Proportionality,linearity, and parameter constancy: Messick and Sentis reconsidered

Messick and Sentis found greater support for weak proportionality in subjects' outcome allocations (suggesting that subjects wish to maintain a constant ratio between outcomes across situations when inputs are held constant) than for constant differences between outcomes. They claimed that their data thus provided stronger support for Adams' ratio definition of equity than for Harris' linear formula. A dialogue between the two sets of authors establishes that (1) so far as their specification of fair outcomes is concerned, Adams' formula is a special case of the linear formula; (2) weak proportionality does not necessarily follow from Adams' formula and can be derived from the linear formula; (3) Adams' formula applied to subjective (rather than experimenter-defined) inputs nevertheless provides a more natural base from which to derive weak proportionality than does the linear formula in its general form; (4) excellent fits to several sets of data, including much better fit to Messick and Sentis' data than that provided by weak proportionality, are obtained if we assume that subjects use allocations which are a weighted average of those implied by Adams' formula, the Equality principle, and Komorita and Kravitz' Equal Excess Norm; and (5) a fit to Messick and Sentis' data that is almost as good as that provided by the weighted solutions model is obtained by assuming that subjects apply Adams' formula to subjective inputs and subjective outcomes that are different from the corresponding experimenter-defined values. It is agreed that the delineation of the relationships among observable properties of outcome distributions, alternative equity formulae, and different psychological processes is as important as it can be devious.     

Children's detection and awareness of textual anomaly

Children of 8 and 11 years were assessed in two experiments for their sensitivity to textual anomaly. In Experiment 1, subjects read stories containing two target lines, one appropriate and the other anomalous in relation to previously given information. Both age groups read the anomalous line more slowly than the appropriate line, but in a subsequent test of comprehension monitoring, the older group was more likely than the younger group to pick out the anomalous line as not fitting in with the rest of the story. Experiment 2 produced similar results: both 8- and 11-year-old children read an anomalous line more slowly, but 11-year-olds were more likely than 8-year-olds to cite the anomalous line or part of it when questioned about the possible presence of a line that did not fit in with the rest of the story. The results indicate that an age change in comprehension monitoring as indexed by citation or selection of a textual anomaly need not be contingent upon a parallel age change in constructive processing as indexed by modulation of reading rate.     

Attention to important versus trivial tasks and salience of fatigue-related symptoms for coronary prone individuals

The present study tested the hypothesis that individuals with the Type A coronary prone behavior pattern focus their attention more on important tasks, and less on trivial tasks than do Type B's. The study used a paradigm in which some subjects worked on math problems (important task) and rated intervening mood items (trivial task), whereas others rated mood items they were to memorize (important task) and worked on intervening math problems (trivial task). All subjects were later tested on recall of mood items. Results indicated that Type A's performed better on math problems and recalled more fatigue-related mood items when the task was important than when it was trivial; for Type B subjects, there was no difference in the number of math problems solved correctly or number of mood items recalled between important and trivial task conditions. Moreover, Type A's reported greater fatigue when mood recall was the important task than when math was the important task, whereas fatigue ratings of Type B's did not differ across these conditions. The findings suggest that Type A's suppress their attention to fatigue-related symptoms only when symptoms are not the objects of focus.     

Interactive effects of generalized and situational expectancies on the arousal of cognitive and emotional components of social anxiety

This study examined the arousal of social anxiety in an interview setting as a function of anticipated self-disclosure. Of 88 college students who completed the Social Avoidance and Distress (SAD) scale and other measures of social anxiety, self-disclosure, need to affiliate, and interpersonal trust, 24 volunteered for the interview. During the interview, both components of anxiety (worry and emotionality) were affected by expectancy conditions, and emotionality was higher for high- than for low-SAD subjects. The prediction of an interaction between SAD level and expectancy condition on worry was confirmed: only high-SAD subjects exposed to the negative-expectancy condition experienced significant elevations in worry. Though social anxiety and self-disclosure measures correlated negatively, anxiety did not affect self-disclosure during the interview.     

Stimulus-seeking behavior in hyperactive and nonhyperactive children

Auditory and visual stimulus-seeking behavior was measured in hyperactive and nonhyperactive youngsters. The design controlled for motor activity level. The results indicate that hyperactive children preferred auditory stimulation more than the control children. There were no differences in stimulus-seeking preferences in the visual modality. The groups did not differ in motor activity. It was concluded that abnormally high needs for stimulation are important in hyperactivity.The authors would like to express their appreciation to James Fogarty, Superintendent, Walter Galvin, Principal, and the many teachers, students, and parents of the Greene Avenue Learning Center of BOCES II in Sayville, New York for their cooperation and support in this study. We would also like to thank Susan O'Leary, Ph.D. Director of the Point of Woods Laboratory School and the students and parents for participation and support in this study.     

Do Students with Different Characteristics Take Part in Psychology Experiments at Different Times of the Semester?

ABSTRACT In this study we examined 15 personality and demographic differences between psychology students who took part in experiments at different times of the semester and different times of the day. In general, few significant relations were found and those that did emerge were small in magnitude. Females and freshmen signed up for experiments earlier in the semester. Females took part in their first experiment earlier in the semester, as did students who were Protestant and who came from smaller home towns. Students low in self-consciousness also tended to begin participating earlier. Extraverts participated earlier in the day than introverts. Results generally were consistent with previous findings of differences between research volunteers and non-volunteers. However, it was concluded that because of their small magnitude and inconsistency from site to site, with a few precautions experimenters probably need not be concerned that timing effects threaten the external validity of psychological research outcomes.