Consensus in personality judgments at zero acquaintance

This research focused on the target effect on a perceiver's judgments of personality when the perceiver and the target are unacquainted. The perceiver was given no opportunity to interact with the target, a condition we refer to as zero acquaintance. We reasoned that in order to make personality judgments, perceivers would use the information available to them (physical appearance). Consensus in personality judgments would result, then, from shared stereotypes about particular physical appearance characteristics. Results from three separate studies with 259 subjects supported this hypothesis. On two of the five dimensions (extraversion and conscientiousness) on which subjects rated each other, a significant proportion of variance was due to the stimulus target. Consensus on judgments of extraversion appears to have been largely mediated by judgments of physical attractiveness. Across the three studies there was also evidence that the consensus in judgments on these two dimensions had some validity, in that they correlated with self-judgments on those two dimensions.     

Personality judgment at zero acquaintance: agreement, assumed similarity, and implicit simplicity

Previously unacquainted participants (N = 218) were assessed in small-group sessions in which they rated themselves and each other on (a) the Big Five (e.g., Costa & McCrae, 1992) and (b) an instrument assessing various traits not traditionally measured in the Big Five taxonomy as well as sociopolitical attitudes. Replicating earlier research, we obtained a significant self-stranger correlation on Extraversion; in addition, we found significant agreement on ratings of thriftiness, athleticism, traditionalism, conservatism, and attractiveness. Assumed similarity correlations were substantial for Neuroticism, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness; furthermore, consistent with previous findings, there was a strong inverse relation between agreement and assumed similarity across the assessed characteristics. Finally, the correlations between Neuroticism, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness were significantly greater in the strangers' ratings than in the self-ratings, indicating that these peer judgments are less complex. We also compared our Big Five findings with those from previous samples of varying acquaintanceship; these analyses indicated that the strangers' ratings were characterized by lower levels of self-other agreement (for all traits except Extraversion) and somewhat higher levels of assumed similarity (for ratings of Neuroticism and Agreeableness).     

A closer look at first sight: Social relations lens model analysis of personality and interpersonal attraction at zero acquaintance

Based on a new theoretical framework—the Social Relations Lens Model—this study examined the influence of personality on real‐life attraction at zero acquaintance. A group of psychology freshmen (N = 73) was investigated upon encountering one another for the first time. Personality traits, attraction ratings and metaperceptions were assessed using a large round‐robin design (2628 dyads). In line with our model, personality differentially predicted who was a liker and who expected to be liked (perceiver effects), who was popular and who was seen as a liker (target effects), as well as who liked whom and who expected to be liked by whom (relationship effects). Moreover, the influence of personality on attraction was mediated by observable physical, nonverbal and audible cues. Results allowed a closer look at first sight and underline the importance of combining componential and process approaches in understanding the interplay of personality and social phenomena. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Observers' proficiency at identifying pretense acts based on behavioral cues

Discriminating what is pretense from what is real is a fundamental problem in development. Research has addressed the proficiency with which adults and children discriminate between play fighting and real fighting, and yet none (to our knowledge) has investigated discrimination of other kinds of pretense and real acts. In addition, little is known about what aspects of pretender behavior (as opposed to pretend content) might cue pretense interpretations. In two experiments, 8-20 s clips showing pretense and real snack behaviors were presented to adult and child participants. All participants distinguished between pretense and real behaviors at better than chance level. Furthermore, certain features (specific looking patterns and mistimed behaviors) were most prominent in the videotapes that were most often correctly identified. This provides empirical support for the suggestion that these cues, as opposed to more commonly cited cues, like smiles, might serve as important indicators of pretense for children and adults.     

Units of interaction, evolution, and replication: organic and behavioral parallels

Organic and behavioral evolution both involve variation, selection, and replication with retention; but the individuals involved in these processes differ in the two kinds of evolution. In this paper, biological units of evolution, selection, and retention are compared with analogous units at the behavioral level. In organic evolution, natural selection operates on variations among organisms within a species, with the result of preserving in future generations of organisms those heritable characteristics that contributed to the organism's survival and reproduction. Species evolve as characteristics of the population change as a result of past selection. Continuity in a lineage in the biosphere is maintained by replication of genes with retention of organismic characteristics across successive generations of organisms. In behavioral evolution, reinforcement operates on variations among responses within an operant, with the result of preserving in future responses those characteristics that resulted in reinforcement. Continuity in a behavioral lineage, within the repertoire of a given organism, appears to involve retention and replication, but the unit of retention and replication is unknown. We suggest that the locus of retention and replication is the nervous system of the behaving organism.     

Behavioral ephemera,difficult discriminations,and behavioral stability

Every species possesses abilities for successfully interacting with its environment. These result from phylogeny. In the laboratory, one may arrange artificial conditions that thwart an organism's abilities. The result may be a “phenomenon.” With sufficient training, however, the phenomenon may prove to be ephemeral, as the organism's basic abilities reassert themselves. Pigeons respond extremely well to differences and nondifferences in rate of obtaining food. This ability may be thwarted in a variety of ways, but the results tend to be ephemeral. An example is an experiment that pitted pigeons' preference for unimpeded responding against their ability to respond to food rate. In a concurrent-chains procedure, the terminal links were identical variable-interval schedules, but in one terminal link, every response produced a timeout. The duration of the timeout varied, and preference varied with it, but the relation vanished with training, in keeping with the equality of food rate across the 2 terminal links. Some other examples of “phenomena” that tend to disappear with sufficient training and sufficient variation in experimental parameters are behavioral contrast, conditioned reinforcement, resistance to extinction, and suboptimal choice. These “phenomena” depend on pigeons' failing to make difficult discriminations. They appear to be behavioral ephemera.     

Similarity and acquaintance: a dilemma

There is an interesting and instructive problem with Richard Fumerton’s acquaintance theory of noninferential justification. Fumerton’s explicit account requires acquaintance with the truth-maker of one’s belief and yet he admits that one can have noninferential justification when one is not acquainted with the truth-maker of one’s belief but instead acquainted with a very similar truth-maker. On the face of it this problem calls for clarification. However, there are skeptical issues lurking in the background. This paper explores these issues by developing a dilemma for an acquaintance theory.     

Selective processing of threat cues in anxiety states: a replication

A replication of Mathews and MacLeod's (Behav. Res. Ther. 23, 563-569, 1985) study, using a modified Stroop task, confirmed that threat words selectively interfere with the colour-naming performance of generally anxious patients, compared with normal controls. Clearer evidence was obtained of a highly specific interference effect of threat words that were congruent with the predominant worries reported by anxious patients. However, there was no evidence of a subsequent recognition memory bias for the threat words in anxious Ss. These results are discussed in relation to findings from other recent experiments investigating attentional and memory biases for threat-related information in anxiety states, and their implications for cognitive theories of anxiety are considered.     

Nonconscious activation of behavioral goals, a methodologically refined replication

In four of the five experiments presented by Bargh and colleagues, achievement-related words to prime the goal of doing well subsequently led to better achievement. However, as the experiments used verbs for achievement words and nouns as neutral words, the results might be due to confounding conditions. To avoid this problem, we conducted an online experiment with a 2 (achievement-priming: achievement words, neutral words) x 2 (word class: verbs, nouns) factorial design. 89 men and 123 women whose mean age was 25.8 yr. (SD = 7.1), who were recruited via a student e-mail list of the university and former participants in other experiments, took part. Barge, et al.'s findings that the achievement content is responsible for the priming effect were confirmed. Moderator effects of task difficulty and achievement motivation are discussed.     

Visual acquaintance,action and the explanatory gap

Much attention has recently been paid to the idea, which I label ‘External World Acquaintance’ (EWA), that the phenomenal character of perceptual experience is partially constituted by external features. One motivation for EWA which has received relatively little discussion is its alleged ability to help deal with the ‘Explanatory Gap’. I provide a reformulation of this general line of thought, which makes clearer how and when EWA could help to explain the specific phenomenal nature of visual experience. In particular, I argue that by focusing on the different kinds of perceptual actions that are available in the case of visual spatial vs. colour perception, we get a natural explanation for why we should expect the specific nature of colour phenomenology to remain less readily intelligible than the specific nature of visual spatial phenomenology.

     

Overperceiving disease cues: the basic cognition of the behavioral immune system

The behavioral immune system is designed to promote the detection and avoidance of potential sources of disease. Whereas previous studies of the behavioral immune system have provided insight into the types of heuristic cues used to identify disease carriers, the present research provides an understanding of the basic psychological processes involved in the detection of those cues. Across 4 studies, feeling vulnerable to disease, whether that feeling stemmed from dispositional tendencies or situational primes, facilitated a disease overperception bias--a tendency to overperceive people in the environment displaying heuristic disease cues. This disease overperception bias was observed in the outcomes of 2 cognitive processes: categorization and memory. When concerned about disease, participants set a lenient threshold for categorizing targets as displaying heuristic disease cues (e.g., obesity, old age). Additionally, concerns about disease led participants to set a lenient threshold for reporting on a recognition task that they had previously seen individuals displaying those disease cues. The present research provides insight into the basic cognitive mechanisms underlying the operation of the behavioral immune system.     

Rate dependency, behavioral mechanisms, and behavioral pharmacology.

Behavioral pharmacology has become increasingly independent of the experimental analysis of behavior. At its beginning, behavioral pharmacology was closely related to the experimental analysis of behavior, with developments in each field aiding the other. Early attempts to systematize data in behavioral pharmacology culminated with the development of the rate-dependency concept, but as this principle was found to have more limited generality than originally was hoped, a theoretical void developed. This circumstance was followed by increased reliance on pharmacological theory as a basis for experimentation and interpretation, with an attendant decrease in emphasis on environmental variables and behavioral interpretations. Lack of interplay between behavioral pharmacology and the experimental analysis of behavior is detrimental to both disciplines because each could contribute significantly to the other. The current trend might be reversed if more research were directed at elucidating behavioral mechanisms of drug action.     

Inferring sexual interest from behavioral cues: Effects of gender and sexually relevant attitudes

Research has found that men impute more sexual meaning to others' behavior than do women. However, little research has examined the possibility that men and women share perceptions of the sexual connotativeness of certain behaviors but diverge in their perceptions of other behaviors. In Study 1, 162 male and 186 female undergraduates, predominantly Caucasian, rated the degree to which each of 27 behaviors of male and female targets connoted a desire for sexual intercourse. Multivariate analyses of variance revealed that, whereas men perceived all but two of the female target behaviors more sexually than women, men and women differed in their perceptions of the sexual connotativeness of only about half of the male target behaviors. A factor analysis revealed three factors for both male and female target behaviors, reflecting mundane dating behaviors, romantic behaviors, and sexual behaviors. Relative to women, men perceived only the mundane dating behaviors more sexually, although regression analyses showed these effects to be moderated by subjects' attitudes toward women. Study 2 examined the extent to which sexually relevant attitudes (e.g., sex role stereotyping, adversarial sexual beliefs, and rape myth acceptance) moderate subjects' perceptions of the sexual connotativeness of the behaviors. Men, particularly those who endorsed traditional, sexually relevant attitudes, were more likely than women to impute sexual meaning to the behaviors. The implications of this for dating situations are discussed.The author wishes to thank Mark Leary and two anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions on earlier versions of this article.     

Seeing her looking at you: acquaintance and variation in the judgment of gaze depth

The acquaintance of subject and looker as well as the depth of gaze affected male subjects' judgments of a female assistant's looking behavior. In a situation ruling out visual interaction, eye-contact gazes were located no more accurately than other gazes. Nevertheless, although gaze depths were not accurately discriminated, gazes deviating vertically and horizontally, to the edge of the head and just beyond the head, were located with some accuracy. The pattern of errors was toward the head and away from the body. Acquaintance produces a stronger bias away from the body, and may produce other interaction-facilitating biases.     

Perceiving choice and constraint: the effects of contextual and behavioral cues on attitude attribution

We examined how features of the situation and the target's behavior in the attitude-attribution paradigm may lead observers to infer that the behavior was performed purposefully and how these perceptions may contribute to correspondence bias. Experiment 1 demonstrated that cues suggesting that essay assignment resulted from the target's purposeful action lead to correspondent inferences. When these cues were absent, observers' inferences were not correspondent. Experiment 2 demonstrated that observers are sensitive to cues emitted by the target (facial expressions of delight and disappointment) and that those cues' meaning depends on the context in which they take place. When the essay was freely chosen, the expression had little effect; observers judged that the essay accurately reflected the target's attitudes. When the essay assignment was constrained, observers used the expressions to discount the essay when judging the target's attitudes. We discuss the implications of these findings for the study of correspondent inferences and correspondence bias.     

Social cues for creativity: The impact of behavioral mimicry on convergent and divergent thinking

We present behavioral mimicry as a social cue for creative thinking. Specifically, we argue that being mimicked by an interaction partner cues convergent thinking by signalling a social opportunity for collaboration, while not being mimicked cues divergent thinking by signalling a social demand for improvisation and innovation. To test this theory, we experimentally manipulated whether individuals were subtly mimicked or not by an experimenter during a 5 min social interaction, and subsequently measured participants’ capacity for convergent thinking (Experiment 1) and divergent thinking (Experiment 2). The results point to the importance of understanding how social relationships influence the creative processes and contributes to the growing understanding of the social function of behavioral mimicry.     

Negative anticipatory contrast and preference conditioning: flavor cues support preference conditioning, and environmental cues support contrast.

In 2 experiments, access to a 0.15% saccharin solution was followed on alternating days by access to a 32% sucrose solution and the same saccharin solution. In Experiment 1, rats increased both intake of and preference for a flavored saccharin solution that predicted sucrose, but neither effect was found using a predictive odor cue alone. Experiment 2 replicated the predictive flavor results but showed suppression of saccharin intake when environmental cues predicted sucrose. When both flavor and environment predicted sucrose, saccharin intake did not change, but preference for the predictive flavor increased. Discriminative taste cues appear to facilitate the development of preference conditioning, but environmental cues favor negative anticipatory contrast effects. Also, preference conditioning and contrast may develop concurrently and compete for expression.