Attributions of causality and reactions to uncontrollable outcomes

The experiment tested the hypothesis that the stress experienced by a person who is unable to control aversive stimulation is not a function of lack of control per se, but of the attribution of causality that (s)he makes for failure to exert control. Subjects were given a problem-solving task, and were told that they could prevent aversive noise bursts by correctly solving the problems. Subjects then received false feedback that they had done either well or poorly on the problems. In addition, failing subjects received information that led them to attribute their performance either to their own lack of ability or to situational factors (task difficulty). Subjects who attributed their failure to their own incompetence felt considerably more stress than subjects who made situational attributions. In fact, the latter subjects experienced no more stress than subjects who were successful in controlling the stimulation. Surprisingly, subjects whose attributions for performance led them to feel personally incompetent performed better than the remaining subjects both on problems administered in the same situation, and on problems administered in a new and different situation. The implications of the results for future helplessness studies and for the learned helplessness model were discussed.     

Semantic memory verification of binary statements by children at three academic levels

Ninety-six binary statements were administered to 120 children randomly selected from three academic levels. The children were to respond TRUE or FALSE to each statement. Error count and latency for correct responses were used as measures of performance. The Constituent Comparison Model (Carpenter, P., & Just, M. A., Psychological Review, 1975, 82, 45–73), which postulates that verification latency will increase linearly with a linear increase in the number of hypothesized constituent comparisons, accounts quite well for the results obtained in this study. Furthermore, the results suggest an increasing efficiency in semantic memory verification across the three academic levels as reflected by a decrease in variability of performance, a decrease in the time required to read and encode sentences, and a decrease in the time required per constituent comparison.     

Age trends in children's time-sharing performance

To investigate developmental differences in time-sharing performance, 60 boys, 20 in each of three age groups (7-, 10-, and 13-year-olds) performed an auditory matching task and a tracking task alone and concurrently, the latter under two sets of instructions. Decrements produced by concurrent performance were compared for the three age groups. When the time-shared tasks were presented as equally important, time-sharing produced significantly greater proportional decrements in the tracking performance of the younger children and for all age groups tracking task decrements were directly related to matching task difficulty. Subsequently, the children were instructed that one or the other of the tasks was more important and that they were to improve their performance on that task. All three age groups showed a significant improvement on the task emphasized by instructions. The relationship of the results to two models of information processing is discussed.     

Job specialization,work values,and worker dissatisfaction

The recent work literature includes three contradictory propositions relating job specialization and worker dissatisfaction. The first proposition predicts an unconditional relationship between these variables; the second proposition predicts that this relationship will be higher among workers committed to middle-class work values; the third proposition predicts that the relationship will be higher among “alienated” workers. This paper reports the findings of a study of 3193 British industrial workers which suggest that, when individually measured and analyzed, task attributes relate in different ways and in varying degrees to worker dissatisfaction. The implication for the above propositions is that they may be complementary rather than competing; the validity of each may depend upon how job specialization is measured.     

Effect of locus of control,expectancy confirmation-disconfirmation,and type of goal on causal attributions of failure

Two experiments demonstrated interactive effects between locus of control and expectancy confirmation-disconfirmation in determining attribution of failure. Experiencing an expected versus an unexpected failure significantly influenced the performance attributions of internals but not externals. The first experiment also demonstrated an interaction between locus of control and type of performance goal (self-determined versus other-determined) in determining failure attribution. When the performance goal was other-determined, there were significant differences between internals and externals in their attributions of failure, but these differences did not materialize when the performance goals were selfdetermined, in the absence of any externally defined standard. Interpretation of results focused on the differences between internals and externals in regard to information processing and certain cognitive characteristics as they are related to the attribution of outcomes.     

From dispositions to behaviors: The flip side of attribution

The implicational relations between dispositional levels and relevant categories of behavior were investigated. Observers were asked questions about the extent to which persons occupying moderate or extreme positions on an attribute (dispositional) continuum (a) attempt various behaviors, (b) are potentially able to perform various behaviors, and (c) generally emit those same behaviors. Three determinants—central tendency, ability, and social desirabliity—offer a reasonable account of the observed implicational relations. First, persons with a given disposition are not expected to emit behavior that is widely discrepant with that disposition. Second, ability considerations dictate that persons with skillful dispositions are believed capable of unskillful behavior, but unskillful persons are thought relatively incapable of skillful behavior. Third, persons are believed to more frequently attempt socially desirable than socially undesirable behavior. Also, persons with moderate dispositions are believed to actually emit socially desirable behavior more frequently than socially undesirable behavior. Finally, the determinants noted above may be of differing relevance for morality, ability, and preference attributes.     

A stochastic model for paired comparisons of social stimuli

A stochastic model for paired comparisons of multiattribute social stimuli is proposed where one objective is to find the relative importance of the attributes for a judge. The model can be conceived as a special strict binary utility model, i.e., a BTL-model, and is related to of the stimuli are linear combinations of functions of the attributes of the stimuli. The model neither assumes that the functions are fixed in advance nor that different judges have the same set of functions. The choice among such functions, however, is admitted only within a finite scope. Within the framework of exponential families, maximum likelihood estimators and tests are derived and applied to data coming from two psychological experiments.