Energy Conservation: Two Easy Ways Out1

This study investigated attitude-behavior relationships in the context of energy conservation. Results indicated that general environmental concern is a poor predictor of energy-conservation behaviors. Direct evaluative comparisions of various non-conservationist behaviors with a more conservationist alternative showed a clear relationship with behavioral preference. Non-conservationists, however, evaluated their own behavior only marginally favorably and in some cases clearly unfavorably. This was accompanied by an overestimation of the common occurrence of these behaviors among the general population and by an unwillingness to relate these behaviors to personality characteristics. It is argued that these biases (i.e., considering one's behavior as a habit that is shared by many others) could hinder behavioral change. These findings are discussed in terms of effective public policy on the issue of energy consumption.     

The effects of social motives on behavior in social dilemmas in two cultures

Subjects in Santa Barbara, California, and Groningen, The Netherlands, participated in a seven-person social dilemma game, presented in terms of a conservation of resources problem. Prior to their decision making in the social dilemma game, subject's social motive (altruistic, cooperative, individualistic, competitive) was assessed by means of two different classification procedures. On the basis of previous research findings American subjects were expected to display relatively more competitive social motives, and Dutch subjects relatively more cooperative ones. However, no indications of crosscultural differences were found neither with regard to the distribution of social motives nor with regard to the amount of resources taken for self in the social dilemma game. In both locations, competitive subjects took most resources for self, individualistic subjects took next most, cooperative subjects took less than individualists, and altruistic subjects took the least. In addition to predictive validity, indices of the convergent validity of two social motive assessment procedures were described.     

Correspondence analysis used complementary to loglinear analysis

Loglinear analysis and correspondence analysis provide us with two different methods for the decomposition of contingency tables. In this paper we will show that there are cases in which these two techniques can be used complementary to each other. More specifically, we will show that often correspondence analysis can be viewed as providing a decomposition of the difference between two matrices, each following a specific loglinear model. Therefore, in these cases the correspondence analysis solution can be interpreted in terms of the difference between these loglinear models. A generalization of correspondence analysis, recently proposed by Escofier, will also be discussed. With this decomposition, which includes classical correspondence analysis as a special case, it is possible to use correspondence analysis complementary to loglinear analysis in more instances than those described for classical correspondence analysis. In this context correspondence analysis is used for the decomposition of the residuals of specific restricted loglinear models.     

Attributional self-presentation and information available to the audience

Public ability attributions of public task performance were investigated as a function of test performance (high or low), task performance (high or low), and the availability of information about test performance to the audience (audience informed or audience not informed). The results were largely in agreement with self-presentation expectations, Ability attributions concerning public task performance addressed to an audience which was not informed about test results, were found to be strongly self-serving, although they were also influenced by consistency of test and task performance. In ability attributions directed at an informed audience, self-serving biases were completely absent, the attributions being in accordance with the consistency or inconsistency of test and task performances.     

Early adolescent egocentrism: a review of six articles

This paper reviews six articles which appear to be representative of the past fifteen years during which researchers have focused on early adolescent egocentrism. Each article is described in chronological order and compared to research findings suggested by the other articles. Although the researchers have suggested some interesting associations, there is a lack of consistency among their findings. The author indicates methodological problems and questions for further research which arise from the reviewed articles.     

Sexual experience and preference for males or females in the female rat

The influence of sexual experience on preference behavior was investigated in adult female rats. In the first experiment, preference behavior for sexually active males versus estrous females was investigated in female rats who were experienced with mounting behavior. Preference of these mount experienced females was compared to preference of females who were naive in this respect. Mount experience with estrous females induced a female-directed preference in ovariectomized female rats, irrespective of whether the females were treated with OIL or with testosterone-propionate (500 micrograms TP, injected once 48 h prior to testing). Sexually naive, OIL-treated females did not show a preference for males or females, but TP induced a preference for a male. Individual differences in mount frequency were not correlated with preference behavior. In the second experiment, the influence of experience with feminine sexual responses on preference behavior was investigated. OIL-treated and TP-treated females oriented equally toward males and females when they had been given the opportunity to copulate with males prior to the preference tests. The results strongly suggest that prior sexual experience is an important determinant of preference behavior. The female's behavior during sexual interactions was, however, not predictive of later preference.     

Recognizing people seen in events via dynamic "mug shots"

This study examined effects of an event and dynamic mug shots on facial recognition. Witnesses saw either a film of a liquor store holdup staged by six perpetrators, slides of the same targets, or freeze-framed views from the filmed event. Slides of different facial views of targets among 12 foils, or dynamic 180 degrees mug shots of the same men, or multiple static views were administered 24 hr later in yes-no recognition tests. Recognition (d') was poorer for the same men seen in the event than in slides, but better for dynamic than for static mug shots. Nondynamic event characteristics were responsible for poor recognition of people seen in events, whereas dynamic aspects of facial transformations, not multiple views, seemed responsible for the superiority of dynamic mug shots. The implications of these results for issues of ecological validity of traditional face recognition methodology and for static feature models vs. dynamic transformation models of face recognition are discussed.     

Behavioral contrast in fixed-interval components: effects of extinction-component duration.

Seven albino rats were exposed to a multiple schedule of reinforcement in which the two components (fixed interval and extinction) alternated such that a presentation of the extinction component followed each fixed-interval reinforcement. In baseline sessions, the duration of the extinction component was constant and always one-third of the fixed-interval value. Probe sessions contained a probe segment in which the duration of the extinction component was increased; the response rate in fixed-interval components during the probe segment was compared with the response rate in the segments preceding and following the probe. The effect of increasing the duration of the extinction component was studied under three values of fixed interval: 30 s, 120 s, and 18 s, in three successive conditions. Response rate within fixed intervals was a direct function of duration of the extinction component. Pausing at the beginning of the fixed interval decreased as extinction duration increased. These effects were larger and more consistent for the shorter fixed-interval values (18 s and 30 s). These results indicate a functional relation between relative component duration and responding. For the component providing more frequent reinforcement, this could be stated as an inverse relationship between relative component duration and response rate. This relation is similar to findings regarding the ratio of trial and intertrial duration in Pavlovian conditioning procedures, and suggests that behavioral contrast may be related to Pavlovian contingencies underlying the multiple schedule.     

On the relation between indistinguishability of identical particles and (anti)symmetry of the wave function in quantum mechanics

Two different concepts of distinguishability are often mixed up in attempts to derive in quantum mechanics the (anti)symmetry of the wave function from indistinguishability of identical particles. Some of these attempts are analyzed and shown to be defective. It is argued that, although identical particles should be considered as observationally indistinguishable in (anti)symmetric states, they may be considered to be conceptually distinguishable. These two notions of (in)distinguishability have quite different physical origins, the former one being related to observations while the latter has to do with the preparation of the system.