Social and Behavioral Sciences

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This collection includes scholarly output from both faculty and students in Social and Behavioral Sciences.

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Actions speak louder than personality: Effects of facebook content on personality perceptions
(North American Journal of Psychology, 2014-03) Goodmon, Leilani B.; Smith, Patrick L.; Ivancevich, Danica; Lundberg, Sofie
More employers are using Facebook content to evaluate employee characteristics (such as personality) that might influence job performance (Karl & Peluchette, 2009) believing that personality assessment of Facebook users is actually quite accurate (Kluemper & Rosen, 2009). However, researchers have not examined the impact of specific content on personality perception. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to determine the influence of content (professional, moderately professional, unprofessional) on evaluations of a target Facebook user’s personality. Participants were exposed to three real Facebook profiles that varied in the amount of inappropriate content (e.g., drinking, use of profanity, etc.) and were asked to separately rate levels of the Big Five personality characteristics for each of the Facebook users. Overall, participants were better at assessing the personality of the professional Facebook user (with no inappropriate content) compared to the users who had either moderately-professional or unprofessional content. In addition, there appears to be a 'cost' associated with posting even a small amount of 'negative content,' in that participants exhibited inaccurate personality perceptions of the moderately-professional user. These findings may be particularly important when one considers that employers are using Facebook information to evaluate prospective employees in the hiring process. Given the massive distortions in personality perceptions found in the current study, caution should be taken by those using Facebook to evaluate personality and Facebook users should take caution when posting negative content. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Beliefs about secondary confession evidence: a survey of laypeople and defense attorneys
(Taylor & Francis, 2018) Key, Kylie N.; Neuschatz, Jeffrey S.; Bornstein, Brian H.; Wetmore, Stacy A.; Luecht, Katie M.; Dellapaolera, Kimberly S.; Quinlivan, Deah S.
We surveyed students, community members, and defense attorneys regarding beliefs about secondary confession evidence (i.e. when a third party tells authorities that a person has confessed to him or her) from jailhouse informants and other sources. Results indicated that laypeople perceive secondary confessions as less credible than other types of evidence (e.g. forensics, DNA, eyewitness testimony), and they are knowledgeable about factors that may influence the veracity of secondary confessions, such as incentives or previous testimony. However, they underestimated or were uncertain about how persuasive secondary confessions would be to themselves or other jurors. Compared to laypeople, defense attorneys were more sensitive about issues affecting the reliability of secondary confessions.
Branded: The effects of LGBTQ+ marketing on consumer and appetitive reactions to food
(North American Journal Of Psychology, 2020-12) Ready, Emily J.; Smith, Patrick L.; Goodmon, Leilani B.; Welsh, Brianna C.; Pridgen, Miriam
Social awareness of brands is an influential factor in marketing, as personal values can relate to emotionally-driven perceptions of the brand image. Previous research examined effects of companies who use views on the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, plus (LGBTQ+) community in their advertisements, and subsequent impact of consumer responses. In the case of brands that promote food products, behaviors beyond consumer preferences are also influenced by brand advertisements. The purpose of the current study is to investigate relationships between LGBTQ+ attitudes in consumers and their relative ratings (consumer and appetitive) for a food product when it is associated with a pointed opinion about the LGBTQ+ community. Participants (n = 75) were prescreened for attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community (positively or negatively) and were subsequently given an ice cream sample from a fictional company. During this time, participants were exposed to a vignette that depicted pro-LGBTQ+, anti-LGBTQ+, or no reference to LGBTQ+ company values. Results showed that those identified as having pro- or anti- LGBTQ+ attitudes displayed significantly higher consumer ratings towards a brand that aligned with their beliefs. Marketed social issues can impact perceptions of brands, which in turn affects consumer decisions, but not necessarily how sensory features are perceived. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)
The Burtynsky effect: Aesthetic reactions to landscape photographs that vary in natural features
(Educational Publishing Foundation, 2018-02) Smith, Patrick L.; Goodmon, Leilani B.; Hester, Sarah
Previous research has explored how the content of landscape photography (i.e., natural vs. human-made) and postmanipulation of photographs (e.g., clarity and color) can influence aesthetic judgments. Although natural landscapes are reliably rated as more likable compared with human-made landscapes, very little is known about combined natural and human-made landscapes that depict alterations of the natural world by human interventions. After categorizing the works of Edward Burtynsky as 'combined' landscapes along a continuum between natural and human-made landscape photographs, participants rated the likability and familiarity (i.e., whether landscapes were previously viewed or not) of all three types of images in a series of three experiments that measured likability and familiarity differences as a function of landscape type (Experiment 1), postmanipulation of color (Experiment 2), and postmanipulation of image clarity (Experiment 3). Natural photographs were rated significantly higher than all other photograph types (regardless of color or clarity manipulation), and combined photographs were significantly rated the lowest in all experimental conditions, especially those that were previously viewed. Across all conditions, previously viewed photographs were reliably discriminated from those that were not. The results suggest that the combined Burtynsky photographs fall outside a continuum of likability between natural and human-made extremes, and such a low aesthetic rating of previously viewed combined photographs may be because of negative social priming, an altered fluency processing, or both. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)
Children's reactions to apologies
(American Psychological Association, 1982-10) Darby, Bruce W.; Schlenker, Barry R.
In 2 experiments, 221 kindergartners and 1st, 4th, and 7th graders judged actors who committed a transgression under conditions of low or high responsibility and low or high consequences. The actor's motives were good or bad and the act was intended or accidental. The actor then either did nothing or employed 1 of 3 increasingly elaborate apologies. As hypothesized, the actor's predicament was most severe, producing the harshest judgments when (a) the actor had high responsibility for committing an inadvertent act that produced high consequences, and (b) the act was the result of a bad rather than good motive or was intended rather than accidental. More elaborate apologies produced less blame and punishment and more forgiveness, liking, positive evaluations, and attributions of greater remorse. The judgments of the 7th graders were more affected by the actor's apology than those of the younger Ss. These age differences reflect the younger Ss' poorer ability to integrate social information and appreciate the implications of social conventions. However, the younger Ss' judgments were similar to those of older Ss.
Children's reactions to transgressions: Effects of the actor's apology, reputation and remorse
(Wiley, 1989-12) Darby, Bruce W.; Schlenker, Barry R.
This experiment examined children's reactions to a transgression in which one child's property was damaged by another who (a) had a reputation as a good or bad child, (b) apologized or did not, and (c) later expressed remorse when talking about the incident or was happy and unremorseful. As expected, actors who had a good reputation or were remorseful were seen as more likable, as having better motives, as doing the damage unintentionally, as more sorry and as less blameworthy. Further, actors who were good and remorseful were punished least, suggesting that punishment was applied in a rehabilitative fashion. The actor's reputation determined how his or her actions were interpreted: bad actors were seen as more worried about punishment when they expressed remorse and older children thought they apologized merely to avoid punishment. Interestingly, apologies were effective in reducing punishment and making the actor seem more likable, and this was true irrespective of the other factors. The apology‐forgiveness script may be such an ingrained aspect of social life that its appearance automatically improves the actor's position. The reactions of second and fifth graders were generally similar, although the younger children displayed less coherent relationships between judgements.
Children's understanding of social anxiety
(American Psychological Association, 1986-09) Darby, Bruce W.; Schlenker, Barry R.
Second-, fourth-, and seventh-grade children evaluated story characters who were either highly or less motivated to impress an audience and had either high or low expectations of being able to accomplish their self-presentational goals. As predicted according to a self-presentation model of social anxiety, both factors were related to judgments of the character's social anxiety, especially for the older children. For all age groups, actors who expected to do poorly rather than well were regarded as more anxious, as more likely to exhibit nervous responses and to have communication difficulties, and as less likely to be successful in accomplishing their goal, and they were evaluated less favorably. The actor's motivation had different effects on younger versus older children: Second graders attributed less anxiety to highly motivated actors, whereas older children attributed greater anxiety to them. For all age groups, high motivation was expected to have a channeling effect on behaviors that would increase interpersonal effectiveness. A finding that was consistent with the literature on social-cognitive development was that older children displayed greater differentiation in their cause-effect inferences, and they better appreciated the complex implications of social anxiety.
The Effects of Pre-admonition Suggestions on Eyewitnesses’ Choosing Rates and Retrospective Identification Judgments
(Springer, 2017) Quinlivan, Deah S.; Wells, Gary L.; Neuschatz, Jeffrey S.; Luecht, Katherine M.; Cash, Daniella K.; Key, Kylie N.
Pre-admonition suggestion is an identification-relevant comment made to an eyewitness by a lineup administrator before the lineup admonition. Quinlivan et al. (2012) found that their suggestion inflated mistaken identification rates and retrospective identification. However, the suggestion used was a compound statement, making it unclear which component influenced choosing rates. The current experiment was conducted to parse out the effects. Participants (N = 211) viewed a crime video and received either one component of the compound suggestion (a suggestion to pick or that the witness had paid substantial attention), both components, or no suggestion. All participants received an admonition, made an identification choice, and answered questions about their witnessing experience. The results demonstrated that the pick suggestion increased mistaken identifications from a perpetrator-absent lineup whereas the effects of the attention suggestion were restricted to the retrospective judgments. These results show support for the role of secondary (non-memorial) processes in eyewitness identification.
Exploring personality traits and dimensions of success
(North American Journal of Psychology, 2022-03) Goodwin, Alana M.; Russell, Maia H.; Johnson, Marlee E.; Houston, John M.; Richard, David C. S.
We investigated prominent personality traits associated with successful task performance and outcomes. Specifically, trait clusters associated with goal-orientedness and achievement were examined. The purpose of this study was to understand how maladaptive and adaptive success-oriented personality traits empirically link to the pursuit of success using principal component analysis in young adults. A total of 241 participants from introductory psychology classes at a liberal arts college in central Florida completed a battery of questionnaires measuring different personality traits. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) found that four components accounted for 61.98% of the variance. The four components were labeled: Active Self Achievement, Hierarchical Achievement, Fixed Achievement, and Quixotic Achievement. Future research should focus on how the traits generalize to other age groups and predict long-term occupational, educational, and athletic achievement success. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
Game on! the influence of video games on understanding of cancer-based therapies
(North American Journal of Pyschology, 2020) Bacharz, Kelsey C.; Howard, Jordan R.; Smith, Patrick L
The awareness of how cancer treatments work to stop the spread of cancers is poorly understood and could potentially be explained through methods of active learning. Re-Mission 1, developed by HopeLab Industries, is a computer game that can be used by pediatric cancer patients to educate and prepare them for what they will experience in terms of cancer progression and treatment (Tate, Haritatos, & Cole, 2009). Pediatric patients who played this game were found to have improved motivation and self-understanding of their illness (Kato, Cole, Bradlyn, & Pollack, 2008). Seeing the success of Re-Mission 1, Re- Mission 2, a series of six different games that includes Re-Mission 2: Nanobot’s Revenge, was developed. The purpose of the present study was to see if Re-Mission 2: Nanobot’s Revenge would lead to an understanding of cancer physiology in the same way as Re-Mission 1, as well as to compare the relative effectiveness of text- and game-based materials in terms of their educational value (at short- and long-term intervals). The results indicated that playing Re-Mission 2: Nanobot’s Revenge yielded significant educational benefits similar to Re-Mission 1. Furthermore, while both the text- and game-based methods were effective educational tools for teaching participants about cancer physiology and treatment, the text-based method led to significantly higher memory recall than the game-based method. The use of video games further aided in memory persistence, which is important for the long-term nature of cancer diagnoses and accompanying treatments. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)
Graphic Novelisation Effects on Recognition Abilities in Students with Dyslexia
(Taylor & Francis, 2021-03) Smith, Patrick L.; Goodmon, Leilani B.; Howard, Jordan R.; Hancock, Rebekah; Hartzell, Kylie A.; Hilbert, Sarah E.
Because of a focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), elementary school systems are implementing material that is more complex in nature. However, children with learning disabilities like dyslexia may struggle with learning such content. Because studies have shown that children with dyslexia may benefit from more visually oriented materials, the purpose of this study was to determine if elements of graphic novelisation (i.e. graphic novel panels) improved short and long-term memory of brain structures and functions in children with dyslexia. Thirty-eight fifth-grade students (22 children diagnosed with dyslexia and 16 without reading difficulties) participated in the study. All children, including age-equivalent controls, exhibited higher recognition rates of brain structures and functions for graphic novel study materials (i.e. metaphorical definitions and illustrations). In children with dyslexia, the memory benefit for brain structures and functions resulting from exposure to the graphic novel panels was evident after the short interval. However, for children without dyslexia, this memory benefit was only marginally evident after the long interval. The results imply that image-based metaphors combined with text-based, scientific content may serve as an effective pedagogical supplement for children with or without reading disabilities.
Interdependent Infrastructures as a Multiteam System: Enhancing Resilience
(American Society of Civil Engineers, 2022-07) Switzer III, Fred S.; Ligato, Joseph; Piratla, Kalyan
Infrastructure systems such as water, electricity, gas, and so on are interdependent complex sociotechnical systems. As such, understanding the human or social component of these systems is critical for increasing resilience. Qualitative analyses, including cognitive task analyses conducted with utility systems personnel, suggested that the human or social part of these systems can be modeled as a multiteam system (MTS). The interdependent critical infrastructure systems (ICIs) that we examined were found to have all of the essential features of multiteam systems. Using the National Academy of Sciences resilience framework (plan, absorb, recover, adapt), we applied findings from the MTS literature to generate recommendations, cautions, and suggestions for future research in infrastructure systems design and practice.
Jumping to negative impressions again: The role of pessimism, information valence, and need for cognitive closure in impression formation
(North American Journal of Psychology, 2017-12) Goodmon, Leilani B.; Howard, Jordan R.; Hintz, Bethany D.; Alden, Brittany L.; Vadala, Meghan E.
The study was designed to determine the relationship between likability of a target, information valence, attributional style (optimism/pessimism), and the need for cognitive closure, which is an individual’s desire for a definite answer to a question, the avoidance of ambiguity, and the demonstration of closed mindedness (Chirumbolo, Areni, & Sensales, 2004; Webster & Kruglanski, 1994). Ninety-eight participants read a script that depicted a first-time conversation between a student and an advisor where the student disclosed either a positive or negative academic incident (as a manipulation of information valence). Pessimists gave similar likability ratings to the positive incident target, as optimists gave to the negative incident target, thus replicating the finding that it is more difficult to make a good first impression on a pessimist, even if one reveals responsibility for something positive (Goodmon, Kelly, Mauldin, & Young, 2015). Optimistic participants gave higher ratings to positive incident targets than to negative targets, regardless of the level of need for cognitive closure. However, only high need, pessimistic participants gave higher ratings to positive incident targets. The results imply that one may have a more difficult time making a good first impression on a pessimist who has a high need for cognitive closure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)
Positive Psychology Course and Its Relationship to Well-Being, Depression, and Stress
(Sage Publications, 2016-07) Goodmon, Leilani B.; Middleditch, Ashlea M.; Childs, Bethany; Pietrasiuk, Stacey E.
The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of a positive psychology course on student well-being, depressive symptoms, and stress in a repeated measure, nonequivalent control design. As hypothesized, the positive psychology students reported higher overall happiness, life satisfaction, routes to happiness, and lower depressive symptoms and stress compared to students in the control course. These findings replicate previous research on the benefits of positive psychology courses on well-being and extend previous research by showing that the benefits generalize to other reliable and multidimensional measures of happiness as well as measures of depression and stress. Our results indicate that a positive psychology course may be one way to improve students' mental health.
School drop-out prevention: A multifaceted program for the improvement of adolescent employability, academic achievement, and personal identity
(SAGE Publications, 1990-04) Cross, Tracy; Darby, Bruce W.; D'Alonzo, Bruno J.
There is a growing effort in this country to find effective ways to deal with the drop-out problem. Among those involved in this search are policy-makers, business persons, educators, psychologists and parents. One result of this effort was the passage of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) in 1982 and amended in 1986. In addition to the JPTA involvement in adult training and employment programs, the legislation has enabled summer programs to be established in some locations around the country for high school students who are considered to be "high-risk" in terms of their likelihood of dropping out of school.
Secondary Confessions, Expert Testimony, and Unreliable Testimony
(Springer US, 2012-10) Neuschatz, Jeffrey S.; Wilkinson, Miranda L.; Goodsell, Charles A.; Wetmore, Stacy A.; Quinlivan, Deah S.; Jones, Nicholaos J.
Two experiments examined two potential safeguards intended to protect accused persons against unreliable testimony from cooperating witnesses. Participants in both experiments read a trial transcript where secondary confession evidence was presented from either a jailhouse informant (Experiment 1 and 2) or an accomplice witness (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, testimony history was manipulated so that participants were informed that the jailhouse informant had testified as an informant in 0, 5, or 20 previous cases. In Experiment 2, participants were exposed to an expert who testified about the unreliable nature of testimony from cooperating witnesses. The results of both experiments demonstrated that participants who were exposed to secondary confession evidence were significantly more likely to vote guilty than were participants in the no secondary confession control group. Contrary to expectations, the percentage of guilty verdicts did not vary with incentive, testimony history, or expert testimony. Explanations for these results are discussed, as are the practical challenges of using testimony from cooperating witnesses.
Semantic integration as a boundary condition on inhibitory processes in episodic retrieval
(American Psychology Association, 2011-03) Goodman, Leilani B.; Anderson, Michael C.
Recalling an experience often impairs the later retention of related traces, a phenomenon known as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). Research has shown that episodic associations protect competing memories from RIF (Anderson & McCulloch, 1999). We report 4 experiments that examined whether semantic associations also protect against RIF. In all experiments, robust RIF occurred when there were few associations between practiced and nonpracticed sets, but RIF was abolished when there were many. The benefits of semantic integration were independent of episodic integration strategies and were not mediated by intentional use of the associations. Rather, these results establish a new boundary condition on RIF—semantic integration—that has a potent impact on the magnitude of RIF and may explain variability in the RIF phenomenon. (APA PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Temperature-dependent conditioned salivation responses to auditory stimuli: Informative cues that make one 'pucker up'
(North American Journal of Psychology, 2012-12) Smith, Patrick L.; Stoltzfus, David
Flavor manipulation of foods is an ongoing area of research that has explored how sensory interactions contribute to learned food preferences. While the bulk of literature pertaining to flavor preferences focuses on direct associations between taste, olfactory, and trigeminal (e.g., temperature) cues with post-ingestional consequences, there is evidence that other sensory input (e.g., audition) is associated with different flavor cues to elicit conditioned behaviors of anticipated digestion (i.e., salivation). The present study examined whether salivation responses to auditory tones could be conditioned after being paired with a salivation-inducing tastant that varied in temperature. Participants (N = 110) were randomly assigned to one of five groups that received a lemon juice stimulus at one of the following temperatures: 5°C, 15°C, 25°C, 35°C, and 45°C. All groups were given a 3600-Hz tone (the conditioned stimulus, or CS) followed by a swab of lemon juice (i.e., the unconditioned stimulus, or US) at one of the five temperatures. Participants were given 50 CS-US pairings, during which perceived salivation responses to both stimuli were recorded after every 10 CS-US pairings. Results demonstrated that both types of salivation responses increased across the conditioning period, but these responses were highest when the lemon juice was at room temperature and were significantly lower at cooler temperatures. The data indicate a possible associative learning process that uses non-ingested sensory cues to make informative associations about potential food and their expected flavors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
The effect of landscape photograph type on aesthetic judgments, attention, and memory in children with dyslexia
(John Wiley & Sons, 2019-11) Goodmon, Leilani B.; Parisi, A.; Smith, P.; Phillips, E.; Cox, T.; Dill, L.; Miller, A.
Given the link between visual stimuli and memory, children with dyslexia could benefit from research discovering what visual stimuli they find more pleasing and memorable. People like natural landscapes (e.g.,forests) more than human-made (e.g.,cityscapes) or "combined" landscapes (i.e.,combination of human-made and natural components, e.g.,tires in a meadow). The purpose was to determine if the greater likability for natural generalized to children with dyslexia and age-equivalent controls and if photograph type impacted recognition rates after the short and long term. All children liked natural landscape photographs the most but paid longer attention to combined landscape photographs. Both groups recognized all photograph types at a high rate after the short retention interval, but after the long interval, the children with dyslexia had better memory, especially for combined photographs. On the basis of these results, we advise educators to incorporate images of natural landscapes into the learning context in order to create a more aesthetically pleasing environment or to infuse combined images for a more engaging and memorable environment. (© 2019 John Wiley& Sons, Ltd.)
The power of the majority: Social conformity in sexual harassment punishment selection
(Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., 2020-08) Goodmon, Leilani B.; Gavin, David J.; Ursini, M.; Akus, Sierra N.
Abstract In his famous social conformity experiments in the 1950's, Asch found 75% of participants conformed to confederates' incorrect answers at least once, with an overall conformity rate of 32%, revealing that humans are highly likely to conform to group behavior even when that behavior is clearly wrong. The purpose of this study was to determine if the social conformity effect generalized to scenarios involving sexual harassment punishment selections in the workplace. Participants read various workplace sexual harassment scenarios and then witnessed four confederates chose one of three types of punishments (verbal warning, 1-week suspension, or termination). The confederates stated aloud punishments that were either appropriate (i.e., similar to normative data) or inappropriate (i.e., deviating either too harshly or leniently to normative data). Participants then provided their punishments selection aloud, and confidentially rated their decision confidence. We found an overall conformity rate of 46%, as 82.67% conformed at least once to harsh or lenient punishment selections. Participants who conformed to incorrect punishment selections exhibited lower levels of decision confidence, indicating that conformity may have been due more to social normative influence. The current results imply the social responses of others (i.e., coworkers, supervisors, or HR) can impact responses to sexual harassment. The results imply that social influence may be a significant contributing factor in mislabeling, misreporting, or inappropriately punishing sexual harassment in some organizations. CAPTION(S): Appendix. Byline: Leilani B. Goodmon, David J. Gavin, Medhini Urs, Sierra N. Akus

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