The myth of regaining control: Ostracism increases superstitious tendencies

Whether and how interpersonal experiences predispose people to show superstitious tendencies have been largely unexamined by past studies. By adopting a multimethod approach, three studies tested (a) whether ostracism increases superstitious tendencies through thwarted perceived control, (b) whether the dispositional need for closure moderates the effect of ostracism on superstitious tendencies and (c) whether restoring ostracized people's thwarted control weakens their superstitious tendencies. The results revealed that ostracized participants had higher superstitious tendencies than nonostracized participants did (Studies 1–3). Moreover, thwarted control mediated the effect of ostracism on superstitious tendencies (Study 2). In addition, the dispositional need for closure moderated the effect of ostracism on superstitious tendencies, such that the effect was stronger among participants with a high need for closure (Studies 1–2). Finally, restoring ostracized participants' perceived control weakened the effect of ostracism on superstitious tendencies (Study 3). Altogether, these findings feature the essential role of thwarted perceived control in understanding the link between ostracism and superstitious tendencies and the implication of control restoration in weakening the link. They also highlight the importance of dispositional characteristics in moderating people's responses to superstitions following ostracism and related forms of interpersonal maltreatment.     

Infantile handling and sex as determinants of the negative reinforcing effects of gentling

Summary BD IX rats were trained to avoid a black and white compartment which was associated with gentling. The rats were given 12 acquisition sessions in which they were stroked if they remained in the critical compartment at the end of the fifteen 20-sec intervals during the 5-min test period. The results indicated that the negative reinforcing effects of gentling were a function of the early handling history and sex of the rat.This research was aided by Grant APA-247 from the National Research Council of Canada. The author thanks David Wood for his active collaboration in conducting the experiment.     

Infantile handling and the extinction of responses acquired under food reward

A comparison was made of the runway behaviour of rats which had been handled from Days 1-21 and their non-handled litter mates. The training began on Day 70 after the animals were habituated to a restricted food schedule for 10 days. The subjects were given six trials each day in the runway and were rewarded with a 0.045 g. Noyes pellet. After 10 days of rewarded training trials, subjects were given 6 extinction trials a day for 10 days. Results showed that handled rats ran faster than non-handled rats during acquisition and during the first 3 days of extinction. The extinction data suggested that the relationship between emotionality and effects of frustrative non-reward should be re-evaluated.     

A further validation of the bem sex role inventory: A multitrait-multimethod study

The present study used a multitrait-multimethod technique [D.T. Campbell and D. W. Fiske (1959) “Convergent and Discriminant Validation by the Multitrait-Multimethod Matrix,” Psychological Bulletin, 56, 81–105] to examine Bem's [(1974) “The Measurement of Psychological Androgyny,” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 152–162] use of an instrumental-expressive dichotomy to conceptualize the Masculinity and Femininity scales of the Bem Sex Role Inventory as statistically orthogonal constructs. Results indicate that while perhaps reliable, masculinity and femininity lack clear convergent and discriminant validity. Therefore, Bem's contention that masculinity and femininity are orthogonal constructs is questioned. Results are discussed in light of trait- vs. method-driven research.     

Book reviews

Socializing Epistemology: The Social Dimensions of Knowledge, Frederick F. Schmitt, Ed., 1994. Lanham, MD, Rowman and Littlefield, ix + 315 pp., US$22.95, ISBN: 0847679594

A Dynamic Systems Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action, Esther Thelen & Linda B. Smith. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press, xxii + 376 pp., $50, ISBN 0–262–20095–3 cloth

From Kant to Hilbert: A Source Book in the Foundations of Mathematics, William B. Ewald, Ed., 1996. Oxford, Oxford University Press. xviii+ 1340 pp., £195.00, two volumes, ISBN 0–19–853271–7 (the set)     

动词语义和句子语法对代词加工的影响

考察了动词语义和句子语法对代词加工的影响．结果表明,动词语义是影响代词理解的一个因素;相同语法功能假设尚需进一步验证,研究者还提出代词理解受社会文化因素影响的假设。     

3─6岁儿童传递性关系推理的研究

设计三种情境考察被试的推理情况,并试图揭示儿童是怎样进行传递性关系推理的。结果显示：（１）３—６岁儿童具有进行传递性关系推理能力;（２）造成我国３—６岁儿童作传递性关系推理失败的原因有二：一是错误理解比较句式,二是没有记住前提;（３）３—６岁儿童进行传递性关系推理的内部过程不同：小年龄段被试多采用“局部加工模式”,大龄段被试多采用“整体空间加工模式”。     

Effects of media violence on viewers' aggression in unconstrained social interaction

This article provides a meta-analytic review of the experimental effects of media violence on viewers' aggression in unstructured social interaction. In the reviewed experiments, children or adolescents were exposed to violent or control presentations and their postexposure behavior was coded for aggression during spontaneous social interaction. Exposure to media violence significantly enhanced viewers' aggressive behavior when the findings were aggregated across studies, but the effect was not uniform across investigations. Only suggestive evidence was obtained concerning moderators of the effect: Marginally stronger relations were obtained in those studies using a cross-section of the normal population of children (vs. emotionally disturbed children) and in those studies conducted in laboratory settings (vs. other contexts).     

Sensation seeking and financial risk taking in everyday money matters

The present study investigated the degree to which the previously established relationship between sensation seeking and risk taking associated with gambling could be extended to everyday financial matters (e.g., personal banking activities). The subjects, classified into high and low sensation seekers, were asked to make a series of everyday financial decisions that varied in their degrees of risk. Overall, the results indicate high sensation seekers displayed greater risk-taking tendencies in everyday financial matters than low sensation seekers. This difference in everyday financial risk taking between high and low sensation seekers was also found within each gender group. Implications and suggestions for future research involving sensation seeking in other personal and professional financial decision-making areas are also presented.