Erich H. Witte | University of Hamburg (original) (raw)

Papers by Erich H. Witte

After a brief consideration of the development of meta-analyses as a joint discussion of results ... more After a brief consideration of the development of meta-analyses as a joint discussion of results from a research area across development stages 0, 1, 2, it is concluded that the present form 2.0 is unsuitable to serve as a basis for theory building. Further development of this tool into a metaanalysis 3.0 is necessary for this purpose which requires the validity of the independent variables in the primary studies, the reduction of the error variance of the dependent variables, a stability of the effects over the primary studies and a quantitative comparison between observed and predicted effects in the primary studies. In the current meta-analyses 2.0, a concrete single-case approach creates the impression that mainly everyday ideas are investigated, which one would like to generalize to a population of other conditions. Furthermore, the results of the existing meta-analyses are either homogeneous and very small or heterogeneous. The procedure of a meta-analysis 3.0 is described in general and carried out hypothetically. The conclusion can be summarized as that metaanalysis 3.0 is indispensable as a tool for theorizing, and theorizing presupposes meta-analysis 3.0. The link between this interdependence is abduction as a research strategy.

De Gruyter eBooks, Dec 31, 1974

Every measurement is subject to error. To describe the measurement error, there is the classical ... more Every measurement is subject to error. To describe the measurement error, there is the classical approach without a concrete measurement instrument. After the application of a specific instrument both approaches are compared, and conclusions are drawn for a more complex error theory. The principle limitation of human capabilities is assumed as the basis for error. From this principal limitation it follows that the anthropometric reliability of measurement instruments cannot be arbitrarily improved. Nevertheless, in order to control the measurement error of the scale values, quantization of continuous measurement values is proposed. Software is developed for this purpose. The simulations with this software show how depending on the reliability of the concrete measuring instrument the number of quanta and the reduction of the error dispersion affects the measurements. Only by quantization a sufficiently stable relationship between the scale value of the theoretical construct (trait) a...

In the last decade there have been intense disputes about the scientific status of psychology esp... more In the last decade there have been intense disputes about the scientific status of psychology espe-cially in connection with the replicability of prominent effects in textbooks. Very different state-ments about the reasons for this situation have been given (for instance, sample sizes too small, inferential statistical considerations, faulty applications of evaluation methods, lack of theory build-ing, etc.). All these reasons have their relative justification. What remains unresolved, however, is whether these deficiencies are really the fundamental reasons for the state of psychology as a sci-ence or just surface symptoms. Thus, one needs a diagnosis that can identify these fundamental reasons. For this purpose, the systematicity theory is suitable, which can address the scientific sta-tus of psychology, e.g., in distinction to everyday psychology, via nine aspects. These nine aspects are well founded and at the same time can give hints how to improve the scientific status of psy-...

We must differentiate between three levels of criteria for the recruitment of a professorship: Co... more We must differentiate between three levels of criteria for the recruitment of a professorship: Compensating general deficits of psychology, demands of the concrete institution, and personal chracteristics. Technical abilities like software development and data management should be outsourced and not used to hire a professor.

Collaborative work with Erich H. Witte and Klaus Boehnke on introducing the distribution approach... more Collaborative work with Erich H. Witte and Klaus Boehnke on introducing the distribution approach to arriving at values at the culture level from value preferences of individuals. This approach is meant as an alternative to the current methodology of using average scores over individuals in a culture as evidence for the culture's value typology.

Understanding Group Behavior, 2018

Zeitschrift Fur Arbeits-und Organisationspsychologie, 2003

Zusammenfassung. Innerhalb von Organisationen und Betrieben wird durch den Einsatz von Arbeits- u... more Zusammenfassung. Innerhalb von Organisationen und Betrieben wird durch den Einsatz von Arbeits- und Projektgruppen ein “Gruppenvorteil“ in Form besserer Ergebnisse, schnellerer Entscheidungsfindung...

Leadership und angewandte Psychologie, Oct 9, 2016

Die moderne Arbeitswelt sieht sich zahlreichen Entwicklungen und Umbruchen gegenuber, welche auch... more Die moderne Arbeitswelt sieht sich zahlreichen Entwicklungen und Umbruchen gegenuber, welche auch die Anforderungen an Fuhrungskrafte verandern. Dabei dominieren immer noch Modelle, die ihren Fokus auf die dyadische Interaktion (Motivation einzelner Mitarbeiter durch die Fuhrungskraft) legen. Diesen personenbezogenen Ansatzen wird im Beitrag eine ganzheitliche Perspektive der synergetischen Fuhrung gegenubergestellt: das Fuhren von Teams als Mikrosystem. Hierbei werden zunachst die Grundlagen der synergetischen Fuhrung und seine systemtheoretischen Wurzeln beschrieben. Im Anschluss an die Ubertragung der generellen Merkmale sozialer Systeme auf die Fuhrungsaufgabe werden sechs Management-Funktionen synergetischer Fuhrung von Mikrosystemen abgeleitet sowie der Integration dieser Management-Funktionen erlautert.

De Gruyter eBooks, Dec 31, 1987

Zeitschrift Fur Sozialpsychologie, 1995

Volume 1. Contents: Preface. Part I: Introduction. J.H. Davis, Small-Group Research and the Stein... more Volume 1. Contents: Preface. Part I: Introduction. J.H. Davis, Small-Group Research and the Steiner Questions: The Once and Future Thing. Part II: Social Aggregation and Combination Models. H.W. Crott, J. Werner, C. Hoffmann, A Probabilistic Model of Opinion Change Considering Distance Between Alternatives: An Application to Mock Jury Data. J.H. Davis, Group Decision Making and Quantitative Judgments: A Consensus Model. P.R. Laughlin, Group Decision Making and Collective Induction. R.S. Tindale, C.M. Smith, L.S. Thomas, J. Filkins, S. Sheffey, Shared Representations and Asymmetric Social Influence Processes in Small Groups. N.L. Kerr, R.J. MacCoun, G.P. Kramer, "When are N Heads Better (or Worse) Than One?": Biased Judgment in Individuals Versus Groups. T. Kameda, Procedural Influence in Consensus Formation: Evaluating Group Decision Making From a Social Choice Perspective. Part III: Social Information-Processing Models. G. Stasser, S.I. Vaughan, Models of Participation During Fact-to-Face Unstructured Discussion. B. Latane, Strength From Weakness: The Fate of Opinion Minorities in Spatially Distributed Groups. D. Gigone, R. Hastie, The Impact of Information on Group Judgment: A Model and Computer Simulation. E.H. Witte, The Extended Group Situation Theory (EGST): Explaining the Amount of Change. S. Galam, When Humans Interact Like Atoms. J.H. Davis, Concluding Remarks. Volume 2. Contents: Preface. Part I: Introduction. E.H. Witte, Small-Group Research and the Crisis of Social Psychology: An Introduction. Part IIGroup Structure and Composition. R.L. Moreland, J.M. Levine, M.L. Weingert, Creating the Ideal Group: Composition Effects at Work. W. Stroebe, M. Diehl, G. Abakoumkin, Social Compensation and the Kohler Effect: Toward a Theoretical Explanation of Motivation Gains in Group Productivity. H.A.M. Wilke, Status Congruence in Small Groups. J.C. Jesuino, Leadership: Micro-Macro Links. W. Scholl, Effective Teamwork -- A Theoretical Model and a Test in the Field. M. von Cranach, Toward a Theory of the Acting Group. Part III: Interpersonal Influence, Conflict, and Resolution. J.A. Perez, G. Mugny, The Conflict Elaboration Theory of Social Influence. D. Frey, S. Schulz-Hardt, D. Stahlberg, Information Seeking Among Individuals and Groups and Possible Consequences for Decision Making in Business and Politics. M.A. Hogg, Social Identity, Self-Categorization, and the Small Group. J.M. Rabbie, H.F.M. Lodewijkx, A Behavioral Interaction Model: Toward an Integrative Theoretical Framework for Studying Intra- and Intergroup Dynamics. E.H. Witte, Similarities Among Various Conceptual Positions and Theoretical Points of View.

Psychology Press eBooks, Nov 19, 2013

In dieser Arbeit werden die Erwartungen und Vorstellungen von Studierenden in Bezug auf die von i... more In dieser Arbeit werden die Erwartungen und Vorstellungen von Studierenden in Bezug auf die von ihnen besuchte Vorlesung Sozialpsychologie untersucht. Die Daten wurden an 97 Personen mittels eines Fragebogens erhoben, der einen offen zu beantwortenden, einen gebunden zu beantwortenden sowie einen soziodemographischen Teil enthielt. Es zeigte sich, dass Befurchtungen vor allem in Bezug auf methodische und theoretische Grundlagen bestehen. Des Weiteren ergaben sich Differenzen in der Erwartungshaltung in Hinblick auf das Studium im Allgemeinen und die Vorlesung Sozialpsychologie im Besonderen. So wird etwa auf praktische Erkenntnisse und Selbsterkenntnis in der Ausbildung viel Wert gelegt, von der Vorlesung Sozialpsychologie wird sich diesbezuglich jedoch weniger erhofft. Schlieslich ergab ein Mittelwertsvergleich signifikante Unterschiede in der Motivation von Haupt- und Nebenfachlern. Wahrend Studierende mit dem Hauptfach Psychologie groseren Prufungsdruck und eine starker praktische Orientierung zeigten, gaben die Nebenfachler weniger auseren Druck und eher wissenschaftliches Erkenntnisinteresse an. This study investigates students' ideas and expectations of the lecture Social Psychology that they attended. 97 persons participated in the survey. It was carried out by means of a questionnaire, which contained a first part with open questions, a second part with fixed answer alternatives and a third part which asked for socio-demographic data. The survey revealed that students, above all, fear theoretical and methodical subjects. Moreover, different expectations concerning the course of studies in general and the lecture Social Psychology in particular could be found. Students for example emphasize practical knowledge and knowledge about their own persons when asked for priorities in their education. Concerning the lecture Social Psychology however, they uttered little hope relating to these aspects. Finally, the comparison of means revealed significant differences in motivation between students of psychology and those who study other main subjects. While students of psychology showed a more practical orientation and stronger pressure because of examinations, those students with other main subjects stated less pressure and more scientific interest.

The main intentions of this paper are to discuss the

ABSTRACT Due to the many misconceptions surrounding the common significance tests, a catalogue of... more ABSTRACT Due to the many misconceptions surrounding the common significance tests, a catalogue of demands to be satisfied by statistical induction is developed. The result of such criteria is a four step hybrid theory of statistical inference (FOSTIS), which is organized hierarchicalry: starting with a planning phase (Neyman-Pearson), going on with a loglikelihood-test (Bayes, Fisher, wald), coming to a maximum likelihood-test (Edwards), and ending with an effect qualification. strengths and weaknesses of this approach are discussed. Generally, there is something to be learned: the more meaningful statistical induction should be the more precise theoretical deduction must be.

De Gruyter eBooks, Dec 31, 1974

Understanding Group Behavior, 2018

Zeitschrift Fur Arbeits-und Organisationspsychologie, 2003

Leadership und angewandte Psychologie, Oct 9, 2016

De Gruyter eBooks, Dec 31, 1987

Zeitschrift Fur Sozialpsychologie, 1995

Psychology Press eBooks, Nov 19, 2013

The main intentions of this paper are to discuss the

Draft, 2020

To develop a construct, theoreticians look for empirical studies that report 11 statistically sig... more To develop a construct, theoreticians look for empirical studies that report 11 statistically significant test-results with high replication probability, also known as 12 robust results. The replication crisis shows that in the social and behavioral sciences 13 such robust test-result are rare. (Most published significant test-results are reported 14 with low replication probability.) Robust test-results require that researchers point-15 specify both the H0-and the H1-hypothesis. Frequentist null-hypothesis significance 16 testing (NHST) and Bayesian hypothesis testing (BHT), by contrast, both prefer a 17 composite (directional) H1-hypothesis. As statistical inference methods, therefore, 18 both are ill-suited to obtaining robust test-results. We advocate integrating NHST 19 and BHT into the research program strategy (RPS), explain how it supports 20 theoretically progressive research, and present RPS in application to psi-research.

Draft, 2019

To develop a theoretical construct that subsumes an empirical 9 phenomenon, a theoretician needs ... more To develop a theoretical construct that subsumes an empirical 9 phenomenon, a theoretician needs statistically significant test-results the replication 10 probably of which is high. To discover such results, researchers (rightly) rely 11 initially on a t-test. But in order to publish more studies, or to publish them more 12 quickly, many also employ questionable research strategies meant to reduce 13 necessary data collection-cost. In the social and behavioral sciences today, one 14 common strategy is to increase the β-error rate from 0.05 to 0.20; another strategy is 15 to treat the control group as a constant, thus collapsing a two sample t-test into a one 16 sample t-test. As a prominent example of how widespread both strategies are, they 17 are here shown to underlie Bem's infamous but misleading results on human 18 precognition. Since both strategies necessarily undermine theoretical research, their 19 ubiquity can partially explain both the absence of well-corroborated theoretical 20 constructs as well as the ongoing replicability crisis in the social and behavioral 21 sciences. To foster theoretical research, we advocate resource pooling: if a lab lacks 22 the resources to shoulder all necessary data-collection cost by itself, it should 23 cooperate with other labs so as to share these cost.

Effect size, 2019

The effect size measure narrowly concerns the causal influence, or correlation, between an experi... more The effect size measure narrowly concerns the causal influence, or correlation, between an experimental setting's independent and dependent variables. A given empirical effect's significance, by contrast, pivots on its statistical, theoretical, and practical aspect-that is, the effect's magnitude, how well a theory models it, and the utility we ascribe to it. Rather than mix these aspects, a sound evaluation must keep them apart. Once we evaluate theories by data, however, effect size measures that model participants' average reaction cannot stand proxy for participants' observed individual reaction. To facilitate the construction of valid, informative theories of intended phenomena, we present and exemplify three indices that assess a theory's quality in terms of its data similarity, reliability, and its validity.

In individual idea generation, early ideas are usually less creative than later ones. Findings on... more In individual idea generation, early ideas are usually less creative than later ones. Findings on brainstorming, divergent thinking, and creative cognition suggest that this serial order effect reflects tendencies of thinking in cognitively undemanding, conform ways. The rationale of a new facilitation technique for idea generation, the elimination method (EM, Witte, 2009), is to use the serial order effect in a controlled way: First, conventional ideas are demanded.

The main intentions of this paper are to discuss the similarities and dissimilarities between dif... more The main intentions of this paper are to discuss the
similarities and dissimilarities between different dynamic
models of social influence in small groups and the development
of a dynamic version of the group situation theory.
As theoretical approaches were chosen : a) the social transition
scheme model (STS) developed by Kerr(1981, 1982) b) the social interaction sequence model (SlS) proposed by Stasser & Davis(1981), and c) the dynanic theory of social irnpact (DTSI)
pubtished by Nowak' Szamrej and Latane'(1990). These theories
were compared with group situation theory developed by Witte (1987,90) and now modified as a dynanic version. This group situation theory tried to explain the different meanings of a group decision for their members after the group discussion and not only the change of the opinions to reach a consensus. However, this quatitative change of the Group situation in its normative components has to be modelled in the
future.

Group situation theory has been developed as a general-framework in order to integrate different ... more Group situation theory has been developed as a general-framework in order to integrate different theoretical approacbes in the area of small group research. Its development is based on some fundamental assumptions combining normative influences with an information integration process of the individual group member. Under these basic assumptions as guidelines the social impact theory has been integrated into the group situation theory which results in an extended group situation theory.
After this extension the similarities of this approach with the social decision schemes has been discussed. The predictions are very similar, but the kind of theories are different: Social decision schemes is a family of descriptive models predicting the transformation of a group members’ distribution after discussion using qualitative choices; EGST is a family of information integration processes giving an explanation why a given change has happened after discussion using also quantitative choices.
As a next step the BALES’ research tradition on interaction frequencies and their influence in group decisions has been integrated in EGST to find their specific place in a broader theoretical concept.