Valence and instrumentality contributions to understanding occupational preference

Studies on the expectancy model have presented conflicting results concerning the usefulness of valence ratings. There has been some support for valence as significantly adding to the predictability of occupational preference, while other studies have indicated that instrumentality ratings alone are sufficient.     

The propensity to recall another's completed and uncompleted tasks as a consequence of varying social relationships

Two laboratory experiments are reported. Each investigates the bias that social relationships exert on a subject's propensity to recall another's completed and uncompleted tasks. Using closed circuit television, subjects in both experiments observed a bogus other working on a set of puzzles. The person working completed only one-half of the puzzles. In three of the six experimental conditions in both experiments, subjects believed that the remaining puzzles could be completed at a later time. In the first experiment, a subject's relationship to the other was determined by cooperative, competitive, or individualistic economic incentives. In the second, the relationship was determined simply by their similarity or dissimilarity on a bogus personality test. Utilizing a combination of Lewinian assumptions and contemporary theory about memory, we hypothesized that the opportunity to resume work would result in an increased propensity to recall uncompleted tasks in the competitive (or dissimilar) conditions and a decreased propensity to do so in the cooperative (or similar) conditions. Results confirmed this hypothesis. Additional data in both experiments suggest that subjects' relationships with the bogus other altered the accessibility of this information. Theoretical implications of these findings and their relationship to research on prosocial behavior are discussed.     

Static and dynamic factors in the perception of rotary motion

Direction of rotation and static slant judgments were collected for a series of outline plane forms in four experiments with 106 subjects. Direction was judged more accurately for forms displaying the same perspective gradients as trapezoids, but with right-angled contours, than for trapezoids. There were no consistent differences among these forms in judged slant. Direction of rotation judgments were affected by a static false interposition cue, with interposition increasing the proportion of veridical judgments when placed in conflict with a relative size gradient and decreasing this proportion when a size gradient was absent. Both a dynamic factor (contour angle change) and a static factor (misperceived relative distance of the vertical sides) were found to affect perceived direction of rotation, with direction judgments based primarily on the dynamic factor.     

Effects of level of arousal and type of task on bilateral skin conductance asymmetry and conjugate lateral eye movements

Several recent studies have indicated that the degree and direction of bilateral skin conductance (BSC) asymmetry and the direction of conjugate lateral eye movements (CLEMs) both index hemispheric functioning. Evidence also suggests that BSC asymmetry decreases and CLEMs become more unidirectional as level of arousal increases. Thirty-two normal adults received an habituation series of five-second tones followed by 40 questions. All stimuli were tape recorded. The questions (Schwartz, Davidson, and Maer, 1975) were grouped in four series: 10 verbal-emotional, 10 verbalnonemotional, 10 spatial-emotional, and 10 spatial-nonemotional. The order in which the four series were presented was counterbalanced across subjects. Prior to each question, subjects fixated the face of a mannequin. Sixteen subjects (high arousal) had five seconds to contemplate their answer; the remaining 16 (low arousal) had 10 seconds. Instructions for the high arousal group specified that intelligence and problem-solving ability was being tested, and that speed and accuracy were very important. Those for the low arousal group indicated casually that subjects were to ponder a series of questions. BSC levels, SC response amplitudes, and CLEMs were measured during a five-second interval following each tone or question. BSC levels were greater under the High Arousal condition. While approximately two-thirds of the subjects showed BSC asymmetry (roughly evenly divided between those with larger left and right hand responses), neither the degree nor direction of the asymmetries changed as a function of question type. While CLEM direction was more sensitive to question type under low arousal, (i.e., verbal questions resulted in predominantly right-going CLEMs and spatial questions resulted in predominantly left-going CLEMs) they tended to be stereotyped (i.e., unidirectional) under high arousal. Finally, no relationship was observed between CLEM direction and BSC asymmetry under either high or low arousal condition.     

Increased Reinforcer Immediacy can Promote Employment-Seeking in Unemployed Homeless Adults with Alcohol Use Disorder

The Psychological Record - Unemployment, homelessness, and substance use are interrelated. The present study took place as part of a clinical trial intended to promote employment and abstinence...     

Gender and Acculturation in Relation to Traditionalism: Perceptions of Self and Parents Among Chinese Students

The acculturation attitudes and traditionalismof Chinese university students in Toronto, Canada, wereinvestigated. Chinese men were significantly moretraditional than Chinese women in their beliefs and expectations regarding family hierarchy and thesocial roles of women and men, but they did not differin perceptions of their parents' construal of familyrelations and gender roles. Generational discrepancy between self and perceived parental values wasfound for Chinese women but not for men in the study,suggesting greater conflict with regard to traditionalgender role and cultural values for women. The acculturation attitude of separation predictedstudents' traditionalism, and marginalization predictedparents' perceived traditionalism. Gender differencesand the relevance of different modes of acculturation with regard to traditionalism are discussed inthis article.     

An Anti-Molinist Argument

Philosophical Studies -