Perceived punishment and reward values of supervisor actions

The study investigated employee perceptions about the reward or punishment values inherent in a variety of supervisor actions. Actions viewed as most rewarding were generally actions that possessed (a) public visibility, (b) tangibility, (c) implied esteem, and (d) long-term implications. Actions viewed as punishing or aversive involved similar characteristics. Visibility appeared to be most strongly related to perceived severity. In contrast with suggestions in the literature (cf. León, 1981), substantial levels of agreement among raters were found for aversive as well as rewarding actions. Also reviewed are characteristics of leader actions that received mixed ratings from respondents.     

Multiple context mere exposure: Examining the limits of liking

Recent evidence suggests that increased liking of exposed stimuli—a phenomenon known as the mere exposure effect—is dependent on experiencing the stimuli in the same context at exposure and test. Three experiments extended this work by examining the effect of presenting target stimuli in single and multiple exposure contexts. Target face stimuli were repeatedly paired with nonsense words, which took the role of contexts, across exposure. On test, the mere exposure effect was found only when the target face stimuli were presented with nonsense word cues (contexts) with which they had been repeatedly paired. The mere exposure effect was eliminated when exposure to target face stimuli with the nonsense word cues (contexts) was minimal, despite the overall number of exposures to the target face being equated across single- and multiple-context exposure conditions. The results suggest that familiarity of the relationship between stimuli and their context, not simply familiarity of the stimuli themselves, leads to liking. The finding supports a broader framework, which suggests that liking is partly a function of the consistency between past and present experiences with a target stimulus.     

An examination of the multidimensionality of supervisor and subordinate perceptions of leader‐member exchange

Research on leader‐member exchange (LMX) theory typically has measured LMX in a unidimensional manner and has neglected supervisor perceptions of the LMX relationship. The present study developed and validated a multidimensional scale of supervisor LMX based on Liden and Maslyn's (1998) multidimensional subordinate LMX scale. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a multidimensional factor structure for both supervisor and subordinate LMX scales with four distinct dimensions: affect, loyalty, contribution, and professional respect. Results further indicated that these dimensions differentially predicted various criteria indicating that different aspects of the LMX relationship are of greater or lesser importance depending upon the criterion of interest. Additionally, results indicated that multidimensional LMX scales measured from both supervisor and subordinate perspectives predict important individual job attitudes and behaviours above scales that are either unidimensional or measured from just one perspective.     

Strength of context does modulate the subordinate bias effect: a reply to Binder and Rayner

Using a self-paced reading task, Kellas, Martin, Yehling, Herman, and Vu (1995) demonstrated that strength of context can modulate the effects of meaning frequency. Binder and Rayner (1998) initially replicated the results, using eye-tracking methodology. On further examination of the stimuli, Binder and Rayner eliminated 43% of the stimulus set and found that context strength failed to modulate meaning frequency. Binder and Rayner's initial replication of Kellas et al. and the convergence of results between their two main experiments established the validity of self-paced reading as a measure of on-line reading, when compared with eye-tracking methodology. However, their central conclusion, that context strength cannot modulate the subordinate bias effect, is open to question. In this commentary, we examine the criteria adopted to exclude items from our homonym set and discuss the issue of local versus published norms. We also discuss the issue of context strength, as related to the specific rating procedures employed. Finally, we conclude that strong context can, in fact, eliminate the subordinate bias effect and that the context-sensitive model can more fully account for the available data on lexical ambiguity resolution.     

Morphemic ambiguity resolution in Chinese: Activation of the subordinate meaning with a prior dominant-biased context

In the present study, we examined how morphemic ambiguity is resolved using the visual-world paradigm. Participants were presented with Chinese bimorphemic words containing an ambiguous morpheme (analogous to the suffix -er in teacher and taller) and performed a visual search task. Their eye-movement patterns during target detection showed that (1) without a prior context, the dominant meaning of an ambiguous morpheme was more available than the subordinate one; (2) with a dominant-biased prior context, the subordinate meaning was still activated; and (3) a subordinate-biased prior context could inhibit the dominant interpretation. Therefore, both the frequency of the intended meaning and the prior contextual biases play a role in morphemic ambiguity resolution. The results are discussed with reference to models of ambiguity resolution and recent proposals of the graded nature of morphological effects.     

Effects of a favor and liking on compliance

A laboratory experiment was conducted to examine the effects of a favor and of liking on compliance with a request for assistance from a confederate. Liking for the confederate was manipulated, and male subjects then received a soft drink from the confederate, from the experimenter, or received no favor. Compliance with the confederate's request to purchase some raffle tickets was measured, as was liking for the confederate. The results showed that the favor increased liking for the confederate and compliance with his request, but the effect of manipulated liking was weak. Detailed ratings of the confederate as well as correlational data suggested that the relationship between favors and compliance is mediated, not by liking for the favor-doer, but by normative pressure to reciprocate.     

Influences of culture and visual context on real-time social categorization

Social categorization is often thought to be based on facial features and immune to visual context. Moreover, East Asians have been argued to attend to context more than Westerners. American and Chinese participants were presented with faces varying along a White-Asian morph continuum either in American, neutral, or Chinese contexts. American contexts made White categorizations more likely, and Chinese contexts made Asian categorizations more likely. Further, the compatibility between facial and contextual cues influenced the directness of participants' hand trajectories en route to selecting a category response. Even when an ultimate response was not biased by context, the trajectory was nevertheless partially attracted to the category response associated with the context. Importantly, such partial attraction effects in hand trajectories revealed that the influence of context began earlier in time for Chinese relative to American participants. Together, the results show that context systematically influences social categorization, sometimes altering categorization responses and other times only temporarily altering the process. Further, the timing of contextual influences differs by culture. The findings highlight the role of contextual and cultural factors in social categorization.     

The effects of reward on tutor's behaviors in a cross-age tutoring context

Utilizing a cross-age tutoring context, this study examined the effects of reward on the teaching behaviors of the tutor, the tutor's subsequent motivation to continue to teach during a free choice period, and the social interaction between a tutor and a tutee. Third-grade boys and girls (n = 96) who exhibited a positive reinforcement style were asked to teach six addition problems to a first-grade boy or girl (n = 96). The children were randomly assigned to pairs and to one of the three reward conditions. In the performance-contingent reward condition, the tutors were promised a toy if the first-grader learned all of the arithmetic problems. In the noncontingent reward condition, the tutors were promised a toy for teaching the first-grader. In the no reward condition, the tutors taught the first-grader without promise of a toy. The results indicated that the social interaction was rated lower for the children in the performance-contingent group and that the tutors in this group spent less time teaching during the free choice period. However, neither the tutor's teaching style nor the tutee's post-test performance was adversely affected by the reward.     

Influences of semantic and syntactic context on open- and closed-class words

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded as subjects read semantically meaningful, syntactically legal but nonsensical and random word strings. The constraints imposed by formal sentence structure alone did not reduce the amplitude of the N400 component elicited by open-class words, whereas semantic constraints did. Semantic constraints also eliminated the word-frequency effect of a larger N400 for low-frequency words. Responses to closed-class words exhibited reduced N400 amplitudes in syntactic and congruent sentences, indicating that formal sentence structure placed greater restrictions on closed-class words than it did on open-class words. However, unlike the open-class results, the impact of sentence context on closed-class words was stable across word positions, suggesting that these syntactic constraints were applied only locally. A second ERP component, distinct from the N400, was elicited primarily by congruent closed-class words.     

Influences of environmental context on the recency effect in free recall

A total of 208 undergraduate participants incidentally encoded a list of seven pairs of familiar words in two experiments. A 30-sec calculation task was imposed before and after each pair was encoded. Participants received a free recall test 24 h (Experiment 1) or 10 min (Experiment 2) after the encoding session, under conditions in which the original environmental context was reinstated or not. The environmental context was manipulated in terms of the combination of the physical features of the room, the subsidiary task conducted, the experimenter (Experiment 1), or background music (Experiment 2). A recency effect appeared when the original environmental context was reinstated in both experiments, even though the IPI/RI ratio was too small to produce recency effects according to the ratio rule. The results imply that the environmental context should be taken into account for the recency effect.     

The moderating role of subordinate political skill on supervisors' impressions of subordinate ingratiation and ratings of subordinate interpersonal facilitation

Nearly 2 decades ago, social influence theorists called for a new stream of research that would investigate why and how influence tactics are effective. The present study proposed that political skill affects the style of execution of influence attempts. It utilized balance theory to explain the moderating effect of employee political skill on the relationships between self- and supervisor-reported ingratiation. Additionally, supervisor reports of subordinate ingratiation were hypothesized to be negatively related to supervisor ratings of subordinate interpersonal facilitation. Results from a combined sample of 2 retail service organizations provided evidence that subordinates with high political skill were less likely than those low in political skill to have their demonstrated ingratiation behavior perceived by targets as a manipulative influence attempt. Also, when subordinates were perceived by their supervisors to engage in more ingratiation behavior, the subordinates were rated lower on interpersonal facilitation. Implications of these findings, limitations, and future research directions are provided.     

Employee reactions to supervision and work evaluation as a function of subordinate and manager sex

The influence of sex of manager and sex of subordinate on subordinates' reactions to supervision and work evaluation was examined. Attitude data from 463 office employees were analyzed within an ANOVA framework. There were 296 female subordinates and 35 male subordinates working under women managers and 111 female subordinates and 21 males subordinates working under men managers. The hypothesized interaction effect for sex of manager and sex of subordinate on reactions to supervision and work evaluation was supported in only one of four tests. Male subordinates working for male managers were least likely to understand how their performance was evaluated. There were no significant results when subordinate ratings of general supervision, performance ratings, and manager favoritism were used as dependent variables. The results are discussed in terms of sex-role stereotypes and actual job behaviors of men and women managers.     

Influences of emotion on context memory while viewing film clips

Participants listened to words while viewing film clips (audio off). Film clips were classified as neutral, positively valenced, negatively valenced, and arousing. Memory was assessed in three ways: recall of film content, recall of words, and context recognition. In the context recognition test, participants were presented a word and determined which film clip was showing when the word was originally presented. In two experiments, context memory performance was disrupted when words were presented during negatively valenced film clips, whereas it was enhanced when words were presented during arousing film clips. Free recall of words presented during the negatively valenced films was also disrupted. These findings suggest multiple influences of emotion on memory performance.     

Deservingness,liking relations,schadenfreude, and other discrete emotions in the context of the outcomes of plagiarism

This study investigated effects of like/dislike relations on schadenfreude and other discrete emotions in the context of plagiarism. The predicted emotions were derived from a structural analysis of how the appraisal of deservingness affects emotional reactions to positive or negative outcomes for self or other. One hundred forty‐six undergraduate participants responded to scenarios in which either hypothetical self or other (a classmate) plagiarised information from the internet for a class assignment and either received a high grade (undeserved outcome) or a penalty (deserved outcome). Hypothetical self was represented as either high or low in self‐esteem, other as liked or disliked. As predicted, liking relations moderated perceived deservingness. Schadenfreude (or pleasure) occurred when the disliked classmate received a deserved penalty for detected plagiarism but not when he/she suffered an undeserved positive outcome. This difference was reversed for the emotion of disappointment. Effects on other discrete emotions such as guilt and resentment are also reported.     

Effects of leader sex,subordinate sex,and subordinate performance on the use of influence strategies

The study examined the effects of leader sex, subordinate sex, and subordinate performance on leaders' use of influence strategies. Forty-two male and 42 female engineering undergraduates participated in role-playing situations. Relative to females, males reported a greater likelihood of using such influence strategies as negative sanction, assertiveness, reward, and exchange. In general, subjects tended to employ more of negative sanction and assertiveness and less of reward and exchange when dealing with poorly performing subordinates than with well-performing subordinates. While the subordinate sex had little impact, few interactions were noted. Implications of these findings both for those in leadership roles and for future research are discussed.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Australian Bicentennial Meeting of Social Psychologists at Leura Bluemountains, Australia, August 1988. I thank Managal Dev, S. Pal, A. K. Tripathi, and Sanjay Tripathi for their help in collecting the data. I also extend my gratitude to an anonymous reviewer, and to Bijoy Boruah and Kanika Tandon for helpful comments.     

Essential elements of the work of a supervisor

The supervisor’s prime task is to consider from the very beginning the analytic ability of the analyst presenting the case; this can be assessed by observing how the colleague transcribes the clinical material and describes what is meaningful in the session. It is extremely important to understand whether the patient’s suffering is neurotic, or whether he suffers from an initial psychotic disorder. In this latter case, the analyst will know that he cannot employ the same tools that he uses for the neurotic patient. It is fundamental to draw careful attention to the importance of the patient’s personal history. In the process of reconstructing the past, the patient’s difficulties are gradually understood by the analyst, the patient and the supervisor. Given that a memory may be distorted by present emotions and conflicts, the analyst must form meaningful hypotheses that, through reconstructing interaction with the original objects, help to comprehend the precarious equilibrium of the present. Over the course of supervision, I consistently emphasize the construction of the analytic relationship, which is based on the analyst’s mind and of the patient’s ability to communicate emotionally, so as to promote the analysand’s mental growth.

     

Synaptic tagging, evaluation of memories, and the distal reward problem

Long-term synaptic plasticity exhibits distinct phases. The synaptic tagging hypothesis suggests an early phase in which synapses are prepared, or "tagged," for protein capture, and a late phase in which those proteins are integrated into the synapses to achieve memory consolidation. The synapse specificity of the tags is consistent with conventional neural network models of associative memory. Memory consolidation through protein synthesis, however, is neuron specific, and its functional role in those models has not been assessed. Here, using a theoretical network model, we test the tagging hypothesis on its potential to prolong memory lifetimes in an online-learning paradigm. We find that protein synthesis, though not synapse specific, prolongs memory lifetimes if it is used to evaluate memory items on a cellular level. In our model we assume that only "important" memory items evoke protein synthesis such that these become more stable than "unimportant" items, which do not evoke protein synthesis. The network model comprises an equilibrium distribution of synaptic states that is very susceptible to the storage of new items: Most synapses are in a state in which they are plastic and can be changed easily, whereas only those synapses that are essential for the retrieval of the important memory items are in the stable late phase. The model can solve the distal reward problem, where the initial exposure of a memory item and its evaluation are temporally separated. Synaptic tagging hence provides a viable mechanism to consolidate and evaluate memories on a synaptic basis.     

On being imitated: Effects on reward and reward value of the imitator

The effects of being imitated on the model's reward of imitating and nonimitating confederates and on the confederates' reward value were assessed. Forty-eight first graders served as subjects. It was found that more children showed a bias in giving reward to the imitating confederate than to the nonimitating confederate. This effect was particularly strong for children classified as having an internal locus of control. Second, no difference in confederates' reward value was obtained as measured by operantly conditioned responding on a marble-drop task.     

Interpretation of verb phrase anaphora: Influences of task and syntactic context

When listeners hear a sentence like “Will Carey do it?” they must find an interpretation of the phrase “do it”, which is an anaphor replacing a full verb phrase (VP). To accomplish this task, listeners may use two sources of information: finding a recent VP that is syntactically appropriate, or using pragmatics to find a recent discourse event that plausibly completes the sentence. One theory of anaphor comprehension says that listeners use both sources of information in a competition for the best antecedent. Another theory says that listeners use only one of those sources, depending on the syntactic class of anaphor. Two experiments are reported, one using a reading time technique and one a sensicality judgement task. The experiments varied the distance of the antecedent from the anaphor, the material that intervened between the antecedent and anaphor, and the syntactic class of the anaphor. In the reading task, the results followed the predictions of the two-source competition theory, as a number of effects were observed, but none of them depended on the anaphor's syntactic class. In the judgement task, however, the type of anaphor did influence judgement time. The overall results suggest that there are important differences between simple comprehension tasks and metalinguistic judgements, and that past empirical conflicts may be explicable on this basis.