Showing papers in "Psychological Bulletin in 1994"
TL;DR: In this article, the relation between social information processing and social adjustment in childhood is reviewed and interpreted within the framework of a reformulated model of human performance and social exchange, which proves to assimilate almost all previous studies and is a useful heuristic device for organizing the field.
Abstract: Research on the relation between social information processing and social adjustment in childhood is reviewed and interpreted within the framework of a reformulated model of human performance and social exchange. This reformulation proves to assimilate almost all previous studies and is a useful heuristic device for organizing the field. The review suggests that overwhelming evidence supports the empirical relation between characteristic processing styles and children's social adjustment, with some aspects of processing (e.g., hostile attributional biases, intention cue detection accuracy, response access patterns, and evaluation of response outcomes) likely to be causal of behaviors that lead to social status and other aspects (e.g., perceived self-competence) likely to be responsive to peer status
4,950 citations
TL;DR: These conclusions challenge widely accepted ideas about attentional resources and probe reaction time methodologies and suggest new ways of thinking about continuous dual-task performance, effects of extraneous stimulation, and automaticity.
Abstract: People often have trouble performing 2 relatively simple tasks concurrently. The causes of this interference and its implications for the nature of attentional limitations have been controversial for 40 years, but recent experimental findings are beginning to provide some answers. Studies of the psychological refractory period effect indicate a stubborn bottleneck encompassing the process of choosing actions and probably memory retrieval generally, together with certain other cognitive operations. Other limitations associated with task preparation, sensory-perceptual processes, and timing can generate additional and distinct forms of interference. These conclusions challenge widely accepted ideas about attentional resources and probe reaction time methodologies. They also suggest new ways of thinking about continuous dual-task performance, effects of extraneous stimulation (e.g., stop signals), and automaticity. Implications for higher mental processes are discussed.
2,740 citations
TL;DR: Three models for how gender differences in depression might develop in early adolescence are described and evaluated and it is concluded that Model 3 is best supported by the available data, although much more research is needed.
Abstract: There are no gender differences in depression rates in prepubescent children, but, after the age of 15, girls and women are about twice as likely to be depressed as boys and men. In this article, three models for how gender differences in depression might develop in early adolescence are described a
2,112 citations
TL;DR: Males were found to be more assertive and had slightly higher self-esteem than females and females were higher than males in extraversion, anxiety, trust, and, especially, tender-mindedness.
Abstract: Four meta-analyses were conducted to examine gender differences in personality in the literature (1958-1992) and in normative data for well-known personality inventories (1940-1992). Males were found to be more assertive and had slightly higher self-esteem than females. Females were higher than males in extraversion, anxiety, trust, and, especially, tender-mindedness (e.g., nurturance). There were no noteworthy sex differences in social anxiety, impulsiveness, activity, ideas (e.g., reflectiveness), locus of control, and orderliness. Gender differences in personality traits were generally constant across ages, years of data collection, educational levels, and nations.
2,026 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a new account of curiosity is proposed that interprets curiosity as a form of cognitively induced deprivation that arises from the perception of a gap in knowledge or understanding.
Abstract: Research on curiosity has undergone 2 waves of intense activity. The 1st, in the 1960s, focused mainly on curiosity's psychological underpinnings. The 2nd, in the 1970s and 1980s, was characterized by attempts to measure curiosity and assess its dimensionality. This article reviews these contributions with a concentration on the 1st wave. It is argued that theoretical accounts of curiosity proposed during the 1st period fell short in 2 areas: They did not offer an adequate explanation for why people voluntarily seek out curiosity, and they failed to delineate situational determinants of curiosity. Furthermore, these accounts did not draw attention to, and thus did not explain, certain salient characteristics of curiosity: its intensity, transience, association with impulsivity, and tendency to disappoint when satisfied. A new account of curiosity is offered that attempts to address these shortcomings. The new account interprets curiosity as a form of cognitively induced deprivation that arises from the perception of a gap in knowledge or understanding. Curiosity is the most superficial of all the affections; it changes its object perpetually; it has an appetite which is very sharp, but very easily satisfied; and it has always an appearance of giddiness, rest
1,859 citations
TL;DR: Empirical research findings suggest that guilt serves various relationship-enhancing functions, including motivating people to treat partners well and avoid transgressions, minimizing inequities and enabling less powerful partners to get their way, and redistributing emotional distress.
Abstract: Multiple sets of empirical research findings on guilt are reviewed to evaluate the view that guilt should be understood as an essentially social phenomenon that happens between people as much as it happens inside them. Guilt appears to arise from interpersonal transactions (including transgressions and positive inequities) and to vary significantly with the interpersonal context. In particular, guilt patterns appear to be strongest, most common, and most consistent in the context of communal relationships, which are characterized by expectations of mutual concern. Guilt serves various relationship-enhancing functions, including motivating people to treat partners well and avoid transgressions, minimizing inequities and enabling less powerful partners to get their way, and redistributing emotional distress.
1,769 citations
TL;DR: An emotional security hypothesis that builds on attachment theory is proposed to account for recent empirical findings on the impact of marital conflict on children and to provide directions for future research.
Abstract: An emotional security hypothesis that builds on attachment theory is proposed to account for recent empirical findings on the impact of marital conflict on children and to provide directions for future research. Children's concerns about emotional security play a role in their regulation of emotional arousal and organization and in their motivation to respond in the face of marital conflict. Over time these response processes and internalized representations of parental relations that develop have implications for children's long-term adjustment. Emotional security is seen as a product of past experiences with marital conflict and as a primary influence on future responding. The impact and interaction of other experiential histories within the family that affect children's emotional security are also examined, with a focus on parent-child relations.
1,688 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors suggest that this bipolar dimension is insufficient to portray comprehensively positive and negative evaluative processes and that the question is not whether such processes are reciprocally activated, but under what conditions they are not reciprocally, non-reciprocally, or independently activated.
Abstract: Evaluative processes refer to the operations by which organisms discriminate threatening from nurturant environments. Low activation of positive and negative evaluative processes by a stimulus reflects neutrality, whereas high activation of such processes reflects maximal conflict. Attitudes, an important class of manifestations of evaluative processes, have traditionally been conceptualized as falling along a bipolar dimension, and the positive and negative evaluative processes underlying attitudes have been conceptualized as being reciprocally activated, making the bipolar rating scale the measure of choice. Research is reviewed suggesting that this bipolar dimension is insufficient to portray comprehensively positive and negative evaluative processes and that the question is not whether such processes are reciprocally activated but under what conditions they are reciprocally, nonreciprocally, or independently activated
1,620 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a meta-analytic integration of the relation between group cohesiveness and performance was reported, and the results of this analysis suggest that the more direct effect may be from performance-to-cohesiveness rather than from Cohesiveness to performance.
Abstract: : This paper reports on a meta-analytic integration of the relation between group cohesiveness and performance. Overall, the cohesiveness-performance effect was highly significant and of small magnitude. Several theoretically informative determinants of the cohesiveness-performance effect were examined. This effect was significantly stronger when cohesiveness was operationalized in terms of measurements of group members' perceptions of cohesiveness than when cohesiveness was operationalized in terms of experimental inductions of cohesiveness. The results of this analysis suggest that the more direct effect may be from performance to cohesiveness rather than from cohesiveness to performance. Discussion considers the implications of these results for future research on the relation between cohesiveness and performance.
1,475 citations
TL;DR: A review of the methods used in that research raises questions of its ecological, convergent, and internal validity as mentioned in this paper, as well as other features such as forced-choice response format, within-subject design, preselected photographs of posed facial expressions, and other features of method are each problematic.
Abstract: Emotions are universally recognized from facial expressions--or so it has been claimed. To support that claim, research has been carried out in various modern cultures and in cultures relatively isolated from Western influence. A review of the methods used in that research raises questions of its ecological, convergent, and internal validity. Forced-choice response format, within-subject design, preselected photographs of posed facial expressions, and other features of method are each problematic. When they are altered, less supportive or nonsupportive results occur. When they are combined, these method factors may help to shape the results. Facial expressions and emotion labels are probably associated, but the association may vary with culture and is loose enough to be consistent with various alternative accounts, 8 of which are discussed.
1,449 citations
TL;DR: A developmental model of marital violence is presented, and the previous literature is reviewed to examine how each batterer subtype might differ on variables of theoretical interest.
Abstract: Previous typologies of male batterers, including typologies developed by means of rational-deductive and empirical-inductive strategies, are reviewed. On the basis of this review, 3 descriptive dimensions (i.e., severity of marital violence, generality of the violence [toward the wife or toward others], and psychopathology/personality disorders) that consistently have been found to distinguish among subtypes of batterers are identified. These dimensions are used to propose a typology consisting of 3 subtypes of batterers (i.e., family only, dysphoric/borderline, and generally violent/antisocial). A developmental model of marital violence is then presented, and the previous literature is reviewed to examine how each batterer subtype might differ on variables of theoretical interest. Finally, some of the methodological limitations of previous typology research are reviewed, and suggestions for future work are offered.
TL;DR: Results suggest that various disclosure-liking effects can be integrated and viewed as operating together within a dynamic interpersonal system.
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.
TL;DR: The theoretical model of how people's perceptions in these domains are positively biased is reviewed, certain misconceptions in its empirical application are correct, and criticisms made by Colvin and Block are addressed.
Abstract: In 1988, we published an article that challenged the notion that accurate perceptions of self and the world are essential for mental health (Taylor & Brown, 1988). We argued instead that people's perceptions in these domains are positively biased and that these positive illusions promote psychological well-being. In the current article, we review our theoretical model, correct certain misconceptions in its empirical application, and address the criticisms made by Colvin and Block. Taylor and Brown's (1988) model of mental health maintains that certain positive illusions are highly prevalent in normal thought and predictive of criteria traditionally associated with mental health. The work initially derived from research with cancer patients (Taylor, 1983) but was integrated in the 1988 essay with literature on social cognition, suggesting that the formulation could also make sense of previously anomalous and somewhat unrelated errors and biases in human thought. As is the case with any theoretical model, the goal of the article was to generate research. On this ground, the model appears to have been quite successful. According to Colvin and Block's estimation, approximately 250 studies have made use of the formulation. Given its popularity and influence, a critical examination of the Taylor and Brown argument is appropriate. In this article, we (a) review some of the central points of our theoretical model; (b) examine Colvin and Block's article in view of these issues; (c) present research germane to our thesis but not discussed by Colvin and Block; and (d) raise some important issues that have yet to be resolved. As before, our aim is to contribute to an informed dialogue regarding the nature of psychological well-being.
TL;DR: Mental contamination is defined as the process whereby a person has an unwanted response because of mental processing that is unconscious or uncontrollable and lay beliefs determine the steps they take (or fail to take) to correct their judgments.
Abstract: We define mental contamination as the process whereby a person has an unwanted response because of mental processing that is unconscious or uncontrollable This type of bias is distinguishable from the failure to know or apply normative rules of inference and can be further divided into the unwanted consequences of automatic processing and source confusion, which is the confusion of 2 or more causes of a response Mental contamination is difficult to avoid because it results from both fundamental properties of human cognition (eg, a lack of awareness of mental processes) and faulty lay beliefs about the mind (eg, incorrect theories about mental biases) People's lay beliefs determine the steps they take (or fail to take) to correct their judgments and thus are an important but neglected source of biased responses Strategies for avoiding contamination, such as controlling one's exposure to biasing information, are discussed
TL;DR: The evidence from both literate and preliterate cultures is overwhelming in support of universals in facial expressions, and A.J. Russell's qualms about other aspects of the design of the studies of literate cultures have no merit.
Abstract: J. A. Russell (1994) misrepresents what universality means, misinterprets the evidence from past studies, and fails to consider or report findings that disagree with his position. New data are introduced that decisively answer the central question that Russell raises about the use of a forced-choice format in many of the past studies. This article also shows that his many other qualms about other aspects of the design of the studies of literate cultures have no merit. Russell's critique of the preliterate cultures is inaccurate; he does not fully disclose what those who studied preliterate subjects did or what they concluded that they had found. Taking account of all of Russell's qualms, my analysis shows that the evidence from both literate and preliterate cultures is overwhelming in support of universals in facial expressions.
TL;DR: A meta-analysis of 47 studies found externalizing was more strongly linked to parental caregiving for boys than for girls, especially among preadolescents and their mothers, and for mothers than for fathers.
Abstract: A meta-analysis of 47 studies was used to shed light on inconsistencies in the concurrent association between parental caregiving and child externalizing behavior. Parent-child associations were strongest when the measure of caregiving relied on observations or interviews, as opposed to questionnaires, and when the measure tapped combinations of parent behaviors (patterns), as opposed to single behaviors. Stronger parent-child associations were also found for older than for younger children, and for mothers than for fathers. Finally, externalizing was more strongly linked to parental caregiving for boys than for girls, especially among preadolescents and their mothers. The meta-analysis helps account for inconsistencies in findings across previous studies and supports theories emphasizing reciprocity of parent and child behavior.
TL;DR: The most consistent set of findings shows that "restrained" eating predicts vulnerability among women and concludes that for the stressors studied to date, the individual-difference model has received stronger support.
Abstract: Stress is widely thought to lead to overeating. Studies of stress-induced eating have tested two models. One has tested whether stress increases eating in all exposed organisms and has been tested primarily with animals and physical stressors. The other has tested individual differences in vulnerability to stress-induced eating and has tested only human subjects and psychological stressors. The most consistent set of findings shows that "restrained" eating predicts vulnerability among women; we conclude that for the stressors studied to date, the individual-difference model has received stronger support. Because the question motivating much of this research is whether stress-induced eating causes obesity, future research should assess the effect of stress on weight-change more directly.
TL;DR: The LISREL model as discussed by the authors uses a pair of hierarchical statistical models to represent within-person true status and between-person differences in true change as a function of predictors.
Abstract: Recently, methodologists have shown how two disparate conceptual arenas—individual growth modeling and covariance structure analysis—can be integrated. The integration brings the flexibility of covariance analysis to bear on the investigation of systematic interindividual differences in change and provides another powerful data-analytic tool for answering questions about the relationship between individual true change and potential predictors of that change. The individual growth modeling framework uses a pair of hierarchical statistical models to represent (a) within-person true status as a function of time and (b) between-person differences in true change as a function of predictors. This article explains how these models can be reformatted to correspond, respectively, to the measurement and structural components of the general LISREL model with mean structures and illustrates, by means of worked example, how the new method can be applied to a sample of longitudinal panel data. Questions about correlates and predictors of individual change over time are concerned with the detection of systematic interindividual differences in change, that is, whether individual change in a continuous outcome is related to selected characteristics of a person's background, environment, treatment, or training. Examples include the following: Do the rates at which students learn differ by attributes of the academic programs in which they are enrolled? Are longitudinal changes in children's psychosocial adjustment related to health status, gender, and home background? Questions like these can be answered only when continuous data are available longitudinally on many individuals, that is, when both time points and individuals have been sampled representatively. Traditionally, researchers have sampled individual status at only two points in time, a strategy that has proven largely inadequate because two waves of data contain only min
TL;DR: In this article, new evidence is presented that supports the Darwinian hypothesis of the innateness and universality of the facial expressions of a limited set of emotions and the efficacy of the most commonly used method of testing it.
Abstract: The idea of innate and universal facial expressions that have links with human emotions was given the status of scientific hypothesis by Darwin (1872/1965). Substantial evidence, old and new, supports his hypothesis. Much of the evidence is independent of language, but Russell's (1994) criticisms of the hypothesis focus on language-dependent data. In this article, it is argued that Russell's critique was off target in that his arguments relate only to a hypothesis of the universality of semantic attributions and overstated in that he used questionable logic in designing studies to support his claims. It is also argued that Russell misinterpreted the relation between the universality hypothesis and differential emotions theory. Finally, new evidence is presented that supports the Darwinian hypothesis of the innateness and universality of the facial expressions of a limited set of emotions and the efficacy of the most commonly used method of testing it.
TL;DR: A cumulative protection model is proposed to explain why chronic juvenile delinquency may be amenable to prevention and how early family support and education may help achieve this important societal goal.
Abstract: A cumulative protection model is proposed to explain why chronic juvenile delinquency may be amenable to prevention and how early family support and education may help achieve this important societal goal. A comprehensive review of early risk factors for chronic delinquency is presented with special attention to interactive effects. Interventions combining comprehensive family support with early education may bring about long-term prevention through short-term protective effects on multiple risks. A review of the early intervention literature reveals that the family support component is associated with effects on family risks, while the early education component is associated with effects on child risks. Both components may be necessary for effects on multiple risks and later reductions in delinquency. Implications for social policy and improvement of Head Start are discussed.
TL;DR: It is argued that a social relational model based on principles of interdependence and equity provides an alternative to psychoanalytic, sociobiological, and cognitive-developmental accounts of conflict behavior during adolescence.
Abstract: Interpersonal conflict is considered within various frameworks of adolescent development. Conflict, defined as behavioral opposition, is distinguished from related constructs. Differences between adolescent relationships and across age groups are reviewed in the incidence and intensity, resolution, and outcome of conflict. Influences of setting on conflict behaviors and effects are emphasized. The evidence does not reveal dramatic shifts in conflict behavior as a function of age or maturation. Consistent differences do emerge, however, when adolescent relationships and conflict settings are considered. It is argued that a social relational model based on principles of interdependence and equity provides an alternative to psychoanalytic, sociobiological, and cognitive-developmental accounts of conflict behavior during adolescence.
TL;DR: It remains unproven that positive illusions foster mental health, and close consideration of several assumptions underlying the formulation raises further questions regarding their thesis.
Abstract: The proposition recently offered by S. E. Taylor and J. D. Brown (1988) that positive illusions foster mental health has garnered considerable attention and acceptance. However, the significant theoretical and applied implications of their view for mental health require a critical evaluation of their argument. An examination of the logic and empirical evidence used to relate mental health to three key positive illusions--unrealistically positive views of the self, illusions of control, and unrealistic optimism--failed to substantiate Taylor and Brown's thesis. Further survey of more recent studies on positive illusions and mental health also failed to lend support to the Taylor and Brown generalization. Close consideration of several assumptions underlying the formulation raises further questions regarding their thesis. The present article concludes that it remains unproven that positive illusions foster mental health.
TL;DR: Mediator analyses revealed that minorities perceived as especially consistent in the advocacy of their views were especially influential, suggesting that in response to normative pressures, recipients avoided aligning themselves with a deviant source.
Abstract: A meta-analytic review of 97 minority influence experiments evaluated the processes by which sources advocating deviant, minority opinions exert influence. Minority impact was most marked on measures of influence that were private from the source and indirectly related to the content of the appeal and less evident on direct private influence measures and on public measures. This attenuated impact of minorities on direct private and public measures suggests that in response to normative pressures, recipients avoided aligning themselves with a deviant source. Mediator analyses revealed that minorities perceived as especially consistent in the advocacy of their views were especially influential. The relation between normative and informational pressures in the minority influence paradigm was discussed.
TL;DR: A transactional model is outlined that conceptualizes sexual abuse as a stressor consisting of a series of abuse events, abuse- related events, and disclosure-related events that each tend to increase risk for maladaptive outcomes and proposes that cognitive appraisal and coping responses mediate the effects of these events.
Abstract: A review of theories to predict the mental health effects of child sexual abuse suggests that existing models have not adequately defined stress and coping constructs and have not specified how those variables might interact with other environmental factors. This article outlines a transactional model that conceptualizes sexual abuse as a stressor consisting of a series of abuse events, abuse-related events, and disclosure-related events that each tend to increase risk for maladaptive outcomes. The model also proposes that cognitive appraisals and coping responses mediate the effects of these events, that developmental and environmental factors may moderate relationships between sexual abuse stressors and victim responses, and that victims' initial responses may effect subsequent levels of abuse-related stress. Empirical studies relevant to the major components of this model are reviewed, and the implications of these findings for future research are considered.
TL;DR: Vredenburg, Flett, and Krames's (1993) conclusion that self-reported distress in college students is an appropriate analog for diagnosable depression is examined in light of a broader literature.
Abstract: Vredenburg, Flett, and Krames's (1993) conclusion that self-reported distress in college students is an appropriate analog for diagnosable depression is examined in light of a broader literature. Self-reported distress is conceptually and empirically distinct from depression and depressive symptoms. Distress has stronger correlates with common psychological and social factors. Distress in college students tends to be mild and transient, and most distressed college students are not depressed. Some other features of college life also make generalizations to clinical and community samples of adults problematic. Overall, ubiquitous misunderstandings in the literature have limited recognition of the pitfalls of studying distress as an analog for diagnosable depression. It is undesirable for reasons of science, social responsibility, and the credibility of psychological models of depression.
TL;DR: The P3(00) event-related brain potential (ERP) was used to study the development of alcoholism by comparing males who have a positive family history of alcoholism with control Ss who have no such familial history as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The P3(00) event-related brain potential (ERP) is used to study the development of alcoholism by comparing males who have a positive family history of alcoholism with control Ss who have no such familial history. Meta-analysis indicated that overall, smaller P3 amplitudes were obtained from males with family histories of alcoholism compared to controls. Moderator analysis indicated that paradigms using difficult visual tasks yielded the most reliable effects. Furthermore, no differences in outcomes were obtained among studies that recruited positive family history Ss exclusively from among individuals whose father had received treatment for alcoholism as compared with other studies. These findings are discussed in the context of using ERPs as an evaluative tool in the study of psychopathology.
TL;DR: The evidence for an imitative deficit in autism and for the possible role of deficiencies in the representation of actions are considered and an argument is developed for the claim that the imitation problem is diagnostic of a basic information-processing rather than a social dysfunction.
Abstract: This article considers the evidence for an imitative deficit in autism and for the possible role of deficiencies in the representation of actions. An argument is developed for the claim that the imitation problem is diagnostic of a basic information-processing rather than a social dysfunction. Reviews are offered of the empirical literature on gestural imitation in autism (and other developmental disorders) and the more anecdotal evidence for problems in the domain of action development in autism. An account that may help to integrate these areas is suggested, as are directions for future research.
TL;DR: Hyman and Honorton as mentioned in this paper conducted a meta-analysis of the ganzfeld database and concluded that the replication rates and effect sizes achieved by one particular experimental method, namely the Ganzfeld procedure, are now sufficient to warrant bringing this body of data to the attention of the wider psychological community.
Abstract: Most academic psychologists do not yet accept the existence of psi, anomalous processes of information or energy transfer (such as telepathy or other forms of extrasensory perception) that are currently unexplained in terms of known physical or biological mechanisms. We believe that the replication rates and effect sizes achieved by one particular experimental method, the ganzfeld procedure, are now sufficient to warrant bringing this body of data to the attention of the wider psychological community. Competing meta-analyses of the ganzfeld database are reviewed, 1 by R. Hyman (1985), a skeptical critic of psi research, and the other by C. Honorton (1985), a parapsychologist and major contributor to the ganzfeld database. Next the results of 11 new ganzfeld studies that comply with guidelines jointly authored by R. Hyman and C. Honorton (1986) are summarized. Finally, issues of replication and theoretical explanation are discussed. The term psi denotes anomalous processes of information or energy transfer, processes such as telepathy or other forms of extrasensory perception that are currently unexplained in terms of known physical or biological mechanisms. The term is purely descriptive: It neither implies that such anomalous phenomena are paranormal nor connotes anything about their underlying mechanisms. Does psi exist? Most academic psychologists don't think so. A survey of more than 1,100 college professors in the United States found that 55% of natural scientists, 66% of social scientists (excluding psychologists), and 77% of academics in the arts, humanities, and education believed that ESP is either an established fact or a likely possibility. The comparable figure for psy
TL;DR: Analogical transfer in problem solving is one example of analogical cognition, which also includes metaphors, similes, and case-based reasoning as mentioned in this paper, and the dominant theories in this area posit that abstract schemata mediate transfer or that problem solving by means of analogy is accomplished through application of the formal or deep structural characteristics of one problem to another.
Abstract: Analogical transfer in problem solving is one example of analogical cognition, which also includes metaphors, similes, and case-based reasoning. The dominant theories in this area posit that abstract schemata mediate transfer (K. J. Holyoak, 1984a, 1985) or that problem solving by means of analogy is accomplished through application of the formal or deep structural characteristics of one problem to another (D. Gentner, 1983, 1989). More recently, exemplar-based accounts (D. L. Medin & B. H. Ross, 1989; B. H. Ross, 1987) have emphasized problem content and exemplar-specific details in the various stages of transfer. The present article reviews research on analogical transfer and analyzes the theoretical models in light of this evidence