Relating other's behaviour to own behaviour: Effects of delayed response and task difficulty

120 Ss from age groups 8, 12 and 16 years were tested for their understanding that another person's (O) sadness response was related to a preceding behaviour in S. The understanding was tested after experimental interaction episodes where E's assistant (O) worked on an (easy or difficult) task, was helped by S, and responded (immediately or delayed) with sadness. The results showed that a relating of O's behaviour to S was shown primarily for Ss in the two oldest age groups, and primarily when O's response was immediate. A delay of 11/2 min in O's response resulted in attributions of O's behaviour to psychological processes in O rather than to S's behaviour. The youngest Ss focused on O in explaining O's behaviour. Task difficulty did not effect Ss causal attributions.     

Quantifying aggression: Effects of identity of stimulus

A test for children's insight into relations between behaviour and aggressive emotion showed that kindergarten children showed an increase in ratings of emotion corresponding to an increase in aggressive behaviour (positive relation), and that an increase in ratings of emotions corresponding to a decrease in aggression-related behaviour (negative relation) was shown by seven- and nine-year-old children. Cognition of relations between aggressive emotion and behaviour seemed to be developed earlier than cognition of relations between intention and behaviour as observed in a previous study. Results from the test also indicated that the magnitude of emotion ratings differed in identity (same stimulus person) and non-identity (differed stimulus persons) stimulus conditions.     

Attributional mediators of social inhibition and avoidance

People differ in the degree to which they become inhibited and avoidant when they feel socially anxious This study explored the hypothesis that characterological attributions for one's feelings of nervousness in social settings are related to social inhibition and avoidance In a preliminary study, the dimensions people use to explain their feelings of nervousness and relaxation were determined One hundred and twenty-five subjects then completed measures of social anxiousness, inhibition, and avoidance, and made attributions for feeling nervous and relaxed in 10 interpersonal scenarios As predicted, attributions of nervousness to characterological factors, such as ability and personality traits, correlated positively with social inhibition and avoidance Unexpectedly, behavioral attributions for nervousness also predicted inhibition and avoidance     

Teachers do not Deal in Widgets

Although the use of merit pay, incentive pay, bonus pay, and job promotion are well-established measures in the private or corporate sector of American society, few examples of successful teacher merit pay systems exist. In 1983, the Eastern Washington University Department of Education surveyed six major private corporations to determine whether corporate merit pay programs could be applied to teachers and educational institutions. Survey findings suggest several reasons why merit pay programs for teachers will probably fail: (a) lack of monetary goals; (b) the necessity for subjective evaluation, which requires multiple measurement devices, extensive supervision, and time; (c) the absence of a many-tiered corporate structure in most educational institutions; and (d) increased supervisory direction that could stifle creativity and flexibility.     

Apocalyptic Argument and the Anticipation of Catastrophe: the Prediction of Risk and the Risks of Prediction

This essay proposes to extend the model of apocalyptic argument developedin my recent book Arguing the Apocalypse (OLeary, 1994) beyond the study ofreligious discourse, by applying this model to the debate over awell-publicized earthquake prediction that caused a widespread panic in theAmerican midwest in December, 1990. The first section of the essay willsummarize the essential elements of apocalyptic argument as I have earlierdefined them; the second section will apply the model to the case of the NewMadrid, Missouri, earthquake prediction, in order to demonstrate thatcertain patterns of reasoning characteristic of religious apocalyptic arepresent in the discourse over an anticipated local disaster. My ultimatepurpose is to show that predictions of global and local catastrophe mayserve as extreme cases that will illuminate the dynamics of predictiveargument in general. Thus my argument will seek to undercut Daniel Bellsdistinction between prophecy and prediction (Bell, 1973) by establishingthat these discourses share identifiable formal and substantivecharacteristics, and depend for their rhetorical effect on anxiety, hope,far, and excitement as modes of temporal anticipation.     

Perceived Control, Drive for Thinness, and Food Consumption: Anorexic Tendencies as Displaced Reactance

Although loss of perceived control has been implicated in the development of eating disorders, previous research has not directly tested the relationship between perceived control and food consumption. This study investigated the hypothesis that individuals with anorexic tendencies react to low perceived control by restricting food intake as a means of regaining a sense of control. Forty female undergraduates who scored either low or high on the Drive for Thinness Scale (Garner & Olmsted, 1984) were led to believe they would be participating in two separate studies. Perceived control was experimentally manipulated such that half of the subjects experienced low control and half experienced high control over a social situation. Under the guise of a second experiment, subjects tasted breakfast cereals and completed measures relevant to eating and body image. Results showed that subjects who were high in drive for thinness (DT) who experienced low control ate less sweetened cereal and planned to eat less at dinner than high DT subjects who experienced high control. Low DT subjects were unaffected by the control manipulation. The results are discussed in terms of displaced reactance.