GSR reactivity as a function of anxiety, instructions, and sex.

"GSR conditioning and extinction measures were obtained on 120 college Ss in a factorial experimental design in which 12 treatment groups were divided into 2 sex groups, 3 instruction groups, and high- and low-anxiety groups. The 3 instruction groups were given 3 different kinds of instruction designed to be: (a) apprehension arousing; (b) neutral; and (c) reassuring." Male Ss showed less conditioning when given reassuring instructions; female Ss showed the least conditioning with the apprehension-arousing instructions. Females showed greater GSR reactivity than males in all phases of the experiment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Power motive reliability as a function of retest instructions.

When 70 undergraduates were instructed to try to reinstate their original state of mind and write the same TAT stories, or when they were instructed not to worry about whether their stories were similar to or different from those written before, test–retest reliability of need for power was substantially higher than the levels usually found for TAT motive and approach levels found with objective personality tests. Under instructions to write different stories, Ss showed chance-level reliability. Results are discussed in terms of bringing implicit test instructions and self-instructions under experimental control. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counseling interactions as a function of spatial-environmental conditions.

Investigated the effects of interpersonal distance, intensity of lighting, and time on counselor communication of affective and cognitive self-disclosure. Excerpts from initial sessions conducted by 18 counselors-in-training with 54 clients were randomly selected and rated. Results indicate significant effects of Distance on counselor concreteness and of Lighting on counselor communication of cognitive sets in the last third of the interviews. Additionally, Distance had a significant effect on counselee affective self-disclosure in the 2nd third of the interviews. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counseling relationship as a function of counselor's self-confidence.

Studied effects of counselor self-confidence on counseling relationships. 24 high- and 24 low-self-confidence clients were assigned randomly to 1 high-, 1 moderate-, and 1 low-self-confidence counselor and to either individual or group counseling. 3 counseling relationship inventories were administered, 1 at the end of the conclusion of the experiment. Multivariate analysis of variance procedure was applied to the 3 (counselors) * 2 (clients) * 2 (settings) completely randomized factorial design. Results indicate that the degree of perceived counselor's empathy, warmth, genuineness, intimacy, concreteness, expertness, regard, and congruence was linearly related to the level of counselor's self-confidence. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counseling expectations as a function of fee for service.

Two studies investigated the hypothesis that counseling on a fee-for-service basis might affect client evaluation of counseling, client motivation to change, and client willingness to seek help. In Study 1, 80 male and 80 female undergraduates completed a questionnaire, which required Ss to estimate the probability of their using university counseling-center services for varied concerns, and an expectations-about-counseling questionnaire. Ss were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 experimental conditions representing fee structures: no fee, a modest fee ($5), a modest fee but knowing others pay more for the same services, and a substantial fee ($25). Results show that fee condition did not affect willingness to seek help or counseling expectancies. Although there were some differences between sexes on expectancies, there was no interaction effect for sex and fee condition. In Study 2, 12 male and 31 female 15–54 yr old former clients of a psychology clinic were asked to compare satisfaction under no-fee and fee ($5 and $25) conditions. Again, fees did not affect Ss' evaluations of, expectations for, or willingness to seek counseling. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counseling effectiveness as a function of counselor social interest.

Examined the relationship between counselor social interest and 3 dimensions of counseling effectiveness. 99 students and 8 counselors at a university counseling center participated, and data were analyzed using a multivariate trend analysis. Measures included the Early Recollection Questionnaire, the Rating Scale of Social Interest Characteristics, and the Counseling Evaluation Inventory. Results show that the counselor's social interest score was significantly related to the client's scores on satisfaction, self-acceptance, and sociability. Experimental support was obtained for one of the major contributions of Adlerian theory, the concept of social interest. Implications of the findings for successful counseling outcomes are discussed. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult performance as a function of sex of experimenter and sex of subject.

8 male and 8 female Es each tested 8 male and 8 female Ss in a simple sorting task. During an initial 1.5 min. each S's base rate of response was ascertained; following this, the E delivered a supportive statement every 30 sec. for the next 5.5 min. Performance did not increase as a function of the introduction of the supportive statements. Significant differences in base rate and in performance after the base rate period were found as a function of sex of E and of the interaction between sex of E and sex of S. Highly reliable differences appeared in the performance of Ss tested by different Es. The rank-order correlations of men and women tested by men and by women were significant, indicating a similar hierarchy in level of performance of male and female Ss tested by the male Es and a similar hierarchy for Ss tested by female Es. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's personal space as a function of age and sex.

Gathered measures of personal space from 74 children (ages 3, 5, and 7) when they approached boys or girls of their own age. A significant difference was found between the 3-yr-olds (who kept less distance from their age peers) and the 5- or 7-yr-olds. No other differences attributable to age were found. For all Ss, the sex of the interacting child was relevant in that less distance was kept from girls than from boys. Results are discussed in the light of learning and developmental processes. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Compensatory masculine responding as a function of sex role.

Investigated the compensatory masculinity hypothesis, i.e., that males respond to sex-role threat by exaggerating their masculinity and engaging in greater amounts of antisocial behavior. A total of 72 sex-typed and androgynous (Bem Sex Role Inventory) college males were assigned to either a masculinity threat, masculinity validation, or control treatment group. Dependent measures included an affect rating scale, California Psychological Inventory Femininity scale, and the Behavior Questionnaire. As predicted, sex-typed males responded anxiously to sex-role threat and subsequently reported exaggerated levels of masculinity and antisocial behavior. Unexpectedly, androgynous males also reported anxiety, but they responded by lowering their level of masculine endorsement. Results support the notion of masculine compensation. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Diagnostic concordance for schizophrenia as a function of sex.

Examined both pairwise and cumulative concordance as a function of sex using 6 diagnostic systems (e.g., Research Diagnostic Criteria, and the New Haven Schizophrenia Index) on 387 inpatients with severe psychopathology. Pairwise concordance was significantly more often higher for men than for women; cumulative concordance distributions also differed significantly between the sexes, with men manifesting greater concordance. Differences in diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia and their role in sex differences are discussed. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's achievement-related expectancies as a function of academic performance histories and sex.

60 male and 60 female 1st and 3rd graders, classified by teacher ratings as high, average, and low achievers, were compared on (a) their expectations for success prior to an anagrams task, (b) their subsequent perceptions of the cause of failure on the task, and (c) their expectations for future success. Results indicate that boys with a history of low academic success in school had lower expectations for success on the task and tended to be more likely to attribute failure to lack of ability than boys with a history of average or high academic success. In contrast, high-achieving girls had lower expectations for success than low- and average-achieving girls. Furthermore, Ss who attributed failure to low ability reported relatively low expectations for future success. This finding suggests that children's perceptions of the causes of past performance outcomes mediate their subsequent expectations, as is claimed by attribution theorists. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Employment battery performance of Hispanic applicants as a function of English or Spanish test instructions.

Identified 1,300 Hispanic applicants for operator/clerical jobs in northeastern, southern, and southwestern US regions, and determined their language preference. Ss who indicated a preference for receiving the employment test battery with Spanish instructions were allocated to 2 groups; the 1st group was administered the battery with Spanish instructions, and the 2nd group received the same test battery with English instructions. The battery included arithmetic, word meaning, filing, coding, and marking subtests. Comparisons of test performance under the 2 conditions suggest that Spanish instructions resulted in small but significant gains in scores, especially on the marking subtest. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal conditioning of psychopaths as a function of experimenter-subject sex differences.

48 male and female psychopathic and 48 nonpsychopathic undergraduates, as defined by their MMPI, Psychopathic (Pd) scores, were verbally conditioned by a male and a female E. The hypothesis was that psychopathic Ss condition only in an opposite E-S sex group, while those in a matching sex group do not. It was further hypothesized that no such Sex * Treatment interaction exists for nonpsychopathic Ss, where both sex groups are expected to condition. Results lend support to the hypotheses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

State anxiety as a function of trait anxiety and sex in a quasi-clinical situation.

Undergraduates who scored high, medium, or low on a scale of trait (predispositional) anxiety (n = 7 males and 7 females in each group) differed reliably in level of state (situational) anxiety when tested before and after 2 standardized interviews. This relationship held for both male and female Ss, although males manifested consistently higher levels of state anxiety than females. Moreover, first an increase and then a general decline in degree of state anxiety were noted over occasions of testing. Despite these temporary fluctuations in situational anxiety, however, the basic form of the state-trait relationship remained largely unchanged. Findings are interpreted as substantive confirmation of state-trait anxiety theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Shift in judgment of weights as a function of anchoring stimuli and instructions in early schizophrenics and normals.

"A weight judgment task was administered to 16 schizophrenic patients and 16 normals for 2 sessions. The two groups did not differ from each other in ability to discriminate between the weight stimuli, but the schizophrenics shifted significantly more than the normals in the heavy anchor condition, thus providing evidence for the theory that schizophrenics are more prone to react to concrete than to abstract stimuli, as well as for the theory that schizophrenics are less able to maintain constancy in weight judgment than normals." 18 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectancies for counselors as a function of counselor gender specification and subject sex.

20 male and 20 female undergraduates were randomly selected at each of 2 time periods for inclusion in each of 3 experimental groups: male counseling psychologist (CP), female CP, and gender-unspecified CP. Ss filled out a modified version of the Expectations About Counseling (EAC) questionnaire that included a reference to the sex of the CP for the appropriate groups. An additional sample of 92 Ss was enlisted to aid in a manipulation check; on completion of the EAC, they were queried as to whether the sex of the CP had been mentioned. Results indicate that specification of the counselor's gender had no significant effect on Ss' expectations, but that sex of S was a potent factor. Females expected stronger facilitative conditions, more personal involvement in counseling, and a more positive counseling outcome than did males. The importance of Ss' sex and interpersonal style and the CP's professional role in expectation-setting processes are discussed. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)