Information extraction during visual search: A developmental progression

Five developmental experiments examine the role of context in visual search. Experiments I and II presented either lists or paragraphs that were either in meaningful context or scrambled. Results showed a significant interaction of these variables. Experiment II examined within-item context or predictability and replicated and extended the work of Brand (1971) and Ingling (1972). Experiments IV and V examined search through lists of various widths; results showed a significant interaction of Grade × Position × Width reflecting the different perceptual spans of children and adults. Although these were search tasks, appropriate comparisons between list and paragraph performance were made allowing interpretations of the results to be supportive of a model of reading in which meaningfulness, predictability, and peripheral vision play critical roles.     

Strong Vocational Interest Blank basic interest clusters and occupational satisfaction

A Q-factor analytic technique applied to the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) basic interest scales of 156 males yielded three bipolar factors described as conceptual (applied vs theoretical thinking); interpersonal (people vs things); and volitional (autonomy vs structure). From these results the investigators constructed a model for categorizing occupations into corresponding vocational areas: managerial vs academic, social vs physical sciences, and professional vs technical. Each individual's primary interest area and occupational status relative to the six corresponding areas was then determined. The degree of fit between interests and job categorization related significantly to ratings of job satisfaction (p < .001). Those findings are complementary to Holland's notion that interests are expressions of psychological needs and to Lofquist and Dawis' perception of interests and jobs as needs and need reinforcers.     

The effects of a salient self-schema on the evaluation of proattitudinal editorials: Top-down versus bottom-up message processing

The effects of a salient self-schema on message evaluation were studied. Subjects were identified who characterized themselves using trait adjectives that reflected the prototype of either a “religious” or a “legalistic” person. Equally persuasive sets of proattitudinal messages were developed empirically using weak arguments. Half of the messages were developed to reflect a “religious” perspective on the issue (capital punishment, abortion) whereas half were developed to reflect a “legalistic” perspective on the issue. Religious and legalistic subjects were then exposed to religious or legalistic arguments supporting an equally acceptable position (e.g., eliminating capital punishment). Afterward, subjects evaluated the persuasiveness of the communication and listed their thoughts as part of a “curriculum development project.” Results suggested that subjects when exposed to a schema-relevant message arguments for a position in which they believed were more positive about the quality of the message arguments and in their cognitive responding. These data extend the heuristic value of selfschemata to the area of attitudes and suggest that cognitive responses in persuasion are subjectively rather than objectively rational.     

On the study of statistical intuitions

The study of intuitions and errors in judgment under uncertainty is complicated by several factors: discrepancies between acceptance and application of normative rules; effects of content on the application of rules; Socratic hints that create intuitions while testing them; demand characteristics of within-subject experiments; subjects' interpretations of experimental messages according to standard conversational rules. The positive analysis of a judgmental error in terms of heuristics may be supplemented by a negative analysis, which seeks to explain why the correct rule is not intuitively compelling. A negative analysis of non-regressive prediction is outlined.     

Illusory conjunctions in the perception of objects

In perceiving objects we may synthesize conjunctions of separable features by directing attention serially to each item in turn (A. Treisman and G. Gelade, Cognitive Psychology, 1980, 12, 97–136). This feature-integration theory predicts that when attention is diverted or overloaded, features may be wrongly recombined, giving rise to “illusory conjunctions.” The present paper confirms that illusory conjunctions are frequently experienced among unattended stimuli varying in color and shape, and that they occur also with size and solidity (outlined versus filled-in shapes). They are shown both in verbal recall and in simultaneous and successive matching tasks, making it unlikely that they depend on verbal labeling or on memory failure. They occur as often between stimuli differing on many features as between more similar stimuli, and spatial separation has little effect on their frequency. Each feature seems to be coded as an independent entity and to migrate, when attention is diverted, with few constraints from the other features of its source or destination.     

Levels in the identifying of orientation by preschool children

A new approach to understanding the perception of orientation proposes that the first level in the processing of orientation information results in perceiving whether a shape is upright or nonupright; nonupright orientations are not distinguished from each other. As predicted, children of 3 and 4 years discriminated upright from nonupright pictures more readily than they discriminated the nonuprights (upside down and sideways) from each other. The angular differences between the pairs of discriminanda (whether 90 or 180°) had no effect on performance. the difficulty of distinguishing between nonuprights could not be attributed simply to a lack of attention to the dimension of orientation. The theory appears to have considerable generality, and provides a basis for understanding (1) perception of the orientation of both realistic and geometric shapes, and (2) similarities in orientation perception observed between children and adults.     

Test anxiety and breadth of encoding experiences in free recall

Subjects made three ratings for each of 30 words, then had an unannounced immediate free recall test and a second test after 1 week. There was no evidence to indicate significantly better retention on either test when the dimensions rated were unrelated as opposed to related. Subjects low on test anxiety performed better overall than subjects who scored high on either the emotionality or worry components of test anxiety. On the delayed test, the test anxiety effect was apparent only when study ratings involved unrelated dimensions (i.e., broad encoding). This interaction is consistent with two conclusions. First, rating related dimensions led to narrow encodings, thus hindering low-anxiety subjects who normally encode broadly. Second, even explicit ratings of unrelated dimensions did not induce high-anxiety subjects to encode more broadly. That the high-anxiety deficit was not overcome even with explicit orienting tasks may indicate inflexibility in deploying memory strategies.     

Layoffs,self-esteem,and survivor guilt: Motivational,affective, and attitudinal consequences

The present study explored the effect of layoffs on the subsequent productivity of “survivors”. All participants performed a proofreading task either after witnessing the dismissal of a co-worker (Layoff condition) or not (No-Layoff condition). Consistent with equity theory, the quantity of workers' performance was greater in the Layoff than in the No-Layoff condition. A Worker Self-Esteem × Layoff interaction effect revealed that the Layoff effect was entirely attributable to the low, rather than the medium or high, self-esteem participants. Additional analyses revealed that the layoff caused participants to (1) experience increased feelings of remorse and (2) develop more negative attitudes toward their co-worker, both of which are also consistent with equity theory. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.     

Power and social context in superior-subordinate interaction

Power differences are thought to interfere with superiors' interaction with subordinates. However, it is also argued that superiors with considerable power are most supportive of their subordinates. To explore these opposing positions, 90 undergraduates became managers with either high or low power who believed their goals were cooperatively, individualistically, or competitively related to their subordinate. Results support the hypothesis that social context affects how superiors use their power to interact with subordinates. High- and low-power superiors in cooperation had positive expectations, interacted constructively, restated the task, responded to requests for assistance, and developed a positive relationship compared to high- and low-power superiors in individualistic and competitive situations. In addition, only the high-power superiors in cooperation used their expertise to give direct aid to the subordinate. Results indicate that in cooperation superiors are likely to use their power constructively; however, in competitive and individualistic contexts, superiors are apt to fail to use their resources to facilitate subordinate performance. Results were also interpreted as suggesting that it is not so much the extent of superiors' power but the social context that affects their use of power and interaction with subordinates.