Effects of Inferred Motive on Evaluations of Nonaccommodative Communication

In two studies, we propose, refine, and test a new model of inferred motive predicting of individuals' reactions to nonaccommodation, defined as communicative behavior that is inappropriately adjusted for participants in an interaction. Inferring a negative motive for others' problematic behavior resulted in significantly less positive evaluations of both the interaction and the speaker than inferring either a positive motive or a lack of intentionality. It was also found that underaccommodation is consistently evaluated less positively than overaccommodation, likely due to inferred motive. In light of this, important amendments to communication accommodation theory's principles are suggested, and implications for future research are discussed.     

Needed: Competent,Confident, and Committed Career Counselors

Gelso, C., Prince, J., Cornfeld, J., Payne, A., Royalty, G., & Wiley, M. (1985). Quality of counselors intake evaluations for clients with problems that are primarily vocational versus personal. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 32, 339–347. Pinkney, J., & Jacobs, D. (1985). New counselor's and personal interest in the tasks of career counseling. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 32, 454–457.     

Conceptualization and Measurement of Interpersonal Communication Motives

The goal of this study was to develop and validate an instrument that could be used to ascertain motives individuals have for interpersonal communication. A 28-item scale is presented along with initial information about the scale's construct validity. Results indicated there were six prominent motives: pleasure, affection, inclusion, escape, relaxation, and control. Low communicative appre-hensives used interpersonal communication for pleasure, affection, and control while high apprehensives were more aligned with the inclusion motive. The motives of pleasure, affection, and relaxation were more closely related to communication satisfaction. In fact, communication satisfaction was best predicted by low communication apprehension, gender, and the pleasure, affection, relaxation, and escape communication motives.     

Children's Classification Skills as Predictors of Their Referential Communicative Encodings

Younger and older children's classification skills were assessed, and their classificatory performance was used as a predictor variable in a multiple-linear-regression analysis to determine whether their classificatory skills accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in their performance on referential communication tasks. We tested 10 boys and 10 girls at each of six age levels between 5 and 10 years individually on a vocabulary test, four classification tasks, and six referential communication tasks. Order of task presentations was counterbalanced; reliabilities for all tasks were high. A series of related multiple-regression analyses showed that grade and vocabulary accounted for a significant proportion of the variance on the referential communication tasks; the series also showed a large decrease in the F value for grade and vocabulary when the contribution of the classification variables was partialled out. No evidence for an independent contribution of the classification variables was found.     

Toddlers’ social evaluations of agents who act on false beliefs

Mature social evaluations privilege agents’ intentions over the outcomes of their actions, but young children often privilege outcomes over intentions in verbal tasks probing their social evaluations. In three experiments (N = 118), we probed the development of intention-based social evaluation and mental state reasoning using nonverbal methods with 15-month-old toddlers. Toddlers viewed scenarios depicting a protagonist who sought to obtain one of two toys, each inside a different box, as two other agents observed. Then, the boxes’ contents were switched in the absence of the protagonist and either in the presence or the absence of the other agents. When the protagonist returned, one agent opened the box containing the protagonist's desired toy (a positive outcome), and the other opened the other box (a neutral outcome). When both agents had observed the toys move to their current locations, the toddlers preferred the agent who opened the box containing the desired toy. In contrast, when the agents had not seen the toys move and therefore should have expected the desired toy's location to be unchanged, the toddlers preferred the agent who opened the box that no longer contained the desired toy. Thus, the toddlers preferred the agent who intended to make the protagonist's desired toy accessible, even when its action, guided by a false belief concerning that toy's location, did not produce a positive outcome. Well before children connect beliefs to social behavior in verbal tasks, toddlers engage in intention-based evaluations of social agents with false beliefs.     

Precursors of a theory of mind: A longitudinal study

The study examined whether the pointing gesture and intentional understanding abilities at 12 and 15 months of age predict the later understanding of perception and intention, as well as the ability to explain others' actions in a psychological way at 39 months of age. Thirty‐five infants (18 girls) were administered pointing and intention‐understanding tasks at the age of 12 and 15 months. Children were again evaluated at the age of 39 months with perception and intention tasks, and a psychological explanation task. Results showed that only 12‐month‐olds' comprehension of the pointing gesture with an imperative motive contributed to the prediction of later understanding of perception and mentalistic explanations of actions. Moreover, the ability of 12‐ and 15‐month‐olds to understand intentions contributed to the prediction of later preschool understanding of perceptions and intentions. These results indicate that a developmental trajectory in children's understanding of mental states from infancy to childhood is present, but depends on the level of engagement and communication that are required to perform these tasks.     

Executive function performance on the children's kitchen task assessment with children with sickle cell disease and matched controls

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare executive function abilities of 8- to 12-year-old children with sickle cell disease (SCD) with a matched control sample. The measures included the parent and teacher Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF); the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS), Free Sorting Test and Color Word Interference Test; and the Children's Kitchen Task Assessment (CKTA), a new performance measure. Methods: Twenty-two children with SCD were recruited from one hematology clinic and 22 community children, matched on characteristics of age, gender, and race, were selected from a larger sample of controls for comparison. Parents and teachers completed rating scales. Results:As hypothesized, children with SCD scored significantly lower than matched controls on Digit Span Forward; on 5 of the 9 D-KFES Color Word Interference and Sorting tasks; on CKTA organization, initiation, and task completion; and on the BRIEF's parent and teacher Metacognitive Index (MI) and Global Executive Composite (GEC) scores. Conclusion:Cognitive and performance evaluations indicate lower executive function among children with SCD. Results substantiate the need for evaluative triangulation for children with SCD: Neurocognitive testing supported by performance testing, and adult reflection of a child's daily performance compared to other children. These elements will provide rich data to create educational support for children with SCD who have frequent hospitalizations, school absences, and the potential presence of cerebral vascular accident symptomology.     

Elster on the Emotions

Don Mannison levels three criticisms at the claims I make in ‘Faking Nature’. First, he claims that I argue from (1) X is valued to (2) X has value. I do not. Second, he criticizes an argument of Nelson Goodman's to which I allude. While his criticism has point he misrepresents the role I assign to Goodman's argument. Third, he suggests that there is no need for me to count environmental evaluations as evaluations of the moral kind. However, he offers no account of why I should not and ignores an important consideration that requires that I should.     

Internalism, (Super)fragile Reasons,and the Conditional Fallacy

Abstract

David Sobel (2001) objects to Bernard Williams's internalism, the view that an agent has a reason to perform an action only if she has some motive that will be served by performing that action. Sobel is an unusual challenger in that he endorses neo-Humean subjectivism, ‘the view that it is the agent's subjective motivational set that makes it the case that an agent does or does not have a reason to φ’ (219). Sobel's objection in fact arises from this very commitment. Internalism, he says, is incompatible with the best subjectivist accounts of reasons for action—accounts that suggest that there are what he calls fragile reasons and perhaps also superfragile ones, both of which allegedly provide for counterexamples to internalism. I argue that such reasons do not in fact threaten internalism. I then briefly explore whether internalism is vulnerable to a related charge—that it commits the conditional fallacy.     

Verbal and nonverbal communication in at-risk mother-child dyads: Implications for relationship quality and developing positive social behaviours in middle-childhood

Factors that promote healthy relationships have been understudied. The objective of this study is to examine mother–child verbal and nonverbal communication (separately), relationship quality and children's positive social behaviours in an at-risk sample framed within the developmental psychopathology approach. Mothers are part of a 35-year longitudinal prospective study who, as children, were rated by peers on measures of aggression and social withdrawal. These mothers, with their own 9- to 13-year-old children, participated in conflict and game-playing tasks. Verbal and nonverbal communication were coded separately using systematic observational measures. Maternal childhood histories of aggression and withdrawal predicted poorer dyad verbal communication, relationship quality and children's positive social behaviours. Frequently displayed positive verbal and nonverbal communication were associated with better relationship quality and children's positive social behaviours. The results highlight the unique contributions of verbal and nonverbal communication to adaptive development and to promoting healthy relationships in at-risk families during middle-childhood.     

What motivates lay third parties to take sides in a conflict? Examining the relationships between the Big Five personality traits and side‐taking motives

Taking sides is one of the reactions available to third parties in handling a dispute. From the perspective of individual differences, this study was aimed at identifying lay third parties' motives for side taking and exploring their relations with the Big Five personality traits. We tested our assumptions using three samples: A Dutch student sample (n = 111), a Dutch employee sample (n = 101) and a Chinese student sample (n = 124). The findings revealed four types of side‐taking motives: Moral, relational, reward‐approaching and sanction‐avoiding motives. The results also showed that individuals' personality traits were relevant to the four types of side‐taking motives: Agreeableness was associated with the relational motive for side taking, and intellectual autonomy was associated with the reward‐approaching motive, the sanction‐avoiding motive and the relational motive for side taking. Implications and explanations of these findings are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Classical Psychophysics and the Assessment of Agreement and Accuracy In Judgments of Personality

ABSTRACT The just noticeable difference (jnd) unit of classical psycho-physics is introduced as a new way to describe accuracy and agreement in observer evaluations of personality. A formula for estimating jnd's from typically available summary statistics is derived from Thurstone's law of comparative judgment. A study examining four traits judged in 10 samples of subjects where the design permitted the calculation of jnd's by the method of paired comparisons indicated that the formula predicted the empirically derived jnd's associated with the mean judge ratings with considerable precision. Jnd's of criterion measures were also predicted, and while fit was somewhat less impressive in this case, there was still appreciable convergence between predicted and empirical values. The implications of jnd measures of agreement and accuracy are discussed. These implications include (a) possibilities for increased understanding of bias in observer judgments, (b) a new recognition that equal correlations to external criteria do not necessarily imply equal accuracy, and (c) alternative ways of describing the magnitude of effect in psychological research.     

Evaluations Versus Expectations: Children's Divergent Beliefs About Resource Distribution

Past research reveals a tension between children's preferences for egalitarianism and ingroup favoritism when distributing resources to others. Here we investigate how children's evaluations and expectations of others' behaviors compare. Four‐ to 10‐year‐old children viewed events where individuals from two different groups distributed resources to their own group, to the other group, or equally across groups. Groups were described within a context of intergroup competition over scarce resources. In the Evaluation condition, children were asked to evaluate which resource distribution actions were nicer. In the Expectation condition, children were asked to predict which events were more likely to occur. With age, children's evaluations and expectations of others' actions diverged: Children evaluated egalitarian actions as nicer yet expected others to behave in ways that benefit their own group. Thus, children's evaluations about the way human social actors should behave do not mirror their expectations concerning those individuals' actions.     

Luther's Understanding of Imputatio in the Context of his Doctrine of Justification and Its Consequences for the Preaching of the Gospel

This article deals with the problem of how to understand the notion of imputatio within Martin Luther's doctrine of justification, which for Luther is both necessary and sufficient. The author shows that Luther interprets imputatio in a threefold way: by outlining (1) the non‐imputation of sin, (2) the imputation of faith as righteousness, and (3) the imputation of Christ's righteousness to the sinner. Interpreting imputatio in this particular way, Luther maintains his view of Christian faith as a communicative, dynamic and changeable reality which is crucially dependent on communication. For that reason, Luther's understanding of justification cannot be considered without his understanding of preaching the gospel, in which the gospel of Christ is communicated to individuals. Thus in the preaching and the hearing of God's word, imputation is taking place in the communication of the gospel, mirroring the communicative structure of faith's reality itself.     

Spatial Learning from Different Positions in a Room

Communication and role-taking skills were hypothesized to be positively affected by amount of preschool peer experience. Twenty Ss comprised two groups of 4-year-old boys and girls who differed in amount of preschool peer experience but were similar in age and verbal IQ. Intercorrelations among measures, as well as group differences, were assessed for two role-taking measures, a referential communication task, verbal expressive abilities, and peer-reported popularity. Cognitive egocentrism was low across tasks for both groups. Support for the role-taking construct was provided by significant correlations between tasks with IQ partialled out. Role-taking and communication skills were significantly related, although the contribution of verbal IQ to both was substantial. Significant group differences occurred in communication, but not role-taking skills. Findings are interpreted in terms of generalization of social experience to social tasks.     

The Effects of Sales Message and Suspicion of Ulterior Motives on Salesperson Evaluation

This research investigates the extent to which a salesperson's presentation and consumer suspicion of ulterior motive affect salesperson evaluations and purchase intentions. Study 1 indicates that a salesperson's presentation plays an essential role in confirming or discontinuing consumer suspicion and that this process has important implications in the formation of salesperson attitudes. Evidence from Study 2 demonstrates that these interaction effects are mediated by persuasion‐motive attributions. The findings also support a direct link between attitude toward the salesperson and purchase intentions. Collectively, these results extend the persuasion literature by demonstrating that suspicion of motive is a dynamic state in which consumers entertain rival hypotheses about the salesperson (e.g., is the salesperson truly motivated to help me, or motivated to make his or her commission?) and that, depending on the degree of suspicion, the same salesperson's tactics will be processed very differently by consumers.     

Latent class analysis of college women's motivations for engaging in same-sex performativity

Same-sex performativity (SSP), or public performances of sexuality (e.g., kissing) between women who identify as heterosexual, is a relatively common relational experience among college-aged women. Identifying patterns of women's motivations for engaging in SSP can elucidate the heterogeneity among women's social and sexual behaviors during a critical developmental period (i.e., college). We used latent class analysis to identify classes of heterosexual undergraduate women who engaged in SSP (N = 282). We identified three classes of motivational patterns: Other-Motivated (i.e., notably motivated by male attention, wanting to shock others, wanting to bond, and social pressure), Ambiguously Motivated (i.e., most motivated by alcohol and fun, but minimally motivated overall), and Sexually Motivated (i.e., notably motivated by sexual desire and sexual experimentation). We then examined how class membership was associated with variables related to participants' evaluation of their SSP experience, self and identity, sexuality, and heterosexism. Classes significantly differed in SSP evaluations, as well as in certain facets of self and identity and sexuality (i.e., sorority membership and same-sex desire). These data provide evidence of substantial complexity in the characterizations of women who engage in SSP. We discuss the implications of the relationship between motivational patterns and women's evaluations of the SSP experience.     

Expectations for Postcombination Organizational Life: A Study of Responses to Merger and Acquisition Scenarios1

A scenario experiment was conducted to investigate expectations for postmerger/acquisition (combination) life. Relative size of participants' organization (i.e., being in an organization of smaller, equal or larger size), and the motive for combining (growth or survival) were predicted to influence postcombination expectations regarding personal autonomy, the use of power, postcombination sense of organizational morale/identity, feelings of job security, and career opportunities. After reading scenarios of organizational combinations in which relative organizational size and motive were manipulated, 252 MBA students responded to questionnaires designed to assess their postcombination expectations. Results indicated that size and motive had significant effects on expectations. In brief (a) the most positive postcombination expectations were from persons in larger organizations when the motive for combining was growth and (b) the least positive postcombination expectations were from persons from smaller organizations when survival was the motive for combining.