Social scientists often rely on economic experiments such as ultimatum and dictator games to understand human cooperation. Systematic deviations from economic predictions have inspired broader conceptions of self-interest that incorporate concerns for fairness. Yet no framework can describe all of the major results. We take a different approach by…

Research shows that people comply more frequently to threats when the credibility of the source is high rather than low and that compliance is directly related to punishment magnitude. To examine the impact of an advisor on a target of threats, male college students (N=74) participated in an experiment that included high or low threatner…

Depression in a college population was found to be correlated with small changes in many activities rather than with the large reductions in overt behavior reported for clinically depressed individuals. Results of the study suggest the possibility of an operant component in maintaining depressive behavior. (Author)

Predictions that the assignment of intimate topics for self-disclosure in the presence of self-awareness-producing stimuli would lead to negative affect and attempts to avoid self-awareness, rather than a positive, cathartic experience, were investigated by conducting an experiment in which male and female subjects described themselves while alone…

Theoretical interpretations of cooperation and competition are discussed in relation to motivational and situational determinants. It is suggested that the degree of competition exhibited in an interaction is an inverse function of the quantity of resources available, and that the effect of situational characteristics on cooperative behavior is…

The existence of extrasensory perception (ESP) among volunteer college students was investigated in numerous studies, under hypnotic and non-hypnotic conditions. Study results indicate that: (1) some types of suggestions administered in a hypnotic context appear to facilitate extrasensory perception; (2) strong ESP suggestions administered without…

This study focuses on reported (a) satisfaction in stages of the life cycle; (b) levels of general happiness; and (c) frequency of peak experiences. Subjects were 48 undergraduate students (17 males, 31 females) at Laurentian University, Canada. Results from all three areas in this study accord closely with other relevant published work. (Author)

The experiment described in this paper is concerned with prose learning. In the field of the psychology of learning, a section was arbitrarily chosen and covered by 21 passages of equal length. Six contained the essential information concerning the six keywords (elements) of the domain. The fifteen others dealt with all possible relationships…

Discusses why agentic and idiographic approaches (in combination with more typical nomothetic, nonagentic studies) may enhance the predictive accuracy of psychological experiments. Presents study on exercise behavior of 42 college student subjects and analyzes it from 3 perspectives: nonagentic-nomothetic, nonagentic-idiographic, and…

Two experiments were conducted to examine the relationship between stress level and learned helplessness in human subjects. Experiment 1 subjected subjects to loud or moderate noise in order to induce differential stress. Experiment 2 was a partial replication of the first study using only loud noise. (Editor/RK)

Explains a study designed to consider the influence of positive and negative affect induced by cognitive mediation on behaviors thought to reflect depression. Concludes that results show fairly strong support for Velten's (1968) methodology and suggest that affect can be manipulated in the laboratory. (Author/EJT)

This research studies the effects of censoring a communication, overriding the censor, and the attractiveness of the censor on the potential audience's attitude and desire to hear the communication. The subjects, 144 undergraduate psychology students, were told that a speech which they were to have heard had been censored by a positively,…

This study examines the effects of sex upon the perception, evaluation and reciprocation of self-disclosing behavior. Subjects were 68 Rutgers University undergraduates who responded to a written statement attributed to either a male or female. The statements varied according to level of intimacy; some disclosed intimate information, while others…

The effects of actor identity on achievement attributions for success and failure were investigated. Subjects filled out a locus of control scale either for themselves, a neutral other, a liked other, or a disliked other. Within each actor identity variation, the scale items were either (1) unchanged from the original version or specified as (2)…

A study explored attitudes and perceptions that may influence how University of Maryland students utilize dental services. Significant variables included: (1) students' attitudes toward dentists; (2) mother's visits to dentists; (3) dental problems experienced the previous year; (4) dental anxiety; (5) sex; and (6) perceptions of the number and…