The present study compared the productivity of a written feedback procedure with that of group and individual brainstorming. The written feedback procedure consisted of group members' generating ideas independently, receiving written copies of each other's ideas, and then resuming to work independently. Forty-eight male undergraduates participated in four-member groups. Each group generated solutions to two brainstorming problems. The productivity of both the written feedback procedure and individual brainstorming exceeded that of group brainstorming. The productivity of the written feedback procedure did not differ significantly from that of individual brainstorming. The results suggest that, as presently applied, the utility of the written feedback procedure does not exceed that of individual brainstorming.
The present experiments examine the ability of persuasive arguments theory to explain the effects of issue importance upon group choice shifts. Female undergraduates completed one of two tasks (individual argument generation or group discussion) under either high or low issue importance. Vinokur and Burnstein's persuasive arguments theory was then employed to predict the discussion-produced effects from the individually generated arguments. This model accurately forecast both the direction and strength of the issue importance effects as well as the relative magnitude of the choice shifts. These results both suggest that persuasive argumentation mediates the effects of issue importance upon group choice shifts and help to establish the general validity of the theory.Group choice shifts (or group polarization) refer to changes in attitude produced by discussion. In their thorough review, Myers and Lamm (1976) observed that persuasive arguments theory (Burnstein & Vinokur, 1977;Vinokur & Burnstein, 1974) provides one of the more compelling analyses of these effects: First, it is capable of explaining the basic facts (e.g., the distribution of pre-and postdiscussion preference, that is, the direction and magnitude of the shifts); second, it demonstrates the relevance of similar effects observed under quite different conditions, say, in the absence of group discussion (e.g., shifts in attitude produced either by merely exposing individuals to the position of others or by simply having them think further about the issue; , 1977. The present study attempts to extend persuasive arguments theory still further. It
Four studies examined the reliability and validity of a short form of Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking Scale. The short form demonstrated high retest reliability ( r = .78), correlated with drug- and sex-related behavior to the same extent as longer forms, gave higher scores for men than for women (as do the longer forms), and correlated .78 with Form V. The short form provides a reliable and valid measure of sensation seeking for use when time constraints preclude use of a longer form.
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