Heise, Th, Schuler, J (Hrsg.)¶Das transkulturelle Psychoforum¶Band 4¶Transkulturelle Psychotherapie: Hilfen im ärztlichen und therapeutischen Umgang mit ausländischen Mitbürgern

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

The role of surprise in the attribution process

Abstract

We report five studies which compared two theories linking surprise to causal attribution. According to the attributional model, surprise is frequently caused by luck attributions, whereas according to the expectancy-disconfirmation model, surprise is caused by expectancy disconfirmation and stimulates causal thinking. Studies 1 to 3 focused on the question of whether surprise is caused by luck attributions or by unexpectedness. In Studies 1 and 2, subjects had to recall success or failure experiences characterised by a particular attribution (Study 1) or by low versus high surprisingness (Study 2), whereas in Study 3, unexpectedness and luck versus skill attributions were independently manipulated within a realistic setting. The main dependent variables were unexpectedness (Studies 1 and 2), degree of surprise (Studies 1 and 3), and causal attributions (Study 2). The results strongly suggest that surprise is caused by expectancy disconfirmation, whereas luck attributions are neither sufficient nor necessary for surprise. Studies 4 and 5 addressed the question of whether surprise stimulates attributional thinking, again using a remembered-incidents technique. The findings of the previous studies were replicated, and it was confirmed that surprising outcomes elicit more attributional search than unsurprising ones. Additional results from Study 5 suggest that causal thinking is also stimulated by outcomes that are both negative and important.     

Anticipated action effects affect the selection, initiation, and execution of actions

This study investigated the impact of contingent action effects on response production. In Experiment 1 responses of varying intensity were initiated faster when contingently followed by auditory effects of corresponding rather than of noncorresponding intensity. This response-effect (R-E) compatibility influence was robust with respect to practice, and it was not due to persisting influences of preceding R-E episodes. These results support the conclusion that R-E compatibility reflects the impact of anticipatory effect representations in response production. Experiment 2 showed that anticipatory effect codes have an impact on early processes of response production (response selection) as well as on processes that immediately precede overt responding (response initiation). Finally, they also influence the way the actions are physically performed (response execution). The results support and specify ideo-motor theories of action control that assume movements to be controlled by anticipations of their sensorial effects.     

Complex problem solving — More than reasoning?

This study investigates the internal structure and construct validity of Complex Problem Solving (CPS), which is measured by a Multiple-Item-Approach. It is tested, if (a) three facets of CPS - rule identification (adequateness of strategies), rule knowledge (generated knowledge) and rule application (ability to control a system) - can be empirically distinguished, how (b) reasoning is related to these CPS-facets and if (c) CPS shows incremental validity in predicting school grade point average (GPA) beyond reasoning. N = 222 university students completed MicroDYN, a computer-based CPS test and Ravens Advanced Progressive Matrices. Analysis including structural equation models showed that a 2-dimensionsal model of CPS including rule knowledge and rule application fitted the data best. Furthermore, reasoning predicted performance in rule application only indirectly through its influence on rule knowledge indicating that learning during system exploration is a prerequisite for controlling a system successfully. Finally, CPS explained variance in GPA even beyond reasoning, showing incremental validity of CPS. Thus, CPS measures important aspects of academic performance not assessed by reasoning and should be considered when predicting real life criteria such as GPA.     

The Severe Sexual Sadism Scale: cross-validation and scale properties

The Severe Sexual Sadism Scale (SSSS) is a screening device for the file-based assessment of forensically relevant sexual sadism. The SSSS consists of 11 dichotomous (yes/no) items that code behavioral indicators of severe sexual sadism within sexual offenses. Based on an Austrian sample of 105 sexual offenders, the present study replicated the 1-dimensional scale structure of the SSSS, as evidenced by confirmatory factor analysis. More specifically, the scale was commensurate with the 1-parameter logistic test model (Rasch model). Reliability was estimated to be good. Criterion validity for the clinical diagnosis of sexual sadism was good. With a cutoff value of 7 points, sensitivity and specificity were estimated at 56% and 90%, respectively.     

Stimulus-dependent modulation of perceptual and motor learning in a serial reaction time task

In two experiments, we investigated the impact of spatial attributes on the representation acquired during a serial reaction time task. Two sequences were used, in which structural regularities occurred either in the horizontal or in the vertical locations of successive stimuli. After training with the dominant hand, participants were required to respond with the non-dominant hand to either the original sequence or to a mirror-ordered version of the original sequence that required finger movements homologous to those used during training. We observed that a difference in reaction times between the two transfer conditions was smaller in the vertical sequence than in the horizontal sequence. This pattern of results was independent of whether three fingers (Experiment 1) were used or only one finger (Experiment 2) was used for responding. This result suggests that perceptual and motor learning mechanisms may be weighted differently depending on the context in which the stimulus is presented.     

Anxiety: The cognitive perspective,by Michael W. Eysenck Hove,UK: Lawrence erlbaum; 1992; 195 pp.

Abstract

The purpose of the study was twofold: To investigate the structure of the test anxiety construct. and to compare the psychometric properties of rating scales versus questionnaire scales of test anxiety.

The intercorrelations among fourteen test anxiety measures, representing the one-, two-and four-dimensional models were examined as well as the correlations between those scales and eight measures of test-related perceptions.

The sample consisted of 172 undergraduate and graduate students of education. The results indicated that the underlying structure of the test anxiety construct consists of four primary factors. It was noted that the pattern of the relationships among the test anxiety measures remained intact when the broader context, which included also test-related perceptions, was studied. Based on the intra- and intercorrelations among the test anxiety and the test-related perceptions, a speculative causal model for explaining the effect of test anxiety on performance was suggested.

The findings regarding the format issue seemed to support the contention that rating scales are at least as valid measures of a simple single trait as questionnaire scales. However, it was stressed that further research is needed in order to find out whether or not rating scales are robust enough to be considered valid measures in situations that elicit social desirability distortion.