Low-ball procedure for producing compliance: Commitment then cost.

Examined the low-ball technique, a tactic often used by automobile sales dealers to produce compliance from customers, in a set of 3 experiments. In all 3 studies, a requester who induced Ss to make an initial decision to perform a target behavior and who then made performance of the behavior more costly obtained greater final compliance than a requester who informed Ss of the full costs of the target behavior from the outset. The low-ball phenomenon—that an active preliminary decision to take an action tends to persevere even after the costs of performing the action have been increased—was found to be reliable (Exp I), different from the foot-in-the-door effect (Exp II), and effective only when the preliminary decision was made with a high degree of choice (Exp III). In competition with 3 other conceptual explanations, a formulation based on the concept of commitment was seen to best account for the results. An ecologically derived strategy for the identification and investigation of research questions is discussed. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identifiability as a deterrant to social loafing: Two cheering experiments.

Two experiments with 156 male undergraduates tested the extent to which the identifiability of one's individual output moderates social loafing—the reduction of individual efforts due to the social presence of others. In the 1st stage of Exp I, Ss were asked to produce noise either alone, in groups of 2 and 6, or in pseudogroups where Ss actually shouted alone but believed that 1 or 5 other people were shouting with them. As in previous research, Ss exerted less effort when they thought that they were shouting in groups than when they shouted alone. In the 2nd stage, the same Ss were led to believe that their outputs would be identifiable even when they cheered in groups. This manipulation eliminated social loafing. Exp II demonstrated that when individual outputs were always identifiable (even in groups), Ss consistently exerted high levels of effort, and if their outputs were never identifiable (even when alone), they consistently exerted low levels of effort across all group sizes. Results suggest that identifiability is an important mediator of social loafing. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Punishment of saccharin drinking by amphetamine in rats and its reversal by chlordiazepoxide.

Demonstrates, in a conditioned taste-aversion paradigm, that doses of dextroamphetamine which are intravenously self-administered by rats may punish saccharin drinking. Ss were male Wistar rats. In Exp I (n = 42), single-trial, dose-related aversion was shown. Aversion was not antagonized by chlorpromazine. Exp II (n = 32) demonstrated dose-related acquisition of taste aversion with repeated administration of very low amphetamine doses. In Exp III (n = 18), drug-induced saccharin aversion was reversed by chlordiazepoxide; this action paralleled the action of chlordiazepoxide in numerous other aversive-conditioning situations. Exp IV (n = 30) ruled out the possibility that depression of saccharin drinking was due to a direct pharmacological action of the drug and not to learned saccharin avoidance. Results indicate that the reinforcing action of amphetamine depends on the response with which its effects are correlated. (20 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)     

Performance implications of corrective testing.

Compared testing with immediate feedback and partial credit to a traditional multiple-choice exam format in 2 experiments. In Exp I, Ss were 286 students in 3 large introductory courses. Feedback to Ss about their performance dramatically increased the impact of doing well or doing poorly on the test: Among Ss doing well, those who were aware of that fact performed far better overall than counterparts who were unaware of their performance. Among Ss doing poorly, those who were aware of their poor performance did much less well than Ss who were unaware of it. Interestingly, this polarizing effect was particularly dramatic among low-test-anxious Ss. Subjective reactions of 35 high- and 34 low-test-anxiety Ss to immediate feedback and partial credit were assessed in Exp II. Immediate feedback and partial-credit testing was rated as indicating more about one's ability and effort than traditional testing, a finding that fits well with the performance effects uncovered in Exp I. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ventral scent marking in Meriones unguiculatus may contribute to thermoregulation.

Conducted 3 experiments with adult male gerbils to demonstrate that ventral scent marking can act to transfer body heat to the object marked. Exp I, with 16 Ss, showed that surgical removal of the ventral gland pad in 8 Ss reduced the amount of heat transferred by 50%, even though intact and glandless Ss did not differ in the average frequency of scent marking. Exp II, with the same 16 Ss used in Exp I, demonstrated that the difference in heat transfer due to the presence or absence of the scent pad was not due to differential pressure applied to the substrate during marking. Exp III, with 14 Ss, showed that the pattern of ventral hair spread that occurred as an S moved over an object was different between intact and glandless Ss but that this difference did not account for the difference in heat transfer. It is suggested that heat transfer to the environment with ventral scent marking may increase thermoregulatory competence and also may function to volatilize sebum used in chemocommunication. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social identification effects in group polarization.

Tested a model of group polarization derived from social identity theory, proposing that if group members conform to group norms, attitude polarization could occur only if group members perceive those norms as more extreme than they "objectively" are. In Exp I, 60 undergraduates perceived attitude-relevant information attributed to speakers who were categorized as a group as representing a more extreme position of the issue than when the same information was attributed to noncategorized individuals. Attitude polarization occurred when Ss believed the information came from their in-group. As predicted, this polarization resulted from Ss' adoption of the "extremitized" in-group norm. In Exp II, categorization was manipulated by focusing 42 Ss on their group performance or on their individual performance. When Ss were focused on their group membership, group norms were perceived as more extreme, and attitude polarization due to conformity to these extremitized norms occurred. When Ss were focused on their individual performance, no extremitization occurred, and attitudes shifted to a more neutral position on the issue. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Analyse de la représentation typique de verbes de procès.

Studied the representational structure of process verbs among preschool children and adults. Three experiments were conducted with a total of 80 French preschool children (5–6 yrs) and 80 French university students. In Exp 1, Ss were presented with 12 verbs and were asked to speak a sentence using the verbs. Use of the verbs as a completed action or as a circumstance was recorded. In Exp 2, the Ss were asked to act out or to mark the action/circumstance of the verb on a drawing representing the verb in a sentence. In Exps 3 and 4, Ss were presented with a list of verbs and asked to indicate whether they represented finished actions or uncompleted actions/circumstances. The number of responses indicating a completed or an uncompleted action/circumstance was compared. (English abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cardiovascular reactivity, mood, and task performance in deprived and nondeprived coffee drinkers.

40 habitual, heavy coffee drinkers (aged 18–48 yrs; mean consumption of 5.7 cups/day) were deprived of their morning coffee for 1 experimental session and not deprived of the other. During each session, Ss consumed 12 oz of caffeinated coffee, decaffeinated coffee, or caffeine-free herbal tea. Measurements of heart rate, blood pressure, mood, and catecholamine response to deprivation and consumption of the beverage, alone and in combination with challenging tasks, were made. Caffeine continues to cause blood pressure increases with chronic, heavy consumption and these effects do not appear to habituate with regular use. Ss reacted to behavioral challenge with fewer negative mood effects if they had consumed caffeine or coffee. Mild caffeine deprivation was associated with symptoms of stress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physiological arousal, dissonance, and attitude change: Evidence for a dissonance-arousal link and a "Don't remind me" effect.

Two experiments, with 80 undergraduates, replicated and extended research by R. T. Croyle and J. Cooper (see record 1984-11595-001) indicating that cognitive dissonance involves physiological arousal. In Exp I, Ss wrote counterattitudinal essays under conditions of high or low choice and, to assess arousal effects owing to effort, with or without a list of arguments provided by the experimenter. In high-choice conditions only and regardless of effort, Ss showed both arousal (heightened galvanic skin response) and attitude change. Arousal, however, did not decline following attitude change. The more effortful task (no arguments provided) produced increased arousal but not greater attitude change. In Exp II, the opportunity to change one's attitude following a freely chosen counterattitudinal essay was manipulated. As in Exp I, arousal increased following the essay but did not decline following a postessay attitude change opportunity. When Ss were not given an attitude change opportunity, however, arousal did decline. It is suggested that if dissonance is a drive state, drive reduction typically may be accomplished through gradual cognitive change or forgetting. (47 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Detection of microbial pathogens in shellfish with multiplex PCR

This study investigated the effect of drinking tea or coffee on the lung cancer risk of male cigarette smokers in a case-control in Uruguay. Four hundred and twenty-seven lung cancer cases were frequency matched on age and residence with 428 hospitalized controls suffering from conditions unrelated to tobacco smoking and diet. Whereas coffee drinking had no effect on the lung cancer risk of the cigarette-smoking men in this study, black tea consumption decreased this risk. Heavy drinkers of tea (two or more cups of tea per day) were associated with a reduced risk of 0.34 (95% CI 0.14-0.84). This protective effect was more evident among Kreyberg I tumors (squamous cell and small cell) and among light smokers. Possible sources of bias and mechanisms of action are discussed.     

Orogastric determinants of drinking in rats: Interaction between absorptive and peripheral controls.

In 3 experiments with 24 female Sprague-Dawley rats, water intake of water-deprived Ss, drinking with absorption prevented by pyloric occlusion, was compared with that of Ss drinking normally. Drinking without absorption, under the control of only orogastric factors, was not graded in response to varied deprivation (Exp I). Orogastric controls effectively inhibited intake after absorbed water, but not isotonic saline, preloads (Exp II). The extent of orogastric inhibition was directly related to absorbed preload volume (Exp III). With large absorbed water preloads (9 ml), intakes with and without absorption were equal. Normal function of orogastric controls may thus be based on their interaction with absorption, which progressively enhances peripheral inhibition of drinking. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paired-associate learning and priming effects in amnesia: A neuropsychological study.

Conducted 4 experiments investigating the role of priming effects in paired-associate learning. Ss for all 4 experiments were 5 male and 3 female alcoholics (mean age 53.8 yrs; WAIS—R IQs 85–203) with Korsakoff syndrome. Control Ss were 26 male alcoholics (mean age 47.6 yrs). Exp I illustrated the distinction between the memory impairment of amnesic (Korsakoff) Ss and their intact priming ability. In Exp II, amnesic Ss showed good paired-associate learning for related word pairs but controls performed significantly better. Exp II also showed that the forgetting of related word pairs by amnesic Ss followed the same time course as the decay of word priming. Exp III showed that amnesic Ss were as good as controls at learning related word pairs when word-association tests were used. Exp IV showed that amnesic Ss exhibited normal priming when they were asked to free associate to words that were semantically related to previously presented words. Results indicate that both priming effects and paired-associate learning of related words depended on activation, a process that is preserved in amnesia. Activation is a transient phenomenon presumed to operate on and facilitate access to preexisting representations. (67 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Constructing macrostructure for expository text.

In Exp I, 108 (36 Ss at each level) 3rd, 5th, and 7th graders and 36 graduate students read short expository paragraphs and performed tasks that required the generation of macrostructure. Ss chose the best title, wrote a summary sentence, or wrote 1 additional sentence for each paragraph. Some paragraphs were not well structured; others contained an anomalous sentence. Results show that performance improved with age. The title task was easier than the summary task, which in turn was easier than the next-sentence task. Only adult Ss reflected the presence of anomalous information, and the effects were different on each of the 3 tasks. In Exp II, the title task with 4 response options was administered to 24 undergraduates. Results show that Ss broadened their representations to encompass the deviant sentence in both related and unrelated paragraphs. In the summary-sentence task, proficient adults—who monitored their own comprehension—responded like children. It is suggested that children need instruction variations in both task and in text, introduced gradually and systematically, in order to deal with potential sources of difficulty. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of alcohol and expectancies on verbal aggression in men and women.

In Exp I, 48 male and 48 female heavy social-drinking undergraduates were assigned to beverage (vodka [.75 ml/kg] and tonic or only tonic) and beverage-expectancy (alcohol or tonic) conditions. Ss were provoked by a confederate's unfavorable evaluation and allowed to retaliate. In Exp II, Exp I was repeated using 44 males and 45 females and higher doses of ethanol (1.12 and 1.10 ml/kg, respectively, for males and females). In Exp III, an experimenter criticized 62 male drinkers (.9 ml/kg ethanol) who later evaluated the experimenter's job performance on a questionnaire for his employer. Results show that for Ss at higher doses and males at the lower dose, those expecting alcohol were significantly less aggressive and at higher doses felt happier than did Ss expecting only tonic. Actual alcohol consumption increased aggression only for females at the lower doses. It is concluded that alcohol by its pharmacologic action alone does not necessarily increase aggression at either a low or a moderately high dose. It is suggested that many of the reinforcements of alcohol use are due to the drinkers' cognition rather than the pharmacologic action of alcohol itself. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impulsivity and perception: Individual differences in the processing of the local and global dimensions of stimuli.

In Exp I, 48 undergraduates differing in impulsivity (as measured by a self-report inventory) performed 2 versions of filtering, interference, and invariant control tasks. In one version, Ss sorted according to the value of the local dimension; in the other, the global dimension was the relevant one. In addition, Ss performed a task in which the 2 dimensions were perfectly correlated. Results show that Ss sorted more quickly when the global dimension was relevant than when the local dimension was relevant. In Exp II, 43 of the Ss from Exp I were used to determine whether failure to find a relationship between impulsivity and filtering performance was due to correlations of local and global dimensions; results were negative. In Exp III, the same 43 Ss used in Exp II were used to test the information-integration hypothesis. Results support the hypothesis—high impulsives were more impaired than other Ss when the task required that they integrate information from the global dimension with information from the local dimension. Findings can be explained in terms of individual differences in the value placed on speed, relative to accuracy, in information processing. (41 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)     

Conditioned taste aversions and neophobia in rats with hippocampal lesions.

In Exp I extensive hippocampal lesions retarded, but did not prohibit, the conditioning of a strong taste aversion to physiological saline (the CS) in 16 male Holtzman albino rats when illness (the UCS) was induced by apomorphine injection 15 min following ingestion of the saline. In Exp II hippocampal lesions reduced the aversiveness of novelty in a drinking fluid for 21 thirsty Ss. It is suggested that the mild impairment of taste aversion learning in Ss with hippocampal lesions was not the result of destruction of mnemonic mechanisms that serve to span the long CS-UCS interval but rather that the reduced intensity of the aversion resulted from a lesion-altered neophobic disposition that weakened the saliency of the novel flavor CS. (51 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)