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1University of Heidelberg
2University of München
Summary
This paper focuses on behavioral routines in adaptive decision making. In an experiment consisting of two phases, participants worked on recurrent, multiattribute choice problems. In the first phase, routines were induced by relying upon the human ability to adapt to situational changes by changing decision strategies. To induce strategy change, time pressure was varied as a within factor. Payoffs were manipulated so that an adaptive change in strategy led participants to maximize choice frequency for one out of three options (routine acquisition). After a one week time lapse, participants worked on similar problems, containing the previously preferred routine option. In this second phase, payoffs favored deviation from the routine option. Results showed that choices were almost perfectly calibrated to payoffs under low time pressure. However, if time pressure increased, participants were more likely to prefer the routine option, even though search strategies were still used adaptively and evidence discouraged routine selection. Results are discussed with reference to the model of adaptive decision making (Payne, Bettman & Johnson, 1993), and the MODE model of attitude-behavior relation (Fazio, 1990).
Key words
Decision making, routines, decision strategies, time pressure
Swiss Journal of Psychology, Band 58, 1999, Heft 3, © Verlag Hans Huber Bern
1University Department of Adult Psychiatry, Lausanne,
Switzerland
2University Hospital of Geneva, Department of Psychiatry, Geneva, Switzerland
Summary
Family cohesion and adaptability, as operationalised in the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scales III (FACES III), are two hypothesised dimensions of family functioning. We tested the properties of a French version of FACES III in school-children (mean age: 13 years; S.D:0.85) recruited from the general population and their parents. Separate confirmatory factor analyses were performed for adolescents and adults. The results of both analyses were compatible with a two-factor structure similar to that proposed by the authors of the original instrument. However, orthogonality between the two factors was only supported in the adult data. Internal reliability estimates were 0.78 and 0.68 in adolescents and 0.82 and 0.65 in adults, for cohesion and adaptability respectively.
Key words
FACES III, confirmatory factor analysis, internal reliability, cross-cultural comparison
Swiss Journal of Psychology, Band 58, 1999, Heft 3, © Verlag Hans Huber Bern
University of Geneva
Summary
Twelve blindfolded subjects localized two different pure tones, randomly played by eight sound sources in the horizontal plane. Either subjects could get information supplied by their pinnae (external ear) and their head movements or not. We found that pinnae, as well as head movements, had a marked influence on auditory localization performance with this type of sound. Effects of pinnae and head movements seemed to be additive; the absence of one or the other factor provoked the same loss of localization accuracy and even much the same error pattern. Head movement analysis showed that subjects turn their face towards the emitting sound source, except for sources exactly in the front or exactly in the rear, which are identified by turning the head to both sides. The head movement amplitude increased smoothly as the sound source moved from the anterior to the posterior quadrant.
Key words
Auditory localization, pinnae, head movements, frequency
Swiss Journal of Psychology, Band 58, 1999, Heft 3, © Verlag Hans Huber Bern
1 University of Bochum, Germany
2 University Landau, Germany
Summary
This study examined the question how feelings mediate cooperative support in temporary work units, i.e. project groups. Tests and questionnaires were administered on three occasions during projects. Data were gathered from 150 undergraduate students who worked together in 39 project groups. Required tasks were to plan, conduct, analyze, and report an empirical study within a period of 3 to 4 months. The groups were led by members of the educational staff who monitored the progress of task accomplishment. It was established that cooperative support within the groups was strongly influenced by positive mood and group atmosphere, thus confirming the conceptual framework of organizational spontaneity. Implications for research and application are discussed.
Key words
Cooperation, group atmosphere, mood, organizational citizenship behavior, organizational spontaneity, prosocial behavior
Swiss Journal of Psychology, Band 58, 1999, Heft 3, © Verlag Hans Huber Bern
University of Geneva
Summary
Several experiments have shown that cognitive abilities involved in the representation and understanding of change over time (what we term "diachronic thought") develop strikingly in various domains between the ages of 8 and 12 years. Do these abilities simply reflect the child's general cognitive level or are they specific reasoning competencies related to change over time? The present research deals with this question and studies the relationships between three tasks assessing diachronic thought (Qualitative transformation, Temporal dissociation and Dynamic synthesis) and two tasks assessing the children's operatory level (Probabilistic reasoning and Spatial reasoning). Each set of tasks was presented during a separate session to 45 children aged 8, 10 and 12 years. As expected, a significant development in the subjects' answers to diachronic and operatory tasks was observed. Moreover, the results revealed that there was a significant correlation between two diachronic tasks and the operatory tasks as long as the effect of age was not controlled, but that only the correlation between tasks in the same set (either diachronic or operatory) remained significant when the age effect was controlled. We interpret these results as showing that diachronic thought, as assessed with our three tasks, can be considered as a specific reasoning ability.
Key words
Cognitive development, time, diachronic thinking, operatory level
Swiss Journal of Psychology, Band 58, 1999, Heft 3, © Verlag Hans Huber Bern
Université de Provence, Aix-en-Provence
Summary
This paper is concerned by a possible articulation between the diversity of individual opinions and the existence of consensus in social representations. It postulates the existence of consensual normative boundaries framing the individual opinions. A study by questionnaire about the social representations of the development of intelligence gives support to this notion.
Key words
Social representations, consensus, diversity, development of intelligence
Swiss Journal of Psychology, Band 58, 1999, Heft 3, © Verlag Hans Huber Bern