Assessing the social acceptability of the functional analysis of problem behavior

Although the clinical utility of the functional analysis is well established, its social acceptability has received minimal attention. The current study assessed the social acceptability of functional analysis procedures among 10 parents and 3 teachers of children who had recently received functional analyses. Participants completed a 9-item questionnaire, and results suggested that functional analysis procedures were socially acceptable.     

Using multiple-exemplar training to teach a generalized repertoire of sharing to children with autism

The current study examined the utility of multiple-exemplar training to teach children with autism to share. Stimuli from 3 of 4 categories were trained using a treatment package of video modeling, prompting, and reinforcement. Offers to share increased for all 3 children following the introduction of treatment, with evidence of skill maintenance. In addition, within-stimulus-category generalization of sharing was evident for all participants, although only 1 participant demonstrated across-category generalization of sharing. Offers to share occurred in a novel setting, with familiar and novel stimuli, and in the presence of novel adults and peers for all participants during posttreatment probes.     

Behaving as expected: Public information and fairness norms

What is considered to be fair depends on context‐dependent expectations. Using a modified version of the Ultimatum Game, we demonstrate that both fair behavior and perceptions of fairness depend upon beliefs about what one ought to do in a situation—that is, upon normative expectations. We manipulate such expectations by creating informational asymmetries about the offer choices available to the Proposer, and find that behavior varies accordingly. Proposers and Responders show a remarkable degree of agreement in their beliefs about which choices are considered fair. We discuss how these results fit into a theory of social norms. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Public good provision in inter‐team conflicts: Effects of asymmetry and profit‐sharing rule

A fundamental problem in organizations is designing mechanisms for eliciting voluntary contributions from individual members of a team who are entrapped in a social dilemma. To solve the problem, we utilize a game‐theoretical framework that embeds the traditional within‐team social dilemma in a between‐team competition for an exogenously determined prize. In equilibrium, such competition enhances the incentive to contribute, thereby reducing free‐riding. Extending existing literature, we focus on asymmetric competitions between teams of unequal size, and competitions between more than two teams. Comparing two protocols for sharing the prize—egalitarian and proportional profit‐sharing rules—we find that (i) free‐riding diminishes and (ii) team members contribute more toward their team's effort when they belong to the larger team and when the profit‐sharing rule is proportional. (iii) Additionally, under the egalitarian profit‐sharing rule team members contribute more than predicted by the equilibrium solution. We discuss implications of our findings for eliciting contributions in competitive environments. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Personality and prejudice: Extension to the HEXACO personality model

We modelled the associations between the HEXACO dimensions of personality, Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), Right‐Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and prejudice towards dangerous, derogated and dissident groups (N = 454 undergraduates). Consistent with a Big‐Five model, low Openness to Experience predicted RWA and therefore dangerous and dissident group prejudice. As predicted, low Emotionality (and Openness) rather than Agreeableness predicted SDO and therefore derogated and dissident group prejudice. Comparison with meta‐analytic averages of Big‐Five data supported expected similarities and differences in the association of Big‐Five and HEXACO models of personality with ideology. Finally, Honesty‐Humility simultaneously predicted increases in RWA but decreases in SDO, and thus opposing effects on prejudice. These opposing effects have gone unidentified in research employing Big‐Five models of personality structure. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

社会支持、学习观和自我效能感对学习主观幸福感的影响

通过对469名初中生的问卷调查,考察社会支持、学习观、自我效能感与学习主观幸福感的关系。结果表明:(1)初中生学习主观幸福感总体在中等水平以上,不存在性别差异;非重点学校学生学习主观幸福感低于重点学校的学生;学习主观幸福感随年级的升高而逐渐降低。(2)控制了人口学变量的影响后,社会支持、学习观和自我效能感对学习主观幸福感仍有显著影响,其中自我效能感对学习主观幸福感的影响作用较大。(3)社会支持对初中生学习主观幸福感既具有直接影响,同时也具有间接影响;初中生学习观和自我效能感在社会支持和学习主观幸福感之间起着部分中介作用。     

合作动机与信任:基于不确定性简化机制的研究

信任是对他人合作行为的预期。Luhmann认为信任是简化不确定性的重要机制。合作动机高的个体有着更高的简化不确定性的需求,从而可能产生更高的信任水平。文章研究了不同合作动机下不确定性对信任的不同影响。实验在社会两难范式下采用不确定性(高、低)和合作动机(高、低)为自变量、信任为因变量的混合设计。结果显示:1.合作动机高的个体更倾向于信任对方;2.合作动机较高时,不确定性增高时个体对他人的信任也增高;合作动机较低时,不确定性增高时个体对他人的信任降低。对此的解释是:不确定性的增高造成个体简化不确定性的需求增高;合作动机高的个体会用信任来简化不确定性,而合作动机低的个体会用不信任来简化不确定性;因此在不确定性增高的情况下,前者对他人的信任程度增强,后者对他人的不信任程度增强。     

从归因视角探讨公共物品两难中惩罚系统对合作的影响

社会两难中惩罚系统对合作的影响是当前的一个研究热点。前人研究发现惩罚系统可以促进合作,但也有学者提出惩罚系统对合作动机具有破坏作用,存在不一致结论。且这些研究大多只关注金钱惩罚而忽略了社会惩罚。本文采用2(惩罚类型:金钱,社会)×2(惩罚频率:高,低)×2(阶段:有惩罚,无惩罚)混合设计,利用"惩罚撤除"实验范式,比较了社会高低频惩罚和金钱高低频惩罚对合作、归因以及预期的影响。并探讨了合作、归因、预期之间的相互关系,结果发现:(1)金钱和社会惩罚均可提高被试合作水平;(2)金钱高频惩罚减少了对合作行为的内归因,惩罚撤除后合作行为下降,而低频惩罚没有出现下降效应;(3)社会惩罚增加了对合作的内归因,高低频惩罚在移除之后均保持较高水平,且之前的惩罚频率越高,保持效果越好;(4)合作、预期与内归因正相关,外归因负相关,同时合作与预期正相关。     

Alternative settings for liberal‐conservative exchange: Examining an undergraduate dialogue course

Given the polarization of the early 21st century political atmosphere in the U.S., intergroup dialogue has emerged as a unique alternative setting, with intentions of facilitating a more productive and thoughtful citizen engagement. Although cross‐partisan dialogue efforts are underway in community contexts, they have been slower to reach academic settings. This paper is an exploratory study of our own liberal‐conservative dialogue course at the University of Illinois–the first of its kind, to our knowledge. After describing basic features of the course, we identify themes from student journals and final evaluations suggesting both dialogue benefits and challenges. Finally, we discuss the growing literature around dialogue, questions of its long‐term impact, and larger potential barriers to participation in liberal‐conservative dialogue, specifically. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.