Beyond imitation: Complex behavioral and affective linkages resulting from exposure to leadership training models.

Examined the influence of modeling interventions in a training situation on short-term leader behavior and on subsequent subordinate affective response using 40 leader–subordinate dyads. Ss read scenarios describing setting and 4 performance objectives; then they role-played as supervisor, subordinate, or observer. Three separate videotapes of a supervisor–subordinate interaction were prepared for supervisors that emphasized positive reward, reprimand, or goal-setting behavior. Ss viewed 1 of the videotapes or were assigned to a control condition in which no videotape was used. Results of subsequent role-playing indicate a significant overall change in leader behavior in response to the videotape modeling interventions. In addition, positive reward behavior was most responsive to the reprimand intervention, reprimand behavior was most responsive to the goal-setting intervention, and goal-setting behavior was most responsive to the reprimand intervention. Findings suggest that the modeling process should be viewed as a complex phenomenon involving multiple behavioral and affective linkages that go beyond a simplistic imitation or demand effect interpretation. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of group identity on resource use in a simulated commons dilemma.

Used 172 undergraduates in 3 experiments to assess the effects of making salient either a superordinate (collective) or subordinate (differentiating) group identity in heterogeneous groups. In Exp I, 22 male and 36 female Ss were assigned to either a superordinate-group identity (small community resident behavior vs other areas) or a subordinate-group identity (behavior of young people vs elderly people) condition and were asked to perform a computer task individually; Ss were led to believe they were interacting with 5 other persons (2 real and 3 bogus Ss) in their group in accumulating as many points as possible while making the resource last as long as possible. Bogus feedback about group behavior was given. In Exp II, 29 male and 19 female Ss were told that the bogus Ss were economics majors and were asked to perform as in Exp I. In Exp III, the level of social-group identity for 40 male and 26 female Ss was manipulated by varying the common fate of the group members. Results of all 3 experiments show support for the hypothesis that individual restraint would be most likely when a superordinate group identity was made salient and under conditions in which feedback indicated that the common resource was being depleted. A sex-response difference found in Exp I was not sustained in subsequent experiments. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Women's intuition: The effect of subordinate role on interpersonal sensitivity.

Investigated the thesis that the subordinate status of women in Western society may have led to their development of greater interpersonal sensitivity and intuition. The effects of sex and leader/subordinate role on interpersonal sensitivity were examined in 36 same- or mixed-sex dyads (composed predominantly of undergraduates) that interacted for 1 hr. One member of each dyad was randomly assigned to the leader role. Throughout the interaction, Ss completed rating scales describing their feelings. Results show that subordinates were more sensitive than leaders to the feelings of the other dyad member. Women were not more sensitive than men. However, mixed-sex dyads were more sensitive than same-sex dyads, and the sex of the other person had a greater effect on women than on men. A combination of leader expressiveness and subordinate perceptiveness are posited to underlie this role effect. Results support the subordinate role explanation for female superiority in interpersonal sensitivity. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships between leader behavior and subordinate satisfaction and performance: A test of some situational moderators.

Examined the effects of 4 situational moderators on the relationships between (a) leader behavior and subordinate satisfaction and (b) leader behavior and subordinate performance, in a social services organization. Respondents--54 Black counselors and people-helping workers--described their job satisfaction, role clarity, and the behavior of their leaders ( n = 19), while the leaders evaluated the respondents' job performance. Using subgroup moderator analyses, the effect of work unit size was significant, with leader structure related to satisfaction in larger units and consideration related to satisfaction in smaller units. Results confirm earlier findings that in low-stress jobs consideration enhances satisfaction and performance but that in high-stress jobs, structure is helpful. Also confirmed were results of previous studies showing that high structure had dysfunctional effects only when accompanied by low consideration. Finally, role clarity did not moderate the relationship between leader behavior and subordinate satisfaction and performance. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Awareness of prior success or failure: A critical factor in task performance.

Exp I, with 36 undergraduates, determined the effects of 2 levels of history of success (high or low) and the presence or absence of an audience on task performance. Results show that after prior failure, alone Ss performed significantly better than audience Ss, although after prior success, the performance of alone and audience Ss did not differ. These results counter K. J. Good's (1973) results, since his experiment produced a social facilitation effect after prior success, not after prior failure. Performance differences were probably due to differences in audience awareness. In the present experiment, the audience was presumably unaware; whereas in Good's experiment, the audience was presumably aware of S's prior performance level. Exp II (60 Ss) tested the merits of this explanation. Ss with a history of success or failure performed either alone or in 1 of 2 audience manipulations. Ss were told that the audience was either aware or unaware of their prior performance level. Results support the hypothesis. It is argued than an audience can affect the type of standard that an S uses to evaluate performance and that the quality of an S's performance is a function not only of the criterion but also of S's expectation of meeting the criterion (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of intrahippocampal administration of colchicine on incentive contrast and on radial maze performance.

Examined the behavior of rats given intradentate injections of colchicine (COL). In Exp 1, COL-treated, artificial cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-treated, and untreated Ss did not differ in the intake of 32% and 4% sucrose solutions, nor did they differ in degree of successive negative contrast when the 32% solution was changed to 4% sucrose. In Exp 2, the COL-treated and CSF-treated Ss did not differ in degree of suppression in the intake of a 0.15% saccharin solution when it preceded 32% sucrose in once-daily pairings (anticipatory contrast), nor did they differ in reversal performance when saccharin–sucrose and saccharin–saccharin pairings were reversed. In Exp 3, the COL-treated Ss were substantially impaired in radial-arm maze performance compared with CSF-treated controls. Results suggest that a completely functioning hippocampus is not necessary for the memory of reward quality, the comparison of rewards, the suppression of behavior when reward is decreased, the formation of associations between 2 levels of reward, and the reversal of this association, as long as these processes are reflected in consummatory behavior. Data are interpreted in terms of differences between instrumental behavior and sensory memory and/or consummatory behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of leader warmth and directiveness on subordinate performance on a subsequent task.

56 college students took the role of a subordinate and interacted with a leader as they completed a task. The leader was either directive or nondirective and nonverbally either conveyed warmth or coldness toward the S. Ss with the warm/directive leader were most motivated to complete a subsequent task, and Ss with the warm/nondirective leader were the least productive. Ss within the warm condition found the leader helpful, were willing to work again and to meet the leader socially, and were satisfied with their relationship with the leader compared to those with a cold leader. Results support the general finding that high-structure, high-consideration leaders facilitate productivity and satisfaction and suggest how leaders might be both oriented toward production and toward people. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Distractibility in dieters and nondieters: An alternative view of "externality."

Performed 2 experiments in an investigation of the effects of distraction and emotional arousal on the proofreading performance of 60 dieting and nondieting female undergraduates. In Exp I, it was found that distraction initially impaired the performance of dieters and facilitated the performance of nondieters, a pattern previously shown by J. Rodin (see record 1973-27101-001) to apply to obese and normal weight Ss, respectively, and interpreted as evidence of greater externality in the obese. Subsequent retesting of the same Ss in succeeding months, however, revealed a complete reversal of the original results. In Exp II, the reaction to distraction found in the first phase of Exp I was obtained when Ss were in a situation of minimal threat. In a situation of high threat, the relative distractibility of dieters was reversed, as in the latter phases of Exp I. An explanation is offered for these data in terms of the greater emotionality of dieters, the susceptibility of cognitive performance to arousal (distraction, anxiety) manipulations, and the potentially competing effects of distraction and anxiety. Implications for the prevailing "trait" view of externality (stimulus binding) are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Central and peripheral routes to persuasion: An individual difference perspective.

Examined individual differences in intrinsic motivation to engage in effortful cognitive endeavors in 2 experiments involving 293 undergraduates. Results of Exp I indicate that Ss high in need for cognition were more likely to think about and elaborate cognitively on issue-relevant information when forming attitudes than were Ss low in need for cognition. Analyses further indicated that Ss low in need for cognition acted as cognitive misers rather than as verbal dolts. In Exp II, individual differences in need for cognition were used to test the prediction from the elaboration likelihood model that Ss who tend to engage in extensive issue-relevant thinking when formulating their position on an issue tend to exhibit stronger attitude–behavior correspondence. Results confirm this hypothesis: The attitudes of Ss high in need for cognition, which were obtained in a survey completed approximately 8 wks before the 1984 presidential election, were more predictive of behavioral intentions and reported voting behavior than were the attitudes of Ss low in need for cognition. (49 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of purpose in the organization of information about behavior: Trait-based versus goal-based categories in person cognition.

Three experiments with 120 college students investigated (a) the role of observational purpose in the tendency to employ trait or goal categories in the organization of behavioral information and (b) the effects of goal-based vs trait-based organization of the information on Ss' ability to recall it. Exp I showed that Ss reading and categorizing a series of episodes for the purpose of recalling either the material or empathizing with the main character organized the episodes primarily in terms of the character's goals. In contrast, Ss whose purpose was either to form a personality impression of the character or to predict her future behavior organized the episodes primarily in terms of her traits. Exp II demonstrated that the categorizations produced by recall-oriented Ss in Exp I facilitated the ability of a new sample of Ss to remember the episodes, relative to the categorizations produced by impression-oriented or control Ss. Exp II provided evidence that the relatively goal-based structure of the recall-oriented categories probably mediated the effects observed in Exp II. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Processing of information in iconic memory: Differences between nonretarded and retarded subjects.

Compared iconic memory processes of 17 undergraduates and 18 retarded Ss (primarily aged 18–28 yrs; IQ 56–77) in 4 experiments. In Exp I, a partial report paradigm was used in which 6 retarded and 6 undergraduate Ss were presented 6 pictures under 4 intervals (0–500 msec). In Exp II, using 5 Ss in each group the same procedure as in Exp I was used but letters as well as pictures were included. Results show that although overall performance for retarded Ss was poor, they did better with letters than with pictures—a reverse of the finding with undergraduate Ss. In Exp III, 2 retarded Ss were given extended practice and incentive to perform well. Asymptote was reached in 10 days but never equaled performance of unpracticed undergraduates. In Exp IV, using 5 Ss in each group, information load was varied from 1 to 4 items, and a masking stimulus was used to interrupt processing following 6 intervals that lasted up to 250 msec. Results show that (1) there are quantitative differences between intelligence groups in iconic capacity; (2) retarded Ss process information more slowly, a difference that increases with increasing information load; and (3) there are substantive structural differences in iconic memory of retarded and nonretarded Ss. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ontogeny of thermal and olfactory determinants of huddling in the rat.

In Exp I, in standardized tests of huddling behavior, 64 5-, 10-, 15-, and 20-day-old Sprague-Dawley rat pups spent substantial and equivalent amounts of time with an immobile rat or a heated, fur-covered tube, which suggests that the conspecific and inanimate stimuli were equally attractive to the pups. In Exp II, with 32 Ss, 2-choice preference tests showed developmental differences in attraction. Younger Ss preferred to huddle with the warmer, inanimate target, whereas older Ss preferred the conspecific. The emergent conspecific preference appears mediated by attraction to species odors. In Exp III (64 Ss), the 5- and 10-day-olds huddled equally with an immobile rat and an immobile gerbil (stimuli with similar thermal and tactile properties), but older Ss preferred the conspecific. In Exp IV, with 16 15-day-old and 16 20-day-old Ss, intranasal zinc sulfate treatment eliminated preference for the conspecific but did not disrupt huddling per se. Results from all experiments show that thermal cues were sufficient to elicit huddling at all ages, but olfactory cues became a more salient influence before weaning. An ontogenetic transition from "physiological" to "filial" huddling is discussed in terms of changes in sensory control of early behavior. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Optimizing cue effectiveness: Recall of 500 and 600 incidentally learned words.

Examined prerequisites on optimal memory performance of large amounts of verbal materials in 3 cued-recall experiments with 28 undergraduates. In Exp I, Ss defined their own retrieval cues by generating 1 or 3 properties of features for each of 504 words. Results indicate that the level of recall was directly related to the amount of retrieval information provided. Results of Exp II show that self-generated cues were much more effective than those generated by someone else. In both experiments, performance decreased over 1-, 2-, and 7-day retention intervals. Findings of Exp III, with 600 words to be remembered, replicated those of Exps I and III. Distinctiveness and compatibility of retrieval cues are proposed as 2 necessary prerequisites to perfect recall performance. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexual approach conditioning: Tests of unconditioned stimulus devaluation using hormone manipulations.

Contents of learning that result from CS–unconditioned stimulus/stimuli (UCS) pairings in sexual approach conditioning were explored with male Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica). Sexual motivation of Ss conditioned to approach an arbitrary stimulus in a Pavlovian sexual conditioning paradigm was reduced by exposing them to a short photoperiod. Decreased sexual motivation resulted in a decline in sexually conditioned approach behavior (Exps 1 and 2). Responding was restored when Ss were returned to a long photoperiod (Exp 1) and when exogenous testosterone was administered (Exp 2). Decreased sexual motivation did not affect food-conditioned approach behavior (Exp 3). These results suggest that sexually conditioned approach behavior is mediated by a representation of the UCS, which is activated by the CS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fear behavior, fear imagery, and the psychophysiology of emotion: The problem of affective response integration.

Exp I compared the psychophysiological reactions of 25 Ss with 2 fears, focal phobia and social-performance anxiety. Ss were determined by questionnaire (e.g., Differential Personality Questionnaire, Fenz-Epstein Anxiety Scale) and interview to be at the high extreme of their respective fear reference groups. Each group was exposed to both its own and the other group's primary fear stress (i.e., a snake-exposure test and a public speaking performance). These same Ss were also instructed to imagine both types of fear situations as well as control scenes. Results indicate a different psychophysiological response for the 2 fear groups across the 2 fear contents. Thus, snake-phobic Ss showed greater arousal when exposed to a live snake than did socially anxious Ss. Despite significantly greater verbal reports of fear and arousal by socially anxious Ss, both fear groups showed a similar marked increase in physiological arousal during speech performance. Neither group generated a significant physiological reaction to either fear content during imagery assessment. Exp II examined emotional imagery with 40 undergraduates from the same 2 fear populations. An imagery pretraining program, based on the reinforcement of verbal report of somatic response content in imagery, led to a significant visceral arousal response during fear imagery. Response-trained Ss showed a pattern of heart rate change during imagery that varied between Ss and fear contents. Response-trained Ss also showed relatively greater concordance between verbal and visceral measures than did untrained Ss. (60 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Specificity of process, response, and stimulus in behavioral bioassays.

Reported 3 experiments which studied aspects of the behavioral specificity of the "biochemical transfer" phenomenon. In Exp I, using 120 common goldfish, an acquisition extract facilitated acquisition but not extinction, while an extinction extract facilitated extinction but not acquisition. In Exp II, using 60 Ss from Exp I and 20 additional Ss, brain extracts facilitated an avoidance response only if they originated in donors that made that same response; extracts from donors that did not respond, although exposed to identical stimuli, did not modify recipient behavior. In Exp III, the biochemical transfer effect was found to be stimulus specific in 48 large and 111 small Ss. Results suggest that the extracts in question are behavior specific and do not generally affect behavior in a global excitatory or global inhibitory way. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcohol consumption as a self-handicapping strategy.

Two experiments with 128 male undergraduates evaluated the self-handicapping hypothesis that alcohol consumption varies directly with individuals' uncertainty of their ability to perform successfully. In a 2–3 factorial design, Exp I manipulated difficulty of an initial intellectual test (insolvable or solvable), feedback regarding test performance (success or none), and instructions regarding the difficulty of a retest (identical to or harder than the initial test). Ss then received access to an alcoholic beverage (self-handicapping option) and to study materials (performance-enhancing option). The experiment terminated before the retest. Results indicate that when a performance-enhancing option is available, Ss generally do not use alcohol to self-handicap. Exp II omitted the study option and manipulated the test difficulty and retest instruction variables. All Ss received success feedback. Results show that Ss use alcohol to self-handicap when denied access to a performance-enhancing option. With important qualifications, these data support the self-handicapping hypothesis of human drinking behavior. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)