Social uncertainty and interdependence: A study of resource allocation decisions in groups

Social uncertainty about the behavior of others with whom one is interdependent for rewards is hypothesized to encourage self-interested behavior and inhibit behavioral commitment to the group. This paper examines the roles of uncertainty, expectations, and feedback about other group members' contributions to the group in interdependent decision making. In the absence of feedback, resources tend to be divided between individual and group interests. Resource allocations to the group are found to increase significantly if group members receive feedback about other members' allocations, particularly if that feedback is at the individual level, not an aggregated group level. However, the effects of feedback presence and type are eliminated when group members state their expectations about other members' future contributions to the group. Implications for expectancy value theories of motivation and commitment to groups in organizations are discussed.     

Overt integrity tests versus personality-based measures of delinquency: An empirical comparis

Erratum

Overt integrity tests versus personality-based measures of delinquency: An empirical comparis     

Contributions of survey research to the understanding of memory

This article reviews the results of survey methodological research that illustrate phenomena of potential interest to investigators of memory, and also reviews psychological research designed to explore some of these phenomena under controlled laboratory conditions. We classify the phenomena reviewed into broad categories of remembering what events occurred, remembering when events occurred, and estimation and reconstruction processes used in reporting recurring events. We delineate the contributions of this research for our understanding of memory phenomena and show where this research has revealed gaps in our existing theories and knowledge. These findings present challenges for future collaboration between cognitive psychologists and survey methodologists.     

Family preservation using multisystemic treatment: Long-term follow-up to a clinical trial with serious juvenile offenders

In a randomized clinical trial, multisystemic family preservation was shown to significantly reduce rates of criminal activity and incarceration in a sample of 84 serious juvenile offenders and their multi-need families. In the current study, archival records were searched for re-arrest an average of 2.4 years post-referral. Survival analysis showed that youths who received multisystemic family preservation were less likely to be re-arrested than were youths who had received usual services. Such results represent the first controlled demonstration that family preservation, when delivered via a clearly specified treatment model, has lasting effects with serious juvenile offenders. Implications for family preservation and juvenile justice research are discussed.     

MacLaboratory for Psychology: Successes,failures, economics,and outcomes over its decade of development

The history of the development of MacLaboratory for Psychology offers insights into both problems and solutions in academic software creation and implementation. Superficially, MacLaboratory for Psychology has been very successful, having garnered numerous acclamations, including two EDUCOM awards. It is used on thousands of Macintoshes at universities, hospitals, schools, and other institutions worldwide. However, there have also been some shortcomings to its use. In a candid discussion, successes, failures, the economics of software development, and student outcomes are addressed. Specific examples from the software as it has been used by over 10,000 undergraduates at Drexel University provide guidelines for future academic software in such domains as multimedia use, psychological and scientific education, classroom implementation, faculty research, and software support and maintenance.     

Proximal and Distal Predictors of Homophobia: Framing the Multivariate Roots of Outgroup Rejection1

A proximal-distal theoretical framework was developed to examine the multivariate roots of homophobia. Using data from a sample of 288 undergraduates who had participated in a computer-assisted panel study over a three-year period, the effects on homophobia of distal and proximal family factors (e. g., parental education and family environment), distal and proximal individual factors (e. g., personality constructs and current beliefs), and proximal individual-situational factors (e. g., acquaintance with homosexuals) were tested in regression analyses. Both analyses employing sets of variables varying in proximity to the homophobic attitude and hierarchical regression employing variables contributing significantly in each set supported the proposed framework. All sets predicted significantly when regressed separately on homophobia; the sets containing the distal factors contributed most weakly, and the sets containing the proximal factors contributed most strongly. In hierarchical regression analysis, this pattern maintained such that the incremental increase in r² decreased with the addition of each more distal set, with the most distal factors failing to contribute significantly to the prediction. The importance of study findings for attitude change efforts is discussed.     

EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS AND TREATMENT OF MULTIPLY CONTROLLED SELF-INJURY

A functional analysis of the self-injurious behavior (SIB) of 3 adults with profound developmental disabilities showed that each engaged in SIB in more than one assessment condition. Such outcomes may result from a failure to isolate the variable maintaining SIB, or they may reflect multiple sources of control over SIB. In order to identify more clearly the determinants of SIB, each subject was exposed to a series of treatments appropriate to one or both of the apparent functions of SIB. These treatments, applied sequentially on baselines appropriate to each behavioral function, identified the maintaining variables for SIB through differential outcomes across baselines. Results indicated that the SIB of 2 subjects was multiply controlled, confirming the outcomes of the functional analysis. However, the SIB of the 3rd subject was eliminated using a treatment designed for a single function, suggesting spurious results of the original assessment. Alternative interpretations of undifferentiated assessment data are discussed, as are analysis and treatment issues related to multiply determined behavior disorders.     

Attentional consequences of outcome-related motivational states: Congruent,incongruent, and focusing effects

Two experiments employed a game context to examine the effects of positive and negative feedback on the processing of targets varying in incentive properties. While half the targets carried no value, the others were assigned either a positive incentive value (where points could be gained) or a negative value (where points could be lost), and either a large incentive size (worth 5 points) or a small size (worth 2 points). Feedback from the previous trial was found to exert three effects on subsequent targets. A congruent effect appeared in the faster processing of large targets that matched the positive or negative valence of the previous feedback signal. An incongruent effect was evident in the delays in shifting attention from pretarget cues that contrasted in valence to the previous feedback. A focusing effect was reflected in the general delays following negative feedback in responding to targets with no value. In addition to these outcome influences, processing was generally more efficient for targets carrying positive than negative incentive value, and for targets of large than small size. These findings are discussed in terms of contemporary models of motivation and information processing.