157
THE ROLE OF COGNITIVE PROCESS IN SOCIAL INTERACTION
JOHN E. CARR University ofWashington ALLAN POSTHUMA Ontario
University ofWestern SUMMARY
THIS paper reports on a series of studies designed to investigate the hypothesis the success of a social interaction is a function of the compatibility among the participants in complexity or degree of differentiation of their cognitive structure. Patient-therapist cognitive compatibility is shown to predict the success of treatment outcome. Its role in the teacher-student relationship in mental health training is more complex : the teacher’s cognitive structure appearing to be a primary variable. In community action groups, cognitive compatibility determines the nature and type of decisions or behaviors carried out by the group. The resarch emphasizes the need for increased familiarity with cognitive research among social psychiatrists.
that
Social and behavioral scientists have long acknowledged that an individual’s in coping with the social environment is largely determined by the degree to which that person is able to develop a sufficiently differentiated cognitive representation of the environment (20). The principle has far reaching implications for social psychiatry, and indicates that research focusing upon the role of cognitive processes in interpersonal interactions should prove valuable in advancing our understanding of what contributes to succesful therapeutic intervention. This paper reports on a series of studies designed to investigate the hypothesis that the success of a social interaction is a function of the degree to which there is compatibility among the participants in the level of differentiation of their cognitive structures. Since social interaction may be broadly defined, the hypothesis was investigated within the following contexts : (a) the patient-therapist relationship; (b) the small communityaction discussion group; and (c) the teacher-student relationship. success
Cognitive Basis of Optimal Receptivity in Interpersonal Interaction Cognitive compatibility has been defined as one person’s (e.g. the therapist’s) ability to accurately perceive and communicate within the system of cognitive dimensions used by another (e.g. the patient) to conceptualize his or her experience (11). Cognitive compatibility may be defined not only in terms of similarity in the concepts used in conceptualization but also similarity in the degree to which their conceptual dimensions are differentiated (18). Two friends may share a common dimension such as creative-noncreative, but for one individual the dimension may be poorly differentiated allowing him to make few discriminations among a given group of mutual acquaintances, while for the other it may be highly differentiated, permitting him to perceive a greater number of differences among the same group of acquaintances. Whether these friends agreed a given person was creative would not necessarily depend upon whether or not they used the same semantic label but whether they shared a relatively common degree of differentiation of the conceptual dimension. Therefore, the more meaningful &dquo;functional&dquo; similarity of their conceptual Downloaded from isp.sagepub.com at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIV on June 26, 2015
158
distinguished from merely the &dquo;semantic&dquo; similarity, and operationally defined in terms of the degree to which the level of differentiation of one approached the level of differentiation of the other. The difficulties associated with a &dquo;semantic&dquo; definition of conceptual compatibility, illustrated above and discussed elsewhere (1, 2), make previous psychotherapy research utilizing such a definition subject to criticism on methodological grounds. The investigator cannot be assured that the patient and therapist share the &dquo;same&dquo; concept unless the functional equivalency of their respective usages is demonstrated in a situation requiring discriminatory judgments about a constant stimulus field. In cognitive process as well as social processes, &dquo;actions speak louder than structure could be
words ! &dquo; These considerations have led us to define differentiation compatibility as the degree mutuality in the extent to which various stimulus objects are differentiated along conceptual dimensions. Using this definition the previous hypothesis from social and clinched research was then restated as follows : successful treatment outcome is dependent upon the establishment of an optimal level of differentiation compatibility between the patient and his therapist. The principle of differentiation compatibility offered a possible explanation for several of the methodological dilemmas of psychotherapy research. For example, incompatibility of cognitive structure could account for the failure of patients, therapists, and observers to agree about the outcome and nature of the therapy relationship (14, 8). Nawas and Landfield (12) hypothesized that most improved patients would show a significant increase from pre to post-therapy in the number of conceptual dimensions borrowed from the therapist, whereas least improved patients should show a decrease. However, the results of their study pointed in the opposite direction, i.e., that improved patients showed a decrease in the number of constructs borrowed from the therapist. In a subsequent study Landfield and Nawas (11) found that a minimal degree of communication between the patient and the therapist within the patient’s language dimension is essential to improvement, but that communication within the therapist’s language dimension was not. If the patient is concerned with whether he is understood by the therapist and bases his judgment of the treatment outcome on this perception, then his own ability to assume the therapist’s frame of reference is Lss relevant to the treatment process. While a meaningful understanding of the patient’s life situation, his problems, and modes of adjustment may require the therapist’s appreciating the patient’s cognitive dimensions and their level of differentation, this does not necessarily imply that he uses the patient’s vantage point when it comes to the task of evaluating outcome. Indeed, it seems far more likely that in response to the demands for &dquo;professional&dquo; evaluation, the therapist will shift back to his own, more familiar and/or preferred conceptual or perhaps even to a &dquo;professional&dquo; vantage point comprised of the theoretical or conceptual dimensions acquired as the result of professional training. Such an explanation would help to explain the apparent dilemma of (a) the observed relation between therapists’ &dquo;accurate empathy&dquo; and the patients’ perceived success on the one hand (14) and (b) inconsistent and discrepant outcome ratings on the other
(9) ! Differentiation Compatibility and Treatment Outcome In 1963 a series of studies was begun at the University of Washington to investigate the role of conceptual differentiation in the patient-therapist relationship. The Interpersonal Discrimination Task (IDT) developed by Carr (1) was used to provide a measure of differentiation based upon the number of interpersonal discriminations Downloaded from isp.sagepub.com at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIV on June 26, 2015
159 made among a number of stimulus persons along the subject’s own conceptual dimensions. Preliminary studies were concerned with the development of the primary measure of conceptual differentiation and with theoretical and methodological problems relevant to the concept of differentiation (1, 2, 3, 4), and outcome research (7, 8). These were followed by the two investigations designed to test and replicate the primary hypothesis that di~erentiation compatibility ofthe patient and therapist directly relates to the outcome oftreatment, as well as some corrolary hypotheses, e.g., that the degree of perceived success at any point in time over the course of therapy will relate to the degree of compatibility at that time; and that over the course of therapy, incompatible patient-therapist pairs will move toward compatibility. Further, the issue of the relation of differentiation to initial adjustment and diagnosis and thus the possible effect of these variables on outcome was investi-
gated.
The results of the first of these studies (5) supported the hypothesis that differentiation compatibility of patient and therapist is essential to improved outcome as perceived by the patient and as evidenced by his reported symptom reduction. In an initial phase of therapy, incompatible patients and therapists appeared to &dquo;seek&dquo; differentiation compatibility as a basis for establishing productive communication. Following the establishment of compatibility, therapists’ differentiation levels surprisingly increased. We assumed that this reflected their efforts to further articulate their patient’s relevant conceptual dimensions although we could not be sure the effect was not simply random. Patients’ differentiation level was related to the number of symptom complaints they endorsed, so we questioned whether differentiation (and thus symptom) change in the presence of cognitive compatibility might not be perceived by the patient as therapeutically derived improvement. Several additional questions such as the importance of role identities were raised so a second study was initiated. In the subsequent investigation (6) the principal findings of the original study were successfully replicated on an independent sample thus further confirming the compatibility hypothesis. Two additional issues were of concern in this study. First, we sought to determine whether the compatibility in cognitive structure was perceived by either patient or therapist. In addition to ratings of outcome, patient and therapist rated the degree to which the therapist seemed to &dquo;understand&dquo; the patient’s problem. No significant differences were obtained suggesting that differentiation compatibility may influence outcome without patient and therapist necessarily being aware of its impact! Second, in the original study we had observed that &dquo;compatible&dquo; therapists increase in differentiation level over the course of treatment, and had hypothesized that such shifts therefore were purposeful, being a function of the patients’ differentiation level and type of disorder. Therapists in the second study by contrast reduced differentiation level and upon subsequent scrutiny, we found the patient sample to be quite different from the first, with higher differentiation scores and a greater preponderance of &dquo;obsessive&dquo; complaints (e.g., inability to decide among a number of alternatives). Since this was consistent with the observed relation between type of pathology and differentiation level, and since we had found outcome to be influenced by initial differentiation level, our original view that therapists &dquo;conceptual strategy&dquo; is determined, in part, by the differentiation level at which his patient is operating appeared to be supported. Parenthetically, Zajonc (19) had earlier provided some very convincing evidence that individuals modulate their conceptual structure depending upon the communication strategies demanded by the situation, i.e., Downloaded from isp.sagepub.com at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIV on June 26, 2015
160 whether they are &dquo;transmitting&dquo; or &dquo;receiving&dquo; information. His findings bore remarkable similarities to our own, further confirming the hypothesis that such shifts in cognitive structure are indeed purposeful. Differentiation Compatibility and Mental Health Training If differentiation compatibility is a determiner of intervention outcome, then its role in the mental health training process per se must also be considered. The differentiation compatibility hypothesis could be invoked to support the proposal to utilize indigenous &dquo;mental health workers&dquo; in community mental health centers since they share to a certain degree the conceptualization of the world of the target population. In achieving this goal, however, another problem may be overlooked, if not accentuated, i.e. the discrepency in conceptual compatibility between the indigenous worker and the mental health professional who must train him or attempt to impart to him some of the skills required to function in his role as an intervention agent. Thus the differentiation compatibility of professional and worker may be as critical to the success of the community mental health movement as the compatibility of the worker and the client. Our investigation into the role of teacher-student compatibility in teaching effectiveness (17) began with a study utilizing various teacher-student combinations characteristic of those that might be found in a mental health training situation, i.e., faculty-resident, faculty-medical student, facutly-&dquo;mental health worker&dquo;, resident&dquo;mental health worker&dquo;, resident. Participants in three psychiatric seminars (36 &dquo;student-teacher&dquo; relationships at the various levels described above) were administered the IDT, the Object Sorting Test (OST) developed by Gardner and Schoen (10) and A-B Scale (AB) a measure of psychotherapist cognitive style which has been shown to relate to differentiation (16). Teaching effectiveness (TE) was arbitrarily defined in terms of students ratings of teacher performance on a 100 point scale from &dquo;least effective&dquo; 1 to &dquo;most effective&dquo; 100. The IDT, OST, and AB were administered prior to and following each course, and all students rated the teachers’ performance at the end of the teacher’s course. We had speculated that the &dquo;academic&dquo; relationship may differ, from the therapy relationship, therapy involving conceptual interactions in domain other than the social, hence our inclusion of measures like the Object Sorting Test. Our speculation was only partially correct. None of the 3 measures of differentiation revealed a consistent significant relation between teacher-student compatibility and teacher effectiveness across all student-teacher combinations. Instead, the differentiation level of the teacher alone, appeared to account for the major portion of obtained variance-the more differentiated the teacher, the higher the rating of teaching effectiveness. Compatibility of teacher and student did play a secondary role, but only to the extent that given more differentiated teachers, the more compatible the student (mor differentiated), then the greater the likelihood of high teacher ratings. Thus the role of differentiating in the teaching relationship appeared to be far more complicated than anticipated. The question arose as to whether course content was a mitigating factor, i.e. was the teacher-student relationship unique in H. M. training. Therefore, a second study was conducted using teacher-student combinations in various course content areas outside the &dquo;mental health&dquo; realm. Subjects were 22 faculty and 43 first year medical students participating in the medical school core curriculum. Teacher-student contacts were carried out within the context of courses in Molecular & Cell Biology, Anatomy & Tissue Structure, Biostatistics & Epidemiology, Medicine, Health & Downloaded from isp.sagepub.com at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIV on June 26, 2015
161 and Control Systems & Mechanisms of Homeostatis. In addition to differ(IDT) and teaching effectiveness (TE), frequency of classroom contact (number of hours or NH) was also tabulated for each faculty member. Results confirmed the findings of the earlier study with one important qualification. In both studies, teacher’s level of differentiation markedly influenced student judgements of teaching effectiveness. However, the probability of a teacher receiving a high rating of teacher effectiveness was greatest when there was a high frequency of contact with teacher and a highly differentiated student was matched with a highly differentiated teacher. The next most optimal conditions for high teacher ratings appeared to be high frequency of contact, and less differentiated teachers matched with less differentiated students. In contrast with the psychotherapy relationship, where patient-therapist matching was the primary source of variance, the educational relationship places principle emphasis upon the instructor’s cognitive organization structure, and only then on the relationship to a lesser degree. We presume this reflects (a) a demand on the part of the student that the instructor have detailed mastery of his or her subject area, requiring increased conceptual differentiation, and (b) the capability of the student to appreciate it. The findings appear to hold for psychiatry as well as other disciplines and argues against the notion that in psychiatry training, a &dquo;meaningful&dquo; relationship can substitute for well-organized and articulated content! Differentiation Compatibility and Community Groups At this point we began to consider the implications of the compatibility hypothesis for the success of social interaction in a much larger context. If the conceptual matching of participants determine the outcome of psychotherapy and (to a lesser degree) educational experiences, what then was its role in effecting the outcome of dialogue between individuals who were estranged along ideological, racial, ethnic, or cultural dimensions? For example, although it is generally believed prejudicial attitudes can be changed by bringing together members of estranged groups for the purpose of discussing and resolving their differences, in actual fact, merely bringing people together does not always insure that the resulting communications will be productive, or that mutual awareness will occur (15). We hypothesized, therefore, that since individuals differ widely in the manner in which they define and organize experiences, successful communication and task performance in groups should be optimized when the group members are matched on the basis of the level of conceptual differentiation An excellent opportunity to test this compatibility hypothesis in the area of racial relations presented itself when the Seattle School Board initiated plans in 1970 to establish a mandatory bussing program to achieve a more acceptable racial balance in the various schools. To facilitate the bussing plan and ameliorate any opposition, the Administration initiated community workshops of randomly sampled parents affected by the bussing plan. We were successful in obtaining the cooperation of the school Administration to arrange for the composition of these discussion groups and predicted that (a) matched differentiation groups would be more satisfied with the progress and outcome of the workshops than groups with mismatched memberships ; (b) parents involved in the workshop, and particularly, parents in the matched groups would be more supportive of the bussing program than parents of bussed children who were not involved in the workshop. On the basis of participants scores on the Interpersonal Discrimination Task,
Society,
entiation
Downloaded from isp.sagepub.com at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIV on June 26, 2015
162
assigned to either high differentiation matched, medium differentiation low differentiation matched, or mixed differentiation groups. To control for the possibility that group productivity may be a function of the complexity or abstractness of the topic being discussed, groups were assigned specific topic areas that were both abstract and concrete in nature. The relative abstractness or concreteness of topics was determined by concensus of agreement among all workshop coordinators. The methodology of the study has been described in great detail elsewhere (13). Suffice it to say, that every effort was made to control for differentiation level of the groups, complexity of topic discussed, and racial composition of the groups. At the completion of the workshop, participants were asked to evaluate whether the workshop had achieved its goals of increasing racial harmony and bettering an understanding of the broad range of school-related problems. In addition, evidence was sought to determine whether the workshops had specifically influenced parental attitudes with regard to bussing. This criterion problem was simplified when a court decision made the proposed mandatory plan a voluntary bussing plan, permitting us to simply count the number of parents in the workshop group who voluntarily elected to bus their children versus the comparable frequency rates in the population at large of parents who did not participate in the bussing program. Our results were quite surprising. Parents’ &dquo;opinions&dquo; as to the success of the workshop were clearly unrelated to differentiation level or differentiation matching, but significantly related to the nature of the topic being discussed. That is, 61 % of the participants discussing abstract topics indicated satisfaction with the workshop whereas only 38% of the participants discussing concrete topics felt satisfied. However, when one turns from &dquo;opinion&dquo; to &dquo;behavior&dquo; in search of criteria, a remarkably different set of relationships are obtained. First of all, matched groups, as predicted, were more likely to bus their children than mixed groups. What emerged even more clearly, was an inverse relationship between the differentiation level of the groups and the tendency to bus. Specifically, our analysis revealed that it was the differentiation level among blacks which primarily accounted for the group differences; that is, more differentiated black parents chose not to bus their children, while less differentiated black parents evidenced the highest tendency to bus among all participants! While there was a similar trend among white parents, no significant group differences in bussing were found among the whites. While surprising the results were accountable in terms of the recent politicalWhile surprising, the results were accountable in terms of the recent politicalbussing had come at a time when local political control of the educational system had only recently been obtained by the residents in the Central area. The quality of school programs and local pride in education was notably on the increase. Thus, the bussing proposal was viewed by these residents as a threat to their recently hard won local control. Further, while a 50% racial balance in the Central area schools was preferred by a majority of the black citizens, the School Board segregation plan would have resulted in an approximate 4 to 1 white-black ratio. Thus, the tendency to oppose bussing among the more highly differentiated participants (and especially the blacks), appeared to be a product of their more articulated perception of the complexity of the issues, both social and political, involved in the bussing proposal. As a result, they were much better able to make the differential choices among the various contingencies based upon their knowledge of the probable consequences. By contrast, less differentiated participants and a parents
were
matched,
Downloaded from isp.sagepub.com at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIV on June 26, 2015
163
greater proportion objectives by being
of the whites, tended either less sensitive to
to or
focus more on the global workshop less knowledgeable about the political
ramifications of the proposals. An additional question which interested us, was whether or not the workshop experience would have any differential effect on the participants’ differentiation level. An analysis of pre post- differentiation level change scores indicated that high differentiated groups decreased in differentiation level when discussing concrete topics, medium and mixed groups increased in differentiation level when discussing concrete topics, and low differentiation groups remained essentially unchanged regardless of topic. In retrospect, it appeared that the highly differentiated group, having already articulated the relevant information and having arrived at a conclusion, shifted to a more global, undifferentiated style of cognitive functioning in order to maintain the centrality of the over-riding racial-bussing issue, and/or thereby insulate itself against incoming, potentially contradictory information. By contrast, medium and mixed groups with somewhat greater divergence of opinion, apparently engaged one another more effectively in order to obtain additional information and resolve their differences. It is presumed that the effectiveness of this engagement and increased information seeking was an increasing level of differentiation. The shifts in cognitive style reflecting different strategies of information processing are reminiscent of Zajonc’s description of the phenomena of cognitive tuning mentioned earlier. Further, the findings are quite consistent with those obtained in our earlier work on the psychotherapy relationship and its effects on outcome.
This study, more than any other reported so far, underscores the importance of considering the role of conceptual matching in any kind of interpersonal interaction vested interest in the outcome of that interaction. From a the implications of our workshop were quite clear. If the success of an encounter between estranged participants is to be measured simply in terms of verbal endorsement, then clearly one should have the participants discuss relatively abstract topics. However, if one is desirous of demonstrating actual behavioral change, of achieving concrete resolutions to concrete problems, and of effecting changes in the conceptual organization of the participants, then clearly attention to the composition of the discussion groups and the relative specificity of assigned topics is required. Results of these studies have more far-reaching implications with regard to community mental health and the delivery of mental health care in multi-ethnic societies. While we have appreciated the fact that a psychiatric resident of patrician lineage and Harvard training may have considerable difficulty in comprehending a Harlem Black’s conceptualization of his world, we have been able to say little more about the nature of the relationships involved other than differences in the socioeconomic background appear to affect one’s perceptions. Although we have yet to directly test the hypothesis, our results strongly suggest that cognitive process is the intervening variable required to account for the relationship between ethnic-cultural variables and behaviour. Further, successful intervention into that relationship requires not simply an appreciation of the ethnic-cultural factors, but more importantly, an appreciation of the conceptual structure and cognitive process by which those factors are interpreted and assigned meaning. In answer to our earlier question as to why research on the patient-therapist relationship has enjoyed so little success, it would appear that these research efforts have, for the most part, focussed upon the wrong variables. The concept of patientwhen
one
may have
a
pragmatic standpoint,
Downloaded from isp.sagepub.com at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIV on June 26, 2015
164
therapist matching is not new. However, earlier conceptualizations were based upon trait theory approaches, which assumed that therapy outcome was a function of the interaction of patients’ and therapists’ respective trait constellations. Hence, investigators have sought (often unsuccessfully) to establish the relationship of trait similarity and/or complementary to outcome. We have already suggested that an alternative research strategy focussing upon cognitive process rather than personality traits might be far more fruitful. The implications for training are no less significant. The trait theory approach assumes that the characteristics of the &dquo;successful&dquo; therapist can be identified and training programs devised by which these traits can be acquired or augmented. The cognitive approach, by contrast, presumes no such universal constellation of &dquo;successful therapist&dquo; traits, but rather defines &dquo;success&dquo; in terms of the particular degree of communicability that may exist for any given patient-therapist combination with successful communication dependent upon the degree to which a common language exists or is capable of development. Implications for training then are quite different than those derived from a trait view. If successful communication, and thence outcome, is a function of similarity in conceptual systems, then training efforts will not be focussed upon the acquisition of a given set of traits but rather upon the acquisition of strategies, programs, or methods by which alterations in conceptual structure may be accomplished in order to facilitate the probability of successful inter-system communication. Thus the distiction in research strategy is analogous to &dquo;learning how to learn&dquo; vs. &dquo;content&dquo; oriented strategies in learning. The continued inattention in training to an entire class of variables which researchers have acknowledged as being essential to successful treatment outcome can no longer be justified and need no longer be tolerated given our present knowledge of the intervention process. Researchers are in a position to make a significant contribution to social psychiatric training by (1) identifying those parameters of cognitive process which most directly influence interpersonal intervention, and (2) developing guidelines for the training and systematic facilitation of such parameters in therapists. The accomplishment of these goals could provide the most innovative development in social psychiatry in decades.
REFERENCES 1. Carr, J. E.: "The role of conceptual organization in interpersonal discrimination". Journal of Psychology, 1965a, 59, 159-176. 2. Carr, J. E.: "Cognitive complexity: Construct descriptive terms vs. cognitive process". Psychological Reports, 1965b, 16, 133-134. 3- Carr, J. E.: "Differentiation as a function of source characteristics and judge’s conceptual structure". Journal of Personality, 1969 37, 378-386. 4. Carr, J. E. : "Perceived therapy outcome as a function of differentiation between and within conceptual Clinical 1974, 30, 282-285. 5. Carr J. E.: "Differentiation similarity of patient and therapist and the outcome of psychotherapy". Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1970, 76, 361-369. 6. Carr, E., and Montgomery, F.: "Differentiation similarity and outcome of treatment: A replication". manuscript. University of Washington, 1971. 7. Carr, J. E., and Whittenbaugh, J. A.: "Volunteer and non-volunteer characteristics in an outpatient population". Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1968, 73, 16-17. 8. E., and Whittenbaugh, J. A.: "Sources of disagreement in the perception of psychotherapy outJournal of Clinical Psychology, 1969, 25, 16-21. 9. Fisk, D. W., Cartwright, D. S., and Kirtner, W. L.: "Are therapeutic changes predictable?" Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1964, 69, 418-426. 10. Gardner, R., and Schoen, R. : "Differentiation and abstraction in concept formation". Psychological Monographs, 1962, 76 (41, Whole No. 560). 11. Landfield, A. W., and Nawas, M. M.: "Psychotherapeutic improvement as a function of communication and adoption of therapists’ values". Journal of Counseling 1964, 11, 336-341.
dimensions".
Journal of
Psychology,
J. Unpublished
Carr, J. comes".
Psychology,
Downloaded from isp.sagepub.com at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIV on June 26, 2015
165 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17.
18. 19. 20.
Nawas, M. M., and Landfield, A. W.: "Improvement in psychotherapy and adoption of the therapist meaning systems". Reports, 1963, 13, 97-98. E. "Differentiation matching in school desegregation workshop". Journal of Posthuma, A., and Applied Social Psychology, 1974, 4, 36-46. C. R. (Ed.): The therapeutic relationship and its impact. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1967. M.: "Superordinate goals in reduction of intergroup conflict". American Journal of Sociology, 1938, Sherif, 63, 346-358. W., and Carson, R.: "The A-B therapist ’type’ distinction and spatial orientation: replication and Shows, extension". Journal of Nervous and Mental Disorders, 1966, 141, 456-462. Townes, B. D., and Carr, J. E.: "Differentiation and teaching effectiveness in medical education". Journal of applied Social Psychology, 1973, 3, 73-83 Triandis, H. C.: "Cognitive similarity and communication in a dyad". Human Relations, 1960, 13, 175-183. R. B.: "The process of cognitive tuning". Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1960, 61, 159-167. Zajonc, R.B.: "Cognitive theories in social psychology". In Lindzey & Aronson (Eds.) Handbook of Social Psychology, Vol. I. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1968, 320-411.
Psychological Carr, J.
Rogers,
Zajonc,
Downloaded from isp.sagepub.com at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIV on June 26, 2015
THE ROLE OF COGNITIVE PROCESS IN SOCIAL INTERACTION
JOHN E. CARR University ofWashington ALLAN POSTHUMA Ontario
University ofWestern SUMMARY
THIS paper reports on a series of studies designed to investigate the hypothesis the success of a social interaction is a function of the compatibility among the participants in complexity or degree of differentiation of their cognitive structure. Patient-therapist cognitive compatibility is shown to predict the success of treatment outcome. Its role in the teacher-student relationship in mental health training is more complex : the teacher’s cognitive structure appearing to be a primary variable. In community action groups, cognitive compatibility determines the nature and type of decisions or behaviors carried out by the group. The resarch emphasizes the need for increased familiarity with cognitive research among social psychiatrists.
that
Social and behavioral scientists have long acknowledged that an individual’s in coping with the social environment is largely determined by the degree to which that person is able to develop a sufficiently differentiated cognitive representation of the environment (20). The principle has far reaching implications for social psychiatry, and indicates that research focusing upon the role of cognitive processes in interpersonal interactions should prove valuable in advancing our understanding of what contributes to succesful therapeutic intervention. This paper reports on a series of studies designed to investigate the hypothesis that the success of a social interaction is a function of the degree to which there is compatibility among the participants in the level of differentiation of their cognitive structures. Since social interaction may be broadly defined, the hypothesis was investigated within the following contexts : (a) the patient-therapist relationship; (b) the small communityaction discussion group; and (c) the teacher-student relationship. success
Cognitive Basis of Optimal Receptivity in Interpersonal Interaction Cognitive compatibility has been defined as one person’s (e.g. the therapist’s) ability to accurately perceive and communicate within the system of cognitive dimensions used by another (e.g. the patient) to conceptualize his or her experience (11). Cognitive compatibility may be defined not only in terms of similarity in the concepts used in conceptualization but also similarity in the degree to which their conceptual dimensions are differentiated (18). Two friends may share a common dimension such as creative-noncreative, but for one individual the dimension may be poorly differentiated allowing him to make few discriminations among a given group of mutual acquaintances, while for the other it may be highly differentiated, permitting him to perceive a greater number of differences among the same group of acquaintances. Whether these friends agreed a given person was creative would not necessarily depend upon whether or not they used the same semantic label but whether they shared a relatively common degree of differentiation of the conceptual dimension. Therefore, the more meaningful &dquo;functional&dquo; similarity of their conceptual Downloaded from isp.sagepub.com at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIV on June 26, 2015
158
distinguished from merely the &dquo;semantic&dquo; similarity, and operationally defined in terms of the degree to which the level of differentiation of one approached the level of differentiation of the other. The difficulties associated with a &dquo;semantic&dquo; definition of conceptual compatibility, illustrated above and discussed elsewhere (1, 2), make previous psychotherapy research utilizing such a definition subject to criticism on methodological grounds. The investigator cannot be assured that the patient and therapist share the &dquo;same&dquo; concept unless the functional equivalency of their respective usages is demonstrated in a situation requiring discriminatory judgments about a constant stimulus field. In cognitive process as well as social processes, &dquo;actions speak louder than structure could be
words ! &dquo; These considerations have led us to define differentiation compatibility as the degree mutuality in the extent to which various stimulus objects are differentiated along conceptual dimensions. Using this definition the previous hypothesis from social and clinched research was then restated as follows : successful treatment outcome is dependent upon the establishment of an optimal level of differentiation compatibility between the patient and his therapist. The principle of differentiation compatibility offered a possible explanation for several of the methodological dilemmas of psychotherapy research. For example, incompatibility of cognitive structure could account for the failure of patients, therapists, and observers to agree about the outcome and nature of the therapy relationship (14, 8). Nawas and Landfield (12) hypothesized that most improved patients would show a significant increase from pre to post-therapy in the number of conceptual dimensions borrowed from the therapist, whereas least improved patients should show a decrease. However, the results of their study pointed in the opposite direction, i.e., that improved patients showed a decrease in the number of constructs borrowed from the therapist. In a subsequent study Landfield and Nawas (11) found that a minimal degree of communication between the patient and the therapist within the patient’s language dimension is essential to improvement, but that communication within the therapist’s language dimension was not. If the patient is concerned with whether he is understood by the therapist and bases his judgment of the treatment outcome on this perception, then his own ability to assume the therapist’s frame of reference is Lss relevant to the treatment process. While a meaningful understanding of the patient’s life situation, his problems, and modes of adjustment may require the therapist’s appreciating the patient’s cognitive dimensions and their level of differentation, this does not necessarily imply that he uses the patient’s vantage point when it comes to the task of evaluating outcome. Indeed, it seems far more likely that in response to the demands for &dquo;professional&dquo; evaluation, the therapist will shift back to his own, more familiar and/or preferred conceptual or perhaps even to a &dquo;professional&dquo; vantage point comprised of the theoretical or conceptual dimensions acquired as the result of professional training. Such an explanation would help to explain the apparent dilemma of (a) the observed relation between therapists’ &dquo;accurate empathy&dquo; and the patients’ perceived success on the one hand (14) and (b) inconsistent and discrepant outcome ratings on the other
(9) ! Differentiation Compatibility and Treatment Outcome In 1963 a series of studies was begun at the University of Washington to investigate the role of conceptual differentiation in the patient-therapist relationship. The Interpersonal Discrimination Task (IDT) developed by Carr (1) was used to provide a measure of differentiation based upon the number of interpersonal discriminations Downloaded from isp.sagepub.com at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIV on June 26, 2015
159 made among a number of stimulus persons along the subject’s own conceptual dimensions. Preliminary studies were concerned with the development of the primary measure of conceptual differentiation and with theoretical and methodological problems relevant to the concept of differentiation (1, 2, 3, 4), and outcome research (7, 8). These were followed by the two investigations designed to test and replicate the primary hypothesis that di~erentiation compatibility ofthe patient and therapist directly relates to the outcome oftreatment, as well as some corrolary hypotheses, e.g., that the degree of perceived success at any point in time over the course of therapy will relate to the degree of compatibility at that time; and that over the course of therapy, incompatible patient-therapist pairs will move toward compatibility. Further, the issue of the relation of differentiation to initial adjustment and diagnosis and thus the possible effect of these variables on outcome was investi-
gated.
The results of the first of these studies (5) supported the hypothesis that differentiation compatibility of patient and therapist is essential to improved outcome as perceived by the patient and as evidenced by his reported symptom reduction. In an initial phase of therapy, incompatible patients and therapists appeared to &dquo;seek&dquo; differentiation compatibility as a basis for establishing productive communication. Following the establishment of compatibility, therapists’ differentiation levels surprisingly increased. We assumed that this reflected their efforts to further articulate their patient’s relevant conceptual dimensions although we could not be sure the effect was not simply random. Patients’ differentiation level was related to the number of symptom complaints they endorsed, so we questioned whether differentiation (and thus symptom) change in the presence of cognitive compatibility might not be perceived by the patient as therapeutically derived improvement. Several additional questions such as the importance of role identities were raised so a second study was initiated. In the subsequent investigation (6) the principal findings of the original study were successfully replicated on an independent sample thus further confirming the compatibility hypothesis. Two additional issues were of concern in this study. First, we sought to determine whether the compatibility in cognitive structure was perceived by either patient or therapist. In addition to ratings of outcome, patient and therapist rated the degree to which the therapist seemed to &dquo;understand&dquo; the patient’s problem. No significant differences were obtained suggesting that differentiation compatibility may influence outcome without patient and therapist necessarily being aware of its impact! Second, in the original study we had observed that &dquo;compatible&dquo; therapists increase in differentiation level over the course of treatment, and had hypothesized that such shifts therefore were purposeful, being a function of the patients’ differentiation level and type of disorder. Therapists in the second study by contrast reduced differentiation level and upon subsequent scrutiny, we found the patient sample to be quite different from the first, with higher differentiation scores and a greater preponderance of &dquo;obsessive&dquo; complaints (e.g., inability to decide among a number of alternatives). Since this was consistent with the observed relation between type of pathology and differentiation level, and since we had found outcome to be influenced by initial differentiation level, our original view that therapists &dquo;conceptual strategy&dquo; is determined, in part, by the differentiation level at which his patient is operating appeared to be supported. Parenthetically, Zajonc (19) had earlier provided some very convincing evidence that individuals modulate their conceptual structure depending upon the communication strategies demanded by the situation, i.e., Downloaded from isp.sagepub.com at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIV on June 26, 2015
160 whether they are &dquo;transmitting&dquo; or &dquo;receiving&dquo; information. His findings bore remarkable similarities to our own, further confirming the hypothesis that such shifts in cognitive structure are indeed purposeful. Differentiation Compatibility and Mental Health Training If differentiation compatibility is a determiner of intervention outcome, then its role in the mental health training process per se must also be considered. The differentiation compatibility hypothesis could be invoked to support the proposal to utilize indigenous &dquo;mental health workers&dquo; in community mental health centers since they share to a certain degree the conceptualization of the world of the target population. In achieving this goal, however, another problem may be overlooked, if not accentuated, i.e. the discrepency in conceptual compatibility between the indigenous worker and the mental health professional who must train him or attempt to impart to him some of the skills required to function in his role as an intervention agent. Thus the differentiation compatibility of professional and worker may be as critical to the success of the community mental health movement as the compatibility of the worker and the client. Our investigation into the role of teacher-student compatibility in teaching effectiveness (17) began with a study utilizing various teacher-student combinations characteristic of those that might be found in a mental health training situation, i.e., faculty-resident, faculty-medical student, facutly-&dquo;mental health worker&dquo;, resident&dquo;mental health worker&dquo;, resident. Participants in three psychiatric seminars (36 &dquo;student-teacher&dquo; relationships at the various levels described above) were administered the IDT, the Object Sorting Test (OST) developed by Gardner and Schoen (10) and A-B Scale (AB) a measure of psychotherapist cognitive style which has been shown to relate to differentiation (16). Teaching effectiveness (TE) was arbitrarily defined in terms of students ratings of teacher performance on a 100 point scale from &dquo;least effective&dquo; 1 to &dquo;most effective&dquo; 100. The IDT, OST, and AB were administered prior to and following each course, and all students rated the teachers’ performance at the end of the teacher’s course. We had speculated that the &dquo;academic&dquo; relationship may differ, from the therapy relationship, therapy involving conceptual interactions in domain other than the social, hence our inclusion of measures like the Object Sorting Test. Our speculation was only partially correct. None of the 3 measures of differentiation revealed a consistent significant relation between teacher-student compatibility and teacher effectiveness across all student-teacher combinations. Instead, the differentiation level of the teacher alone, appeared to account for the major portion of obtained variance-the more differentiated the teacher, the higher the rating of teaching effectiveness. Compatibility of teacher and student did play a secondary role, but only to the extent that given more differentiated teachers, the more compatible the student (mor differentiated), then the greater the likelihood of high teacher ratings. Thus the role of differentiating in the teaching relationship appeared to be far more complicated than anticipated. The question arose as to whether course content was a mitigating factor, i.e. was the teacher-student relationship unique in H. M. training. Therefore, a second study was conducted using teacher-student combinations in various course content areas outside the &dquo;mental health&dquo; realm. Subjects were 22 faculty and 43 first year medical students participating in the medical school core curriculum. Teacher-student contacts were carried out within the context of courses in Molecular & Cell Biology, Anatomy & Tissue Structure, Biostatistics & Epidemiology, Medicine, Health & Downloaded from isp.sagepub.com at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIV on June 26, 2015
161 and Control Systems & Mechanisms of Homeostatis. In addition to differ(IDT) and teaching effectiveness (TE), frequency of classroom contact (number of hours or NH) was also tabulated for each faculty member. Results confirmed the findings of the earlier study with one important qualification. In both studies, teacher’s level of differentiation markedly influenced student judgements of teaching effectiveness. However, the probability of a teacher receiving a high rating of teacher effectiveness was greatest when there was a high frequency of contact with teacher and a highly differentiated student was matched with a highly differentiated teacher. The next most optimal conditions for high teacher ratings appeared to be high frequency of contact, and less differentiated teachers matched with less differentiated students. In contrast with the psychotherapy relationship, where patient-therapist matching was the primary source of variance, the educational relationship places principle emphasis upon the instructor’s cognitive organization structure, and only then on the relationship to a lesser degree. We presume this reflects (a) a demand on the part of the student that the instructor have detailed mastery of his or her subject area, requiring increased conceptual differentiation, and (b) the capability of the student to appreciate it. The findings appear to hold for psychiatry as well as other disciplines and argues against the notion that in psychiatry training, a &dquo;meaningful&dquo; relationship can substitute for well-organized and articulated content! Differentiation Compatibility and Community Groups At this point we began to consider the implications of the compatibility hypothesis for the success of social interaction in a much larger context. If the conceptual matching of participants determine the outcome of psychotherapy and (to a lesser degree) educational experiences, what then was its role in effecting the outcome of dialogue between individuals who were estranged along ideological, racial, ethnic, or cultural dimensions? For example, although it is generally believed prejudicial attitudes can be changed by bringing together members of estranged groups for the purpose of discussing and resolving their differences, in actual fact, merely bringing people together does not always insure that the resulting communications will be productive, or that mutual awareness will occur (15). We hypothesized, therefore, that since individuals differ widely in the manner in which they define and organize experiences, successful communication and task performance in groups should be optimized when the group members are matched on the basis of the level of conceptual differentiation An excellent opportunity to test this compatibility hypothesis in the area of racial relations presented itself when the Seattle School Board initiated plans in 1970 to establish a mandatory bussing program to achieve a more acceptable racial balance in the various schools. To facilitate the bussing plan and ameliorate any opposition, the Administration initiated community workshops of randomly sampled parents affected by the bussing plan. We were successful in obtaining the cooperation of the school Administration to arrange for the composition of these discussion groups and predicted that (a) matched differentiation groups would be more satisfied with the progress and outcome of the workshops than groups with mismatched memberships ; (b) parents involved in the workshop, and particularly, parents in the matched groups would be more supportive of the bussing program than parents of bussed children who were not involved in the workshop. On the basis of participants scores on the Interpersonal Discrimination Task,
Society,
entiation
Downloaded from isp.sagepub.com at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIV on June 26, 2015
162
assigned to either high differentiation matched, medium differentiation low differentiation matched, or mixed differentiation groups. To control for the possibility that group productivity may be a function of the complexity or abstractness of the topic being discussed, groups were assigned specific topic areas that were both abstract and concrete in nature. The relative abstractness or concreteness of topics was determined by concensus of agreement among all workshop coordinators. The methodology of the study has been described in great detail elsewhere (13). Suffice it to say, that every effort was made to control for differentiation level of the groups, complexity of topic discussed, and racial composition of the groups. At the completion of the workshop, participants were asked to evaluate whether the workshop had achieved its goals of increasing racial harmony and bettering an understanding of the broad range of school-related problems. In addition, evidence was sought to determine whether the workshops had specifically influenced parental attitudes with regard to bussing. This criterion problem was simplified when a court decision made the proposed mandatory plan a voluntary bussing plan, permitting us to simply count the number of parents in the workshop group who voluntarily elected to bus their children versus the comparable frequency rates in the population at large of parents who did not participate in the bussing program. Our results were quite surprising. Parents’ &dquo;opinions&dquo; as to the success of the workshop were clearly unrelated to differentiation level or differentiation matching, but significantly related to the nature of the topic being discussed. That is, 61 % of the participants discussing abstract topics indicated satisfaction with the workshop whereas only 38% of the participants discussing concrete topics felt satisfied. However, when one turns from &dquo;opinion&dquo; to &dquo;behavior&dquo; in search of criteria, a remarkably different set of relationships are obtained. First of all, matched groups, as predicted, were more likely to bus their children than mixed groups. What emerged even more clearly, was an inverse relationship between the differentiation level of the groups and the tendency to bus. Specifically, our analysis revealed that it was the differentiation level among blacks which primarily accounted for the group differences; that is, more differentiated black parents chose not to bus their children, while less differentiated black parents evidenced the highest tendency to bus among all participants! While there was a similar trend among white parents, no significant group differences in bussing were found among the whites. While surprising the results were accountable in terms of the recent politicalWhile surprising, the results were accountable in terms of the recent politicalbussing had come at a time when local political control of the educational system had only recently been obtained by the residents in the Central area. The quality of school programs and local pride in education was notably on the increase. Thus, the bussing proposal was viewed by these residents as a threat to their recently hard won local control. Further, while a 50% racial balance in the Central area schools was preferred by a majority of the black citizens, the School Board segregation plan would have resulted in an approximate 4 to 1 white-black ratio. Thus, the tendency to oppose bussing among the more highly differentiated participants (and especially the blacks), appeared to be a product of their more articulated perception of the complexity of the issues, both social and political, involved in the bussing proposal. As a result, they were much better able to make the differential choices among the various contingencies based upon their knowledge of the probable consequences. By contrast, less differentiated participants and a parents
were
matched,
Downloaded from isp.sagepub.com at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIV on June 26, 2015
163
greater proportion objectives by being
of the whites, tended either less sensitive to
to or
focus more on the global workshop less knowledgeable about the political
ramifications of the proposals. An additional question which interested us, was whether or not the workshop experience would have any differential effect on the participants’ differentiation level. An analysis of pre post- differentiation level change scores indicated that high differentiated groups decreased in differentiation level when discussing concrete topics, medium and mixed groups increased in differentiation level when discussing concrete topics, and low differentiation groups remained essentially unchanged regardless of topic. In retrospect, it appeared that the highly differentiated group, having already articulated the relevant information and having arrived at a conclusion, shifted to a more global, undifferentiated style of cognitive functioning in order to maintain the centrality of the over-riding racial-bussing issue, and/or thereby insulate itself against incoming, potentially contradictory information. By contrast, medium and mixed groups with somewhat greater divergence of opinion, apparently engaged one another more effectively in order to obtain additional information and resolve their differences. It is presumed that the effectiveness of this engagement and increased information seeking was an increasing level of differentiation. The shifts in cognitive style reflecting different strategies of information processing are reminiscent of Zajonc’s description of the phenomena of cognitive tuning mentioned earlier. Further, the findings are quite consistent with those obtained in our earlier work on the psychotherapy relationship and its effects on outcome.
This study, more than any other reported so far, underscores the importance of considering the role of conceptual matching in any kind of interpersonal interaction vested interest in the outcome of that interaction. From a the implications of our workshop were quite clear. If the success of an encounter between estranged participants is to be measured simply in terms of verbal endorsement, then clearly one should have the participants discuss relatively abstract topics. However, if one is desirous of demonstrating actual behavioral change, of achieving concrete resolutions to concrete problems, and of effecting changes in the conceptual organization of the participants, then clearly attention to the composition of the discussion groups and the relative specificity of assigned topics is required. Results of these studies have more far-reaching implications with regard to community mental health and the delivery of mental health care in multi-ethnic societies. While we have appreciated the fact that a psychiatric resident of patrician lineage and Harvard training may have considerable difficulty in comprehending a Harlem Black’s conceptualization of his world, we have been able to say little more about the nature of the relationships involved other than differences in the socioeconomic background appear to affect one’s perceptions. Although we have yet to directly test the hypothesis, our results strongly suggest that cognitive process is the intervening variable required to account for the relationship between ethnic-cultural variables and behaviour. Further, successful intervention into that relationship requires not simply an appreciation of the ethnic-cultural factors, but more importantly, an appreciation of the conceptual structure and cognitive process by which those factors are interpreted and assigned meaning. In answer to our earlier question as to why research on the patient-therapist relationship has enjoyed so little success, it would appear that these research efforts have, for the most part, focussed upon the wrong variables. The concept of patientwhen
one
may have
a
pragmatic standpoint,
Downloaded from isp.sagepub.com at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIV on June 26, 2015
164
therapist matching is not new. However, earlier conceptualizations were based upon trait theory approaches, which assumed that therapy outcome was a function of the interaction of patients’ and therapists’ respective trait constellations. Hence, investigators have sought (often unsuccessfully) to establish the relationship of trait similarity and/or complementary to outcome. We have already suggested that an alternative research strategy focussing upon cognitive process rather than personality traits might be far more fruitful. The implications for training are no less significant. The trait theory approach assumes that the characteristics of the &dquo;successful&dquo; therapist can be identified and training programs devised by which these traits can be acquired or augmented. The cognitive approach, by contrast, presumes no such universal constellation of &dquo;successful therapist&dquo; traits, but rather defines &dquo;success&dquo; in terms of the particular degree of communicability that may exist for any given patient-therapist combination with successful communication dependent upon the degree to which a common language exists or is capable of development. Implications for training then are quite different than those derived from a trait view. If successful communication, and thence outcome, is a function of similarity in conceptual systems, then training efforts will not be focussed upon the acquisition of a given set of traits but rather upon the acquisition of strategies, programs, or methods by which alterations in conceptual structure may be accomplished in order to facilitate the probability of successful inter-system communication. Thus the distiction in research strategy is analogous to &dquo;learning how to learn&dquo; vs. &dquo;content&dquo; oriented strategies in learning. The continued inattention in training to an entire class of variables which researchers have acknowledged as being essential to successful treatment outcome can no longer be justified and need no longer be tolerated given our present knowledge of the intervention process. Researchers are in a position to make a significant contribution to social psychiatric training by (1) identifying those parameters of cognitive process which most directly influence interpersonal intervention, and (2) developing guidelines for the training and systematic facilitation of such parameters in therapists. The accomplishment of these goals could provide the most innovative development in social psychiatry in decades.
REFERENCES 1. Carr, J. E.: "The role of conceptual organization in interpersonal discrimination". Journal of Psychology, 1965a, 59, 159-176. 2. Carr, J. E.: "Cognitive complexity: Construct descriptive terms vs. cognitive process". Psychological Reports, 1965b, 16, 133-134. 3- Carr, J. E.: "Differentiation as a function of source characteristics and judge’s conceptual structure". Journal of Personality, 1969 37, 378-386. 4. Carr, J. E. : "Perceived therapy outcome as a function of differentiation between and within conceptual Clinical 1974, 30, 282-285. 5. Carr J. E.: "Differentiation similarity of patient and therapist and the outcome of psychotherapy". Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1970, 76, 361-369. 6. Carr, E., and Montgomery, F.: "Differentiation similarity and outcome of treatment: A replication". manuscript. University of Washington, 1971. 7. Carr, J. E., and Whittenbaugh, J. A.: "Volunteer and non-volunteer characteristics in an outpatient population". Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1968, 73, 16-17. 8. E., and Whittenbaugh, J. A.: "Sources of disagreement in the perception of psychotherapy outJournal of Clinical Psychology, 1969, 25, 16-21. 9. Fisk, D. W., Cartwright, D. S., and Kirtner, W. L.: "Are therapeutic changes predictable?" Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1964, 69, 418-426. 10. Gardner, R., and Schoen, R. : "Differentiation and abstraction in concept formation". Psychological Monographs, 1962, 76 (41, Whole No. 560). 11. Landfield, A. W., and Nawas, M. M.: "Psychotherapeutic improvement as a function of communication and adoption of therapists’ values". Journal of Counseling 1964, 11, 336-341.
dimensions".
Journal of
Psychology,
J. Unpublished
Carr, J. comes".
Psychology,
Downloaded from isp.sagepub.com at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIV on June 26, 2015
165 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17.
18. 19. 20.
Nawas, M. M., and Landfield, A. W.: "Improvement in psychotherapy and adoption of the therapist meaning systems". Reports, 1963, 13, 97-98. E. "Differentiation matching in school desegregation workshop". Journal of Posthuma, A., and Applied Social Psychology, 1974, 4, 36-46. C. R. (Ed.): The therapeutic relationship and its impact. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1967. M.: "Superordinate goals in reduction of intergroup conflict". American Journal of Sociology, 1938, Sherif, 63, 346-358. W., and Carson, R.: "The A-B therapist ’type’ distinction and spatial orientation: replication and Shows, extension". Journal of Nervous and Mental Disorders, 1966, 141, 456-462. Townes, B. D., and Carr, J. E.: "Differentiation and teaching effectiveness in medical education". Journal of applied Social Psychology, 1973, 3, 73-83 Triandis, H. C.: "Cognitive similarity and communication in a dyad". Human Relations, 1960, 13, 175-183. R. B.: "The process of cognitive tuning". Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1960, 61, 159-167. Zajonc, R.B.: "Cognitive theories in social psychology". In Lindzey & Aronson (Eds.) Handbook of Social Psychology, Vol. I. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1968, 320-411.
Psychological Carr, J.
Rogers,
Zajonc,
Downloaded from isp.sagepub.com at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIV on June 26, 2015
