A probe trial procedure for the study of children's discrimination learning and transfer

A discrimination reversal problem was presented to 192 children varying in age from 3 to 5 years. At the end of both the initial learning and transfer trials, probe trials were introduced to ascertain the response rule describing children's choices. Results were analyzed in terms of a binary division of the children according to their responses to the probe stimuli; children who responded errorlessly (concept responders) were contrasted with children who made errors on the probes (instance responders). Using this criterion, it was found that many children transferred in a way different from the way they learned the initial problem. There was no difference in the proportion of younger and older children responding conceptually to the original problem, but older children were more likely to transfer conceptually when standard geometric blocks were used as stimuli. Future studies must consider the possiblity that learning and transfer may be accomplished by different processes whose application differs with age, the nature of the stimuli, and the stage of training.     

Profiles of stutterers' and nonstutterers' affective, cognitive, and behavioral communication attitudes

The purposes of this investigation were 1) to profile the affective, cognitive, and behavioral attitudinal dimensions of stutterers' and nonstutterers' communication attitudes and 2) to describe membership characteristics of each profile. To this end, 76 stutterers and 81 nonstutterers completed the Inventory of Communication Attitudes. This self-report inventory obtained ratings of different types of speaking situations, using five response scales reflecting behavioral, affective, and cognitive aspects of attitudes. Exploratory cluster analysis identified six attitudinal clusters or profiles. Some profiles were more typical either of stuttering respondents or of nonstuttering respondents, whereas one profile reflected attitudes of proportionately equal numbers of stutterers and nonstutterers. Examination of profile membership characteristics revealed two significant discriminators, classification as a stutterer or nonstutterer and an overall speech rating. Nondiscriminatory characteristics included sex, age, education, therapy experiences, stuttering severity self-rating, onset of stuttering, total therapy time, current therapeutic status, and familial history.     

Development and evaluation of an inventory to assess adult stutterers'' communication attitudes

The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a procedure to assess adult stutterers' communication attitudes. To this end, the investigation was divided into two phases. In Phase I, an assessment inventory based on a tripartite attitudinal model was developed and administered to 107 adult stutterers. Reliability and validity of these procedures were examined, and the inventory was refined. In Phase II, reliability and validity of the attitude assessment procedures were reassessed, and the attitudes of 26 stutterers and 56 nonstutterers were examined. Assessment procedures involved a self-report inventory, which obtained ratings of items in 13 situational subscales representing different speaking situations. These situations were rated using four response scales reflecting behavioral, affective, and cognitive aspects of attitude. Situational responding, response scale scores, and response scale interrelationships are examined. Findings are discussed in terms of the potential value of the inventory and future investigations.     

Revisiting the Effects of Anger on Risk‐Taking: Empirical and Meta‐Analytic Evidence for Differences Between Males and Females

That anger elicited in one situation can carry over to drive risky behavior in another situation has been described since the days of Aristotle. The present studies examine the mechanisms through which and the conditions under which such behavior occurs. Across three experiments, as well as a meta‐analytic synthesis of the data, results reveal that incidental anger is significantly more likely to drive risky decision making among males than among females. Moreover, the experiments document that, under certain circumstances, such risk‐taking pays off financially. Indeed, the present experiments demonstrate that, because the expected‐value‐maximizing strategy in these studies rewarded risk‐taking, angry‐male individuals earned more money than did both neutral‐emotion males and angry females. In sum, these studies found evidence for robust disparities between males and females for anger‐driven risk‐taking. Importantly, although men did not experience more anger than women, they did show a heightened tendency to respond to anger with risk‐taking. Published 2016. This article has been contributed to by US Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.     

Rejection sensitivity,complaint‐related communication,and relational satisfaction: A mediation analysis

This study examines the links among rejection sensitivity (RS), communication about complaints, and relational satisfaction in intimate relationships. A total of 260 individuals completed an online survey through Amazon Mechanical Turk. RS was positively associated with complaint avoidance and negatively associated with positive politeness and negative politeness when voicing complaints. Furthermore, RS had indirect associations with relational satisfaction, partially mediated through complaint avoidance and positive politeness. The results of this study suggest that communicating complaints openly to one's partner, in concert with positive politeness (i.e., affirming the partner while voicing complaints), may help serve as a buffer against relational dissatisfaction associated with RS.