Choice Of Group Research Articles

Interest Group Lobbying and the Delegation of Policy Authority

In a signalling model of lobbying the politicians' decision whether to delegate policy authority and an interest group's choice between lobbying politicians or bureaucrats are investigated. Only bureaucrats are able to assess policy‐relevant information coming from the interest group, but their interests may differ from those of politicians. In equilibrium politicians weigh the benefits of an informed policy decision against bureaucratic drift. We obtain that delegation occurs only when the bureaucracy is not too much biased and when the stakes of the interest group are not too high. Still, politicians sometimes prefer a biased bureaucracy and the interest group to have a larger stake. The model also predicts that interest groups typically lobby politicians to further delegation.

On Behalf of the Condemned? The Impact of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund on Capital Punishment Decision Making in the U.S. Courts of Appeals

There is a rich history of scholarship demonstrating that interest groups have influenced judicial policymaking, but there has not been a system atic test of whether a single group has contributed to case outcomes over an entire policy area while controlling for other elements of judicial deci sion making. Additionally, the degree to which extra-legal factors domi nate a group's ability to influence judicial policy has not been explored sufficiently Finally, there needs to be an empirical test of the extent to which elements of judicial decision making affect an interest group's choice to litigate. This study examines these questions by assessing the NAACP- Legal Defense and Education Fund's (LDF) contribution to the popula tion of 217 capital punishment cases decided in the U.S. Courts of Appeals. This article finds that when considered in light of the judicial decision making context, the LDF is not a significant factor influencing case out comes. Moreover, an interaction model suggests that the LDF's ability to affect case outcomes is controlled largely by extra-legal factors. Finally, there is no evidence that the LDF's decision to litigate follows a pattern based on this judicial decisionmaking context. These findings should prompt future scholars researching a group's litigation campaign to ex amine his/her subject in the framework of the judicial decision-making process instead of in isolation.

Computers and L2 Reading: Student Performance, Student Attitudes1

ABSTRACT We investigated the ways intermediate‐level undergraduate students of French interacted with a computerized L2 reading gloss from three perspectives: 1) the relationship between the group's choice of program options and the quantity and accuracy of their comprehension; 2) individual user styles; and 3) student perceptions of the effectiveness of the program. Opinions of the software were unanimously favorable, although there was no evidence of a relationship between computer use and comprehension. While many types of information were available to them, students tended to consult almost exclusively word definitions provided in English. Comparisons of tracker data with recall protocols implied that comprehension might have improved had other program components also been accessed. We conclude with suggestions for more effective L2 reading software design for students at this instructional level, as well as with indications of likely directions for future research.

Information Suppression and Status Persistence in Group Decision Making The Effects of Communication Media

This experiment investigated the conditions under which a member with information critical for making the best group decision will positively influence the group's final choice. The impact of two factors on group decision quality, information exchange, and perceptions of influence was examined: (a) status differences among members (equal-status vs. mixed-status groups) and (b) communication media (face-to-face vs. computer-mediated communication). Three-person groups were composed such that the critical information required to make the best decision was given only to the low-status member in the mixed-status groups and randomly assigned to one member in the equal-status groups. The results indicated that the mixed-status groups made poorer decisions and made fewer references to critical information than equal-status groups, regardless of the communication medium. Computer-mediated communication suppressed information exchange and the perceived influence of group members, suggesting that the relation between status and communication media is more complex than proposed in past research.

Structured conflict and consensus outcomes in group decision making

Pressures for early consensus during group decision processes often lead to poor choices. However, consensus as an outcome of group decision processes is often desirable for implementing choices. We propose and test hypotheses that structured decision making techniques designed to enhance the expression of cognitive conflict will, paradoxically, (1) strengthen group consensus about and individual acceptance of the group's eventual choices, and (2) increase member satisfaction with the group. Faced with a realistic managerial scenario, nineteen groups in this study deliberated using the structured, conflict-enhancing dialectical inquiry (DI) approach; nineteen used the consensus (C) approach. Group consensus on the decision, individual acceptance of the decision, and member satisfaction with the group were higher in the DI than in the C conditions. We discuss implications for group decision aids and for future laboratory and field studies of group consensus on a course of action.

Effects of a Moderately Difficult Task on Preschool Children's Concentration and Their Subsequent Choices of Task

97 preschool children (4 to 6 years old) were assigned three tasks, easy, moderate, and difficult. The group's concentration on the moderate task and the subsequent choices of task were compared with those in the groups given the easy and difficult tasks. Analysis showed that (1) on the moderate task the group's concentration was high as well as on the easy task. (2) The moderate-task group's subsequent choices of task were different from those given the easy and the difficult tasks. They were not inclined toward the easier or the same and more difficult tasks.

Strategy of Treatment of Pruritus during Pregnancy

OBJECTIVE: To present a procedure for establishing treatment guidelines during pregnancy and, as an application of the method, the recommendations for treatment of pruritus. DESIGN: A preliminary survey was carried out among participants of the study group to determine drug choices for treatment of pruritus during pregnancy. Literature data on the selected drugs were analyzed. Recommendations for treatment were proposed, taking into account the most efficient agents and the least toxic for the fetus. This draft was submitted to all participants of the study group; criticism and suggestions were gathered. A new draft was evolved and repeatedly submitted to participants until consensus was reached. SETTING: Study group set up in southwestern France, with the help of national experts. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-three general practitioners, six gynecologists and/or obstetricians, five pharmacologists, two dermatologists, and an embryologist. RESULTS: The main recommendations for treatment of pruritus during pregnancy are to begin with topical treatment: emollient bath additives, moisturizing cream, talc. If insufficient, a systemic treatment should be added. Antihistamines are prescribed first: hydroxyzine or dexchlorpheniramine is used during the first 2 months. From the third month, the same agents can be used, as can mequitazine. The duration of treatment can be up to 10 days. The group's second choice was benzodiazepine (oxazepam) as second-line treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Strategies for treatment of diseases during pregnancy are not always well defined. For many common diseases, very few data are available concerning drug use in pregnant women. The study group, based on consensus among participants, proposed treatment guidelines.

Classes, localisation et territoire

Whereas theories about the social generally ignore space, it seems, on the contrary, that business, the workers and the state find themselves « trapped » in the places where they operate. There exists, therefore, a strong political dimension to the problem of each group's choice of localisation. Space is a vital stake, but it is also an ideology which conceals class oppositions and exacerbates tensions between « communities ».

The calculus of dissent: An analysis of terrorists' choice of targets

This article applies formal modeling to study a terrorist group's choice of whether to attack or not, and, in the case of an attack, which of two potential targets to strike. Each potential target individually takes protective measures that influence the terrorists' perceived success and failure, and, hence, the likelihood of attack. For domestic terrorism, a tendency for potential targets to overdeter is indicated. For transnational terrorism, cases of overdeterrence and underdeterrence are identified. We demonstrate that increased information about terrorists' preferences, acquired by the targets, may exacerbate inefficiency when deterrence efforts are not coordinated. In some cases, perfect information may eliminate the existence of a noncooperative solution.

Sociability: Personality, social context, and physical setting.

Sociability, measured as amount of participation i n a peer-group conversation, was examined as a function of traits, social context, and physical setting. Samesex quartets of 13- t o 17-year-old students discussed a topic selected b y an outsider and a topic of the group's own choice. Amount of participation was expected t o vary with personality (Affiliation, Defendence, and Dominance), social context (level of Acquaintance and Friendship i n the group), physical setting (Seating Arrangement), and interactions among these. Participants rate was significantly related to Affiliation, level of Friendship, a Person X Setting interaction (Seating Arrangement X Defendence) and a Person X Person interaction (Affiliation X Defendence). These relationships are discussed as they relate to a model of sociability and as they bear on the Person X Situation issue. This study investigates two overlapping problems, one concerned with understanding the conditions that influence differential participation in conversations and a second concerned with person and setting variables as determinants o f social behavior. Although these two problems each have a considerable history, few studies have addressed them jointly. Sociability, measured as participation in a leaderless peer-group discussion, has been studied for a long time (e.g., Mann, 1959). Its correlates have been reviewed and summarized (e.g., Shaw, 1976). The influences on sociability may be classed into three main categories: person-based variables, social context variables, and physical setting variables. Our simple descriptive model states that most of the variance i n sociability may b e accounted for by these three kinds of variables and interactions among them. The evidence concerning traits, a major subcategory o f person-based variables, and conversational participation is relatively clear in suggesting that various measures of dispositional sociability are significantly related to amount of participation i n small groups (Bass, McGehee, Hawkins, Young, & Gebel,

Another option for ocean drilling

After reviewing long‐range plans for crustal studies, a National Science Foundation (NSF) advisory group unanimously agreed that the most economic and favorable platform for scientific ocean drilling would be neither the Glomar Explorer nor the Glomar Challenger. The group's choice: to lease a commercial drilling ship.Unlike previous groups, the NSF Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Crustal Studies, chaired by AGU President‐elect Charles Drake, examined ocean drilling while considering other crustal studies and budget projections. The Conference on Scientific Ocean Drilling (COSOD) (Eos, December 22, 1981, p. 1197), the National Science Board (Eos, April 6, 1982, p. 219), and a National Research Council committee (Eos, November 2, 1982, p. 835) all chose the Glomar Explorer as the desired option; however, they weighed alternatives based only on the scientific merits of drilling and did not look at crustal studies as a whole or look at budget projections.

Social Matching Over Multiple Reinforcement Domains: An Explanation of Local Exchange Imbalance

Social Matching Over Multiple Reinforcement Domains: An Explanation of Local Exchange Imbalance

Deregulation by the Bureaucracy: OSHA and the Augean Quest for Error Correction

Rumblings of the need to deregulate emanated from Washington throughout the last half of the 1970s. As the 1980s commenced, President Reagan seemed committed to stoking the fires of this reform initiative still further. The political and administrative issues bound up with the drive for deregulation are important ones and deserve careful analysis. In this regard, certain basic definitions and distinctions become essential. Regulation can be seen as a process involving the intentional restriction of some targeted group's choice

Learning Disabled Children's Peer Interactions during a Small-Group Problem-Solving Task

Learning disabled children in grades three through eight participated in a problem-solving task requiring group decision making. An analysis of group choices indicated that the independently made choices of learning disabled children were less likely to be among the group's final choices. Analyses of the children's communication patterns revealed that learning disabled children were less likely to disagree with classmates, less likely to try to argue for their choices, and more likely to agree with their peers. In addition, learning disabled children were found to be less likely to engage in “conversational housekeeping” than nondisabled children. Hence, learning disabled children were less persuasive than nondisabled children, apparently as a result of their assuming a submissive, deferential role when interacting with small groups of peers.

Stylistic aggression patterns for large/small delinquents.

Examined the aggressive response style of 64 first offense, incarcerated, white, male delinquents who varied in physical size and aggressiveness on two behavioral simulation tasks. The delinquent's expectations, verbal anger, and effectiveness in verbally convincing his peers to accept an individual decision as the group's choice during an analogue discussion task were assessed. In addition, the delinquent's skill in controlling his arousal, verbal and physical aggressiveness, and performance on a digit symbol test while he was being attacked verbally was evaluated on a frustration task. Based on the interaction of perceptual, behavioral, and physiological factors, distinct aggression styles emerged for each of the four groups: Physically powerful/aggressive, powerful/nonaggressive, physically weak/aggressive, weak/nonaggressive. Positive aggression coping patterns were identified for each simulation task.

Further evidence of the Rorschach card stimulus values for children: a partial replication (and generalizations).

Abstract Ninety-three children from a child guidance clinic were asked to select the Rorschach card which represented their mother, their father, the card they liked best, the card they liked least, and the most frightening card. In comparing the present data with earlier findings, it was determined that no reliable selection of a parental card could be safely made. However, card X appears to represent consistently the best liked card and Card IV a negative reaction card. As in earlier studies, none of the significant results represents a majority of the group's choices for any one stimulus value.