Self-consciousness and self-assessment.

Investigated the effect of self-consciousness on Ss' tendencies to seek out or avoid ability-diagnostic information by giving 30 male and 44 female undergraduates bogus feedback on task performance, initially indicating that they had either moderately high or low levels of "surgency" (an ability with which they were relatively unfamiliar). Ss were allowed to choose the composition of a 2nd surgency task by selecting test items from among several categories. For some items, but not others, performance norms were ostensibly available, allowing Ss to evaluate the adequacy of their performance on those items. Results show that private self-consciousness interacted with initial outcome so that seeking norms (after success) and avoidance of norms (after failure) occurred only among Ss who were relatively high in private self-consciousness (as measured several weeks earlier by a self-consciousness scale). (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual and structural solutions to resource dilemmas in two cultures.

Administered a resource management task to 86 US and 97 Dutch undergraduates. Ss were divided into groups of 6 and instructed to harvest points from a regenerating resource pool. Their objective was to maximize individual harvests while maintaining the resource pool. The factorial design crossed 3 levels of resource use (overuse, underuse, and optimal use) with 2 levels of variance of others' purported harvests (low and high). Both variables were manipulated through false feedback to Ss regarding the pool size and the other Ss' harvests. The primary dependent measures were Ss' individual harvests and whether Ss voted for or against elimination of free access to the resource in favor of electing a leader who would make harvest decisions for the group. Results indicate that harvest size increased over time only in the under- and optimal-use conditions. As predicted, overuse Ss voted to give up free access to the resource and to elect a leader more frequently than Ss in the other conditions. Differences between American and Dutch Ss were found only for the variance manipulation. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in interaction style as a product of perceived sex differences in competence.

Observed the interaction styles of 72 male and 72 female university students while they worked in 4-person, mixed-sex groups on a discussion task. In some groups, Ss were only given information about each other's names and gender. In this circumstance, males were perceived by themselves and other group members to be higher in competence than females. Males also engaged in a greater amount of active task behavior than females, who exhibited a greater amount of positive social behavior than males. In other groups, Ss' competency-based status was manipulated by providing false feedback that they were high or low relative to their group in intellectual and moral aptitude. High-status Ss were then perceived to be more competent and engaged in more active task and less positive social behavior than low status ones. In this condition, no sex differences were obtained on perceived competence or on active task or positive social behavior. Findings support the idea that the gender differences obtained in interaction when status was not specified were partially a function of Ss' belief that the sexes differ in competence. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Visual specificity effects on word stem completion: Beyond transfer appropriate processing?

Explored the determinants of perceptual specificity effects (PSEs) in visual word-stem completion. 256 undergraduates participated in 4 experiments. In Exp 1, Ss completed a stem completion task after a number-search task in study-condition and -case phases. Ss were assessed for their awareness of the study-task relationship and compliance with instructions. In Exp 2, retrieval instructions and study task were manipulated within Ss and between 4 study-test blocks. Ss in Exp 3 completed study-test blocks with unintentional test instructions as in Exp 2. In Exp 4, retention interval, and study-task and -case were manipulated within the Ss. In Exp 1, PSEs on the stem completion task depended on perceptual encoding when Ss' awareness of the study-test relationship was limited. In Exps 2–4, these effects depended on semantic encoding. PSEs after short retention intervals were independent of encoding task. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reactions to prescribed leader behavior as a function of role perspective: The case of the Vroom-Yetton model.

To examine the reputational consequences of various leader behaviors, 2 experiments were conducted in which a leader's reported actions were either correct or incorrect in terms of the V. H. Vroom and P. W. Yetton (1973) contingency model. Results of Study 1, with 25 22–59 yr old volunteers, indicate that, when cast in the role of subordinates, Ss never rated an autocratic leader's behavior as more effective than a participative leader's behavior, even when the situation was one in which autocratic behavior would be prescribed by the Vroom-Yetton model. This finding was replicated in Study 2 when the perspective of 72 19–63 yr old participants was systematically varied. However, in this study Ss assigned the role of boss evaluated leader effectiveness in total accordance with the contingency principles of the model. Findings suggest that the perspective of the individual viewing a leader influences the way in which he/she evaluates that leader's task effectiveness. Data from both studies indicate a consistently more favorable affective response to the participative than to the autocratic leader, regardless of S's perspective or the circumstances. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The contagion of self-focus within a dyad.

Tested the hypothesis, suggested by C. H. Cooley (1902) and others, that the self-focused state of one person in a dyad triggers self-focus in the other dyad member. A corollary hypothesis concerned perspective-taking performance as a function of self-focused attention within the dyad. 62 female undergraduates interacted with a confederate whose ostensible tendency toward self-focus was manipulated by means of a bogus questionnaire shown to each S. As shown by the Private Self-Consciousness scale, Ss interacting with a presumed high-self-focus partner tended to become self-focused themselves. The perspective-taking measure, which required Ss to take the other's perspective into account in solving a maze, revealed that perceiving the other as highly self-focused facilitated perspective-taking performance among Ss who were low in measured self-focused attention. Results support the hypothesis and are congruent with the symbolic interactionist position. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Performance and motivational deficits of helplessness: The role of motivational orientations.

Examined the hypothesis that the effect of failure feedback in producing learned helplessness would depend on the motivational orientation of a child. 53 4th–6th graders completed a scale of intrinsic vs extrinsic orientation in the classroom and were randomly assigned to success, failure, or control conditions, with the restriction that an approximately equal number of Ss with different motivational orientations were assigned to the different conditions. Extrinsically motivated Ss were predicted to exhibit performance decrement following a failure experience, whereas the opposite was predicted for intrinsically motivated Ss. Success feedback was predicted to enhance subsequent performance only for the intrinsic group. Following success, failure, or no feedback on an activity reflecting spatial skills (an incomplete picture task), Ss' performance on an activity tapping different skills (i.e., anagrams) provided by a 2nd experimenter served as the primary measure of helplessness. Ss' intrinsic motivation in performing the incomplete picture task, a similar task (embedded figures) and a dissimilar task (dots-to-dots) was also examined. Results support the predictions on both performance and intrinsic motivation measures. (38 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)     

The impact of cultural collectivism on reward allocation.

Two studies, with 224 American and 240 Chinese university students, tested the idea that the collectivism of a culture leads to different styles of reward allocation with in- and out-group members. The 1st study used an out-group situation, in which Ss were led to believe that they worked with a partner whom they would not meet, to obtain a group reward. The collectivistic Chinese Ss were found to follow the equity norm more closely in dividing the group reward than the individualistic American Ss when pressure of social evaluation was removed. In the 2nd study, Ss read a scenario in which an allocator worked with either an in- or out-group member. The allocator had either a low or high input and used either the equity or equality norm to divide a group reward. Compared with American Ss, Chinese Ss liked an allocator who divided the group reward equally with an in-group member more and regarded such an allocation as fairer. When Ss were asked to assume that they were the allocator and to hypothetically divide the reward, Chinese Ss followed the equity norm more closely than did American Ss when the recipient was an out-group member or when the Ss' input was low. However, when Ss' input was high and the recipient was an in-group member, Chinese Ss followed the equality norm more than did American Ss. Findings are discussed in terms of the desire for maintaining group solidarity in a collectivist culture. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Area and volume conservation among the elderly: Assessment and training.

Conducted 2 studies to examine whether the elderly maintain the competence to adequately solve problems of logical thinking. In the 1st study the performance of 60 noninstitutionalized middle-class elderly females was assessed on area and volume conservation tasks. On overall performance only 33.3% of the Ss were classified as conservers. In the 2nd study a training paradigm was used to determine whether simple verbal feedback activated the strategies required for adequate performance on conservation tasks. 22 Ss who failed at least 2 conservation tasks in the assessment study were administered a 20-trial training procedure. Half of these Ss received simple verbal feedback following each response, while half received no feedback. Results on an immediate posttest indicated that the feedback group performed significantly better than the control group on the near transfer posttest task and on the majority of far transfer tasks. The results are discussed in terms of a distinction between competence and performance. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Achievement attributions and self-instructions under competitive and individualistic goal structures.

Investigated whether competitive and individualistic goal structures elicit achievement cognitions that have been associated with helpless vs mastery-oriented children, respectively. 88 5th- and 6th-grade children were administered a novel achievement task in which a high vs low performance outcome was manipulated by varying the number of solvable puzzles across 2 sets of 6 puzzles, within either a competitive or individual goal structure. A "thought-matching" methodology was used to assess the type of frequency of Ss' thoughts. Results revealed that Ss made more ability attributions in the competitive than in the individual condition. In the individual condition, Ss displayed a mastery orientation in that they made more effort attributions and engaged in self-instructions and self-monitoring more than did Ss in the competitive condition. Ability attributions were predictive of Ss' positive and negative affective reactions. Results suggest that Ss were thinking about responses to the question "Was I smart?" in the competitive setting but were thinking about "How can I do this task?" in the individual setting. It is suggested that getting children to think about how to improve their performance may not be compatible with the focus of attention in competitive situations. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evidence of flexible coding in visual word recognition.

In 3 visual word recognition experiments, the authors examined Ss' differential dependence on phonological vs orthographic information in accessing the lexicon. The critical manipulation was the presence or absence of pseudohomophones in the nonword context of a lexical decision task. Ss received a list with either no pseudohomophones (NPsH group) or 17–30% pseudohomophones among the nonwords (PsH group). In the 1st 2 experiments Ss in the PsH group were faster and no less accurate on word trials than Ss in the NPsH group. Furthermore, performance in the NPsH group was adversely affected by phonological inconsistency in the target's orthographic neighborhood. In the final experiment, a double lexical decision paradigm was used, and performance on orthographically similar but phonologically dissimilar pairs differed in the 2 conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Therapy set: Its effects on subjects' involvement in systematic desensitization and treatment outcome.

Hypothesized that therapy instructions significantly augment desensitization treatment effects by influencing Ss' involvement in the conditioning procedure. 45 female undergraduate snake phobics were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatment groups or a no-treatment control. Therapy set and involvement instructions were manipulated within a 2 * 2 factorial design to create therapeutically and experimentally oriented Ss who were either unencouraged or encouraged to work hard at the experimental procedure. Analyses revealed therapy instructional effects on both behavioral and self-report measures of fear change which could not be attributed to experimenters' awareness of instructional manipulations. Therapy oriented Ss' performance scores were not, however, significantly greater than those obtained by Ss with an experimental orientation. Alternative hypotheses and future research strategies for testing therapy instructional effects are discussed. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of rapport on hypnotically induced pseudomemory.

Three studies examined the influence of rapport on pseudomemory. Study 1 tested 8 groups of 22 Ss in a 2 (level of susceptibility: high, low)?×?2?(state instruction: hypnosis, waking)?×?2?(rapport: present reduced) design, rapport being inhibited by the hypnotist criticizing Ss' performance. Pseudomemory was tested by a 2nd experimenter who also criticized Ss. Study 2 varied level of susceptibility and rapport for 88 hypnotically instructed Ss where criticism was offered only by the 2nd experimenter. Study 3 analyzed effects among 44 highly susceptible hypnotic Ss where the 2nd experimenter refrained from criticizing Ss. Data indicated a significant association between rapport with the hypnotist and pseudomemory in cued recall, strength of pseudomemory being appreciably lowered when negative hypnotist rapport was reinforced by the person testing pseudomemory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-presentations of small group leaders: Effects of role requirements and leadership orientation.

Conducted 2 experiments with 168 undergraduates to examine the self-presentations of task-oriented and relationship-oriented leaders in response to situational pressures to adopt a task-oriented or interpersonal leadership style. Leaders of ad hoc groups were led to believe that either a task-oriented or relationship-oriented approach would be most effective in facilitating their group's performance, and the leaders' self-presentations to other group members were assessed. In both studies, leaders conveyed images of themselves to the group that were consistent with the type of leader they believed was needed for maximal effectiveness. In Exp I (80 Ss), this effect was partially qualified by Ss' leadership styles (as assessed by the Least Preferred Coworker Scale) and by S sex. Exp II (88 Ss) explored the possible mediating effects of leaders' self-confidence in their task vs relationship abilities on their self-presentations, but no effects of self-confidence were obtained. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of small cue–response separation on pattern discrimination in macaques (Macaca fuscata and M. mulatta).

Three studies with 17 macaque and 6 rhesus monkeys examined the effect of small cue–response separations on Ss' pattern discriminations. When training on a pattern discrimination with a cue–response separation was discontinued during performance at the chance level, there was no saving on the rate of learning a 2nd task (with identical cues but a different cue–response separation) relative to the performance of naive control Ss. By contrast, when training was discontinued at a performance level a little better than chance, there was significant saving on learning a 2nd task. After learning the 2nd task, a 3rd task with new pattern cues was learned, with marked saving on the duration of performance at the chance level. Results indicate that during the initial stage of performance at the chance level, monkeys do not attend to cues if there is even a small separation between the cue and the response site. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of intentionality in mediating children's responses to inequity.

144 1st and 5th graders worked with a fictitious partner to earn a joint reward of $.10. Work inputs were equal, but the S's share of the reward, distributed by his partner and either given intentionally or determined by chance, was either $.07 or $.03. Ss' allocations of a 2nd $.10 reward revealed a different pattern from that of previously studied 9th graders. The older Ss' allocations had been interpreted in terms of J. S. Adam's equity theory (i.e., that Ss take intentionally distributed, but not chance-determined, 1st rewards into account in balancing inputs and outcomes). The younger Ss disregarded their partners' intentions. Overrewarded Ss consistently returned about $.05, seeming to use a norm of equality; underrewarded Ss consistently returned about $.03, seeming to employ a norm of retaliatory reciprocity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of incentive, feedback, and manner of presenting the feedback on leader behavior.

Attempted to determine whether or not the content of a leader's verbal behavior could be altered by manipulation of the type and manner of feedback and incentive. 96 groups of 4 male undergraduates, with 1 leader per group, served as Ss in a 2 * 2 * 2 design. During a case discussion, the E varied the 3 independent variables and recorded the content of the leader's verbal behavior by means of the Bales category system. It was found that (a) positive feedback made the leaders more task oriented, whereas negative feedback increased negative social-emotional behavior; (b) the incentive decreased the number of questions asked; and (c) the manner of presenting the feedback (publicly or privately) produced no changes in verbal behavior when analyzed as a main effect, but significant interactions were found. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spatial behavior in gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus).

Investigated whether adult gerbils could use an allocentric frame of reference to efficiently solve a spatial memory task. 38 male Ss were allowed to explore an arena containing an object. The external reference frame was reduced to a single visual landmark. After habituation, Ss entered the arena from a new direction. A 2nd object, identical to the 1st object, was placed symmetrically with regard to the landmark. The 2nd object was explored more than the 1st object, a result showing that the 2nd object was differentiated on the basis of location. This result suggests that, during the course of exploration, Ss had learned about the spatial features of the experimental situation. It is suggested that Ss' final discrimination performance (preference for the novel stimulus location) reflected an allocentric rather than egocentric frame of reference. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)