Nonabsolute/relativistic thinking: A common factor underlying models of postformal reasoning?

Strong empirical evidence was obtained in support of the proposition that nonabsolute/relativistic (N/R) thinking is a unifying commonality underlying four postformal models of higher-order thinking, namely, problem finding, dialectical reasoning, relativistic operations, and reflective judgment. Within the construct of N/R thinking, two dimensions—the basic form and the epistemic view—and two levels—the formal form and the postformal form—were differentiated as hypothesized. The findings clarify logical relationships among the models as well as provide a common link unifying their diversity. Implications and suggestions for future research are provided.     

Predicting outcome of chronic pain treatment via a modified self-efficacy scale

This study utilized a modified self-efficacy scale and examined the relationship of perceived self-efficacy to treatment outcome in a chronic, intractable, benign pain population (N = 62). In two separate studies a self-efficacy scale was given to inpatients in a combined cognitive-behavioral and medical treatment program. The scale categories consisted of (1) walking distance, (2) lifting ability, (3) pain coping, (4) working ability, and (5) social and recreational engagement. Self-efficacy beliefs were found to be associated with the level of functioning of these patients and their response to treatment. Patients with higher self-efficacy scores following treatment rated themselves as more improved and demonstrated better overall functioning with greater reductions in chronic illness behavior at followup. These observations support the merits of self-efficacy measures as predictors of treatment outcome in chronic pain patients.     

The acculturation of Chinese immigrants: perceived effects on family functioning of length of residence in two cultural contexts

In two studies, conducted in Australia and the United States, first- and second-generation adolescents of Chinese descent, together with adolescents from the host culture (Anglo-Australian or Euro-American) and from Hong Kong, were asked about their family environment. In both studies, an autonomy-promoting family style differentiated the host culture from the Hong Kong Chinese, with the Chinese immigrants occupying an intermediate position. Chinese immigrants of both generations reported more structured, controlling family environments than did the nonimmigrant groups. First-generation Chinese-Australians reported a more organized family pattern than that of their second-generation peers, whereas second-generation Chinese-Americans perceived more family regulation of adolescents than did the first-generation respondents. The two studies yielded remarkably similar results in spite of differences in the Chinese communities' positions in the host culture. There was evidence of somewhat rapid change in the first-generation families toward individualistic norms but little shift in family environment as a function of length of residence.     

THE ACCULTURATION OF AUTONOMY EXPECTATIONS IN CHINESE HIGH SCHOOLERS RESIDING IN TWO WESTERN NATIONS•

In two studies, conducted in the United States and Australia, first- and second-generation high schoolers of Chinese descent, together with adolescents from the host culture (Euro-Americans and Anglo-Australians) and from Hong Kong were asked about their age expectations for behavioral autonomy. ANOVAS of 19 items and the total Teen Timetable score revealed that in both countries acculturation was very gradual. On many items second generation Chinese students were more like their Hong Kong than their Western counterparts. Rate of acculturation varied with domain, with age expectations for heterosexual interactions showing the least influence of the host culture. Discriminant analyses revealed that using all 19 items, the groups of subjects could be placed in their cultural/generational groups significantly better than by chance. Results were interpreted in terms of cultural beliefs and special factors faced by immigrant families.     

Individual differences in distancing responses to women on a photo choice task

A heterogeneous sample of adult women and men responded to a Photo Choice Task (PCT) in which they were asked to make 24 choices between two persons for a hypothetical interaction; eight of the choices were between a woman and a man. Participants also responded to a measure of adherence to Sex Role Stereotypes and to a measure of Adversarial Sexual Beliefs. On the eight choices between a woman and a man on the PCT, men over 30 and younger than 30 chose women below chance level. Women over 30 made other-gender and same-gender choices that did not differ from chance, but the women under 30 chose women over men reliably more than chance. Small but significant positive correlations were found among the scores on the PCT and the belief measures; for the total sample, the greater the choice of men over women for hypothetical interactions, the greater the agreement with sex role stereotypes and with adversarial sexual beliefs. An examination of mean differences in belief scores among groups of persons whose PCT scores (choice of men over women) were low, medium, and high revealed that men who were more likely to turn away from women in hypothetical situations were also more likely to adhere to stereotyped beliefs about sex roles and to view relationships between women and men as adversarial. This same pattern of individual differences was found among women but, for women, only the relationship between PCT scores and sex role stereotyping was significant.     

The ontogeny of auditory frequency generalization in the chicken.

To determine if there is an ontogenetic change in stimulus coding, chickens between the day of hatching and 9-10 days old were tested using a habituation-generalization paradigm. Experiment 1 indicated that 1 day-old and 3--4-day-old chicks show similar habituation of an eye-opening response to auditory stimuli in the 800--1,200-Hz range. In Experiment 2 the eye-opening response to a 1,000-Hz stimulus was habituated and then immediately tested using stimuli which varied between 800 and 1,200 Hz. Each age-group (1 day, 3--4 days, and 9--10 days) showed a symmetrical stimulus generalization gradient around the 1,000-Hz stimulus and the 1-day-old chicks displayed a reliably flatter gradient than either of the older groups, which did not differ. In a third experiment, the position of the gradients relative to the baseline was shifted without altering the relative shapes. These results allow general arousal, general auditory responsiveness, overall error rate, and metric characteristics of the independent and dependent variables to be eliminated as possible sources of the age differences in gradient shape. The changes in stimulus generalization, therefore, support the view that during normal development there is a sharpening of perceptual coding processes.     

Serpent versus surrogate and other determinants of runway fear differences

Avoidance behavior and fear ratings by snake-fearful college volunteers were studied as a function of live vs stuffed snake stimuli, order of presenting the snakes, accompanied (participant modeling format) or unaccompanied social context in the runway test, high or moderate initial fear level and sex of subject. The live snake sponsored more avoidance and rated fear than the specimen, and type of snake stimulus interacted with students' initial fear levels, thus raising questions about previous research using specimens instead of live phobic animal stimuli. Accompanied social context produced generally less fear and avoidance than unaccompanied approach. Numerous complex interactions were found among the type of snake, presentation sequence, social context, sex and fear level variables, raising methodological cautions for future research.     

Minimal cues in the vocal communication of affect: Judging emotions from content-masked speech

Vocal expressions of emotions taken from a recorded version of a play were content. masked by using electronic filtering, randomized splicing and a combination of both techniques in addition to a no-treatment condition in a 2×2 design. Untrained listener-judges rated the voice samples in the four conditions on 20 semantic differential scales. Irrespective of the severe reduction in the number and types of vocal cues in the masking conditions, the mean ratings of the judges in all four groups agreed on a level significantly beyond chance expectations on the differential position of the emotional expressions in a multidimensional space of emotional meaning. The results suggest that a minimal set of vocal cues consisting of pitch level and variation, amplitude level and variation, and rate of articulation may be sufficient to communicate the evaluation, potency, and activity dimensions of emotional meaning. Each of these dimensions may be associated with a specific pattern of vocal cues or cue combinations. No differential effects of the type of content-masking for specific emotions were found. Systematic effects of the masking techniques consisted in a lowering of the perceived activity level of the emotions in the case of electronic filtering, and more positive ratings on the evaluative dimension in the case of randomized splicing. Electronic filtering tended to decrease, randomized splicing tended to increase inter-rater reliability.This research was supported by a research grant (GS-2654) from the Division of Social Sciences of the National Science Foundation to Robert Rosenthal.     

A COMPARISON OF VIETNAMESE-AUSTRALIAN AND ANGLO-AUSTRALIAN MOTHERs' BELIEFS ABOUT INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT*

Vietnamese- and Anglo-Australian mothers' beliefs about intelligence and its development were obtained through a structured interview. Twenty-five working-class Vietnamese, 32 working-class and 39 upper-middle-class Anglo mothers of five-year-old children were asked about the heritability and stability of intelligence, its importance in different life domains and the roles of parents and teachers in developing intelligence. Developmental timetables for the acquisition of certain intellectual abilities were also elicited. Culture emerged as a significant influence on mothers' beliefs considerably more than did social class or sex of their child. Vietnamese mothers perceived intelligence as more important than did Anglo mothers, had a more narrowly focused view of education and intellectual development, and expected later acquisition of intellectual abilities. These differences are consistent with traditional Vietnamese values.     

Intratask distractibility in hyperkinetic and nonhyperkinetic children

Previous laboratory studies that have either introduced extraneous environmental stimulation or tested children in cubicles have failed to provide support for the common clinical notion that hyperkinetic children are highly distractible. Based on the Rosenthal and Allen (1978) proposal, distractibility was investigated by introducing irrelevant information within the task context. Intratask distractibility was examined by comparing the performance of hyperkinetic and nonhyperkinetic children on a speeded classification task. Errors were measured for responses to slides containing either zero, constant, one varying, or two varying irrelevant stimulus dimensions. Dimensional salience of the three dimensions used in the study was measured for each child. The data indicate that hyperkinetics made more errors than nonhyperkinetics when constant irrelevant or two varying irrelevant dimensions were presented, but the two groups made equal errors when there was no irrelevant information presented within the stimulus array. No group differences in distractibility were found when the irrelevant dimension was low salience. It was concluded that salience of distractors presented within the task context may be useful in specifying the particular task conditions in which hyperkinetic children exhibit high distractibility. This study is based on the first author's Ph.D. thesis in the Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. The authors wish to thank the many administrators, teachers, and students in the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools for their cooperation, including Dr. Thomas Vandever, Mr. V. N. Nicholson, Dr. Jesse Cabler, Mrs. Elizabeth Wortham, and Mr. W. J. Officer.