Preference for Methods of Conflict Processing in Two Collectivist Cultures

Previous research has shown that harmony-enhancing procedures for conflict resolution are endorsed more in collectivist than in individualist societies, whereas the reverse is true for confrontational procedures. However, this result is derived from comparing Western with Eastern societies, leaving the possibility that it may be caused by a variety of East—West differences other than collectivism and individualism. To resolve this ambiguity and to extend the generality of this finding, two collectivist societies, one from Europe (Spain) and the other one from Asia (Japan), were contrasted in the present study. Consistent with the individualism—collectivism framework, results indicated that the procedural preferences of these two cultural groups were quite similar. Results also indicated that expectancies based on process control and animosity reduction were culture-general predictors of procedural preference, and that valences based on these variables yielded little additional variance over and above the expectancy variables. Expectancies based on fairness and favourableness were found to be culture-specific, as were their relationships with procedural preference. Results also implied that cultural femininity was not related to procedural preference. Finally, implications of these results for developing a universal theory of procedural preference are discussed.     

Explaining Choices in Procedural and Distributive Justice Across Cultures

A previous study (Leung, Bond, & Schwartz, 1990) established that an expectancy-valence model could be used effectively to explain behaviours in three social domains both within and across cultures. In this study the model was applied to the domains of resource allocation and conflict resolution in order to pinpoint which expectancies and which valences were carrying the explanatory weight of the respondents' behavioural strategies. For both Israeli and Hong Kong students the expectancies and, less strongly, the valences tapping harmony and performance quality were important for resource allocation; those tapping animosity reduction and process control, for conflict resolution. Suggestions were offered for broadening the net of explanatory constructs for future work aimed at specifying subjective factors associated with justice-related behaviours.     

Preference for less segmented fixed-time components in concurrent-chain schedules of reinforcement

A concurrent-chain procedure was used to examine choice between segmented and less segmented response-independent schedules of reinforcement. A pair of independent, concurrent variable-interval 60-s schedules were presented in the initial link, along with a 1.5-s changeover delay. A chained fixed-interval fixed-time and its corresponding tandem schedule constituted the terminal links. The length of the fixed-interval schedule in the terminal link was varied between 5 s and 30 s while that of the fixed-time schedule was kept at 5 s over conditions. The first components of both terminal-link schedules were accompanied by the same stimulus. Except in the baseline condition, the onset of the second component of the terminal-link chained schedule was accompanied by either a localized (key color) or a nonlocalized (dark houselight) stimulus change. Stimulus conditions were constant during the terminal-link tandem schedule. With three exceptions, pigeons demonstrated a slight preference for the tandem over the chained schedule in the terminal link. Furthermore, this preference varied inversely with the length of the first component. In general, these results are consistent with previous studies that reported an adverse effect on choice by segmenting an interval schedule into two or more components, but they are inconsistent with studies that reported preference for signaled over unsignaled delay of reinforcement.     

Susceptibility to prosocial and antisocial influence in adolescence following mindfulness training

Mindfulness training programmes have shown to encourage prosocial behaviours and reduce antisocial tendencies in adolescents. However, less is known about whether training affects susceptibility to prosocial and antisocial influence. The current study investigated the effect of mindfulness training (compared with an active control) on self-reported prosocial and antisocial tendencies and susceptibility to prosocial and antisocial influence. 465 adolescents aged 11–16 years were randomly allocated to one of two training programmes. Pre- and post-training, participants completed a social influence task. Self-reported likelihood of engaging in prosocial and antisocial behaviours did not change post-training, and regardless of training group, participants showed a higher propensity for prosocial influence than for antisocial influence. Finally, participants were less influenced by antisocial ratings following both training programmes.     

Tightness shifts in the U.S. and China: Implications of tightening or loosening norms during the coronavirus pandemic

Emergent research identifies cultural tightness-looseness as an important factor for understanding cross-national outcome differences during the coronavirus pandemic. Because perceived tightness-looseness can be measured as an individual-level difference rather than a nation-level difference, and because tightness-looseness may shift during large-scale crises, we investigated whether such shifts occurred early in the coronavirus pandemic in both China (a relatively tight nation, n = 3642) and the U.S. (a relatively loose nation, n = 3583) across three cohorts. Tightness increased across cohorts in China and reduced across cohorts in the U.S. These changes transmitted corresponding indirect effects whereby compliance and institutional trust (scientific and government) about the pandemic were increased in China across cohorts, but decreased in the U.S. across cohorts. These patterns extend advice that national governments can increase compliance and trust via “tightening” by cautioning against norm-setters signaling the reverse (that norms about compliance are loose) given the outcomes observed in the U.S. samples.     

Perceived stressors and stress responses among hospital-based nursing trainees

Perceived sources and levels of stress were assessed with a rating scale describing the experience of stressors and stress responses and an unstructured self-report about the reasons of such ratings in 60 nursing students in their first and final year of hospital training. The results, which show a significantly higher report of stress in the latter group, also point to identifiable sources of stressors in hospital-based nursing training procedures. Several recommendations to alleviate these conditions are discussed.     

Factors Affecting the Career Aspirations of Asian Americans

The authors compared the career considerations of a group of Asian American college students (52 men and 72 women) with a comparison group of Caucasian students (95 men and 151 women) using an Occupations List. The results revealed that Asian American students were more likely to have considered Investigative occupations and less likely to have considered Enterprising and Conventional occupations than were the Caucasian students. There were also differences in the career considerations of the two racial groups in terms of the prestige level and gender traditionality of the occupations. The implications of the findings for theory and practice are discussed.     

Teaching simple addition to children with mental retardation using a microcomputer

Computer assisted instruction (CAI) was used for improving the efficiency of simple addition (single-digit without carrying) computation in three children with mental retardation. The training program, conducted on a portable personal computer, consisted of demonstrations and repetitive practices on simple addition presented in a vertical format. A number of behavioral instruction techniques such as direct feedback, corrective demonstration, verbal association, and token reinforcement were also included. To evaluate the effects of the CAI package, a multiple-baseline across subjects design with followup was employed. Results showed that performances of children improved with training and were maintained at 1-week, 4-week, and 12-week followups. Generalization of the learned skills was evident when children were assessed on a paper-and-pencil addition test in a vertical format. The skills were also transferable, with initial prompting, to a computerized addition test in a horizontal format. These findings reaffirmed the applicability of CAI and behavioral techniques for teaching math skills to children with mental retardation.     

Teaching spontaneous requests to children with autism using a time delay procedure with multi-component toys

Children with autism were taught spontaneous requests through a time delay procedure. Unlike previous research, which usually employed food as the target stimuli to be requested, the present study used toy pieces from multi-component toys. The procedure involved presenting a child with the target stimulus, with the trainer prompting the child by immediately modeling the request response. When the response was imitated without error, prompting was delayed with the time interval gradually being increased over trials. A spontaneous or imitated response was reinforced by giving the child the requested object. As the stimulus/model interval increased, children with autism were expected to initiate the request by themselves prior to the prompt. The efficacy of the time delay procedure was assessed using a multiple baseline across subject design with three Chinese boys with autism. Results showed that the three children acquired a 100% performance within five to nine sessions of training and the skill was maintained at the one-month and three-month followups. Furthermore, the learned response transferred to various conditions when tested across setting, person, toy, and food items. These results suggest that toys, the multi-component ones in particular, served well as reinforcers for language training. Furthermore these findings confirmed the practical utility of the time delay procedure for promoting spontaneous communication skills in children with autism.     

Some deterministic models of concept identification

It is shown that deterministic models can compete effectively with stochastic models in summarizing concept identification behavior. Three groups of deterministic models are examined. Examination of individual learners' trial by trial behavior in a concept experiment shows: (1) One person exhibited behavior consistent with a Hypothesis Permutation (HP) model despite being a nonlearner who showed no evidence of improvement over a period of 24 trials. However, when all 50 persons studied in each of two treatment groups were examined, only 22 members of one group and 10 of the other showed no inconsistencies with deterministic local consistency assumptions. (2) Certain deterministic computer programs could find at least one satisfactory order for predicting all responses by 18 of the 22 consistent solvers and 6 of the 10 consistent solvers, respectively, in the two groups just mentioned. For these 24 persons, then, a less restrictive deterministic model is adequate than for the others. (3) Those 38 original members of the first treatment group who met a stringent learning criterion were compared with respect to predictions generated by stochastic and mathematized deterministic models. One deterministic model (RSS-U 9-state) is in some respects the best of the models examined, but this success is a partial reflection of estimating eight parameters from the data.