Communication accuracy as a function of information about the communicator

The accuracy with which Ss could identify the national governments referred to by a set of semantic-differential profiles was found to be significantly related to whether they were given true, false, or unspecific information concerning the source of the profiles. Contrary to hypothesis, attitude similarity between the Ss who constructed the profiles and those who interpreted them failed to enhance communication accuracy.     

Polarization as a function of meaning and consequences

Studied the effect of meaning and consequences on shifts toward extreme judgments (polarization) as a result of group discussion. Since it was hypothesized that high levels of both meaning and consequences would activate pressures to conform to the appropriate cultural norm, greater polarization was predicted under those conditions. Consequences were varied by asking subjects how willing they were to participate in another actual (high consequences) or hypothetical (low consequences) experiment. Meaning was varied by information that the proposed experiment would have high or low social and scientific significance. Sixty male college students discussed their preferences in three-person groups. Prediscussion, consensus, and postdiscussion scores were obtained; the critical polarization scores were computed on the basis of individual's movement away from the prediscussion mean of their group. Partial support for the hypotheses is provided by a cross-over interaction (p < .05) in changes from the prediscussion to consensus scores, which indicate greater polarization in the high-meaning, low-consequence condition, and in the low-meaning, high-consequence condition. The results are discussed with respect to their implications for research in which subjects do not expect real consequences to follow from their statements of opinion.     

Preference for news as a function of familiarity

The study was designed to test the hypothesis that interest in information reaches a maximum when something novel is predicted about a well-known subject. The hypothesis predicts that news will be considered more attractive the more familiar its source or theme. This was confirmed in two experiments, where Norwegian and British students were asked to state their interest in reading news from thirty countries of varying familiarity (Experiment 1) or from correspondents in twenty-six capital cities (Experiment 2). Subjects also stated their preferences for reading general information about the same countries or cities, and indicated from which of these they would prefer to receive postcard greetings. The results show preference for news to be closely related to familiarity of country or city ( r =0.93 and r =0.91). General information and postcard preferences were as predicted, less directly related to familiarity.     

Attitude change as a function of threat to attitudinal freedom and extent of agreement with a communicator

Subjects who previously expressed either partial or full agreement with an attitudinal position were exposed to a low- or high-threat essay advocating the position. Anonymous post-communication measures of opinion indicated a reactance effect (negative attitude change) only for subjects who (1) read the hrgh-threat essay, and (2) previously expressed complete agreement with the communicator. Theoretical implications are discussed.     

Survey Nonrespondents as Bad Soldiers: Examining the relationship between organizational citizenship and survey response behavior

The present paper examines whether organizational survey response behavior relates to organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). In Study 1, we examined the relationship between OCB dimensions and survey completion intentions in a field setting (n=228). In Study 2, we compared respondents and different groups of nonrespondents on OCB dimensions using an experimental design in a university setting (n=622). Survey response and OCBs were found to be related. OCB research may suffer from nonresponse bias, with organizational surveys failing to capture the opinions of those least likely to engage in OCBs.     

Variations in the relationship between radius of curvature and velocity as a function of joint motion

A power law describes the relationship between the geometric properties of a trajectory (radius of curvature) and movement kinematics (tangential velocity) in curved drawing movements. Although the power law is a general law of motion, there are conditions under which it degrades. In particular, the power law may be less explanatory of movements around certain joints. The present study considered how varying motion around different joints influenced the fit of the power law. Motions associated with finger and wrist, or elicited by an isometric force production task, were compared. The power law was most explanatory of finger motion and isometric production and least explanatory of wrist motion. The fit of the power law for finger and wrist motion suggested separate laws for each joint system. Since the fit of the power law was better for finger than for wrist motion, there is some suggestion that the power law better explains motion around fewer or simpler joint systems.     

Binary choice reaction time as a function of the relationship between durations and forms of responses

In a choice between responding with the left or right hand, some kinds of differences between the movements increase RT (Reaction Time) while others do not. Of the first kind are differences in form, while differences in the finger used are of the latter kind. In previous experiments differences in form were confounded with differences in duration. Since there is some indication that a difference in duration is sufficient to lengthen RT, both characteristics were varied separately. It turned out that a difference in form (duration being constant) has essentially the same effects as a difference in duration (form being constant): Mean RT is longer, variability of RT and MT (movement time) is larger, and frequency of choice errors is smaller than in choice between identical movements. These effects, which seem to be associated with choice between movements of different temporal patterns, are interpreted in terms of advance specification of movement parameters. Additional results on the relationship between response duration and RT suggest that RT does not depend on duration (or velocity) per se, but on how much the duration deviates from quickest performance.     

Protective behavioral strategies as a mediator and moderator of the relationship between self-regulation and alcohol-related consequences in first-year college students

This study examined protective behavioral strategies (PBS) as a potential mediator and moderator of the relationship between self-regulation and alcohol-related consequences. Participants were 249 first-year undergraduate men and women. The use of PBS partially mediated the relationship between self-regulation and alcohol-related problems (i.e., supporting the "self-control equals drinking control" hypothesis). However, use of PBS appeared more important for those with poorer self-regulation abilities (supporting the "PBS protect the impaired" hypothesis). Because both mediation and moderation were supported, a moderated mediation model was tested. The moderated mediation model demonstrated that the negative relationship between self-regulation and alcohol-related consequences could be explained by use of PBS for individuals with poor-to-average self-regulation but not for individuals with above-average, self-regulation abilities. Implications of the study's findings are discussed.     

Analysis of activity preferences as a function of differential consequences

Individuals who do not possess the verbal skills to express meaningful choice in the absence of its consequences may have difficulty indicating their preference for protracted activities that are unavailable until some time in the future (e.g., taking a walk, riding a bike). When we examined the preferences of 4 individuals with developmental disabilities by showing them pictorial representations of various activities, their initial choices showed no clear preferences. In a subsequent condition, selecting a photograph resulted in brief access to the depicted activity. When selections produced differential consequences (i.e., access to the activity), clear preferences emerged. In addition, 3 individuals' preferences were later shifted to an initially less preferred but more socially desirable option by superimposing additional reinforcement contingencies for engaging in the less preferred activity. Results are discussed in terms of the conditions under which choice functions as an indicator of preference and how those conditions may be altered to improve the quality of choice making without limiting access to preferred options.     

Changes in the relationship between self‐reference and emotional valence as a function of dysphoria

The self‐positivity bias is found to be an aspect of normal cognitive function. Changes in this bias are usually associated with changes in emotional states, such as dysphoria or depression. The aim of the present study was to clarify the role of emotional valence within self‐referential processing. By asking non‐dysphoric and dysphoric individuals to rate separately the emotional and self‐referential content of a set of 240 words, it was possible to identify the differences in the relationship between self‐reference and emotional valence, which are associated with dysphoria. The results support the existence of the self‐positivity bias in non‐dysphoric individuals. More interestingly, dysphoric individuals were able to accurately identify the emotional content of the word stimuli. They failed, however, to associate this emotional valence with self‐reference. These findings are discussed in terms of attributional self‐biases and their consequences for cognition.     

Altruism between romantic partners: Biological offspring as a genetic bridge between altruist and recipient

When the cost of altruism is low, individuals are more likely to help non-kin (i.e., friends and romantic partners) than kin. This trend is thought to reflect the fact that people tend to be emotionally closer with friends and romantic partners than kin. However, as the cost of altruism increases, altruistic preference shifts to kin. The present study highlights this phenomenon by examining altruism between siblings, romantic partners, romantic partners who have biological children together, and romantic partners who have adopted children together. Participants (n = 203) completed a questionnaire about altruism in low-, medium-, and high-cost situations. Participants gave more low-cost help to their romantic partners (regardless of whether they had a child together) than their siblings. More medium-cost help was given to romantic partners who had a child (biological and adopted) than siblings and romantic partners without children. In the high-cost condition, the estimated altruistic tendencies were stronger toward siblings and romantic partners who have a biological child than toward romantic partners with no children and partners with adopted children. Participants also believed they were more altruistic than their siblings and romantic partners.     

The contextual action relationship between a tool and its action recipient modulates their joint perception

Facilitatory effects have been noted between tools and the objects that they act upon (their “action recipients”) across several paradigms. However, it has not been convincingly established that the motor system is directly involved in the joint visual processing of these object pairings. Here, we used the attentional blink (AB) paradigm to demonstrate privileged access to perceptual awareness for tool–action recipient object pairs and to investigate how motor affordances modulate their joint processing. We demonstrated a reduction in the size of the AB that was greater for congruent tool–action recipient pairings (e.g., hammer–nail) than for incongruent pairings (e.g., scissors–nail). Moreover, the AB was reduced only when action recipients followed their associated tool in the temporal sequence, but not when this order was reversed. Importantly, we also found that the effect was sensitive to manipulations of the motor congruence between the tool and the action recipient. First, we observed a greater reduction in the AB when the tool and action recipient were correctly aligned for action than when the tool was rotated to face away from the action recipient. Second, presenting a different tool as a distractor between the tool and action recipient target objects removed any benefit seen for congruent pairings. This was likely due to interference from the motor properties of the distractor tool that disrupted the motor synergy between the congruent tool and action recipient targets. Overall, these findings demonstrate that the contextual motoric relationship between tools and their action recipients facilitates their visual encoding and access to perceptual awareness.