Concurrent processes: The affect-cognition relationship within the context of the “mere exposure” phenomenon

The affect-cognition relationship and Zajonc’s (1968) “mere exposure” hypothesis were examined in two studies that involved ratings of: (1) preference and familiarity for geometric forms previously scaled for complexity and (2) preference or height and familiarity for male yearbook pictures previously scaled for attractiveness or height. Two exceptions to his hypothesis were noted: simple geometric forms and unattractive faces showed satiation, and faces seen once before were rated more attractive than both novel faces and faces seen twice before. Moreover, mere exposure effects were noted with a nonaffective dimension (height). The major finding was that presentation frequency generally manifested independent relations to affect and rated familiarity, as well as to height and rated familiarity, therefore evoking a concurrent response process Eriksen, 1960).     

Item Variances and Median Splits: Some Discouraging and Disquieting Findings

ABSTRACT In his response to our article, Baumeister argued that in real data, the confound between interitem variance and trait extremity is small (typically in the range of 0 and –.2), and that the danger of artifact associated with the application of median splits to interitem variance is not as serious as our first simulation study would lead one to believe. When we examined a large body of actual personality data, employing personality scales of average reliability and relatively large samples, we found that the average magnitude of the confound was –.15. However, we also found that even a confound as small as –.03 could be associated with significant differential range restriction of the trait scores within subsamples produced by the median split (MS) technique. We note that several factors, not just the magnitude of the interitem variance/trait extremity confound, must be considered when assessing the danger of artifact associated with the MS technique. We again conclude that researchers should use the moderated multiple regression (MMR) technique in preference to the MS technique when testing for moderating effects in personality research.     

CROSS-RACIAL IDENTIFICATION OF TRANSFORMED,UNTRANSFORMED, AND MIXED-RACE FACES*

Many studies report that people of one race find other-race faces difficult to remember. The generality of this observation was tested by examining the recognition memory of 2 groups of European (n = 32), and African (n = 32) subjects on same-race, other-race, and mixed-race faces, which were either transformed or untransformed in pose between initial study and recognition test. A mixed-design ANOVA (2-between × 1-within factors), using the Signal Detection Theory measures of discrimination accuracy (d′) revealed the following: (1) a significant interaction between Race of Subject × Race of Face, with Europeans being more accurate than Africans at identifying untransformed white faces, and Africans also better than Europeans in identifying transformed black faces; (2) a significant interaction between Transformation × Race of Subject, in that while Europeans were significantly more accurate than Africans on untransformed faces as a whole, Africans were slightly superior to Europeans in terms of accuracy on transformed faces; (3) untransformed faces were recognised better than transformed faces; (4) there were no significant main effects due either to Race of Subject or to Race of Face; (5) no significant differences were found between the 2 groups on accuracy for either transformed or untransformed mixed-race faces; (6) no significant interaction between Race of Face × Transformation, and no significant 3-way interaction between Race of Subject × Race of Face × Transformation. It was concluded that differences in ‘race’ as a variable alone may not be responsible for the differences usually found on accuracy in cross-race eyewitness identifications. Rather, differences in levels of task difficulty and individual differences in recognition strategies adopted by subjects irrespective of race of stimulus face, may be the most important variables. The implications of these results for the efficient design of cross-race identification tasks for both forensic and training purposes were discussed.     

The Word Association Implications Test

Three experiments (N = 144 college students) tested and documented the relationship between incidental learning of diagnostic schemata with performance on the Word Association Implications Test (WAIT). Moreover, Experiment 1 showed that instruction in diagnostic cues did not improve WAIT scores, although an incentive did. Experiment 2 supported the "developing schemata" concept by showing that subjects need to interpret WAIT protocols before they can generate possible diagnostic clues. Experiment 3 showed that inductive reasoning and viewing the task as more play- and game-like (vs. work- and test-like) predicted WAIT scores over and above the influence of incidental learning of schemata, in sum, results suggest that an heuristic discovery-oriented approach is most successful in learning "to read between the lines" of word associations. Discussion addresses the value of heuristic versus algorithmic approaches to the learning of personality assessment.     

Children's attributions for Peers' positive behaviors: Social status differences

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences between aggressive-rejected and nonaggressive-cooperative boys in their attributions for peers'positive behaviors. In individual interviews, 27 aggressive-rejected and 27 nonaggressive-accepted boys were presented with 10 vignettes and a real-life situation in which a peer's action resulted in a favorable outcome for another peer or for the subject. Subjects' attributions for the peer's behavior were elicited with open-ended probes. Analysis of variance indicated that the groups did not differ in their tendency to infer positive intentions in the hypothetical story condition. In the real-life situation, aggressive-rejected boys were less likely to infer positive intentionality than were the nonaggressive-accepted boys. Boys' responses across the two conditions (hypothetical and real life) were moderately consistent.     

Family work with victims and offenders in a secure unit

Two examples of family therapy in a secure unit for violent mentally ill offenders are described. The model used incorporated ideas from reparation schemes for victims and offenders in addition to an emphasis on the circumstances of the offence.     

Flickering the W-Defense

One way to defend the Principle of Alternative Possibilities (PAP) against Frankfurt-style cases is to challenge the claim that agents in these scenarios are genuinely morally responsible for what they do. Alternatively, one can grant that agents are morally responsible for what they do in these cases but resist the idea that they could not have done otherwise. This latter strategy is known as the flicker defense of PAP. In an argument he calls the W-Defense, David Widerker adopts the former approach. I argue that, while Widerker's argument does a poor job showing that these agents are not morally responsible for what they do, it does a very good job highlighting the alternative possibilities that remain open to agents in these cases and illustrating their moral significance (or robustness). In doing so, my aim is to co-opt Widerker's argument to bolster the most promising versions of the flicker defense.     

Personality as Performance

Abstract— As people seek to understand events within the world, they develop habitual tendencies related to categorization. Such tendencies can be measured by tasks that determine the relative ease or difficulty a person has in making a given distinction (e.g., between threatening and nonthreatening events). Researchers have sought to determine how categorization tendencies relate to personality traits on the one hand and emotional outcomes on the other. The results indicate that traits and categorization tendencies are distinct manifestations of personality. However, they often interact with each other. Three distinct interactive patterns are described. Categorization clearly does play a role in personality functioning, but its role goes beyond assimilation effects on behavior and experience.     

Poverty and Depressed Mood Among Urban African-American Adolescents: A Family Stress Perspective

We examined the role of family stress as a mediator of the relationship between poverty and depressed mood among 1,704 low-income, inner-city African- American adolescents. Nearly half of participants (47%) reported clinically significant levels of depressive symptoms. Being female, reporting higher levels of family stress, and scoring higher on a poverty index were significantly associated with increased reports of depressed mood. Family stress significantly mediated the relationship between poverty and adolescent depressed mood, explaining 50% of the total effect. Sex-specific analyses revealed that this relationship only held for females, and there was no direct relationship between poverty and depressed mood for males. Results lend further support to family stress theory, although they suggest that the model may be more relevant for females than males. Implications for community-based preventive intervention and social policy are discussed.     

A client‐generated psychometric instrument: The development of ‘PSYCHLOPS’

PSYCHLOPS (Psychological Outcome Profiles) is a recently developed, client‐generated, psychometric instrument that can be used as an outcome measure. Based on a similar instrument developed primarily for use in physical illnesses (MYMOP — ‘Measure Your Medical Outcome Profile’), it seeks the client's perspective on their psychological distress. It asks them to describe and then score the problem that troubles them the most at the start of counselling. We describe the development of PSYCHLOPS, including the involvement of the Plain English Campaign and two national mental health organisations: the mental health charity and support group, Depression Alliance (DA) and Primary Care Mental Health Education (PRIMHE). We review the literature and suggest that PSYCHLOPS, by focusing on the problems of greatest priority to the client, might prove a sensitive measure of improvement after counselling.