Showing papers in "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 1972"

Cognitive and attentional mechanisms in delay of gratification.

Abstract: Three experiments investigated attentional and cognitive mechanisms in delay of gratification In each study preschool children could obtain a less preferred reward immediately or continue waiting indefinitely for a more preferred but delayed reward Experiment I compared the effects of external and cognitive distraction from the reward objects on the length of time which preschool children waited for the preferred delayed reward before forfeiting it for the sake of the less preferred immediate one. In accord with predictions from an extension of frustrative nonreward theory, children waited much longer for a preferred reward when they were distracted from the rewards than when they attended to them directly Experiment II demonstrated that only certain cognitive events (thinking "fun things") served as effective ideational distractors Thinking "sad thoughts" produced short delay times, as did thinking about the rewards themselves In Experiment III the delayed rewards were not physically available for direct attention during the delay period, and the children's attention to them cogmtively was manipulated by prior instructions While the children waited, cognitions about the rewards significantly reduced, rather than enhanced, the length of their delay of gratification Overall, attentional and cognitive mechanisms which enhanced the salience of the rewards shortened the length of voluntary delay, while distractions from the rewards, overtly or cogmtively, facilitated delay The results permit a remterpretatio n of basic mechanisms in voluntary delay of gratification and self-control

Some Signals and Rules for Taking Speaking Turns in Conversations

Abstract: Studied the turn-taking mechanism, whereby participants manage the smooth and appropriate exchange of speaking turns in face-to-face interaction in 2 videotapes showing a therapist-patient interview and a discussion between 2 therapists. 3 basic signals were noted: (a) turn-yielding signals by the s

Effect of feeling good on helping: cookies and kindness

Abstract: Two experiments with adult subjects investigated the effects of a person's positive affective state on his or her subsequent helpfulness to others. \"Feeling good\" was induced by having received cookies while studying in a library (Study I) and by having found a dime in the coin return of a public telephone while making a call (Study II). In Study I, where the dependent measure involved volunteering in reply to a student's request, a distinction was made between specific willingness to help and general willingness to engage in any subsequent activity. In Study II, the dependent measure was whether subjects spontaneously helped to pick up papers that were dropped in front of them. On the basis of previous research, it was predicted that subjects who were thus made to \"feel good\" would be more helpful than control subjects. Results support the predictions.

Intrinsic motivation, extrinsic reinforcement, and inequity

Abstract: If a person who is intrinsically motivated to perform an activity begins to receive external reinforcement for the activity, what will happen to his intrinsic motivation? Previous studies and the present study indicate that money decreases intrinsic motivation, while verbal reinforcements tend to enhance intrinsic motivation. The beginning of a cognitive evaluation theory is discussed, and an apparently discrepant prediction between this theory and inequity theory is pointed out. It is argued, however, that the theories are not conceptually discrepant, and the present study gives support for this argument. It is possible to distinguish between two broad classes of motivation to perform an activity: intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. A person is intrinsically motivated if he performs an activity for no apparent reward except the activity itself (cf. Berlyne, 1966; Hunt, 1965; White, 1959). Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, refers to the performance of an activity because it leads to external rewards (e.g., status, approval, or passing grades). The question of interest in this study is whether there will be changes in a person's intrinsic motivation for an activity when he receives external rewards for performing that activity. Deci (1971) reported that external reinforcements do affect intrinsic motivation, and he suggested the initial elements of a cognitive evaluation theory to account for the changes in intrinsic motivation following an experience with extrinsic rewards. The theory focuses on a person's cognitive evaluation of an activity and the reasons for his engaging in the activity. It suggests that distinctions should be made among different kinds of external rewards, since a person's evaluation of different rewards may be different. In turn, this would 1 The author would like to thank Wayne Cascio for serving as the first experimenter and for helping with the data analysis; Victor Vroom for making helpful comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript; and Larry Coff for being the second experimenter.

The how and what of why: Some determinants and consequences of causal attribution.

Abstract: Kelley's attribution theory is investigated. Subjects filled out a questionnaire that reported 16 different responses ostensibly made by other people. These responses represented four verb categories—emotions, accomplishments, opinions, and actions—and, for experimental subjects, each was accompanied by high or low consensus information, high or low distinctiveness information, and high or low consistency information. Control subjects were not given any information regarding the response. All subjects were asked to attribute each response to characteristics of the person (i.e., the actor), the stimulus, the circumstances, or to some combination of these three factors. In addition, the subjects' expectancies for future response and stimulus generalization on the part of the actor were measured. The three information variables and verb category each had a significant effect on causal attribution and on expectancy for behavioral generalization.

Information processing, situation specificity, and the generality of risk-taking behavior

Abstract: : An effort was made to construct two structurally similar risk-taking tasks in order to evaluate inter-task consistency of individual differences. Only the mode of response differed between tasks. In one task, subjects chose their preferred bet within each of a number of pairs of bets. In the other, they set selling prices for these same bets. A measure of the subject's preference for 'long shot' gambles was obtained from each response. Reliable individual differences were found for each measure. However, the inter-measure correlation was relatively low considering the high degree of similarity between tasks. It is argued that the two response modes triggered different methods of processing information about probabilities and payoffs in a way that perturbed individual differences and reduced inter-task consistency. Information-processing considerations may be one important component of the situation specificity prevalent in risk-taking behavior. These results imply that high correlations are unlikely between risk-taking measures in structurally different settings or between risk-taking and other behaviors. (Author)

Why don't bystanders help? Because of ambiguity?

Abstract: Two experiments investigated the effects of ambiguity of an emergency situation on helping behavior. In Experiment I, 70 male undergraduates waiting either alone, with a stranger, or with a friend heard a maintenance man fall and cry out in agony. Half of the two-person groups were naive; the other half included a confederate who was instructed to react as passively as possible. In contrast to the finding of Latane and Rodin's "lady in distress" study, all subjects intervened. In Experiment II, subjects either alone, with one other, or with four others were exposed to either a nonambiguous or an ambiguous emergency situation. At least one subject in all of the nonambiguous conditions responded to the needs of the victim, whereas approximately 30% of the subjects in the ambiguous condition included a helper. Subjects in the latter twoand five-person groups were less likely to help and intervened slower than was expected on the basis of the alone subjects' performances. These results were attributed to the degree of ambiguity and seriousness of consequences employed in the emergency situation,

Emotional role playing, attitude change, and attraction toward a disabled person.

Abstract: DOCDMEIT RESU3E CG 006 397 Clore, Gerald L.; Jeffery, Katherine McMillan Emotional Role Playing, Attitude Change, and Attraction Toward a Disabled Person. Illinois Univ., Champaign. May 71 21p.; Paper presented at the Midwestern Psychological Association Convention in Detroit, Michigan, May 6-8, 1971 Gerald Clore, Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois 61820 EDRS Price MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29 Attitudes, Behavior Change, *Changing Attitudes, *Discriminatory Attitudes (Social), Handicapped, *Interpersonal Problems, Interpersonal Relationship, *Physically dandicapped, Role Perception, *Role Playing, Social Attitudes The effects of emotional role playing on interpersonal attitudes toward the disabled are explored. Three treatment groups (role players, vicarious role players, and controls) were involved. Role playing consisted of traveling about the campus in a wheel chair for an hour. Results indicated that, compared to the control experience, both direct and vicarious emotional role-playing led to more positive responses: (1) to a specific disabled person; (2) to a series of issues concerning disabled students in general; and (3) to a disguised attitudinal measure given by telephone four months later. The concept of empathy appeared more adequate than dissonance for understanding the results. The potential of role playing and vicarious experience for increasing tolerance and social maturity is considered. (Author/TL) teN Cr. PEA EMOTIONAL ROLE PLAYING, ATTITUDE CTIANGE, AND CD Lr ATTRACTION TOWARD A DISABLED PERSON C:3 Gerald L. Clore 2 and Katharine &Millen Jeffery 3 University of Illinois