Perceived persuasiveness as a function of response style: Multi-issue consistency over time

This experiment studied the effect of an individual's response style on different issues over a long period of time. A hypothetical situation depicted the repeated responses given by one person on a target issue and on four other issues for one year. The 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design varied consistency of the stimulus person's position on the target issue during the year (consistent or variable); his consistency on other issues during the year (consistent or variable); and social context (alone or dissenting group). Subjects were 155 college students. Results showed an interaction between consistency on the target issue and consistency on other issues for the three dependent measures (p < .001). That is, significantly greater persuasiveness, confidence, and dis-positional causality were attributed to stimulus persons whose opinions were either completely consistent or completely variable on all issues during the year. Results suggest that the consistency of response style across issues—and not the constant advocacy of a specific position–is the crucial factor in the effectiveness of a long-term minority influence.     

Objective determination of human visual acuity from the visual evoked potential

The natural visual acuities of 11 subjects were predicted from their flashed pattern evoked potentials. An objective data analysis technique was employed, based on the slope of the high spatial frequency side of the function between pattern element size and the amplitude of the evoked potential.     

Recognition memory and awareness: Occurrence of perceptual effects in remembering or in knowing depends on conscious resources at encoding, but not at retrieval

We report four experiments in which a remember-know paradigm was combined with a response deadline procedure in order to assess memory awareness in fast, as compared with slow,recognition judgments. In the experiments, we also investigated the perceptual effects of study-test congruence, either for picture size or for speaker's voice, following either full or divided attention at study. These perceptual effects occurred in remembering with full attention and in knowing with divided attention, but they were uninfluenced by recognition speed, indicating that their occurrence in remembering or knowing depends more on conscious resources at encoding than on those at retrieval. The results have implications for theoretical accounts of remembering and knowing that assume that remembering is more consciously controlled and effortful, whereas knowing is more automatic and faster.     

Sex differences in perceived outcomes of electronic mail interactions

Researchers have found that sex plays a crucial role in perceptions of usability, graphical accents, and general satisfaction within computer-mediated interactions. 192 students (71 men and 121 women) responded to 12 items taken from the Electronic Mail Outcome Scale related to their perceived Appropriateness, Effectiveness, and Satisfaction obtained through electronic mail interactions. Analysis indicated no significant differences between men and women in reference to either Effectiveness or Satisfaction; however, women were more sensitive to social expectations within electronic mail interactions than men.     

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Successes and Failures: Eight Personal Perspectives

Eight experts in Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) provided personal examples of their own successes and failures in applying REBT to themselves. The experts actively talked to themselves both rationally and irrationally. Understandably, there were far more shoulds, oughts, musts, and have to's in the narratives in which the experts described when they failed to use REBT than when they succeeded in using REBT. Rational self‐talk was more prevalent in the examples of how REBT was successfully used by the experts.     

Phonological similarity and enhanced auditory recency in longer-term free recall

The effect of phonological similarity amongst list items on the modality effect was investigated in free recall with distraction activity interpolated before and after each list word. In Experiment 1 the distractor activity involved counting backward silently mouthing each number, and the modality effect was drastically attenuated by high similarity. This outcome is comparable with that found in immediate recall, and it is consistent with an echoic memory interpretation. In Experiment 2 the same backward-counting task was performed with each number being vocalized, and the modality effect was unaffected by phonological similarity. This outcome leads to the stronger conclusion that, under those conditions at least, the modality effect cannot be echoic. Implications of these findings for general theoretical accounts of the modality effect are discussed.     

The Structure of Religious Environmentalism: Movement Organizations,Interorganizational Networks,and Collective Action

Historically, religious groups have been absent from the American environmental movement, but since the late 1990s a host of new religious environmental movement organizations (REMOs) have emerged. Little is known about REMOs or how religion structures the nascent movement field. Drawing on interviews with leaders of 63 REMOs in the United States, we examined whether theological frames and religious affiliations, on the one hand, and environmental interests, on the other, shaped the formation of information exchange and joint action between REMOs. The results show that shared religious affiliations and theological frames are directly associated with joint action between REMOs. In contrast, shared environmental interests are associated directly with information exchange, but not joint action. The results suggest that cultural aspects of religion are linked to the structure of the religious environmental movement.     

The role of disgust propensity in blood-injection-injury phobia: Comparisons between Asian Americans and Caucasian Americans

There is a growing body of evidence suggesting the potential role of disgust propensity in blood-injection-injury (BII) phobia. The current study examined associations between disgust propensity and BII phobia symptom severity in Caucasian Americans (n=310) and Asian Americans (n=223). Asian Americans typically scored higher than Caucasian Americans on the BII and disgust measures. The present study also examined the structural relations between gender, cultural background, disgust propensity, and BII phobia symptom severity. According to the structural equation model, disgust propensity was significantly related to levels of BII phobia symptom severity and fully mediated the relationships between BII phobia symptom severity and the demographic variables of gender and cultural background. The implications of the results for cultural refinements to our understanding of disgust propensity and BII phobia are discussed.