Hunter A. McAllister

Self-serving bias in the classroom : Who shows it ? Who knows it ?

Two studies were conducted to explore student and teacher attributions for success and failure. In the first study, college students were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 roles (student, teacher, or observer). The teacher constructed a written lesson for the student to study. Both teachers and students made self-serving attributions taking credit for success, but not for failure. Although their attributions differed, participants in each role were aware of how participants in the other roles would make their attributions. A second study surveyed college teachers, students, and staff concerning actual previous high and low grades. The results replicated those of the first study.

Skin Temperature Regulation: The Effects of Suggestion and Feedback

This study focuses on the effects of visual digital feedback and verbal suggestions on an individuals ability to increase hand skin temperature. In this 2 x 2 factorial design, thirty-eight college students were assigned to conditions receiving feedback or no feedback and suggestions or no suggestions. Subjects receiving suggestions heard a tape recorded imagery phrase related to increasing hand temperature; subjects in the no-suggestion condition received neutral phrases of electronic definitions. All subjects participated in three training sessions. Analysis of the third session indicated an interaction effect; post hoc analysis indicated a significant difference between subjects receiving feedback with suggestion and subjects receiving feedback and no suggestion. The results suggest that the ability to increase skin temperature may require the concomitant use of feedback and suggestion.

Eyewitness Testimony: The Role of Commitment in Increasing Reliability

This experiment investigated the role of commitment, conformity pressure, and source credibility in eyewitness testimony. A videotaped auto accident was used as the witnessed event. Eighty subjects were employed in a 2 (commitment vs. no commitment) x 2 (conformity pressure vs. no conformity pressure) x 2 (authority vs. nonauthority) design. As expected, subjects who made a previous commitment were able to resist the pressure to conform to speed estimates.

Plea Bargaining by Defendants: A Decision Theory Approach

Abstract Two experiments investigated the impact of severity of sentence and probability of conviction on plea bargaining decisions. Subjects role-played defendants in Experiment 1 and defense lawyers in Experiment 2. They were administered hypothetical cases containing one of six combinations of severity-of-sentence information (2 or 5 years) and probability-of-conviction information (20%, 50%, or 80%). Defendant subjects were significantly affected by both independent variables. As the probability of conviction and the severity of sentence increased, so did their likelihood of taking a plea bargain. Defense lawyer subjects were affected only by the probability-of-conviction variable.

The Effects of Collaborative Writing Techniques on Freshman Writing and Attitudes

Abstract In this study the effects of two collaborative writing techniques (interactive and group writing) on college freshmens writing ability and attitudes toward writing were investigated. Subjects were 136 college freshmen enrolled in six sections of freshman composition taught by two teachers. Over an 8-week period, each teacher instructed one section to write interactively, one section to use group writing, and one section to write independently. In the 7th week, all subjects wrote posttest essays using the technique employed in class. In the 8th week, all subjects independently wrote posttest essays on the same subject as on the pretest. Trained graders blind to experimental conditions rated pretests and posttest essays holistically. An attitude survey was administered at the end of the semester to all groups. Although students in both collaborative conditions generally wrote better posttests than did students writing independently, there was no statistically significant difference between the col...

A Comparison of Spatial Role-Taking in Monolingual and Bilingual Children

Abstract Twenty bilingual first-grade children (10 Vietnamese-English) and 10 Spanish-English) were compared with 20 monolingual children on the WISC-R Block Design and on spatial role-taking tasks of increasing complexity. It was hypothesized that the cognitive flexibility of bilinguals would lead to significantly higher scores than the control groups on both types of tasks. A 2 × 2 analysis of variance on the WISC-R Block Design yielded main effects (ps < .05) for bilingualism and for culture; no significant interaction was found. For all spatial role-taking tasks no significant main effects were found. Significant interactions were found for the two most complex spatial role-taking tasks (p < .05).

An Analysis of Perceived Stress in Elementary and Secondary Student Teachers and Full-Time Teachers.

AbstractTwo hundred and four elementary and secondary public school teachers and student teachers were presented with an inventory of potentially stressful school situations in five categories: discipline and classroom management, personal relations with students, student progress, institutional demands, and facilities and supplies. Subjects rated the situations according to levels of stressfulness and importance. Dependent measures were analyzed employing a 2 (elementary vs. secondary) × 2 (full-time vs. student teacher) MANOVA. Analysis of the data revealed that elementary school teachers reported significantly higher levels of stress than secondary school teachers. Significant univariates were found between these two groups in four of the five categories. The pattern of significant effects supports a conception of two types of stress, structural and conflict, affecting the teacher.

Mug Shot Exposure Effects: Does Size Matter?

This research tested whether mug book size moderates mug shot exposure effects. Witnesses to a simulated theft searched either a small, a large, or no mug book, followed by a perpetrator-absent lineup containing a critical foil from the mug book. Contrary to predictions of a transference effect, critical foil lineup identifications did not differ across conditions. To test for a commitment effect, only participants who selected the critical foil in the mug book were considered; there was evidence of a commitment effect in the large mug book condition. Finally, there were more lineup-correct rejections in the large mug book condition; this was explained in terms of the criterion for making mug book choices carrying over to lineup choices.

One-at-a-time versus grouped presentation of mug book pictures: some surprising results.

Eyewitnesses to a simulated crime attempted to identify the perpetrator from a computerized mug book. The 208 mug book pictures were presented either 1 mug shot per page or in groups of 12 mug shots per page. Half of the mug books were arranged by similarity to the perpetrator as determined by a facial recognition algorithm, and half were randomly arranged. In contrast to past findings with photospreads, false-positive identifications were significantly higher using the one-at-a-time procedure than the grouped procedure. Results suggest that the best practice for mug books may be the use of groups of pictures per page rather than the one-at-a-time procedure long advocated by experts for use in lineups and photospreads.

The Effect of Words and Actions on American Children's Prosocial Behavior

Summary Fifty-four kindergarten and 54 sixth grade children participated in an investigation of the relative effects of a models behavior and verbal exhortations on generosity. Following exposure to the model, the children won a nominal, fixed amount of money while playing a game and were given the opportunity to donate to charity. The results indicated that the older children exhibited a higher level of generosity than the young children. The childrens generosity was not significantly affected by the models exhortations or behaviors.