Restricted multidimensional scaling models for asymmetric proximities

Restricted multidimensional scaling models [Bentler & Weeks, 1978] allowing constraints on parameters, are extended to the case of asymmetric data. Separate functions are used to model the symmetric and antisymmetric parts of the data. The approach is also extended to the case in which data are presumed to be linearly related to squared distances. Examples of several models are provided, using journal citation data. Possible extensions of the models are considered. This research was supported in part by USPHS Grant 0A01070, P. M. Bentler, principal investigator, and NIMH Grant MH-24819, E. J. Anthony and J. Worland, principal investigators. The authors wish to thank E. W. Holman and several anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions concerning this research.     

Gender differences in performance attributions: Students' explanations for personal success or failure

Women are often said to exhibit an externality bias in their performance attributions. To test this hypothesis, male and female college students made effort, ability, luck, and task difficulty attributions for their performance on a recent course examination. Measures of the students' affective reactions toward their performance were also obtained. Successful students, whether male or female, made internal attributions and were pleased with their performance. Stronger internal attributions were associated with more positive affective reactions for these students. Unsuccessful female students made external attributions, were displeased with their performance, and felt better when they attributed their failure to unstable factors. Unsuccessful male students were also displeased with their performance, but tended to make more internal attributions for their failure, and felt better as a result. These findings, which suggest the influence of an internality bias among men, rather than an externality bias among women, were interpreted in terms of the male sex role.     

The Assertive Interaction Coding System

Conceptual and theoretical issues concerning the assessment of assertive behavior are discussed. A summary of a variety of instruments utilized in experimental and clinical settings is offered that reflects these issues. This review is followed by the presentation of a new assessment device developed by the authors—the Assertive Interaction Coding System. Research evidence as to its reliability and validity in experimental and clinical settings is presented. Implications for its use in clinical and research protocols are addressed.     

The impact of exposure to nontraditional vocational role models on the vocational role preferences of five-year-old children

During a two-week period, 17 kindergarten children in an experimental group were exposed to nontraditional role models and curricular materials and a control group, consisting of 22 kindergarten children, was exposed to a curriculum unrelated to vocational or sex roles. A comparison of the pretest and posttest scores of the two groups, using a t-test for correlated means, indicated that neither group made a significant change in their vocational role preferences. The data indicated that following the treatment, the experimental females were slightly less traditional (p < .24) while the experimental males were more traditional (p < .09). These findings are related to developmental and socialization factors. Implications for further research and for family life education are presented.     

Using the shifting standards model of stereotype-based judgments to examine the impact of race on compensation decisions

The Shifting Standards Model (SSM) of stereotypic judgments is presented as a model of implicit bias that produces a psychological mechanism contributing to continued racial wage disparities. The SSM is used to explain race-based differences in subjective evaluations of compensation decisions. We report three experimental studies in which research participants made compensation decisions for either a White or Black employee. Across three studies, participants judged a Black employee's raise as subjectively better than a comparably described White employee's raise. Participants who work in Human Resources fields (Study 3) and those with experience making compensation decisions (Study 2) were as likely as other participants to show evidence of the shifting standards effect. The findings are discussed in the context of individual implicit biases contributing to continued wage disparities and potential organizational practices to ameliorate these influences.     

Reduced or increased influence of non-pertinent information in patients with schizophrenia?

We tested the ability of 18 patients with schizophrenia and 18 matched controls to filter non-pertinent information in orientation matching tasks. The non-pertinent information consisted of pictures conveying semantic information. The pertinent information consisted of oriented line-segments drawn inside pictures or was represented by the overall orientation of the picture itself. The results showed that non-pertinent information interfered with performance of control subjects in all tasks. In contrast, non-pertinent information interfered with the performance of patients with schizophrenia to the same extent as that of matched controls only when non-pertinent and pertinent information was physically mingled, but not when they were separated. Yet, patients processed non-pertinent information in all experiments, as shown by reversed interference effects when non-pertinent and pertinent information was physically separated. These results suggest a deficit at linking physically distinct visual information in patients with schizophrenia. Additionally, performance was more impaired in patients with schizophrenia than in control subjects when the amount of displayed information increased. The results suggest the coexistence, and a possible relationship between attentional deficits and impairments at linking distinct visual information in patients with schizophrenia.