ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the concept of quantitative novelty in terms of the relative magnitude or amount of the various properties that people possess. The frequency-of-occurrence type of quantitative novelty and the magnitude form of the concept can be independent of one another and do not always operate in the same direction. To provide evidence regarding this notion, Duval and Siegel manipulated quantitative novelty with regard to one of four properties: wealth, prestige, power, or physical prowess. An analysis of simple effects indicated that the type of word x quantitative position interaction was significant for the power, prestige, and physical prowess conditions. For example, because subjects apparently assumed their respective roles in a psychologically meaningful manner, one might argue that subjects in the low conditions experienced greater anxiety than subjects in the high conditions. One possible interpretation is that subjects who role played an individual with a small amount of motor skills were sensitized, to respond slowly on the color-word task.
