In the present work, we investigate the hypothesis that failures of task-related executive control that occur during episodes of mind wandering are associated with an increase in extraneous movements (fidgeting). In 2 studies, we assessed mind wandering using thought probes while participants performed the metronome response task (MRT), which…

The incidence of three types of behaviors consistent with nonattending in completing surveys was studied with 1,240 elementary school students, 3,541 students in grades 5 through 12, and 2,688 teachers. While the proportion of missing items did not seem to be a problem, there is evidence of patterns that indicate nonattending behavior. (SLD)

Viewing personality as the ability to elicit consistent reactions from others, individuals classified on Moltola's History of Interpersonal Distance questionnaire were expected to elicit different amounts of nodding and smiling from an interviewer. As predicted, low distance individuals elicited more smiling from one of two interviewers, but no…

The effects of feedback letters sent to students thanking them for their course ratings were examined in two experiments. In the first study, students who initially rated the course highly were not affected by the feedback letters. However, after being exposed to poor instructional materials (an inadequately prepared study guide), students who…

When self-administered surveys or questionnaires are administered, there is often a question of whether respondents have attended to the items in a thoughtful manner. This paper examines the results of three different surveys to investigate the occurrence of nonattending behaviors such as missing items, patterns that indicate lack of…

The extent to which student questionnaire responses reflect students' active behavior was studied through course attendance patterns of Israeli undergraduates, student completion of a questionnaire rating college lecturers, and interviews with 36 students. In this instance, the questionnaire did not reflect actual behavior. Explanations are…

Tests of conditionability in infants were used in a longidudinal study of 32 subjects in the first year of life. The research was based on Eysenck's hypothesis that conditionability i s a unitary factor related to introversion-extroversion and attention span. The objective of the investigators was to devise a battery of conditioning tasks…