Implicit theories of a desire for fame

The aim of the present studies was to generate implicit theories of a desire for fame among the general population. In Study 1, we were able to develop a nine‐factor analytic model of conceptions of the desire to be famous that initially comprised nine separate factors; ambition, meaning derived through comparison with others, psychologically vulnerable, attention seeking, conceitedness, social access, altruistic, positive affect, and glamour. Analysis that sought to examine replicability among these factors suggested that three factors (altruistic, positive affect, and glamour) neither display factor congruence nor display adequate internal reliability. A second study examined the validity of these factors in predicting profiles of individuals who may desire fame. The findings from this study suggested that two of the nine factors (positive affect and altruism) could not be considered strong factors within the model. Overall, the findings suggest that implicit theories of a desire for fame comprise six factors. The discussion focuses on how an implicit model of a desire for fame might progress into formal theories of a desire for fame.     

Conceptions of aggression and withdrawal in early childhood

Two studies investigate young children's beliefs about aggression and withdrawal in others with reference to the possibility of stability and change. Study 1 (N=41) provides evidence that preschool children (1) view aggression in more essentialist ways (i.e. they believe it to be more stable and less changeable) than withdrawal and (2) believe that friends hold a greater potential to create change in aggression and withdrawal than do other potential sources of influence, such as parents and teachers. Study 2 (N=25) replicates the findings of Study 1 and also demonstrates that by preschool age, children hold systematic ideas about the effectiveness of strategies that friends can use to change the behaviour of their peers. These ideas include the belief that prosocial strategies, such as showing peers how to make friends, are more effective than requests to stop engaging in undesirable behaviour. Study 2 also demonstrates that preschool‐aged participants engaged in essentialist reasoning to a greater extent than did a comparison group of 20 7–8 year olds. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Valuations of compensation and benefit items by new entrants into the professional workforce: Do men and women differ?

Women make up nearly half of the workforce in America, and they continue to enter fields such as business and engineering in record numbers. Additionally, more women with children under 3 years of age are remaining in the workforce. Considering these changes, examining whether the compensation and benefit preferences of male and female entrants into the workforce are different now than they were 15 to 20 years ago is relevant. This study used a sample of 195 college seniors to examine this issue. Results suggested that compensation and benefit preferences of current new entrants are somewhat different from the preferences reported in earlier studies.     

When language affects cognition and when it does not: an analysis of grammatical gender and classification

The focus of this work was on the relation between grammatical gender and categorization. In one set of studies, monolingual English-, Spanish-, French-, and German-speaking children and adults assigned male and female voices to inanimate objects. Results from Spanish and French speakers indicated effects of grammatical gender on classification; results from German speakers did not. A connectionist model simulated the contradicting findings. The connectionist networks were also used to investigate which aspect of grammatical gender was responsible for the different pattern of findings. The predictions from the connectionist simulations were supported by the results from an artificial language-learning task. The results from this work demonstrate how connectionist networks can be used to identify the differences between languages that affect categorization.     

The church and its pastor: Community agents

Summary The clergymen can contribute to community mental health,first of all, by enabling the church to fulfill its mission;second, by carrying out pastoral duties sensitively and competently;third, by developing and using counseling skills at various levels;fourth, by supporting and using community mental health and other human services; andfifth, by giving leadership in making the community a place which is consistent with the teachings of his faith.     

Demographic, health, cognitive, and sensory variables as predictors of mortality in very old adults

Cognitive and sensorimotor predictors of mortality were examined in the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing, controlling for demographic and health variables. A stratified random sample of 1,947 males and females aged 70 and older were interviewed, and 1,500 were assessed on measures of health, memory. verbal ability, processing speed, vision, hearing, and grip strength in 1992 and 1994. Analyses of incident rate ratios for mortality over 4- and 6-year periods were conducted using Cox hierarchical regression analyses. Results showed that poor performance on nearly all cognitive variables was associated with mortality, but many of these effects were explained by measures of self-rated health and disease. Significant decline in hearing and cognitive performance also predicted mortality as did incomplete data at Wave 1. Results suggest that poor cognitive performance and cognitive decline in very old adults reflect both biological aging and disease processes.     

The Psychology of News Influence and the Development of Media Framing Analysis

How precisely do media influence their readers, listeners and viewers? In this paper, we argue that any serious study of the psychology of media influence must incorporate a systematic analysis of media material. However, psychology presently lacks a methodology for doing this that is sensitive to context, relying on generalised methods like content or discourse analysis. In this paper, we develop an argument to support our development of a technique that we have called Media Framing Analysis (MFA), a formal procedure for conducting analyses of (primarily news) media texts. MFA draws on elements of existing framing research from communication and other social scientific research while at the same time incorporating features of particular relevance to psychology, such as narrative and characterisation.     

Source monitoring reduces the suggestibility of preschool children

The relation between source monitoring and suggestibility was examined among preschool children. Thirty-two 3- to 5-year-olds were simultaneously presented with a brief story in two different modalities, as a silent video vignette and a spoken narrative. Each modality presented unique information about the story, but the information in the two versions was mutually compatible. The children were then asked a series of questions, including questions about the source (modality) of story details, and leading questions about story details (to assess suggestibility). Performance on the source-monitoring questions was highly correlated with the ability to resist suggestion. In addition, children who were asked source-monitoring questions prior to leading questioning were less susceptible to suggestion than were those who were asked the leading questions first. This study provides evidence that source monitoring can play a causal role in reducing the suggestibility of preschool children.     

I Don't Like You Because You're Hard to Understand: The Role of Processing Fluency in the Language Attitudes Process

Two experiments examined the effects of processing fluency—that is, the ease with which speech is processed—on language attitudes toward native‐ and foreign‐accented speech. Participants listened to an audio recording of a story read in either a Standard American English (SAE) or Punjabi English (PE) accent. They heard the recording either free of noise or mixed with background white noise of various intensity levels. Listeners attributed more solidarity (but equal status) to the SAE than the PE accent. Compared to quieter listening conditions, noisier conditions reduced processing fluency, elicited a more negative affective reaction, and resulted in more negative language attitudes. Processing fluency and affect mediated the effects of noise on language attitudes. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications are discussed.