Dane Archer

Interperting the expressive behavior of others: The Interpersonal Perception Task

This paper describes the validation of the Interpersonal Perception Task (IPT), a new method for studying the process of social perception. The IPT is a videotape consisting of 30 scenes. Each scene is paired with a multiple-choice question about the interaction depicted in the scene. All scenes contain full-channel sequences of unscripted behavior and employ an objective criterion of accurate judgment. Five common types of social interaction are represented: status, intimacy, kinship, competition, and deception.In the first study the IPT was administered to 438 subjects. Results indicated that subjects performed better than chance for 28 of the 30 scenes and that females performed better than males. A second study investigated the possibility that the people who appear in the IPT display idiosyncratic or unrepresentative behaviors. Three coders performed a scene-by-scene content analysis of the IPT, noting the presence or absence of behaviors which previous researchers have found to be associated with the five areas represented in the IPT. In all but one scene, coders found enough behavioral information to enable correct interpretation.A third study employed a peer nomination procedure to explore the construct validity of the IPT. Subjects obtaining higher scores on the IPT were perceived by their friends as more socially skilled. Finally, in an investigation of the convergent and discriminant validity of the IPT, we found no relationship with a visual acuity task or the Machiavellian scale, a significant positive correlation with the Self-Monitoring Scale, a significant positive correlation with the Social Interpretations Task (SIT), and an even stronger positive correlation with those SIT items which measure the same areas as the IPT. Uses of the IPT to investigate the process and accuracy of interpersonal perception are discussed.

Face-ism: Five studies of sex differences in facial prominence.

On analyse ici la face humaine sur 1750 photographies editees dans au moins 12 numeros de 5 periodiques americains en tenant compte du sexe

The social-psychological foundations of successful energy conservation programmes☆

Abstract In spite of high potential for saving energy in US buildings, adoption rates for residential conservation technologies have been low. Research in the social and behavioural sciences helps to explain these low adoption rates and suggests strategies for improving conservation delivery systems. The authors propose a social diffusion model as a useful conceptual framework for analysing the spread of conservation devices. This formulation stresses the importance of existing social networks, focusing on the transmission of vivid and personal information from credible sources and the modelling of the behaviour of trusted others. A review is presented of successful utility, government and community conservation programmes that address the complexities of human information processing and make special efforts to overcome structural barriers to participation by all energy consumers. Exemplary programmes are identified and a checklist is provided for use in conservation programme planning, implementation and evaluation.

Unspoken Diversity: Cultural Differences in Gestures

This paper describes the use of video to explore cultural differences in gestures. Video recordings were used to capture a large sample of international gestures, and these are edited into a documentary video, A World of Gestures: Culture and Nonverbal Communication. This paper describes the approach and methodology used. A number of specific questions are examined: Are there universally understood hand gestures?; Are there universal categories of gestures—i.e., universal messages with unique instances in each society?; Can the exact same gesture have opposite meanings in two cultures?; Can individuals articulate and explain the gestures common in their culture?; How can video methods provide “visual replication” of nuanced behaviors such as gestures?; Are there gender differences in knowing or performing gestures?; and finally, Is global diversity collapsing toward Western gestural forms under the onslaught of cultural imperialism? The research findings suggest that there are both cultural “differences” and also cultural “meta-differences”—more profound differences involving deeply embedded categories of meaning that make cultures unique.

Power in Groups: Self-Concept Changes of Powerful and Powerless Group Members

The failure to find unequivocal relationships between small-group participation and self-concept changes may be due, in part, to undetected mediating variables. That is, it may be that groups do not have either uniformly positive or uniformly negative effects on self-concept-but that both occur systematically in groups as a func-tion of specifiable and measurable aspects of each group members experience. One possible mediating variable, power or dominance, was investigated in this study of 102 members of six self-analytic groups. Power seemed to be a fairly robust antecedent or predictor of the direction of self-concept changes: those high in power changed toward a more positive self-concept and those low in power changed toward a more negative self-concept.

A Method for Teaching About Verbal and Nonverbal Communication

A method for teaching about verbal and nonverbal communication is described. The Interpersonal Perception Task (IPT) consists of a videotape of 30 brief scenes. Viewers answer interpretive questions by decoding the verbal and nonverbal cues in the scenes. Information is presented in all communication channels; several categories of interaction are represented; and for each scene, there is an objective criterion of accurate judgment. Instructional techniques using the IPT highlight the subtlety and complexity of communication cues, teach about specific cues to accuracy, demonstrate the relative importance of communication channels, and help students understand the process of interpretation.

Ethical Problems in Small Group Observation

The rapid growth of interest in self-analytic, encounter, sensitivity training, and other forms of small group experience has precipitated widespread discussion of the ethical implications of this relatively new area. Much of the concern has revolved around the risks posed for group members by the small group process itself-a process which may include personal disclosure, the expression of strong emotions, and the giving of interpretive material to some or all group members. An anecdotal account of psychiatric casualties of some kinds of small groups, given by Crawshaw (1969), emphasizes the very real dangers of untrained or incompetent leadership. A paper by Lakin (1969) discusses the ethical issues facing group leaders prior to, during, and after the life of the group and recommends the development of professional standards for group leaders. This focus on the leader’s ethical responsi-

Weighing the Evidence: A new method for research on restricted information

Greatly increased concern about the confidentiality of social records now jeopardizes the ability of social scientists to conduct research. A new “confidential method” is described that can facilitate the work of the researcher and also maintain the privacy of the researched. This method is called “Weighing the Evidence” or, more simply, the WEIGHT method. The WEIGHT method groups social records according to intervals of interest to the researcher and then uses a simple weighing procedure to estimate the incidence and distribution of cases. Two studies—one using simulated data and one using real data on handgun purchases—suggest that the WEIGHT method is characterized by high levels of both reliability and validity. Ten hypothetical cases are described in which the WEIGHT method would make possible research that would other wise be prevented by the confidential nature of the data involved.