Studies of conformity have consistently reported that females conform more than males. This difference has commonly been attributed to cultural role prescriptions. However, recent research has suggested that other situational factors may underlie this observation. This study reports the results of four experiments performed with a conformity measure constructed to control for sex relatedness of the judgmental task. These data led to the conclusion that the simple explanation of sex differences in conformity as a function of cultural role prescriptions is inadequate, and that a disregard for the nature of the experimental tasks has contributed to artificially inflated observations of sex differences in conformity.

No abstract

This study provided empirical clarification of the effects of factors presumed in the negotiation literature, but not clearly demonstrated, to be central to the negotiation process. One hundred and forty subjects participated in a simulated labor-management negotiation to determine the effects of perceived ability and impartiality of a mediator and time pressure on negotiation. Results showed that negotiators utilizing a mediator perceived to be high in ability gained more money, were influenced to a greater extent, and perceived the mediator as more powerful and favorable than negotiators with a mediator perceived to be low in ability. Also, negotiators bargaining with a high perceived-ability mediator ended with more money, were more influenced, and indicated more satisfaction than controls. Finally, time pressure produced more contract settlements in the high timepressure situation than in the low time-pressure situation.Mediation as a strategy to facilitate agreement plays an integral role in the resolution of conflicts in the public and private sectors. Mediators are requested to aid parties in all types of negotiations from community disputes to labor-management negotiations to international conflicts (Rubin and Brown, 1975).

The effect on cooperative behavior of different schedules of communication opportunity was examined in a Prisoner's Dilemma game. Communication opportunity was provided by means of standard messages exchanged voluntarily after every trial, after every tenth trial, or only prior to the game. The major finding was the Communication Schedule X Trial Blocks interaction. Cooperation was low for all groups during the early trials. However, when players were given an opportunity to make frequent communications, the cooperation level increased significantly during later trials. There were no significant differences by sex of the subjects, except for an interaction of sex and communication schedule with the C|CD state-conditioned propensity.

An investigation of the impact of part-task training strategies on transfer to simulated carrier landing was conducted in a simulator. College students were taught carrier landing final-approach skills in the simulator under a control or one of three experimental training conditions, and were then tested in the simulator on a criterion configuration that was identical to the control training condition. A task segmentation training strategy (chaining) and a task simplification training strategy (enhancement of the simulated aircraft's response to throttle adjustments) were tested. In addition, the subjects' motor-skill aptitudes were assessed using a video game that has previously been shown to correlate with simulated carrier landing performance. Training under backward procedures of chaining produced better transfer to the criterion task than did an equal number of training trials on the criterion task itself. An interaction between aptitude and treatment indicated that the chaining method of training was particularly advantageous for low-aptitude subjects. The simplification strategy did not appear to enhance transfer.