Actors' and observers' attributions for success and failure: A comparative test of predictions from Kelley's cube,self-serving bias,and positivity bias formulations

An experiment was conducted to test implications of Kelley's cube, self-serving bias, and positivity bias formulations for attributions associated with success and failure on a test of “abstract reasoning.” Subjects either experienced or observed outcomes on three tasks. They then made attributions for only the third outcome, which was either a success or a failure. The first task was of the same type and had the same outcome as the third task, thus providing the information that the outcome being attributed was high in consistency. The second task was of a different type than the first and third tasks, and its outcome either did or did not differ from their outcomes, thus varying information about the distinctiveness of the outcome being attributed. Consensus was manipulated by presenting false norms, ostensibly from a previous experiment. In contrast to previous research, the present study included thorough checks on all of these informational manipulations. Regardless of attributor role (actor or observer), subjects attributed success more to internal than to external factors and attributed failure more to external than to internal factors. These findings indicate a general bias toward positive evaluations. Discussion centers on possible alternative interpretations of these findings, restrictions on their generality, and the limitations that they seem to impose on the applicability of the other two formulations.     

Event-related potential (ERP) indices of infants' recognition of familiar and unfamiliar objects in two and three dimensions

We measured infants' recognition of familiar and unfamiliar 3-D objects and their 2-D representations using event-related potentials (ERPs). Infants differentiated familiar from unfamiliar objects when viewing them in both two and three dimensions. However, differentiation between the familiar and novel objects occurred more quickly when infants viewed the object in 3-D than when they viewed 2-D representations. The results are discussed with respect to infants' recognition abilities and their understanding of real objects and representations. This is the first study using 3-D objects in conjunction with ERPs in infants, and it introduces an interesting new methodology for assessing infants' electrophysiological responses to real objects.     

The American Dream Revisited: Is It What You Want or Why You Want It That Matters?

Previous research found that aspirations to financial success related inversely to self-actualization and that aspirations to community involvement related positively to self-actualization. We argue that diverse reasons can underlie both of these aspirations, leading to more complex predictions. In a sample of 246 participants, we assessed both self-determining and controlling reasons for each class of aspiration, along with endorsements of the aspirations themselves. Initial regression analyses replicated the earlier findings. Subsequent analyses found that endorsement of self-determining reasons for either class of aspiration related positively to self-actualization and that endorsement of controlling reasons for either class of aspiration related inversely to self-actualization. In the analysis involving community involvement, the aspiration itself no longer retained predictive power after the other variables were taken into account. In the analysis involving financial success, however, the aspiration retained an independent predictive role.     

Dispositional optimism and recovery from coronary artery bypass surgery: the beneficial effects on physical and psychological well-being

The effect of dispositional optimism on recovery from coronary artery bypass surgery was examined in a group of 51 middle-aged men. Patients provided information at three points in time--(a) on the day before surgery, (b) 6-8 days postoperatively, and (c) 6 months postoperatively. Information was obtained relating to the patient's rate of physical recovery, mood, and postsurgical quality of life. Information was also gathered regarding the manner in which the patients attempted to cope with the stress of the surgery and its aftermath. As expected, dispositional optimism proved to be an important predictor of coping efforts and of surgical outcomes. More specifically, dispositional optimism (as assessed prior to surgery) correlated positively with manifestations of problem-focused coping and negatively with the use of denial. Dispositional optimism was also associated with a faster rate of physical recovery during the period of hospitalization and with a faster rate of return to normal life activities subsequent to discharge. Finally, there was a strong positive association between level of optimism and postsurgical quality of life at 6 months.     

The temporal distribution of stimulus information in the visual evoked potential

Research in psychophysics (Bloch's law) and perceptual experiments concerned with the integration of successively presented stimuli suggest that the perception of form is a process that occurs over a period of as much as 200-300 msec. Such results prompted the question of whether the visual evoked potential (VEP) might contain information about the distribution over time of perceptual processing. Subjects viewed lines formed from combinations of three lengths and four angles while the EEG was recorded. Analysis of the VEPs indicated that the length and angle of the lines produced temporal distributions of information in the VEP and that the distributions for length and angle were somewhat different. The major difference was that the processing of angle begins earlier and is completed sooner than the processing of length. A conclusion of the experiment was that an alternative or supplement to analyzing VEPs for specific waveform features is to consider the encoding of stimulus information in the VEP as a density or concentration over time.     

Depression and cognitive style: comparisons between measures

Several instruments have been developed recently to measure cognitive styles associated with depression. At least four of them appear to have an underlying similarity. Each appears to reflect a tendency for respondents to infer a general lack of self-worth (or a continued likelihood of bad events) on the basis of a single discrete failure. The present research was a comparative test of one of these scales against the other three in terms of associations with Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores. Though all instruments were significantly correlated with BDI, partial correlations revealed that our generalization scale was a more robust predictor of BDI than were (a) a measure of characterological self-blame, (b) a measure of cognitive bias, and (c) a measure of attributional style.     

Follow the liar: the effects of adult lies on children's honesty

Recent research shows that most adults admit they lie to children. We also know that children learn through modeling and imitation. To date there are no published studies that examine whether lying to children has an effect on children's honesty. We aimed to bridge the gap in this literature by examining the effects of adults' lies on elementary and preschool‐aged children's behavior using a modified temptation resistance paradigm, in which children are tempted to peek at a toy they have been told not to look at, and later given a chance to either admit peeking, or try to conceal their transgression by lying. Prior to being tested, half of the children were told a lie and half were not. We then measured both cheating (peeking) and lie‐telling behaviors. We hypothesized that lying to a child would increase the likelihood that they would both peek at the toy and lie about having done so. Results showed that school‐age children were more likely to peek if they had been lied to, and were also more likely to lie about peeking. In contrast with the school‐age children, there was no difference in peeking or lying for preschoolers who were and were not lied to. These results have important implications for parenting and educational settings.