Robert L. Hamblin

The diffusion of collective violence.

Past explanations of violence have characteristically paid more attention to the issues of social conditions and psychocultural stimuli than to the issue of timing. Timing is the focus of this paper in which a differential equation model of the temporal diffusion of violence is developed. This model is derived from behavioral generalizations which indicate that aggression is both instigated and inhibited via direct and vicarious learning. The parameters of the model provide measures of the instigation and inhibition processes that take place throughout an outbreak. Twenty-five data sets representing a wide variety of collective outbreaks of violence are used to test the empirical fit and to evaluate the credibility of the assumptions of the model. The model describes the overtime distribution of incidents quite accurately and the assumptions and implications of the derivation appear to be consistent with the cultural conditions surrounding the outbreaks.

Arms Races: A Test of Two Models

This is an investigation of two models of arms races: Lewis F. Richardsons linear, additive, symmetric model and a curvilinear, asymmetric alternative based on the same interaction paradigm but with empirical equations from psychophysical experiments on perception as premises. Two hypotheses derived from each model are tested using data from seven arms races. In general, the data give stronger support to the curvilinear, asymmetric model which predicts the follower in the arms race will increase its armaments through time as an exponential function of the leaders armaments, and the leader will increase its armaments as a power function of the followers efforts at the previous time period. The conclusions are based on the relative fit of the models to the seven sets of data, parsimony, reasonableness of the parameter estimates as adjudged by their signs and magnitudes, and predictions about the outcomes of the races-war or armed truce.

The Effects of Low Performance Group and Individual Contingencies on Cooperative Behaviors Exhibited by Fifth Graders

The effects of group, individual, and 2 contingencies composed of different proportions of individual and group reinforcement on cooperative behaviors were measured employing experimental and comparison children from 3 5th-grade classes. Cooperative behaviors were measured during the 25-min. periods per day in which the children worked at 40 randomly selected arithmetic problems. The four groups of Ss went through the following reinforcement conditions in a counter-balanced randomized order: 100% individual; 67% individual/33% group; 33% individual/67% group; and 100% group. The 100% group contingency consistently produced the highest incidence of cooperative behavior both wdthin and between periods. As the proportion of group reinforcement composing a contingency decreased, the incidence of cooperative behavior decreased. The results of this study suggest that group contingencies may be useful in creating cooperative work patterns in classroom settings.

Behavioral theory in sociology : essays in honor of George C. Homans

This book is designed to honor George Caspar Homans for his many and varied contributions to the development of modern sociology. The chapters have been written by sociologists and psychologists who value his work sufficiently to have made his basic approach their own. These original essays are intended to elucidate, assess, and give a progress report on the theoretical tradition Homans founded and to which he has given such significant impetus.