Hanly on Coase: A Comment

ABSTRACT Ken Hanly's recent article in this Journal (Vol. 9, No. 1, 1992) takes issue with Ronald Coase's approach to resolving problems of externalities, as set forth in his classic paper 'The Problem of Social Cost'. I argue that Hanly's discussion of Coase misinterprets or inappropriately rejects certain aspects of Coase's analysis, specifically, with regard to the reciprocal nature of externalities and the economic role of government. The resolution of externality problems is presented as an issue of selective normative choice as to whose interests are to count; neither efficiency nor morality claims are uniquely dispositive of the issue.     

Item Desirability Effects in Compliance-Gaining Research Seven Studies Documenting Artifacts in the Strategy Selection Procedure

A popular method for assessing compliance-gaming behavior involves having people rate lists of preformulated message strategies for likelihood of use. This “selection procedure” has been employed much more frequently than the alternative “construction procedure,” a method that requires people to generate their own message strategies. The present article argues that the selection procedure is much less sensitive than the construction procedure to the effects of situational and individual-difference variables on compliance-gaining behavior. The article further suggests that the insensitivity of the selection procedure is due to a type of social desirability bias known as the item desirability effect. Seven studies were carried out testing the Marwell and Schmitt (1967) and Wiseman and Schenk-Hamlin (1 981) strategy checklists for the item desirability effect. These studies found that (a) the likelihood of use ratings prouided for the strategies on both checklists could be accurately predicted by the rated social appropriateness of the strategies, (b) likelihood of use ratingsfor preforrnulated strategies haue relatively poor reliability, and (c) the construction procedure is much less susceptible to social desirability biases than the selection procedure. On the basis of these and related findings, it is recommended that researchers eschew the use of strategy checklists in future research.     

Use of Student Paraprofessionals in Divisions of College Student Affairs

A stratified random sample of college student affairs divisions was surveyed to assess the depth and breadth of student paraprofessional use. More than 72% of the responding institutions reported having one or more student paraprofessional programs.     

Action Assembly Theory and Communication Apprehension A Psycho-physiological Study

Research reported here replicates Greene and Sparks (1983a, 1983b) and their re-conceptualization of communication apprehension (CA). Noting the limited empirical evidence in support of a trait/structure link with physiological output, this study applies action assembly theory to the problem. Differential heart rate curves are predicted for high and low trait CA based on Greene's (1984) action assembly theory. The study confirms a hypothesized cubic heart rate function for low trait CA subjects and a quadratic heart rate function for high trait CA subjects. Results are interpreted as empirical support for an action assembly approach to communication anxiety.     

How are high school studies related to performance in a psychology degree?

The relationship between performance in final high school studies, on which the university entrance system is based, and performance in a psychology major at university is examined. A total of 241 students were identified who completed first year psychology at a regional university, and had started university within two years of completing high school. Their marks in psychology subjects over the 3‐year major program, their University Admission Index (UAI) and Higher School Certificate subject profile were extracted from the university student records system and subjected to a series of analyses. Psychology marks were averaged to produce a score for each of the three year‐levels. UAI correlated with performance at all three levels (.42 – .49) and was the strongest predictor of performance. Having studied mathematics or a creative arts subject, but not a science subject, had a significant impact on performance in the psychology course over and above the influence of UAI score.     

A Critical Analysis of the Behavioral Adaptation Explanation of the Probing Effect

Deception researchers interested in the effects of interrogative probing repeatedly have documented that probed sources are rated as more honest than nonprobed sources. This finding has been labeled “the probing effect.” The commonly accepted explanation for the probing effect is the behavioral adaptation explanation (BAE). The BAE posits that probing causes message sources to strategically adapt behavioral cues so as to appear “honest.” This behavioral adaptation subsequently causes message recipients to perceive probed sources as truthful. Across several published studies and convention papers, researchers have claimed empirical support for the BAE. This report documents three problems with the BAE that, taken together, suggest that the BAE cannot account for the probing effect.