Generativity and Erikson's “belief in the species”

Generativity is the concern for guiding and promoting the next generation through such creative behavior as parenting, teaching, mentoring, leading, and generating products and outcomes that benefit others. Erikson (1963) has argued that in order to be generative in adulthood, people must have a fundamental “belief in the species” or a faith that human progress is possible and worth working toward. The present study focuses on hope and trust concerning the self and others (Erikson's “belief in the species”). In addition, however, the study examines the relation between generativity and personality traits, in this case, dominance, leadership, self-absorption, and nurturance. A sample of 70 adults was administered (1) a series of self-report questionnaires converging on Erikson's idea of belief in the species, (2) a self-report scale assessing generativity, (3) measures of personality traits, and (4) two open-ended measures of generativity requiring subjects to describe life commitments and creative endeavors. The results provide modest support for Erikson's claim of a link between belief in the species and generativity, with significant positive correlations obtained (1) between self-report generativity and two measures of belief in species and (2) between generativity assessed through life commitments and one measure of belief in the species. In addition, the personality trait of nurturance was positively related to all three generativity measures. Problems and issues in the assessment of generativity are discussed.     

Book Notes

The Psychological Record -     

From page to program: Some typographical and temporal variables in radio homilies

Punctuation in 20 radio homilies by four speakers accounted for 76% of pause time and 64% of pause number. Pause duration varied systematically according to punctuation type. Commas accounted for 82% of punctuated positionsnot used for pausing.RRelevance for theories of text unitization is discussed. Both typographical and temporal measures are compared with a similar corpus of German homilies.     

Decision making styles and progress in occupational decision making

This study provides a reexamination of the role of different decisional strategies in facilitating progress in occupational decision making. Although the assumptions that a rational decision making style is the preferred mode of vocational functioning has been endorsed in a variety of career theories and interventions, there has been conflicting evidence about the validity of this assumption. To examine the role of different decisional approaches in the progress of making an occupational decision, the rational, intuitive, and dependent decision making style scores of 71 undergraduate students were used to predict progress in occupational decision making. The results of the regression analyses failed to provide support for the assumption that a rational style is the most effective in accomplishing this careerrelated task, but indicated strong support for the conclusion that the use of dependent decisional strategies is damaging, particularly in early stages of the decisional process.     

Capuchin monkeys learn to use information equally well from individual exploration and social demonstration

Animal Cognition - The limited evidence of complex culture in non-human primates contrasts strikingly with human behaviour. This may be because non-human primates fail to use information acquired...     

Racial Identity Development Among Gifted Black Students: Counseling Issues and Concerns

A review of the literature suggests that a paucity of information exists regarding how culture-specific issues such as being both Black and gifted influence the psychological needs and personality development of gifted Black students. Stellar attempts, however, are currently underway to develop theories and perspectives of racial identity development among Black students. These theories and perspectives are discussed in an attempt to understand and address the psychological and social needs of gifted Black students.     

Development of knowledge bases and the reliability of a decision support system for behavioral treatment consultation for persons with mental retardation: The Mental Retardation-Expert

The development of expert and decision support systems requires the collection, organization, codification, and storage of a body of specialized knowledge. The development, using reconstructive methods, of two such knowledge bases, the first containing the current scientific literature and the second containing an expert’s knowledge, is described for an automated decision support system, the Mental Retardation-Expert. This system provides practitioners with assistance in the treatment of aggressive, self-injurious, and destructive behaviors displayed by individuals with mental retardation or developmental disabilities. The average interobserver reliability of the expert knowledge base ranged from 92.5% to 95.0% when calculated across four clinicians’ assessments of 31 abstracted cases.     

Adult sex typing of children's toys

A primary focus of this study was to determine whether adults use traditional sex-type standards when choosing toys for boys or girls. I also investigated whether an adult's sex or gender role influences this decision. College students were shown pictures of 74 toys, and were asked to indicate whether they would buy each toy for a boy or girl. Traditional sex-type ratings were found. In addition, male subjects sex-typed toys to a greater extent than female subjects. Subjects' gender role was unrelated to sex-type ratings. Subjects also judged whether each toy provided educational value, required activity, and encouraged cooperation. Toys rated as requiring activity were not considered educational, but many toys considered educational were also rated as encouraging cooperation. In addition, toys considered masculine were rated as requiring more activity than feminine toys.The author thanks Fran Rosati, Dawn Pillitteri, and Karen Molison for their help with data scoring.