Self-focused attention and reactions to conflicting standards

A fundamental postulate of self-awareness theory that has received considerable empirical support is that self-focused attention increases behavioral consistency with “standards of correctness.” This appears to be true whether the standards are internal (such as attitudes or values) or external (e.g., norms). There is some question, however, as to what happens in situations in which an important personal standard conflicts with a salient external standard. Research by E. Diener and T. K. Srull (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1979, 37, 413–423) has suggested that under such circumstances the social standard is likely to predominate. However, there is reason to believe that the standards employed in their study may not have been very salient nor very important to the subjects. In the present experiment, subjects with either conservative or liberal sexual attitudes were exposed to information suggesting a prevailing norm of sexual liberalism. They were then asked to respond to a number of sexual and nonsexual attitude measures while their attention was or was not self-directed by means of a mirror. Primary results indicated that self-awareness enhanced conformity to the social standard (as in Diener & Srull, 1979) for the conservative subjects; however, correlational analyses within the self-focused and non-self-focused conditions indicated that self-aware subjects did not “abandon” their personal standards when responding to the conformity pressure. Instead, their responses tended to be more in line with their previously expressed attitudes than did the responses of the non-self-focused group. Results are discussed in terms of the effects of self-awareness on reactions to potent, but conflicting behavioral standards.     

Behavioral expectations of retarded and nonretarded children

Two experiments were conducted to examine the effect of the mental retardation (MR) label on impression formation among retarded and nonretarded children and adolescents. The first experiment, conducted with nonretarded children in a mainstreamed school, indicated that they have pessimistic expectations of retarded children with regard to cognitive and ability-related behaviorsand, to a lesser extent, social behaviors (i.e., getting married). However, their reactions were not as pessimistic nor as “patronizing” as were those demonstrated by college students in previous research. In the second experiment, mentally retarded adolescents indicated that they also have negative behavioral expectations of retarded children, however, their self expectations were negative only for social behaviors. The results suggest that, among retarded persons, the expectations associated with the MR label are negative for social behavior, but apparently less pessimistic for cognitive and ability related tasks.     

Reactions to stigmatized others: Response amplification vs sympathy

Four experiments examined the conditions under which responses to handicapped persons are characterized by sympathy or response amplification. The first two experiments tested the hypothesis that contact with a handicapped person would lead to amplified positive and negative responses in comparison to contact with a nonhandicapped person. The results indicated that mere contact was not sufficient to elicit response amplification. Instead, contact led to more positive evaluations of the handicapped than of the nonhandicapped other, regardless of whether she behaved in a positive or negative manner—a “sympathy” effect. The third and fourth experiments indicated that amplified positive and negative responses to the handicapped will occur when the behavior of a handicapped person is highly relevant to the evaluator. A two-stage model of responses to stigmatized others is proposed to account for these results.     

Self-focused attention and the placebo effect: Fooling some of the people some of the time

An experiment tested the hypothesis that mirror-induced self-awareness would minimize a “placebo” effect. Some subjects were led to believe that a drug that they were about to ingest would produce arousal symptoms as a side effect. Self-aware subjects in this condition subsequently reported experiencing less arousal from the placebo, and fewer of the side effects ascribed to it, than did less self-aware subjects. Discussion centered on the implications of these findings for placebo research and implications for two common alternative interpretations of self-awareness effects.     

Perceived tachistoscopic duration and early visual processing in preschool children and adults

Two experiments further explored the Avant et al. (1975) finding that stimulus familiarity influences prerecognition processing to generate differences in the apparent duration of tachistoscopic flashes. The first experiment tested for developmental differences in the effects of upright versus 90°, 180°, and 270° rotations of a single letter or number upon the apparent duration of pre- and postmasked 30- and 50-msec flashes with adults and 4- and 5-year-old children. All age groups judged upright presentations to be of briefer duration. These differences in apparent duration were interpreted to index the automaticity of contacts between stimulus inputs and their memory representations. Failure of the children to recognize the letter and number in any orientation indicates that contact between stimulus inputs and memory representations precedes allocation of attention to the presented stimulus. The second experiment explored the influence of spatial structures which are not coded verbally by testing effects of good and poor dot pattern Gestalts on the apparent duration of tachistoscopic flashes. Adults discriminated between apparent durations of good and poor Gestalts but 4- and 5-year-olds did not. Apparent duration differences in the two experiments showed that spatial pattern structure and familiarity with verbal stimuli influence early visual processing in different ways.     

Vocational behavior and career development, 1982: A review

This paper reviews the research published on vocational behavior and career development in 1982. A total of 278 studies published in 31 journals are reviewed. The literature is presented in the following major categories: discrimination; performance; turnover; satisfaction; commitment and involvement; job analysis and evaluation; selection and classification; life history experiences; performance appraisal; assessment centers; training; unions and collective bargaining; alternate work schedules; job design; pay; motivation; leadership; stress; Type A behavior; career preference, choice and behavior; consistency; maturity; indecision; work orientation; assessment; interventions; instrumentation; and methodology. Trends in current research and possible directions for future research are discussed.     

The effects of a model's success or failure on subsequent aggressive behavior

It was of interest in the present study to examine the influence of both aggressive and nonaggressive models who are successful or nonsuccessful in reducing aggression from an aggressive opponent. Male and female subjects viewed a same-sexed model interact with an aggressive opponent in a reaction time task. Half the subjects observed an aggressive model while the remaining subjects observed a nonaggressive model. For half the subjects the model was successful in reducing the aggressiveness of the opponent. Results indicated that both the model's behavior and the consequences to the model (success/nonsuccess) were important determinants of subsequent aggression by the subject. Results are discussed in terms of current research and theory in aggression control.     

Effects of career orientation on retirement attitudes and retirement planning

The impact of career orientation and demographic variables on retirement attitudes, intended age of retirement, and retirement preparation is examined among a sample of university employees. Results indicate that occupational status is associated with unique patterns of career orientation as well as differences in anticipated age of retirement. Career orientation variables are observed to be stronger predictors than demographic characteristics of retirement attitudes, while the demographic factors are found to be more efficient in predicting retirement age and level of preparation. Use of career orientation variables in the retirement preparation process is discussed.     

Assessment of children's social skills

Various methods of social skills assessment with children were reviewed. Based upon an extensive review of the literature, it was found that behavioral observations, sociometrics, and teacher ratings have been the most often used methods of assessing children's social skill deficits. Advantages and disadvantages of each assessment technique were discussed within a psychometric and social validation context. Conclusions were that school psychologists should utilized all three measures to secure a comprehensive picture of children's social behavior and to obtain some measure of social validation.     

The effects of a career course on undecided college students

The effects of a career course taught by 11 instructors (two sections each) for college students, who were undecided about a major field or career, were evaluated in a pre-post design using the Vocational Identity, Occupational Information, and Barrier scales of the My Vocational Situation (J. A. Holland, D. C. Daiger, & P. G. Power, Palo Alto, Calif.: Consulting Psychologists Press, 1980). Large main effects were observed for the Identity and Occupational Information scales, but not for the Barriers scale. No interactions by instructor or student characteristics were found by using a simple ANOVA procedure or by using a split plot factorial design. The implications for new research and career instructors were discussed.     

Where is the facilitation of media violence: The effects of nonexposure and placement of anger arousal

The present study examined the conditions under which media violence would “facilitate” aggression in angered individuals. It was noted that previous research has lacked support for facilitation due to improper control groups. It was predicted, based upon evidence that aggressive and neutral films are capable of both arousing a subject and shifting his attention away from previous anger instigation (attentional shift), that only under a condition where an aggressive film is viewed prior to anger arousal will increased aggression occur if compared to a no-film control. It was found that when subjects were angered prior to film exposure, netural films reduced aggression, with aggressive films not differing from a no-film control. Under subsequent anger arousal, however, there was a facilitation for aggressive film exposure. The implication of this, and other recent media violence studies, for past and future research in the area of media violence and aggression is discussed.     

Returning a favor and retaliating harm: The effects of stated intentions and actual behavior

Two studies were carried out to determine the joint effects of an-other's stated intentions toward helping a person, and the amount of help the other actually gives a person, on the reciprocation of help. In Study I (n = 120) another person stated she intended to either help, not help, or did not state her intent; this person actually helped the subject a great deal or very little. The data showed subjects reciprocated solely on amount of actual help received (p < .001); however, questionnaire data revealed that when the past helper stated her intentions, regardless of whether the intent was to help or not to help, subjects showed less involvement with the situation. It was hypothesized that knowledge of the past helper's intent threatened the subject's freedom of choice with regard to reciprocation, which led subjects to ignore the intent in order to restore their freedom. Study II (n = 60) was a replication of Study I with the exception that the helper's intent, while stated, was discovered by subjects in such a way that they believed the helper unaware of the subject's knowledge. Both the other person's intent (p < .10) and her actual helping behavior (p < .001) were related to reciprocation. The results were interpreted in terms of Brehm's reactance theory, although other potential explanations were also explored.     

Predicting vocational performance of engineers from selected vocational interest,personality, and scholastic aptitude variables

The study examines the validity of the ACE and selected subscales of the EPPS and SVIB in predicting the vocational performance of engineers. Multidimensional criteria of vocational performance assessed from both external and internal frames of reference were employed. Six predictors were related to 17 vocational performance criteria; of the 102 tests that were made, 7 were found to be statistically significant. The results indicate that, in general, vocational performance cannot be accurately predicted by vocational interest, personality, and scholastic aptitude variables. The only consistent finding was that subjective ratings of vocational performance were predicted by SVIB Group V scores; a “self-esteem” interpretation was posited. Implications of the results for counselors and employers were discussed.     

The effects of humor-induced arousal upon aggressive behavior

The present experiment attempted to reconcile previous results in the area of humor and aggression. It was hypothesized that humor serves two functions, arousal and attentional shift, with regard to its influence on the relation of prior anger arousal and aggression. As a test of this assumption, subjects in the present experiment were subjected to three forms of humor (high arousing, low arousing, nonhumor) after being angered or treated in a neutral manner by a confederate. In an analysis on subsequent aggression toward the confederate, it was found that female subjects reduced their aggression after exposure to low arousing humor while maintaining aggression at a high level for high arousing stimuli. Male subjects were not influenced by humor exposure. Possible reasons for this sex difference are examined in light of the arousal and attentional shift properties of humorous stimuli.     

Moral judgment and attitudes toward authority of political resisters

In an exploration of the personal basis of resistance to authority, moral judgment and attitudes toward authority were examined in 183 men and women political resisters, including antinuclear, draft registration, and tax resisters, and anarchists, and compared to 34 liberal and 29 conservative activists. The measures used were the Defining Issues Test and a specially designed attitude survey. As predicted, the differences between resisters and nonresisters were in the realm of cognitive beliefs and values. Strong rejection of political and social authority, a belief that individual conscience is a better guide to conduct than the law, a professed unwillingness to be in positions of authority over others, and a lack of conventional religious affiliation significantly differentiated the resisters from the nonresisters. The resisters also measured high in level of moral judgment but were significantly different only from the conservatives.     

Do birds of a feather flock together? A test of the similarities within and the differences between five occupations

Two sets of samples of 40 women from each of five different occupations were subjected to J. H. Ward's (Journal of the American Statistical Association, 1963, 58, 236–244) hierarchical cluster analysis, using an index of similarity from Kuder, 1977, Kuder, 1980, 40, 1–8). The five-group solution in neither case adequately recaptured the occupational membership of the original groups. This finding was interpreted to mean that there may be important differences in the interests of person in the same occupation, which in turn has implications for occupational scaling on interest inventories and theories of career development and counseling.     

The effect of the temporal locus of the introtact probe on the hypothesis-testing strategies of kindergarten children

The hypothesis-testing behavior of kindergarten children in discrimination learning was studied in a factorial design with two temporal placements of introtact probes (pretrial and posttrial) and two types of pretraining (unidimensional and multidimensional). Pretrial probes consisting of a request for the child's current hypothesis were administered in a conventional manner at the beginning of each trial with the stimuli in view and prior to the choice response. Posttrial probes were administered also with the stimuli in view, but after the choice response had occurred and feedback information had been provided. Learning-to-learn experience in solving three pretraining problems was given either with unidimensional simultaneous problems or with more complex multidimensional problems like the criterion tasks. The results indicated that posttrial probes produced superior local consistency, win-stay, and lose-shift probabilities, relative to pretrial probes, for both types of pretraining. Posttrial probes, however, facilitated learning and the testing of valid hypotheses only for multidimensional pretraining. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that posttrial probes constrain the child to be locally consistent and therefore improve short-term efficiency in hypothesis testing under both pretraining conditions. However, posttrial probes produce an improvement in long-term efficiency, and therefore in learning, only when other components of a successful strategy are acquired as in multidimensional pretraining.     

Mechanisms of blocking by contextual stimuli

The influence of contextual stimuli on the conditioning and performance of responding to a discrete stimulus was examined in the US preexposure paradigm using both context shift manipulations and a measure of context conditioning. Four groups of rats received both repeated exposure to an electric shock US in one context (Context 1), and repeated nonshocked exposure to a second context (Context 2). Two additional groups of rats received exposure to these contexts, but never received shock presentations. Rats exposed to shock learned to escape from the stimuli of Context 1, but did not escape from the stimuli provided by Context 2. Rats not exposed to shock failed to escape from either context. All rats then received a single CER conditioning session in which four pairings of a 3-min noise CS and shock US were presented. Half the rats received those CS-US pairings in the excitatory Context 1, while the remaining rats received those pairings in the neutral Context 2. Finally, half the rats in each of the CER conditioning treatments received extinction test trials of the noise CS in Context 1, while the remaining rats received those test trials in Context 2. Thus, this design factorially manipulated the presence of excitatory or neutral contextual stimuli during both conditioning and testing of a discrete CS. In comparison with the two groups of rats never preexposed to shock alone, attenuation in acquisition of conditioned suppression observed during test trials occurred only when CER conditioning had been administered in the excitatory Context 1, and this effect was manifested when testing occurred in either the excitatory Context 1 or the neutral Context 2. These results support the model of R. A. Rescorla and A. R. Wagner (1972) (in A. H. Black & W. F. Prokasy (Eds.) Classical Conditioning II, pp. 64–99, New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts) which asserts that contextual stimuli and sicrete CSs compete for limited associative strength supportable by a given US.