Differential effects of ego threat upon persuasibility for high and low self-esteem subjects.

A conceptual model of persuasibility is presented, based upon its relationship to self-esteem and defense mechanism preference. An experiment designed to test some deductions from the model is reported, in which it is hypothesized that an experience of failure in the performance of a need-related behavior will decrease persuasibility for high self-esteem Ss and increase persuasibility for lows. Male VA domiciliary residents were divided into 4 groups, consisting of high or low self-esteem persons receiving failure treatment or no treatment immediately prior to a test of persuasibility. The predicted interaction effect between levels of self-esteem and experimental conditions upon persuasibility scores was considered supported. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dream recall and repression: Evidence for an alternative hypothesis.

Attempted to demonstrate a significant association between dream recall frequency and external locus of control, field dependence, and "poor inner life" in 5 experiments with undergraduates (N = 298). Instruments used included self-rating scales, a sociometric measure, and a battery of personality tests (e.g., Rotter's Internal-External Control Scale). Results of Exp I-III and previous studies do not provide strong support for the inner-rejectant (repression) formulation. Exp IV demonstrated that a brief, psychodynamically neutral postsleep distraction has a strong inhibitory effect on dream recall. Exp V included the same postsleep distraction and in addition used presleep dream attitude inductions designed to maximize (high salience) or minimize (low salience) a belief that dreams reveal personal problems. The inhibitory effect of the postsleep distraction was replicated. The high-salience induction did not inhibit dream recall, even for infrequent dream recallers. Results suggest that a distinction should be made between life-style variables conceptually related to repression that may correlate with dream recall frequency and factors unrelated to repression that directly determine the process of dream recall. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Short-circuiting of threat by experimentally altering cognitive appraisal.

Previous research has shown that film-induced threat could be reduced by appropriately designed narratives or sound tracks based on ego-defense theory. This study demonstrated that such a narrative, based on the concepts of denial and reaction formation, is even more effective if presented as an introductory statement before the film begins. It significantly reduced both physiological and self-report evidence of stress reaction. Moreover, the amount of stress reaction and the capacity of the narrative to reduce stress reaction depended upon personality. Ss high in disposition to deny threat as measured by various MMPI scales did indeed deny affective disturbance more than low deniers, while showing greater autonomic evidence of stress reaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The recall of dreams: Its relation to repression and cognitive control.

"The present study investigated the relationship between the recall of dreams and the cognitive controls continuum of leveling-sharpening… . The results confirmed the hypothesis that subjects who recall many dreams, i.e., who do not rely primarily upon repression, would show the sharpening tendency… a relationship between low dream recall and the leveling tendency, was not supported… [suggesting] that the psychoanalytic concept of repression can be associated with the theory of cognitive controls." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Resistance of high-anxious subjects under ego threat to perception of figural distortion.

40 college students were selected as high and 40 as low in anxiety (IPAT Anxiety Scale). Ss judged the horizontal plane while viewing a specially designed room (Leaf Room) through aniseikonic lenses. Groups of Ss were subdivided and provided either task or threat orientation to the perceptual procedure. High-anxious in comparison with low-anxious Ss required more time to recognize the perceptual distortion produced by aniseikonic lenses, and they estimated a smaller degree of distortion. Thus high anxiety appeared to retard ability to shift from familiar to unfamiliar but veridical percepts. The effects of ego threat were less clear but seemed to relate to certain inverse reaction tendencies present among high anxious Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting the direction of selective recall: Its relation to ego strength and N achievement.

2 experiments are conducted to explore the relationship between strong ego and weak ego Ss and the recall of uninterrupted vs. completed tasks. The results confirm an earlier finding that strong ego Ss recall significantly more completed tasks as the experiment conditions become more threatening to self-esteem; "weak ego subjects, interrupted tasks." 29 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some ego functions associated with delay of gratification in male delinquents.

Compared 2 groups of 20 institutionalized adolescent delinquent males, matched for age and IQ, on measures of (a) foresight and planning ability, (b) impulsiveness, (c) verbal delay of gratification, (d) internal vs. external control, and (e) adjustment ratings, using the nonverbal Porteus Maze Tests. The experimental group consisted of Ss who had chosen to live in a special cottage and attend public school even though this choice was made with the understanding that it would delay their release from the institution. The control group consisted of Ss from the remaining cottages. The 2 groups differed in the hypothesized direction on measures of impulsiveness, verbal delay of gratification, and internal vs. external control, but not on measures of foresight and planning ability or adjustment ratings. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Egocentrism and ego resiliency: Personality characteristics associated with perspective-taking from early childhood to adolescence.

Examined the longitudinal relation between ego resiliency and egocentrism in 58 females and 53 males who were assessed independently from 3 to 14 yrs of age. Measures of Level 1 and Level 2 egocentrism were administered to the Ss at 3 yrs of age, and personality evaluations (the California Child Q-Set) were obtained at 3, 4, 7, 11, and 14 yrs of age in the form of Q-sort ratings by independent sets of teachers and examiners. Ss' intelligence was measured with the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) when they were 4 yrs of age. The relation between egocentrism and ego resiliency was observed to depend on level of egocentrism and S's sex. For females, both Level 1 and Level 2 egocentrism were negatively correlated with ego resiliency concurrently at 3 yrs of age, but no long-term implications of egocentrism emerged. For males, Level 1 egocentrism was consistently negatively associated with ego resiliency from early childhood into adolescence. However, Level 2 egocentrism displayed no concurrent or any dependable longitudinal relation with ego resiliency. Findings support the usefulness of invoking personality characteristics to explain variations in cognitive-developmental levels among individuals. Possible interpretations of the relation between egocentrism and ego resiliency and the sex differences in the pattern of results are discussed. (72 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological defenses and "ego strength" in the recall of completed and incompleted tasks.

"The results of this study indicate: (a) ego strength is directly related to the tendency to recall relatively more incompleted than completed tasks when the situation is not objectively self-esteem threatening, and inversely related to this tendency when the situation does objectively threaten self-esteem." Scores on the hysteria and psychasthenia scales of the MMPI are discussed in relation to the recall of completed and incompleted tasks and the self-esteem threatening or non-threatening character of the situation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mature and young adult women's recall of textbook material.

Under cued and noncued conditions in 3 sessions held 1 wk apart, 2 age groups, each composed of 28 female students (18–25 and 35–55 yrs), were presented with immediate and delayed free-recall tasks. Two historical prose passages were used as test materials to determine whether there were age-related differences in recall and whether living through an era facilitated the learning and recall of events of that era. There were no overall significant age differences in recall; living through an era slightly helped recall. A significant Age Group by Time interaction indicated higher immediate recall for the younger group, particularly of the more difficult prose material but no between-groups differences in recall after 1 wk on any of the prose material. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential roles of frequency and meaningfulness in free recall.

Performed 2 experiments with 91 experimentally naive high school students to study the comparative influence of frequency and meaningfulness (m) on free recall. In Exp. I, the free-recall scores of 3 lists of words matched for m but varying in frequency levels were compared. In Exp. II, free recall of 3 lists of words matched for their frequency but varying in their m values were compared. Findings reveal that it is the frequency and not m of the words that influences free-recall, and that the influence of frequency is noticeable in the early trials of free-recall learning. Findings are discussed in terms of the existing theories of verbal learning. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's recall of television material: Effects of presentation mode and adult labeling.

Preschoolers, kindergartners, and 3rd and 4th graders viewed an edited prosocial cartoon in 1 of 4 viewing conditions that changed program features and introduced viewing information to aid recognition and structuring of central plot information. Older Ss recalled more total information; Ss who had viewed with an experimenter recalled more material than did Ss in other viewing conditions. Visual presentation enhanced central recall. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of processing objectives on the recall of prose material.

216 undergraduates read a prose passage describing a home and its surroundings with either a specific objective (i.e., to consider the information from the viewpoint of either a burglar or a home buyer) or a more general one (to form an impression of the situation). After reading the passage, they reconsidered the information with either the same specific objective, a different specific objective, or a more general goal in mind. Ss also were unexpectedly asked to recall the information they had read. Considering the information with a specific objective in mind at the time it was presented increased the recall of goal-relevant (GR) material and decreased the recall of goal-irrelevant (GIR) material. However, reconsidering the information with a specific goal in mind after it had been received did not have these effects. Instead, Ss' recall of both GR and GIR material was increased by reconsidering the information for the same specific purpose they had had when they initially read it. Implications for the effects of information-processing objectives on selective attention and encoding, incidental learning, and the availability of retrieval cues for recalling individual aspects of the information one receives are discussed. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Selective recall and memory distortion of favorable and unfavorable material.

"An experiment has been described in which the recall of meaningful material by Negro and white delinquent boys has been compared. In an immediate recall series, the Negro Ss recalled more items favorable and unfavorable to Negroes than did the white Ss. In a delayed recall series the Negro Ss were even more superior in the recall of favorable items, but not in the recall of unfavorable items." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-reinforcement and recall: Differential deficits in depressed and nondepressed psychiatric inpatients.

16 depressed and 12 nondepressed psychiatric inpatients and 19 nondepressed hospital employees (18–60 yrs old) were administered the Beck Depression Inventory, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, and a verbal recognition task. Ss' administration and recall of self-reinforcements and self-punishments were assessed. As predicted, depressed Ss administered fewer self-reinforcements and a greater number of self-punishments than hospital employees; however, they did not differ on either of these measures from nondepressed patients. In terms of recall, depressed patients recalled giving themselves fewer reinforcements and a greater number of punishments than was actually the case. Whereas a low rate of self-reinforcement may be characteristic of global psychopathology, deficits in the recall of self-reinforcement and self-punishment were specific to depression. Results are discussed with reference to both cognitive and self-reinforcement conceptualizations of depression. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improving recall by recoding interfering material at the time of retrieval.

Four experiments demonstrate that interference of an interpolated list of items with recall of an original list can be substantially reduced by informing Ss just before testing how to reorganize and simplify the interpolated material. In Exps 1 and 2, Ss better recalled an initial serial list of letters when informed at testing that an interpolated list spelled a certain phrase backward. Similarly, in Exps 3 and 4, Ss better recalled an initial list of cities when told that the interpolated cities were also names of former US presidents. Control experiments rule out several simple explanations. In contrast to an editing hypothesis, the postorganizing clue helped recall even when problems of list differentiation were minimized. Current memory models appear unable to explain this benefit of a postlearning clue that enables Ss to segregate the interpolated material from the to-be-remembered material. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Brightness contrast effects on recall of projected highway sign-type stimulus material.

Varied stimulus-surround brightness contrast of projected highway sign-type stimuli by manipulating photographic exposure time. Slides of 6 contrast levels of black on white were presented at 2 stimulus-exposure time conditions on 2 separate recall tasks. Data from 120 high school students suggest that recall of projected materials is not seriously degraded as contrast decreases from 97 to 67%. Below the 67% contrast level, a significant degradation in recall was observed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived discrimination as worldview threat or worldview confirmation: Implications for self-esteem.

In 3 studies, the authors tested the hypothesis that discrimination targets' worldview moderates the impact of perceived discrimination on self-esteem among devalued groups. In Study 1, perceiving discrimination against the ingroup was negatively associated with self-esteem among Latino Americans who endorsed a meritocracy worldview (e.g., believed that individuals of any group can get ahead in America and that success stems from hard work) but was positively associated with self-esteem among those who rejected this worldview. Study 2 showed that exposure to discrimination against their ingroup (vs. a non-self-relevant group) led to lower self-esteem, greater feelings of personal vulnerability, and ingroup blame among Latino Americans who endorsed a meritocracy worldview but to higher self-esteem and decreased ingroup blame among Latino Americans who rejected it. Study 3 showed that compared with women informed that prejudice against their ingroup is pervasive, women informed that prejudice against their ingroup is rare had higher self-esteem if they endorsed a meritocracy worldview but lower self-esteem if they rejected this worldview. Findings support the idea that perceiving discrimination against one's ingroup threatens the worldview of individuals who believe that status in society is earned but confirms the worldview of individuals who do not. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Oral summary as a review strategy for enhancing recall of textual material.

Conducted a study with 156 female undergraduates. One treatment group studied textual material with the expectancy that an oral summary would be presented later, while another group studied the same material without this expectancy. Following acquisition, one-third of Ss in each group presented oral summaries, and another 3rd listened to oral summaries. The remainder did not engage in any review activity. Verbal participation facilitated retention, and this effect was greater for cued than for recognition recall. Interpretations of the data are made in terms of the combination of forward effects of expectancy and the backward effects of review on processing and retrieval. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal adjustment and the free recall of materials with affectively positive or negative meaningfulness.

Conducted 2 experiments on the role of affective assessment in human verbal learning. In Exp I, 40 high school students grouped according to Tennessee Self-Concept Scale scores were given consonant-vowel-consonant trigrams as learnable items. Ss with high self-concepts learned the trigrams they liked more rapidly than disliked trigrams. Ss with low self-concepts reversed this customary pattern and learned disliked trigrams more rapidly than liked trigrams. In Exp II, 64 undergraduates who had completed the Barron Ego-Strength scale were given real words as learnable materials. Results showed that it was possible for the same S to learn certain words along a negative and other words along a positive reinforcement-value sequence. This depended upon whether the word meanings involved reflected a problem area or an area of competence for the Ss being studied. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)