The performance of attention-deficit-disordered and normal children on conservation tasks

The present study was designed to investigate whether a specific subgroup of learning-disabled children (attention-deficit-disordered, ADD) differed from their normal counterparts on Piagetian tasks of conservation. The subjects were 34 third-and fourth-grade children. Seventeen children had been diagnosed as ADD; the remaining half were designated as normal. The two groups were equivalent in chronological age, mental age, and intelligence. The results indicated significant differences between the two groups on tasks tapping conservation of substance and number. These results may support the theory of a lag in the development of conservation in children with specific learning disabilities (ADD). Implications of the present research for therapeutic and remedial programs that serve ADD children are also discussed.     

The effect of diagonality on reconstruction of patterns by preschool children

The study examined the contribution of various aspects of pattern complexity to children's difficulty on reconstruction of patterns. Specifically, diagonal pattern components and spatial orientation of patterns were considered. Twenty-four children between 16 months and 31 months were presented eight 5-square patterns on a 3 X 3 matrix of squares. The squares lighted, went dark, and then could be relighted by the child if touched. Accuracy of reconstruction was determined by the number of squares correctly chosen by the child during reconstruction. The eight patterns were rated according to Leeuwenberg's code length method, Garner's rotation-and-reflection method, Halford and Macdonald's rating scale, and a simple count of the number of diagonal lines. Analysis of children's responding indicated that number of diagonal lines was more predictive of memory performance than the other three rating systems, implying that diagonality is an important feature of pattern complexity that should be included in ratings of patterns used in research with children.     

Amount of information about the attitude object and attitude-behavior consistency

The synthesis of two separate lines of inquiry--research on information integration and longitudinal studies of attitudes--prompted the hypothesis that the degree of consistency between attitudes and behavior will increase as a function of the amount of information available about the attitude object. The hypothesis was tested in three separate longitudinal studies, ranging in length from 4 days to 4 months, that investigated the following behaviors: voting for candidates for political office, voting for two social policy election initiatives, and having an influenza vaccination. In support of the hypothesis, in each study, amount of information moderated the consistency between attitudes and behavior; and the significance of this relation remained even after controlling for the effects of a number of other potential moderators, including prior direct behavioral experience with the attitude object and attitude certainty. Consistent with previous research, direct behavioral experience was also a determinant of attitude-behavior consistency, and for the behavior of having an influenza vaccination, this relation was independent of the effect of amount of information. The discussion focuses on the interrelation among moderators of attitude-behavior consistency and on the theoretical implications of the findings.     

Type A behavior pattern and the judgment of noncontingency: mediating roles of mood and perspective

Past research indicates that Type A's and B's differ in their behavioral responses to lack of control. The present study examined perceptual judgments of noncontingency in an attempt to clarify further the role of a control dynamic in Type A-B differences. Type A's and B's assumed the role of either an actor or an observer on a standard contingency judgment task. Consistent with previous research, both Type A's and B's exhibited an illusion of control when in the role of actor. Only Type B's exhibited an illusion of control when observing another person perform the task. Additional analyses indicated that the absence of an illusion of control by Type A observers reflected accuracy rather than a motivational distortion. Mood was also found to mediate control judgments, but only for actors. The plausibility of a memory-based interpretation for the mood effects is discussed.     

Test anxiety and visual vigilance

Twenty male and 20 female subjects, previously classified as high or low in test anxiety, participated in an experiment on visual vigilance under conditions designed either to enhance or minimize feelings of being tested. Detection rate declined across the 36 min of the task among subjects high in test anxiety who believed that they were being tested and in subjects low in test anxiety who did not. False detection rates revealed no significant differences among conditions. Analysis of sensitivity to signals according to statistical decision theory revealed low sensitivity in both the high-anxiety test and low-anxiety/no-test conditions than in the other two. Analysis of decisional criteria showed that subjects in the high-anxiety test condition were more conservative in setting a criterion than subjects in the other three conditions. No sex differences were found. The results are discussed in terms of an elaboration of Sarason's (1978) model of test anxiety.     

On the self-serving function of social anxiety: shyness as a self-handicapping strategy

We tested the hypothesis that socially anxious or shy individuals use their anxiety symptoms as a strategy to control attributions made about their performances in social-evaluative settings (i.e., self-handicapping strategies). Specifically, we predicted that trait-socially anxious or shy persons would report more symptoms of social anxiety in an evaluative setting in which anxiety or shyness could serve as an excuse for poor performance than would individuals in (a) an evaluative setting in which shyness was precluded as an excuse or (b) a nonevaluative setting. Furthermore, we predicted that this self-protective pattern of symptom reporting would not occur for individuals who were not trait-socially anxious because these persons would not commonly use such symptoms as a self-handicapping strategy. Results supported these predictions for male subjects, but not for female subjects. Sex differences in the strategic use of shyness are discussed in relation to other research on sex differences in the etiology and correlates of social anxiety.