Expression of nonconscious knowledge via ideomotor actions

Ideomotor actions are behaviours that are unconsciously initiated and express a thought rather than a response to a sensory stimulus. The question examined here is whether ideomotor actions can also express nonconscious knowledge. We investigated this via the use of implicit long-term semantic memory, which is not available to conscious recall. We compared accuracy of answers to yes/no questions using both volitional report and ideomotor response (Ouija board response). Results show that when participants believed they knew the answer, responses in the two modalities were similar. But when they believed they were guessing, accuracy was at chance for volitional report (50%), but significantly higher for Ouija response (65%). These results indicate that implicit semantic memory can be expressed through ideomotor actions. They also suggest that this approach can provide an interesting new methodology for studying implicit processes in cognition.     

Psychometric analysis of the Stunkard-Messick Eating Questionnaire (SMEQ) and Comparison with the dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ)

The factor structure of the Stunkard-Messick Eating Questionnaire (SMEQ) differs from that of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ). Using students and members of a weight watchers club, we factor-analyzed responses to the SMEQ and produced a solution which was different from that obtained by Stunkard and Messick, but which had some similarities to the factor structure of the DEBQ. “External” taste items and “internal” hunger items loaded on the same factor, a finding inconsistent with externality theory but consistent with the common sense notion of appetite strength. Although our finding suggests factor instability of the SMEQ, the stability of the DEBQ appears to be the consequence of a restricted range of DEBQ items compared with SMEQ items. Financial support for this research was given by Lilly Industries.     

Vocal congruence in mother-infant play

Turn-taking is the fundamental temporal structure of adult dialogue. This structure defines two types of joint silence: intrapersonal pause (silence bounded by the vocalizations of a single speaker) and switching pause (silence bounded by the vocalizations of different speakers). Switching pauses mark the boundaries of the turn exchange. In adult conversation the mean durations of both types of pause are characteristically matched between partners. This matching, termed vocal congruence, occurs developmentally earlier in the case of switching pauses. We hypothesized and confirmed that mothers and infants match switching pauses but not intrapersonal pauses at 4 months, even though the infants' vocalizations are prelinguistic. Second, since there are known affective correlates of vocal congruence in adult conversation, we hypothesized a similar affective correlate for mother-infant vocal congruence. We found, for the intrapersonal pause only, that the degree of matching within a dyad correlated with infant affective engagement. We conclude, from switching pause congruence, that a turntaking dialogic structure is being regulated in the mother-infant pair at 4 months in the same way as seen in adult conversation. Thus, both the temporal structure of adult dialogue and its affective correlate are prelinguistic.Supported in part by NIMH grant No. 41675.     

A critical review of the assumptions underlying drug testing

Current drug screening programs are based on a set of assumptions: That drug use adversely affects productivity, that available tests are accurate and cost-effective means of detecting and reducing drug use, and that drug testing is legal. When analyzed in the light of available evidence, little support was found for these assumptions. Used properly, drug testing may play a role in the overall management of employee performance; used improperly, it represents a profound threat to individual rights. Recommendations for additional research and for employers planning to use drug screening are offered.     

FIGURAL TESTS OF REASONING IN AFRICA

L'A présente les résultats d'un certain nombre d'expéricnces qui ont été réalisées avec les Progressive Matrices de Raven en Afrique et en Grande-Bretagne. II a utilisé des méthodes d'analyse factorielle pour comparer la difficulté des items d'une culture à L'autre et pour décrire les différentes stratégies individuelles des répondants. Les principales conclusions sont les suivantes : 1. Les tests qui utilisent des dessins et des figures sont des instruments complexes qui entraînent des biais caractéristiques dans les réponses. 2. Ces biais jettent un certain doute sur L'idée qu'il peut exister des tests libres de toute influence culturelle ou même dans lesquels les facteurs culturels seraient réduits. 3. Les résultats sont mis en liaison avec une théorie de L'intelligence qui met L'accent sur le rôle du système de valeurs en vigueur dans une société donnée; le système de valeurs dètermine en partie la nature des capacités humaines et leurs rclations.     

The influence of training for the atomistic schema on the development of the density concept among gifted and nongifted children

The present study was conducted for two purposes. The first was to test the relations between the schema of atomism and the concept of density, and to examine the effects of Piagetian stage and M-capacity on these relations. This was accomplished by giving training for the schema of atomism to children at different stages and with varying M- capacities. The second purpose was to test the effects of age (9–10 versus 11–12 years) and IQ (gifted versus nongified children) as variables that would influence the outcome of training. A total of 120 children were tested. The findings were that the effects of the training and the IQ variables were significant while the effect of the age variable was not. When stage and M-capacity were covaried the effects of training and IQ remained significant. Implications for issues of developmental theory and educational practice are discussed.     

The relationship of time investment and task outcome to causal attributions and self-esteem1

This study examined the relationship between performance outcome, time spent working at a task, and attributions to ability versus effort. It also explored differences in performance time as a function of self-esteem and task-performance expectancies. Subjects worked on a series of concept-attainment items and then were given either success or failure feedback regarding their performance and also information that they had worked either faster or slower than other subjects. They then evaluated their performance and that of a fictitious subject who had also purportedly done the task. Subjects attributed their own and other subjects' successes more to ability if they spent less time at the task and failure outcomes more to ability if they had spent more time at the task. Attributions to success and failure outcomes differed as a function of the interactive effect of self-esteem and task-specific expectancies. Low self-esteem subjects tended to attribute expected outcomes more to ability and unexpected outcomes more to effort, whereas high self-esteem subjects attributed successes more to ability and failure more to effort. Practice time and criteria for satisfaction were also a joint function of self-esteem and task-performance expectancy. The results suggest that task-performance expectancies must be considered when evaluating the role of self-esteem in determining people's responses in performance situations.     

Recipient need and efficacious caring as moderators of helpers’ reactions to rejection and acceptance

Two experiments support and extend the thesis that rejection of their help is stressful for would-be helpers, and that it leads to “damage controlling” reactions whose eventual goal is to restore their self-image of being efficacious at helping and caring. American college students were invited to offer help, if they wished, to a poorly performing (confederate) recipient who then either rejected or accepted it. Rejected helpers expressed relatively negative affect, biased postdictions of low acceptance, claims of low decision control, recipient- and self-devaluation, and less desire for further association. Individual differences in self-perceived “efficacious caring” and manipulated level of recipient need were shown to moderate some of these outcome reactions. Violated expectancy of acceptance was shown to mediate some of these reactions. Studies were cited showing the generalizability of these findings and theoretical framework to applied contexts and across cultural settings.