Postdecision changes in the desirability of alternatives.

Female Ss were asked to rate each of eight articles on desirability, choose between two of them and rate each of the articles again. In addition, some Ss were exposed to a mixture of good and bad information about the choice alternatives after the choice was made. The results support a prediction that choosing between alternatives would create dissonance and attempts to reduce it by making the chosen alternative more desirable and the unchosen alternative less desirable. A second prediction, that dissonance and consequent attempts to reduce it would be greater, the more closely the alternatives approached equality, also received support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The significance of time spent in answering personality inventories.

Rankings of electronic sales engineers with respect to success in sales were correlated with ratios of time spent on inventories over time spent on all tests. The highest correlations were sales inventories as related to total time on all tests. The hypothesis that more time would be spent on sales personality and sales interest inventories was supported. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Changes in attractiveness of elected, rejected, and precluded alternatives: A comparison of happy and unhappy individuals.

In 3 studies the authors compared the responses of self-rated happy and unhappy students in situations involving choice. In Study 1, high school seniors evaluated colleges after applying for admission and then later after making their selections. Happy students tended to be more satisfied than unhappy ones with the colleges they ultimately chose and those they ultimately rejected, and they more sharply devalued the colleges that rejected them. Studies 2 and 3 dealt with postdecisional consequences of less consequential decisions about fancy desserts. In Study 2, unhappy participants sharply derogated the desserts they rejected or were denied, relative to those selected by or for them, whereas happy participants showed no such derogation. These group differences, moreover, proved to be largely independent of self-esteem and optimism. The design of Study 3 helped explicate underlying mechanisms by inducing both groups to distract themselves or to self-reflect. Doing so eliminated all group differences. Implications of the results for the link between cognitive processes and hedonic consequences are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory colour effects as a function of viewing time.

Instructed 60 Ss to judge the color of 2 objects, an apple, and a circle, relative to the colors of 5 samples. The apple was judged significantly redder than the circle, indicating a memory color effect. There was also an indication that this effect was stronger when the test object was viewed for 300 msec. than when it was seen for either more or less time. These results fit a modified version of J. S. Bruner's model of perceptual processing. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Traditional sex role development and amount of time spent watching television.

Tested the hypothesis that the amount of time spent watching TV is significantly related to the strength of traditional sex-role development. Data from 80 kindergartners and 2nd, 4th, and 6th graders support the hypothesis and suggest that this relationship holds equally for both sexes and does not change with increasing age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Time allocated and time spent relative to time needed for learning as determinants of achievement.

171 Ss in Grades 4 and 5 who read at grade level were given 3 task presentations, each of which yielded a trials score (trials needed, trials spent, trials allocated) as well as a retention score. In addition to these scores, degree of learning or achievement scores were obtained. Degree of learning was the level of accuracy attained by the last learning trial of each task presentation. Achievement was set for 100% for the time-needed presentation; 91% of Ss reached this criterion. Degree of learning under the time-spent and time-allocated presentations varied from 30 to 100%. The trials-spent:trials-needed ratio scores were calculated for each S. Results show that spending and/or allocating insufficient learning time had a direct negative effect on achievement. Both degree of initial learning and 1-wk retention dropped significantly when Ss spent or were given fewer trials than needed to learn the experimental task. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of the discrepancy between time needed and time spent in learning among boys exhibiting behavior problems.

Tested 96 3rd- and 4th-grade boys, who were referred to a summer camp because of classroom behavior problems, on a task in which they were required to read and reread a passage until 100% accuracy was achieved on a criterion test. They were also permitted to self-regulate learning trials and stop rereading an alternate passage when they felt the material had been mastered. Attempts were made to identify factors that explain the discrepancy between time needed for learning (TTL) and time actually spent in learning (TSL). Reading achievement, attention deficits, low self-concept, locus of control, interest level, and IQ were used to predict the discrepancy between the number of trials needed (TTL) and the number spent (TSL) in learning passage material. The 6 variables together accounted for 63% of the variability in TTL–TSL discrepancy, with reading achievement explaining about 35%. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age changes and changes over time in prosocial intentions and behavior between friends.

During the fall of the school year, 86 1st and 4th graders named their best friends and rated their liking for each child of the same sex in their grade. Ss' intentions to share with or help their friend, as well as Ss' actual behavior, were assessed. In both the fall and the spring, age changes were found that suggested an increase in compromise or mutual accommodation between friends. Fourth graders not only showed more prosocial intentions and prosocial behavior toward their friends than 1st graders did, they also assumed that their friends would expect a more moderate amount of prosocial behavior and would be more satisfied with their decisions about how much to share and help. Changes in intentions and behavior between fall and spring were significant only for 1st graders. First graders' intentions to share and help were less positive in the spring than in the fall. Their actual sharing also decreased over time. The changes appeared to reflect less stability in younger Ss' friendships and relations among strength of friendship, prosocial intentions, and prosocial behavior. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On changes in psychiatric diagnosis over time.

Examined the factors determining diagnoses of types of mental illness. A survey of the age and diagnosis of 2,134 male psychiatric inpatients discharged from a single treatment facility in 1954, 1964, and 1974 revealed 3 major diagnostic trends: (a) the proportion of patients with affective disorders increased threefold, (b) patients with neuroses went from being the largest group to one of the smallest, and (c) schizophrenia increased significantly. In-depth examination of changes in the psychiatric process revealed that shifts in the patient population and symptomatology could not fully explain these trends. The relative importance of similar symptoms appeared to be interpreted differently at various historical times; diagnosis itself seemed to be relative to historical period. Possible causes include shifts in the patient population, increased treatment of neurotic patients on an outpatient basis, and changes in diagnostic categories due to increased clinical knowledge. It is suggested that the change in treatment emphasis from a psychological/psychoanalytic perspective to a psychopharmacological/medical one may be correlated with an increase in diagnoses more consistent with biological treatment (e.g., affective disorders and schizophrenia) and a decrease in categories less appropriate for this model (e.g., neurosis). (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender constancy and television viewing.

Cognitive developmental theory predicts that gender constant children bias their attention to same-sex TV characters compared with children who have not achieved gender constancy. The TV viewing at home of 24 5-year-old children was videotaped over 10 days. Half of the children were high in gender constancy. Gender constant boys biased their attention consistent with the hypothesis, and they viewed programs featuring a greater percentage of men as TV characters than did preconstant boys. An analysis of TV-viewing diaries of 313 5-yr-olds showed that gender constant boys viewed more programming intended for adults (especially sports and action programs) than did preconstant boys. Gender constant girls viewed more action programming than did preconstant girls. There was no association of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test IQ with level of gender constancy. Gender constancy is associated with multiple changes in TV-viewing behavior especially in boys. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Providing library services in a time of fiscal crisis: alternatives

The nature of the fiscal crisis in health science libraries in the United States is in part due to the style of management in these libraries, in part due to the lack of user identification, in part due to the lack of economically valid fees for service, and in part due to the success of the Biomedical Communications Network. These issues are discussed in terms of how they might be approached. A pragmatic stance is advocated for practitioners, the MLA, the NLM, and library schools to jointly address the questions raised.     

Developmental changes in time estimation: Comparing childhood and old age.

Participants from ages 5 to 99 years completed 2 time estimation tasks: a temporal generalization task and a temporal bisection task. Developmental differences in overall levels of performance were found at both ends of the life span and were more marked on the generalization task than the bisection task. Older adults and children performed at lower levels than young adults, but there were also qualitative differences in the patterns of errors made by the older adults and the children. To capture these findings, the authors propose a new developmental model of temporal generalization and bisection. The model assumes developmental changes across the life span in the noisiness of initial perceptual encoding and across childhood in the extent to which long-term memory of time intervals is distorted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Love, work, and changes in extraversion and neuroticism over time.

The present study examined individual differences in change in extraversion, neuroticism, and work and relationship satisfaction. Of particular interest were the correlations between changes. Data were from the Victorian Quality of Life Panel Study (B. Headey & A. Wearing, 1989, 1992), in which an overall 1,130 individuals participated (ages 16 to 70). Respondents were assessed every 2 years from 1981 to 1989. Four major findings emerged. (a) There were significant individual differences in changes in extraversion and neuroticism. (b) Change was not limited to young adulthood. (c) Development was systematic in that increased work and relationship satisfaction was associated with decreases in neuroticism and increases in extraversion over time; on average, the magnitude of the relation between changes in work and relationship satisfaction and traits was .40. (d) Cross-lagged models indicated traits had a greater influence on role satisfaction; however, marginal support emerged for work satisfaction leading to increased extraversion. Implications of correlated change are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sixteen-year longitudinal and time lag changes in memory and cognition in older adults.

The authors describe assessment of 16-year changes in memory and intellectual abilities in a sample of 106 adults ages 30–36 and 55–81 at baseline. Results suggest that there are reliable 16-year declines in list and text recall but not in recognition after age 55. Comparisons of predictions of change from the cross-sectional baseline sample indicated that longitudinal changes were either similar to or greater than predicted for those participants over the age of 60. Despite age differences in initial scores, a comparison of 2 cohorts in a time lag analysis showed that they did not differ in performance when they were in their 70s. These results suggest that age changes in list and text recall in older adults are due to age-related declines rather than to cohort differences and that age declines in recognition are not reliable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intravascular ultrasound. Three-dimensional applications and forward viewing

Variation in HIV-1 genomic RNA was studied in seroconversion samples from mother-child pairs from a Rwandan cohort. The mothers (n = 8) were heterosexually infected and their children (n = 6) were vertically infected by breast milk. Five of the children seroconverted within the same 3-month period as did their mothers. Highly homogeneous subtype A V3 and p17gag sequence populations were observed in three mother-child pairs, one of the two nontransmitting mothers, and one child (mean nucleotide distances 0 to 0.9%). Heterogeneous populations of subtype A V3 and p17gag sequences were found in one mother and a mother-child pair (1.4 to 2.8% for V3, 1.0 to 1.9% for p17). The second nontransmitting mother was infected with a heterogeneous AV1-V3/Cp17-p24 recombinant virus population (3. 8% for V3, 2.4% for p17). Finally, in one woman subtype C V3 sequences were observed, in addition to highly homogeneous subtype A V3 and p17gag sequence populations, also found in the child. Coexistence of subtype AV1-V3 and CV1-V3 env sequences in the mother was confirmed in a follow-up sample. The gag gene of both the maternal and the child's virus population represented an A/C recombinant sequence (Ap17/Cp24). An infection with subtype CV1-V3/p17-p24 was found upon testing of three additional participants of the mother-child cohort, indicating that subtype C is present in Rwanda. In conclusion, heterogeneity, coinfection, and intersubtype recombinants are not uncommon in primary HIV-1 infections in Rwanda.     

Diagnostic testing and the new alternatives.

Described and evaluated the experimental, the behavioral, the decision-making, and the operations-research models of assessment. The new models emphasize the importance of the relevance of psychological information for specific clinical decisions. They point to the need for closer participation of psychologists in everyday decision processes concerning treatment and other actions with remedial implications. (2 p. ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is there an optimal number of alternatives for Likert-scale items? Effects of testing time and scale properties.

Investigated 3 criteria used to determine the number of Likert scale rating steps to employ: proportion of scale used, testing time, and usage of an uncertain category. A modified version of the Florida Scale of Civic Beliefs, in which there were 2-19 alternatives for each item, was administered to 360 undergraduates. Results indicate that for cumulative scores from Likert-type items proportion of scale used was independent of the number of scale points, while mean testing time increased and usage of the uncertain category decreased as the number of rating steps increased. Results are integrated with earlier findings and implications for Likert scale construction are described. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Red, rank, and romance in women viewing men.

In many nonhuman species of vertebrates, females are attracted to red on male conspecifics. Red is also a signal of male status in many nonhuman vertebrate species, and females show a mating preference for high-status males. These red–attraction and red–status links have been found even when red is displayed on males artificially. In the present research, we document parallels between human and nonhuman females' response to male red. Specifically, in a series of 7 experiments we demonstrate that women perceive men to be more attractive and sexually desirable when seen on a red background and in red clothing, and we additionally show that status perceptions are responsible for this red effect. The influence of red appears to be specific to women's romantic attraction to men: Red did not influence men's perceptions of other men, nor did it influence women's perceptions of men's overall likability, agreeableness, or extraversion. Participants showed no awareness that the research focused on the influence of color. These findings indicate that color not only has aesthetic value but can carry meaning and impact psychological functioning in subtle, important, and provocative ways. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)