Re-evaluation of decision alternatives dependent upon the reversibility of a decision and the passage of time

In the present experiment subjects made a decision between two alternatives which was either reversible or irreversible. After the choice, subjects evaluated the attractiveness of both alternatives once more under different time levels. It was found that with increasing time level, re-evaluation of alternatives increased under irreversible and decreased under reversible conditions. The results are discussed in the framework of dissonance theory.     

Adaptation to field displacement during head movement unrelated to the constancy of visual direction

Adaptation to vertical field displacements dependent on head turning about a vertical axis was demonstrated under two conditions, rapid training with 100 head movements and 1-h-long training with continuous head turning. The effect of rapid training was measured with the slant estimation method. Adaptation after the longer training was ascertained by comparing the uncertainty ranges for apparent target immobility before and after the adaptation period. Adaptation to field displacements in directions parallel to the plane of the head rotation obtained under corresponding conditions was also measured and found to be somewhat greater than adaptation to vertical field displacements. The result of work by Wallach and Frey that adaptation to field displacement in the direction with the head rotation is greater than to displacement against it was corroborated. While the previous result had, been obtained with rapid adaptation and with the slant estimation method, we confirmed it with 1-h training and by measuring the uncertainty ranges before and after the adaptation period.     

Spatial contrast sensitivity does not explain random figure discrimination latency

Both humans and other mammals can more easily discriminate eight-sided figures from one another than they can figures having more or fewer sides. The hypothesis that this effect is based upon spatial contrast sensitivity was tested by varying viewing distance and hence spatial frequency content. Because viewing distance had tittle effect upon relative discrimination latency, it was concluded that the superior discriminability of eight-sided figures is not based upon spatial contrast sensitivity. The possibility that orientation tuning of visual cortex neurons may account for the effect is discussed.     

Misattribution of arousal and the effects of self-threatening information

Two experiments are reported on the effects of misattributing arousal. In both experiments, subjects took an intelligence test and received fictitious negative results about their performance. In the first experiment, subjects before receiving feedback were given a pill labeled as arousing; however, the ostensible effectiveness of the pill was varied. The greater the alleged strength of the pill, the less the test was derogated following feedback about performance on it and the more effort subjects reported expending on the test. In the second experiment, subjects were told that the pill was either arousing or relaxing and that its effect lasted for either a short or a long period of time. Initial test evaluations were more positive and estimates of effort expended were greater when the pill was described as arousing than when it was described as relaxing. However, whereas these differences were maintained over time when the pill's effects were described as of long duration, they disappeared over time when the pill's effects were described as of short duration.     

The effects of feedback about self and others on the recall and judgments of feedback-relevant information

After people have received feedback about the outcome of their behavior, their responses to information bearing on the validity of this feedback may be influenced by their desire to maintain a favorable self-image. This experiment investigated the cognitive mediators of these responses. Subjects who received negative feedback about their performance on an intelligence test disparaged intelligence tests in general and judged a report they had read to be unfavorable to intelligence tests. Nevertheless, they recalled more arguments in the report that were favorable to intelligence tests than did positive feedback recipients. These results contradicted the hypothesis that subjects selectively attend to information that helps them to maintain a positive self-concept in light of negative information about themselves. Rather, they may attempt to refute arguments that support the validity of the negative feedback they receive, and this relatively greater processing may facilitate the recall of these arguments later on. In contrast, there was no evidence that subjects try to refute information that calls the validity of positive feedback into question. Results had implications for two additional issues: first, whether the effect of performance feedback depends on whether it is received before or after information bearing on its validity; second, whether feedback has similar effects on recall and judgments by persons to whom it does not directly pertain.     

Market forces,negotiator frames and transaction outcomes

Although implicit framing differences have been advanced as an explanation of the buyers advantage, two necessary preconditions must be met to sustain this model: a demonstration that negatively-framed negotiators are advantaged in negotiations and that buyer role labels invoke a negative frame. A modification of Neale, Northcraft, Magliozzi and Bazerman s (1986) simulation created a role-neutral setting in which positively-framed negotiators bargained against negatively-framed negotiators, thus testing the first of these preconditions. Experiment 1 found no differences in the outcomes of positively- and negatively-framed negotiators, a finding that could be attributed to relatively low market competitiveness. A second experiment, by creating power imbalanced negotiation markets, sought to increase market distributiveness and strengthen framing effects. Results showed that both high power and negatively-framed negotiators were significantly advantaged, providing conditional support for the implicit framing model, However unlike role, frame interacted with power suggesting that the two variables are not functionally equivalent. These findings are interpreted to suggest that factors other than implicit framing differences account for the buyers advantage. More generally these results suggest that frame is responsive to situational variables and that such variables, by influencing negotiation processes, mediate the relationship between negotiator frames and negotiation outcomes.     

The utility of motion parallax information for the perception and control of heading

Two experiments in which participants were given control over the direction of computer-simulated self-motion were conducted. Environments were designed to evaluate the functionality of simple and multiple motion parallax as well as a separation ratio (sigma; indexing the separation of 2 objects in depth) for the perception and control of heading. Results provide a 1st indication of optimizing performance in the top end of the global optical flow velocity range available during human bipedal self-motion. The introduction of sigma, developed to explain performance improvements with decreasing distance to the target, was able to account for most of the performance differences among all simulated environments. The rate of change in horizontal optical separation between at least 2 discontinuities was identified as a likely candidate for the optical foundation of the perception and control of heading during target approach.     

A clarification of selective exposure: The impact of choice

Selective exposure as a reaction to cognitive dissonance has long eluded researchers working in the realm of dissonance theory. It is proposed here that the difficulties in selective exposure paradigms have resulted from inadequate designs, and more particularly, it is likely that many of the previous findings are due to confoundings. The present experiment manipulates the variable of choice with the intent of controlling for a variety of possible confounds. The experiment shows a simple, theoretically predicted effect: Selective exposure, favoring supporting over nonsupporting information, increases to the degree that an onerous task is undertaken with volition.     

Air Pollution and interpersonal Attraction1

It was predicted that negative affect associated with one component of air pollution (malodor) reduces attraction toward both similar and dissimilar strangers. In one experiment, 27 subjects rated attitudinally similar or dissimilar strangers while confined in a room whose atmosphere was ambient (no-odor control) or polluted by ammonium sulfide. Contrary to predictions, similar strangers elicited greatest liking in the polluted atmosphere. It was suggested that air pollution had increased attraction for another who might be experiencing the same disagreeable situation (i.e., “shared stress”). In a second experiment, this suggestion was examined by assuring subjects that they were alone and would not meet the similar or dissimilar person they rated. As predicted, exposure to either ammonium sulfide or butyric acid combined additively with attitudinal dissimilarity to depress liking, mood-affect, time spent in the setting, and ratings of the environment. These results were viewed as consistent with the reinforcement-affect model of attraction, but it was cautioned that the effects of air pollution may depend on social factors, such as shared stress, and dosage level of the pollutant.