Rôle du contexte dans l'extinction du jugement causal : implications pour la thérapie comportementale

The article describes an experimental series on causal judgment showing that the extinction can recover: 1) where the extinction has not been learned; 2) with time following extinction; 3) during a simple exposition to the stimulus not presented during extinction. Bouton's theory (1993, 1994) is referred to account for these three conditions about the recovery of the extinguished response. The aim is to offer an experimental and theoretical framework for the study of relapse following a behavioural therapy based upon extinction.     

Development and validation of a scale of social and moral judgments (ABB scale) and its use in prison settings

IntroductionThe traditional approach to value judgments involves determining the position of an individual on a scale designed to evaluate the underlying mechanisms and dimensions of judgments.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to develop and validate a scale among a general population and to apply it to individuals particularly affected by, or directly involved in, acts of transgression.MethodThe scale comprises three types of behavior involving an expression of personal values (atypism or idiosyncratic behavior) or a violation of moral or conventional standards. Subjects were asked to assess a range of actions and behaviors on three dimensions (Likert format): seriousness, excusability and rejection of the transgressor.Results and conclusionAs predicted, factor analysis shows a clear hierarchy of values. The results demonstrate the multidimensional nature of the instrument and indicate good reliability. Tolerance and severity indices were developed to understand the underlying dynamics of social and moral judgments. The study found that inmates’ judgments of violations and transgressions differed in some respects from the judgments made by the general population. The influence of context and the role of group membership as an explanatory factor are examined from the point of view of the identity strategies used.     

L'intervention des explications causales internes en termes d'effort dans les stratégies d'autoprésentation et le jugement social : perspectives sociocognitives

This article pursues two aims. The first one is to propose an extension of the theory of the social norm of internality by studying the value of various types of internal and external causal explanations of reinforcements. A first study shows that students (n = 155) choose more effort-based explanations to explain spontaneously a success or a failure to an exam. A second study, realized with students placed in judge's position (n = 80), reveals that effort-based explanations are more appreciated than others explanations, regardless of the event desirability. The second aim of this article is to show that attributional approach and the theory of the social norm of internality are based on different definitions of social judgment and concern different psychological phenomena. A third study realized with students (n = 63) placed in judge's position shows that the effect of the type of explanations for explaining a success or a failure varies according to the nature of the judgment (approval/punishment, probability of success, competence and motivation).