The Nature of the First Small Request as a Decisive Factor in the Effectiveness of the Foot‐in‐the‐Door Technique

In the literature on the foot‐in‐the‐door technique it is usually assumed that the first of the two sequentially posed requests should not be extremely easy (trivial). An uncomplicated request would not activate self‐perception mechanisms which, as it is commonly understood, lie behind the effectiveness of the technique. This article proposes that when the initial request is exceptional or odd, then even if it is easy and is fulfilled by nearly everyone it will still enhance people's inclination to fulfill the subsequent, much more complicated request. This assumption was verified in three experiments.     

Emotional disrupt‐then‐reframe technique of social influence

Davis and Knowles proposed a social influence technique, which they named disrupt‐then‐reframe (DTR). In a series of four experiments, they demonstrated that compliance could be increased by a subtle disruption to the sales request, followed immediately by a reframing that provided additional reasons for purchasing the goods. The DTR technique is strictly cognitive in nature: The person, hearing simple argumentation during the short state of her or his cognitive disorganization, becomes more inclined to fulfill the requests made of her or him. In three experiments presented in this article, it is shown that a similar effect can be obtained when the fear‐then‐relief state, which could be seen as an emotional disruption, is followed by an argument.     

Short-Term Kinesthetic Training for Sensorimotor Rhythms: Effects in Experts and Amateurs

The authors’ aim was to examine whether short-term kinesthetic training affects the level of sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) in different frequency band: alpha (8–12 Hz), lower beta (12.5–16 Hz) and beta (16.5–20 Hz) during the execution of a motor imagery task of closing and opening the right and the left hand by experts (jugglers, practicing similar exercises on an everyday basis) and amateurs (individuals not practicing any sports). It was found that the performance of short kinesthetic training increases the power of alpha rhythm when executing imagery tasks only in the group of amateurs. Therefore, kinesthetic training may be successfully used as a method increasing the vividness of motor imagery, for example, in tasks involving the control of brain–computer interfaces based on SMR.     

Fear‐then‐relief,mindlessness, and cognitive deficits

The assumption that mindlessness underlies the effectiveness of the ‘fear‐then‐relief’ social influence technique has been verified in four studies. The first two experiments indicated that compliance of those experiment participants who were made to function on the thoughtful level under a ‘fear‐then‐relief’ condition decreases to the level observed in the control group. The other two experiments were to analyze the cognitive functioning of people who at first experience fear and then a sudden and unexpected relief. The first of these experiments indicated that the amount of time needed to detect the expression of emotion on other persons' faces is prolonged, and the second of these latter two experiments that the participants' arithmetical abilities are impaired (mental addition and subtraction of three two‐digit numbers). Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

When is Meaning in Life Most Beneficial to Young People? Styles of Meaning in Life and Well-Being Among Late Adolescents

The purpose of this article was to investigate the relationships between different dimensions of meaning in life and subjective and psychological well-being (PWB) among late adolescents. Three hundred and eighty four Polish participants completed The Personal Meaning Profile scale, The Satisfaction With Life Scale, The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, The PWB scale, and the Meaning in Life Questionnaire. Two studies were conducted. In Study 1, the findings revealed that personal meaning had strong relations with subjective well-being (SWB) and PWB. In addition, the dimensions of personal meaning were more strongly associated with the cognitive dimension of SWB than with PWB. In Study 2, search for meaning had positive associations with SWB and PWB among those late adolescents who already had substantial meaning in life. Individuals who were in presence and search style had higher levels of SWB and PWB than those in only search style or presence style. The results demonstrate that purpose embedded in the concept of meaning in life appears central to the formation of adolescent well-being as young people come to establish overarching aims.     

Where’s the cookie? The ability of monkeys to track object transpositions

Object permanence is the ability to represent mentally an object and follow its position even when it has disappeared from view. According to Piaget’s 6-stage scale of the sensorimotor period of development, it seems that object permanence appears in Stage 4 and fully develops in Stage 6. In this study, we investigated the ability of some species of monkeys (i.e. pig-tailed macaque, lion-tailed macaque, Celebes crested macaque, barbary macaque, De Brazza’s monkey, L’Hoest’s monkey, Allen’s swamp monkey, black crested mangabeys, collared mangabeys, Geoffroy’s spider monkey) to track the displacement of an object, which consisted of a reward hidden under one of two cups. Our findings showed that the examined subjects possess Stage 6 of object permanence. We then compared our results with data on apes and dogs participating in Rooijakkers et al. (Anim Cogn 12:789–796, 2009) experiment, where the same method was applied. The monkeys examined by us performed significantly better than the dogs but worse than the apes. In our experiment, the monkeys performed above chance level in all variants, but it should be noted that we observed significant differences in the number of correct choices according to the level of a variant’s complexity.     

One Serious Shock Versus Gradated Series of Shocks: Does “Multiple Feet-in-the-Door” Explain Obedience in Milgram Studies?

From among the alternative interpretations of the astonishing servitude of study participants in Stanley Milgram experiments, a particularly suggestive one is Steven Gilbert’s. He asks the rhetorical question of whether one person would agree to administer a high-strength shock to another person under conditions where the demand to do so was advanced at the very beginning. This question has been the subject of two empirical studies. The results we have achieved do not, however, indicate that Gilbert’s conception is accurate in respect of situations created in experiments conducted consistently with the paradigm of studies by Milgram.     

Marx,Stalin, Marcuse: Die Kritische Theorie in Ideengeschichtlicher Sicht

Zusammenfassung Die Kritische Sozialtheorie sowie die kommunistische Herrschaftsphilosophie haben in der posthegelianischen Befreiungslehre ihren Ursprung. Die Kritische Theorie versuchte diesen Denkansatz gegen seine totalitären Konsequenzen anzuwenden. Dieselben Weltdeutungschemata, die man an der Sowjetideologie anstößig fand, galten aber als akzeptabel, sobald man nur zur Kritik der westlichen Industriegesellschaft überging. Der Hauptpunkt der neomarxistischen Kritik des Sowjetsystems bestand darin, daß man die besondere institutionelle Form, in der der reale Sozialismus das Heil zu verwirklichen beanspruchte, in Frage stellte, ohne andere Lösungen der institutionellen Probleme anzubieten oder das zugrundeliegende Denkprogramm aufzugeben, in dessen Kontext diese Probleme durchaus legitim gestellt werden konnten. Die relativen Leistungen der Kritischen Theorie sind in ihren sozial-politischen Folgen zu suchen, u. zw. darin, daß sie zwei Grundlagen der totalitären Ideologie, von der die Legitimierung des Gesellschaftssystems herrühte, erschütterte: (1) Verfügung über die Tradition; (2) Verfügung über die Sprache, in der über heilsrelevante Fragen gesprochen wurde.

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Summary Both critical theory and communist philosophy arise from the posthegelian theory of salvation. Critical theory undertook the effort to preserve the hard core of this theoretical background and at the same time to criticize by its means the totalitarian consequences the communist ideology had derived from it. In effect, the very same patterns of thought which critical theory believed to denounce as instruments of totalitarian manipulation were accepted as soon as they proved useful to contest advanced industrial society and its world view. The crucial point of the new-leftist criticism of the Stalinist ideology was the rejection of a central claim of the latter according to which the salvation predicted in the leftist-revolutionary tradition has found its actual fulfilment in the institutional framework of the Soviet state. Challenging this claim, the Neomarxists neither abandoned this tradition nor offered another solution to the institutional problems which result from it. The relative achievements of critical theory lie in the damage it has caused to the two foundations of the totalitarian ideology, i.e.: (1) its authority over tradition and (2) its authority over language.

     

Limits of control: The effects of uncontrollability experiences on the efficiency of attentional control

Two experiments were conducted to explore the effects of experiencing uncontrollability on the efficiency of attentional control. The experience of uncontrollability was induced either by unsolvable tasks (Experiment 1) or by tasks in which non-contingent feedback was provided (Experiment 2). A version of the Attentional Network Test-Interactions with an additional measure of vigilance (ANTI-V) was used to evaluate the efficiency of the attentional networks (i.e., alerting, orienting, and executive). Results of both experiments revealed a decreased efficiency of executive attention in participants who experienced stable control deprivation but no negative effects in participants who were able to restore their sense of previously deprived control. Additionally, when participants were asked to perform unsolvable tasks and did not receive feedback (Experiment 1), detrimental effects on the orienting network and vigilance were observed. The motivational and cognitive mechanisms underlying the effects of various uncontrollability experiences on conflict resolution and attentional control are discussed.