A Measure of the Integrative Complexity of Personal Constructs

William V. Chambers

doi:10.1521/jscp.1985.3.2.213

Cognitive Development, Integrative Complexity, and Logical Consistency of Personal Constructs

Psychology and Human Development an international journal ◽

10.2224/sbp.6389 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 7-12 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

William V. Chambers ◽

Lisa Parsley

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Development ◽

Integrative Complexity ◽

Personal Constructs ◽

Logical Consistency ◽

Formal Operations

The integrative complexity and logical consistency of personal constructs were examined in groups of children with mean ages of 8.5, 13.1, and 16.1 years. Consistent with Piaget's theory, the 13- and 16-year-olds were similar and demonstrated greater integrative complexity and logical consistency than the 8-year-olds did. Our results support the predicted relationships among formal operations, integrative complexity, and logical consistency.

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INTEGRATIVE COMPLEXITY, COGNITIVE COMPLEXITY AND IMPRESSION FORMATION

Social Behavior and Personality An International Journal ◽

10.2224/sbp.1985.13.1.27 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 27-27 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

William V. Chambers

Keyword(s):

Conflict Resolution ◽

Impression Formation ◽

Cognitive Complexity ◽

Personal Construct ◽

Cognitive Set ◽

Integrative Complexity ◽

Personal Constructs ◽

Conflicting Information ◽

Complex Information

Personal construct integrative complexity (I-C) refers to the assimilation of complex information into a system of impressions. Consistent with Kelly's (1955) theory of personal constructs, Chambers (1983; 1985) found I-C subjects tended to use a credulous approach to life and were better at resolving conflicting information in forming impressions. In similar research, Crockett et al. (1975) showed a measure of cognitive complexity (C-C) interacted with a credulous cognitive set to be predictive of conflict resolution. In the present study, I-C and C-C are compared, in interaction with cognitive set, as predictors of conflict resolution.

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Flattening of Affect and Personal Constructs

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.116.530.39 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 116 (530) ◽

pp. 39-43 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

F. M. McPherson ◽

Valerie Barden ◽

A. Joan Hay ◽

D. W. Johnstone ◽

A. W. Kushner

Keyword(s):

Emotional Expression ◽

Emotional Response ◽

Rater Agreement ◽

Personal Constructs ◽

Good Definition ◽

Organic Psychoses ◽

Tone Of Voice ◽

High Level ◽

The Given ◽

Affective Flattening

Affective flattening is a disorder of emotional expression, of which a good definition is ‘a gross lack of emotional response to the given situation’ (Fish, 1962). It is a clinical sign whose assessment depends upon the clinician's intepretation of the patient's facial expression, tone of voice and content of talk (Harris ' Metcalfe, 1956). Although these are subtle cues, it has been shown that experienced clinicians can assess the severity of affective flattening with a high level of inter-rater agreement (Miller et al., 1953; Harris ' Metcaife, 1956; Wing, 1961; Dixon, 1968). The disorder is usually associated with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, although it may occur in other conditions, such as the organic psychoses (Bullock et al., 1951).

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Personal constructs in thanatology: An introduction and research bibliography

Death Education ◽

10.1080/07481188308252157 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 7 (2-3) ◽

pp. 87-94 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Robert A. Neimeyer ◽

Franz R. Epting ◽

Seth R. Krieger

Keyword(s):

Personal Constructs

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Personal constructs as indicators of cultural values

Southern Communication Journal ◽

10.1080/10417949309372904 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 58 (3) ◽

pp. 227-238 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

John C. Meyer ◽

Beverly Davenport Sypher

Keyword(s):

Cultural Values ◽

Personal Constructs

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DEPRESSION AND LOGICAL CONSISTENCY OF PERSONAL CONSTRUCTS

Social Behavior and Personality An International Journal ◽

10.2224/sbp.1986.14.2.203 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 203-206

Author(s):

W. V. Chambers ◽

V. Trinh ◽

L. Parsley

Keyword(s):

The Self ◽

Personal Construct ◽

Personal Constructs ◽

Logical Consistency ◽

College Sample ◽

Logical Inconsistency ◽

Moderate Depression

Neimeyer has suggested that moderately depressed people tend to have relatively disorganized personal construct systems. Non-depressed people see themselves consistently positively, highly depressed people view themselves negatively, while moderately depressed people view the self with ambivalence. Using a grid measure of logical consistency, with a college sample, moderate depression scores were found to accompany greater levels of logical inconsistency. Results offer some support for Neimeyer's suggestion that moderate depression, as opposed to nondepression and deep depression, leads to greater disorganization of construct systems.

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