Motivated remembering efforts during tip-of-the-tongue states

Hart (1965) argues that the feeling of knowing in tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) states monitors memory content and motivates retreival efforts. Although a number of studies have examined the memory-monitoring accuracy of feelings of knowing and not-knowing, no studies have focused directly on the hypothesized motivational function of these feeling states. This second function of memory feeling states is investigated in this study by assessing the degree to which TOT and Don't Know (DK) states interfere with a subject's ability to perform well on a concurrent task. Subjects studied a list of arbitrary word pairs for 3, 5, or 7 seconds and then provided Recall, TOT, or DK reports in an immediate recall test. Performance on the simple number-probe task that followed each memory report was poorer on TOT trials than on DK trials. This effect did not vary as a function of encoding time. Since covert memory searches were possible on both TOT and DK trials, it is concluded that the performance decrement observed on TOT trials is due to the fact that covert TOT target searches command processing capacity that might otherwise go to the concurrent number-probe task. The absence of an encoding time effect suggests that TOT states do not monitor the associative strength of target traces as Hart (1967) has proposed. The findings in this study are interpreted as providing support for the proposition that the feeling of knowing in the TOT state influences the setting of capacity-allocation priorities in the memory system.     

Protection motivation and self-efficacy: A revised theory of fear appeals and attitude change

The effects of fear appeals on persuasion were investigated in a factorial experiment that was designed to test a combined model of protection motivation theory and self-efficacy theory. As predicted, the probability of a threat's occurrence and the effectiveness of a coping response both had positive main effects on intentions to adopt a recommended preventive health behavior. More importantly, the findings provided support for self-efficacy expectancy as a fourth component of protection motivation theory: Self-efficacy had a direct influence on intentions and interacted with two other variables of protection motivation theory. The interaction effect was interpreted in terms of two new decision-making strategies that people use when confronted with a fear appeal: a precaution strategy and a hyperdefensiveness strategy. In addition, the results replicated previous findings on the relationship between self-efficacy expectancy and outcome expectancy. A model incorporating protection motivation theory and self-efficacy theory is presented as a possible general model of attitude change.     

Need for achievement,career mobility,and the Mexican-American college graduate

Need for achievement and career mobility were measured for 111 Mexican-American college graduates. Those with a moderate need for achievement were found to have the highest upward mobility. Those with either a high or low need for achievement had lower mobility. The implications of this finding are discussed.     

Organizational communication,performance, and job satisfaction as a function of ethnicity and sex

Regression analysis was used to examine simultaneously the effects of supervisors' and subordinates' ethnicity and sex on organizational communication, supervisory-rated performance, and job satisfaction. The study indicates that female subordinates differentially perceive organizational communication. It also identifies interactions between the sex of the supervisor and subordinate on communication and between the ethnicity of the superior and subordinate on supervisory-rated performance. There were limited impacts of sex and ethnicity on job satisfaction.     

Substance use as an employee response to the work environment

A conceptual framework for the examination of alcohol and drug use as employee responses to work environments is proposed. Three sets of substance use antecedents are discussed. These are distancing forces, attractions, and constraints. Examples of these antecedents within the organizational setting are provided, and the dynamic interrelationships among them explored. Conditions for the use of different types of substances are also identified.     

Personality correlates of Holland's occupational types: A cross cultural study

Recent studies have investigated the personality traits of persons in Holland's six occupational categories. In the present study the generalizability of Holland's characterizations of adults within the occupational categories was investigated in a group of 402 Mexican-Americans. Occupational Scale scores on the Kuder Occupational Interest Survey were used to classify subjects into Holland's occupational types. Multiple discriminant analysis of groups' Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey scale scores resulted in significant overall groups differentiation and two significant discriminant functions for males but no significant results for females. The personality characteristics of the male groups provide strong support for the generalizability of Holland's characterizations to Mexican-American males.     

A clarification of selective exposure: The impact of choice

Selective exposure as a reaction to cognitive dissonance has long eluded researchers working in the realm of dissonance theory. It is proposed here that the difficulties in selective exposure paradigms have resulted from inadequate designs, and more particularly, it is likely that many of the previous findings are due to confoundings. The present experiment manipulates the variable of choice with the intent of controlling for a variety of possible confounds. The experiment shows a simple, theoretically predicted effect: Selective exposure, favoring supporting over nonsupporting information, increases to the degree that an onerous task is undertaken with volition.     

Job scope,job satisfaction,and the Protestant Ethic: A study of enlisted men in the U.S. Navy

Questionnaire data were obtained from 149 enlisted men in the U.S. Navy. The job scope (JS)-satisfaction with the work itself (SWI) relationship was examined for the study's total sample and for subsamples created by grouping individuals on the basis of their degree of belief in the Protestant Ethic (PE). It was hypothesized and found that the JS-SWI relationship was positive and significantly different from zero for the study's total sample and each of the three PE subsamples. Contrary to one of the study's hypotheses, PE did not moderate the JS-SWI relationship. The study's results were discussed in terms of their implications for theory and practice in the area job design.     

Reward behavior by male and female leaders: A causal inference analysis

This research investigated causal inferences between leader reward behavior (positive and punitive) and subordinate goal attainment, absenteeism, and work satisfaction over a 3-month period in a merchandise distribution center (n = 252). Four groups were studied: (a) male supervisors-male subordinates, (b) male supervisors-female subordinates, (c) female supervisors-female subordinates, and (d) female supervisors-male subordinates. Using the techniques of tests of mean differences and corrected cross-lag correlations, the results revealed that: (a) No significant differences attributed to sex were found between the four groups with the perceptions of leader reward behavior or subordinate outcome measures, and (b) the causal inference analysis suggested that the relationships between leader reward behavior and subordinate attitudes and behavior were independent of the effects of sex of supervisor or subordinate. Implications for research on sex stereotypes and leadership were discussed.     

Stability and change in the prestige rankings of occupations over 49 years

The social status of occupations has remained stable over a 49-yr period beginning with Count's study that found occupations in a well-defined, prestige order. This prestige hierarchy has obtained throughout several replicated studies, some of which controlled the variables of race, educational level and sex. The prestige level of occupations have withstood the test of time including World War II and even sociological and educational changes.     

Memory span and short-term memory capacity: A developmental study

A memory span task involving series conditions comprised of several different types of material was administered to children from three grade levels (7–12 years of age). As expected, age differences were strongly affected by type of material, with two conditions (consonant letters, words) intended to restrict opportunities for chunking yielding age differences that were negligible, and one condition (consonant-vowel letters) constructed to maximize sequential probability yielding age differences that were large. This finding renders less plausible the popular notion that capacity increases with age, and suggests that age differences in memory span reflect chunking processes. Additional findings, which indicate that age differences in memory span are affected by method of presentation and stage of practice, suggest that these variables should be considered in studies aimed at estimating children's memory capacity.     

The fantasy-reality distinction in televised violence: Modifying influences on children's aggression

Fifth-grade and kindergarten boys and girls were exposed to a violent televised episode that was introduced as a fictional portrayal (fantasy condition) or as a news broadcast (reality condition). Additional groups were given no information (no-instructional-set condition) about the violent stimulus or were not exposed to the violent episode (no-TV condition). Aggressive responses and helping responses were recorded immediately following exposure. Boys were most aggressive in the reality and no-TV conditions. They were less aggressive in the noinstructional-set condition and least aggressive in the fantasy condition. In almost direct contrast, girls were most aggressive in the fantasy and no-instructional-set conditions and least aggressive in the reality and no-TV conditions. A posteriori analyses of this interaction effect revealed that girls were less aggressive than boys in the no-TV condition and in the reality condition, but not in the fantasy condition nor the no-instructional-set condition. These effects held for both older and younger children.     

Knowledge of one's own responding and the relation of such knowledge to learning: A developmental study

First-, third-, fifth-grade children, and college students (ages 6, 8, 10, and 19 years) acquired a paired-associate list under the study-test procedure to a one error-less trial criterion. In addition, as each pair was presented the individual indicated whether he/she had that pair correct on the immediately preceding trial (postdiction responses). The data were interpreted in terms of a discrimination-utilization hypothesis which postulates that individuals discriminate their own correct and incorrect responses on a given trial and use this information for distributing processing effort on the subsequent trial. Analyses involving the accuracy of postdiction responses, the relation of postdiction accuracy to acquisition, and the consideration of the acquisition data in terms of a two-stage model led to the conclusion that older children and adults may use the discrimination-utilization strategy but younger children tend not to use it, probably because of both mediation and production deficiencies.     

The effects of uncontrollable failure and depression on memorial processes

Many investigators have argued that exposure to uncontrollable failure and depressed mood affect learning processes. However, little has been done to explore how information processing is affected by such events. Two experiments revealed that prior failure (Experiment 1) and depressed mood (Experiment 2) have similar effects on a simple free-recall task. These data are interpreted to suggest that the experience of uncontrollable failure and depression disrupt the transfer or retrieval of new information from a transient to a more permanent storage format. The implications of these data are discussed.     

Defensive burying of aversive fluids in rats: The possible role of odor

Defensive burying of flavored fluids paired with lithium chloride injections was examined. Rats showed little inclination to bury conditioned saccharin or salt solutions (Experiments 1 and 2). However, they buried tabasco sauce or dilute milk solutions readily (Experiment 3). It was hypothesized that the amount of olfactory stimulation provided by a solution may determine whether a rat engages in burying. This hypothesis received support in a final experiment which demonstrated that rats readily buried an arbitrarily selected odorous solution which was previously paired with lithium chloride. Thus the present experiments begin the process of identifying the circumstances under which burying does and does not occur.     

Subcortical aphasia with deep dyslexia: A case study of a Japanese patient

The reading performance of a Japanese Broca-type aphasic patient on a single-word reading test was investigated. The result indicated that the subject fits the symptom complex of deep dyslexia in more than one aspect. Unique characteristics of this subject included (1) the isolated subcortical site of the lesion, which apparently produced deep dyslexia, and (2) double dissociations between kanji and kana processing and between oral reading and reading comprehension. The performance of this subject was compared with that of another Japanese deep dyslexic subject in S. Sasanuma (1980, In M. Coltheart, K. Patterson, & J. C. Marshall (Eds.), Deep dyslexia, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul). A theoretical implication was attempted based on a dual coding process scheme by S. Sasanuma and O. Fujimura (1978, Cortex, 7, 1-18).     

A scale for the measurement of role-playing ability

A convenient paper-and-pencil measure of acting or role-playing ability was constructed, validated, and compared to a variety of theoretically and methodologically similar and dissimilar scales, including a specially designed improvisational situations test. Results indicate that the new scale provides both a reliable and valid screening device for the study of role-playing ability.     

Individual differences in cognition: Some relationships between personality and memory

Individual differences in cognition were studied in the form of the hypothesis that arousal, as indexed by personality measures of extraversion and neuroticism, affects the way in which verbal material is organized in memory. Subjects pretested on measures of these personality variables participated in either a paired-associates learning or a free-recall experiment. On the paired-associates task, subjects who were thought to be high on arousal made fewer errors when response terms were semantically similar than low arousal subjects. On the other hand, subjects thought low on arousal made fewer errors when response words were phonetically similar than high arousal subjects. On the free-recall task, low arousal subjects were found to cluster words together on the basis of semantic category at a higher rate than high arousal subjects. These results were taken to support the view that high arousal (as indexed by personality measures) leads to a focus on the physical aspects of verbal material, whereas low arousal leads to a memory organized around semantic aspects. The implications of these findings for other views of memory are discussed.     

Academic achievement: An examination of Holland's congruency,consistency, and differentiation predictions

This investigation tested three predictions derived from Holland's (1973) theory of vocational development regarding academic achievement. Groups of 392 male and 424 female entering college freshmen were typed using the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory and were categorized in terms of congruency, consistency, and differentiation. Freshmen with congruent college major choices or with definite majors but indefinite Holland orientations enjoyed greater academic success than students who specified incongruent choices or no definite major choice. Students with personality codes of high or low consistency outperformed students with moderately consistent codes. Freshmen males with differentiated personal orientations achieved higher grade point averages than males having nondifferentiated personality profiles. For females, differentiation was not significant. In all sex comparisons female trends paralleled male trends and females generally outperformed males. Implications for vocational development and counseling were discussed in the context of Holland's theory.