Thierry Meyer

Subjective importance of goal and reactions to waiting in line

Abstract Within a naturally formed waiting line, two groups of participants in Paris, France, were observed in relation to how attractive they considered the goal of the line to be. Time already spent in the queue and physical distance from the goal were two independent and orthogonal variables. When the goal was considered more attractive, judgments were less context-related. Time already spent in the queue and distance from the goal were significant predictors of self-assessed mood only when the goal was considered to be less attractive. This finding was the only instance in which time already spent in the queue was linked to expected waiting time. As predicted by the motivational and attentional properties of goals, time already spent in the queue (sunk cost) was more salient when the goal was less attractive.

Measuring willingness to try new foods: a self-report questionnaire for French-speaking children.

The study was designed to develop and validate a self-report questionnaire on food neophobia in French children. We evaluated food neophobia in a specific cultural context, examining an age group that has hardly been studied (5- to 8-year-olds). The questionnaire items were based on methods known for changing neophobic behavior (imitation, information, flavor principle and external stimulation) in order to diversify food presentation situations. In addition, we used colored pictures of food for seven items. Thirteen items that referred to acceptance of unfamiliar food were selected out of 25 items tested in an earlier stage. Six hundred and three children filled out the food neophobia questionnaire and a food task used to check its predictive validity was given to 503 of them. A factor analysis emphasized the one-dimensional structure of the questionnaire. Results showed satisfactory internal consistency and good test-retest reliability. The childrens choices and their willingness to try new types of food were significantly correlated with the questionnaire scores. Food neophobia conceived as a personality trait was discussed.

Control motivation and young drivers' decision making

Within the theoretical framework of control motivation, the effect of transient motivational variations (extrinsic to driving) on decision making in a simulated driving task was investigated. Young male drivers (mean age= 20.5 years), who were either novices or more experienced, participated in two experiments. In the first study (n = 45), the participants firstly carried out a reasoning task, extrinsic to driving, in which they randomly either failed (high control motivation), succeeded (low control motivation) or made aesthetic judgments with no evaluation in terms of success or failure (control group). Later, the participants had to decide whether to modify the given speed of a same vehicle for 38 driving situations presented in slide form. These situations were sorted into four categories according to the presence or absence of other road users and the presence or absence of an intersection. Compared with the control group, the participants of the failure group decide to make more speed changes as a f...

GOAL PRIMING AND SELF-EFFICACY: INDEPENDENT CONTRIBUTIONS TO MOTOR PERFORMANCE

It is well-established that goal pursuit and performance are responsive to the goal characteristics (e.g., difficulty, specificity) and beliefs about self and the task (e.g., self-efficacy). Also, contextual factors may lead to nonconscious goal activation and pursuit. Nevertheless, much remains to be discoverd concerning the way conscious and nonconscious goals are related. In this study, the way in which self-efficacy and nonconscious goal priming may affect a goal-directed activity was explored. 67 right-handed participants with high or low self-efficacy on their motor skills performed a drawing task associated with an accuracy instruction. Before task performance, they were primed with accuracy-related words (goal-compatible condition), inaccuracy-related words (goal-incompatible condition), or received no priming manipulation (control condition). Analysis indicated that performance of the motor task was independently influenced by self-efficacy and goal priming.

Assessment of Answers to Questions about a Text and Knowledge of Cognitive Processes

This study examines to what extent assessment of text comprehension involves knowledge of the properties of human cognition (theory of mind) and the social context of assessment. The subjects (N=332) were asked to read a text and then assess eight answers to questions about this text. The independent variables were the quality of the answers to requests for paraphrases, the quality of answers to direct questions about the meaning of the text, the order of the paragraphs in the text and the human vs. artificial source attributed to the answers. Results show that answers to requests for paraphrases were thought to be better when the source was artificial rather than human. Inversely, answers to direct questions about the meaning of the text were thought to be better when their source was human. The assessment of answers attributed to a human source were differentiated by a greater integration of contiguous assessments (contrast effect between contiguous assessments). This was noted more particularly for a person than for a machine, poor paraphrasing being followed by a better assessment of answers to questions about the meaning of the text. The assessment of human understanding of a text is hypothesised to be guided by an expectation of answer coherency and a wider and more structured knowledge than the assessment of artificial answers.RésuméLes connaissances relatives aux propriétés de la cognition humaine (théorie de l’esprit) et relatives aux contextes sociaux de l’évaluation sont étudiées du point de vue de leur effet sur l’évaluation de la compréhension de texte. Les sujets (N=332) avaient à lire un texte, puis à évaluer huit réponses à des questions posées sur ce texte. Les variables indépendantes étaient la qualité des réponses à des demandes de paraphrase, la qualité des réponses à des questions directes sur le sens du texte, l’ordre des paragraphes du texte, et l’origine humaine ou artificielle attribuée aux réponses.Les résultats montrent que les réponses à des demandes de paraphrases étaient jugées meilleures lorsque la source était artificielle plutôt qu’humaine. Inversement, les réponses à des questions directes sur le sens du texte étaient jugées meilleures si leur origine était humaine. Toutefois, si à la fois les réponses à des demandes de paraphrases et les réponses à des questions directes étaient de bonne qualité, les différences selon la source des réponses étaient annulées. L’évaluation des réponses attribuées à l’homme se caractérisait par une plus grande intégration des évaluations successives (effet de contraste entre évaluations consécutives). Plus chez l’homme que chez la machine, de mauvaises paraphrases entraînent ensuite une meilleure évaluation des réponses à des questions sur le sens du texte. L’évaluation de la compréhension humaine de texte est guidée par une attente de cohérence des réponses et des connaissances plus nombreuses et plus structurées que l’évaluation de réponses artificielles.

Self-efficacy about information retrieval on the web across all domains: a short measure in French and English

ABSTRACT Considering developments on the measurement of Internet Self-Efficacy literature, a short scale was developed with a focus on web searching across all domains. The Information Retrieval On the Web Self-Efficacy scale (IROWSE) was spread from the General Self-Efficacy Scale [Schwarzer, R. 1994. “Optimism, Vulnerability, and Self-Beliefs as Health Related Cognitions: A Systematic Overview.” Psychology and Health: An International 9: 161–180] and measures the value attributed by an individual to her/his own capacity to organise and execute information searches on the web. In study 1 (N = 228), we aimed to ensure reliability, explore factorial structure, and check for criterion-related validity of a French form. In study 2 (N = 534), we aimed to validate an English version among US and international (non-US) sample. From an internal validity point of view, both IROWSE versions turned out satisfactory with a one-factor model of eight items. As expected, the scales were not confused with self-esteem as a trait (study 1), self-reported Internet search skills (study 2) or general attitudes towards the Internet, and stemmed from direct experience with the Internet (study 1 and 2). Overall, slight differences between samples would indicate the cultural sensitivity of IROWSE measure encouraging running studies with a comparative approach. Resorting to the IROWSE measure might enhance the understanding of Internet practices, information retrieval behaviours, and search performance since self-efficacy would thus be assessed at a more domain-specific level.