Showing papers in "Psychological Bulletin in 1986"

Emotional processing of fear : exposure to corrective information

Abstract: In this article we propose mechanisms that govern the processing of emotional information, particularly those involved in fear reduction. Emotions are viewed as represented by information structures in memory, and anxiety is thought to occur when an information structure that serves as program to escape or avoid danger is activated. Emotional processing is denned as the modification of memory structures that underlie emotions. It is argued that some form of exposure to feared situations is common to many psychotherapies for anxiety, and that confrontation with feared objects or situations is an effective treatment. Physiological activation and habituation within and across exposure sessions are cited as indicators of emotional processing, and variables that influence activation and habituation of fear responses are examined. These variables and the indicators are analyzed to yield an account of what information must be integrated for emotional processing of a fear structure. The elements of such a structure are viewed as cognitive representations of the stimulus characteristic of the fear situation, the individual's responses in it, and aspects of its meaning for the individual. Treatment failures are interpreted with respect to the interference of cognitive defenses, autonomic arousal, mood state, and erroneous ideation with reformation of targeted fear structures. Applications of the concepts advanced here to therapeutic practice and to the broader study of psychopathology are discussed.

Impact of child sexual abuse: a review of the research.

Abstract: Revue de la litterature traitant des effets des agressions sexuelles contre des enfants et discussion de leurs effets immediats et a long terme et de l'impact des differents types d'agression

Gender and Helping Behavior. A Meta-Analytic Review of the Social Psychological Literature

Abstract: According to our social-role theory of gender and helping, the male gender role fosters helping that is heroic and chivalrous, whereas the female gender role fosters helping that is nurturant and caring. In social psychological studies, helping behavior has been examined in the context of short-term encounters with strangers. This focus has tended to exclude from the research literature those helping behaviors prescribed by the female gender role, because they are displayed primarily in long-term, close relationships. In contrast, the helping behaviors prescribed by the male gender role have been generously represented in research findings because they are displayed in relationships with strangers as well as in close relationships. Results from our meta-analytic review of sex differences in helping behavior indicate that in general men helped more than women and women received more help than men. Nevertheless, sex differences in helping were extremely inconsistent across studies and were successfully predicted by various attributes of the studies and the helping behaviors. These predictors were interpreted in terms of several aspects of our social-role theory of gender and helping.

Affect and Memory: A Review

Abstract: This article provides a critical review of the empirical literature on the role of depression and elation in biasing mnemonic processing. Two classes of effects—state dependence and mood congruence—are examined. The latter, which involves the enhanced encoding and/or retrieval of material the affect

Vocal affect expression: a review and a model for future research

Abstract: In reviewing the literature on the vocal expression of emotion, a discrepancy between reported high accuracy in vocal-auditory recognition and the lack of clear evidence for the acoustic differentiation of vocal expression is noted. The latter is explained by (a) a paucity of research on voice quality, (b) neglect of the social signaling functions of affect vocalization, and (c) insufficiently precise conceptualization of the underlying emotional states. A "component patterning" model of vocal affect expression is proposed that attempts to rink the outcomes of antecedent event evaluation to biologically based response patterns. On the basis of a literature survey of acoustic-phonetic evidence, the likely phonatory and articulatory correlates of the physiological responses characterizing different emotional states are described in the form of three major voice types (narrow-wide, lax-tense, full-thin). Specific predictions are made as to the changes in acoustic parameters resulting from changing voice types. These predictions are compared with the pattern of empirical findings yielded by a comprehensive survey of the literature on vocal cues in emotional expression. Although the comparison is largely limited to the tense-lax voice type (because acoustic parameters relevant to the other voice types have not yet been systematically studied), a high degree of convergence is revealed. It is suggested that the model may help to stimulate hypothesis-guided research as well as provide a framework for the development of appropriate research paradigms.

Gaze and eye contact: A research review.

Abstract: Research on gaze and eye contact was organized within the framework of Patterson's (1982) sequential functional model of nonverbal exchange. Studies were reviewed showing how gaze functions to (a) provide information, (b) regulate interaction, (c) express intimacy, (d) exercise social control, and (

On looking into the black box: Prospects and limits in the search for mental models.

Abstract: To place the arguments advanced in this paper in alternative points of view with regard to mental models are reviewed. Use of the construct in areas such as neural information processing, manual control, decision making, problem solving, and cognitive science are discussed. Also reviewed are several taxonomies of mental models. The available empirical evidence for answering questions concerning the nature and usage of mental models is then discussed. A variety of studies are reviewed where the type and form of humans' knowledge have been manipulated. Also considered are numerous transfer of training studies whose results provide indirect evidence of the nature of mental models. The alternative perspectives considered and the spectrum of empirical evidence are combined to suggest a framework within which research on mental models can be viewed. By considering interactions of dimensions of this framework, the most salient unanswered questions can be identified.

Judging probable cause.

Abstract: Les auteurs ont passe en revue et complete diverses theories de la causalite proposees par des psychologues, des philosophes, des statisticiens et d'autres auteurs, cherchant a expliquer les processus qui sous-tendent le jugement de causalite

Indices of discrimination or diagnostic accuracy: their ROCs and implied models.

Abstract: Tasks in which an observation is the basis for discriminating between two confusable alternatives are used widely in psychological experiments. Similar tasks occur routinely in many practical settings in which the objective is a diagnosis of some kind. Several indices have been proposed to quantify the accuracy of discrimination, whether the focus is on an observer's capacity or skill, on the usefulness of tools designed to aid an observer, or on the capability of a fully automated device. The suggestion treated here is that candidate indices be evaluated by calculating their relative operating characteristics (ROCs). The form of an index's ROC identifies the model of the discrimination process that is implied by the index, and that theoretical form can be compared with the form of empirical ROCs. If an index and its model yield a grossly different form of ROC than is observed in the data, then the model is invalid and the index will be unreliable. Most existing indices imply invalid models. A few indices are suitable; one is recommended.

Meta-analysis of facial identification studies.

Abstract: Meta-analyse de 128 etudes consacrees a l'identification du temoignage oculaire et a la reconnaissance des visages, recherchant les facteurs influencant la performance et les secteurs de recherche a approfondir dans ce domaine

Social and behavioral consequences of alcohol consumption and expectancy: a meta-analysis.

Abstract: A meta-analysis was conducted on research investigating the effects of alcohol consumption and expectancy within the balanced-placebo design. Preliminary results indicated that both alcohol and expectancy have significant, although heterogeneous effects on behavior. Subsequent analyses were conducted to determine the factors responsible for the heterogeneity of effects. At the highest level of analysis, alcohol expectancy had strong effects on relatively deviant social behaviors and minimal effects on nonsocial behaviors. Alcohol consumption showed the opposite pattern of effects. The principal effects associated with alcohol expectancy involved increased alcohol consumption and increased sexual arousal in response to erotic stimuli. On the other hand, alcohol consumption led to significant impairment of information processing and motor performance, induced a specific set of physical sensations, resulted in general improvements of mood, and tended to increase aggression. Finally, across all studies it was observed that alcohol consumption and expectancy interacted no more frequently than would be expected by chance. These results have implications for both the theories and methods of contemporary alcohol research.

Perceiving character in faces: the impact of age-related craniofacial changes on social perception.

Abstract: Despite considerable evidence indicating that our perceptions of people's psychological attributes are strongly tied to their facial appearance, there has been almost no systematic and theoretically guided research on this topic. The ecological approach to social perception (McArthur & Baron, 1983) holds that facial characteristics may influence impressions if they typically reveal psychological attributes whose detection is important for adaptive functioning. For example, the facial characteristics that identify infants should reveal their helplessness. The ecological approach further predicts that a strong attunement to adaptively significant facial characteristics may be overgeneralized. In particular, it is hypothesized that adults with immature facial qualities are perceived to have childlike psychological attributes. The research we review provides strong support for this prediction. More specifically, adults with various childlike facial qualities are perceived to afford more warmth, more submission, more honesty less physical strength, and more naivete than those with more mature faces. Implications of the ecological approach for further research on face perception are discussed.

Perceptual, cognitive, and motoric aspects of transcription typing.

Abstract: Recent research findings in the domain of transcription typing are reviewed in the context of a fourcomponent heuristic model. The four components consist of an input phase in which to-be-typed text is grouped into familiar chunks, a parsing phase in which the chunks are decomposed into discrete characters, a translation phase in which characters are converted into movement specifications, and finally an execution phase in which the actual movements are produced. This framework was used to integrate 29 distinct empirical phenomena related to transcription typing, including the multiple units of typing, the existence of four major categories of errors, and differences associated with i ncreasi ng skill. The review concludes with a brief discussion of several issues that appear to provide promising directions for future research. Transcription typing has many advantages over alternative forms of activity for the purpose of analyzing human skilled behavior. First, the number of practitioners is extremely large, making it relatively easy to locate moderately sized samples of individuals at many levels of expertise. Second, although the performance of skilled typists appears continuous, typing behavior is naturally partitioned into discrete and easily measured keystroke responses. Third, despite its seeming simplicity, transcription typing involves an intricate and complex interaction of perceptual, cognitive, and motoric processes. Not only does verbal material have to be registered and perceived, but it has to be appropriately partitioned, accurately translated into physical movements, and then those movements executed at rates exceeding several hundred keystrokes per minute. A thorough understanding of a task involving such precise and rapid coordination of diverse processes will surely contribute to greater knowledge about the nature of highly skilled performance in a wide range of cognitive activities. In an earlier article (Salthouse, 1984a), a composite model of transcription typing was briefly outlined to provide a framework for localizing the effects associated with the age and skill level of the typist. Most of the properties of the model were derived from ideas introduced by earlier theorists (e.g., Cooper, 1983; Logan, 1983; Rumelhart& Norman, 1982; Shaffer, 1973, 1975a, 1976; Shaffer & Hardwick, 1970; Thomas & Jones, 1970), and thus it can be viewed as a synthesis of many previous proposals. The goal of the present article is to use that model as a heuristic device to help organize a review of the empirical literature concerned with transcription typing. Figure I illustrates the major components of the model, and the primary operations presumed

Measurement scales and statistics: A clash of paradigms.

Abstract: Reflexions sur la persistance actuelle de la controverse suscitee par Stevens (1946) entre les echelles de mesure et les statistiques, a partir de l'identification de trois theories portant sur cette relation

Quantitative review of the only child literature: Research evidence and theory development.

Abstract: Six meta-analyses of the research literature on the only child were conducted in order to evaluate the status of the only child and to guide theory development in this area. The 117 studies included here generated enough information to justify six meta-analyses: Achievement Adjustment Character Intelligence Mental Illness and Sociability. Only children are "found to surpass all others except firstborns and people from two-child families in Achievement and Intelligence. They also surpassed people from three- or more child families in Adjustment and Character. A model of the one-child family [is] developed that integrates the explanatory mechanisms of parental attention parental anxiety and family economic resources and emphasizes the strength of the parent-child relationship in small families." (EXCERPT)