Attributions, false consensus, and valence: Two field studies.

Two studies, with 1,056 Ss, investigated attitudes, knowledge, and behavior with regard to several environmental issues. Findings demonstrate that observers tend to perceive a false consensus with respect to the relative commonness of their own behavioral choices. This phenomenon was replicated across a variety of behaviors. This bias was not related, however, to Ss' trait inferences of the typical person who would choose a particular alternative. Neither estimated commonness of responses nor Ss' own behavioral choice provided an adequate explanation of the obtained differences in attributional inferences. Results show that Ss made more extreme and confident trait ratings about evaluatively positive behavior, irrespective of their own behavioral choice. Ss' trait ratings were in accordance with L. Ross's (1977) proposal, that Ss make more extreme ratings about dissimilar others, only when Ss rated their own behavioral choice relatively unfavorably compared with the behavioral alternative. Implications for previous investigations dealing with the false consensus effect are outlined, and evaluative and motivational mechanisms are proposed for research on social inference and attributional processes. (33 ref) (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)     

Similarity and property effects in inductive reasoning.

Three experiments investigated the proposal that inductive inferences about different properties depend on different measures of similarity. In Exps 1 and 2, Ss were given the premise that a category of animals has some property and judged the probability that another category of animals also has that property. Ss made the strongest inferences when the kind of property (anatomical or behavioral) corresponded to the kind of similarity between the animal categories (anatomical or behavioral). These results cannot be explained in terms of a single measure of similarity underlying induction. In Exp 3, Ss rated the similarity of animal pairs with respect to anatomy or behavior. Regression analyses showed that both behavioral and anatomical similarity influenced behavioral inferences, but only anatomical similarity influenced anatomical inferences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The process of recurrent choice.

Recurrent choice has been studied for many years. A static law, matching, has been established, but there is no consensus on the underlying dynamic process. The authors distinguish between dynamic models in which the model state is identified with directly measurable behavioral properties (performance models) and models in which the relation between behavior and state is indirect (state models). Most popular dynamic choice models are local, performance models. The authors show that behavior in different types of discrimination-reversal experiments and in extinction is not explained by 2 versions of a popular local model and that the nonlocal cumulative-effects model is consistent with matching and that it can duplicate the major properties of recurrent choice in a set of discrimination-reversal experiments. The model can also duplicate results from several other experiments on extinction after complex discrimination training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Freedom of choice and behavioral change.

Used a 3?×?2 (Treatment?×?Population) factorial design with repeated measures (pretest/posttest) to evaluate the effects of perceived freedom of choice on behavior change in a therapy analog study. 90 Ss were assigned to 3 groups that varied in the amount of perceived choice given to Ss in determining the type of training procedure used for speed-reading enhancement. Experimental conditions were crossed with 2 populations of Ss to examine 2 levels of perceived freedom. Half of the Ss were psychology undergraduates required to participate in psychology experiments, and the remaining half were volunteers. The main dependent variable was the amount of change in reading rate. A marginally significant increase in reading speed was obtained by volunteers in comparison to psychology student participants. Ss who perceived that they were given a choice in training procedures improved significantly more in reading speed than Ss who lost the freedom of choice. No changes in reading comprehension were noted. Findings are discussed in terms of the relationship between freedom of choice and performance in a behavior change program. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hypothesis testing and cognitive style in children.

Performed 2 experiments with 109 3rd graders. The 1st experiment investigated the relationship between cognitive style and the hypothesis-testing behavior children use in solving concept attainment problems. Field-independent (FI) and field-dependent (FD) Ss, as assessed by the Children's Embedded Figures Test, were administered concept attainment problems using a blank-trial methodology that closely examines how clearing proceeds. While both groups adopted a hypothesis-testing approach, only the performance of FI Ss coincided with a perfect focusing model. FD Ss did not process information efficiently; there were significant differences in coding, recoding, and retention of information. The 2nd experiment was designed to enhance the information processing of FD Ss by providing various stimulus aids. Consistent focusing was obtained in a treatment condition in which compound stimuli were disembedded into their component parts. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of replication techniques in the modification of minimal dating behavior.

Compared the effectiveness of 4 behavioral techniques in the treatment of 59 male undergraduate volunteers who reported minimal dating behavior. The techniques differed in type and amount of feedback which S received. Ss were divided into 2 control conditions; 2 intermediate treatment conditions which permitted either observation only or observation and rehearsal; and 2 conditions which permitted videotape self-observation of just-completed behavior. Those Ss receiving videotape self-observation were judged significantly higher on the basis of posttreatment changes on a simulated dating task than the control and intermediate-treatment groups. Results indicate that a realistic clinical problem can be modified by behavioral feedback techniques. Interactions between target behavior and choice of treatment are discussed. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Importance of model similarity on extinction of avoidance behavior in children.

Studied the effectiveness of therapeutic modeling by using models similar or dissimilar to observers in a class of behavior being modified (fear) and a characteristic (age) seemingly irrelevant to the modeled response. Ss were 50 2nd and 3rd graders. 40 Ss who showed behavioral fear of snakes viewed models of 1 of 4 types: fearless child, fearful child, fearless adult, fearful adult. In addition, 10 Ss saw no model in a control condition. Pre- and postmeasures of fear were taken on behavioral and attitude dimensions. With repsect to overt avoidance, model similarity on the response dimension (level of fear) was an unimportant variable, but model similarity on the age dimension was important. With respect to attitudes, more similar models produced the greatest change regardless of the dimension on which similarity occurred. An integration of these findings with other research is presented. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing models of delayed sequence discrimination in pigeons: The advance key procedure.

In 2-event delayed sequence discrimination (DSD) training, one arrangement (temporal order) of 2 sample stimuli is the positive sequence and the remaining are the negative sequences for keypecking during a subsequent test stimulus. Three models of the DSD task were tested in 2 experiments with 8 White Carneaux pigeons. In Exp I Ss were allowed to terminate a trial by pecking the "advance key" during the sample stimuli or to let the test stimulus progress to the next trial. In the absence of a peck to the advance key, the trial continued to the completion of the test stimulus. In Exp II, Ss were forced to choose actively between advancing to the next trial and continuing through the current trial. Choice between the advance and continue keys was required with the occurrence of each of the successive sample stimuli and the test stimulus. Although the addition of forced choice resulted in more uniform effects, Ss were able to identify negative sample sequences with the occurrence of the 1st negative sample event in both experiments. Results support the prospective memory model but not the retrospective and hybrid models of temporal sequence recognition in the 2-event DSD task. (French abstract) (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive sets, attribution, and social interaction.

Examined relationships among cognitive set variables, attribution, and behavior using 135 female undergraduates. Ss were given either positive-, negative-, or no-set information about the emotional health of a stimulus person prior to observing a videotaped social encounter. After viewing the tape, Ss were administered a free-response attribution measure or a distraction task. All Ss then engaged in actual social interaction with the stimulus person. Results indicate that (a) Ss receiving positive-set information wrote more positively valenced attributions and displayed more positive behavioral responses than did Ss receiving negative- and no-set information. (b) Ss who made attributions exhibited more pronounced behavioral responses as a function of the set manipulation than did those who did not make attributions. It is argued that the latter data reveal the important role of attribution in mediating the effects of set on behavior. Overall data are discussed as reflecting a control motivation in the production of attribution and behavior. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Focus of attention, chronic expectancy, and responses to a feared stimulus.

Tested an attentional model of fear-based behavior with 44 undergraduates. It was predicted that among Ss with moderate fear of snakes, heightened self-attention during an approach attempt would cause increased awareness of existing anxiety, followed by 1 of 2 courses of events: Ss who believed that they could do the behavior in spite of their fear were expected to redirect their attention to the behavior–goal comparison and exhibit no behavioral deficit. Ss who doubted their ability to do the behavior were expected to divert their attention from the behavior–goal comparison and to withdraw behaviorally from the approach attempt. Results support this reasoning and discussion centers on relationships between the proposed model and previous theory. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of goal difficulty on physiological arousal, cognition, and task performance.

Conducted 2 laboratory experiments with 117 undergraduates to examine (1) the effect of assigned goal difficulty on arousal (self-report and heart rate), cognition (perceived norm, self-efficacy strength, and personal goal), and behavioral (task performance) measures and (2) the role of heart rate as a mediator of the goal-difficulty–performance relation. All Ss performed a task requiring cognitive and physical responses. Results of both experiments demonstrate that assigned goal difficulty affected heart rate, cognition, and task performance and that heart rate change was positively related to the cognitive and behavioral measures. Regression analyses suggested that a cognitive–affective mechanism may mediate the goal-difficulty–performance relation. Discussion is focused on the theoretical and practical implications of integrating an arousal concept within goal-setting theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the self-erasing nature of errors of prediction.

82 female undergraduates were assigned to 1 of 4 experimental groups—predict-request, information-request, predict only, and request only—in which requested tasks involved writing a counterattitudinal essay or singing over the telephone. In 3 experiments, Ss overpredicted the degree to which their behavior would be socially desirable and these errors of prediction proved to be self-erasing. Having mispredicted a given behavior, Ss were likely to have these predictions confirmed in later behavior, indicating that prediction of a behavioral sequence evokes a specific cognitive representation of that sequence which is subsequently accessed. Results demonstrate the strong effects on behavior of engaging in prebehavioral cognitive work. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Belief relevance and attitude–behavior consistency: The moderating role of personal experience.

Examined whether belief relevance enhances the degree of attitude–behavior consistency when the behavioral implications of a global attitude contradict the behavioral implications of prior personal experience in a pertinent action domain. It was generally expected that belief relevance would promote attitude–behavior consistency only for those individuals with little prior personal experience. 68 undergraduates participated in the study. As predicted, enhancing cognitive accessibility substantially increased the consistency between global environmental attitudes and petition-signing behavior but only for those Ss who had minimal prior personal experience with the consequences of an on-campus parking shortage. For those Ss with relatively extensive personal experience, cogitive accessibility did not increase attitude–behavior consistency. The theoretical importance of considering the nature and extent of respondents' prior personal experiences in attitude–behavior research is discussed. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affiliation in highly aggressive domesticated rats.

Conducted 2 experiments with 131 male Long-Evans rats to examine the relationship between agonistic behavior and the subsequent probability of approaching a conspecific. Highly agressive Ss were given a choice in a –T maze to interact with another male or enter an empty compartment (Exp I) or to interact with 1 of 2 conspecifics (Exp II). In the 1st experiment, the experimental Ss consistently chose the social alternative over the empty goal area. The preference for affiliation was notably strong, not only when the waiting S was a submissive male but also when it was a highly aggressive stimulus male. The aggressive Ss of Exp II were allowed to choose between an equally aggressive male or a submissive male. Ss preferred to interact with the less aggressive male. It was suprising, however, that the Ss often chose to interact with the highly aggressive target S. Data suggest that even after an aversive agonistic attack, the affiliation-response in highly social rodents is remarkably persistent. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)