WHEN THE HELP IS DENIED: A STUDY OF ATTRIBUTION-LINKED AFFECTIVE REACTIONS

Two experiments were conducted to examine attribution-affect linkages in situations where help is denied. In experiment 1, two helping scenarios, in social and in academic context, were presented. The causal explanations given for not helping were manipulated to see their effect on affective reactions of the person who was denied help. These explanations covered all eight combinations of locus (internal-external), controllability (controllable-uncontrollable), and stability (stable-unstable) dimensions. For each explanation, undergraduate students of Allahabad University (N = 75) predicted affective reactions, assuming themselves to be the person denied help. Findings confirmed that attribution-affect linkages were stable and systematic. Furthermore, controllability dimension accounted for most of the linkages. Experiment 2 (N = 45) tested the reversibility of the attribution-affect linkages. In that, affective reactions were manipulated and subjects inferred the communicated explanations for not helping. The linkages reversible and consistent across two contexts were: sympathy-uncontrollable, anger-controllable, dislike-controllable/ stable. Other emotions had either context-specific linkages, or were attribution-independent.     

WHEN MORE PAIN IS PREFERRED TO LESS:

Abstract— Subjects were exposed to two aversive experiences: in the short trial, they immersed one hand in water at 14°C for 60 s; in the long trial, they immersed the other hand at 14°C for 60 s, then kept the hand in the water 30 s longer as the temperature of the water was gradually raised to 15°C, still painful but distinctly less so for most subjects. Subjects were later given a choice of which trial to repeat. A significant majority chose to repeat the long trial, apparently preferring more pain over less. The results add to other evidence suggesting that duration plays a small role in retrospective evaluations of aversive experiences; such evaluations are often dominated by the discomfort at the worst and at the final moments of episodes.     

WHEN PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT IS THE GOAL: A NEW SET OF CRITERIA FOR CRITERIA

Weitz (1961), aware of the lure of tradition and expedience, urged the identification of evaluation standards for dependent variables, which he referred to as criteria for criteria. In this article, five criteria are proposed using the mnemonic SURF & C: the directness of sampling (S); the responsiveness of the target (i.e., making sure the dependent variable is under (U) the worker's control); the reliability (R) of observers; the frequent (F) assessment of the target during the intervention period; and the critical (C) nature of the target. Together the criteria provide guidelines for what and how targets should be assessed. Their necessity is illustrated in two year-long experiments designed to improve the preventive maintenance of heavy equipment in the U.S. Marine Corps. Although the criteria are limited to evaluating dependent variables in field experiments, they are recommended as the foundation for successful performance efforts in any applied setting.     

THE TRAINING ANALYSIS AT A TIME WHEN THEORY IS IN SHORT SUPPLY1

The author discusses the risks confronting the training analysis when original theoretical production is lacking. In his view, little progress has been made since Freud's time in establishing a general science of the psyche based on Freud's interpretive method. What has been transmitted is stated to be not Freud's method of discovery but the knowledge thereby produced, which has been handed down in the form of doctrines, defined as theory presented as psychic fact. Hence analyses tend to apply theories rather than to discover unconsciouses. Some of today's most common interpretational aberrations are described, and the author shows the powerful suggestive effect on patients of using doctrines as metaphors of psychic life. Where such a training analysis is reinforced by a like form of theoretical teaching and supervision, candidates may uncritically assimilate the relevant theory. The author uses his concept of the reality‐providing circuit to show how belief in a doctrine imparted by the training analysis makes that doctrine appear as the ideological basis of psychoanalytic knowledge. He finally notes that, theories being essentially heuristic instruments and not bodies of acquired information, the consequence of the current dearth of theories, which have degenerated into doctrines, is that the training analysis itself has come to constitute the theory of training in many institutes.     

ANCHORS AWAY–THE STABILITY OF MEANING OF ANCHORS WHEN THEIR LOCATION IS CHANGED

This study addresses three questions. (1) Does the meaning of the neutral anchor shift when its position is moved away from the middle of the series? The location of (psychological) zero in rating scales is crucial if they are to be used as multipliers (e.g., as weights or in functional equations). (2) Does moving the neutral anchor from a central position increase sensitivity (variance) of ratings? Such displacement has been used frequently without investigation of its effects. (3) Are any of the above effects general across types of anchors? Displacement had significant effects (N= 210) on meaning of the neutral anchor and on sensitivity. Stability of meaning of anchors, however, was greater when anchors were words rather than faces. Therefore verbal anchors should be used, with the neutral anchor located centrally, to establish zero; but displaced to increase sensitivity at one end of the scale.     

ROTATION OF MENTAL IMAGES IN BABOONS WHEN THE VISUAL INPUT IS DIRECTED TO THE LEFT CEREBRAL HEMISPHERE

Abstract— The mental rotation phenomenon was examined in baboons and humans using a video-formatted matching-to-sample task. Sample stimuli were presented either centrally or in the right or left visual half-field. Immediately afterward, subjects had to distinguish the previously presented sample Stimulus from its mirror image after both had been rotated to the same angular deviation. A mental rotation phenomenon was found in baboons and humans, but in baboons this effect wax limited to conditions in which visual input was directed to the right visual half-field. These data represent the first evidence of mental rotation in a nonhuman species.     

INFORMATION LOSS WHEN ρ IS APPLIED IN NON-NORMAL CASES

The correlation coefficient ρ of two stochastic variables underestimates the dependence between the variables, if they are not bivariately normally distributed. An information theoretical approach to the study of this underestimation is suggested. The method is applied on artificial data.     

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN SALARY EXPECTATIONS WHEN CURRENT SALARY INFORMATION IS PROVIDED

It was hypothesized that current gender differences in salary expectations arise from women's lack of accurate salary information. Current salary information was provided for a sample of upcoming university graduates. Contrary to expectations, large gender differences in salary expectations continued in spite of subjects' knowledge of current salary data. Alternative explanations are discussed.     

THE CREATED CO-CREATOR: WHAT IT IS AND IS NOT

Abstract In this article I briefly assesses Philip Hefner's concept of the created co‐creator by considering both what it does and does not claim. Looking at issues of reductionism, biological selfishness, biology and freedom, and environmental ethics, I point out strengths and weaknesses in Hefner's conception of the created co‐creator.     

COHERENCE: THE PRICE IS RIGHT

This article is a response to Elijah Millgram's argument that my characterization of coherence as constraint satisfaction is inadequate for philosophical purposes because it provides no guarantee that the most coherent theory available will be true. I argue that the constraint satisfaction account of coherence satisfies the philosophical, computational, and psychological prerequisites for the development of epistemological and ethical theories.     

WHEN BETTER IS WORSE. On the therapy/enhancement distinction in sports

The standard therapy/enhancement distinction is usually related to health purposes and some sense of normality. In this paper, I will challenge the basis of the distinction arguing that only the first part of it is related to health and, consequently, the distinction should be better understood as differentiating between qualitative and quantitative consequences of interventions. As health and normality are broad concepts inside of which it is possible to make some ulterior distinctions, I will propose three different senses of normality in order to more easily grasp the therapy/enhancement distinction. As with the distinction between therapy and enhancement, the difference between sports- and non-sports-persons is usually stated in terms of health and normality. I will challenge this assumption, too. In my opinion, the main difference between people, sportspeople and athletes should be related to the practice itself. Once the practice of a sport is taken seriously, along with its tough and demanding lifestyle, it is possible to properly analyse the distinction between people who practice and do not practice sport; the different levels at which they participate—quite obviously—have little to do with health purposes. Finally, I will revisit the standard therapy/enhancement distinction in sport in order to provide a way to easily reformulate this distinction allowing embarrassing blunders to be avoided and athletes’ health to be adequately cared for. I will conclude this paper with two open questions related to the use of the therapy/enhancement distinction for sport purposes and the challenge that it represents for some basic values of sport.