Word interruption in self-repairing

Levelt (1983) proposed that the reason why speakers often do not interrupt an erroneous word before self-repairing is a lack of trouble detection before the end of that word. However, this explanation does not apply to merely inappropriate words. According to Levelt, this latter kind of word is completed for pragmatic reasons. In the present paper, a new corpus containing 1225 repairs is analyzed. From Levelt's theoretical framework, it was predicted that for erroneous words the longer the reparandum the higher the amount of word interruptions. Another prediction was that this decrease across word length should be slighter for nonerroneous words than for erroneous ones. Both predictions were confirmed. Results were consistent with Levelt's hypothesis and especially with the idea that erroneous word completion is not a real exception to the main interruption rule in speech self-repairing.     

Two-stage model of visual backward masking: Sensory transmission and accrual of effective information as a function of target intensity and similarity

A functional model is used to describe the effect of target intensity and target-set similarity on backward visual masking. The model consists of two distinct stages of visual information processing. The first stage is related to sensory transduction and transmission and is assumed to require a finite and measurable amount of time during which performance-remains at chance. The second stage, associated with central processing, is characterized by a negatively accelerated growth function reflecting the accrual of effective information. Results show that the duration of the transmission stage is inversely related to target intensity. Surprisingly, the rate of information accrual is an interactive function of both target intensity and target-set similarity. The pattern of results is consistent with the interpretation that both intensity and similarity mediate their effect through a common mechanism—the accrual of effective information.     

Towards a theory of collective phenomena. III: Conflicts and forms of power

This paper further develops a new theory of power advanced by the authors in two previous papers (Galam and Moscovici, 1991, 1994). According to this theory power results from the build up of conflicts within a group, these conflicts requiring a degree of organizational complexity which is itselfa decreasing function of group size. Within this approach, power appears to be a composite of three qualitatively different powers, institutional, generative and ecological. Levels and relationships among these forms of power are considered as a function of the diversity of the group. There exist also three states of organization associated with power evolution. At the group initial stage is the paradigmatic state. Creation and inclusion of conflicts are accomplished in the transitional state through the building of complexity. At a critical value of diversity, the group moves into the agonal state in which institutional power vanishes simultaneously with the fusion of generative and ecological powers.     

Contrary effects of group cohesiveness in minority influence: Intergroup categorization of the source and levels of influence

The roles of group cohesiveness and intergroup categorization of the source in minority influence were studied in a 2 (high versus low cohesiveness) × 2 (ingroup versus outgroup source) × 3 (phases) factorial design. Six subjects forming a group were confronted with a confederate defending a minority position in a perceptual task. The results indicated a manifest influence effect (slide colour), accompanied by a latent polarization (afterimage) in the high cohesrveness/outgroup source condition, and a latent unfluence effect in the low cohesiveness/ingroup source condition.     

Making the planet green again: The interplay of attitudes and group norms in the conversion to organic farming

Attitudes and social norms are key social psychological concepts that have often been considered as independent determinants of human behavior. However, questions about the interplay between the two are somewhat of a blind spot in social psychology. In the present research, we test the hypothesis that when an important change in norms is involved, behavioral intentions will be shaped by a discrepancy between personal attitudes and the perceived group norm, that is the perception of other group members’ attitudes. This proposition is tested and supported across three studies in a context of the conversion to organic farming, a behavior indicative of a significant societal and behavioral change. Farmers who did convert to organic farming were those who perceive other farmers to hold less positive attitudes toward this environmentally-friendly practice compared to their own (Study 1a & 1b, N = 1,023). Among conventional farmers, the intention to convert to organic farming is also predicted by a discrepancy between personal attitudes and the perceived group norm (Study 1b). Finally, among agricultural colleges’ students (Study 2, N = 280), the intention to become an organic farmer was influenced by an interaction between attitudes and perceived group norm and not only by independent effects of these two variables. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings for a better understanding of behavioral adaptation in times of social change are discussed.     

Perceived acculturation preferences of minority groups and intergroup discrimination: When culture‐specific intergroup norms matter

The present research seeks to show that culture‐specific variables can moderate the impact of general determinants of intergroup discrimination, usually assumed to operate identically across cultures. The present paper reports the results of two studies testing the hypothesis that, in France, the cultural norm of new laïcité (a French‐specific ideology of secularism) can moderate the impact of the perceived host culture adoption and national identification on discrimination against immigrants. We conducted a correlational study (Study 1, N = 249) and an experiment (Study 2, N = 143) using two distinct and previously validated measures of intergroup discrimination. Results showed that the higher the perception of a norm of new laïcité, the stronger the link between host culture adoption and national identification. More specifically, among native French people, the perception of a weak host culture adoption and a weak national identification on the part of immigrants produced higher levels of discriminatory behavior especially when the intergroup norm of new laïcité was high. These studies highlight the fundamental importance of taking into account culture‐specific variables in the study of discrimination and point to the fact that, by changing the normative context, one may change intergroup behaviors. Reducing intergroup discrimination in applied settings may require targeting culture‐specific intergroup norms.     

Social cues and verbal framing in risky choice

We examined how people use social and verbal cues of differing priorities in making social decisions. In Experiment 1, formally identical life – death choice problems were presented in different hypothetical group contexts and were phrased in either a positive or negative frame. The risk‐seeking choice became more dominant as the number of kin in an endangered group increased. Framing effects occurred only in a heterogeneous group context where the lives at risk were a mixture of kin and strangers. No framing effect was found when the same problem was presented in the context of a homogeneous group consisting of either all kin or all strangers. We viewed the framing effects to be a sign of indecisive risk preference due to the differential effects of a kinship cue and a stranger cue on choice. In Experiment 2, we presented the life – death problem in two artificial group contexts involving either 6 billion human lives or 6 billion extraterrestrial lives. A framing effect was found only in the human context. Two pre‐conditions of framing effects appear to be social unfamiliarity of a decision problem and aspiration level of a decision maker. In Experiment 3, we analyzed the direction of the framing effect by balancing the framing. The direction of the framing effect depended on the baseline level of risk preference determined by a specific decision context. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The movement-induced self-reference effect: enhancing memorability through movement toward the self

Much evidence suggests that bodily actions affect cognitive states. In particular, pulling owned objects toward the self improves memory for those objects compared to memory for objects pushed away from the self. Experiments 1 and 2 examined the effect of incidental joystick movement on static stimuli, hypothesizing that using the physical self (rather than a computer monitor) as a reference point would enhance memory for items categorized via a toward-the-self action but not toward-the-computer-monitor action. Experiment 3 examined whether movement toward an external representation of self, one’s cellular phone, would enhance memory compared to the same movement toward an unfamiliar phone. Recognition memory was enhanced for both words and pictures evaluated during movements toward a representation of the self, regardless of whether the representation was a physical self or a disembodied self. Furthermore, movement toward the self enhanced memory, rather than movement away from the self depressing memory. These results suggest that self-referential processing can be induced by an approach motor action and impact episodic memory regardless of intention to learn, stimulus type, or motion of the stimuli. They also suggest that self-referential memory advantage can be disembodied.