Beliefs about female and male nonverbal communication

Participants (N= 441) rated from 1 to 10 how frequently or well they believed hypothetical women and men performed each of twenty nonverbal behaviors or skills. Women were believed to use more expressive and involved nonverbal behaviors than men, and to be more skilled at sending and receiving nonverbal messages. Men were believed to be louder and more interruptive, and to display more nervous, dysfluent behaviors. Ratings given to females by females were higher than were ratings in the other gender combinations for over half the variables, which may accurately describe female—female interaction. Perceived gender differences correlated positively with differences reported in observational studies, indicating that beliefs about nonverbal gender differences were generally accurate. The authors wish to thank Tom Leahy for his assistance in data collection.     

Syntactic form and semantic function

The experiments reported here were designed to investigate the effects on linguistic performance of varying the interaction between the syntactic form of sentences and their semantic function. The experimental task required subjects to decide whether pairs of sentences had the same or a different meaning. The results of Experiment I confirmed the prediction that the times taken to decide about pairs of affirmative and negative sentences would be shorter when the negative was performing its natural function of signalling a change of meaning. To a lesser extent, performance on pairs of active and passive sentences was facilitated when the two sentences meant the same thing. These results were found both with “meaningful” sentence material and with abstract x-y sentences. A second experiment provided a control for the possibility that the results were due to syntactic derivational factors rather than to the semantic function interaction.     

Effects of teacher attention on study behavior

The effects of contingent teacher attention on study behavior were investigated. Individual rates of study were recorded for one first-grade and five third-grade pupils who had high rates of disruptive or dawdling behavior. A reinforcement period (in which teacher attention followed study behavior and non-study behaviors were ignored) resulted in sharply increased study rates. A brief reversal of the contingency (attention occurred only after periods of non-study behavior) again produced low rates of study. Reinstatement of teacher attention as reinforcement for study once again markedly increased study behavior. Follow-up observations indicated that the higher study rates were maintained after the formal program terminated.     

The effects of grouping visual stimuli on the cortical evoked potential

The University Of Michigan. Ann Arbor. Michigan The effect of grouping elements of a visual stimulus on the amplitude of the bipolar occipital evoked potential is considered in two experiments. A marked and orderly relation is found. Various classes of hypotheses are advanced to account for this finding.     

Stimulus complexity,free looking time,and inspective exploration

Fourteen Ss rated 59 objects on a seven point complexity scale. From these ratings 10 objects were chosen at the high, middle, and low levels of complexity, and 35 mm slides were made of these 30 objects. Fifteen Ss manipulated and inspected each of the objects for as long as they wished and a second group of 15 Ss viewed slides of the objects for as long as they wished. Analysis of the time scores from these two groups revealed that both inspective manipulation time and free looking time increased as a function of stimulus complexity. Inspective manipulation time was greater than free looking time except at the low complexity level.     

Visual factors in auditory localization

Previous experiments showing the importance of visual factors in auditory localization are shown to have been insufficiently quantitative.

In the first Experiment, bells were rung and lights shone on the same or different vectors, eleven subjects indicating which bell had rung. In the second Experiment, a puff of steam was seen to issue from a kettle whistle with no whistling sound, while similar whistles were sounded by compressed air on that or another vector. Twenty-one subjects cooperated.

The addition of a visual stimulus at 0° deviation increased the percentage of correct responses significantly in the second, and insignificantly in the first experiment. At 20°-30° deviation the proportion of naive responses to the visual cue was 43 per cent. in the first and 97 per cent, in the second experiment. At greater angular deviations, the proportion of naive responses fell to chance level in the first, but remained significant in the second experiment, even at 90°. The “visuo-auditory threshold” was found to be 20°-30°, but might be much larger if there were more grounds for supposing the two stimuli to be from the same source in space.     

Competing on all fronts: Achievement orientation and disordered eating

Strikingly high prevalence rates of symptoms of disordered eating among college women have been documented. The question arises as to whether one aspect of the college experience, achievement orientation, is associated with disordered eating. Competing hypotheses may be generated regarding the relationship between achievement orientation and disordered eating, with arguments for either a positive or negative relationship. The Work and Family Orientation Questionnaire (WOFO) and the Disordered Eating Symptoms Scale (DESS) were administered to 668 female undergraduate college students. Multivariate analysis of the WOFO subscales revealed that women with high levels of disordered eating obtained significantly higher scores on the Competitiveness subscale than women with low DESS scores. These findings support hypotheses of a positive relationship between competitiveness and disordered eating.     

Individual differences in type A behavior and cardiovascular responses to stress

The purpose of this study was to predict heart rate and blood pressure responses to a stressor task in 166 male and female university students using the multidimensional approach of the Survey of Work Styles. The Survey of Work Styles is comprised of scales for Impatience, Anger, Time Urgency, Work Involvement, Job Dissatisfaction, and Competitiveness. Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate were measured before and during a 5 min serial subtraction task. Three bipolar Survey of Work Styles profiles were identified for each sex. In males, similarity to each profile was uniquely related to one task cardiovascular measure. In females, two of the three profiles were uniquely related to one physiological measure assessed during the task. The data thus support separate treatment of male and female data. Consideration was given to the possible influence of TABP components, such as Anger, in the differences in the patterns of physiological responses for different Type A profile types. Implications of the physiological results for future studies on psychophysiological differences between Type A and B individuals, and the pathological links between Type A behavior and coronary heart diseases are discussed with emphasis on the recognition of the heterogeneity of personality profiles associated with Type A behavior.     

Physical fitness and enhanced psychological health

A great deal of attention has been given to the association between physical fitness and psychological health. The purpose of this view is to examine recent developments in the burgeoning exercise and psychological health literature and to explore avenues for future research. The current review focuses on research that has examined enhancement of psychological health and well-being among nonclinical populations since 1980. Four areas of psychological functioning are reviewed: (1) psychological well-being and mood, (2) personality and self-concept, (3) physiological stress responsivity and (4) cognition. Exercise appears to improve mood and psychological well-being as well as enhancing self-concept and self-esteem. Exercise appears to do little for personality functioning. Furthermore, mixed empirical support exists to suggest that exercise influences stress responsivity and cognitive functioning. However better research designs and procedures are still needed. Theories regarding the connection between exercise and psychological functioning as well as suggestions for future research are offered.