Validity of the M Test: simulation-design and natural-group approaches

The utility of the M Test (Beaber, Marston, Michelli, & Mills, (1985) as a screening measure for malingering was assessed using simulation-design (subjects asked to fake mental illness) and natural-group (forensic assessment cases suspected of malingering) approaches. A total of 318 subjects from community, clinical, and correctional settings completed the M Test under instructions to respond honestly or to simulate a major mental disorder. A factor analysis of the M Test items supported the original rationally based scale assignment, and the scales were found to have adequate internal reliability. To examine the predictive validity of the M Test, results revealed that sensitivity using the cutting scores suggested by Beaber et al. (1985) was much higher for simulating subjects (79.8%) than for the suspected malingerers (40.0%). The findings emphasize the danger of exclusive reliance on simulation studies for validating measures of malingering. It was concluded that, in its present form, the M Test does not constitute a good screening measure for assessing malingering.     

The Relation of Cognitive and Memorial Processes to Persuasion in a Simulated Jury Trial

Four experiments investigated the dependence of persuasion on cognitive factors. All experiments employed a court case for which 795 subjects acted as jury members, reading summaries of both the prosecution and defense's testimony. The amount of objective information on both sides of the case was varied. Persuasion was a position function of the number of prosecution arguments and the number of defense arguments. This finding was extended by obtaining measures of the subjects'cognitive reactions to the case as well as their opinions and by following both of these measures over time. Both analysis of variance and multiple regression techniques showed that subjects could have derived their opinions from their cognitions about the case. This relationship also held up over time. These results suggest the general form of an information-processing theory of persuasion. One prediction of this theory is for an asymptotic function relating objective information to persuasion. This prediction received empirical support.     

Attibution of attitudes to speakers and listeners under assigned-behavior conditions: Does behavior engulf the field?

A conceptual replication of the assigned-behavior conditions of previous research in attitude attribution was conducted. Participants made attitude attributions about themselves and also about others who had either given, listened to, or not been exposed to either a proattitudinal or counterattitudinal essay. The position adopted in the essay significantly affected the attitudes attributed to those assigned to deliver the essay. Essay position had an equally strong effect upon attitudes attributed to those who merely listened to the essay, however. Thus, the fact that the actor had delivered a particular assigned essay apparently did not in itself convey information to the observers about the actor's attitudes. Experimental results suggested that essay direction affects attitudes attitudes attributed to others in an assigned-behavior setting because observers use their own attitudes to infer the attitudes of others. Since observers' own attitudes change after exposure to different essays, they attribute different attitudes to others.     

Sick-building syndrome fatigue as a possible predation defense

Sick-building syndrome is an illness characterized by fatigue, headache, and upper-respiratory complaints. It is usually associated with modern office buildings, structures with an impervious outer shell and inoperable windows. Poor air quality, specific pollutants, and inadequate ventilation are considered common causes. The ability to smell faint odors requires air that is free of contamination. Human evolutionary ancestors depended on odors for survival. Even the slightest increase in the ability to smell a predator conveyed a distinct, immediate survival advantage. Conversely, an enormous survival advantage would also accrue to the animal that sought protection or avoided activity when this vital olfactory information was unavailable. Such would be the case with fire on the savannah. The foraging, olfactory dependent animal, unable to smell predators because of contaminated air, would be quickly snatched by a keen-sighted carnivore. There exist, however, well-described reflexes from the nose mediated through the trigeminal nerve that discourage activity when these free nerve endings are irritated. This mechanism may serve as a defense against predation. In adulterated atmosphere the animal, subdued by these reflexes, would be less likely to venture forth and, therefore, less vulnerable to predators. Similar reflexes may persist in humans, activated by poor air quality, air ill-suited for the dissemination of odors. I suggest that the human perception of these inhibitory reflexes is the feeling of fatigue associated with the sick building syndrome.     

Social Motives Underlying Rational Selective Exploitation: The Impact of Instrumental Versus Social-Emotional Allocator Orientation on the Distribution of Rewards in Groups

Prior research has demonstrated that allocators frequently distribute lesser rewards to employees with constrained mobility, and that this tendency is more pronounced among more competent employees. This phenomenon is termed "rational selective exploitation." This allocation rule is rational in that it serves to maintain membership among the most desirable group members–those who contribute most to the group's task goals–but is exploitative in that it produces an erosion of equity: Although deserving of high rewards, the outcomes of competent but entrapped employees are lower than those of their counterparts with greater mobility. Four experiments tested several predictions concerning reward allocation processes. First, allocators distributed greater rewards to more competent employees. This tendency was more pronounced under conditions of instrumental allocator orientation than under conditions of social-emotional orientation. Second, allocators distributed greater rewards to more mobile employees. This tendency was more pronounced under conditions of instrumental orientation and constrained labor pool, and was weakly promoted by the anticipation of future allocations. Third, employee competence and employee mobility interacted; the tendency to allocate greater rewards to more mobile employees was especially pronounced among highly competent employees. This interaction of competence with mobility–the rational selective exploitation effect–was stronger under conditions of instrumental allocator orientation than under conditions of greater social-emotional concern, and was weakly promoted by the anticipation of future allocations.     

Do optimism and pessimism have different relationships with personality dimensions? A re-examination

The classic, well-cited study by Marshall et al. (1992) demonstrated that optimism correlates stronger with extraversion than does pessimism and pessimism correlates stronger with neuroticism than does optimism, and these results lent support to their claim that optimism and pessimism are two separate constructs. However, we argued that their results are likely the outcome of scale artefact caused by item valence (or item favorability). In an empirical study (N = 1016), we evaluated the correlation of optimism scores and pessimism scores with the most common measure of optimism - Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R). As expected, when item valence effect was not controlled, we replicated the finding by Marshall et al. (1992) that optimism and pessimism show differential correlations with extraversion and neuroticism. After item valence was controlled such pattern of relationships was greatly reduced. Suggestions for future research to resolve the dimensionality debate for optimism-pessimism are discussed.     

Contemporary perspectives on the study of psychological climate: A commentary

At the individual level of analysis, we address how work environment perceptions (psychological climate) are conceptualized and measured with respect to three perspectives in the applied psychology literature: (1) social constructionist, (2) general psychological, and (3) multiple stakeholder. Similarities and differences between these perspectives regarding the hypothesized bases of work environment perceptions, factor models for capturing these perceptions, and the generality/specificity of psychological climate factors are discussed. A general framework for conceptualizing and measuring climate perceptions with respect to different referents, organizational levels, industries or sectors, and stakeholder groups is then presented. This framework is posited to include core, generalizable dimensions associated with each relevant stakeholder group. Finally, we recommend methods and discuss future research directions related to the aggregation of individual level climate perceptions to organizational levels.     

Effects of acute restraint stress on set-shifting and reversal learning in male rats

Exposure to acute stress alters cognition; however, few studies have examined the effects of acute stress on executive functions such as behavioral flexibility. The goal of the present experiments was to determine the effects of acute periods of stress on two distinct forms of behavioral flexibility: set-shifting and reversal learning. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained and tested in an operant-chamber-based task. Some of the rats were exposed to acute restraint stress (30 min) immediately before either the set-shifting test day or the reversal learning test day. Acute stress had no effect on set-shifting, but it significantly facilitated reversal learning, as assessed by both trials to criterion and total errors. In a second experiment, the roles of glucocorticoid (GR) and mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) in the acute-stress-induced facilitation of reversal learning were examined. Systemic administration of the GR-selective antagonist RU38486 (10 mg/kg) or the MR-selective antagonist spironolactone (50 mg/kg) 30 min prior to acute stress failed to block the facilitation on reversal learning. The present results demonstrate a dissociable effect of acute stress on set-shifting and reversal learning and suggest that the facilitation of reversal learning by acute stress may be mediated by factors other than corticosterone.