The phenomenology of real and illusory tip-of-the-tongue states

The tip-of-the-tongue state (TOT) is the phenomenological experience that a word is on the verge of being recalled. Most research has been directed at TOT etiology and at retrieval processes occurring during a TOT. In this study, TOT phenomenology was examined. In Experiment 1, strong TOTs were more likely than weak TOTs to be followed by correct recognition, and resolution (later recall) of TOTs was higher for strong than for weak TOTs, but only for commission errors. In Experiment 2, emotional TOTs were more likely to be resolved and recognized than nonemotional TOTs. In Experiment 3, imminence was defined as the feeling that retrieval is about to occur. Imminent TOTs were more likely to be followed by resolution and recognition than were nonimminent TOTs. Illusory TOTs (TOTs for unanswerable questions) tended to be weaker, less emotional, and less imminent than TOTs for answerable questions.     

Cigarette smokers do more than just smoke cigarettes

In this study, we hypothesized that light and moderate-to-heavy cigarette smokers, when compared with nonsmokers, would exhibit significantly less healthy attitudes and behaviors on several dimensions relevant to the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). A factor analysis of survey items measuring knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors in five CHD risk areas produced four major factors, which we labeled Attitudes (Factor 1), Health Consciousness (Factor 2), Knowledge (Factor 3), and Unhealthy Behaviors (Factor 4). Factor-based scales generated for each of these four factors were used in a one-way multivariate analysis of variance to examine differences between nonsmokers, light smokers, and moderate-to-heavy smokers. Cigarette smokers versus nonsmokers exhibited less positive attitudes toward CHD risk behaviors, whereas moderate-to-heavy cigarette smokers, as compared with the light smokers and the nonsmokers, exhibited lower levels of health consciousness and enacted unhealthy behaviors at a greater frequency. The moderate-to-heavy cigarette smokers also exhibited a lower commitment to enact healthy behavioral changes in the immediate future, even after corrections were introduced for their lower frequency of healthy behaviors during the past week. Overall, these results support our hypothesis that cigarette smokers, particularly as they become more involved with cigarette smoking, do more than just smoke cigarettes; they exhibit a less healthy lifestyle as shown by cognitive, behavioral, and motivational dimensions related to cardiovascular health.     

Reactions to Receiving Aid as a Function of Cost to Donor and Opportunity to Aid1

Drawing on equity theory, two possibilities that might reduce resentment of the donor following the receipt of aid which cannot be repaid were investigated: (a) the cost to the donor is minimized, and (b) the recipient has an opportunity to aid a third party. The results provide evidence that the recipient will like the donor less and be less willing to request future aid when he cannot repay the aid than when he can. Weak support was received by the hypothesis that the tendency to like the donor less when the aid cannot be repaid will be stronger, the greater the perceived cost. Support was found for the hypothesis that the decreased willingness to request future aid when the aid cannot be repaid will be stronger, the greater the perceived cost. Support was found for the hypotheses that the recipient will like the donor more and be more willing to request future aid when he has an opportunity to aid a third party than when he cannot aid anyone.     

Differences in the demographic and sociopsychological profile of ROTC vs Non-ROTC students

The demographic and sociopsychological profile of 102 high school and 754 college Army ROTC cadets was compared and contrasted against that of their non-ROTC classmates. The ROTC students were found to differ from their classmates in military background, academic aptitude, personal values, attributes sought in a job, political position, bureaucratic tendencies, and other socio-psychological characteristics. These differences grew larger with time, as progressively older samples of cadets and noncadets were studied. Because of the cross-sectional nature of the present study, it was not possible to determine the extent to which these widening differences were due to: (a) selection differences present at the moment of entry into ROTC; (b) attrition from the ROTC group of cadets with a “deviant” profile; and/or (c) actual changes in cadets brought about by exposure to a military career. Nevertheless, these findings point to the possible existence of a “military personality” that is evident at early career development stages and even among ROTC civilians supposed to provide a “leavening” effect on the United States military.     

Medial septal lesions: disruptions of microregulatory patterns and circadian rhythmicity in rats

The microregulatory patterns of food and water intake were examined in male and female rats bearing medical septal lesions and in sham-operated controls. Medial septal ablation, although not affecting the total amount of food or water ingested, resulted in a profound disruption of the pattern of intake. Circadian rhythmicity was disrupted for a period, returning to normal by 25 days postlesion. Permanent disruptions occurred in feeding patterns in the rats with septal lesions ingested more frequent but smaller meals. There was also a marked increase in food-intake-associated drinking and a decrease in non-food-intake-associated drinking. The results are interpreted to reflect two separate independent effects, a general circadian disruption and an alteration in requlatory behavior produced by a chronic depletion of body fluid.     

Primacy and recency effects in nonhuman primates.

The reports of primacy and recency memory effects in nonhuman primates have been criticized because they have all used an initiating response. That is, the presentation of the to-be-remembered list of items was always contingent on a response being initiated by the nonhuman primate. It has been argued that this initiating response improves performance for early items in the list, resulting in the occurrence of the primacy effect, independent of any memory processing mechanism. This criticism was addressed in the present study by not using an initiating response prior to the presentation of the list. Nevertheless, both a primacy and a recency effect were observed in all 6 rhesus monkeys evaluated using a serial probe recognition task. Thus, the results are similar to those for humans, in that both primacy and recency effects can be obtained in nonhuman primates. A brief literature review is included, and it is proposed that the primacy and recency effects observed in humans, nonhuman primates, and infraprimates can be explained within the context of the configural-association theory.     

A 32-society investigation of the influence of perceived economic inequality on social class stereotyping

There is a growing body of work suggesting that social class stereotypes are amplified when people perceive higher levels of economic inequality—that is, the wealthy are perceived as more competent and assertive and the poor as more incompetent and unassertive. The present study tested this prediction in 32 societies and also examines the role of wealth-based categorization in explaining this relationship. We found that people who perceived higher economic inequality were indeed more likely to consider wealth as a meaningful basis for categorization. Unexpectedly, however, higher levels of perceived inequality were associated with perceiving the wealthy as less competent and assertive and the poor as more competent and assertive. Unpacking this further, exploratory analyses showed that the observed tendency to stereotype the wealthy negatively only emerged in societies with lower social mobility and democracy and higher corruption. This points to the importance of understanding how socio-structural features that co-occur with economic inequality may shape perceptions of the wealthy and the poor.     

Predictive Factors of Ethnic Prejudice Toward Immigrants in a Representative Subsample of Spanish Young People1

This research aimed to study those factors that predict different types of ethnic prejudice in a representative subsample of Spanish young people. The instrument we used was Pettigrew & Meertens' (1995 ) blatant/subtle prejudice scale. Results show that although there is a similar underlying pattern in both types of ethnic prejudice, subtle prejudice is based more on cultural differences, whereas blatant prejudice also stresses the racial, economic, and labor effects of immigration. Moreover, blatant prejudice is also influenced by the formal level of education and political position. The results are interpreted within the Spanish context; and the implications for identity formation and maintenance, and practical programs directed toward ethnic prejudice awareness are discussed.