Laterality effects in judgment of the identity and position of letters: A signal detection analysis

In two experiments subjects received 100 ms tachistoscopic presentations, either to left or right of fixation, of a rectangular matrix of 12 cells. On each trial three cells were filled, each with a different symbol drawn from a set of 12 letters and digits. In one (the “letter” experiment) subjects had to decide whether a particular letter (nominated at the end of the trial) had been one of the three presented. In a second (the “position” experiment) they had to decide whether a cell in the matrix (again nominated at the end of the trial) had been one of those that contained a symbol. Judgments were made on a four-point rating scale, and measures of sensitivity and response bias were calculated. In the letter experiment sensitivity was greater for presentations to right of fixation, and in the position experiment for those to left.     

Behavioral components of social competence in females

This study examined behavioral components used by peers to judge heterosocial competence in females. Thirty-five female undergraduates participated in two interactions with a naive male partner. Judges provided global ratings for female subjects on attractiveness, skill, anxiety, guidance, listening, and smoothness of response. Behavioral counts of smiles, gestures, self-manipulations, talk time, and gaze were also obtained from the videotapes of the interactions. Although many specific behaviors correlated with judgments of social competency, talk time and gaze best predicted social competency in women. Implications of the results and future research directions are discussed.This study was conducted as part of the first author's master's thesis while a student at Purdue University.     

Learning with microcomputers: Training primary school children on a problem-solving program

This study investigated the effects of structured training at two informational levels on children's performance on a problem-solving computer program. An informed-training group (strategy training with detailed explanations) performed at a superior level to a blind-training group (strategy training with no explanations) and a control group. This superiority was maintained 3 weeks later on retest. The results are discussed in relation to the processes that mediate and facilitate training.     

Responsiveness to babies: Life-situation specific sex differences in adulthood

Responsivity to babies was observed in 96 mature adults representative of three junctures of parenthood: parents of infants, parents of 8-to-9-year-olds, and parents of adolescents. Among the measures used were reactions to an unfamiliar infant in a waiting room, interest in pictures of babies versus other objects, and sex-role concept and attitudinal questionnaires. Stage of family life cycle affected women's responsivity, but not men's. New mothers displayed a heightened generalized interest in babies which is optimally timed and functional in terms of sex-differentiated role requirements. A possible confounding between cohort effects and stage in the family life cycle was examined and rejected. Traditionally sex-typed behaviors were reinterpreted as life-situation specific rather than general traits.This study was supported by grants from NIMH (1 R03 MH28264-01) and from Boys Town Center for the Study of Youth Development, Stanford University. The authors thank Barbara Aschenbrenner for her invaluable assistance in all phases of the research.     

Applicant Attraction: The role of recruiter function,work–life balance policies and career salience

This study examined the impact of salient identity, career path and recruiter functional area [internal human resource (HR) personnel vs external recruitment company] on perceptions of organizational attraction with a sample of young, inexperienced job seekers. Two hundred and one participants responded to a questionnaire and rated their attraction to two different job advertisements. The results partially supported the first hypothesis; applicants perceived a job opportunity in an organization that offered either a flexible career path or a dual career path as significantly more attractive than a position in an organization that offered a traditional career path. There was no support for the second hypothesis that identity salience would interact with career path. The results showed that recruiter functional area had no impact on attraction to the organization. It was concluded that flexible HR policies increase applicants' perceptions of organizational attraction during the initial stages of the recruitment process. Practical and research applications are discussed.     

Brexit or Bremain? A person and social analysis of voting decisions in the EU referendum

The period following UK's European Union referendum in 2016 foreshadows significant social and political change in the UK. The current research draws on social psychological theories to empirically examine the drivers of voting decisions during the referendum. We report the results of a prospective study using structural equation modelling with data (N = 244) collected just before, and self‐reported voting behaviour immediately following (N = 197), the European Union referendum. We employ a person and social approach to examine the additive roles of worldview, conservatism, social identity, and intergroup threat as predictors of voting intentions and behaviour. Results showed that person factors (worldview and conservatism) predicted voting intentions through social factors (European identity and realistic threat) and that intentions predicted behaviour. The results highlight the importance of addressing threat‐based intergroup rhetoric and the potential of common in‐group identity to mitigate psychological threat.