Cognitive resource demands of reading normal and transformed typography.

Tested the hypothesis that reading sentences presented in transformed typography involves cognitive processes that may not be involved in, or may be automatized during, the reading of normal typography, thus causing superior memory for the transformed sentences. In 2 experiments, 48 undergraduates read normal and inverted sentences while performing a secondary auditory task. Secondary task performance suffered reliably more when the task was carried out while reading transformed as opposed to normal typography. The size of this effect was consistent across the 2 experiments. It is concluded that greater attention demands may be associated with the additional processes invoked when reading transformed typography. Differences in procedures involved in encoding normal and transformed sentences are considered. (French abstract) (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioural demands direct attentional strategies: The 1993 Banff Annual Seminar in Cognitive Science.

The Banff Annual Seminar in Cognitive-Science (BASICS) was founded in 1982 and has met each spring since then in Banff, Alberta, Canada. BASICS was originated to provide an informal atmosphere for the in-depth discussion of a wide variety of research topics within the broadly defined domain of cognitive science. The purpose of the present paper is to summarize and find commonalties among the individual abstracts which follow. The first speaker, Norman Brown began his talk with the premise that a valid model of the estimation process is essential to an understanding of the process of encoding and representing event frequency. In the second talk, John Duncan continued the theme as to how psychological processes are selected according to the current demands of behaviour. The third talk of the first day of the conference was by Nancy Kanwisher. This investigator has been in the forefront of the journals lately for her work with the phenomenon known as repetition blindness (RB). The final talk of the first day of BASICS was given by one of the most prominent figures in the study of visual attention, Anne Treisman. The first talk of the second day of the conference was given by Tom Carr. Carr's talk was aimed at understanding the process by which new information is integrated into the semantic memory system. The last talk of the conference was by Robert Rafal whose work examines the neuropsychological aspects of visual attention. The emerging theme of this year's conference, that humans exercise strategic control over attentional mechanisms, was addressed by all the speakers in a way that proved highly informative. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On resistance to persuasive communications.

3 separate experiments were done at different universities to test the hypothesis that a persuasive communication that argues strongly against an opinion to which the audience is committed will be more effective if the audience is somewhat distracted from the communication so that they cannot adequately counterargue while listening. 2 films were prepared, each containing the same communication arguing strongly against fraternities. One was a normal film of the speaker making a speech. The other film, with the same track, had an utterly irrelevant and highly distracting visual presentation. Fraternity men were more influenced by the distracting presentation of the persuasive communication than by the ordinary version. There was no difference between the 2 for nonfraternity men. In general, the hypothesis concerning the effect of distraction was supported. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Processing of persuasive in-group messages.

Two studies investigated the processes mediating the persuasive impact of messages representing in-group opinions. In the 1st study, Ss read either a strong or a weak message attributed to either an in-group member or to another group. Ss were more persuaded by a strong message from the in-group than a weak one, suggesting content-focused processing of the in-group message. Ss were equally unpersuaded by either a strong or a weak message from the other group, and showed little sign of message processing. In the 2nd study, Ss listened to in-group or other-group messages about issues that varied in their relevance to in-group membership. When the issue was relevant to the in-group, Ss were persuaded by a strong message from the in-group, unpersuaded by a weak message from the in-group, and equally unimpressed by strong and weak messages from the other group. When the issue was irrelevant to the in-group, Ss accepted the position advocated by the in-group regardless of message quality, and again ignored messages from the other group. These results suggest that increased message processing, and not merely the impact of source persuasion cues, can underlie in-group-mediated attitude change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Issue importance and group choice shifts: A persuasive arguments approach.

Examined the ability of persuasive arguments theory to explain the effects of issue importance on group choice shifts. 75 female undergraduates completed 1 of 2 tasks (individual argument generation or small-group discussion) under conditions of either high or low issue importance. A. Vinocur and E. Burnstein's (see PA, Vols 52:5207 and 54:2992) persuasive arguments theory was then employed to predict the discussion-produced effects from the individually generated arguments. This model accurately forecasts both the direction and strength of the issue importance effects as well as the relative magnitude of the choice shifts. These results suggest that persuasive argumentation mediates the effects of issue importance on group choice shifts and help to establish the general validity of the theory. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of forewarning in persuasive communications.

Previous studies have shown that a forewarning will nullify the effect of a persuasive communication. This study investigated whether the same information presented after the persuasive communication will have the same effect. 3 groups of experimental Ss were exposed to a communication advocating an extreme point of view; a control group read a neutral communication on a different topic. 2 of the experimental groups were informed of the propagandistic nature of the comunication; one group was forewarned, the other group was "warned" after they had read the communication. The 3rd experimental group was given no information about the intent of the communication. The results indicated conclusively that the temporal placement of this information is crucial in determining the effect of a persuasive communication. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Direct and indirect persuasive effects of dissonance-producing messages.

"Several hypotheses regarding the effectiveness of persuasive messages were derived from Festinger's 'Theory of Cognitive Dissonance.' It was predicted that messages would be effective in changing opinions on the explicit issues to the extent that they argued in dissonance-reducing directions; and on related, unmentioned issues, to the extent that they argued in a dissonance-increasing direction. It was further predicted that the dissonance-reducing changes would show a slower rate of temporal decay after the communication… . Both predictions… were confirmed." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effectiveness of unanticipated persuasive communications.

This study investigated the effect of cognitive dissonance on opinion changing. 2 groups of Ss were presented with an opinion rather forcefully oriented ("persuasive communication"). One group was given an orientation that would not lead Ss to anticipate the "persuasive communication"; the other group was given an orientation that might lead them to reject the opinion expressed in the "communication" but in so doing, would also reject their own opinions. Ss were high school students; the topic dealt with young drivers. One group was told the speaker's point of view (the "tough" policy with young drivers) before hand; the other group was directed to evaluate the speaker's personality. Ss who were forewarned about the topic changed their opinions less than the "naive" Ss. From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:3GD35A. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethics and the persuasive enterprise of teaching psychology.

Teaching is, in many respects, properly regarded as a process of persuasion. Psychologists' knowledge of these dynamics puts them in a unique position to systematically influence their students. Such potential, however, raises ethical concerns regarding the proper balance between student autonomy and "successful" teaching—concerns addressed only tangentially in the American Psychological Association's code of ethics. This article explores some of the goals and processes of psychology instruction as they relate to this dilemma and advances a democratic ethic of persuasion, centered on the concept of significant choice, as a viable standard for guiding psychologists' teaching. This democratic ethic suggests that a better understanding of the causal structure of instructional persuasion will enhance, rather than diminish, psychologists' ability to function ethically as teachers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical and research implications of revising psychological tests.

This article integrates those of other contributors to this special section, Methods and Implications of Revising Assessment Instruments, to underscore important conceptual factors to consider when undertaking test revisions. These considerations include determination of when test measures have become sufficiently understood to be incorporated in a test revision, cohort effects, revision of administration formats and test instructions, and comparisons of performance levels across test versions. The discussion of these factors also takes into consideration clinical practice and educational implications of making a transition to revised test versions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Congruence and vocational identity: Outcomes of career counseling with persuasive power.

A study with 84 female and 52 male community-college students with specific occupational choices tested whether congruence between occupational choice and inventoried interests and vocational identity are related to typical career counseling outcomes. Ss completed the Self-Directed Search congruence scale, a vocational identity scale, several scales from the Career Development Inventory, and the IPAT. Ss were categorized as congruent or not congruent and high or low in vocational identity. ANOVA tested whether the Ss differed on estimated career management skill, general and specific career information, decision making, and anxiety. Analyses were not significant for males but showed that females higher in identity estimated higher career maturity. Females high in congruence reported less anxiety, and females high in both congruence and identity had higher career decision-making skills and tended to have more general information. Findings suggest that congruence not accompanied by a sense of vocational identity is a transitional state, whereas high identity without congruence reflects an incomplete evaluation of self in relation to career. Implications for using congruence and vocational identity as outcome measures of counseling are discussed. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory for persuasive messages: A test of a schema-copy-plus-tag model.

Examined how arguments contained in persuasive messages are represented and retrieved from memory. It was proposed that there exist generic schemata that contain typical arguments supporting positions on familiar issues and that guide the representation and retrieval of message content in a manner similar to that hypothesized by A. C. Graesser and G. V. Nakamura's (1982) schema-copy-plus-tag model of prose memory. 261 undergraduates read a political candidate's arguments for his position on several familiar social issues. The arguments varied in their perceived typicality for messages generally supporting each position. After either a 10-min or 2-day delay, Ss were given either a recall or recognition test for the message content. Results strongly support the schema-copy-plus-tag model. Over time, more typical than atypical arguments were correctly recalled, and Ss' recall protocols showed increasing clustering by typicality. However, recall of typical arguments was accompanied more by intrusion errors (false recalls) than was recall of atypical arguments. Furthermore, recognition discrimination was better for atypical arguments at both retention intervals, although this difference was smaller after 2 days. In general, fewer atypical than typical arguments were falsely recognized as having been stated in the message. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for studying the relation between attitudes and memory message content. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Familiarity and the order of presentation of persuasive communications.

One of the areas that Hovland (1957) and his associates did not explore with regard to order of presentation of a topic and its influence on opinion change was prior familiarity with the topic; this study does. The results indicated that a primary effect (a situation where the argument given first is more effective in changing opinion) is related to increasing familiarity, and that a recency effect (effectiveness of the second argument to affect opinion change) was found with minimal familiarity. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4GD73L. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Systematic and nonsystematic processing of majority and minority persuasive communications.

The ability of majorities and minorities to induce privately accepted attitude change by systematic or nonsystematic processing was investigated in four studies. In two of these studies, subjects simultaneously exposed to a majority with which they disagreed and a minority with which they agreed showed considerable issue-relevant processing of the majority message and long-term, generalized private acceptance of the majority position. A third experiment demonstrated that this change was in response to the majority position and was not a reaction against the minority view. Subjects provided with consensus information about the majority and minority (without a persuasive communication) also demonstrated significant attitude change, but this change did not generalize and was not maintained or mediated by subjects' thoughts about the issue. Subjects exposed to a minority with which they mildly disagreed showed slight movement toward the minority position. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Naive psychology and the development of persuasive appeals in girls.

Examined the appeals generated by 3 groups of 20, 5-, 9-, and 13-yr-old females when asked to persuade mother and best friend to give up watching a favorite TV show to play a game. 3 developmental trends in the use of persuasive appeals were found: (a) diplomatic maneuvers stressing the advantage to the target increased with age, (b) simple requests decreased with age, and (c) "high pressure" tactics increased between the ages of 5 and 9 yrs and decreased between ages 9 and 13 yrs. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Three theoretical interpretations of order effects in persuasive communications.

The "set," "reinforcement," and "sensory variation" hypotheses are reviewed in terms of their ability to predict the results of order effects in the persuasive situation where opposed arguments on the same topic are utilized. The set hypothesis is most successful when the communicative materials presented are unfamiliar to the S. The sensory variation hypothesis is most successful when the topics of the cummunications are concerned with familiar social issues. (24 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Values, beliefs, religion and the persuasive influence of psychotherapy.

Psychotherapy has been conceptualized as a process of interpersonal persuasion. An often unrecognized implication of such an assumption is that the therapist's values and beliefs are transmitted to patients during the course of successful treatment. A review of available literature provides sufficient reason to believe that patients' values, attitudes, and beliefs change in psychotherapy and that to some degree these changes are associated with the degree to which therapy is successful. Research evidence suggests that patients acquire the specific values and attitudes of their own therapists rather than simply a more mature or adaptive set of beliefs. There appears to be some similarity between those parameters that affect therapeutic gain and those that affect persuasion in the social psychology laboratory. Such positive findings from the literature underline the importance of therapists taking cognizance of their own personal values as determiners of therapeutic gain. The findings highlight the necessity of research designed to investigate the role of specific values in this process. (78 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive neuroscience: Origins and promise.

Both Freud and Wundt had hoped to base psychology on an understanding of the neural basis of mental events. Their efforts were unsuccessful because the structure and function of the human brain was not available for empirical study at the physiological level. Over the last part of this century, there has been amazing growth and vitality in the field of human brain function. In this paper, we trace critical developments in the fields of cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, and brain imaging related to the development of cognitive neuroscience. Cognitive neuroscience has established that the decomposition of mental events can be united with an understanding of the mental and emotional computations carried out by the human brain. Cognitive neuroscience has the capability of influencing psychology in diverse areas from how children develop to how adults age; from how humans learn to how we imagine; from volitional control to psychopathologies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An outsider-insider's views about revising the DSMs.

After having a leadership role in the development of the 3rd edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III; American Psychiatric Association, 1980) and its revision (DSM-III—R; American Psychiatric Association, 1987), R. L. Spitzer comments as an outsider-insider on the development of DSM-IV. Many features of the DSM-IV process, such as systematic literature reviews and focused field trials, represent significant advances that will increase the role of empirical findings in the decision-making process in this latest edition of the DSM. However, it is likely that when final decisions are made about DSM-IV, the decisions will still be based primarily on expert consensus, rather than on data, as was the case with DSM-III and DSM-III—R. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)