Secondary baby talk: Judgments by institutionalized elderly and their caregivers.

60 care receivers (aged 62–100 yrs) and 39 of their caregivers judged vocal nonverbal messages prepared from audiotapes of caregivers interacting with their co-workers and elderly nursing home residents. The relationship between these judgments and, respectively, the functional ability of the aged judges and the expectations of the elderly held by the caregivers were investigated. The stimulus tape judged consisted of 3 types of messages: caregivers' speech to care receivers in baby talk, caregivers' speech to care receivers not in baby talk, and speech to other caregivers assumed to be in normal adult speech. For the elderly judges, lower functional ability scores were associated with a greater liking for baby talk speech as compared to other speech, but no relationships were found for their judgments of "soothing" or "irritating." For caregivers, expectancy was associated with their predictions of residents' liking for baby talk speech and caregivers' endorsements that adult speech would not be effective for interacting with care receivers. Results suggest that variations in caregiver expectancy may operate through a common social stereotype of the elderly. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Talking to children, foreigners, and retarded adults.

Examined speech addressed to different categories of listeners in a study in which 80 undergraduate women taught a block design task to either a 5–7 yr old girl (n?=?6), a retarded adult (4 women, aged 20–33 yrs), a peer who spoke English as a 2nd language (4 adult women [foreigners]), or a peer who was an unimpaired native speaker of English (2 women undergraduates). Speech addressed to children differed from the speech addressed to native adults along every major dimension. It was clearer, simpler, more attention maintaining, and included longer pauses. Speech addressed to retarded adults was similar to speech addressed to 6-yr-olds. Speech to the retarded adults did differ in timing from the other styles of speaking in that it included fewer and somewhat shorter pauses. Speech addressed to foreigners was more repetitive than speech addressed to native speakers, but in all other ways it was similar. Results show that speakers fine-tuned their communications to the level of cognitive and linguistic sophistication of their listener. The hypothesis that baby talk (the speech addressed to children) is a prototypical special speech register from which other special registers are derived is discussed. (66 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relative contributions of expressive behavior and contextual information to the judgment of the emotional state of another.

Used a technique for assessing the relative impact of facial–gestural expressions, as opposed to contextual information regarding the elicitor and situation, on the judgment of emotion. In Study 1, 28 undergraduates rated videotapes of spontaneous facial–gestural expressions and separately rated the emotionally loaded color slides that elicited those expressions. The source clarities of the expressions and slides were matched using correlation and distance measures, and 18 expressions and 9 slides were selected. In Study 2, 72 undergraduate receivers were shown systematic pairings of these expressions and slides and rated the emotional state of the expresser, who was supposedly watching that slide under public or private situational conditions. Expressions were found to be more important sources for all emotion judgments. For female receivers slides were relatively more important in the public than the private situation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluation of linguistic variations by college students with and without head injuries.

Evaluated the impact of spoken language on listeners by examining the effects of prior head injury, speech register, and active vs passive listening among 56 head-injured (HI) and 55 non-HI undergraduates. Ss rated the degree to which they liked the speaker and also the extent to which groups of negative and positive adjectives described the speaker. There were no differences between HI and non-HI Ss in how much they liked speakers using the normal register, but non-HI Ss liked the motherese speakers more than did HI Ss. Raters liked motherese speakers less when addressed directly than when they were not being directly addressed. Regardless of listener perspective, HI Ss liked motherese speakers less and rated them more negatively than non-HI Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What you say and how you say it: The contribution of speech content and voice quality to judgments of others.

14 groups of undergraduates (2 for each of 7 conditions) made judgments based on separated channels (speech content, voice quality, face alone, and body alone) and judgments based on combined channels (speech, face plus speech, and face plus body plus speech). Ss observed (via videotape) and heard (via audiotape) the spontaneous behavior of 15 stimulus persons in 2 types of interview situations and rated various aspects of the behavior. In Study 1, criterion judgments were based on a task similar to answering a phone. In Study 2, they were similar to watching TV. In Study 3, a complete set of behavioral clues was the basis of the criterion judgments. Results show that correlations between separated and combined channels varied significantly, depending on the kind of behavior judged. Judgments of honestly described positive feelings based on nonverbal channels were highly correlated with judgments of the whole person, while most speech-content judgments were uncorrelated. Judgments of stimulus persons' lied-about negative feelings were less influenced by nonverbal behavior. Judgments based on content of what was said were most highly correlated with how the person making the statement was judged. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of affect in knowledge transfer.

In two experimental studies of two-party information sharing, we demonstrate that affective state plays a role in the knowledge-transfer process. Study 1 (N = 108 MBA students) found that affective state has a larger impact on those in need of knowledge (“receivers”) than on those in possession of knowledge (“senders”), with elated/happy receivers more likely than angry/frustrated receivers to absorb and act on new information. Study 2 (N = 180 undergraduates) replicated this finding and also demonstrated that having receivers and senders in the same high-arousal affective state as each other (affective congruence) enhances knowledge transfer, regardless of whether the affective state is positive (elated/happy) or negative (angry/frustrated). These findings help fill an important gap in the literature regarding the influence of affect on knowledge transfer in groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rater selective attention ability and appraisal effectiveness: The effect of a cognitive style on the accuracy of differentiation among ratees.

Examined the effect of the level of selective-attention ability of 359 undergraduate raters on the accuracy of ratings in 2 studies. A group-administered measure of field dependence–independence was used to divide Ss into high- or low-selectivity levels. In Study 1, 288 psychology undergraduates rated 4 vignettes of instructors by either direct inspection or from memory. In Study 2, 71 management undergraduates rated the vignettes. Results show that memory manipulation significantly influenced rating accuracy. In both studies, Ss high in selectivity provided significantly more accurate appraisals than did Ss low in selectivity. It is suggested that cognitive operations underly the effects found in these studies. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of speech style and sex of speaker on person perception.

R. T. Lakoff (1975) has suggested that men and women use different speech styles, with women's speech more polite but less assertive than men's. The assumption that 3 of Lakoff's linguistic variables (tag questions, qualifiers, and compound requests) affect person perception in these ways was tested. Sex of speaker was also varied. In Exp I, 80 undergraduates rated the assertiveness, warmth, and politeness of 2 male and 2 female speakers who used or did not use the 3 linguistic forms. All 3 "female" linguistic forms were rated less assertive than corresponding "male" forms; qualified speech and compound requests were rated warmer and compound requests more polite. Sex of speaker was a significant factor in only one possible comparison. These results were substantially replicated in Exp II, in which older and/or less educated women (32 18–58 yr olds) acted as judges. Findings suggest that Lakoff's intuitions concerning effects of speech styles on person perception are largely correct and that modification of speech styles could allow men and women to affect how they are perceived. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The differentiation of social-comparison jealousy and romantic jealousy.

Investigated, in 3 studies the differences between social-comparison jealousy and romantic jealousy. In Study 1, 174 undergraduates rated 53 jealousy-provoking situations on several emotion adjectives. These responses were analyzed by multidimensional scaling, which revealed that they were organized along 2 basic dimensions: social-comparison vs romantic and fair vs unfair. Romantic situations produced ratings of greater anger, sadness, and embarrassment than social-comparison situations but somewhat less jealousy. In Study 2, 18 undergraduates read brief vignettes describing typical jealousy-provoking situations. Romantic vs social-comparison situations were compared on several affective and cognitive measures. Although both types of situations promoted equal jealousy ratings, the romantic ones elicited considerably more negative affect. Study 3 replicated Study 2, using 120 undergraduates who read elaborate vignettes that they were asked to imagine in a self-involving way. Once again, the romantic stories and the social-comparison stories were rated about equally in jealousy, but the romantic ones provoked more negative feelings about the self, lover, and rival. Findings support a view that sees more value in differentiating situations that evoke jealousy than in attempting to differentiate the experience of jealousy vs envy. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What do babies listen to most? A developmental study of auditory preferences in nonhandicapped infants and infants with Down's syndrome.

Studied the auditory preferences of 10 Down's syndrome (DS; mean CA 12.4 mo; mean MA 9.3 mo) and 10 nonhandicapped (NH; mean CA 9.3 mo; mean MA 9.6 mo) infants at the developmental ages of around 9 and 18 mo. An apparatus that allows infants to choose to listen to 1 of a pair of auditory stimuli and that records their responses was used. At both ages, Ss had the choice of listening first to either a children's rhyme or a repetitive tone and then to either the mother talking to her own child (baby talk) or the mother talking to an adult. At both ages, both groups of Ss significantly preferred to listen to the children's rhyme and to the baby talk. At 9 mo, both groups listened significantly more to nursery rhymes than to spoken stimuli; by 18 mo, NH Ss showed a significant increase in listening to baby talk, which they then listened to longer than to rhymes. DS Ss showed a significant decrease in listening to baby talk at this age and still listened longer to rhymes. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of baby talk, frequency of receiving baby talk, and self-esteem among community and nursing home residents.

Community-living seniors (n?=?113) and nursing home residents (n?=?43) provided their impressions of baby-talk and neutral-talk scenarios and completed measures of functional health, need for succorance, and self-esteem. Two orthogonal dimensions were found in perceptions of baby talk: Warmth and Superiority. The personality trait of need for succorance was consistently associated with perceptions of warmth in baby talk, whereas functional health, age, and institutionalization were associated with perceptions of superiority. Significant interactions were found between perceptions of baby talk and frequency of receiving baby talk in the prediction of self-esteem, providing suggestive evidence for previously expressed concerns about potentially harmful effects of receiving baby talk on self-esteem among seniors who have negative perceptions of baby talk. However, older persons with positive perceptions of baby talk reported higher self-esteem when they frequently received baby talk, in accordance with person-environment theory. The self-esteem interaction for men occurred on the Superiority dimension, whereas the interaction for women occurred on the Warmth dimension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physical therapists' nonverbal communication predicts geriatric patients' health outcomes.

Two studies explored the link between health care providers' patterns of nonverbal communication and therapeutic efficacy. In Study 1, physical therapists were videotaped during a session with a client. Brief samples of therapists' nonverbal behavior were rated by naive judges. Judges' ratings were then correlated with clients' physical, cognitive, and psychological functioning at admission, at discharge, and at 3 months following discharge. Therapists' distancing behavior was strongly correlated with short- and long-term decreases in their clients' physical and cognitive functioning. Distancing was expressed through a pattern of not smiling and looking away from the client. In contrast, facial expressiveness, as revealed through smiling, nodding, and frowning, was associated with short- and long-term improvements in functioning. In Study 2, elderly subjects perceived distancing behaviors of therapists more negatively than positive behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work conditions and personality characteristics affecting job satisfaction of student interns in extended health care facilities.

58 undergraduates employed as summer interns in extended health care facilities completed the Allport-Vernon-Lindzey (AVL) Study of Values, the TAT, and at least 25 daily logs in which they recorded activities and rated them according to a satisfaction index. Significantly high AVL social and low political and economic scores were found among the intern Ss attracted to health care summer jobs, compared to other student populations. Those Ss whose jobs allowed them to interact and care for the total needs of a few patients indicated much greater job satisfaction than those who were isolated from patients or who were responsible for only a few aspects of patient care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dog versus collie: Vocabulary in speech to young children.

Adult speech to children was recorded during interactions between 2 nursery school teachers and their 2–4 yr old students and between mothers and their 18–30 mo old children. Nouns in 4 general categories were rated for taxonomic level: subordinate (e.g., collie), basic level (e.g., dog), or superordinate (e.g., animal). Basic level nouns were the most frequently used. A further study was conducted to determine whether heavy reliance on basic level vocabulary in speech to children represents a simplification strategy. 80 undergraduates wrote stories about sets of pictures as they would tell the stories to either a child or an adult listener. Ss produced significantly more basic level nouns than subordinate or superordinate nouns for child listeners only, suggesting the use of a simplification strategy. In addition, the proportion of all items labeled at the subordinate level that were also labeled at the basic level was significantly higher in stories for a child listener than in stories for an adult listener. Data suggest that speakers may tend to orient a child listener to the basic level of categorization even when using words at other taxonomic levels. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A new method for assessing the interpersonal behavior of psychopathic individuals: Preliminary validation studies.

Two studies examined whether increased attention to interpersonal behaviors would improve assessments of the personality core underlying psychopathy. After item analysis, 21 items measuring interpersonal interactions and nonverbal behaviors associated with psychopathy were retained as the Interpersonal Measure of Psychopathy (IM-P). Federal prison inmates (Study 1, N?=?98) and undergraduates (Study 2, N?=?92) were rated on occurrence of these behaviors during an interview conducted to complete either Hare's Psychopathy Checklist—Revised (PCL-R) or Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL: SV). In both studies, IM-P scores correlated more highly with PCL Factor 1 than with PCL Factor 2 scores. Regression analyses indicated that, after controlling for demographic variables and PCL factor scores, IM-P scores predicted interviewer emotional responses and participants' adult fighting (Study 1) and ratings of participants' interpersonal dominance (Study 2). Thus, measurement of interpersonal behavior appears to permit improved prediction of several criteria linked to the personality core of psychopathy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Organizational citizenship behavior and performance evaluations: Exploring the impact of task interdependence.

The influence of task interdependence on the importance attributed to organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in evaluations of employee performance was investigated in 3 studies. In Study 1,238 undergraduates were exposed to a task interdependence manipulation and a unit-level performance manipulation and provided citizenship ratings. In Study 2,148 master of business administration students were exposed to a task interdependence manipulation and then rated the importance of OCB in their evaluations of employee performance. In Study 3,130 managers rated the task interdependence in their unit of principal responsibility and the importance of OCB in their overall evaluations of employee performance. The results suggest task interdependence may affect the importance attributed to OCB by evaluators. Implications of these results are explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Negative effects of destructive criticism: Impact on conflict, self-efficacy, and task performance.

In Study 1, 83 undergraduates received either constructive criticism (feedback that was specific, considerate, and did not attribute poor performance to internal causes) or destructive criticism (feedback that violated these basic principles) of their work. Those who received destructive criticism reported greater anger and tension and indicated that they would be more likely to handle future disagreements with the source through resistance or avoidance and less likely to handle disagreements through collaboration or compromise. In Study 2, 106 undergraduates who received destructive criticism of their work on an intitial task set lower goals and reported lower self-efficacy on two additional tasks than did subjects who received constructive criticism or no feedback. In Study 3, 108 employees of a large food-processing company rated the importance of 14 potential causes of conflict in their organization. Poor use of criticism was perceived as a more important cause of conflict and received higher ratings than did competition over resources or disputes over jurisdiction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)