Estimating item and order information

In a common psychological procedure, the subject is presented a sequence of items and is asked to recall them in order. His response is scored for items reported correctly in their correct position (position score) and for items reported correctly independently of position (item score). Such data are analyzed in terms of a model which assumes that a particular stimulus item may be forgotten entirely (State 0), may be remembered but without any knowledge of its position in the sequence, or may be remembered together with knowledge of its position (State 2). State 2 is related to the position score, and we define a nonexclusive State 1 (which contains all items not in State 0) that is related to the item score. In Part 1, we use the observed item and position scores to derive estimates of the trial-to-trial distribution of the number of items in States 1 and 2. In Part 2 we consider separately each serial position of the stimulus, and derive estimates of the probability that each individual item is in State 1 and State 2. The model handles omissions, second guesses, and gives sensitive estimates of partial information. Fast Fortran computer programs are available for all computations. In general, whenever responses are scored for items and/or for position, and when no alternative model is being tested, it is recommended that the above model be used to correct for the effects of guessing.     

Prior exercise of freedom and reactance

A communication that contains a particularly strong intent to influence caneasily lose persuasive impact or even bring about a “boomerang” effect. Such “boomerang” phenomena have often been attributed to “psychological reactance”, a motivational state created when freedoms are threatened or usurped. The first experiment reported here examined two factors that inhibited reactance effects. (A) The more that subjects were in initial disagreement with the communicator, the less likely they were to respond with boomerang change to a high pressure communication. (B) Among subjects who initially agreed with the communicator, a successful blocking of reactance effects was produced by asking them to write a short precommunication essay taking a position contrary to the communication. This latter effect was replicated in Experiment II.     

The effects of sexual permissiveness,target gender,subject gender,and attitude toward women on social perception: In search of the double standard

The sexual double standard, if held by perceivers, should result in more negative evaluations of sexually permissive females than males. Previous research on the double standard has generally ignored this normative issue, and has instead relied on self-report methods to measure personal sexual behavior and the stated limits of acceptable behavior for others. Male and female subjects, either liberal or traditional in their sex role attitudes, were exposed to a male or female target of one of four levels of sexual permissiveness. On most scales, representing a wide range of social judgments, there was no evidence of a sexual double standard. Limited evidence emerged in that male, but not female, subjects may have exhibited a double standard in their ratings of how sexual the target was. In addition, liberal males and traditional females rated female targets who had casual sex as less agreeable than comparable male targets. Despite the general absence of a double-standard effect, sexual permissiveness affected ratings such that more permissive targets were judged as less moral, less conventional, more assertive, more sexual, marginally more likable and less conforming. The findings are discussed in terms of the double standard, the effects of sexual permissiveness on social perception, and gender differences in perceiving sexuality.     

The Context of Caretaking in Rural Areas: Family Factors Influencing the Level of Functioning of Seriously Mentally Ill Patients Living at Home

After the deinstitutionalization of psychiatric hospitals, many families became primary caregivers for seriously mentally ill individuals. Mental health services became further reduced with the advent of managed care and reductions in health and mental health care. The dearth of community-care options often results in psychiatric patients being quickly stabilized in hospital units and discharged to live with their families. The lack of community resources is particularly acute in rural areas. Given these realities the current study sought to determine if family caretaking variables are related to patient outcomes. Family factors including the perception of burden, expressed emotion (EE), and primary caregivers’ social support were tested in a model of caretaking that examines the relationship between these factors and patients’ symptom expression and social and occupational functioning. The sample includes 49 predominantly African American families living in a rural area and with a chronically ill family member who had been previously diagnosed with a psychotic disorder. Primary caregivers and patients were interviewed using adapted measures of burden, EE, and social support. Patients were administered a revised version of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Results suggest less perceived burden, increased caregiver support and, to a lesser extent, EE explain approximately one-fifth of the variance in patient functioning. These results support previous research demonstrating the importance of family factors for seriously mentally ill patient outcomes. Results are discussed in terms of implications for assisting families in the current era of diminished resources.     

When remembering causes forgetting: retrieval-induced forgetting as recovery failure

Retrieval practice on a subset of previously learned material can cause forgetting of the unpracticed material and make it inaccessible to consciousness. Such inaccessibility may arise because the material is no longer sampled from the set of to-be-recalled items, or, though sampled, its representation is not complete enough to be recovered into consciousness. In 2 experiments, it was examined whether retrieval-induced forgetting reflects a sampling or recovery failure by studying the time course of cued recall in this type of situation. Although retrieval practice reduced recall totals of the unpracticed items, in both experiments, the forgetting was not accompanied by an effect on the items' response latencies. This pattern of results is consistent with the view that inhibited items are successfully sampled but, because of a reduction in their activation level, do not exceed the recovery threshold.