Cross-examination of the expert witness: Do hostile tactics affect impressions of a simulated jury?

Ninety-one introductory psychology students viewed a videotape of a simulated personal damage trial in which a psychologist expert witness testified about a plaintiff's psychological problems resulting from trauma. The defense attorney's cross-examination tactics, employed against the expert witness, were varied in the videotape. A 2 × 2 factorial design was used, with leading versus nonleading questions and a hostile versus nonhostile attorney. An interaction effect was obtained, in which a hostile attorney using leading questions and a nonhostile attorney using nonleading questions were perceived as least effective.     

Predicting sales skills

The purpose of this study was to validate a selection process designed to predict sales skills for a telephone sales job. First, a job analysis was performed (n=213) to identify the major functions and behavioral requirements of the job. Next, the test, a situational judgment inventory, was developed, and a concurrent criterion related validation study was completed (n=236). The criterion measures were supervisory ratings of performance. Validity coefficients ranged from r=.16 (p<.01) to r=.24 (p<.001). In conclusion, the situational judgment inventory was found an effective vehicle for measuring telephone sales skills.Sincere thanks to Roz Lobus for her assistance in the earlier phases of this study.     

Covariance structure analysis in experimental research: Comparing two word translation models

Covariance structure analysis is a statistical technique in which a theoretical model, or a covariance structure, is constructed, and the covariances predicted by the theoretical model are compared with those of the observed data. The adequacy of the model in reproducing the sample covariances is reflected by estimates of the parameters of the model and measures indicating the goodness of fit. Covariance structure analysis is frequently used for analyzing data obtained in nonexperimental or quasiexperimental research, but is seldom employed in experimental research. In this paper, the applicability of this technique in experimental research is discussed and illustrated by covariance structure analysis studies in which two models for word translation—the symmetrical model and the asymmetrical model—are described, refined, and contrasted.     

Activity, Passivity, Self-Denigration, and Self-Promotion: Toward an Interactionist Model of Interpersonal Dependency

ABSTRACT Although dependency in adults is inextricably linked with passivity and submissiveness in the minds of many theoreticians, clinicians, and researchers, evidence has accumulated which suggests that in certain situations, dependency is actually associated with high levels of activity and assertiveness. Three experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis that when a dependent person is concerned primarily with getting along with a peer, he or she will “self-denigrate” (i.e., will utilize strategies that ensure that a peer will be evaluated more positively than he or she is on a laboratory task), but when a dependent person is concerned primarily with pleasing an authority figure, he or she will “self-promote” (i.e., will adopt strategies that increase the likelihood that he or she will be evaluated more positively than a peer on a laboratory task). This hypothesis was supported in all three experiments. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed, and an interactionist model of interpersonal dependency is briefly described.     

Coping Strategies,Substance Use,Sexual Activity,and HIV Sexual Risks in a Sample of Gay Male STD Patients1

The relationships of coping strategies with levels of substance use and sexual activity, and with HIV sexual risks, are examined in a sample of gay male STD clinic patients (n = 416). Previous research has suggested that use of problem-focused coping strategies should be negatively related to levels of substance use, levels of sexual activity, and HIV sexual risks; use of emotion-focused coping strategies should be positively related to these outcomes. It is argued that substance use and sexual activity clearly fit within a coping perspective, but that the HIV sexual risks/coping relationship is less clear. In multivariate analysis, the problem-focused strategy of advice seeking is negatively related to the number of types of drugs used and to the number of sexual partners; the problem-focused strategy of support seeking is negatively related to the number of days using drugs; and the use of emotion-focused strategies is positively related to the number of types of drugs used. Problem-focused coping strategies are less directly related to engaging in HIV sexual risks when measures of substance use and of sexual activity are included in the prediction; emotion-focused coping strategies are more stably related to HIV risk. Indirect effects of coping on HIV risk are also identified through the effects of coping on the number of types of drugs used, number of sex partners, and number of times having sex. It is proposed that the relationships between coping and levels of substance use and sexual activity reflect the use of these activities as ways of relieving strain, but that relationships between coping and HIV sexual risks involve less clearly understood direct and indirect relationships.     

Cognitive influences on cross-language speech perception in infancy

Previous research has shown that young infants can discriminate both native and nonnative phonetic contrasts with ease. By 10 to 12 months of age, however, infants—like adults—typically have difficulty discriminating consonant contrasts that are not used to distinguish meaning in their native language. Although the timing of this change in speech perception has been firmly established, little is currently known about the processes or mechanisms involved in this selective and adaptive reorganization in nonnative phonetic discrimination. This study was designed to determine if there is a relation between age-related changes in speech perception performance and other developing cognitive abilities. A total of 40 8- to 10-month-old infants were tested on a nonnative consonant discrimination task and then on two additional tasks (a visual categorization task and an object search task) in an attempt to determine whether changes in nonnative consonant perception coincide with changes in these other areas of cognitive/perceptual functioning. The results indicate that changes in task performance occur in synchrony across all three tasks, and that this synchrony is not explained by simple age effects. These findings suggest that domain-general cognitive/perceptual competencies may influence developmental changes in speech perception by the end of the 1st year of life.     

Attributions of Responsibility for Memory Problems in Older and Younger Adults

This study investigated older and younger persons' responsibility attributions for the cause of and solution to a memory problem and, for comparison, a weight problem. Traditional college-age students (n = 116) and persons over 65 years of age (n = 98) read a vignette describing either a 25-year-old or 65-year-old who had a memory or weight problem. Results indicated that both the age of the help-seeker and problem type affected attributions. Specifically, the 65-year-old was perceived to be less responsible than the 25-year-old for the cause of and solution to a memory problem. In addition, help-seekers with a memory problem were held less responsible for causing and solving their problem than were help-seekers with a weight problem.     

Overcoming Self-Negation in Women

The significant overrepresentation of women in depression and a seeming addiction to self-downing are viewed as heavily influenced by internalized gender role messages and further compounded by societal discrimination. The healthy self is defined, and ways of helping women in therapy move toward greater self-acceptance are described, with an emphasis on REBT women's groups. A case study illustrates the process.     

Temporal clause comprehension in fluent and nonfluent aphasics

Ten fluent and ten nonfluent aphasics participated in this study. Their ability to comprehend before and after clauses which mirrored the order of occurrence and those which did not mirror the order of events was investigated. Results indicate that type of aphasia was not a significant variable related to comprehension but that sentence type was a significant variable. Aphasics' comprehendbefore clauses better thanafter clauses. Nonfluent aphasics were able to comprehend those temporal clauses that mirror the order of occurrence better than those that do not. Order of mention was not a significant factor related to comprehension in the fluent group.     

GENDER COMPARISONS OF MATHEMATICS ATTITUDES AND AFFECT

This article reports the complex results of meta-analyses of gender differences in attitudes and affect specific to mathematics. Overall, effect sizes were small and were similar in size to gender differences in mathematics performance. When differences exist, the pattern is for females to hold more negative attitudes. Gender differences in self-confidence and general mathematics attitudes are larger among high school and college students than among younger students. Effect sizes for mathematics anxiety differ depending upon the sample (highly selected or general). One exception to the general pattern is in stereotyping mathematics as a male domain, where males hold much more stereotyped attitudes ( d = -.90). While affect and attitudes toward mathematics are not the only influences on the development of gender differences in mathematics performance, they are important, and both male and female affect and attitudes should be considered in conjunction with other social and political influences as explanations.