Attributions and other inferences: Processing information about the self versus others

This study focuses on the attributional inferences involved in the comprehension of behaviors and on possible differences between the process of comprehending one's own behaviors and those of another person. Both the content of attributional judgments and the time taken to make the judgments were measured, in a design involving the comprehension of behaviors that were high or low in desirability and distinctiveness and that were understood as the subject's own versus another person's. Results show that the inferential processes in the comprehension of one's own and another's behavior are generally similar. Exceptions are where organized knowledge about the self (a self-schema) is brought into use and where differences in “perspective” between self and other influence processing. Discussion centers on the implications of the results for theories of comprehension and inference, including extensions needed to handle the self/other distinction.     

Student characteristics and motivational and process factors in relation to styles of career development

In this study student background characteristics and certain personological characteristics, including motivations for schooling and types of learning strategies employed, are investigated in relation to affective and cognitive aspects of adolescent career development. A Career Development Inventory, Learning Process Questionnaire, Word Knowledge test and General Information Questionnaire (addressing demographic and career decision-making topics) were administered to national random samples of 14-year-old and grade 11 students. Canonical correlation analyses distinguished at least three styles of career development (possibly four), and associations with student characteristics suggested the motives and strategies that might plausibly enter into the various modes.     

Capacity increase and chunking in the development of short-term memory

The possibility of an age-related increase in the capacity of the short-term store was examined in two short-term memory experiments, and an M-operator model was proposed to account for the data. In the first experiment, lists of 8, 10, and 12 consonants were presented to 10-, 12-, and 14-year-olds. Despite the fact that the amount of chunking was monitored and kept constant across ages, there was a definite developmental increase in short-term memory performance. The size of the increase corresponded to the prediction of Pascual-Leone's M-operator theory. An M-operator model was proposed to account for the relation between performance level and list length at each age, as well as the developmental increase. Predictions of adult performance were tested in a second experiment. Together the two experiments show that an important part of short-term memory development can be explained as a growth in short-term store capacity.     

Effects of salience and time pressure on ratings of social causality

A model is proposed to account for the effects of a target person's salience on judgments of that target. It is argued that salience leads to more extreme inferences in the direction implied by prior knowledge that is relevant to the judgment. This knowledge may include both specific information about the target being rated and general information about the class of stimuli to which the target belongs. Two experiments supported these hypotheses. When subjects were under time pressure to make judgments of a target person's influence in a social situation, their judgments increased with the salience of the target when they had prior knowledge that the target was generally high in social influence. However, their judgments decreased with the target's salience when subjects had prior knowledge that the target was generally low in social influence. When subjects were given ample time to make their judgments, however, the effects of target salience were attenuated. Possible implications of these findings for prior research on salience effects are discussed.     

Academic examinations and anxiety: The interaction model empirically tested

The person-by-situation interaction model of anxiety was tested in the reallife setting of an academic examination. Twenty-eight male and 79 female university students served as subjects. State anxiety (A-State) was assessed just prior to the examination (Trial 2) and approximately 1 week before (Trial 1) and after (Trial 3) the examination. Five facets of trait anxiety (A-Trait) were measured in a nonstressful situation 1 week prior to the examination. The subject's cognitive appraisal of the various situations was assessed by a self-report index of the type and degree of threat involved in the situation just experienced. As predicted, a significant A-Trait-by-situation interaction in eliciting A-State was observed for social evaluation A-Trait. There were no interactions for the other, noncongruent facets of trait anxiety. The results also indicated that individuals' perception of situations may be the most important factor affecting reactions to stressful situations. In general, the results were interpreted as providing support for the multidimensionality of A-Trait and further validation of the interaction model of anxiety.