A COMPARISON OF COGNITIVE CONFLICT BETWEEN PERSONS IN WESTERN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES1

Etude comparative du conflit cognitif interpersonnel en Europe occidentale et aux Etats-Unis. — La recherche a été menée conjointement dans divers pays européens (Grande-Bretagne, France, Italie, RFA) et aux Etats-Unis, selon la même procédure. On induit des différences cognitives détetminées entre les 2 membres d'un groupe, en les entraînant différemment (ce dont ils ne sont pas conscients) dans une tâche d'apprentissage portant sur des problèmes politiques; il s'ensuit un conflit quand on réunit les deux sujets et qu'on leur demande d'aboutir à des solutions communes. Les résultats montrent que — a) les différences cognitives ne sont pas réduites en Europe alors qu'elles le sont, lentement, aux Etats-Unis; — b) les sujets européens aboutissent moins souvent que les sujets américains à des solutions de compromis; — c) les européens réagissent différemment à l'idée de « Contrôle de l'Etat ». Ce type de recherche peut être utilisé pour étudier le conflit cognitif sur une base interculturelle; les résultats font apparaître des problèmes importants qui n'ont pas encore été étudiés.     

Illusion in a three-dimensional Hering figure in relation to viewing distance

Two groups of 34 Ss each judged the amount of illusion in a three-dimensional Hering figure at three viewing distances (9, 18, and 36 ft). The horizontal bars could be located in the foremost frontal plane of the three-dimensional display or could be recessed within it. Group C-F began at the close distance and Group F-C at the furthest distance. Amount of illusion increased with viewing distance and was greater with the bars recessed within the display. At the furthest distance, but not at the other distances, amount of illusion was greater for Group F-C. The results confirm predictions from Gregory’s theory of primary constancy scaling but are also interpretable in terms of local effects at the intersections of parallel bars and background lines.     

THE ROLE OF SELF-ESTEEM IN COMPETITIVE CHOICE BEHAVIOR1

Le rôle de L'estime de soi dans les choix compétitifs — Un programme transnational de recherche sur les déterminants des processus de décision s'est concentré dans une première phase sur la relation entre L'estime de soi et le comportement compétitif dans un jeu de type « Dilemme du prisonnier ». Des étudiants américains, chez lesquels une grande estime de soi avait été induite, firent davantage de choix compétitifs que les sujets chez lesquels on avait induit une faible estime de soi. Une des deux expériences avec des étudiants français a reproduit les mêmes résultats, alors que des expériences avec des sujets italiens ont produit des résultats inverses. Différentes interprétations théoriques des résultats sont proposées et critiquées.     

Affordances after spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injury can cause cognitive impairments even when no cerebral lesion is appreciable. As patients are forced to explore the environment in a non-canonical position (i.e., seated on a wheelchair), a modified relation with space can explain motor-related cognitive differences compared to non-injured individuals. Peripersonal space is encoded in motor terms, that is, in relation to the representation of action abilities and is strictly related to the affordance of reachability. In turn, affordances, the action possibilities suggested by relevant properties of the environment, are related to the perceiver's peripersonal space and motor abilities. One might suppose that these motor-related cognitive abilities are compromised when an individual loses the ability to move. We shed light on this issue in 10 patients with paraplegia and 20 matched controls. All have been administered an affordances-related reachability judgement task adapted from Costantini, Ambrosini, Tieri, Sinigaglia, and Committeri (2010, Experimental Brain Research, 207, 95) and neuropsychological tests. Our findings demonstrate that patients and controls show the same level of accuracy in estimating the location of their peripersonal space boundaries, but only controls show the typical overestimation of reaching range. Secondly, patients show a higher variability in their judgements than controls. Importantly, this finding is related to the patients’ ability to perform everyday tasks. Finally, patients are not faster in making their judgements on reachability in peripersonal space, while controls are. Our results suggest that not moving freely or as usual in the environment impact decoding of action-related properties even when the upper limbs are not compromised.     

The attentional blink: Resource depletion or temporary loss of control?

Identification of the second of two targets is impaired if it is presented less than about 500 ms after the first. Theoretical accounts of this second-target deficit, known as attentional blink (AB), have relied on some form of limited attentional resource that is allocated to the leading target at the expense of the trailing target. Three experiments in the present study reveal a failure of resource-limitation accounts to explain why the AB is absent when the targets consist of a stream of three items belonging to the same category (e.g., letters or digits). The AB is reinstated, however, if an item from a different category is inserted in the target string. This result, and all major results in the AB literature, is explained by the hypothesis that the AB arises from a temporary loss of control over the prevailing attentional set. This lapse in control renders the observer vulnerable to an exogenously-triggered switch in attentional set.     

组织中的社会阻抑:概念界定、影响结果和形成机制

社会阻抑是指长期的、蓄意地妨碍个体积极人际关系的建立和维持,影响个体在工作上的成功及良好名誉的行为.文章在介绍社会阻抑概念和测量的基础上,综述了社会阻抑在心理健康、自我效能感等个人层面和组织氛围层面的消极影响;接着阐明了个体对社会阻抑行为的实施和反应一方面受到人格、认知等内在因素的影响,另一方面也受到社会情境、社会支持等外在因素的影响.未来研究需进一步加强对社会阻抑概念、测量、研究方法、影响因素等方面的深入探讨.     

Interpretations of Messages

This research examined interpretations of messages as a function of whether they are equivocal or unequivocal, whether they protect self‐face or other‐face, and whether the perceivers of the messages are directly involved in the conversation or overhear it. The role of self‐monitoring and gender were also assessed. Results of Study 1 (N=463) revealed that equivocation is perceived as more polite but less honest and less competent than unequivocal criticism. Equivocation addressing other‐face is the most polite, and criticism of the other is the least polite. Females perceive equivocation as more polite than do males. Ego‐involvement influences perceptions independently and through its interaction with equivocation. No support was found for the role of self‐monitoring or the notion that equivocation conveys a more positive meaning than unequivocal criticism. Study 2 (N = 496) replicated the findings concerning the politeness, honesty, self‐other differences, gender differences, self‐monitoring, and meaning associated with equivocation.