On the self-perpetuating nature of stereotypes about women and men

An experiment was conducted to investigate an interpersonal process that contributes to the perpetuation of stereotyped beliefs about women and men. Male-female pairs of unacquainted individuals interacted to negotiate a division of labor on a series of work-like tasks (that differed in their sex-role connotations) in a situation that permitted control over the information that male perceivers received about the apparent sex of female targets. The perceivers' beliefs about the sex of their targets initiated a chain of events that resulted in targets providing behavioral confirmation for perceivers' beliefs about their sex. Targets believed by perceivers to be male chose tasks relatively masculine in nature, and targets believed by perceivers to be female chose tasks relatively feminine in nature. Although this behavioral confirmation effect was initially elicited as reactions to overtures made by perceivers, it persevered so that eventually targets came to initiate behaviors “appropriate” to the sex with which they had been labeled by perceivers. The specific roles of perceivers and targets in the behavioral confirmation process are examined. Implications of these findings for the perpetuation of stereotyped beliefs about the sexes are discussed.     

Testing hypotheses about other people: The use of historical knowledge

Three experiments were conducted to examine the use of historical knowledge to test contemporary hypotheses about the personal attributes of other people. In the first and second experiments, participants read an extensive account of events in one week of the life of a woman named Jane. Two days later, they used this previously learned information to test hypotheses about Jane's suitability for one of two jobs: either the rather extraverted job of real estate salesperson, or the rather introverted job of research librarian. In their hypothesis-testing activities, participants first reported all those previously learned facts that they regarded as relevant to assessing Jane's suitability for the job under consideration, and then reported their judgments of her job suitability. Participants reported greater amounts of hypothesis-confirming than hypothesis-disconfirming factual material. Moreover, having tested hypotheses about Jane's suitability for one job, participants judged her to be better suited for that job than for the other job. In the third experiment, participants framed hypotheses for assessing job suitability and defined the task of testing these hypotheses. Participants framed hypotheses in terms of those attributes whose presence would confirm the hypotheses and defined the hypothesis-testing task as one of preferentially collecting hypothesis-confirming evidence. The nature and consequences of confirmatory hypothesis-testing strategies are discussed.     

Actors,observers, and the attribution process: Toward a reconceptualization

Jones and Nisbett hypothesize that actors attribute their actions to situational requirements whereas observers attribute the same actions to personal dispositions. This hypothesis is critically examined and a reconceptualization is proposed. Our conceptual analysis focuses on the attributional consequences of differences between actors and observers in: (a) availability of information about the contemporary and historical determinants of the actor's behavior, and (b) susceptibility to possible motivational distortions and cognitive biases. The relationship between this formulation and Jones and Nisbett's analysis of differences between self-perception and interpersonal perception is discussed.     

Acting on one's attitudes: Procedures for linking attitude and behavior

Two investigations examined the determinants of correspondence between attitudes and behaviors. The first investigation examined the relationship between previously measured attitudes toward affirmative action and subsequent behavioral verdicts in a sex discrimination court case. In this basic situation, correspondence between measured attitudes and judicial decision-making behavior was minimal, for both low-self-monitoring individuals and high-self-monitoring individuals. Increasing the availability of attitudes generated substantial correspondence between attitudes and behavior for low-self-monitoring individuals, but not for high-self-monitoring individuals. Increasing the relevance of attitudes generated substantial correspondence between attitudes and behavior for both low-self-monitoring individuals and high-self-monitoring individuals. The second investigation examined the decisions of individuals with favorable attitudes toward psychological research to volunteer to participate in extra sessions of a psychology experiment. Once again, increasing the relevance of attitudes was an effective procedure for inducing individuals to translate existing attitudes into corresponding behaviors. These empirical outcomes are interpreted within a theoretical framework that specifies the interactive contributions of availability, relevance, and self-monitoring to the creation of “action structures” that link attitudes and behavior. Practical implications of this viewpoint are discussed.     

Pavlovian conditioned stimulus effects upon instrumental choice behavior are reinforcer specific

In a transfer-of-control experiment with rats, Pavlovian CSs were tested for the specificity of their effects. The instrumental behavior consisted of a discriminative, conditional two-lever choice task in which qualitatively different appetitive reinforcers were contingent upon the two correct choices. In a Pavlovian phase, subjects experienced conditioning to establish either a CS⁺ or CS^? for one reinforcer or a CS⁺ or CS^? for the other reinforcer. Finally, in a test, these CSs were presented when there was the opportunity to make choice responses. The CS⁺s evoked choices of the lever which had eventuated in the reinforcer that had served as the Pavlovian US, while the CS^?s showed only a slight tendency to evoke the other choice responses. When the CSs were compounded with the original S^Ds, the CS⁺s had little effect upon the vigor of responding while the CS^?s reduced the vigor of responding to the S^D for the reinforcer that was the same as the US used in establishing the CS^?. The results are discussed in terms of associative mediational theory and the reinforcer specificity of Pavlovian conditioned excitation and inhibition.     

Anticipation of reward omission as a cue for choice behavior

A within-subject partial reinforcement extinction effect was obtained in a conditional discriminative choice task. In choice acquisition, one group had learned a task in which one choice alternative was continuously reinforced (CRF) and the other alternative was partially reinforced (PRF). Most errors in the acquisition phase were the choosing of the CRF lever when the conditional stimulus signaled the PRF lever; in extinction this pattern of choice errors reversed. In extinction, most errors were choosing of the PRF lever when the conditional stimulus signaled the CRF lever. The predictions of frustration theory and sequential theory were compared with the choice data. The results were interpreted as consistent with the anticipatory frustration construct within an associative mediational theory.     

The relationship between perception and production of /w/, /r/, and /l/ by three-year-old children

Twenty-one normally developing 3-year-old children were tested on two approximant consonant contrasts, rake-lake and wake-rake, and a control contrast, wake-bake. Perception was assessed in a two-choice picture identification paradigm; stimuli were (1) natural and computer synthesized “clear cases” of the minimal pairs, and (2) synthetic stimulus series which interpolated on acoustic dimensions that differentiate the minimal pairs. As a group, the children showed very accurate perception of the minimal pairs. Performance on the synthetic series yielded consistent identification of the endpoint stimuli and monotonic functions with abrupt crossovers at the phoneme boundary. Children who did not yet articulate /r/ and /l/ appropriately showed somewhat less consistent perception than children who produced all phonemes correctly.     

On unpredictability as a causal factor in “learned helplessness”

In two replications, two groups of dogs were exposed to a series of uncontrollable, electric shocks. For one group the shocks were preceded by a tone (i.e., Paired). For the other group the shocks were randomly related to the tones and hence unpredictable (i.e., Random). Each replication also included a third group; in the first it was exposed only to the series of tones (CS-only), while in the second, it was exposed only to a series of shocks (Shocks-only). Then, all dogs were required to learn a discriminative choice escape/avoidance task in which the required response was to lift the correct paw in the presence of each of two visual S^Ds to escape or avoid the shocks [($\text{S}{}_1{}^{\mathrm{D}}\text{?R}{}_1\text{)}\text{(S}{}_2{}^{\mathrm{D}}\text{?R}{}_2$)]. Dogs preexposed to random tones and shocks were least successful in learning the task relative to those groups which experienced either predicted shocks, only the tones, or only the shocks, which in turn did not differ from each other. These results permitted the inference that the proactive interference with choice behavior following random tone CSs and shocks was attributable to a learned irrelevance generalized with respect to CSs.     

Aversive CS control of instrumental avoidance as a function of selected parameters and method of Pavlovian conditioning

Effects of aversive CSs upon dogs' instrumental avoidance responding were assessed as a function of the Pavlovian conditioning parameters using off-baseline (Experiment 1) and on-baseline (Experiment 2) conditioning procedures. In each experiment, three UCS intensitites (2, 6, and 10 mA) were crossed factorially with two CS-UCS intervals (10 and 90 sec) yielding six groups. After 4 days of conditioning, the CS-produced effects on avoidance were determined primarily by an interaction between Pavlovian procedure (off- versus on-baseline) and UCS intensity. With off-baseline conditioning, CS-produced facilitation of avoidance was an increasing function of the UCS intensity. However, with on-baseline conditioning, only the CS paired with weak UCS facilitated avoidance, and the CS paired with the strong UCS suppressed responding. This reversing parametric function poses problems for two-process motivational theories of avoidance.     

The fit between Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory General Occupational Themes and Holland's hexagonal model

Using a multidimensional scaling procedure, the present study examined the fit of Holland's RIASEC hexagon model to the internal relationships among the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) General Occupational Theme scales. SCII intercorrelation matrices for both sexes as reported in the SCII Manual were submitted, separately for each sex, to TORSCA 9 nonmetric scaling analysis. The Wakefield and Doughtie procedure was used to compare obtained TORSCA coordinates with expectations from Holland's hexagonal model. As a comparison, identical analyses were performed on Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) scale intercorrelation matrices, these data having originally served as the basis for advancing the utility of the hexagon model. For females, the SCII-hexagon fit was not good, with a near reversal of the Social and Enterprising scales. For males, the SCII-hexagon fit was good. For either SCII or VPI scales, the female data met expectations from Holland's model less often than the male data. A replication study on SCII data for 305 female clients of a vocational assessment clinic confirmed the previously observed sex differences. Sex differences in the structure of vocational preferences are discussed.     

Perception of work reinforcer systems: Factor structure

The factor structure of 109 Occupational Reinforcer Patterns approximating the distribution of the employed labor force of the United States was investigated. These work-reinforcer systems, as perceived by almost 6000 raters, were found to be represented best by a three-factor solution. The factors were identified as a Self Reinforcement factor, an Environmental/Organizational reinforcement factor, and a Reinforcement via-Altruism factor. The factors were found to correspond to, respectively, the Achievement-Autonomy, Safety-Comfort, and Al-truism need factors of the Minnesota Importance Questionnaire. For these two measures utilized in the assessment of individual-environment correspondence, commensurate measurement—as required by person-environment fit theories—is possible.     

Effects of static and motion parallax depth information on perception of size in children and adults

The effects of static and kinetic information for depth on judgments of the relative size of objects placed at different distances was studied in 3- and 7-yr-old children and adults. Subjects viewed either a pair of objects placed on the floor of a textured alley or a projected slide of the identical scene. The presence of motion parallax information for depth was also manipulated. All subjects showed a clear sensitivity to static pictorial depth information in judging objects placed so they projected equal retinal areas. When the retinal size of objects was very different, however, children tended to respond to retinal rather than physical size. Motion parallax information increased responsiveness to depth when a 3-dimensional scene was being viewed, but decreased responsiveness with 2-dimensional projections. The decrease was greater in children than adults.     

Recall in preschool children

Free recall, cued recall, color recall, organization in recall, and sorting of 3- and 4-year-olds was assessed on 9-item lists of objects that were orthogonally varied on color and category dimensions. Half of the children in each age group were presented items successively, and the other half simultaneously. Older children recalled more items than younger children in both free and cued recall, and also organized their recall more. Moreover, simultaneous presentation benefited the older, but not younger children. Clustering and sorting data suggested a decreasing reliance on perceptual information, and increasing utilization of conceptual information, over the preschool years. The results were discussed in terms of the importance of concrete, external stimulus support at both time of encoding and retrieval.     

Nonverbal cues to sex-role attitudes

This study explored the relationship between self-reported attitudes toward “masculinity-femininity” and nonverbal behavior as judged by peers. Subjects (Ss) were preselected using an Mf questionnaire into: high-“feminine” males (N = 16) and females (N = 15) and low-feminine males (N = 16) and females (N = 15). The 62 Ss were videotaped in a 5-min standardized interview. Peer-age judges (Js) then viewed the videotapes without sound and asked to check which of the 170 adjectives describe Ss. Some Js were asked to rate average college male and female. A large number of adjectives discriminated the sexes (91 out of 170). Women were more often seen as warm, affable, oversocialized, emotional, and unstable. Men were seen as forceful, dominant, and detached. Sixty-two adjectives discriminated high- and low-feminine women. Feminine women were seen as warm, affable, oversocialized, and submissive, while low-feminine women were seen as dominant. High-feminine men were described as impulsive, dominant, and socially uneasy, while low-feminine men were seen as oversocialized and conventional.     

A multivariate investigation of the reinforcer structure of occupations

Earlier research based on 81 Occupational Reinforcer Patterns (ORPs) suggested a nine-category classification of occupations. The present research, based on 148 ORPs, investigated the ability of that classificatory system to assimilate new information. Cluster analysis of the 148 ORPs yielded an eight-category classification of occupations in which five of the original occupational clusters appeared virtually unchanged; the other four original clusters were combined into two occupational clusters. One new cluster was identified. Principal factors analysis was employed to study the factor structure of the occupational reinforcers and to highlight the essential nature of the classificatory system. Five reinforcer factors were identified.     

A developmental study of semantic elaboration and interpretation in recognition memory

Two experiments examined semantic elaboration and interpretation in recognition memory of 4-year-olds and college students. Subjects were presented pictures of color-specific and non-color-specific items, and then tested for their recognition of the chroma of the items. In Experiment 1, one-half of the presentation items were black and white and one-half colored, and testing always involved one black and white and one colored choice. In Experiment 2, all of the presentation items were colored, and testing always involved two colored choices. In both studies, the pattern of results of the two age groups was similar. Experiments 1 and 2 indicated that recognition judgments were based on representations that were elaborated with preexperimentally acquired semantic color information, and Experiment 2 also indicated that recognition judgments were based on representations that contained interpretive information about the appropriateness of the colors of the items. The results were considered to support and extend the view that when young children and adults share a common knowledge base, they are likely to engage in similar and extensive semantic processing.     

Partial reinforcement and autoshaping of the pigeon's key-peck behavior

Pigeons were exposed to continuous and partial reinforcement (25%) schedules in an autoshaping procedure. The number of trials and/or pairings per session were equated across two factorial group sets and all groups were trained for a fixed total number of acquisition trials (192). When acquisition was analyzed as a function of reinforcements delivered, the groups receiving fewer number of trials per session acquired the response faster, independently of the percentage of reinforced trials. Moreover, the number of reinforcements to satisfy an acquisition criterion was a monotonic function of the number of trials per session but not of the schedule. The results are discussed in relation to the neocontinuity and the scalar expectancy theories.