Effects of conceptual system and quality of feedback on voluntary task persistence.

Conceptual systems and Holland's theory of vocational choice.

“…The results of this study support the position of Wiederanders and Harvey (1977) concerning structure and content of systems. They contended that unless both structure (concreteness-abstractness) and content (other variables such as dependency) are considered in studying conceptual systems, important information about systematic differences between people can be overlooked.…”

Belief systems and attitudes toward the death penalty and other punishments

“…In Iweping with the findmgs by Wiederanders and Harvey (1977), belief systems as a configural constmct leads to some predicbons in the jM-esent study that are quite diflFerent from ones appropnate for the four single dimension predictor vanables, singly or linearly combmed The dimensions of Openness, Evaluabveness, and Complexity, for example, should not predict diflFerences between atbtudes ofthe Extrapersonahst and the Cynic toward any aspects of pumshment because c£thevr fairly comparable scores rai these behef charactensbcs Belief systems theory, however, would predict diflFerences between these two systems on.l east some aspects of punishment because of their differences m content and valence The conceptuahzabon of Conservabsm-Liberahsm would have the Cynic, Egoist, and Contextuahst all (q)posmg capital punishment because of their rapectedly comparable liberalism, and only the Extrq>ersonahst fevonng the death penalty cm the basis ofa high scwe (xa conservatism Behef systems theory would predict addibonal diflFer-«M;es among the systems Subjects were administ«-ed four scales (1) The "Tbs I Believe" Test (Harvey, 1966) on the basis of wiuch they were classified mto systems and sewed m the three belief dimensions, (2) a modified version of Ae Conservatism-Liberahsm scale of Wilson and associates (Wilstm, 1973), (3) a scale m the baselessness, justificabon, and conbi^ency of capital iHmlshment, and (4) a scale oa the seventy dFpunishment the resp(«ident felt apint)iHiat6 for each <rfftmr classes of cnme (against persons, pt^perty, ihe state, and vicbmless cnmes) Subjects juWibonally lmkaited their gei^o-a^ beqveacy of church attendance, which were to be us«i b<*h as predk:t(H' vanaMes ami as covanates m tte analyses (rftfre eflfects of b^ef systrans and Qaiservabsm-Liberahsm Hypotheses While each of the scales except the TIB was cluster analyzed, no hypothesis was offered conceming factor structures It was predicted that (1) The Extrapersonalist would endorse more severe punishment for each ofthe four classes of cnme than either the Egoist or Contextualist, and more than the Cynic for all classes of crime except cnmes against the person, (3) Conservatism and Evaluabveness would relate posibvely to the jusbficabon of capital punishment and seventy of punishment for each of the four classes of cnme, and negatively to the baselessness of capital punishment, and (4) Openness and Complexity would relate negatively to the justificabon for capital punishment and seventy of punishment for each ofthe four classes of cnme, and posibvely to the baselessness of capital punishment…”

“…

This study focused on the relationship of behef systems as a configural construct and conservabsm-hberalism to atbtudes toward the death penalty and other punishments for ofiFenses of varying seventy Extrapersonalists, the most concretely functioning of the four conceptual or belief systems posited by Harvey, Hunt, and Schroder (1961), were most in favor of the death penalty They also endorsed the most severe punishment for a vanety of cnmes, to a parbcularly greater extent than did representatives of either of the two more abstractly funcboning systemsThe behef dimensions of Openness, Evaluativeness, and Complexity, as well as the frequency of church attendance, correlated more highly and consistently with atbtudes toward punishment than did either Conservabsm-Liberalism or gender Both ofthe latter vanables failed to correlate with a number ofthe outcome vanables and related at only low levels to the others The greater predicbve power ofa configural concepbon of personality or behef systems over a unidimensional conception seems to have been demonstrated Configural concepts may additionally be generally superior to mulbdimensional concepts treated linearly Ofthe personological vanables that should relate to atbtudes toward capital punishment, mulbdimensional ones should relate more strongly than unidimensional ones Further, a construct that combines structure, amtent, and valence mto diflFerent pattems or configurations should be a more powerful predictor than constructs that include only one of these belief or personality dimensions, or even more than one if they are treated m a linear fashion In hne with this, Wiederanders and Harvey (1977) found that belief systems, treated as tndimensional configurations, differentiated more finely, and presumably more accurately, aiiM)!^ behaviors relatmg to persistence than did the smgle dimension of conceptual complexity (Stuempfig & Maher, 1970) The mam purpose ofthe present study was a companson ofthe jwedicbve abdibes of belief systems, three of their subsidiary dimensions Requests for repints should be sent to O J Harvey,

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“…Ofthe personological vanables that should relate to atbtudes toward capital punishment, mulbdimensional ones should relate more strongly than unidimensional ones Further, a construct that combines structure, amtent, and valence mto diflFerent pattems or configurations should be a more powerful predictor than constructs that include only one of these belief or personality dimensions, or even more than one if they are treated m a linear fashion In hne with this, Wiederanders and Harvey (1977) found that belief systems, treated as tndimensional configurations, differentiated more finely, and presumably more accurately, aiiM)!^ behaviors relatmg to persistence than did the smgle dimension of conceptual complexity (Stuempfig & Maher, 1970) The mam purpose ofthe present study was a companson ofthe jwedicbve abdibes of belief systems, three of their subsidiary dimensions (Openness, Evaluabveness, and Complexity), and Conservabsm-Liberalism as defined by Wilson and his associates (1973) to atbtudes toward the death penalty and other forms of punishment for varyingly severe oflFenses Interest existed also in the relabonship of these five vanables to the outcome vanables for their own sake…”

Conceptual Matching Models and Interactional Research in Education

“…Thus Stuempfig and Maehr (1970) demonstrated differences in persistence between low-and high-CL subjects under personal and impersonal conditions. Wiederanders and Harvey (1977) in replicating this study demonstrated that intrinsic motivation varies with level of conceptual abstractness but not in a linear fashion It is clear therefore that the treatments used in most of the studies reviewed here vary on dimensions other than teacher control of interpersonal interactions in the classroom Given that some attempt was made to manipulate treatment in terms of structure, it is important to determine the actual extent of difference between treatment comparisons. On the interpersonal dimension, the degree of choice offered students in classroom settings appears to be strictly limited, in all the studies reported here.…”