Work Motivation in the United States, Russia, and the Republic of China (Taiwan): A Comparison

This study evaluated aspects of work motivation across three cultures. In a replication of earlier research comparing the ranking of ten motivational factors by management and workers, this study used comparison data for current United States, Russian, and Chinese (Taiwan) samples. The results indicate an improved relationship between perceptions of managers and workers in the United States, a strong discrepancy in the Russian sample between expectations of management and workers, and a reasonable match for the Taiwan sample. Differences in motivational factor importance are explored between the three samples and the implications for multinational management issues are explored.     

Instrumentation and software report: Computer-assisted coding of videotape material

The coding system described was originally devised to facilitate the analysis of mother-infant interaction. Our aims were to provide accurate measures of the duration of different activities, to enable identification of particular actions in order to carry out sequential analyses, and to allow systematic assessment and improvement of reliability. At the time recording began, there appeared to be no readily available systems which achieved all of these aims. The system described here enables coded videotape material to be examined with the assistance of a computer. This is implemented through two subsystems, those of record and playback. In the playback subsystem the behaviour units identified by a coder are mapped on to this record. This results in a protocol of behaviour on a highly accurate time base.     

When Does Gender Constrain Parsing? Evidence from ERPs

We review the implications of recent ERP evidence for when and how grammatical gender agreement constrains sentence parsing. In some theories of parsing, gender is assumed to immediately and categorically block gender-incongruent phrase structure alternatives from being pursued. In other theories, the parser initially ignores gender altogether. The ERP evidence we discuss suggests an intermediate position, in which grammatical gender does not immediately block gender-incongruent phrase structures from being considered, but is used to dispose of them shortly thereafter.     

Facing, understanding and learning from critiques of psychotherapy and counselling

Critiques of psychotherapy and counselling—especially the more hostile, extreme and difficult to refute—are generally not welcomed by therapists. An argument is made here for the value of squarely addressing, understanding and learning from critiques. A framework for viewing disparate critiques is offered. The suggestion is made that practitioners must proactively examine therapy's diverse 'shadows' if the field is to remain intellectually honest, clinically effective and socially relevant.     

Attribution of personal characteristics as a function of the degree of touch on initial contact and sex

The current study was designed to measure the effects of degree of touch on initial contact on interpersonal judgment. Subjects (60 male and 60 female) reporting for an experiment on interpersonal judgment were met by the experimenter and another subject. The second subject was in fact a confederate. As the subjects were introduced, the confederate responded in one of three ways: a nod of the head (no touch); a firm handshake; or a firm handshake accompanied by a squeeze on the subject's right upper arm by the confederate's left hand. Half of the subjects met a male and half met a female confederate. Subjects were then placed in separate cubicles and asked to complete the Byrne interpersonal judgment questionnaire about the person they had just briefly met. This scale has six items (intelligence, knowledge of current events, morality, personal feelings, participation in experiments, and adjustment) for same-sex pairs and four additional items for opposite-sex pairs (dating, marriage, physical and sexual attraction). The results indicated that the variations in the type of initial contact between subject and confederate resulted in several significantly different interpersonal judgments. Of particular interest was the finding that a male confederate greeting a female subject was viewed as a more acceptable marriage partner the more touch was invoved in the initial contact. A female confederate greeting a male subject was viewed as a less acceptable marriage partner the more touch that was involved. The degree of touch also affected judgments of knowledge of current events, adjustment, dating, and physical attraction. Typically, the more touch, the higher the rating for the male confederate, whereas the female confederate was typically rated highest on the nod or handshake plus the additional touch to the arm, and least when she simply shook hands. The relevance of these findings to first impressions and role stereotyping are discussed.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Western Psychological Convention, Sacramento, 1975.This study was supported in part by a faculty research grant from the University of San Francisco.     

Mothers' speech to children of four different ages

This study reports analyses, in terms of five different measures, of the speech on two standard tasks of 32 middle-class mothers to their children aged 1 1/2, 2 1/2, 4, and 6 years. Sex and birth order of child were not found to be related to mothers' speech. On four of the measures, both task and age of child had strongly significant effects. In general, with increasing age of child, mothers spoke more, in longer and grammatically more complex utterances, with greater diversity of vocabulary. The differences in speech addressed to 1 1/2-year-olds and that addressed to 2 1/2-year-olds were particularly marked.     

Fluctuations in recall across successive test trials

The purpose of the experiment was to determine whether item fluctuation (intertrial forgetting and spontaneous recovery) depends upon the time allowed for recall and/or the demand characteristics of the experimental situation (manipulated via instructions to S). One hundred. and forty-four university undergraduates studied a 36-item list and then had two successive recall trials which were 9, 36, or 144 sec in duration. On the second recall trial, Ss were instructed to recall previously recalled items only (“old”), previously nonrecalled items only (“new”), or both previously recalled items and previously nonrecalled items (“both”). The results suggest two conclusions: (1) Although recall trial duration affects the overall amount of recall, it does not affect the amount of item fluctuation; and (2) an instruction to recall only “old” items or to recall only “new” items results in suppression of the nonrequested items without a corresponding facilitation for the requested items.