Social facilitation

The effects of the presence of another individual and evaluation apprehension were independently manipulated within a 3 (alone, mere presence, observation) × 4 (none, low, medium, high evaluation) factorial design. Ten subjects (five male, five female) were randomly assigned to each of the 12 conditions. Subjects' behavioral performance on a hidden-word task and a measure of autonomic arousal were the main dependent variables. Analysis of variance results showed a significant performance difference on the hidden-word task among the four evaluation apprehension conditions as predicted. No significant effects were found for the palmar sweat conductivity measures. The results add support for the concept of evaluation apprehension as the mediating variable in producing social-facilitation effects, and suggest that arousal as an intervening variable may be multidimensional.The author wishes to thank Joseph E. McGrath, James H. Davis, and Samuel S. Komorita for their helpful comments on a previous draft of this article.     

APL functions for interactive data analysis: Graphics and labels

APL functions designed to provide labeled plots and histograms are described. Support functions that augment a data file with necessary information to label output and to maintain a common plotting scale are also described. APL code and illustrative output are presented.     

Design and organization in a computerized psychology laboratory

This paper presents six; principles of laboratory organization and design. These six principles are an outgrowth of the past 7 years’ experience in the Mathematical Models Laboratory of the Psychology Department at Indiana University. Each of the six principles is formally stated and then followed by explanation and examples.     

Personality and Physical Health: An Introduction

This article provides a rationale for research on personality as a contributing factor in the development of physical disease. A brief history of major developments from the 1930s to the present is then provided. Special attention is given to shifts in conception regarding whether particular dispositions are related to specific physical disorders or whether these dispositions increase general illness susceptibility. The paper ends with a brief orientation to the other papers and commentaries in this special issue.