Field dependent eating and perception as a function of weight and sex

It was hypothesized that the greater influence of external cues on obese than on normal individuals' eating behavior is a manifestation of a generalized sensitivity to external cues. Responsivity of nut consumption to the external cue of shells on the nuts and responsivity of judgment of verticality to the external cue of a tilted visual field were assessed for male and female, obese and normal-weight subjects. As predicted, both obese subjects' nut consumption and their judgments of verticality were more influenced by external cues than were those of normals. Females' judgments of verticality were more influenced by external cues than males' were, but the sex differences in eating behavior were not statistically significant. A significant correlation between the field dependence of subjects' eating behavior and their judgments of verticality suggests that a single cause may generate sensitivity to external cues in these two diverse situations.     

“Think Aloud”: A program for developing self-control in young aggressive boys

Think Aloud was designed as a training program to improve self-control in 6- to 8-year-old boys. It involved modeling and verbalization of cognitive activity to foster use of verbal mediation skills in dealing with both cognitive and interpersonal problems. It was hypothesized that this training would lead to improvement in test performance and teacher ratings of classroom behavior in hyperaggressive boys. Twelve aggressive second grade boys participated in daily, 30-minute, individual sessions for 6 weeks. Normal and aggressive control subjects received no intervention. Teachers rated both trained and untrained aggressive boys as improving in aggressive behaviors but they rated the experimental group as showing improvement on a significantly larger number of prosocial behaviors. The pattern of performance on cognitive tests also changed significantly in the experimental group. On pretest, their pattern differed from normals and resembled the aggressive control group, while on posttest their pattern resembled normals and differed from aggressive controls. Suggestions were made concerning additional refinements needed in the program, but overall results indicated potential value in the present approach for providing assistance to aggressive boys in the early grades.This investigation, from the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, University of Colorado Medical School, was supported in part by a Research Scientist Award No. MK2-47 356 from the National Institute of Mental Health and by Grant No. NEG 003-0029 from the National Institute of Education. However, the opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the NIE, and no official endorsement by the National Institute of Education should be inferred.We are grateful to Mary Ann Bash and Margaret Simmons for their assistance in carrying out the program and to the Denver Public Schools for their continued cooperation.     

The effect of romantic and nonromantic films on perception of female friendly and seductive behavior

Two experiments investigating gender differences in perception of nonverbal seductive and friendly cues were conducted using standardized videotaped interactions. Results of the first experiment indicated no gender differences in perceptions, contradicting previous results obtained by Abbey (“Sex Differences in Attributions for Friendly Behavior: Do Males Misperceive Females' Friendliness?” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1982, 42, 830–838), who used a nonstandardized interaction. Results of the second experiment indicated that exposure to romantic and nonromantic scenarios in the media may produce contrast effects primarily affecting male interpretation of female nonverbal cues.     

Evaluative verbalization and delay maintenance behavior in children

An experiment is presented which examined the influence of verbalizations on children's tendencies to postpone immediate gratification in terms of increased delayed reward. Children's verbalizations were varied in terms of their evaluative valence and whether they focused upon the reward itself or the delay task. During a delay task children in experimental groups periodically verbalized evaluative statements that were either positive (I like …) or negative (I don't like …) and which focused upon either the reward itself (… the tokens) or the delay behavior (… to wait). Children who focused on reward, under conditions of either positive or negative evaluation, postponed immediate gratification less than control subjects who made no verbalization. Children who evaluated delay behavior positively postponed immediate gratification longer than silent subjects, though children who negatively evaluated delay behavior did not differ from subjects who did not verbalize. The results are interpreted in terms of the influence of evaluative valence and focus as parameters of plans for delay behavior.     

Planned missing data designs in psychological research

The authors describe 2 efficiency (planned missing data) designs for measurement: the 3-form design and the 2-method measurement design. The 3-form design, a kind of matrix sampling, allows researchers to leverage limited resources to collect data for 33% more survey questions than can be answered by any 1 respondent. Power tables for estimating correlation effects illustrate the benefit of this design. The 2-method measurement design involves a relatively cheap, less valid measure of a construct and an expensive, more valid measure of the same construct. The cost effectiveness of this design stems from the fact that few cases have both measures, and many cases have just the cheap measure. With 3 brief simulations involving structural equation models, the authors show that compared with the same-cost complete cases design, a 2-method measurement design yields lower standard errors and a higher effective sample size for testing important study parameters. With a large cost differential between cheap and expensive measures and small effect sizes, the benefits of the design can be enormous. Strategies for using these 2 designs are suggested.