Behaviour in group situations: An integrative model

As in other areas of research we have in small group research classical studies with a paradigmatic character. These separated studies define the basic knowledge. But what is necessary is to combine these classical studies and to construct a theoretical concept which shows the similarities and dissimilarities between them. This is the main intention of the paper. The theoretical concept tries to reconstruct the now classical data from a model with normative and in formational components. Both king of components are integrated hierarchically with the normative elements as antecedent variables and the weights of the information integration as dependent variables. With the help of the model it is possible to reconstruct data in such different areas as, e.g. social facilitation, autokinetic effect, Asch conformity studies, Milgram conformity studies, equity theory studies, prisoner's dilemma. As predictions research in the choice-shift and the wage negotiation are presented. Finally, the connection with the research in social cognition is established by a reconstruction of classical study from the aspiration level and the dissonance theory.     

The uncertainty of certainty in clinical ethics

Physicians accept fallibility in technical matters as a condition of medical practice. When it comes to moral considerations, physicians are often loathe to act without a good deal more certitude and seem less willing to accept error. This article argues that ethics is intrinsic to medical decision making, that error is the inevitable risk of any action and that inaction (clearly action by default) carries even greater risk of error. Whether in the moral or the technical sphere, error must be accepted by physicians as part of the learning process which informs and enriches future decisions. Moral virtue, it is concluded, resides more in the making of a decision and in the agony of making it than it does in the potentially fallible decision itself.     

Köhler rediscovered: The anti-ringelmann effect

A current focus of research on individual versus group performance is social loafing, the decrease in individual effort that occurs when the individual works within a cooperative group rather than alone. This result is also referred to as the ‘Ringelmann effect’. But what has been ignored until now is the increment in group performance through systematic variation of individual performance rates within the group, although this effect was reported by Moede (1927) in the same article which influenced research on the Ringlemann effect. Within a narrow range of performance rates from 4.5 to 3.5 in dyads Kohler found an increase in group performance to a level above that of the individual performances. Kohler obtained comparable results from 3–person, and 4–person groups using the experimental procedure of weight lifting and winch turning. This phenomenon should be called the ‘Kohler effect’; although it is still to be replicated with modern ergometers.     

Salience of arousal as a mediator of misattribution of transferred excitation

An experiment was conducted to test Zillmann's hypothesis that misattribution of residual arousal in the excitation transfer paradigm is influenced by the salience of perceived arousal symptoms at the point of potential misattribution. Eighty subjects in a 2×2×2 design were either physiologically aroused or not aroused, and were subsequently subjected to a procedure designed to induce either positive mood (elation) or negative mood (depression). Simultaneously, they were either made self-aware or not. It was reasoned that self-focused attention would lead to heightened awareness of residual arousal and that, if the salience of arousal hypothesis is correct, this would prevent misattribution of arousal and the resultant intensification of experienced emotion from occurring. In accord with this reasoning, it was found that aroused and self-aware subjects experienced residual arousal significantly more intensely, were less prone to misattribute it, and did not show an excitation transfer effect. These results were, however, obtained only for subjects in the negative mood condition.     

The effects of atropine on viscerovisceral reactions and the electrocardiogram of the cat

In 12 chronic cats the effects of mechanical stimulation (distention) of the gallbladder on heart rate, respiratory movements and bioelectrical activity of the cerebral cortex were studied under normal conditions and after intraperitoneal administration of atropine. In the control group without atropine a decrease or an increase of heart rate and of respiratory movements occurred, depending on stimulation intensity. These changes were independent of an activated or inactivated EKG. Behavioral arousal was not seen in every cat. After administration of atropine in doses from 0.2 to 2.0 mg per kg body weight, the changes in heart rate, respiration and EKG were suppressed or completely disappeared.     

Bemerkungen zu einer «Grundfrage der Akustik und Tonpsychologie»

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Perceived Distributive Fairness of European Transfer Payments and EU‐Taxes in Austria,the Czech Republic,and the United Kingdom

The present research compared a distributive fairness model of EU transfer payments (Hartner, Rechberger, Kirchler, & Wenzel, 2011) between three countries: Austria, the Czech Republic, and the UK. The model postulates an interplay between EU‐tax compliance, distributive fairness, outcome favorability as well as national and European identification. Results across countries showed that EU‐tax compliance was positively related to distributive justice, which was in turn related to outcome favorability and identification. National identifiers perceived EU membership as unfavorable in financial and socio‐political terms, and thus considered the transfer payments as less fair. Dual identifiers perceived the socio‐political outcomes as more favorable, and thus evaluated the transfer payments as fairer. Although the basic structure of the model was valid across all three countries, two country‐specific results were found. First, in the UK individual tax paying behavior was influenced by outcome favorability, whereas in Austria and the Czech Republic this relationship was mediated via distributive fairness. Second, in the Austrian sample, the differentiation between patriots and nationalists proved fruitful since nationalists considered the EU transfer payments as unfair, unlike patriots. In the UK and the Czech Republic the distinction between nationalists and patriots did not add any further information.     

ARTICLE WITHDRAWN: The Social Determinants of Psychoanalytic Therapy

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