Kenneth L. Higbee

Bio: Kenneth L. Higbee is an academic researcher from Brigham Young University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Mnemonic & Social psychology (sociology). The author has an hindex of 11, co-authored 32 publications receiving 408 citations.

Social Psychology Research during the 1970s Predominance of Experimentation and College Students

Abstract: Articles published in four mainline social psychology journals in 1978 and 1979 were categorized by research design and subjects, and compared with similar analyses from 1949, 1959, and 1969. The results indicated that research trends previously observed for the 1940s through the 1960s were perpetuated during the 1970s: At the end of the 1970s, experimental research still predominated over correlational research, and college students still predominated over noncollege samples.

Verbal Rehearsal and Visual Imagery Mnemonic Aids For Learning-Disabled Children

Abstract: Investigations were made of the effects of verbal rehearsal, visual imagery, and “unaided” instruction on reading comprehension in learning-disabled children In the main experiment, 30 learning-disabled children were randomly assigned to verbal rehearsal, visual imagery, and “unaided” instruction groups Retention was measured immediately after reading the story; after 15 minutes; and one week later A 3x3 analysis of variance found that verbal rehearsal and visual imagery significantly increased comprehension A small-N study conducted later to determine the effects of mnemonic instruction over repeated sessions with four learning-disabled children with different WISC-R patterns yielded similar results These studies support the contention that reading comprehension difficulties among learning-disabled children are partly due to inefficient memorization strategies, and demonstrate the efficacy of practical, cost-effective mnemonic-training procedures which significantly increase reading comprehension in

Self-disclosure and relationship to the target person.

Abstract: The amount that a person is willing to disclose about himself to another person is related to characteristics of himself (i.e., the discloser), to attributes of the person to whom he is disclosing (i.e., the target per son), and to the nature of the relationship between them. Early studies have found that people differ in the amount and type of disclosure accord ing to the target person involved in their disclosure (Jourard, 1959; Jourard and Lasakow, 1958). Four target persons—mother, father, best male friend, and best female friend—were used in these studies. Jourard (1959) tested a group of female nursing faculty members and found that the amount of their disclosure to their colleagues was related to both perceived closeness of relationship with and amount of liking for the particular colleague. Fitzgerald (1963) attempted to use self-disclosure as an index of social distance. Measures of self-disclosure to three target persons and measures of liking for these persons were administered to college women. The results indicated that self-disclosure reflected social distance in that more was revealed to the girl liked best than to the "average" girl, and more was revealed to the "average" girl than to the girl liked least. Thus, this study also suggests that self-disclosure is related to the degree of liking that the discloser has for the target person. Jourard and Landsman (1960) found, however, that liking was only slightly correlated with disclosure in a sample of male graduate students. The amount of self-disclosure was more highly correlated with the degree to which they knew the others and with the amount the others had dis closed to them than it was to their degree of liking for the target person. This suggests that there may be other variables besides liking which are descriptive of the relationship between the discloser and the target person and which are important determinants of the amount and nature of self disclosure to the target person. Also, the type of relationship that may foster a great amount of self-disclosure is likely to vary from one target person to another. An analysis is required of the correlation of self-disclosure with the nature of the relationship the discloser has with each particular target person rather than with target persons in general. Finally, since

College sophomores in the laboratory: Influences of a narrow data base on social psychology's view of human nature.

Abstract: For the 2 decades prior to 1960, published research in social psychology was based on a wide variety of subjects and research sites. Content analyses show that since then such research has overwhelmingly been based on college students tested in academic laboratories on academiclike tasks. How might this heavy dependence on one narrow data base have biased the main substantive conclusions of sociopsychological research in this era? Research on the full life span suggests that, compared with older adults, college students are likely to have less-crystallized attitudes, less-formulated senses of self, stronger cognitive skills, stronger tendencies to comply with authority, and more unstable peer group relationships. The laboratory setting is likely to exaggerate all these differences. These peculiarities of social psychology's predominant data base may have contributed to central elements of its portrait of human nature. According to this view people (a) are quite compliant and their behavior is easily socially influenced, (b) readily change their attitudes and (c) behave inconsistently with them, and (d) do not rest their self-perceptions on introspection. The narrow data base may also contribute to this portrait of human nature's (e) strong emphasis on cognitive processes and to its lack of emphasis on (f) personality dispositions, (g) material self-interest, (h) emotionally based irrationalities, (i) group norms, and (j) stage-specific phenomena. The analysis implies the need both for more careful examination of sociopsychological propositions for systematic biases introduced by dependence on this narrow data base and for increased reliance on adults tested in their natural habitats with materials drawn from ordinary life.

Self-disclosure and liking: A meta-analytic review.

Abstract: Self-disclosure plays a central role in the development and maintenance of relationships. One way that researchers have explored these processes is by studying the links between self-disclosure and liking. Using meta-analytic procedures, the present work sought to clarify and review this literature by evaluating the evidence for 3 distinct disclosure-liking effects. Significant disclosure-liking relations were found for each effect: (a) People who engage in intimate disclosures tend to be liked more than people who disclose at lower levels, (b) people disclose more to those whom they initially like, and (c) people like others as a result of having disclosed to them. In addition, the relation between disclosure and liking was moderated by a number of variables, including study paradigm, type of disclosure, and gender of the discloser. Taken together, these results suggest that various disclosure-liking effects can be integrated and viewed as operating together within a dynamic interpersonal system. Implications for theory development are discussed, and avenues for future research are suggested.

Sex differences in self-disclosure: a meta-analysis.

Abstract: A meta-analysis of 205 studies involving 23,702 Ss was conducted to determine whether there are sex differences in self-disclosure. Across these studies, women disclosed slightly more than men (d = .18). This effect size was not homogeneous across studies. Several moderator variables were found. Sex of target and the interaction effect of relationship to target and measure of self-disclosure moderated the effect of sex on self-disclosure. Sex differences in self-disclosure were significantly greater to female and same-sex partners than to opposite-sex or male partners. When the target had a relationship with the discloser (i.e., friend, parent, or spouse), women disclosed more than men regardless of whether self-disclosure was measured by self-report or observation. When the target was a stranger, men reported that they disclosed similarly to women; however, studies using observational measures of self-disclosure found that women disclosed more than men.

Teaching Reading Comprehension Strategies to Students With Learning Disabilities: A Review of Research

Abstract: We review the body of research on reading comprehension for students with learning disabilities. First, we describe the factors that lead to the comprehension difficulties of these students. Next we describe our procedures for reviewing the literature on effective instructional methods for this population. Next we review the body of studies involving instructional methods for improving the comprehension of narrative text. This is followed by the research on techniques for improving the comprehension of expository text. We conclude with a discussion of ongoing issues in the field—in particular, (a) the increased use of socially mediated instruction, (b) the need to teach multiple strategies to students to improve comprehension, and (c) controversies in how important it is to explicitly teach specific strategies versus merely providing flexible frameworks to structure dialogue on texts read.