Structural consequences of individual position in nondyadic social networks

The pattern of dyadic relationships among members of a population has often been used to obtain important information on the way that social structure can further or constrain social action. More recently, it has been proposed that nondyadic relationships can play a similar role. In this paper, a formalism is proposed that allows the dyadic structure and the nondyadic structure to be considered simultaneously. If this formalism is applied to the study of the structure arising from attendance at significant social events, it becomes possible to identify potential loci for social action. Still further, it is shown that information on individuals' structural perspectives with respect to such potential loci can be translated into conclusions about the individuals' positions in the dyadic structure. Such considerations can be used to evaluate the relative potential of these loci for social action.     

Implications of evaluating and intervening with incipient stutterers

A study was conducted to investigate the factors involved in the recovery from incipient stuttering without therapeutic intervention. Fifteen subjects were seen on two occasions, once for an initial evaluation after the reported onset of stuttering, and for a second evaluation to determine if they had recovered or become chronic stutterers. Within the constraints of a small sample, several findings are presented: (1) 80% of the children recovered spontaneously from stuttering, (2) subjects who exhibited more types and frequencies of disfluencies upon onset had a poorer prognosis for recovery, (3) the age of onset, if under 4 years, had little bearing on recovery, and (4) children who were seen professionally soon after disfluency onset had the greatest prognosis for recovery. Possible implications of these results are discussed.     

The role of locus of control of reinforcement in interpersonal attraction

The purpose of the present study was to examine initial interpersonal attraction as a function of locus of control orientation. Subjects, previously tested for internality and externality, listened to a tape of an alleged stranger of the same age and sex as the subject. In reality the tapes were prepared to be either primarily internal or external in emphasis. Subjects were then asked to make some judgments about the supposed stranger. Among these judgments was the degree of attraction felt toward the individual on the tape. It was hypothesized that similarity of locus of control orientation between a subject and a stranger would lead to greater initial attraction than would a complementary locus of control orientation. Contrary to prediction, the results showed that both internal and external subjects were significantly more attracted to an internal stranger than to an external stranger. These results were discussed within an interpersonal attraction framework which suggested the need for a two-factor theory as the basis for interpersonal attraction.     

The relative contributions of predictiveness and salience in flavor aversion learning

Two experiments investigated the relative influence of cue predictiveness and stimulus salience on flavor aversion learning. In the first study experimental subjects experienced a nonsalient strawberry flavor and a different, more salient flavor prior to illness on each of the first three conditioning trials; the nonsalient strawberry and salient lemon were paired with illness on the fourth trial. This treatment resulted in a strong aversion to the strawberry flavor and on aversion to the lemon flavor. In contrast, animals which had experienced only a single pairing of strawberry, lemon, and illness acquired a strong aversion to lemon and no aversion to strawberry, while animals which had experienced only the pairing of different flavors and illness on each of the first three trials developed a strong aversion to both strawberry and lemon. Experiment 2 replicated the results of the experimental condition of the first study but also included a “blocking” condition in which subjects received three strawberry and illness pairings prior to a strawberry-lemon-illness pairing. Subjects in the blocking condition developed only a weak aversion to strawberry, and this aversion did not block the development of a strong lemon aversion. Apparently, in order for a nonsalient flavor cue to block the acquisition of an aversion to a more salient cue, the nonsalient flavor must not only be paired with illness but also be more predictive of illness than the more salient flavors also paired with illness. The data were discussed in terms of the R. A. Rescorla and A. R. Wagner's associative model (1972, in Classical conditioning II: Current research and theory, New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts), R. A. Rescorla's catalytic model (1982, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes,8, 131–141), and N. J. Mackintosh's attentional model (1975, Psychological Review,82, 276–298) of conditioning.     

Aggression and power restoration: The effects of identifiability and timing on aggressive behavior

The study was designed to demonstrate that one function of aggression is the restoration of power. It was predicted that, after an individual had his power reduced, greater aggression would be emitted when the individual could be identified as the attacker by his victim than when he could not. It was felt that only when the aggressor was identifiable could he completely restore his power vis-à-vis the victim. A second aim of the study was to investigate the effects of timing of aggression on the intensity of aggression. It was predicted that in a learning situation, if aggression were utilized solely as a teaching device, greater aggression would be emitted by the “teacher” when the “learner” made mistakes early as opposed to late in the task. However, if the individual were motivated to restore his power by aggressing, greater aggression would occur when the mistakes were made late since having to wait should frustrate the teacher's desire to restore power through aggression. The design of the study was a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial in which subjects were either insulted or not, given the opportunity to aggress either anonymously or when clearly identified, and able to aggress either early or late in a learning task. The results supported the power-restoration hypothesis: Subjects who were insulted aggressed more when identifiable than when anonymous. Also, there was greater aggression in the early as opposed to late conditions under all circumstances except in the insultidentifiable condition.     

The role of analogy in transfer between similar problem states

The study investigated the effect of transfer between two problems having similar (homomorphic) problem states. The results of three experiments revealed that although transfer occurred between repetition of the same problems, transfer occurred between the Jealous Husbands problem and the Missionary—Cannibal problem only when (a) Ss were told the relationship between the two problems and (b) the Jealous Husbands problem was given first. The results are related to the formal structure of the problem space and to alternative explanations of the use of analogy in problem solving. These include memory for individual moves, memory for general strategies, and practice in applying operators.     

ATHENS,JERUSALEM, AND THE ARRIVAL OF TECHNO‐SECULARISM

Abstract. Western civilization historically has tried to balance secular knowledge with revealed religion. Science is the modern world's version of secular knowledge and resists the kind of integration achieved by Augustine and Aquinas. Managing the conflict between religion and evolution by containing them in separate “frames,” as Stephen J. Gould suggested, does not resolve the issue. Science may have displaced religion from the public square, but the traditional science‐religion conflict has become threadbare in intellectual terms. Scientific theories have become increasingly abstract, and science has been attacked from the left as a source of objective knowledge. However, technology, not science, has displaced religious belief, a phenomenon I call techno‐secularism. Robert Coles's suggestion that secularism is a form of doubt inevitably attached to religious belief, and William James's reduction of religious experiences to psychological states, evaluating them according to their “cash value,” are unhelpful. Technology enables us to remake our environment according to our wishes and has become a kind of magic that replaces not just revealed religion but also theoretical science. Techno‐secularism has an ethical vision that focuses on healthful living, self‐fulfillment, and avoiding the struggles of human life and the inevitability of death.