The relationship of vocational decidedness and satisfaction with dogmatism and self-esteem

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of levels of vocational decidedness and the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of one's level of vocational decidedness with dogmatism and self-esteem. The results indicated that vocationally decided and undecided subjects represent uniquely different populations on measures of dogmatism and self-esteem.     

THE EFFECTS OF PROMPTING QUESTION-ASKING UPON ON-TASK BEHAVIOR AND READING COMPREHENSION1

This study investigated a teacher-implemented prompting procedure for training students to ask questions. Two special-class (EMR) students who asked no questions were selected as subjects. Baseline data were also collected on reading comprehension and on-task behavior, and these suggested decreasing levels of performance. The results indicated that prompting was effective for initiating question-asking. In addition, increased levels of reading comprehension and on-task behavior were observed.     

Ability evaluation through social comparison

Two experiments were conducted to clarify and extend social comparison theory for abilities. In the first experiment, the hypothesis was supported that people want information about their ability level more when they anticipate making a decision about an action based on the ability than when the decision has already been made. The evaluative need is thus primarily a predecision phenomenon. The second experiment showed that the preference for comparison with similar others predicted by social comparison theory is strongest when those others have had experience utilizing the ability in situations relevant to subjects' decisions.     

Human auditory-evoked response: Specific effects of signal strength and performance criterion

Computer-averaged auditory-evoked responses were recorded from the scalp of seven human Sa in order to study the effects of both low-signal levels and different performance criteria upon specific components of the waveform. Noise bursts of ?2, 0. +2. or +6 dB seDl8tion level (SL) were presented contingent upon the S’s correct bisection of a temporal interval as the degree of accuracy required from him was systematically varied. Analyses of variance indicated that a positive peak in the waveform at a latency of approximately 300 msec increased in amplitude as the stringency of the performance criterion increased but showed no change as signal strength varied. The negative peak at approximately 125 msec latency increased with increasing signal strength but remained constant as the stringency of the performance criterion was varied.     

The effects of preexposure to a learning apparatus

ICR mice were given exposure to a one-way shuttle apparatus until locomotor activity had been habituated. When compared with nonexposed animals, the exposed animals displayed superior shuttle avoidance learning. Animals exposed to both the apparatus and the CS did not differ from the nonexposed group. It was concluded that preexposure to the learning apparatus facilitated acquisition, while preexposure to the apparatus in the presence of the CS did not. The relationship between this effect and habituation was considered.     

Effects of Supervisor Style and Empathy on Counselor Perceptions in Simulated Counseling

Effects of supervisor style (techniques type and counseling type) and supervisor empathy upon counselor perceptions in a supervision analogue were examined. Three groups of 14 students heard two sets of recorded client statements and responded as counselors. The two experimental (E) groups had 20-minute conferences with supervisors between the first and second sets. Controls (C) received no supervision. Counselor perceptions were measured by questionnaire responses. Although subjects supervised by an emphasis on techniques rated themselves less relaxed and less confident about the meaning of empathy than those with an emphasis on counseling, their performance on the criterion of empathy was higher. Both E groups perceived themselves as higher than C's in amount learned, but they were no higher on the performance measure. No differences were found for reactions to supervision (items given E's only) or reactions to participation in the experiment. Empathy of supervisors did not appreciably affect counselor perceptions.     

Mechanisms of aural encoding: IV. Hear-see,say-write interactions for vowels

Six vowel sounds were presented in rondom orders for recall from short-term memory. Four groups of 25 Ss each in a2by 2 design either heard or saw the words, and either had to say them or write them. In general, accuracy was greater when the sounds were seen rather than heard, especially when they were verbatty reported. The major concern was the degree to which the major distinctive feature systems could predict the intrusion errors in each of the four conditions. The best prediction occurred in the auditory-input/verbal-output condition, as would be expected from the models on which distinctive feature specifications are based. However, as in a previous study by these authors, the most accurate predictions were not always made by the same combination of distinctive features. It is concluded that distinctive features are identifled in the initial encoding bef ore any retrieval processes are activated and that further errors made at the time of retrieval are aho related to distinctive features. Most importantly, however, both at initial registration and at retrieval, different features are implicated, depending upon the sound presented for recall and the input-output modalities involved.     

The amount seen in brief exposures

The experiments reported are a series of attempts to test the consequences of assuming that a subject exposed to briefly presented tachistoscopic information does not have access to a visual image. The partial report procedure is examined under several conditions with the letter row cues immediately following stimulus exposure, and at different levels of cue delay.

The results of eye movement monitoring, and of instructing subjects where to look, agree with the guessing data of a previous experiment in showing a sharp decline in the number of letters correctly reported when the subject is looking at the wrong row, in conformity with the anticipative selection hypothesis. The result of varying the subject's uncertainty about what is to be reported is to vary the slope of the delay curve; with the implication that inefficient strategies of rehearsal, rather than visual image decay, are responsible for the reported delay effects.     

Audio analgesia: Lack of a cross-masking effect on taste

The effects of intense acoustic stimulation on the sense of taste were examined in two experiments. In the first, a yes-no psychophysical method was used to obtain psychometric functions for the discriminability of weak solutions of NaCl or sucrose from distilled water. The functions for NaCl were about 10 times steeper than those for sucrose. In the second experiment, suprathreshold concentrations of these substances were used in conjunction with a magnitude-estimation technique. With neither technique were there any systematic differences in the data taken with and without audio analgesia.     

Predicting state anxiety: A comparison of multidimensional and unidimensional trait approaches

Endler has proposed that trait anxiety is multidimensional, with individual differences varying across several dimensions of stressing situations. Despite empirical support for the independence of some dimensions, some researchers have employed a single score on a multidimensional measure of trait anxiety, summed from the dimension scale scores, as a singular measure of generalized trait anxiety. This violates the theoretical underpinnings of the approach. This study examined whether a total score on a multidimensional measure of trait anxiety could supplement the ability of individual dimension scale scores in predicting state anxiety responses to dimension-congruent stress. Thirty-two female college students who scored at differing levels of dimensional and general anxiety were required to perform two laboratory stress tasks under conditions of stress representing different dimensions of trait anxiety. The results provide support for a multidimensional approach to general trait anxiety but indicate some value of a total score in supplementing predictions based on individual scale scores. The data provide a cautionary note that a total score on a multidimensional measure is of little value unless full consideration is given to the profile of dimension scale scores.