Discrimination of picture requests for missing items among young children with developmental disabilities

Two experiments were conducted to assess discrimination of picture requests for missing items among young children with developmental disabilities. In Experiment 1, three children were first taught to request one object when it was missing from a set of two related leisure items. In Experiment 2, two children were taught to request one object belonging to a set of three leisure items. In both studies the requesting response consisted of pointing to a photograph of the missing item. After acquisition of the initial request, discrimination of picture requests was assessed when the second item (Experiment 1) and second or third item (Experiment 2) was missing. Requests for the untrained items emerged in the presence of natural maintaining contingencies and in the absence of instructional prompts for all but the third child in Experiment 1. This child required continued intervention on the initial request. The results suggest that for some children a sequence of intervention and the programming of natural maintaining contingencies may prove effective in promoting the discrimination of picture requests for missing items among young children with developmental disabilities.     

Negative priming depends on ease of selection

Negative priming effects have been offered as evidence that distractor stimuli are identified. We conducted two experiments to determine if such effects occur even when it is easy to discriminate target from distractor stimuli. In Experiment 1, we found the usual negative priming effect when target and distractor positions varied from trial to trial, but not when these positions remained fixed. Experiment 2 extended these results to a situation where the ease of selection varied only in the prime display. These findings argue that irrelevant inputs can be filtered out prior to stimulus identification under certain circumstances and therefore pose problems for strict late selection theories.     

Proneness to romantic jealousy and responses to jealousy in others

An experiment was conducted to assess the relationship between dispositional proneness to experience romantic jealousy and perceptions of jealousy in others On the basis of cognitive and motivational constructs, it was hypothesized that (1) Persons high in proneness to jealousy perceive healthy jealous couples as more in love than healthy nonjealous couples, (2) persons high in proneness to jealousy perceive unhealthy jealous couples as less in love than unhealthy nonjealous couples, and (3) persons low in proneness to jealousy perceive healthy jealous couples as less in love than healthy nonjealous couples The latter two hypotheses were supported Results were discussed with regard to the roles of beliefs about jealousy and threats to the perceiver in individuals reactions to jealousy in others     

The effect of an overheard ethnic slur on evaluations of the target: How to spread a social disease

An experiment was conducted to assess the effects of an ethnic slur on evaluations of a targeted minority group member by those who overheard the slur. White subjects plus four confederates participated in a study ostensibly concerned with debating skills. Two of the confederates, one of whom was black, were always picked to engage in a debate which the others were to evaluate. The black debator either won or lost the debate. After the debate, one confederate-evaluator criticized the black in a manner that either did or did not involve an ethnic slur; in a control condition, no such comment was made. Based on the notion that ethnic slurs activate negative schemata regarding members of the targeted minority group, it was predicted that when the black debator lost the debate, the ethnic slur would lead to lower evaluations of his skill. This hypothesis was supported. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings were discussed.     

Global precedence and response activation: Evidence from LRPs

Lateralized readiness potentials (LRPs) were measured in left/right/no-go tasks using compound global/local stimuli. In Experiment 1, participants responded to local target shapes and ignored global ones. RTs were affected by the congruence of the global shape with the local one, and LRPs indicated that irrelevant global shapes activated the responses with which they were associated. In Experiment 2, participants responded to conjunctions of target shapes at both levels, withholding the response if a target appeared at only one level. Global shapes activated responses in no-go trials, but local shapes did not. The results are consistent with partial-output models in which preliminary information about global shape can partially activate responses that are inconsistent with the local shape. They also demonstrate that part of the global advantage arises early, before response activation begins and probably before recognition of the local shape.     

Rule breakers and attention seekers: Personality predictors of integrity and accountability in leaders

Unethical leadership behavior can encourage follower CWBs and have costly organizational impacts. In this meta-analysis, we use data from 3,000 managers and executives to identify antecedents of ethical behaviors: integrity and accountability. Results suggest that many five factor model (Big Five) personality scales, personality derailers (dark side attributes), and values predict integrity and accountability. Leaders who are more conscientious, professional, and rule following and less attention seeking receive higher ratings of integrity and accountability. The strongest relationships were often for personality derailers (Excitable, Leisurely, Mischievous, Imaginative). Values and preferences (Aesthetics, Hedonism, Recognition) also had notable relationships. We discuss our results and their implications for organizations seeking to reduce CWBs, promote OCBs, or establish a climate of ethical behavior.     

A stabilometer computerized analog recording system for studying gross motor skill learning

The stabilomotor computerized analog recording system (SCARS) presents a unique data analysis and storage system for studying motor learning strategies. Graphic computer printouts, total time in balance, total number of contacts, time between contacts, standard deviation of the time between contacts, mean angle of balance, and standard deviation of the angle of balance for each trial are derived.