A Student Development Theory to Practice Workshop

This article describes a workshop designed to introduce Chickering's theory to paraprofessional staff.     

Cross-sex comparisons: A word of caution

A cross-sex difference on one variable is often hypothesized to be related to a gender difference on a second variable. However, caution should be exercised in making such comparative hypotheses. We gathered the expected and actual examination grades for 168 female and 163 male college students. As in prior research, males had higher expectancies than females (p<.05). But analysis of the intrasex regression equations indicated that the relationship of expectancies to performance was different for women than it was for men. Thus, a cross-sex difference in expectancies did not correspond to a parallel difference in grades. This finding highlights the potential hazards of making certain cross-sex comparisons, and we argue for more caution in their application.     

Sex role orientations,attributions for achievement,and personal goals of Chinese youth

The role of women in the People's Republic of China has changed dramatically in the last 40 years. This study assesses what impact these changes have had on the attitudes of Chinese youth. The sample consisted of 164 subjects (77 men and 87 women) who completed the Bem Sex Role Inventory, the Objective Fear of Success Measure, a locus of control scale, and a personal goals questionnaire. They also evaluated a painting attributed to artists of different gender and status. The results indicate that the sex role orientations of Chinese students were similar to those of American students. On the Bem inventory, the direction of the sex differences on the sex role scales was the same for U.S. and Chinese students, but the latter had a sex role orientation that, in our culture, is regarded as more “traditional.” Chinese women were significantly more likely to endorse statements expressing fear of success than were Chinese men. On the locus of control measures, Chinese women were more likely than men to attribute their achievement successes to luck and failures to a lack of ability. The women students also attributed affiliation outcomes more to luck than did the men. The most important personal goal cited by both men and women was that of career success. Chinese men placed greater importance than women on achieving wealth, and their expectancy of actually becoming wealthy was higher. Finally, in an evaluation of a painting, Chinese men, but not the women, devalued a painting when it was supposedly the work of a female student artist.     

The impact of ethnicity,nationality, counseling orientation,and mental health standards on stereotypic beliefs about women: A pilot study

People vary in the extent to which they hold stereotypic beliefs about women. The recently developed Beliefs About Women Scale (BAWS) was used in five investigations to examine the following aspects of people's stereotypic beliefs about women: (Study I) the impact of ethnicity (Hispanics and Anglos) on women's endorsement of traditional beliefs about women; (Study II) the impact of national culture (Mexico and the United States) on women's responses to the BAWS; (Study III) the extent to which U.S. women define women's and men's mental health in terms of stereotypic beliefs about women; (Study IV) the extent to which preferences for counseling orientation influence the beliefs about women attributed to mentally healthy women and men; and (Study V) the impact of national culture (Mexico and the United States) on the beliefs about women ascribed to mentally healthy women and men. The results indicated that (a) U.S. Anglo females disagreed more strongly with traditional beliefs about women than did U.S. Hispanic females; (b) U.S. women expressed greater agreement with traditional stereotypes about women's interpersonal abilities and greater disagreement with traditional stereotypes about women's personal competencies than did women from Mexico; (c) the beliefs about women held by U.S. psychology trainees, and the beliefs about women that they attributed to mentally healthy females, were more nontraditional than those that they attributed to mentally healthy males; (d) particular counseling preferences were associated with the stereotypic beliefs about women that female counseling trainees imputed to mentally healthy males and females; and (e) similarities and differences exist on the beliefs about women that female psychology trainees from the United States and Mexico ascribe to mentally healthy females and males. The discussion focuses on mentally healthy beliefs about women, and the implications of these findings for the delivery of mental health services to women and men from various cultures.     

工作负载的测量和评定

长期处于应激状态而又适应不良者可导致疾病。人类经常遇到的心理、社会性应激源除了生活事件以外,长期工作负载过重也是其中之一。本文通过对24名在监护病房工作的护士的工作负载的测量介绍了在西方国家常用的工作负载的测量和评定方法。     

Psychological conceptions of randomness

This article presents a critique of the concept of randomness as it occurs in the psychological literature. The first section of our article outlines the significance of a concept of randomness to the process of induction; we need to distinguish random and non-random events in order to perceive lawful regularities and formulate theories concerning events in the world. Next we evaluate the psychological research that has suggested that human concepts of randomness are not normative. We argue that, because the tasks set to experimental subjects are logically problematic, observed biases may be an artifact of the experimental situation and that even if such biases do generalise they may not have pejorative implications for induction in the real world. Thirdly we investigate the statistical methodology utilised in tests for randomness and find it riddled with paradox. In a fourth section we find various branches of scientific endeavour that are stymied by the problems posed by randomness. Finally we briefly mention the social significance of randomness and conclude by arguing that such a fundamental concept merits and requires more serious considerations.     

Probability learning and Piagetian probability conceptions in children 5 to 12 years old

This study focused on the relations between performance on a three-choice probability-learning task and conceptions of probability as outlined by Piaget concerning mixture, normal distribution, random selection, odds estimation, and permutations. The probability-learning task and four Piagetian tasks were administered randomly to 100 male and 100 female, middle SES, average IQ children in three age groups (5 to 6, 8 to 9, and 11 to 12 years old) from different schools. Half the children were from Middle Eastern backgrounds, and half were from European or American backgrounds. As predicted, developmental level of probability thinking was related to performance on the probability-learning task. The more advanced the child's probability thinking, the higher his or her level of maximization and hypothesis formulation and testing and the lower his or her level of systematically patterned responses. The results suggest that the probability-learning and Piagetian tasks assess similar cognitive skills and that performance on the probability-learning task reflects a variety of probability concepts.