Individual differences and cross-situational consistency of dyadic social behavior

A new theoretical analysis of individual differences and cross-situational consistency of behavior is proposed. The authors hypothesized that the social behavior of mice (Mus musculus) is determined by individual differences among animals in behavior emitted (i.e., actor effects), in behavior elicited from social partners (partner effects), and by unique responses of one animal to another (relationship effects). Each effect represents a distinct facet of individual differences with different psychological meaning; likewise, the cross-situational consistency of each effect has a distinct psychological meaning. Individual differences in behavior emitted were observed, and these actor effects were consistent longitudinally. Individual differences in behavior elicited from social partners were observed, and these partner effects were also consistent longitudinally. Unique responses to specific social partners also determined behavior but were inconsistent longitudinally. The theoretical importance of reconceptualizing the concepts of individual differences and cross-situational consistency in behavior is discussed. ((c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved).     

The social control of behavior control: behavior modification, Individual Rights, and research ethics in America, 1971-1979

In 1971, the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights began a three-year study to investigate the federal funding of all research involving behavior modification. During this period, operant programs of behavior change, particularly those implemented in closed institutions, were subjected to specific scrutiny. In this article, I outline a number of scientific and social factors that led to this investigation and discuss the study itself. I show how behavioral scientists, both individually and through their professional organizations, responded to this public scrutiny by (1) self-consciously altering their terminology and techniques; (2) considering the need to more effectively police their professional turf; and (3) confronting issues of ethics and values in their work. Finally, I link this episode to the formation of the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, whose recommendations resulted in changes to the ethical regulation of federally funded human subjects research that persist to the present day.     

Individual differences, intelligence, and behavior analysis

Despite its avowed goal of understanding individual behavior, the field of behavior analysis has largely ignored the determinants of consistent differences in level of performance among individuals. The present article discusses major findings in the study of individual differences in intelligence from the conceptual framework of a functional analysis of behavior. In addition to general intelligence, we discuss three other major aspects of behavior in which individuals differ: speed of processing, working memory, and the learning of three-term contingencies. Despite recent progress in our understanding of the relations among these aspects of behavior, numerous issues remain unresolved. Researchers need to determine which learning tasks predict individual differences in intelligence and which do not, and then identify the specific characteristics of these tasks that make such prediction possible.     

Individual differences,status and assertive behavior

The current study examined assertive behavior and its relationship to two personality variables—need for social approval (nApp) and the defense mechanism “Turning Against Objects” (TAO)—and one situational variable—the status of the target person. The subjects, 51 female and 41 male undergraduates participated in role play situations which differed with regard to the status (lower, equal and higher) of the target person. They also completed the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability scale and the Defense Mechanism Inventory (Glesser and Ihilevich, 1969). The results revealed a significant interaction between TAO, the approach component of nApp, and the status of the target person. The equal-status situation seemed to be differentiated from both unequal-status situations. The high-nApp- high-TAO subjects differed from all other groups in being less rather than more assertive towards peers than towards others. The patterns that emerged confirmed the interactional approach that both situational and dispositional factors contribute to determining assertiveness of behavior. Tentative interpretations of the findings were suggested with reference to social comparison theory, and implications for further research applications were discussed.     

Ethnicity,culture, and social resources

Assessed social integration (existence or quantity of relationships) and social (specifically, emotional) support in Mexican Americans (MAs) and non-Hispanic whites (NHWs). Ethnic differences were seen as arising from (a) demographic differences between ethnic groups that account for ethnic differences; (b) demographic attributes that have different associations with social resources for each ethnic group; (c) ethnic differences independent of these explanations. Study participants were 538 U.S.-born MA, 706 Mexico-born MA, and 1,149 NHW randomly selected community residents. Immigrants were more often married, and MAs and immigrants reported fewer friends and less emotional support, regardless of demographic attributes. Ethnic differences in demographic attributes accounted for MAs' and immigrants' smaller kin networks. Ethnic differences in demographic correlates of working accounted for MAs' lower employment rates.     

Bioethics, theology, and social change

Recent years have witnessed a concern among theological bioethicists that secular debate has grown increasingly "thin," and that "thick" religious traditions and their spokespersons have been correspondingly excluded. This essay disputes that analysis. First, religious and theological voices compete for public attention and effectiveness with the equally "thick" cultural traditions of modern science and market capitalism. The distinctive contribution of religion should be to emphasize social justice in access to the benefits of health care, challenging the for-profit global marketing of research and biotechnology to wealthy consumers. Second, religion and theology have been and are still socially effective in sponsoring activism for practical change, both locally and globally. This claim will be supported with specific examples; with familiar concepts like subsidiarity and "middle axioms"; and with recent analyses of "participatory democracy" and of emerging, decentralized forms of global governance.     

Nature,culture and social psychology

It is proposed that ideas about ‘nature’ and ‘culture’, key concepts in structural anthropology, have an important bearing on assumptions underlying rival theoretical approaches in social psychology. Experimental social psychologists tend to make the tacit assumption that they are dealing only with nature, while ethogenists like Harré explicitly concentrate on culture and treat nature as irrelevant. Others like Tajfel and Moscovici occupy a middle ground, being concerned with both aspects. Perhaps the most radical critic is Gergen, whose rejection of nature and culture is discussed in detail and shown to be largely based on western cultural beliefs. It is further suggested that mainstream experimental social psychology, epitomized by Aronson's The Social Animal, is equally culture-bound, although masquerading as the study of nature. This contention is supported by an account of predominant failure of replication in a not greatly dissimilar culture. It is concluded, with Doise and Berry, that we need ‘multiple social psychologies’, and with Tajfel and Pepitone that social psychological research must consider the wider system within which social behaviour takes place.     

Development, microevolution, and social behavior

The central questions of social development--from the roots of mother-infant attachment to the plasticity of aggressive behavior--pivot on the relations between genetic and ontogenetic sources of variance. It is proposed that (a) developmental, experiential, and microevolutionary processes typically collaborate, rather than compete, in achieving social adaptation; (b) social behavior patterns are mostly closed to modification in the course of development and across generations, but avenues of vulnerability exist in ontogeny and microevolution for dynamic, rapid, and reversible changes in key features; (c) a general avenue for change is delay or acceleration in the developmental onset of one or more features of the behavior pattern, which in turn modifies the functions and properties of the adaptive configuration; and (d) the features of social behavior that are open to rapid change in ontogeny should be open as well to rapid changes in microevolution, although different underlying processes may be involved. Empirical findings from the investigation of aggressive interactions are used to illustrate this proposal on the dual genesis and coincident adaptation of social behaviors.     

Impact of social problem-solving training on aggressive boys: Skill acquisition,behavior change,and generalization

This study examined the impact of social problem-solving training on the behavior of five aggressive boys. Acquisition of problem-solving skills and changes in classroom behavior were evaluated using multiple-baseline designs within and across subjects. A generalization-programming procedure to promote the use of problem-solving skills in the natural environment was introduced across children in multiple-baseline fashion. Direct observation and behavior ratings were used to evaluate the treatment. Results indicated that each subject acquired the problem-solving skills at levels comparable to well-adjusted peers. Only one child showed behavioral improvement coincident with problem-solving skill acquisition. Three others showed moderate behavior change after the generalization-programming procedure was introduced. Only one child's gains on teacher ratings were maintained at the 6-month followup. The results suggest that cognitive-behavioral treatment of childrens' aggressive behavior may produce changes of limited magnitude and durability.This paper was based on a doctoral dissertation by the first author in partial fulfillment of the requirements of West Virginia University. The authors wish to thank Lianne Willis for her participation as a therapist. Appreciation is also extended to Barry Edelstein, David Hansen, Daniel Hursh, and Mark Cummings for their constructive comments.     

Individual and social identities in intergroup relations

Henri Tajfel's contribution to the experimental study of intergroup relations is highlighted and recent complementary approaches are presented. The distinction between deductive and inductive aspects of social categorization and the links between within group and between group interaction and differentiation are commented. A plea is made for studying self as social representation and for considering ethical issues of intergroup relations.