peer and teacher ratings were collected prior to treatment, immediately after treatment, and at a follow-up assessment 6 weeks after treatment. Additional peer and teacher ratings were collected at a 1-year follow-up. Prohibitions combined with a response cost for negative behaviors resulted in immediate and stable declines in negative behavior and led to temporary increases in positive responses received from peers. Instructions and the reinforcement of specific social skills promoted sustained positive peer interactions 6 weeks after treatment. Only the combination of instructions and prohibitions led to improved sociometric ratings from nontarget treatment partners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social schemas and the reconstruction of social object displays from memory.

"Social schemas discovered by a free response technique were found to distort reconstructions of the distance between pairs of figures. The specific content of the figures determined the magnitude of the distortion. In addition it was shown that the distortion of judgment occurs at the time of reconstruction rather than in the original perception or in retention." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A cognitive-social learning approach to social skill training with low-status preschool children.

Changes in the behavior and peer acceptance of low-status preschool children as a result of social skill training were examined. Children who had low sociometric status and were also low in classroom use of social skills were randomly assigned to a skill training group (n?=?18) or to an attention control group (n?=?15). Children in the training group were coached in 4 skills: leading peers, asking questions of peers, making comments to peers, and supporting peers. Trained children showed a significant increase in their use of the trained skills comments and leads from pretest to posttest, whereas control-group children showed no change. Neither control nor skill-trained children changed significantly on sociometric measures from pretest to posttest. Increases in skill use in the classroom with peers was correlated with improvements in children's knowledge of friendly social strategies from pre- to posttest. Results are interpreted as evidence of a social skill basis for peer acceptance and of the need to develop procedures to assess the mechanisms of change during social skills training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The interaction of social skill and organizational support on job performance.

The present study examined the moderating effect of perceived organizational support (POS) on the relationship between social skill and supervisor-rated job performance. On the basis of regulatory and activation models of behavior, the authors argue that low-POS environments activate social skill because they reflect situations in which interpersonal acuity is required to demonstrate effective job performance. Accordingly, the authors hypothesize that social skill is more strongly related to performance among workers reporting low rather than high levels of organizational support. Results of hierarchical moderated multiple regression analyses on data gathered from 2 samples support the hypothesis. These results suggest that the relevance of social skill to job performance may be dependent on contextual cues. Implications for substantive research, strengths and limitations, and directions for future research are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessing object relations and social cognitive correlates of eating disorder.

The relation between eating disorder and disturbances in object relations and cognitive structure was investigated. 183 undergraduate women were assessed for eating disorder on 2 measures and for object relations deficits on the 4 subscales of the Bell Object Relations Inventory of M. Bell et al (see record 1987-02849-001). Cognitive structure was assessed using an interpersonal repertory grid. Canonical correlation analyses revealed that eating disorder was predicted by measures of object relations disturbance and cognitive structure. Women with higher levels of eating disorder showed higher levels of object relations disturbances along 2 of the 4 subscales (Insecure Attachment and Social Incompetence), and more simplistic and rigid social cognitive schemata. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that object relations disturbance and cognitive structure made independent contributions to the predictions of disordered eating. The implications of these findings for counseling are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluation of social skill training programs for college dating inhibitions.

Evaluated 3 behavioral training programs for college men with dating inhibitions and compared them to a waiting list control group. Ss were 34 male undergraduates. All treatment groups received a dating manual, contact with female confederates, and group discussion meetings. The discussion group received only these treatment components, while the other 2 treatment groups also received behavior rehearsal. For 1 group (behavior rehearsal-office group), the scenes were enacted in the office. The 2nd behavior rehearsal group enacted the scenes in various campus settings (behavior rehearsal-natural environment group). All 3 treatment groups showed significant improvements, with few differences among them. Results are discussed in terms of the effective components of social skills training programs and strategies for increasing the generalization of treatment effects. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children and computers: Approaching the twenty-first century.

The "effects" that various forms of "computer" use are likely to have on different children's learning, motivation, and social behavior have been a source of heated debate and continuing controversy. In this article, various aspects of this controversy are characterized, and sources of disagreement concerning educational computing are examined. Difficulties in the current state of empirical research in this area are then considered, and recommendations regarding directions for future research are proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Concept of social skill with special reference to the behavior of depressed persons.

Tested the general hypothesis that depressed persons, as a group, are less socially skillful than nondepressed individuals. Social skill was defined as the complex ability both to emit behaviors that are positively reinforced and not to emit behaviors that are punished by others. The interpersonal behaviors of 8 depressed and 11 nondepressed undergraduates in 2 groups were compared. All verbal interchanges among group members were coded. Results were cross-validated in both groups and were generally consistent in showing depressed Ss to be lower than controls on a number of operational measures of social skill (i.e., activity level, interpersonal range, rate of positive reactions emitted, and action latency). (32 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How one family perceives another: the relationship between social constructions and problem-solving competence

This paper delineates a rarely studied but important family process: how a family perceives and understands the relationships in other families it knows. We hypothesize that these perceptions of other families are fundamental components of a family's shared construing of its social world. Families differ in how they perceive other families, specifically, and in their approach to construing or apprehending their social world, generally. We have hypothesized that these general differences also play a crucial role in shaping the style and competence of family problem-solving. A family's approach to any problem depends upon how it construes or interprets the social context of that problem. Using these general concepts of family life, we construct specific hypotheses linking family problem-solving and interfamily perception. We describe methods for measuring both family problem-solving and how a family perceives other families. Findings confirm our major hypothesis: A family that searches for underlying and subtle patterns in a problem-solving situation will develop a more differentiated and organized conception of other families.     

Interaction of social skill and general mental ability on job performance and salary.

Job and organizational changes have promoted the importance of social skill at work, yet research in this area has been limited. The authors investigated the interaction between social skill and general mental ability (GMA) in the explanation of job performance and salary, controlling for personality and demographic characteristics. The results indicated that the relationships between social skill and job performance were stronger among workers high than low in GMA. In a similar manner, the relationships between GMA and job performance were stronger among workers high than low in social skill. The interaction on salary indicated that increases in social skill (or GMA) for high-GMA (or social skill) individuals were associated with higher salary levels. It is interesting, however, that increases in social skill (or GMA) for those low in GMA (or social skill) contributed to lower salaries. Implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender and social influence: A social psychological analysis.

Men and women are believed to differ in how influential and easily influenced they are: Men are thought to be more influential, and women more easily influenced. In natural settings, men and women tend to differ in these ways, but these differences stem largely from formal status inequalities by which men are more likely than women to have high-status roles. Status is important because of the legitimate authority vested in high-status roles. Within appropriate limits, people of higher status are believed to have the right to make demands of those of lower status, and people of lower status are expected to comply with these demands. Yet, small, stereotypic sex differences in leadership and social influence generally have been found in laboratory experiments and other small-group settings where men and women have equal formal status. These small sex differences may occur because experience with hierarchical social structures in which men have higher status creates expectancies about male and female behavior, and these expectancies affect social interaction in ways that foster behavior that confirms the expectancies. Sex differences that occur in the laboratory as well as natural settings may stem from social structural factors—namely, from the existing distributions of women and men into social roles. (77 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The experimenter: A neglected stimulus object.

In single E experiments it is not possible to generalize to a population of E's. There are 3 cases for multi-E experiments: In Case I different Es do not differentially affect the results; in Case II one E obtains higher scores for all groups than does a second E; and in Case III E characteristics interact with treatment conditions. Results are potentially generalizable for Cases I and II, but not for Case III. Evidence indicates that multi-E experiments are common, but that reports of procedure and results for different Es are almost nonexistent. It is essential that we explicitly attempt to generalize to a population of Es; specify techniques of controlling the E variable; and accumulate knowledge in a variety of experimental situations about the effects of Es on their Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)