Some personality and aptitudinal correlates of the "A-B" therapist scale.

On the basis of prior research showing similarities between practicing therapists and undergraduates varying in A-B status, 12 scales from the Omnibus Personality Inventory and the 4 component scores of the American College Testing Program battery were related to A-B status of about 2400 undergraduates. A stepwise discriminant analysis showed that the present set of measures significantly discriminated male As from ABs (middles) and Bs, and that the differences between As and Bs involved the joint effects of masculinity-femininity, verbal aptitude, and natural science aptitude measures. As and Bs differed in a way consistent with previous reasearch on "cognitive style." Correlational and factor-analytic data indicated that the A-B variable cannot be regarded as linearly related to those measures which discriminated As from Bs. A quasi-typological interpretation of the A-B variable was proposed and methodological implications were drawn. (20 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Detection of the fake "good" and "bad" response on the Sixteen Personality Factor Inventory in prisoners and college students.

Administered the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire to 30 inmates of a correctional center and to 30 college students, instructing some Ss to fake their answers to make themselves look better than they are and others to try to give a worse impression. In the fake-good condition, only 6 of the 18 factors examined were not altered significantly, and in the fake-bad condition only 2 factors. Prisoners and students produced similar faking results. The 3 dissimulation indices for detecting faking are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the self-erasing nature of errors of prediction.

82 female undergraduates were assigned to 1 of 4 experimental groups—predict-request, information-request, predict only, and request only—in which requested tasks involved writing a counterattitudinal essay or singing over the telephone. In 3 experiments, Ss overpredicted the degree to which their behavior would be socially desirable and these errors of prediction proved to be self-erasing. Having mispredicted a given behavior, Ss were likely to have these predictions confirmed in later behavior, indicating that prediction of a behavioral sequence evokes a specific cognitive representation of that sequence which is subsequently accessed. Results demonstrate the strong effects on behavior of engaging in prebehavioral cognitive work. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The development of schemes for recognizing additive and alternative effects in a "natural experiment" context.

20 Ss at each of 4 age levels (4th, 6th, and 8th grade and college) were presented a "natural experiment" problem situation in which they were asked to interpret the more complex situations in which (a) either of 2 alternative variables is sufficient to produce an outcome, or (b) 2 variables are additive in their effect on an outcome. Not until adolescence could Ss isolate alternative or additive causes in a multivariable situation, though it is speculated they may comprehend the concept of alternative causes well before this age. Only 65% of college Ss exhibited correct reasoning in one or both situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The "hidden observer" phenomenon in hypnosis: Some additional findings.

23 highly hypnotizable undergraduates (Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility) underwent 2 specially constructed 7-item hypnotic inductions. Over the 14 items, the main finding was of a relationship between E. R. Hilgard's (1973, 1977, 1979) "hidden observer" effect and 2 aspects of hypnotic age regression. Ss reporting a hidden observer experienced duality during regression to age 5, in which they were aware of being both adult and child. When asked to write a complex sentence, most did so, usually without spelling errors. The Ss not reporting this effect experienced quasi-lateral age regression in which they had the exclusive feeling of being 5 yrs old, with no sense of an adult identity. Most of these Ss were unable to write the same complex sentence when requested to during age regression. The study replicated Hilgard's finding of the hidden observer phenomenon in terms of its incidence and obtained similar verbal reports from Ss experiencing it. At the same time, the results suggest that a neodissociation account of hypnosis may need some modifications to accommodate these additional findings. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vocal onset latency in the study of question answering.

A study of the adequacy of the vocal response measure in studying question answering among 12 undergraduates showed that vocal answer latencies to yes–no questions closely resembled previously measured buttonpress latencies obtained by the author (1984). On a small number of read-only trials, Ss viewed the phrases "yes," "no," or "don't know" in place of a question. On these trials, the Ss simply recited the phrase on the screen. The resulting "yes" latencies were faster than the others, which did not differ. This result is consistent with the hypothesis that an internal response index is initialized "yes" in yes–no question answering. It is concluded that the vocal onset latency measure and the read-only trial procedure are useful in question answering research. (French abstract) (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correlates of the MMPI-2-RF in a college setting.

The current study examined empirical correlates of scores on Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2–Restructured Form (MMPI–2–RF; A. Tellegen & Y. S. Ben-Porath, 2008; Y. S. Ben-Porath & A. Tellegen, 2008) scales in a college setting. The MMPI–2–RF and six criterion measures (assessing anger, assertiveness, sex roles, cognitive failures, social avoidance, and social fear) were administered to 846 college students (nmen = 264, nwomen = 582) to examine the convergent and discriminant validity of scores on the MMPI–2–RF Specific Problems and Interest scales. Results demonstrated evidence of generally good convergent score validity for the selected MMPI–2–RF scales, reflected in large effect size correlations with criterion measure scores. Further, MMPI–2–RF scale scores demonstrated adequate discriminant validity, reflected in relatively low comparative median correlations between scores on MMPI–2–RF substantive scale sets and criterion measures. Limitations and future directions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pain and dissociation in the cold pressor test: A study of hypnotic analgesia with "hidden reports" through automatic key pressing and automatic talking.

To test whether pain blocked by hypnotic analgesia may still be perceived at some level, 20 highly hypnotizable undergraduates participated in an experiment involving cold pressor pain in the normal condition and in hypnotically suggested analgesia. 3 reports were obtained reflecting felt pain within the hypnotic analgesia condition: the usual verbal report on a numerical scale, a manual report by "automatic key pressing," and a retrospective verbal report through "automatic talking." 9 Ss who were amnesic for both keypressing and automatic talking reported more pain in the automatic (hidden) reports than in their usual verbal reports. 8 of these 9, following release of amnesia, had a clear perception of 2 levels of awareness of the pain: the usual hypnotic experience of pain attenuated by analgesia suggestions, and a knowledge at another level of a more severe pain. In no case, however, did an S give a retrospective report of normal suffering at this "hidden" level. The hypnotically analgesic S may have reported no pain verbally because he was amnesic for it; when amnesia was removed he recalled the sensory pain, but without a suffering component, because suffering apparently did not occur. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)