Randall A. Gordon

Eminence in Social Psychology: A Comparison of Textbook Citation, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Research Productivity Rankings

Individual eminence in social psychology was examined through a textbook citation analysis conducted on eight current (1987-1990) social psychology textbooks. These data were subsequently compared with data collected from an assessment of individual research productivity in psychology for the decade of the 1980s based on publications listed in the PsycINFO database and citation counts from the 1987-1989 volumes of the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). Comparisons were made between the textbook citation results and findings from three previous related studies. The results revealed significant relationships between the different citation measures and between the research productivity and SSCI citation measure but not between the textbook citation and research productivity measures. The relative validity of each of the measures used in the study as an index of scientific eminence is discussed.

Personal Need for Structure and Attitudes Toward Homosexuality

The need of a sample of U.S. students to cognitively structure reality as measured by the Personal Need for Structure (PNS) Scale was examined as a predictor of attitudes toward homosexuality measured by the Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men (ATLG) Scale. Significant relationships between the two constructs and strong gender differences on the ATLG were found.

The moderation of distinctiveness-based illusory correlation : The impact of circadian variations and personal need for structure

To further the understanding of illusory correlations, relationships between circadian variations (morningness-eveningness), personal need for structure, and the development of illusory correlations were examined. Consistent with predictions, U.S. university students who participated at nonoptimal times (morning types at night; evening types during the day) formed significant illusory correlations based on a percentage estimate measure; participants during optimal periods did not. Significant illusory correlations were found also among participants with a high need for personal structure but not among participants with a lower need for such structure. Comparisons based on trait ratings and a cued recall (assignment) task were not significant. Overall, the findings are consistent with the idea that illusory correlations are by-products of a cognitively economical heuristic process.

The Effect of Anonymity and Increased Accountability on the Linguistic Complexity of Teaching Evaluations

ABSTRACT We examined the impact of anonymity and accountability on the linguistic complexity of teacher-evaluation questionnaires. Undergraduate students volunteered to participate in a study that assessed the evaluations of their instructors. Subjects were asked to complete two closed-ended and one open-ended questionnaire(s) evaluating their general psychology professor. Anonymity and accountability were manipulated in the questionnaire instructions. Consistent with previous findings, few significant anonymity differences occurred on the closed-ended questionnaires. There was, however, some evidence that increases in accountability and a reduction in anonymity were related to the increased linguistic complexity of responses on the open-ended questionnaire.

Research Productivity in Social Psychology

Research productivity in social psychology was reviewed for the JO-year period 1978-1987. The study assessed the adequacy of basing productivity ratings on a single criterion by examining research productivity across three journals in social psychology. Composite productivity scores were compared with a single index based on publications in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology for the years 1978-1987. To assess changes in productivity over time, comparisons were made between productivity rankings based on publication in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology for the years 1970-1975, 1976-1985, and 1978-1987. Author descriptions from Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin were also used to examine graduate student productivity in this journal. The results revealed a relatively strong relationship between the single-criterion rankings based on the APA journal and the standardized composite productivity rankings. The relative utility of such information for selection of graduate programs in social psychology is discussed.

RESEARCH PRODUCTIVITY IN THE AREAS OF CHILD ABUSE AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Research productivity in the areas of child abuse and domestic violence was reviewed for the years 1990–1996 by examining articles published in Child Abuse and Neglect, the Journal of Family Violence, and the Journal of Interpersonal Violence. To examine productivity across institutions, quantification of productivity was based on ordinal position of authorship as previously used. Productivity across these three journals was also summed based on the 1987 composite productivity index formula of Howard, et al., and the data were compared with a productivity assessment based on a search process in the PsycLIT database. Rank-order correlations between the raw productivity total, the composite measure, and productivity based on first-authored publications in PsycLIT were all significant. The findings suggest that the composite measure represents a good estimate of productivity across the three journals and that publication in these three journals provides a good representation of research in the general areas of child abuse and domestic and interpersonal violence. The findings, along with implications regarding the relative utility of such information for selection of graduate programs that have a strong research focus on child abuse or domestic violence, are discussed.

The Effect of Perceived Resource Availability on the Revision of Written Assignments

Abstract A test of the effect of scarcity on compliance was conducted in an American classroom setting. The purpose of the manipulation was to examine whether perceived scarcity would affect student compliance in completing written assignments before the due date in order to receive feedback on the papers. The scarcity manipulation did not differentially affect the proportion who turned in written assignments early, but it did have a significant effect on the speed with which these students turned in their assignments.