Affect as a mediator of attributional egotism

A three-stage model of the relationships among achievement outcomes, outcome-related affect, attribution, and emotion is tested in two studies. It is suggested that success and failure elicit positive and negative affective states due to prior conditioning. These affective states then lead to an attribution process that serves to defend and enhance self-esteem. Next, emotional labels are chosen that are consistent with the affective states and the attributions. Two studies were designed to test the proposed relationships among achievement outcomes, affective states, and attributions. In the first study, subjects received information indicating that they were strongly or mildly aroused as a result of receiving outcome feedback on an achievement task. The results indicated that low arousal reduced egotistical attributions to internal factors. In the second study, subjects either succeeded or failed on an achievement task. Half of the subjects were provided with an opportunity to misattribute the arousal elicited by their outcomes to an irrelevant source. Subjects in the misattribution condition made less egotistical attributions to external factors than subjects who were given no opportunity to misattribute their arousal. The results of both studies suggest that outcome-related affect mediates the relationship between outcomes and attributions in achievement situations.     

The role of perceptual and semantic elaboration in high- and low-imagery sentence recall

Sentence imagery effects in recall are predicted by both perceptual and semantic elaboration models. The former attributes superior recall of high-imagery sentences to the addition of perceptual network components to an existing semantic network; the latter claims that additions of semantic components are involved. In order to identify the responsible components, free associates were generated to otherwise similar high- and low-imagery sentences in a short-term memory task. In accordance with the perceptual elaboration model, associates differed in rated imagery, but not in number. In a second study, the causal role of perceptual elaboration in recall was investigated by using high- and low-imagery sentence associates as recall cues. Differential effects of cue imagery were found for high-imagery sentences, indicating that perceptual codes are in part responsible for superior high-imagery sentence recall. Evidence is presented that perceptual and semantic network components are involved in a processing trade-off, and the adequacy of present network models to explain it is discussed.     

Probabilistic contingency theories of animal conditioning: A critical analysis

Seven contingency theories of classical and instrumental conditioning were defined in relation to the contingency matrix and to six separate probabilities which can be derived from this matrix. These theories were compared on the basis of formal similarities and differences, and were judged against three separate empirical variables which have been discussed in the contingency literature: the duration of the intertrial interval, partial reinforcement, and negative contingencies between the two events of conditioning. All previous theories had some difficulty predicting the effects of one or more of these variables upon animal conditioning. Also, some formulas make the unusual prediction that there will be less conditioning when there is more than one conditioning trial. The paper concluded with an extensive discussion of the problems that are created by conditioning events with temporal extension; events which are then categorized by a contingency matrix which has no temporal character. Some possible solutions to the problems were discussed.     

A more powerful method for testing for agreement between a judge and a known standard

We assume that a judge's task is to categorize each ofN subjects into one ofr known classes. The design of primary interest is employed if the judge is presented withs groups, each containingr subjects, such that each group of sizer consists of exactly one subject of each of ther types. The probability distribution for the total number of correct choices is developed and used to test the null hypothesis that the judge is guessing in favor of the alternative that he or she is operating at a better than chance level. The power of the procedure is shown to be superior to two other procedures which appear in the literature.The authors are grateful for the suggestions of the referees and for computer funding provided by the Northeast Regional Data Center at the University of Florida.     

The diffuse thalamocortical system and Pavlovian/Eysenckian theory: A response to criticism

This article is a response to Paisey's (1983, this issue, pp. 527–534) critique of reports which describe how transmission characteristics of the diffuse thalamocortical system relate to personality, intelligence and cognitive style (Robinson, 1982a, Robinson, 1982b). Detailed consideration of Paisey's objections leads to the conclusion that they fall into three major categories. First, there are ‘straw men’ that derive from a misrepresentation of theoretical arguments. Secondly, there are objections which relate to methodological considerations but lack substance. Finally, there are criticisms that arise from Paisey's mistaken application of statistical methods.     

Characteristics of schizophrenics' and neurotics' relatives

A group of adult first-degree relatives of schizophrenics were compared with a control sample of neurotics' relatives on the EPQ, an earlier version of the Eysenck P scale, and on three specially-constructed scales of ‘psychoticism’ (STA, STB and S), derived from a consideration of the clinical symptomatology of schizophrenia and of the ‘borderline syndromes’. Overall differences, in a predictable direction, were confined to the EPQ P scale where schizophrenics' relatives had significantly higher scores, though further analysis suggested that this was due partly to the raised scores of males and partly to very low P-scores seen in male neurotics' relatives. Scores on the STA, measuring schizophrenic ‘symptoms’, were very low in schizophrenics' relatives, due, it was argued, to extremely defensive responding in that group. Results are also reported for two psychophysiological measures, forearm EMG and skin conductance. Here marked group differences were observed, schizophrenics' relatives having significantly higher mean EMG and significantly lower mean skin conductance. This unusual pattern of response was especially evident in a small subgroup of schizophrenics' relatives whose personality profiles tended to differ in the predictable direction, towards greater ‘psychoticism’. The psychophysiological data were highly consistent with other results from our laboratory demonstrating a ‘dissociation’ between different measures of ‘arousal’ in high-P normal subjects and in psychotic patients and it was concluded that measures based on such a conception of the biological basis of schizophrenia offer considerable promise as high-risk indicators of psychopathology.     

The effects of parental alcoholism on perception of control and imposter phenomenon

The present study examined the differences in internal and external locus of control and imposter phenomenon among persons with alcoholic and non-alcoholic parents. The subjects were 48 college students and 21 members of local Adult Children of Alcoholic groups. The students were further divided into those with alcoholic parents and non-alcoholic parents. The subjects were administered the following three instruments: the Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Control Scale for Adults (Nowicki & Duke, 1973), the Imposter Test (Chance & O’Toole, 1987), and a family history survey. Analysis of locus of control scores revealed a highly significant (p<.01) difference for externality, with Adult Children being most external and students with non-alcoholic parents least external. Similarly, internality scores differed significantly (p<.0001), with Adult Children being least, and the non-alcoholic group being most internally oriented. Analysis of variance for imposter phenomenon revealed a significant (p<.05) difference among the three groups, with the Adult Children of Alcoholics group having the highest scores and students with non-alcoholic parents having the lowest. These findings are consistent with the idea that parental alcoholism interferes with nurturing and consistent reinforcement, and with the development of personal adaptability.     

Analogical transfer and expertise in legal reasoning

Analogical transfer and its relation to expertise is examined in a legal context. Three experiments were conducted comparing the performance of novices (introductory tax students) and of experts (experienced tax practitioners from multinational public accounting firms) on tasks involving the application of tax laws. In Experiment 1 subjects completed a target problem after reading a decided case that was either analogous or not analogous to a target problem. A limited amount of transfer was observed, with no differential rate of transfer across experience levels. In Experiments 2 and 3 attempts were made to facilitate transfer of knowledge by inducing transfer-appropriate processing of the source analog and by providing multiple source analogs. The results of both experiments indicate an interaction between treatment and expertise. Unexpectedly, the facilitating treatments reduced the transfer of knowledge for experts while increasing the transfer for novices. Subsequent analysis of the responses of the expert subjects indicates that for the more experienced expert subjects a highly proceduralized rule interfered with the knowledge transfer when that rule was made salient by the facilitating treatments. The less experienced expert subjects behaved in a manner consistent with the hypotheses. This poor performance of the more experienced experts results from the inflexibility in expert problem solving due to the proceduralization of information processing. Frensch and Sternberg (1989) demonstrate that this type of inflexibility is one of the costs of expertise and results from the development of a large and highly complex knowledge base containing numerous well developed strategies.     

Massignon,Vatican II and Islam as an Abrahamic religion

The qur'anic material about Abraham corresponds in broad outline to the biblical story although it contains some novel features, including the claim that Islam is the religion of Abraham and that together with Ishmael he rebuilt the Kaaba. The article surveys the largely negative responses of Byzantine polemicists, medieval Western authors, and later orientalists, to Islam's avowedly Abrahamic pedigree. It then examines the work of Louis Massignon and his circle, and discusses the extent to which his conviction that Islam was an Abrahamic religion, like Judaism and Christianity, influenced Vatican II. Some precursors of Massignon are mentioned, his attitude to the qur'anic representation of Abraham is criticized in the light of recent research, and his interest’ in Abraham is shown to have been intimately bound up with the peculiar circumstances of his own life.     

Properties of the diffuse thalamocortical system, human intelligence and differentiated vs integrated modes of learning

In complementary reports Robinson (1982a, b) describes how the transmission characteristics or time constants of thalamic and cortical neuron populations of the diffuse thalamocortical system (DTS) can be evaluated in human subjects. Equating these constants with the Pavlovian property of ‘strength’ it was predicted that they should relate to Extraversion and Neuroticism scores on the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). This prediction was confirmed and the results provide direct support for the theories of Pavlov and Eysenck. The present report describes additional results which confirm predictions relating the DTS constants to performance on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and on the Embedded Figures Test (EFT). An important finding was that a measure of deviation from intermediate and ‘balanced’ values of the DTS constants loads to the extent of -0.80 on the WAIS ‘memory’ or ‘attention/ concentration’ factor. More generally, the results provide further support for Pavlov's conception of brain-behaviour relationships and suggest that the DTS plays a fundamental role in determining a broad spectrum of human psychological differences including some associated with the concepts of intelligence and cognitive style. These IQ and cognitive style differences are explained as the immediate and longer-term consequences, respectively, of differences in the distribution of background cortical activity mediated by the DTS.