Ambiguity and verbal fluency in the TAT.

15 TAT cards, divided into low-, medium-. and high-ambiguity groups, were administered to 30 female nursing students. Stimulus ambiguity, defined in terms of variability of themes evoked by a given card, was found to be associated with hesitant and disrupted speech. These findings are explained in terms of the mediating role of uncertainty on speech. An adaptation effect was noted. The later, as opposed to the earlier stories, are associated with a longer reaction time, but fewer "ah's," less silence, and a quicker articulation rate. Finally, significant differences are noted between Ss' verbal fluency indexes, based on all 15 cards and thus independent of stimulus ambiguity, and verbal fluency indexes obtained in an interview situation. These differences are discussed in terms of monological vs. dialogical speech. (21 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The Thematic Apperception Test and the Children's Apperception Test in clinical use.

Reviews the book, The Thematic Apperception Test and the Children's Apperception Test in Clinical Use by Leopold Bellak (see record 1955-04032-000). More than anything else this book gives evidence of the extensivity and maturity of the author's clinical experience. Both in the expository sections of the volume, in which the author elucidates his thinking about such items as theoretical foundations for projective testing and the use of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) in psychotherapy, as well as in the case illustration sections in which sample TAT and Children's Apperception Test (CAT) stories are analyzed and interpreted, there is a richness in clinical wisdom and an erudition in psychoanalytic personality theory. However, there are shortcomings of the book as a manual for TAT and CAT interpretation, unless one wishes to accept the author's interpretive procedure "lock, stock, and barrel." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rorschach and TAT indices of homosexuality in overt homosexuals, neurotics, and normal males.

Rorschach and TAT protocols of 20 male overt homosexuals, 20 male neurotics, and 20 normal male students were compared in order to determine whether proposed homosexual signs were discriminative. The homosexual group gave a significantly greater mean number of the Rorschach and TAT signs than did either nonhomosexual group. "Within the homosexual group, correlation between the number of Rorschach signs and number of TAT signs produced by each S proved significant, serving as a check on the validity of both schemes and indicating the consistency of these 2 diverse measures of homosexuality." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptual preferences as a function of personality variables under normal and stressful conditions.

"This investigation… studied the relationship between preference for detail and depth, which are assumed to underlie 'texture' responses [on the Rorschach], and measures of dependency, insecurity, and anxiety under normal and stressful conditions… . The more an individual acknowledges his dependency on others, the greater is his preference for detail… . Under conditions of induced stress, the change in preference for detail is a function of the level of the individual's insecurity… . Under conditions of induced stress, the change in preference for depth is a function of the level of the individual's symptomatic anxiety." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social desirability ratings of personality variables by Norwegian and American college students.

The statements in Edwards Personal Preference Schedule were used to determine the degree of relationship between social desirability judgments made by Norwegian and American college students. 86 Norwegian Ss averaging 17 years of age and 152 college students of somewhat higher age rate the statements on a 9-point scale ranging from extremely socially desirable to extremely socially undesirable. The correlation between the scale values of the 2 ethnic groups was .78 which indicates a high agreement with 61% of the variance being common. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of small group role behavior from personality variables.

"A sample of 819 Air Force officers was administered a test battery designed to predict the individual's role in small group situations. This battery was factor analyzed, yielding four factors: Assertiveness, Power Orientation, Rigidity, and Aggressive Nonconformity." Assertiveness correlated best with the predicted small group behavior. 24 refs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A psychological investigation of a group of demographic, personality, and behavioral variables as they relate to viewing educational television.

42 frequent and 72 nonviewers were interviewed by 6 trained interviewers using a questionnaire composed of fixed-alternatives, general open-end, and projective questions. They did not differ with respect to occupation, income, sex, race, or personality factors. Time spent in viewing reaches its peak after 50. "Our findings indicate that frequent viewers discuss and act upon ideas and information gained from educational television programs." From Psyc Abstracts 36:02:2KC25E. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impressions of groups as a function of the stimulus values of their individual members.

Beginning with a model of social perception in which the perceiver is assumed to operate according to the conventional canons of statistical inference, it was hypothesized that trait judgments of groups of individuals represented by facial photographs would match the mean values of these photographs judged individually and that confidence and the amount of information required before a judgment is reported will vary inversely with the variance in the set of photographs comprising the group, and directly with the significance of the judgment for the judge. Using different procedures and measures of the dependent variables, 2 experiments were performed which agreed in supporting the hypotheses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of amount of possession of the trait of hostility on accuracy of perception of hostility in others.

Some theories of personality hold that an individual's perception of others is influenced by his own personality characteristics; more specifically, that a trait of low social value will be projected more into others, and that insight into the possession of these characteristics reduces this distortion. These 2 hypotheses were tested by having a group of college students rate each other (including themselves) on degree of friendliness or hostility. Agreement with group rating about self yielded the insight score. In general, the hypotheses were supported; the "friendly" Ss were most accurate in their perception of others, and insight was positively associated with accurate perception. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4HL16M. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality variables and role in a union business agent group.

MMPI data are analyzed for a group of 21 union business agents, whose roles are characterized by a heavy demand made on time and energy, problem orientation, operation under constant tension which they could not afford to show, and need for caution and skepticism. Profile data for the group as a whole, and a comparison of profiles for four high-rated and four low-rated agents suggested profiles differing from the general population in a predictable direction. "This study provides some indications that personality data, such as those made available by using the MMPI, may be useful in giving definition to some of the qualities necessary to fulfill role demands satisfactorily." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Individual differences, situational variables, and personality research": Erratum.

Reports an error in the original article by Irwin G. Sarason (Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1962, 65[6], 376-380; (see record 1964-10015-001). On page 379, the second line of Paragraph 1 should read: (p     

Psychogenic deafness, perceptual defense, and personality variables in children.

"Survey of a child guidance population showed that of 26 functionally hard-of-hearing cases, 14 presented elevated thresholds for pure tones but were within normal limits for speech. The other group, though normal on pure-tone testing, presented elevated thresholds for all speech, rather than for relatively threatening stimuli. It would appear that both groups were reactive to situations, as opposed to specific auditory stimuli within those situations. Furthermore the majority of the pure-tone group were clinically classified as 'hysteric,' whereas the majority of the speech group was classed as 'anxiety state.' The applicability of 'defense' theories to such cases is discussed." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interrelationships among personality variables, kinesthetic figure afteraffect, and reminiscence in motor learning.

The relationship among kinesthetic figural aftereffect (KAE), reminiscence in motor learning (Rem), MMPI data, psychiatric diagnosis, age and vocabulary were studied in psychotic and nonpsychotic VA patients. KAE was found to be negatively related to Rem, but there was no significant relationship with MMPI and psychiatric diagnostic data; Rem was found to be positively related with MMPI and psychiatric diagnosis. It was assumed that part of the explanation for whatever relationships existed between the variables might be found in neural processes. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4HJ87M. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measurement of attitudes toward alcohol and their relation to personality variables.

2 10-item alcohol attitude scales were developed from an available item pool. 1 scale measures favorability of attitude toward "social drinking" while the other taps attitude toward "alcoholism and the alcoholic." Scores on the scales were consistent with ratings of attitudes and of drinking behavior made from interview reports obtained from 2 college student samples participating in a longitudinal study, 92 students at Stanford University and 102 at the University of California, Berkeley. Alcohol attitudes of these groups were correlated with scores on 2 personality variables, "social maturity" and "impulse expression." Differences between the 2 samples, and between the sexes, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexual symbolism and the variables of sex and personality integration.

The purpose was to reassess the hypothesis of sexual symbolism using stimulus figures similar to those presented in Levy's study (see 28: 8696). The hypotheses were: (1) when asked to designate stimulus objects as male or female, Ss respond to elongated, pointed, or penetrating objects as male, and to hollow, rounded, or enclosing objects as female; and (2) psychiatric patients identify these objects as male or female, respectively, less frequently than nonpsychiatric patients. 20 psychiatric patients and 20 college students, each group made up of an equal number of males and females, served as Ss. Both hypotheses were confirmed at significant levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Continual association as a function of level of creativity and type of verbal stimulus.

Continual word association was studied as a function of Remote Associates Test (RAT) performance, form class, associative hierarchy, and Thorndike-Lorge word frequency. Ss were selected as high creative (HC), low creative (LC), and medium creative (MC) on the basis of their RAT scores. It was found that HC Ss give the greatest number of associations and maintain a relatively higher speed of association throughout a 2-min. period. More responses were elicited by nouns than adjectives, flat hierarchy words than steep, and high frequency words than low. The S and stimulus variable did not interact. Relevance to an associative theory of creative thinking is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A factor analytic investigation of personality variables and reminiscence in motor learning.

The effect of personality type upon learning and reminiscence was studied. Personality factors (as measured by the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey, 1949) were assessed in relationship to pursuit-motor learning. The results indicated that extraversion appears to be related to performance in the motor task as well as reminiscence, but that the relationship, as found in this study by these methods, is not large. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4CF98B. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reaction time as a function of manifest anxiety and stimulus intensity.

"The present study was designed to investigate the relative increase in drive of anxious and nonanxious individuals as a function of different intensities of stimulation… The results indicated that both an increase in manifest anxiety and an increase in stimulus intensity were effective in increasing the speed of reaction during training, and in raising the height of the temporal gradient of response strength; neither factor was effective in steepening the slope of the gradient." 17 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitudes as adjustments to stimulus, background, and residual factors.

"Statements concerning war and peace were judged under simulated group conditions and in an alone condition… . When individuals are exposed to the opinions of others with regard to statements concerning war and peace, it is found that their own expressed attitudes shift more or less markedly toward group opinion. It is also found that the more frequently individuals respond to background influences, the larger is their shift toward or away from the group. Both the frequency and amount of shift from alone opinion toward background judgments correlate with degree of submissiveness as measured by the Allport A-S Reaction Study." 19 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)