On the nature and accuracy of attributions that change over time

“Actor” subjects engaged in a brief getting-acquainted conversation while “observer” subjects watched. Ratings of and causal attributions for behavior during the conversation were obtained immediately upon its conclusion and three weeks later from the same subjects and from an independent group of subjects not asked for immediate attributions. Comparison between immediate and the independent, “postponed” assessments showed that attributions by actors and observers tended to emphasize situational factors more over time, and personal factors less. Attributions by the “repeated assessment” subjects did not show a significant change over time, but their delayed attributions were significantly less likely to emphasize situational factors than were the delayed attributions of the “postponed assessment” group. The relative accuracy of these attributions could not, of course, be directly assessed. However, valid attributions presumably must be based upon valid perceptions or memories of the behaviors they seek to explain, and reliable criterion ratings of behaviors in the present study could be obtained from the experimenters. Actors' and observers' delayed behavior ratings agreed less with these criteria than did their immediate ratings, an indirect indication that attributions do not increase, and may decrease, in accuracy over time.     

The effect of vicarious punishment on prosocial behavior in children

Two experiments are reported dealing with the effects of vicarious punishment on prosocial behavior. In Experiment I, first and second grade females who witnessed a peer model being punished for a refusal to share (“nonsharing, punished”), shared more than an appropriate control group. Sharing was similarly heightened, however, in a group who witnessed punishment to the model which was not contingent upon any specific behavior (“punishment only”). Experiment II tested and confirmed the hypothesis derived from Experiment I that noncontingent vicarious punishment has a generalized inhibitory effect on antisocial behaviors. First, second, and third grade females were shown either the “nonsharing, punished,” “punishment only,” or baseline videotapes used in Experiment I. Subsequent to viewing the tapes, subjects in the “punishment only” condition helped the experimenter significantly more than did subjects in the “nonsharing, punished” and baseline conditions. The ability of existing theoretical treatments of vicarious punishment to account for these results is questioned.     

Expressive control,expressive consistency,and the correspondence between expressive behavior and personality1

Does expressive behavior reflect personality? This paper proposes that expressive control is an important “moderating variable” affecting expressive behavior, expressive consistency, and the correspondence between expressive behavior and personality. To demonstrate this, a study was carried out in which 68 subjects were selected, according to a 2×2×2 factorial design, who were low and high on assessed extraversion, neuroticism, and self-monitoring (a measure of expressive control). Subjects were then videotaped as they role-played being teachers. A number of specific expressive behaviors were measured (subjects' stride length, graphic expansiveness, percent of forward eye-contact, and percent of time talking), and also groups of naive judges rated how “extraverted” and “anxious” subjects appeared. The following results supported our hypothesis: (1) Self-monitoring was significantly related to subjects' expressive behaviors and judged personalities, while assessed extraversion and anxiety were not. (2) Expressive control was used to suppress the “accurate” display of anxiety but not extraversion. (3) Bodily expression was less controlled than facial or vocal expression. And (4), persons low and high on self-monitoring showed different patterns of cross-situational and cross-channel (face, body, voice) expressive consistency.     

Detecting Anxiety and Defensiveness from Visual and Auditory Cues

ABSTRACT Defensive individuals have been shown to differ from non-defensive individuals on a number of physiological and behavioral measures. We report two studies on observers' inferences of defensiveness, and the contribution of communication channels in the inference of defensiveness. Observers judged high and low state anxious segments of high and low trait anxious defensive and nondefensive individuals. Accurate assessments were made of (a) defensiveness, (b) state anxiety, and (c) trait anxiety: Individuals with higher levels of each variable were perceived as more anxious compared with the lower level. Effects for defensiveness and state anxiety were greater in audio-only segments, while effects for trait anxiety were greater in video-only segments. Inferences of defensiveness were greater at higher levels of state anxiety and trait anxiety. Low trait anxious defensive individuals were perceived as more anxious than the true low trait anxious. Results for defensiveness and trait anxiety were replicated in Study 2, and observers' perceptions of state anxiety matched individuals' self-reports: Defensive individuals with maximal differences between high and low state anxiety were seen as more anxious in high state anxiety, while defensive individuals with minimal differences between high and low state anxiety were regarded as less anxious in high state anxiety.     

A Pilot Feasibility Open Trial of an Interpretation Bias Intervention for Parents of Anxious Children

Interpretation bias is a transdiagnostic mechanism underlying anxiety. Theoretical models highlight the role of parental interpretation bias in predicting and maintaining child anxiety. However, very few studies have examined parent interpretation bias as a treatment target. The current pilot study tested the feasibility and acceptability of an interpretation bias intervention delivered by a smartphone app, called HabitWorks, in parents of anxious children who self-reported at least mild symptoms of anxiety and negative interpretation bias.Parents of anxious youth (ages 8 to 16) were recruited from the waitlists of three child anxiety clinics. They were asked to complete interpretation modification exercises via the HabitWorks app 3 times per week for 1 month. Participants completed assessments at pre- and post-intervention and 1-month follow-up to assess changes in interpretation bias, anxiety symptoms, and overall perceptions of HabitWorks.Participants (N = 14) (M_age = 44.36; 14.29% men, 85.71% women) completed an average of 13.29 exercises out of the 12 prescribed. Acceptability ratings were high. Interpretation bias, as measured by an assessment version of the intervention exercise, significantly improved from pre- to posttreatment, and these improvements were maintained at the 1-month follow-up. Anxiety symptoms significantly improved from the “mild” severity range to the “none to minimal” range.In this pilot feasibility study in parents of anxious youth, HabitWorks was a feasible and acceptable low-intensity intervention. These preliminary results support a future controlled trial of HabitWorks for parents. Future studies are also needed to test whether targeting interpretation bias in parents has downstream effects on maladaptive parent behaviors and ultimately, child interpretation bias and anxiety.     

The effects of various rater training procedures on the perception of social skills and social anxiety

Procedures for the behavioral assessment of social skills typically rely on judges' perceptions of subjects' behavior in several simulated situations. This study examined two methodological variables which could influence the degree of situational specificity perceived by social skill judges. Forth-eight judges were presented videotapes of 15 actors who role played responses to eight simulated social situations. Half of the judges viewed the situations in a sequential fashion and the remaining half viewed the tapes grouped by situations. The second factor of this design included three different expectancy conditions included in an analogue training procedure. Differences in observed variability were examined for both social skill and social anxiety constructs. Order of stimulus presentation had no effect on variability. The expectancy manipulation significantly increased variability among social skill ratings but had no effect on reliability.This study was supported in part by the Veterans Administration.     

Examining the Role of Implicit Emotional Judgments in Social Anxiety and Experiential Avoidance

This study sought to examine the relationship of implicit emotional judgments with experiential avoidance (EA) and social anxiety. A sample of 61 college students completed the Emotional Judgment – Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (EJ-IRAP) as well as a public speaking challenge. Implicit judgments were related to greater self-reported EA, anxiety sensitivity, emotional judgments and social anxiety as well as lower performance ratings and willingness in the public speaking challenge. Effects differed by trial type with “Anxiety is bad” biases related to greater EA/anxiety, while “calm is bad” biases related to lower EA/anxiety (“Good” biases were generally unrelated to outcomes). Implicit emotional judgments moderated the relationship of heart rate during the speech with speech time and willingness, such that increases in heart rate were only related to lower speech time and willingness among those high in implicit judgments. Implicit judgments predicted social anxiety above and beyond self-report EA measures. Implicit emotional judgments appear to have a functional role in EA and anxiety that warrants further research.     

Modelling therapy for test anxiety: The role of model affect and consequences

This study assessed the effectiveness of modelling therapy as a treatment for test anxiety and investigated the role of model affect and consequences in determining that effectiveness. Twenty-four test anxious subjects were shown one of four one-hour modelling displays of intelligence testing sessions. The displays represented combinations of calm or anxious model affect and positive or negative consequences. Two self report and two performance measures of test anxiety were analyzed by means of a 2 × 2 vs. control group factorial design. The results indicated an overall significant improvement on modelled intelligence tests for the experimental groups vs. the control group. Differential effects were also found depending upon the characteristics of the modelling display. Viewing anxious models lead to a significant increase in introductory psychology grades and viewing negative consequences lead to a decrease in self-reported test anxiety. The present results question the notion that the most effective modelling scenes are ones displaying calm models and positive consequences (Bandura, 1969). Parallels were drawn between the results of the research and the recent success of implosively-oriented behaviour therapies.     

Assessing the merits and faults of holistic and disaggregated judgments

Three studies explored both the advantages of and subjects' preferences for a disaggregated judgment procedure and a holistic one. The task in our first two studies consisted of evaluating colleges; the third study asked participants to evaluate job applicants. Holistic ratings consisted of providing an overall evaluation while considering all of the characteristics of the evaluation objects; disaggregated ratings consisted of evaluating each cue independently. Participants also made paired comparisons of the evaluation objects. We constructed preference orders for the disaggregated method by aggregating these ratings (unweighted or weighted characteristics). To compare the holistic, disaggregated, and weighted‐disaggregated method we regressed the four cues on the participant's holistic rating, on the linearly aggregated disaggregated ratings, and on the average weighted disaggregated rating, using the participant's “importance points” for each cue as weights. Both types of combined disaggregated ratings related more closely to the cues in terms of proportion of variance accounted for in Experiments 1 and 2. In addition, the disaggregated ratings were more closely related to the paired‐comparison orderings, but Experiment 2 showed that this was true for a small set (10) but not a large set (60) of evaluation objects. Experiment 3 tested the “gamesmanship” hypothesis: People prefer holistic ratings because it is easier to incorporate illegitimate but appealing criteria into one's judgment. The results suggested that the disaggregated procedure generally produced sharper distinctions between the most relevant and least relevant cues. Participants in all three of these studies preferred the holistic ratings despite their statistical inferiority. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Autobiographical memory and clinical anxiety

Abstract

Previous experiments on the recall of threatening and neutral information in clinically anxious subjects have yielded mixed results. The present study assessed autobiographical memory in patients with generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), and normal controls. Subjects were first presented with neutral cue words and asked to respond with any personal memory. GAD subjects judged the content of their own memories as more consistent with anxious mood, and less consistent with pleasant mood, than that reported by controls. Subjects were then again presented with neutral cue words, but with instructions to provide either “anxious” or “nonanxious” personal memories, on specified trials. Significant interactions between group and instruction condition indicated that anxious subjects recalled more anxiety-evoking memories, and recalled them more rapidly, relative to controls. Ratings by blind judges did not support the hypothesis that this apparent difference in the content of autobiographical recall was an artefact due to anxious subjects labelling memories as being more anxiety evoking than would controls. Possible explanations of the findings, and reasons for the apparent discrepancy between these and earlier results, are discussed.     

The effects of unidirectional versus bidirectional rating procedures on college students' judgments of response-outcome contingency

Studies of human contingency judgment often reveal substantial bias and inaccuracy in ratings of cause-effect relationship. This study examined the effects of different rating procedures on contingency judgment. In two experiments, college students responded to and rated a range of positive, negative, and zero contingencies presented in a free-operant format. Experiment 1 found that judgments made along a unidirectional 0 to 100 “control” scale were less sensitive to variations in contingency (especially negative ones) and were based on less sophisticated judgment strategies than judgments made along a bidirectional − 100 to + 100 “prevent-cause” scale. Experiment 2 found that informing subjects given the unidirectional scale that their responding may either cause or prevent the outcome eliminated the tendency to underestimate negative contingencies and improved the sophistication of strategy use but did not increase judgment sensitivity to the level of subjects given the bidirectional scale. Taken together, these results suggest that the bidirectional “prevent-cause” scale contributes to highly accurate and unbiased ratings of response-outcome contingency.     

Guilty knowledge versus innocent associations: Effects of trait anxiety and stimulus context on skin conductance

A simulated lie detection procedure was used to investigate skin conductance responsivity among self-reported skin responders. Subjects were grouped according to reported trait anxiety as measured by Lykken's Activity Preference Questionnaire and then engaged in either a mock crime or a neutral activity. The “crime” gave subjects “guilty knowledge,” and the neutral task provided “innocent associations” to relevant stimuli imbedded in each scenario. Subjects were then interrogated using Lykken's Guilty Knowledge technique. Anxiety classification, guilty vs. innocent treatment, and type of stimulus were manipulated in a 2 × 2 × (2) factorial design. Results for differential responsivity scores showed significant main and interaction effects. Low-anxiety subjects showed almost no effects, but highly anxious subjects responded strongly in the “guilty” rather than the “innocent” treatment. Contrary to previous findings, results showed a substantial—but qualified—relationship between self-reported anxiety and electrodermal responsivity. Also, the Guilty Knowledge technique with rank scoring yielded 97.5% correct classification.     

Depression Mixed with Anxiety,Somatization, and Disordered Eating: Relationship with Gender-Role-Related Limitations Experienced by Females

In several previous studies, females who reported that they felt limited by responses to their gender, or viewed their mothers as having been limited in this way, exhibited higher prevalence compared to other females or to males of depression accompanied by anxiety, somatic symptoms such as headaches, disordered eating, and poor body image/preference for thinness (“anxious somatic depression”), but not higher prevalence of depression unaccompanied by these other symptoms (“pure depression”). In this study of high school students, females whose mothers scored high on a scale measuring their feelings of having been limited by traditional gender roles reported much higher prevalence than other females of anxious somatic depression, but not higher prevalence of pure depression. Mothers' reports of depression were not related to daughters' anxious somatic depression.     

A Preliminary Report on the Effects of Videotape Preparations for Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery on Anxiety and Self-Efficacy: A Simulation and Validation With College Students

An experiment was conducted that used a role-playing methodology with college students to explore the relative effectiveness of three preparatory videotapes for reducing the anxiety and increasing the self-efficacy beliefs of individuals faced with the imminent prospect of undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery (CABS). All three tapes were designed to provide comparable, accurate sensory and procedural information. In one of the tapes, a nurse provides all information. In the other tapes, actual CABS patients describe their experiences in one of two manners. In the mastery tape, the hospital recovery period is portrayed essentially as a steady upward progression with little mention of problems. In comparison, the coping tape portrays the hospital recovery period as having more ups and downs, and the patients mention some concerns and problems with which they are coping. Subjects, via imagery induction, were asked to imagine how they would feel if they were hospitalized and scheduled for surgery the next morning. Results indicated that subjects randomly assigned to view any of the experimental tapes reported less anxiety and increased self-efficacy for performing the recommended recovery behaviors relative to no-tape controls. In addition, subjects in the mastery-tape condition indicated significantly less anxiety than those in either the coping-tape or the nurse-tape conditions, who in turn did not differ from each other. The possibility that the videotape effects on anxiety were mediated by self-efficacy beliefs was also examined.     

Perceived Intrafamilial Connectedness and Autonomy in Families With and Without an Anxious Family Member: A Multiple Informant Approach

Perceived intrafamilial “emotional connectedness” and “autonomy” were investigated within families with and without an anxious family member using a multiple informant approach. The sample consisted of 32 mothers with a current anxiety disorder and 56 controls, their partners, and their anxious and nonanxious teenage children. No differences were found with respect to the perceived family relationships of family members with versus without anxious mothers. However, compared with nonanxious adolescents, anxious adolescents perceived less autonomy in relation to both parents. Mothers of anxious adolescents also perceived their children to be less autonomous toward them and their partners, than mothers of nonanxious adolescents. In contrast with “autonomy,” “emotional connectedness” was not reported to be different between families with and without an anxious adolescent. Agreement among family members and the importance of perceived individual autonomy in the development of anxiety are discussed.     

Is there a modality effect? Evidence for visual recency and suffix effects

In Experiment 1, four groups of 16 subjects performed ordered recall of six-syllable lists in both suffix and nonsuffix conditions. Sequential presentation of the lists varied for each group. In the auditory presentation, the syllables were delivered from one location only and were read aloud by the subjects. For the visual, spatially nondistributed presentation, the syllables appeared in one location only and were read silently. For visual, spatially distributed presentations, the syllables were spread out either vertically or horizontally and were read silently. Very robust recency and suffix effects were found in the auditory presentation, as well as in visual, spatially distributed presentations. In Experiment 2, 16 subjects performed ordered recall of visually presented lists with the items spread out vertically and conflicting spatial and temporal orders. A reliable recency effect was found for the final block of trials. In Experiment 3, 16 subjects performed ordered recall in the same conditions as in Experiment 2, except that they were instructed to recall the temporal order in which the spatial positions would be filled in. A bow-shaped curve and a strong recency effect were obtained.     

Recognition memory and awareness: A large effect of study-test modalities on “know” responses following a highly perceptual orienting task

Abstract

Two experiments investigated the effects of varying the correspondence between presentation and test modes on states of conscious awareness in recognition memory. Experiment 1 used visual test items and showed that auditory and visual study modes differentially affected recollective experience and feelings of familiarity assessed by “remember” and “know” responses accompanying recognition: “know” responses were slightly enhanced following visual presentation, but this was largely offset by a similarly small increase in “remember” responses. Experiment 2 employed conditions designed to maximise any effect on “know” responses of the correspondence between presentation and test modes by using a highly perceptual orienting task at study. Under these conditions, there was a large mode correspondence effect on “know” responses. The results support the idea that “know” responses are particularly sensitive to perceptual factors.     

THE CLASS SPECIFIC EFFECTS OF COMPLIANCE TRAINING WITH “DO” AND “DON'T” REQUESTS: ANALOGUE ANALYSIS AND CLASSROOM APPLICATION

Two experiments are reported in which the relationship between compliance with “do” and “don't” requests was examined with developmentally disabled children. In Experiment 1, a multiple baseline design across subjects with counterbalanced treatment conditions was used to evaluate a compliance training program composed of four phases: (a) baseline, during which no consequences were delivered for compliance, (b) reinforcement for compliance with one targeted “do” request, (c) reinforcement for compliance with one targeted “don't” request, and (d) follow-up with reinforcement on a variable ratio schedule for compliance with any “do” or “don't” request. Results of probes conducted before and after training within each condition indicated that generalized compliance occurred only with requests of the same type as the target exemplar (“do” or “don't”). In Experiment 2, these results were replicated in a classroom setting. Following collection of baseline probe data on student compliance, a teacher training program was successfully implemented to increase reinforcement of compliance first with one “do” and subsequently with one “don't” request of a target student. Results of multiple baseline probes across “do” and “don't” requests indicated that the teacher generalized and maintained reinforcement of compliance with other requests of the same type and to other students, with a resulting increase in student compliance with the type of requests reinforced. The impact of treatment on both teacher and student behavior was socially validated via consumer ratings. Implications of these findings with respect to response class formation and compliance training programs are discussed.     

Influence of contextual information on observers' perceptions of actors' intentions to harm others

Previous examinations of perceptions of aggressive behaviors have used static stimulus presentations (e.g., photographs or slides). This investigation examined the impact of varying amounts of geographical and temporal contextual information on observers' perceptions of actors' intentions to physically and psychologically (intimidate) harm others. Participants (51 elite ice hockey players) were randomly assigned to view one of three video-taped presentations showing eight ice hockey behaviors in either a) a dynamic mode with contextual information, b) a dynamic mode with no context, or c) a static, “freeze-frame” mode. MANOVA results showed that non-aggressive stimuli were perceived as less aggressive, and aggressive stimuli were perceived as more aggressive in dynamic presentations with context than in static presentations. Based on these findings, it is suggested that future research focussing on perceptions of aggressive behavior utilize a dynamic stimulus presentation containing context material. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.