Stephen M. Williams

The development of the Motivational Style Profile

Abstract The development of a 70-item measure of a comprehensive set of personality features derived from Reversal Theory (M. J. Apter, The Experience of Motivation: The Theory of Psychological Reversals , Academic Press, 1982) is reported. The Motivational Style Profile (MSP) measures the dominance of all five pairs of metamotivational states identified in the theory, together with tendencies towards arousability, effortfulness and optimism/pessimism. The MSP also measures the overall salience of each pair of states within the individuals conscious experience over time. The paper describes the development of the MSP subscales through several cycles of item analysis, involving both American and British samples. Data on test-retest reliability for the resulting instrument is also reported together with some concurrent validation data and the results of a factor analysis of the MSP items which suggests a five factor structure.

Dichotic lateral asymmetry: The effects of grammatical structure and telephone usage

No confirmation could be obtained that the magnitude of the dichotic REA for speech is affected by whether the stimuli are syntactically structured. Recall-order was controlled in Experiment 1 by cueing one ear immediately after a dichotic stimulus; in Experiment 2 by cueing before a stimulus. The subjects reported ear preference for telephone usage was correlated with his ear difference in the first experiment but not in the second. Perhaps telephone usage causes an attentional bias (for speech) to one or other ear, more often to the right; which is over-ridden by the precued instruction to attend to a particular ear.

Repeated exposure and the attractiveness of synthetic speech: An inverted-U relationship

Previous experimental investigation of the effects of repeating an unfamiliar stimulus suggests that mere exposure breeds attraction (e.g., Zajonc, 1968). On the other hand, correlational work with naturally occurring stimuli such as names, music, or landscapes suggests that there is also an overexposure effect: the preference function does rise with familiarity at first but then reaches a turning point and diminishes. The study (N=72) demonstrates this inverted-U relationship in an experimental setting. The stimuli were synthetic nonsense speech, permitting exact control of exposure durations and interstimulus intervals. The critical factors for demonstrating the effect are probably (1) the inclusion of a large number of repetitions, and (2) blocked repetition of each stimulus in a homogeneous sequence not interspersed with other more or less frequent stimuli.

A Group Test of Auditory Lateral Advantage

It is possible to demonstrate the right-sided advantage for speech in a group. This is achieved by playing simultaneous messages over two loudspeakers rather than over headphones. The effect was shown with pre-cued report order in a small (N = 14) and a large (N = 40) group. The effect was larger for the small group. This result argued against an attentional interpretation of the advantage.

Stimulus-Independence of Dichotic Testing for Perceptual Asymmetry: Sentences versus Unrelated Words

32 subjects heard two dichotic tapes, one of sentences and one of unrelated words. Difference scores between the ears on the two tapes inter-correlated .52 significantly, suggesting contrary to a previous report, some stimulus-independence of the right-ear advantage.

Conceptual systems of open university students

Abstract The Personal Opinion Scale was applied to 237 Open University and 42 York University students. The distribution of Conceptual Systems was found to be normal in the smaller sample but Open University students comprised fewer System 1 authoritarians and more System 4 problem-solvers than do comparable samples. This may have paedagogic implications. For example it suggests any authoritarianism which may be inherent in a distance-learning approach must be combatted.

Immediate free recall of unilateral spoken word lists.

Neither a group of pure right-handers nor a complementary group excluding pure right-handers showed much sign of a significant monaural REA for free recall performance, in contrast to the effect found by Turvey, Pisoni and Croog (1972) for probed recall performance by a group of unknown handedness. However other evidence was found of an influence of laterality in this relatively high-level task, deriving from the observation of a significant Ear x Speed x Serial Position interaction. In non-sinistrals application of dual-process memory theory to the results showed that the right ear retrieved a greater proportion of recall than did the left ear from the long-term store, while conversely and possibly as a compensation for this the left ear relied more heavily than the right ear did on the short-term store. This effect was replicated in the sinistral group, though in an attenuated form, as would be expected if it is a consequence of hemispheric asymmetry for language.

Findings with the Group Technique for Demonstrating Right-Sided Advantage for Speech

Preliminary results with the group right-sided advantage technique suggest that it reflects differential storage rather than perception and that strong lateralization is correlated with superior performance.

The Cerebral Hemispheres as a Mapping System

One version of an orthodox rationale for psychological studies of functional hemispheric asymmetry is sketched out. This rationale emphasizes the significance of asymmetry for a psychological taxonomy. An alternative rationale is then presented. This is that the arrangement of the hemispheres with their commissures permits mapping between hemispheres. This mapping may underlie human capacities such as abstraction.

A Survey of the Metapsychological Presuppositions of Psychologists

There remains deep disagreement within psychology about the past achievements of the discipline and whether it is heading in the right direction. To move debate beyond the purely philosophical, a survey was mailed to 380 psychologists, 212 of whom replied, inquiring their views on a variety of issues that might be characterized as “metapsychological.” The results make it clear that the prevalent conception of psychology as a science is far from universal and indeed the inspiration of active antipathy among some. Both practicing and academic psychologists were approached and were surprisingly similar in their views. It is pointed out that antiscience views are more likely to find a sympathetic hearing in subspecialties such as social psychology.