The Public and Private Use of Consensus-Raising Excuses

ABSTRACT Two experiments tested the proposition that people use consensus-raising excuses more in private than in public when the audience has information that could refute subjects' claims about others In Experiment 1, subjects received success or failure feedback and made public or private attributions to ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck In Experiment 2, subjects received positive or negative feedback and evaluated themselves and others on the trait Task difficulty attributions and evaluations of others are consensus-raising measures Consistent with our hypothesis, subjects receiving negative feedback in Experiment 1 claimed that the task was more difficult, and in Experiment 2 evaluated the other more negatively in private than in public.     

Developmental sequences in the age of onset of disruptive child behaviors

Retrospective and prospective reports of the onset of disruptive child behaviors were analyzed in a sample of clinic-referred boys. The younger boys (ages 7–9 years), compared with the older boys (ages 10–12 years), showed the highest level of disruptive behavior and, judging from mothers' reports, had the fastest progression of onsets from less serious to more serious problem behaviors. Despite some overlap, developmental sequences in problem behavior within the domains of hyperactivity/inattention, oppositional behavior, and conduct problems were similar across the two age groups. This was also the case for developmental sequences of overt or confrontive problem behaviors and covert or concealing conduct problems. Sequences of the onset of oppositional behavior and conduct problems were validated through prospective data, based on the information from mothers, teachers, and boys themselves. The implications of the findings are discussed for the formulation of developmental pathways of behavior and the analysis of causal factors.     

Independence of uniphasic and biphasic audiogenic seizure progressions in mice

DBA/2J mice were monaurally or binaurally tested for susceptibility to sound-induced seizure. Two seconds following the beginning of running, one group of binaurally tested mice had acoustic stimulation interrupted for 15 s. These mice later seized when the stimulation was readministered. Their seizure progression closely resembled the behavior exhibited by noninterrupted binaurally stimulated mice and did not shift to the biphasic motor pattern of monaurally stimulated subjects. We conclude that the single burst of running of a binaurally tested mouse is qualitatively different from either of the two bursts of running exhibited by monaurally tested mice.     

A sermon from hell: Toward a theology of loneliness

Loneliness as part of the human condition is first explored from an experiential-philosophical perspective. A biblical survey suggests loneliness is normative to the faith experience and may portray a more realistic religiosity. Desert imagery in Scripture indicates a strong association among solitude, spiritual development, and potential dangers of spiritual deception. God's not yet-ness-itself a cause of existential loneliness—is paradoxically the way in which communion with God functions in the here and now. The creative use of solitude may enhance social, psychological, and spiritual well-being, and provide a way to theologize about personal isolation and disorientation.He is also editor of theHarding Journal of Religion and Psychiatry.     

Qualitative influences on the perception of movement: An experimental study

One of the most puzzling features of “hyperactivity” in children is the importance of activity itself. Generalized overactivity has not been found to be a valid diagnostic marker. Could some qualitative features of activity be important determinants of the perceived quantity of activity? The analogue study reported here derives from a social-psychological hypothesis that anything that makes a behavior more noticeable or distracting can create an illusion of increased movement. Subjects performed a simple cognitive task while watching short films of adult actors. Two variables were manipulated: (a) The sound level was either loud or quiet, and (b) instructions to subjects were varied so that the behaviors shown were perceived as either appropriate or inappropriate. Results strongly supported the hypothesis. Loudness and contextual inappropriateness made the films more distracting, produced higher ratings of the amount of movement observed, and led to more negative evaluations of the behaviors seen. Implications for assessment and intervention are discussed.     

USING REINFORCEMENT AND CUEING TO INCREASE HEALTHY SNACK FOOD CHOICES IN PRESCHOOLERS

We examined the effects of behavioral procedures to modify the food choices of preschoolers during a snack period at school (training setting) and at home (generalization setting). In the first experiment, we evaluated the usefulness of nutrition training and a generalization programming strategy of cueing to improve healthy snacking; in the second experiment we investigated the effect of nutrition training alone. In addition, three cases are presented that illustrate individualized procedures to facilitate generalization of healthy snacking to home. Results indicated that children's healthy snack choices increased in the preschool training setting, that generalization to home was achieved only when procedures to program it were implemented, and that the best results were found when the generalization procedures were tailored to the individual child.     

The effect of subject's gender on judgments of similarity and choice of a comparison other

This study examined the implications for social comparison theory of the proposition that women have lower self-confidence than men when there is a socially defined standard of performance. To this end, it was hypothesized that women would judge themselves to be similar to a lower ranked person, whereas men would judge themselves to be similar to a higher ranked person. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that women would choose to see a score lower than their own, whereas men would choose to see a score higher than their own. The results on the measure of similarity indicated that men did judge themselves to be similar to a higher ranked person, whereas women showed no consistent preferences in their judgments of similarity. The results on the choice of a comparison other were not as clear-cut.     

Integrating pictorial information across eye movements

Six experiments are reported dealing with the types of information integrated across eye movements in picture perception. A line drawing of an object was presented in peripheral vision, and subjects made an eye movement to it. During the saccade, the initially presented picture was replaced by another picture that the subject was instructed to name as quickly as possible. The relation between the stimulus on the first fixation and the stimulus on the second fixation was varied. Across the six experiments, there was about 100-130 ms facilitation when the pictures were identical compared with a control condition in which only the target location was specified on the first fixation. This finding clearly implies that information about the first picture facilitated naming the second picture. Changing the size of the picture from one fixation to the next had little effect on naming time. This result is consistent with work on reading and low-level visual processes in indicating that pictorial information is not integrated in a point-by-point manner in an integrated visual buffer. Moreover, only about 50 ms of the facilitation for identical pictures could be attributed to the pictures having the same name. When the pictures represented the same concept (e.g., two different pictures of a horse), there was a 90-ms facilitation effect that could have been the result of either the visual or conceptual similarity of the pictures. However, when the pictures had different names, only visual similarity produced facilitation. Moreover, when the pictures had different names, there appeared to be inhibition from the competing names. The results of all six experiments are consistent with a model in which the activation of both the visual features and the name of the picture seen on the first fixation survive the saccade and combine with the information extracted on the second fixation to produce identification and naming of the second picture.