Competitive behavior: A manifestation of motivation for ability comparison

Social comparison theory predicts that when the person is uncertain about the level of his ability, he may seek comparison information through competitive behavior. This derivation, however, has never been directly tested. An experiment is reported in which the level of the subject's uncertainty about his competence was manipulated and subsequent measures of his competitive motivation and behavior were obtained. The data indicate that higher levels of uncertainty do lead to higher levels of motivation and competition, but only under conditions that minimize threat to self-esteem.     

Accessing lexical memory: The transfer of word repetition effects across task and modality

Reading by literate adults is generally assumed to represent skill acquired years earlier. However, the present experiments show that aspects of that skill can be readily modified. In two experiments, pronunciation of visually presented common words speeded later recognition of those words. This facilitation of recognition occurred although subjects did not expect word repetition and the task was changed from pronunciation to recognition. In contrast, naming pictures did not facilitate later recognition of visually presented picture names. The occurrence of facilitation when the task was changed and the lack of facilitation when stimulus format was changed suggest that facilitation occurs in the processes of encoding and accessing memory, processes that may change little across tasks but may change substantially with stimulus format changes. This facilitation of recognition occurs automatically without mediation by subjects’ expectations. A third experiment indicates that this facilitation of recognition shows little relation to episodic memory.     

Laboratory and field interview methods for the study of shiftworkers

Gordon, Tepas, Stock, and Walsh (1979) describe the manner in which shiftworkers were selected as research subjects through the cooperation of labor union organizations. In this paper, we describe the methods used to select and orient the workers to serve in a laboratory study involving measurement of the psychophysiological correlates of sleep. Procedures used for field interviews with the same subjects are also described. Some of the advantages and disadvantages of using a multimethod (laboratory and field interview) approach to the study of shiftwork effects are detailed.     

Clinical and experimental utility of refundable deposits

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a refund system on court-referred clients' adherence to the attendance and data-collection requirements of a program contract. Male and female clients admitted to a group treatment program for driving under the influence of alcohol were or were not required to place a $50 refundable deposit at the beginning of treatment. The results showed that subjects in the refundable deposit groups had fewer unexcused absences and were more efficient in returning data-collection forms, suggesting that deposits have considerable utility in a clinical/research setting.     

Circadian amplitude reduction is not specific for major depression

Affective disorder has often been associated with disturbances of circadian rhythmicity. The present study addressed the question of the specificity of this relationship. Two groups of subjects, a “depression-prone” and a control group, were selected on the basis of their scores on two widely-used depression questionnaires. For a period of 4 consecutive weeks circadian rhythmicity was recorded by means of log-booklets, which the subjects used to keep daily records of their hours of sleep, subjective sleep quality, and subjective alertness, mood and oral temperature. The results showed significantly lower values of subjective sleep quality and estimated sleep efficiency for the “depression-prone” group. Moreover, for the latter group nonparametric spectral analysis revealed a significantly weaker circadian rhythmicity of subjective alertness, mood, as well as oral temperature. It was concluded that these results argue against the specificity of the amplitude reduction, as often reported to be the most consistent circadian abnormality in affective disorder.     

Choice freedom

Individuals seek and value choice freedom, firms provide consumers ever-increasing opportunities to exercise it, citizens worry about protecting their right to choose freely, and scholars across different disciplines study the topic around the globe. We adopt a consumer psychology perspective to systematize the vast literature on choice freedom, and we present a framework to examine the relationship between choice freedom and personal and societal well-being. We begin by proposing choice freedom as an antecedent of autonomy and personal control and by clarifying the meaning of these interrelated constructs. We then use autonomy and personal control as separate processes to explain benefits and limits of choice freedom for well-being, and we review interventions that mitigate the limits. Finally, we discuss future research questions related to autonomy and personal control. Whereas extant literature focuses on the presence of freedom and on the relationship between choice freedom and the individual, we reflect on the extent to which consumers actually have freedom of choice and on the role of others in the provision and exercise of choice freedom.     

Laboratory measures of aggressive responding in male parolees with violent and nonviolent histories

Males on parole were recruited into a study to determine the external validity of the ©Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm, a laboratory procedure for measuring human aggressive responding. Subjects were assigned to either a violent or nonviolent group based on their criminal record and the Brown History of Violence Questionnaire. Subjects participated in six 25-min sessions and completed a series of questionnaires. During the laboratory sessions subjects were given two response options: 1) Pressing button A to accumulate points exchangeable for money, and 2) pressing button B which ostensibly subtracted points from another fictitious person. Responding on button B was defined as aggressive since it resulted in the ostensible delivery of an aversive stimulus to another person. Results indicated that the subjects in the violent group emitted significantly more aggressive responses than subjects in the nonviolent group. The two groups also differed on psychometric measures of aggression. This study provides external validity for this laboratory measurement of human aggressive responding, even among males with very similar backgrounds. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Comparing predictive validity in a community sample: High-dimensionality and traditional domain-and-facet structures of personality variation

Prediction of outcomes is an important way of distinguishing, among personality models, the best from the rest. Prominent previous models have tended to emphasize multiple internally consistent “facet” scales subordinate to a few broad domains. But such an organization of measurement may not be optimal for prediction. Here, we compare the predictive capacity and efficiency of assessments across two types of personality-structure model: conventional structures of facets as found in multiple platforms, and new high-dimensionality structures emphasizing those based on natural-language adjectives, in particular lexicon-based structures of 20, 23, and 28 dimensions. Predictions targeted 12 criterion variables related to health and psychopathology, in a sizeable American community sample. Results tended to favor personality-assessment platforms with (at least) a dozen or two well-selected variables having minimal intercorrelations, without sculpting of these to make them function as indicators of a few broad domains. Unsurprisingly, shorter scales, especially when derived from factor analyses of the personality lexicon, were shown to take a more efficient route to given levels of predictive capacity. Popular 20^th-century personality-assessment models set out influential but suboptimal templates, including one that first identifies domains and then facets, which compromise the efficiency of measurement models, at least from a comparative-prediction standpoint. © 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Analyzing the Impact of the Medicare Coverage Gap on Counseling Professionals: Results of a National Study

The authors surveyed 6,550 members of the American Counseling Association regarding the current impact of Medicare policy on counseling professionals. More than half of respondents (54.8%) had been directly affected by Medicare reimbursement barriers, including 70.0% of practicing counselors. Statistical analyses indicated significant associations between years in the profession, direct experience with the Medicare coverage gap, and participation in professional advocacy related to Medicare. Implications for counselors, counselor educators, and counseling scholarship are discussed.