Self-disclosure and liking: An integration theory approach

Integration theory models predict that sequences increasing or decreasing in intimacy should have less impact on attraction than constant intimate or nonintimate disclosures. Male and female subjects (N= 159) conversed with a videotaped confederate. Each confederate relayed six disclosures in one of five intimacy sequences: increasing, constant high, decreasing, constant low, and random. The confederate either had a choice of topics and sequence or they were imposed. Substantial support was found for integration theory models. The constant high disclosers by choice were liked more than their no-choice controls and the constant low disclosers by choice were disliked more than their no-choice controls. The mixed sequences (increasing, decreasing, and random) produced no significant differences.     

Perceived force in fatiguing isometric contractions

An integrative approach emphasizing both psychological and physiological components in force perception has started to emerge in motor psychophysics. In this experiment, the relation between isometric force (produced by the elbow flexors~ and perceived force was examined over a range of forces maintained until maximal endurance. A contralateral-limb matching procedure in which subjects estimated the force of a sustained, constant force contraction by contracting their unfatigued arm at regular intervals was employed. A linear increase in perceived force was observed during the fatiguing contractions, the rate of which depended on the level of force exerted. The sensation of force at maximal endurance was also found to vary with the force exerted. Based on the similarity between these results and those derived from electromyographic studies, we propose that observers use the efferent input to the muscle in preference to its afferent responses in judging the force of muscular contractions.     

A possible extension of logical theory?

Philosophical Studies -     

Social "facilitation" as challenge and threat.

The authors conducted an experiment to test a theoretical explanation of social facilitation based on the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat. Participants mastered 1 of 2 tasks and subsequently performed either the mastered (i.e., well-learned) or the unlearned task either alone or with an audience while cardiovascular responses were recorded. Cardiovascular responses of participants performing a well-learned task in the presence of others fit the challenge pattern (i.e., increased cardiac response and decreased vascular resistance), whereas cardiovascular responses of participants performing an unlearned task in the presence of others fit the threat pattern (i.e., increased cardiac response and increased vascular resistance), confirming the authors' hypotheses and the applicability of the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat to explain these results.     

Development and Evaluation of a Decision Aid About Prenatal Testing for Women of Advanced Maternal Age

Objective: To develop and evaluate a decision aid designed to prepare patients of advanced maternal age for counseling about prenatal diagnostic testing. Setting: A regional genetics center. Design: A before/after study. Interventions: Participants used an audioguided workbook to learn about options and outcomes and to clarify personal risks, values, questions, and predispositions. Subjects: 21 women of advanced maternal age and 17 spouses. Main outcome measures: Knowledge of prenatal testing alternatives, decisional conflict, level of anxiety, and acceptability of the decision aid. Results: After using the decision aid, participants had significantly reduced decisional conflict (uncertainty) and a significant increase in knowledge. There was no effect on state or trait anxiety. More than three-quarters of participants were satisfied with the length, clarity, balance, and acceptability of the decision aid. Conclusions: The decision aid shows promise as a useful aid for preparing couples for counseling.     

The use of publicly-posted performance feedback in an inpatient psychiatric treatment setting

This study examined the effects of publicly-posted performance feedback on the in-hospital behavior of patients residing on a self-management unit at a large, state operated, psychiatric treatment facility. When contrasted to a baseline phase in which staff received weekly information regarding patients' performance, scores in six of the eight assessment areas improved when this information was provided directly to patients. The authors' conclude that performance feedback may be a useful adjunct to inpatient treatment programs because it clarifies programmatic expectations, helps focus attention on developing strategies or interventions to meet those expectations, and encourages active treatment participation from patients and staff.     

English teaching and the weight of theory

The division between theory and pedagogy is an example of the more traditional division between theory and practice. The paper deals with the artificiality inherent in the institutional separation of those scholars who study within a subject area and those who study the pedagogy of the subject. The paper discusses various theoretical accounts of the nature of English to make the case that theory is imbued with pedagogy. That is, theory is not neutral about teaching. How we teach is driven by our theoretical commitments to our subject.     

Correcting for unreliability in nonlinear models of attitude change

The paper opens with a brief discussion of the problems in testing nonlinear models of attitude change. The regression artifacts produced by unreliability are shown in both the linear and nonlinear case. Classical solutions for the linear case are quickly reviewed. A new solution to the linear case is presented and applied to the nonlinear case. It is shown to work well under a broad set of conditions. Regression artifacts in bivariate regression are then discussed. If the predictors are independent, then the univariate correction procedure can be applied to each predictor separately. But if the predictors are correlated, a joint correction procedure must be used. One such procedure is defined and shown to work perfectly in the case of linear regression and reasonably well in a broad set of conditions in which the regression is nonlinear.     

Analyzing the random control procedure: Effects of paired and unpaired CSs and USs on autoshaping the chick's key peck with heat reinforcement

A series of five experiments using a total of 264 subjects investigated the effects of paired and unpaired key light (CS) and heat (US) stimuli on autoshaping the chick's key peck. Experiment 1 established that paired presentations of CS and US promoted a more rapid rise in key pecking than did randomly presented CSs and USs and that the specific sequence of stimuli under the random control procedure affected key pecking performance. Experiment 2 used a trace conditioning procedure to determine the role of the CS-US interval on autoshaping and to define empirically unpaired CSs and USs. Key pecking declined as the trace delay interval was increased from 0 to 25 sec; at 25 sec, no conditioning of key pecking occurred. Experiments 3–5 assessed the effects on autoshaped key pecking of (a) number of daily CS-US pairings, (b) added unpaired CS presentations, and (c) added unpaired US presentations, since paired and random control schedules differed in all of these respects. Reduction in the number of CS-US pairings slowed the acquisition of key pecking as did the concurrent addition of nonreinforced CSs and unsignaled USs. These results support theories of association formation that stress the effects of both paired and unpaired CSs and USs.     

Sex Differences in Adult Moral Orientations

ABSTRACT Gilligan's (1982) hypotheses regarding sex differences in moral reasoning orientation were investigated in two samples of adults In Study 1, adults ages 18 to 75 were interviewed about both hypothetical and personal moral dilemmas Women were more likely than men overall to show Gilligan's care orientation as expected, particularly in personal reasoning However, these sex differences were not as pervasive as Gilligan argues, and were influenced by subject age, subject stage level on Kohlberg's measure of moral reasoning, and the type of real-life dilemma content recalled by subjects for discussion
Study 2 focused on the role of adult parental status as mediator of personal moral orientation differences in mid-life Consistent with the theorizing of Gutmann (1985), adult parents were shown to be sex-role differentiated in both selfconcept and moral orientation, whereas married nonparents were not Further-more, sex differences in reasoning orientations were again found to be linked to differences in the dilemma content presented by men and women These studies partly support Gilligan's theorizing, but indicate less pervasive sex differences in some groups of adults than hypothesized