Controllability and human stress: method, evidence and theory.

Concepts are defined and evidence reviewed on whether control reduces stress in man. Individuals seem to prefer instrumental control over an aversive event, seem to prefer to administer it to themselves, and are less aroused when waiting for a controllable event. When groups without control have equal predictability, having control is still less arousing; as potential (but unexercised) control seems to be. The evidence also suggests that controllable events may hurt less. Methodological weaknesses and empirical gaps in these data are pointed out. These data are grossly inconsistent with Relevant Feedback theory and rather inconsistent with Information-seeking theory and Safety Signal theory. A Minimax hypothesis is proposed: When individuals control aversive events, they believe relief to be caused by a stable source—their own response. This belief entails that maximum future danger will be minimized. When they have no control, they believe relief to be less stable, which entails no guarantee that maximum future danger will be minimized. The data are largely consistent with the Minimax hypothesis and wholly consistent when Minimax is supplemented by the premise that aversive events hurt less when encountered against a background of relaxation.     

Coping ability, negative self-evaluation, and overgeneralization: experiment and theory.

Responses of 3 groups of Ss differing in general coping ability, as measured by the Constructive Thinking Inventory, were compared on matched sets of items that differed according to whether the outcomes were positive or negative and directed at the self or at others. All groups reported widespread overgeneralization to items with favorable outcomes. Groups differed strongly and consistently only in response to unfavorable outcomes directed at the self, with poor constructive thinkers reporting more negative overgeneralization than others following such outcomes. It was concluded that poor constructive thinkers have a selective bias toward making negative inferences about the self, which has widespread implications for their general coping ability. A theoretical framework is presented for understanding why individuals acquire and maintain negative self-schemata, which has implications for depression and self-esteem as well as for general coping ability.     

Color measurement and color theory: II. Opponent-colors theory

Quantitative opponent-colors theory is based on cancellation of redness by admixture of a standard green, of greenness by admixture of a standard red, of yellowness by blue, and of blueness by yellow. The fundamental data are therefore the equilibrium colors: the set A₁ of lights that are in red/green equilibrium and the set A₂ of lights that are in yellow/blue equilibrium. The result that a cancellation function is linearly related to the color-matching functions can be proved from more basic axioms, particularly, the closure of the set of equilibrium colors under linear operations. Measurement analysis treats this as a representation theorem, in which the closure properties are axioms and in which the colorimetric homomorphism has the cancellation functions as two of its coordinates.Consideration of equivalence relations based on opponent cancellation leads to a further step: analysis of equivalence relations based on direct matching of hue attributes. For additive whiteness matching, this yields a simple extension of the representation theorem, in which the third coordinate is luminance. For other attributes, precise representation theorems must await a better qualitative characterization of various nonlinear phenomena, especially the veiling of one hue attribute by another and the various hue shifts.     

Women, men, work, and family. An expansionist theory.

The lives of women and men, the relationships that they establish, and their work have changed dramatically in the past 50 years, but the dominant theories driving research in these areas have not. In this article, the authors argue that the facts underlying the assumptions of the classical theories of gender and multiple roles have changed so radically as to make the theories obsolete. Moreover, a large body of empirical data fails to support the predictions flowing from these theories. Yet the development of new theory for guiding research and clinical practice has not kept pace. The authors attempt to fill this theoretical gap by reviewing the research literature and articulating an expansionist theory of gender, work, and family that includes four empirically derived and empirically testable principles better matched to today's realities.     

Wanting, having, and needing: integrating motive disposition theory and self-determination theory

Four studies explored the motivational and experiential dynamics of psychological needs, applying both self-determination theory and motive disposition theory. In all 4 studies, motive dispositions toward achievement and affiliation ("wanting" particular experiences) predicted corresponding feelings of competence and relatedness ("having" those experiences). Competence and relatedness in turn predicted well-being, again indicating that these 2 experiences may really be "needed." Illuminating how wanting gets to having, in Studies 2 and 3, participants reported greater self-concordance for motive-congruent goals, which, in longitudinal Study 3, predicted greater attainment of those goals and thus enhanced well-being. Study 4 replicated selected earlier results using an implicit as well as an explicit motive disposition measure. Supporting the presumed universality of competence and relatedness needs, in no studies did motive dispositions moderate the effects of corresponding need-satisfaction on well-being. Discussion focuses on a "sequential process" model of psychological needs that views needs as both motives that instigate and outcomes that reward behavior.     

Outflow theory and autokinetic movement: color, viewing angle, and dark adaptation.

The number of reported changes in direction of autokinetic movement was assessed as a function of color of the light that served as stimulus, viewing angle (0, 30, or 60 deg of displacement from straight ahead), and dark adaptation. Color and dark adaptation had no significant main effect on the number of reported changes in direction for the red and yellow lights, but viewing angle was inversely related to the number of reported changes. For the blue-green light, atypical effects of viewing angle and dark adaptation were found.     

Operant variability: evidence,functions, and theory

Although responses are sometimes easy to predict, at other times responding seems highly variable, unpredictable, or even random. The inability to predict is generally attributed to ignorance of controlling variables, but this article is a review of research showing that the highest levels of behavioral variability may result from identifiable reinforcers contingent on such variability. That is, variability is an operant. Discriminative stimuli and reinforcers control it, resulting in low or high variability, depending on the contingencies. Schedule-of-reinforcement effects are orderly, and choosing to vary or repeat is lawfully governed by relative reinforcement frequencies. The operant nature of variability has important implications. For example, learning, exploring, creating, and problem solving may partly depend on it. Abnormal levels of variability, including those found in psychopathologies such as autism, depression, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, may be modified through reinforcement. Operant variability may also help to explain some of the unique attributes of voluntary action.