Language and problem solving ability: A comparison between deaf and hearing adolescents

Two groups of subjects, one deaf and one hearing, were tested in pairs on problem solving tasks. The poorer performance of the deaf observed in other studies has been explained as due to difference in language ability between the two groups. This finding was not replicated in the present study where use of language was required to solve tasks of different complexity. It is suggested that sign language may be as effective a tool for problem solving as spoken language. The postulated supremacy of spoken language to other forms of communication with regard to logical and symbolic functioning is thus questioned.     

Creating closeness: Discerning and measuring strategies for fostering closer relationships

This project examined the strategies people use to create closeness in personal relationships and developed a measure of closeness that can be coupled with a measure of distance to provide a measure of affiliation (degree of closeness and distance in a relationship) that incorporates both closeness and distance. Study 1 used a factor analysis of tactics people can utilize to create closeness and found three underlying strategies: openness, attention, and involvement. Studies 2 and 3 tested the items for psychometric adequacy as an index of closeness, using both student and nonstudent samples. The items performed satisfactorily. Together, these studies clarify the strategies people use to enhance closeness in relationships, and they offer a useful measure of affiliation.     

AN EXPLORATION OF MEMBER ROLES AS A MULTILEVEL LINKING MECHANISM FOR INDIVIDUAL TRAITS AND TEAM OUTCOMES

We use data from 220 individuals in 45 teams to examine team member roles as a cross-level linking mechanism between personality traits and team-level outcomes. At the individual level, peer ratings of task role behavior relate positively with Conscientiousness and negatively with Neuroticism and Extraversion. Peer ratings of social role behavior relate positively with Agreeableness and negatively with Openness to Experience. At the team level, a composition process of aggregation operates such that the mean for social roles corresponds with social cohesion. Compilation processes of aggregation also occur, as the variance of social roles corresponds negatively with task performance, and the variance of task roles corresponds negatively with cohesion. Skew of the distribution for social roles within each team—a measure of critical mass of members individually enacting the role—also correlates with social cohesion.     

Attributional self presentation for actors and observers in success and failure situations

Attributions are an important part of self-presentation strategies. In order to favorably control their interpersonal environment, people are motivated to seek social approval in their self-presentations. Social norms determine which types of attributional self-presentations will result in social approval and which will not. A regression analysis was performed which showed that actor-observer conditions interact with success-failure conditions to produce different attributional patterns depending on the particular combination of at-tributor perspective and task outcome. These results are interpreted to mean that different attributional norms exist for actors and observers in success and failure situations. It is concluded that a normative self-presentational approach to attributions which includes both motivational and cognitive factor can help to explain inconsistent findings in the relevant research literature.