Showing papers in "Annual Review of Psychology in 1998"

Intergroup contact theory

Abstract: Allport specified four conditions for optimal intergroup contact: equal group status within the situation, common goals, intergroup cooperation and authority support. Varied research supports the hypothesis, but four problems remain. 1. A selection bias limits cross-sectional studies, since prejudiced people avoid intergroup contact. Yet research finds that the positive effects of cross-group friendship are larger than those of the bias. 2. Writers overburden the hypothesis with facilitating, but not essential, conditions. 3. The hypothesis fails to address process. The chapter proposes four processes: learning about the outgroup, changed behavior, affective ties, and ingroup reappraisal. 4. The hypothesis does not specify how the effects generalize to other situations, the outgroup or uninvolved outgroups. Acting sequentially, three strategies enhance generalizationodecategorization, salient categorization, and recategorization. Finally, both individual differences and societal norms shape intergroup contact effects. The chapter outlines a longitudinal intergroup contact theory. It distinguishes between essential and facilitating factors, and emphasizes different outcomes for different stages of contact.

Comorbidity of anxiety and unipolar mood disorders

Abstract: Research on relationships between anxiety and depression has proceeded at a rapid pace since the 1980s. The similarities and differences between these two conditions, as well as many of the important features of the comorbidity of these disorders, are well understood. The genotypic structure of anxiety and depression is also fairly well documented. Generalized anxiety and major depression share a common genetic diathesis, but the anxiety disorders themselves are genetically hetergeneous. Sophisticated phenotypic models have also emerged, with data converging on an integrative hierarchical model of mood and anxiety disorders in which each individual syndrome contains both a common and a unique component. Finally, considerable progress has been made in understanding cognitive aspects of these disorders. This work has focused on both the cognitive content of anxiety and depression and on the effects that anxiety and depression have on information processing for mood-congruent material.

Social constructivist perspectives on teaching and learning

Abstract: Social constructivist perspectives focus on the interdependence of social and individual processes in the co-construction of knowledge. After the impetus for understanding the influence of social and cultural factors on cognition is reviewed, mechanisms hypothesized to account for learning from this perspective are identified, drawing from Piagetian and Vygotskian accounts. The empirical research reviewed illustrates (a) the application of institutional analyses to investigate schooling as a cultural process, (b) the application of interpersonal analyses to examine how interactions promote cognition and learning, and (c) discursive analyses examining and manipulating the patterns and opportunities in instructional conversation. The review concludes with a discussion of the application of this perspective to selected contemporary issues, including: acquiring expertise across domains, assessment, educational equity, and educational reform.

The cognitive neuroscience of constructive memory

Abstract: Numerous empirical and theoretical observations point to the constructive nature of human memory. This paper reviews contemporary research pertaining to two major types of memory distortions that illustrate such constructive processes: (a) false recognition and (b) intrusions and confabulations. A general integrative framework that outlines the types of problems that the human memory system must solve in order to produce mainly accurate representations of past experience is first described. This constructive memory framework (CMF) emphasizes processes that operate at encoding (initially binding distributed features of an episode together as a coherent trace; ensuring sufficient pattern separation of similar episodes) and also at retrieval (formation of a sufficiently focused retrieval description with which to query memory; postretrieval monitoring and verification). The framework is applied to findings from four different areas of research: cognitive studies of young adults, neuropsychological investigations of brain-damaged patients, neuroimaging studies, and studies of cognitive aging.

Cognitive neuroscience of human memory

Abstract: Current knowledge is summarized about long-term memory systems of the human brain, with memory systems defined as specific neural networks that support specific mnemonic processes. The summary integrates convergent evidence from neuropsychological studies of patients with brain lesions and from functional neuroimaging studies using positron emission tomography (PET) or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Evidence is reviewed about the specific roles of hippocampal and parahippocampal regions, the amygdala, the basal ganglia, and various neocortical areas in declarative memory. Evidence is also reviewed about which brain regions mediate specific kinds of procedural memory, including sensorimotor, perceptual, and cognitive skill learning; perceptual and conceptual repetition priming; and several forms of conditioning. Findings are discussed in terms of the functional neural architecture of normal memory, age-related changes in memory performance, and neurological conditions that affect memory such as amnesia, Alzheimeris disease, Parkinsonis disease, and Huntingtonis disease.

Reconciling processing dynamics and personality dispositions

Abstract: ▪ Abstract Developments in personality-social psychology, in social cognition, and in cognitive neuroscience have led to an emerging conception of personality dynamics and dispositions that builds on diverse contributions from the past three decades. Recent findings demonstrating a previously neglected but basic type of personality stability allow a reconceptualization of classic issues in personality and social psychology. It reconstrues the nature and role of situations and links contextually sensitive processing dynamics to stable dispositions. It thus facilitates the reconciliation within a unitary framework of dispositional (trait) and processing (social cognitive–affective–dynamic) approaches that have long been separated. Given their history, however, the realization of this promise remains to be seen.

Brain plasticity and behavior.

Abstract: Brain plasticity refers to the brain's ability to change structure and function. Experience is a major stimulant of brain plasticity in animal species as diverse as insects and humans. It is now clear that experience produces multiple, dissociable changes in the brain including increases in dendritic length, increases (or decreases) in spine density, synapse formation, increased glial activity, and altered metabolic activity. These anatomical changes are correlated with behavioral differences between subjects with and without the changes. Experience-dependent changes in neurons are affected by various factors including aging, gonadal hormones, trophic factors, stress, and brain pathology. We discuss the important role that changes in dendritic arborization play in brain plasticity and behavior, and we consider these changes in the context of changing intrinsic circuitry of the cortex in processes such as learning.

Psychology and the study of marital processes

Abstract: ▪ Abstract The divorce rate in the United States is extremely high. It is estimated that between 50% and 67% of first marriages end in divorce. For second marriages, failure rates are even higher. There are strong negative consequences to separation and divorce on the mental and physical health of both spouses, including increased risk for psychopathology, increased rates of automobile accidents, and increased incidence of physical illness, suicide, violence, homicide, significant immunosuppression, and mortality from diseases. In children, marital distress, conflict, and disruption are associated with depression, withdrawal, poor social competence, health problems, poor academic performance, and a variety of conduct-related difficulties. Though intervention techniques might be expected to reduce these grim statistics, our best scholars have concluded that marital therapy is at a practical and theoretical impasse. This article discusses the progress of research on the study of marriage.

Adolescent development: challenges and opportunities for research, programs, and policies.

Abstract: ▪ Abstract The basic process of adolescent development involves changing relations between the individual and the multiple levels of the context within which the young person is embedded. Variation in the substance and timing of these relations promotes diversity in adolescence and represents sources of risk or protective factors across this life period. The key risk factors of the contempory American adolescent period are discussed. Behavioral risks involve drug, alcohol, and substance use and abuse; unsafe sex, teenage pregnancy, and teenage parenting; school underachievement, failure, and dropout; and delinquency, crime, and violence. Poverty among youth exacerbates these risks. The features of youth programs effective in preventing the actualization of risk or in promoting positive adolescent development are discussed, as are the characteristics of public policies that may enhance the life chances of the diverse youth of America and the world.

Performance evaluation in work settings.

Abstract: Recent research from 1993 on performance evaluations in work settings is reviewed and integrated with the prior reset and historical bases. Contemporary research reflects several themes: General models of job performance are being developed, the job performance domain is being expanded, research continues to explore the psychometric characteristics of performance ratings, research is developing on potential bias in ratings, rater training is examined, and research continues in terms of efforts to attach utility values to rated performance. We conclude that research is progressing in traditional content areas as well in the exploration of new ground. Researchers are recognizing that job performance is more than just the execution of specific tasks and that it involves a wider array of important organizational activities. There is also an increased optimism regarding the use of supervisory ratings and recognition that such isubjectivei appraisal instruments do not automatically translate into rater error or bias.

SIBLING RELATIONSHIP QUALITY: Its Causes and Consequences

Abstract: ▪ Abstract Current work on children's individual characteristics and family processes that contribute to variation in sibling relationship quality is reviewed Findings from these studies are summarized in a heuristic model that specifies hypothesized links among family processes, intrapersonal characteristics, and variations in sibling relationship quality The model is designed to provide researchers with a host of hypotheses to test and refine in future studies The contributions that sibling relationships may make to cognitive and psychosocial development are then reviewed, with a suggestion that sibling relationships comprised of a balance of both prosocial and conflicted interactions create experiences that are most likely to nurture children's social, cognitive, and psychosocial development

Biases in the interpretation and use of research results.

Abstract: The latter half of this century has seen an erosion in the perceived legitimacy of science as an impartial means of finding truth. Many research topics are the subject of highly politicized dispute; indeed, the objectivity of the entire discipline of psychology has been called into question. This essay examines attempts to use science to study science: specifically, bias in the interpretation and use of empirical research findings. I examine theory and research on a range of cognitive and motivational mechanisms for bias. Interestingly, not all biases are normatively proscribed; biased interpretations are defensible under some conditions, so long as those conditions are made explicit. I consider a variety of potentially corrective mechanisms, evaluate prospects for collective rationality, and compare inquisitorial and adversarial models of science.

THEORIES LINKING CULTURE AND PSYCHOLOGY: Universal and Community-Specific Processes

Abstract: Psychological theories and research often assume nations are culturally homogeneous and stable. But global demographic, political, and economic changes and massive immigration have sparked new scholarly and policy interest in cultural diversity and change within nations. This chapter reviews interdisciplinary advances linking culture and psychological development. These challenge and strengthen the external and ecological validity of psychological theories and their applications. Seven theoretical perspectives are reviewed: individualism-collectivism; ecological systems; cultural-ecological; social identity; ecocultural and sociocultural; structure-agency; and multiple worlds. Reviews of each theory summarize key constructs and evidence, recent advances, links between universal and community-specific research and applications, and strengths and limitations. The chapter traces complementarities across theories for the case of personal and social identity. It concludes by discussing implications for science and policy. By viewing theories as distinct yet complementary, researchers and policy makers can forge interdisciplinary, international, and intergenerational collaborations on behalf of the culturally diverse communities of which we are a part.

Models of the emergence of language.

Abstract: ▪ Abstract Recent work in language acquisition has shown how linguistic form emerges from the operation of self-organizing systems. The emergentist framework emphasizes ways in which the formal structures of language emerge from the interaction of social patterns, patterns implicit in the input, and pressures arising from general aspects of the cognitive system. Emergentist models have been developed to study the acquisition of auditory and articulatory patterns during infancy and the ways in which the learning of the first words emerges from the linkage of auditory, articulatory, and conceptual systems. Neural network models have also been used to study the learning of inflectional markings and basic syntactic patterns. Using both neural network modeling and concepts from the study of dynamic systems, it is possible to analyze language learning as the integration of emergent dynamic systems.

MEMORY-BASED LANGUAGE PROCESSING: Psycholinguistic Research in the 1990s

Abstract: There are two main domains of research in psycholinguistics: sentence processing, concerned with how the syntactic structures of sentences are computed, and text processing, concerned with how the meanings of larger units of text are understood. In recent sentence processing research, a new and controversial theme is that syntactic computations may rely heavily on statistical information about the relative frequencies with which different syntactic structures occur in the language. In text processing, recent research has focused on what information the words and ideas of a text evoke from long-term memory quickly, passively, and at low processing cost. Research in both domains has begun to use the information that can be obtained from large corpora of naturally occurring texts.

Lower-level visual processing and models of light adaptation

Abstract: Before there was a formal discipline of psychology, there were attempts to understand the relationship between visual perception and retinal physiology. Today, there is still uncertainty about the extent to which even very basic behavioral data (called here candidates for lower-level processing) can be predicted based upon retinal processing. Here, a general framework is proposed for developing models of lower-level processing. It is argued that our knowledge of ganglion cell function and retinal mechanisms has advanced to the point where a model of lower-level processing should include a testable model of ganglion cell function. This model of ganglion cell function, combined with minimal assumptions about the role of the visual cortex, forms a model of lower-level processing. Basic behavioral and physiological descriptions of light adaptation are reviewed, and recent attempts to model lower-level processing are discussed.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR: A Quadrennium

Abstract: ▪ Abstract Consumer behavior continued to attract additional researchers and publication outlets from 1993 through 1996. Both general interest and domain-specific scholarly contributions are discussed, along with limitations and suggested areas for future research. A concluding section observes that the integrity of consumer research is unnecessarily compromised by the failure of the major scholarly association in the field to develop and adopt a code of researcher ethics.

GIFTEDNESS: An Exceptionality Examined

Abstract: The study of giftedness has practical origins. High-level performance intrigues people. Theoretically, the study of giftedness is related to the psychology of individual differences and has focused on the constructs of intelligence, creativity, and motivation. At a practical level, the research is largely related to school and family contexts, which develop gifts and talents in children and youth. Although broadened definitions of giftedness have emerged, the most extensive body of research available for review concentrates on intellectual giftedness. The varying definitions of giftedness and the impact of social context and diversity on the development of talent pose significant challenges for the field. Finally, the study of exceptionally advanced performance provides insight into basic psychological processes and the school contexts that develop talents in children and youth.

Judgment and decision making

Abstract: ▪ Abstract For many decades, research in judgment and decision making has examined behavioral violations of rational choice theory. In that framework, rationality is expressed as a single correct decision shared by experimenters and subjects that satisfies internal coherence within a set of preferences and beliefs. Outside of psychology, social scientists are now debating the need to modify rational choice theory with behavioral assumptions. Within psychology, researchers are debating assumptions about errors for many different definitions of rationality. Alternative frameworks are being proposed. These frameworks view decisions as more reasonable and adaptive than previously thought. For example, “rule following.” Rule following, which occurs when a rule or norm is applied to a situation, often minimizes effort and provides satisfying solutions that are “good enough,” though not necessarily the best. When rules are ambiguous, people look for reasons to guide their decisions. They may also let their emoti...

Categorical data analysis

Abstract: This chapter reviews recent developments in the analysis of categorical and contingency-table data. The first portion examines developments in model testing and selection. The second portion examines work on models for the structure of dependence. These include log-linear parameter models, models for latent classes, models for missing observations, numerical-scale-based association and correlation models (such as correspondence analysis), the treatment of ordered categories, and models for marginal distributions.

Predictive validity of value assessment in organizational settings

Abstract: The goal was to examine values-related assessments as potential organizational predictors. The participants were bank cashiers (N = 300) from a large banking organization. The predictors were two sets of measures related to values: ratings of the importance of 20 values (as measured by WIS Values Scale), and ratings of the degree to which these values are perceived attained in an individual's job. The criteria were performance ratings assessed by the superiors and self-assessed job satisfaction. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to examine the extent to which the two sets of assessments predicted each of the two criteria. The predictors were unrelated to the performance ratings. However, job satisfaction was well predicted, primarily by the value-attainment ratings. Significant predictors included: perceived opportunities for participation in decision, perceived attainment of ability utilization, and the importance of life style that was negatively related to job satisfaction of bank cashiers. It was concluded that value-based measures might enhance organizational assessment.