Cognitive consequences of forced compliance.

Atest of some hypotheses generated by Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance, viz., that "if a person is induced to do or say something which is contrary to his private opinion, there will be a tendency for him to change his opinion so as to bring it into correspondence with what he has done or said. The larger the pressure used to elicit the overt behavior… the weaker will be the… tendency… . The results strongly corroborate the theory." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of confidence and motivation on susceptibility to informational social influence.

"The general hypothesis… was that the individual's acceptance of the judgments of others varies as function of: (a) the relative confidence he has in his own judgment; and (b) his motivational orientation toward the task with which he was confronted… . conformity (as measured through a modified Crutchfield apparatus) was found to: (a) increase as the subjective probability that S was receiving information from the others increased; and (b) decrease as the frequency of errors made by the 'majority' increased. Motivational effects induced by the instruction that the task reflected the individual's intelligence resulted in a decrease in… [errors]." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of a new type of psychological treatment on smokers' resistance to warnings about health hazards.

Hypothesized that if a person is induced to acknowledge his use of rationalizations for continuing a potentially dangerous activity (e.g., heavy smoking) before being given information refuting each rationalization, he will be less likely to use these cognitive defenses as effective forms of resistance when subsequently exposed to fear-arousing warnings about health risks he is taking. Data from 74 adults who sought aid in an anti-smoking clinic support the hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intraindividual stability in the organization and patterning of behavior: Incorporating psychological situations into the idiographic analysis of personality.

In nomothetic analyses, the cross-situational consistency of individual differences in social behavior, assessed in vivo in a camp setting, depended on the similarity in the psychological features of situations. As predicted by the social-cognitive theory of personality, idiographic analyses revealed that individuals were characterized by stable profiles of if… then…, situation–behavior relationships that formed "behavioral signatures" of personality (e.g., he aggresses when warned by adults but complies when threatened by peers). Thus, the intraindividual organization of behavior variation across situations was enduring but discriminatively patterned, visible as distinctive profiles of situation–behavior relationships. Implications were examined for an idiographic reconceptualization of personality coherence and its behavioral expressions in relation to the psychological ingredients of situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Committee on Professional Liability Insurance. Professional liability insurance for psychologists.

Professional liability insurance for psychologists is obtainable through the Smith-Hoggatt-Dawson Insurance Agency of Champaign, Illinois. Coverage is described and premiums specified. Insurance is granted automatically to an APA member if he is an ABEPP diplomate "… or if he is a regular member of the staff of a recognized college, university, school or school system, firm of industrial or clinical practitioners' clinic, hospital, or church" and to others. Non-ABEPP diplomates "… in completely independent private practice… " must be sponsored in writing by two ABEPP diplomates. The "… insurance now available is written in such a way as to cover research workers as well as… " practitioners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relative efficacy of various types of prior belief-defense in producing immunity against persuasion.

"It was postulated that people characteristically defend their beliefs… by avoiding exposure to contradictory information… . Since the person is unmotivated to develop a defense of his belief to the extent that he considers it invulnerable, it was hypothesized that such beliefs are more effectively immunized against persuasion by preexposure to counterarguments… . Second, since the person is unpracticed in the defense of such beliefs, it was predicted that immunizing pretreatments would lose effectiveness to the extent that they required the person to participate actively… in the defense. Finally, an interaction effect was predicted such that the detrimental effect of requiring active participation is greater with the defense involving pre-exposure to the counterarguments than with the supportive defense." The hypotheses were supported. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4GD27M. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reduction of cognitive dissonance by seeking consonant information.

"An experiment was conducted to test two hypotheses about the reduction of cognitive dissonance by seeking information. The hypotheses were: (a) a person in whom dissonance has been produced by exposure to a communication advocating an opinion contrary to the person's is more likely to seek information than a person exposed to a compatible communication, and (b) a person in whom dissonance has been produced by a contrary communication tends to seek information from a source agreeing with his opinion. The opinions of 100 mothers on the importance of hereditary and environmental factors in child rearing were ascertained by personal interview; they were then exposed to a tape recorded, authoritative communication espousing a hereditary or an environmental point of view… . The results supported the first hypothesis." From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:3GG74A. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some effects of individually prominent behavior upon group effectiveness and member satisfaction.

"An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that in unstructured situations, behavior oriented toward individual prominence in the group is negatively correlated with group performance and positively correlated with member satisfaction… . Twenty-two four-person groups were observed… . Groups were required to solve five problems… . After completion of the problem, Ss rated their satisfaction with the group, the degree to which group members cooperated, and group performance… . It was concluded that in the undifferentiated situation behavior oriented toward individual prominence interferences with effective group action." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An empirical analysis of the effectiveness of psychological warfare.

Standardized interviews were held with a sample of Korean and Chinese war prisoners to attempt to determine receptiveness to psychological warfare (PW). Nine factors were studied, including two criterion factors (degree of disaffection shown and degree of willingness to surrender peacefully). Scores on the factors were intercorrelated, and certain partial and multiple correlations were analyzed. The results "appeared to corroborate the major hypothesis… that PW is effective in changing behavior, but its effects are mainly of a precipitating nature that is differential for persons more sensitized to it by their morale and experiences… " (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some physiological correlates of Rorschach body image productions.

"The relationship between surface characteristics of Rorschach responses and physiological measures was investigated in order to test the hypothesis that the projected perception of one's body is related to the patterning of physiological responses… . Physiological indices related to bodily exterior (muscle potential, skin resistance, cardiovascular peripheral resistance) and bodily interior (pulse rate, stroke volume, cardiac output) physiological responsivity were abstracted… . The results indicate that the tendency to give impermeable or protective characteristics to Rorschach percepts is related to heightened physiological reactivity at an exterior body site and that the absence… is related to the heightened physiological response on interior indices… under stress." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some effects of immediate versus randomly delayed shock on an instrumental response and cognitive processes.

"… Ss were required… to guess whether a right or left light would go on, indicating their guesses by pressing a lever below the appropriate light. Trials… [involved] non-shock… . [and] an immediate shock (IS) every time he pressed one lever and a randomly delayed shock (RDS) every time he pressed the other lever, irrespective of whether he guessed correctly or incorrectly." Results: a significant avoidance of the lever leading to RDS, a significantly greater number of Ss judged the RDS as more unpleasant than IS, a marked impairment of Ss' recall of stimulus events and their behavior during the shock trials. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reactions to unfavorable personal evaluations as a function of the evaluator's perceived adjustment.

"Pairs of Ss listened to two… persons… evaluate the personality of one member of the pair. One of the stimulus persons made derogatory remarks about the 'involved' member, the other was… noncommittal… . In one experimental condition the derogator was pre-identified as… maladjusted, the nonderogator as well-adjusted. In another condition the identifications were reversed." The hypothesis was supported that the combined information, maladjustment and derogation, summate for the bystander to produce a negative impression, but that for the involved S there is a tendency to cancel out hostility that would be arounsed by the derogation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The norm of self-interest and its effects on social action.

Four studies investigated whether people feel inhibited from engaging in social action incongruent with their apparent self-interest. Participants in Study 1 predicted that they would be evaluated negatively were they to take action on behalf of a cause in which they had no stake or in which they had a stake but held stake-incongruent attitudes. Participants in Study 2 reported both surprise and anger when a target person took action on behalf of a cause in which he or she had no stake or in which he or she held stake-incongruent attitudes. In Study 3, individuals felt more comfortable engaging in social action and expected others to respond more favorably toward their actions if the issue was described as more relevant to their own sex than to the opposite sex. In Study 4, the authors found that providing nonvested individuals with psychological standing rendered them as likely as vested individuals to undertake social action. The authors discuss the implications of these results for the relationship between vested interest, social action, and attitude–behavior consistency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decision processes in communication nets.

In star, slash, and common communication nets, the "central S more than the peripheral S tries to change the opinion of those who disagree, but if he fails, he himself changes more… the presence of one supporter strengthens the resistance of a S relatively more than the mere reduction of size of opposition and more than the simple fact that the opposition is not unanimous… member satisfaction is a joint function of centrality and amount of support by other group members." 15 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vicarious trial and error and related behavior.

Empirical material relating to "vicarious trial-and-error" (VTE) is summarized and evaluated critically in terms of criteria for VTE, of antecedents to and response correlates of VTE, and of VTE and learning efficiency. It is proposed that the criterion for scoring VTE behavior should be the AB unit [S's "… looking at or facing one side or card and then turning toward and looking at (or facing) the other side or card before making a choice… "]. Doubts are raised concerning the Muenzinger and Tolman VTE and learning efficiency hypothesis and an alternative explanation is advanced, "… based on an analysis of the role of position preferences supplemented by principles of conflict… ." 63 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence and leadership as a function of group structure.

"In a group decision situation, influence and perceived leadership were studied as a function of an individual's position in the communication network of his group. The hypotheses were advanced that, regardless of the network he is in, a group member (a) will be influenced less as his group reaches a decision, and (b) will be perceived as the group leader more often when his position in the communication network is more central… . On an overall basis, both hypotheses were confirmed… . The hypothesis concerning influence was tenable only in the case of one kind of network." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of a monetary reward on the acquisition of an imitative response.

"The present study extends the results of an earlier investigation [see 34: 827]… . The findings of the previous study supported the hypothesis that" imitation or opposition was dependent not only on its probability of leading to reward "but also on the prevailing social sanctions for its use. In the present study it was hypothesized that the obtained attenuation of an instrumental imitation or opposition response under negative sanctions toward nonindependent behavior would be overcome by increasing the utility of achieving the task goal… . In general, opposition was more difficult to condition than imitation." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A search for correlates of intra-individual response variability.

"… evidence does not support… finding[s] that variability on free response tests is positively related to… Tolerance of Ambiguity… and is negatively related to… Gregariousness… . The problem is that if intra-individual variability is true variance it seems odd that we cannot find any correlates of it. It is… possible that variability scores, along with response set scores, are measuring aspects of personality that do not appear in self-report scores. The search for personality-measure correlates of variability should, perhaps, be directed toward other measures of style rather than content." 16 refs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal reinforcement in schizophrenia.

"The common clinical observation of impaired 'reality contact' in schizophrenia implies a deficit in the intensity or direction of responsiveness to social cues… specifically those involved in verbal interactions… . [Therefore] it may be predicted that the reinforcing function of listener reactions (i.e., verbal reinforcement) will be negligible for them as compared with nonschizophrenic control Ss… . The… results [of this experiment] confirm the hypothesis… ." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)