Distinguishing Between Perceived Behavioral Control and Self-Efficacy in the Domain of Academic Achievement Intentions and Behaviors

We examined whether perceived behavioral control (PBC) and self-efficacy (S-E) can be distinguished empirically, and whether they make different contributions to the prediction of intentions and behavior. The behavioral criterion was performance in 3 high-school examinations. Measures of attitude, subjective norm, PBC, S-E, and intention were taken before the examinations. Grade achieved served as the behavioral measure. Factor analysis of items intended to measure PBC and S-E extracted 2 factors: confidence in ability to achieve the behavioral outcome, and belief that the outcome can be influenced by own efforts. Scores on these factors were labeled S-E and perceived control, respectively. Behavior was predicted better by S-E than by intentions, and intentions were more closely related to S-E than to attitudes, subjective norms, or perceived control.     

Arousal and the Bakan vigilance task: The effects of noise intensity and the presence of others

The joint effects of social setting and loud noise on task performance are examined. In a modified version of the Bakan vigilance task subjects were required to detect a sequence of two identical even digits and to report the two digits preceding the signal. Two types of acoustic environment were compared: loud noise at 90 dBC and quiet noise at 60 dBC. Two types of social setting were employed: “pair” where two subjects worked in the same room on similar tasks, and “single” where a subject performed the task alone. The effects of noise and the presence of another did not interact. Loud noise increased the speed of responses to signals early in the task. This effect is attributed to noise-induced arousal. There was a higher incidence of recall errors in pre-signal digits when subjects were in pairs. This effect is attributed to distraction. This research was part of a series of studies sponsored by the Social Science Research Council (Grant HR 5563 awarded to Dr. A.J. Chapman and Dr. D.M. Jones).     

Children's sensitivity to traffic hazard in peripheral vision

Although children and adults have poorer peripheral vision than foveal vision there is contradictory evidence about the developmental changes that occur in peripheral sensitivity. Previous research on detections of traffic hazard has not, however, provided any evidence that peripheral vision is implicated in the particualr vulnerability of children to pedestrain accidents. In the absence of differences in peripheral detections it was hypothesized that children may nevertheless be less efficient than adults in utilizing information presented in the periphery. Road traffic scenes depicting vehicles in potentially hazardous and non-hazardous positions for road crossings were presented to adults and to childre, aged 7, 9, and 11. Results confirmed that children were relatively no poorer than adults at hazard detection in peripheral vision than in foveal vision, but indicated that they were marginally poorer at utilizing information presented in the periphery, as measured by a vehicle recognition test. Against expectd developmental trends 9-year-olds were as fast as adults at hazard detection, but no different from the other groups of children in recognition performance. Evidence that information detected and assimilated in peripheral vision does not contribute to the high pedestrian accident rates of children comes from the absence of any sex differences favouring girls. Since girls have considerably lower accident rates than boys, it would have been expected that both their detection and recognition performance would have been higher.     

Optimism,perceived control over stress,and coping

To examine the ability of the expectancy-based personality dimensions dispositional optimism and perceived control over stress to predict the ways in which people characteristically attempt to cope with stress, 420 undergraduate students completed the Life Orientation Test (LOT; Scheier and Carver, 1985), a measure of perceived control over stress, and the dispositional version of the COPE Inventory (Carver, Scheier and Weintraub, 1989). The results revealed a modest but reliable positive correlation between optimism and the perceived control measure. Principal-components analysis of the COPE revealed a factor structure which was generally in accord with prior research. Optimism was positively correlated with active coping and positive reinterpretation, and negatively correlated with focusing on and venting of emotion. Perceived control over stress was negatively correlated with behavioural disengagement. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Do socially anxious individuals fear embarrassment by close others? Development of the Fear of Embarrassment by Others Scale

Social anxiety disorder is characterized by an intense fear of social or performance situations, and a fear of acting in a way that will be humiliating or embarrassing. However, the extent to which socially anxious individuals fear embarrassment due to the behavior of close others remains unknown. The Fear of Embarrassment by Others Scale (FEOS) was developed to assess the extent to which individuals with social anxiety fear being embarrassed by others. To assess the psychometric properties of this measure, 162 undergraduate students low or high in social anxiety completed the FEOS, along with additional questionnaires. An exploratory factor analysis suggested a single factor. The measure demonstrates high internal consistency, and is correlated with measures of social anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, and anxiety sensitivity. Fear of embarrassment by others was not found to be a significant predictor of social anxiety, as compared to anxiety sensitivity and fear of negative evaluation. The FEOS discriminated among participants high and low in social anxiety, as those high in social anxiety scored significantly higher on the measure than did participants low in social anxiety. The utility of this scale for research and clinical practice is discussed.     

Psychometric properties of the State-Trait Inventory for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety (STICSA): comparison to the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)

The State-Trait Inventory for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety (STICSA; M. J. Ree, C. MacLeod, D. French, & V. Locke, 2000) was designed to assess cognitive and somatic symptoms of anxiety as they pertain to one's mood in the moment (state) and in general (trait). This study extended the previous psychometric findings to a clinical sample and validated the STICSA against a well-published measure of anxiety, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; C. D. Spielberger, 1983). Patients (N=567) at an anxiety disorders clinic were administered a battery of questionnaires. The results of confirmatory factor analyses (Bentler-Bonnett nonnormed fit index, comparative fit index, and Bollen fit index>.90; root-mean-square error of approximation<.05); convergent and discriminant validity analyses; and group comparisons supported the reliability and validity of the STICSA as a measure of state and trait cognitive and somatic anxiety. In addition, compared with the STAI (anxiety: rs/=.64), the STICSA was more strongly correlated with another measure of anxiety (rs>/=.67) and was less strongly correlated with a measure of depression (rs相似文献   

The influence of norms and social identities on children's responses to bullying

Background. Research on bullying increasingly focuses on social processes, showing that group membership affects children's responses to bullying scenarios. Additionally, correlational research has shown links between norms of cooperation and prosocial behaviour, and between competition and more aggressive forms of behaviour. Aims. This paper focuses on how children's peer group membership affects their group‐based emotions in response to an intergroup bullying incident, and the action tendencies that these emotions predict, in the context of different background norms (for competitive or cooperative behaviour). Sample. Italian schoolchildren, 10–13 years old (N= 128, 65 males) took part in this study. Methods. Participants were randomly assigned to the group of a perpetrator, target, or third‐party group member described in a scenario. Next, they played a game designed to induce a cooperative, competitive, or neutral norm, and read the scenario. They then answered a questionnaire measuring their group‐based emotions. Results. Results underscored the role of norms and group processes in responses to bullying. In particular, children exposed to a cooperative norm expressed less pride and more regret and anger about the bullying than those in other conditions. Conclusions. This study indicates that the influence peer groups have on bullying may be tempered by the introduction of a cooperative normative context to the school setting.     

Family Affluence, School and Neighborhood Contexts and Adolescents’ Civic Engagement: A Cross-National Study

Research on youth civic engagement focuses on individual-level predictors. We examined individual- and school-level characteristics, including family affluence, democratic school social climate and perceived neighborhood social capital, in their relation to civic engagement of 15-year-old students. Data were taken from the 2006 World Health Organization Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey. A sample of 8,077 adolescents in 10th grade from five countries (Belgium, Canada, Italy, Romania, England) were assessed. Multilevel models were analyzed for each country and across the entire sample. Results showed that family affluence, democratic school climate and perceived neighborhood social capital positively related to participation in community organizations. These links were stronger at the aggregate contextual than individual level and varied by country. Canadian youth participated most and Romanian youth least of the five countries. Gender predicted engagement in two countries (girls participate more in Canada, boys in Italy). Findings showed significant contributions of the social environment to adolescents' engagement in their communities.     

Methylphenidate enhances extinction of contextual fear

Methylphenidate (MPH, Ritalin) is a norepinephrine and dopamine transporter blocker that is widely used in humans for treatment of attention deficit disorder and narcolepsy. Although there is some evidence that targeted microinjections of MPH may enhance fear acquisition, little is known about the effect of MPH on fear extinction. Here, we show that MPH, administered before or immediately following extinction of contextual fear, will enhance extinction retention in C57BL/6 mice. Animals that received MPH (2.5-10 mg/kg) before an extinction session showed decreased freezing response during extinction, and the effect of the 10 mg/kg dose on freezing persisted to the next day. When MPH (2.5-40 mg/kg) was administered immediately following an extinction session, mice that received MPH showed dose-dependent decreases in freezing during subsequent tests. MPH administered immediately after a 3-min extinction session or 4 h following the first extinction session did not cause significant differences in freezing. Together, these findings demonstrate that MPH can enhance extinction of fear and that this effect is sensitive to dose, time of injection, and duration of the extinction session. Because MPH is widely used in clinical treatments, these experiments suggest that the drug could be used in combination with behavioral therapies for patients with fear disorders.     

Evaluating the impact of career management skills module and internship programme within a university business school

This study evaluates the impact of an intervention on business school graduates' employability comprising of a curriculum-based career management skills (CMS) module and an industrial placement year. The study uses data from the destinations of leavers of higher education survey to examine the employability of different groups within the cohort (no intervention, CMS module only and CMS module plus structured work experience). It finds that structured work experience has clear, positive effects on the ability of graduates to secure employment in ‘graduate level’ jobs within six months of graduation. Furthermore, participation in the CMS module also has a clear, positive effect upon the ability of participants to secure employment.