HEN in Act I of Pelleas and Melisande one of the characters asks, "I have never for one instant seen clearly within myself; how then would you have me judge the deeds of others," a most crucial question is posed for those conducting research in the area of human judgment and interpersonal perception. One of its corollaries would be whether ability to perceive others accurately, if possible at all, is a general trait, or more specific and dependent on whom we are perceiving and what sort of judgment of them we are making. In the senior author's prior research in this area (Cline: 19S5a; 1955b), the results suggested that ability to judge does have some generality. Later studies by Gage and Cronbach (1955), Crow andHammond (1957), andLeavitt (1954), among others, suggested that on the contrary there was little relationship between accuracy of perception scores derived from two or more different instruments or procedures. The present research represents an attempt to determine more precisely if there is a general, global "trait" of perceiving others accurately that is susceptible to meaningful measurement.
METHOD SubjectsThe 5s were 50 students, both male and female, in the 1958 summer session at the University of Utah, drawn from classes in psychology, education, sociology, and anthropology on a voluntary basis. Because of the small N, results were not analyzed by sex of judges. Such an analysis is planned in later studies. This group was more heterogeneous than is usual in university settings, since it included school teachers and others attending the summer session for special purposes. Although the N is rather small for a correlational study, it was thought to be sufficiently large for a study aimed at answering the question of generality.
Treated a sample of 77 distressed middle‐ and lower‐class couples by 19 therapists using conjoint therapy. Batteries of tests that assessed marital satisfaction and communications skills were given pre‐and posttherapy plus 3 and 6 months later. Couple and therapist therapy behavior were assessed using audio tapes of interview sessions. A variety of sex and social class differences were found that correlated with therapy outcome. The overall thrust of the findings suggests that no one marital therapy technique will be appropriate for the different sexes and with those of different SES backgrounds.
Aof us continually make judgments about each other. Some occur in intimate or casual contacts with family, friends, new acquaintances, and fellow workers, and some judgments are made in such professional capacities as that of salesmen, psychologists, ministers, credit managers, or even congressional investigators.Why is it that the "good judge" perceives his fellows in a relatively accurate and undistorted fashion, whereas the "poor judge" obtains distorted impressions of others? In other words what are the personality correlates of judging ability? And what are the relationships between these correlates and perceptual, cognitive, and behavioral factors?
METHODIn an effort to answer the above questions the writer set about developing a test of judging skill that would be complex and dynamic enough to measure this ability.After months of experimentation the following procedure was found to be the most promising. It consisted of taking sound-motion-picture recordings of a series of employment interviews. This was done with hidden camera and microphone without the interviewee's 8 knowledge, so as not to interfere with the spontaneity of the interview. Permission was later secured from the interviewees to use the films for re-1 This study is based upon portions of the research presented in the writer's doctoral dissertation submitted to the University of California, Berkeley, in 19S3. The writer wishes to express his great indebtedness and appreciation to Drs.
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