Reaction time,movement time,and intelligence: A replication and extension

The purpose of the investigation was to replicate and extend a study by Jensen and Munro which found reaction time (RT) and movement time (MT) parameters to correlate negatively and moderately with Raven matrices performance. A sample of 20 ninth-grade girls was used. Relationships between RT and MT and Raven scores were found to be negative and moderate to high, thus replicating the Jensen and Munro study. In addition, moderate to strong negative correlations were found between RT and MT parameters and reading comprehension and performance on the California Test of Basic Skills. Weaker relationships were found for mathematics and English grades although the direction was consistently negative.     

A study of the relationship between individual differences in nonverbal expressiveness and factors of personality and social interaction

Some theoretical and applied implications of individual differences in nonverbal expressiveness were investigated in a medical setting. In Study I, the abilities of 21 physicians to express different emotions through voice tone were assessed and related to physician personality and to actual patient ratings of the physician. Study II replicated Study I using visual as well as vocal cues (i.e., videotapes) of a new sample of physicians, and added a study of physician greetings. It was found that: (1) Aspects of expressive ability were reliably correlated with a cluster of personality traits, thus supporting the notion that nonverbal affective style may be a window to inner dispositions; and (2) expressive ability was related to patient satisfaction with the interpersonal manner of their physicians and to the judged likeability of the physician's greeting, thus providing evidence for the importance of this ability for social interaction.     

The interactive effects of facial expressions of emotion and verbal messages on perceptions of affective meaning

The influence of facial expressions of emotion on perceptions of affective sentence meaning was investigated by pairing happy, angry, suprised, and sad faces of “teachers” with sentences of varying affective tone. Ninety-five students judged the overall meaning communicated by these paired stimuli. The design allowed exploration of unique facial-verbal combination effects, overall cue integration effects, and sex differences. Clear effects of cue combinations emerged. Perceived sincerity was found to be a function of the consistency of evaluative (positivity) but not dominance cues. Perceived positivity was an interactive function of both evaluative cues and dominance cues. Perceived dominance was affected by the interaction of evaluative cues. The subtleties of cue combination were clarified through open-ended dependent measures. Also, as expected, females were found to be more sensitive than males to verbal-nonverbal cue conflict in perceptions of sincerity. However, no other sex differences were found. The findings were discussed with regard to the need for a firm empirical base upon which to integrate verbal and nonverbal research traditions in the communication of affective meaning.     

Modes of information integration and Piagetian measures of concrete operational thought

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationships between modes of information integration and performance on a variety of Piagetian concrete operational tasks. The sample consisted of 180 6- to 8-year-olds. Factor analysis of the Piaget tests revealed five interpretable factors: conversation of substance—equality, conservation of substance— inequality, conservation of number, class inclusion, and matrices. Factor analysis of the marker tests for information integration revealed two factors: simultaneous and successive. All the Piaget measures, with the exception of class inclusion, were related to the simultaneous factor. Class inclusion was weakly related to the successive factor.     

Social group salience and interethnic cooperation

This research was designed to test the adequacy of H. Tajfel's (1978, Differentiation between social groups: Studies in the social psychology of intergroup relations, New York/London: Academic Press) theory of social identity for predicting cooperative behavior among members of ethnically mixed groups. Equally divided by sex, subjects were 24 Anglo-American and 24 Hispanic undergraduate students attending the University of California, Riverside. Subjects were exposed to cooperative and competitive feedback in four-member, same-sex groups which varied in the ratio of Anglo to Hispanic subjects to create two conditions—a 3 to 1 versus a 1 to 3 in-group to out-group composition. Results showed that members of both ethnic groups were equally cooperative when their own group was in the numerical majority (low-salience condition). In the high-salience condition, however, when their own group was in the numerical minority, Hispanic subjects were significantly more competitive than Anglo subjects. In addition, while Hispanics were significantly more competitive in the minority than in the majority condition, Anglos showed a slight tendency to be less competitive in the minority than in the majority condition. These results are discussed in light of social identity theory and its application to the study of interethnic cooperation/competition in heterogeneous groups.     

Effects of counselor sex,student sex,and student attractiveness on counselors' judgments

Thirty-two male and thirty-two female high school counselors in a large metropolitan school district were provided with routine student profile data and asked to make predictions about the student's potential for post-high school education and to suggest occupations for the student to explore. All data reviewed by the counselors were identical except for a photograph of the student attached to the profile. Within counselor sex groups, counselors were randomly assigned to one of the following four photograph conditions: (a) attractive female; (b) unattractive female; (c) attractive male; and (d) unattractive male. Male subjects were found to discriminate on the basis of student sex when they suggested occupations for the student to explore. Predictions of post-high school education and the social status of suggested occupations were not found to be related to counselor sex, student sex, or student attractiveness.     

Reaction time,evoked brain potentials,and psychometric g in the severely retarded

Measurements derived from reaction time (RT), movement time (MT), and an index of neural adaptability (NA) derived from averaged evoked potentials are significantly related to each other as well as to g factor scores extracted from a battery of 15 psychometric tests in a sample of 54 severely retarded adults. The RT-MT and NA variables show a shrunken multiple R of .64 (p < .001) with psychometric g.     

The effect of auditory input on cerebral laterality

Cerebral laterality was examined for third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade deaf and hearing subjects. The experimental task involved the processing of word and picture stimuli presented singly to the right and left visual hemifields. The analyses indicated the deaf children were faster than the hearing children in overall processing efficiency, and that they performed differently in regard to hemispheric lateralization. The deaf children processed the stimuli more efficiently in the right hemisphere, while the hearing children demonstrated a left-hemisphere proficiency. This finding is discussed in terms of the hypothesis that cerebral lateralization is influenced by auditory processing.     

Verbal-vocal integration as a function of sex and methodology

The process by which persons appear to combine content and intonation to form an impression of a speaker's friendliness may be a function of sex and the analytical techniques used to evaluate the models. Sixty subjects (half male, half female) from the campus population were asked to rate the content, tone, and total message of short sentences from male speakers. Analysis of variance and regression analysis were used to evaluate Linear, Multiplicative, Minimum, and Maximum models. Responses were essentially linear, although the multiplicative component was significant in some results, and the Minimum model received some support for males. More weight was given to tone than content, especially by females and for inconsistent messages. Idiographic analysis proved superior to normative analysis, and the ignored content method provided greater reliability and explanation than previously used filtered speech.     

Individual differences in process outcomes for verbal analogy and classification solution

Adult performance on verbal analogy and classification problems was assessed in terms of the outcomes of process execution. Measures were obtained for the accuracy of stem processing and subsequent alternative processing. The process-outcome measures obtained within each task accounted for overall performance scores and were differentially related to ability. This was shown by ability differences in the models accounting for subjects' overall accuracy and in the correlational patterns. Analogy and classification problem forms differed in the measures most important for predicting individual differences. Specifically, measures of alternative processing were more important in classification than analogy solution and application was shown to be important for analogy solution. In addition, common process-outcome measures showed the highest correlations across problem forms, consistent with the assumption that both induction tasks tap similar psychological processes. The results are discussed with respect to previous studies assessing commonality and individual differences among children in process-outcomes.     

The complexity continuum in the radex and hierarchical models of intelligence

The hierarchical and radex models of ability organization are shown to be parallel. Both models suggest a complexity continuum along which cognitive performance tasks can be arrayed. In our revised radex model, the complexity continuum from the center to the periphery is shown to correspond to the general-to-specific dimension in factor analyses, or to test correlations with the general factor; complexity is redefined as apparent processing complexity. Examination of the theoretical and empirical bases for this continuum indicates its central importance for theories of intelligence.     

Male alcoholics,secondary psychopathy and Eysenck's theory of personality

The scores of several samples of male alcoholics and others on the MAC Scale (an MMPI-derived scale for the differentiation of male alcohol abusers from non-substance-abusing male psychiatric outpatients) are summarized, and the responses of the false negatives and false positives from the scale's standardization samples are analyzed. The following 7conclusions were reached: (1) There are two broad classes of male alcoholics—those who fall into the E + N + quadrant of secondary psychopathy and those who fall into the E - N + quadrant of neurotic introversion; (2) Unselected runs of male alcoholics populate these two quadrants in a quite stable ratio of 17 to 3, respectively; (3) Pari passu, Eysenck's placement of alcoholics in the E + N + quadrant will be upheld in approximately 85% of the cases while those who hold that alcoholics are ‘dysthymics who also drink too much’ will find themselves in error in approximately similar degree.     

The linkage of work achievement to self-esteem,career maturity,and college achievement

This study tested whether self-esteem and mature career attitudes related to one another and complemented one another in predicting academic and work achievement for 174 college students. Analysis showed both constructs related to achievement and supported the thesis that self-esteem facilitates development of mature career attitudes, which in turn promote academic and work achievement. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for theory and practice.     

The clinical validity of the process for assessment of effective student functioning

This report presents the results of a study of the clinical validity of A Process for Assessment of Effective Student Functioning. A clinical team composed of social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists saw 300 representative second and fifth grade children, rated them on interview and test protocols, and summarized the evaluation by single and summary qualitative judgments. The clinical validity criteria were established on the basis of independent evaluations of the home environment, the intellectual and emotional status of the child, and the child's ego functioning. Finally, a clinical criterion score was derived from the overall evaluation of the effectiveness of each subject by each member of the team. The multiple correlations of the three screening measures with the clinical criterion score ranged from .49 to .55 for second grade and fifth grade boys and girls. The clinical criterion scores of children who were screened by the recommended multiple cut-off procedure showed that none of the screened group was rated by the clinicians to have better than average adjustment. The multiple correlation and multiple cut-off procedure showed that the Process was valid for predicting independent clinical judgments of the status of these children. Furthermore, the Process was far more efficient in locating potentially handicapped children than either a carefully designed teacher nomination procedure or teacher referral.     

Some relations of general intelligence and selective attention

General intelligence may set structural feature limitations on three aspects of selective attention: direction, adjustability, and breadth. Amiable hypotheses considered are that subjects of varying intelligence may (1) have some partially fixed tendencies to look at different dimensions of stimuli, (2) have varying rates of adjusting their direction of attention, and (3) have varying upper limits on breadth of attention for tasks demanding it. Data, theory, and methods bearing on these hypotheses were reviewed from the domain of visual discrimination learning.     

Components of geometric analogy solution

Geometric analogy solution was investigated as a function of systematic variations in the information structure of individual items. Latency data from the verification of true and false items indicated that individuals decompose figural patterns in a way that represents a sequential determination of the various elements that need to be isolated. They also appear to identify and evaluate the transformations applied to elements in a way that represents a sequential determination of the separate or successive transformations that fully specify an item rule. Analysis and evaluation of transformations took more time than element analysis and was the primary source of errors. The combined effects of element and transformation processing violated a simple additive model and the best fitting functions suggested that nonadditive increases in solution latency and error rates were due to working memory limitations associated with the representation and manipulation of item features at high levels of rule complexity. Correlational data also indicated that these factors partially account for individual differences in performance on psychometric tests. The latency and error data for true and false items are used to develop a general theoretical system that incorporates assumptions about the form of item representation, working memory factors, and processing components and strategies in analogical reasoning tasks.     

Critical flicker frequency and intelligence

Tests of verbal intelligence (Concept Mastery Test) and nonverbal intelligence (Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices) showed nonsignificant zero-order correlations and a nonsignificant multiple correlation with critical flicker frequency (CFF), in 100 university students. Age-partialled correlations were even lower, and corrections for attenuation and restriction of range yielded unimpressive results. It was concluded that CFF has a negligible relationship to psychometric intelligence and is probably a poor tool in the investigation of the nature of g.     

Communicating the reasons for social rejection

Two studies examined the pattern of reasons given for rejecting dates and how they reflect concerns of the rejector. Study One examined retrospective accounts of rejection. Rejectors often reported withholding the reason for rejection from the rejected person. A content analysis of the reasons communicated to rejected persons was performed using Weiner's (Journal of Educational Psychology, 1979, 71, 3–25) attributional dimensions of locus, controllability, and stability. The stated reasons were found to be primarily impersonal, uncontrollable, and unstable. Study Two examined rejectors' willingness to communicate certain types of reasons. The true, privately held reasons for turning down dates were systematically varied as to locus, controllability, and stability. The types of reasons subjects offered to rejected persons were consistent with Study One. Reasons for refusal were less likely to be revealed when they related to the appearance or personality of the rejected person, particularly when the personal reasons were uncontrollable and stable. Rejectors were not as forthright when they controlled the reason for rejection as when they lacked control. The rejectors' actions were interpreted as being self-presentational, reflecting concerns about rejected persons' emotional reactions, expectancies for the future of the relationship, and blame for rejection.     

Mental strategies,mental capacity,and instruction: A neo-Piagetian investigation

Pascual-Leone's neo-Piagetian theory of development was used to predict the pre- and postinstruction distributions of scores on a subject-controlled digit placement task as a function of three parameters: (1) the mental strategy which subjects attempted to apply, (2) the demand which attempting to apply this strategy placed on their mental capacity, and (3) the maximum mental capacity which they were capable of mobilizing. The predicted and obtained distributions corresponded quite closely for each kind of strategy at each age level sampled (6, 8, and 10). The discussion focused on the methodological and analytic requirements which must be met if the same approach is to be applied to making successful predictions in more naturalistic paradigms.