Reading/writing vs handedness influences on line length estimation

Left- and right-handed school children with differing reading/writing experiences (unidirectional left-to-right vs bidirectional) were asked to draw 3-cm lines from right-to-left or from left-to-right with each hand. With either hand, lines drawn from left to right were more accurate than those drawn from right to left, particularly for right-handed left-to-right users; bidirectional readers showed no directional bias. Moreover, bidirectional readers were more accurate than unidirectional readers. The findings support a greater influence of directional scanning effects than handedness on the task of line length estimation.     

Motivation,ability, and exam performance: Tests of hypotheses of cultural difference and task difficulty

In a series of three experiments, prediction of exam performance from information about motivation and ability of students was studied. The factorial plot of the Motivation × Ability effect on predicted performance always yielded the parallelism pattern with subjects from both the student and nonstudent populations. Results agreed with the hypothesis of cultural difference between America and India. Manipulation of difficulty of exam did not alter the parallelism pattern, contrary to the specification of the hypothesis of task difficulty. Difficulty of exam affected only the origin of the response scale. Implications of results were discussed for the two tested hypotheses as well as for a new hypothesis of nature of task.     

Acquisition and generalization of manual signs by hearing-impaired adults with mental retardation

Behavioral procedures have been used to teach manual communication skills to individuals with mental retardation, although few studies have examined the assessment of generalization of such skills beyond the teaching environment. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of directed rehearsal for teaching and facilitating the generalization of manual signs by six hearing-impaired adults with mental retardation. The effects of directed rehearsal, alone and combined with positive reinforcement for correct responses, were compared to a no-training control condition in an alternating treatments design. Although directed rehearsal was superior to the no-training control condition in teaching manual signs, the procedure was more effective when combined with positive reinforcement. The combined procedure was used to facilitate the generalization of learned signs across a number of variables. The results showed that there were high levels of generalization by all participants across novel phrases, settings, and trainers but variable levels of generalization to another response mode by some subjects. Further, increased levels in overall vocal communication were found for most participants.     

Causal Analyses in Interpersonal Relations: On Importance of the Control Condition

Most studies of interpersonal relations employ the high and low levels of an independent variable and attribute the high–low difference to the high level only. However, such a difference can be due to the positivity effect of the high level, the negativity effect of the low level, or both. To specify the loci of the high–low difference, a control condition is necessary. In my research into interpersonal attraction and impression formation, I ascertained the magnitude of the positivity and negativity effects relative to the response to a control condition of no-individuating information. The negativity effects of dissimilar attitudes and negative traits were greater than the positivity effects of similar attitudes and positive traits. One source of this positive–negative asymmetry was the person positivity bias in the participants. A greater weighting of negative than positive level could be another factor. Research is needed to separate the contributions of these two variables to the positive–negative asymmetry demonstrated.     

Parental Attributions of the Causes of Their Children's Behavior

We investigated causal attributions parents made regarding their children's best and worst behavior while the children were taking methylphenidate (MPH) for Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Twenty-six parents were surveyed each week for six weeks using the Parent Attribution Scale-Revised. This scale measures parents' attributions of the causes for their children's behavior when taking MPH to treat symptoms of ADHD. When attributing causes for best behavior, the parents rated their children's effort most often followed by their own effort and the positive medication effects. When attributing causes for worst behavior, the parents rated their children's lack of effort most often followed by inadequate medication effects and their own lack of effort. Our study suggests that parents rate effort most often when making attributions for their children's best and worst behavior. When making attributions for best behavior only, parents saw no difference between their own efforts and the effects of medication. When making attributions for worst behavior only, parents were more likely to blame their children's lack of effort and the ineffectiveness of medication more often than their own lack of effort.     

DISCRIMINANT FUNCTION IN A PROFILE PATTERN OF KEY-COMMUNICATORS IN AN INDIAN VILLAGE

On sélectionne deux groupes distincts (les “ communicateurs ”-clefs et les non “ communicateurs ”) dans une communauté villageoise de L'Inde sur la base des interactions personnelles qui déterminent la diffusion à L'intérieur du village de trois nouvelles techniques agricoles. Les deux types de personnes diffèrent (.01) relativement à 8 variables : statut socio-économique, relation avec L'origine du changement, comportement vis-à-vis de L'innovation, popularité, personnification du fermier idéal, aptitude à la communication, taille de L'exploitation, autorité en matière d'opinion, mais ne présentent pas de différences relativement à quatre autres (amour du changement, conservatisme, fatalisme, cosmopolitisme). Une analyse de type D² portant sur six de ces variables prises ensemble donne un F significatif; sur la base de ces résultats, on peut établir un profil caractéristique des “ communicateur ”-clefs.     

Philosophy of Guidance: View from the East

Guidance and counseling have drawn heavily from psychological theories; however, psychological bases alone can not adequately explain the guidance point of view. There is a need for some philosophic bases of guidance. The present paper attempts to review guidance principles and appraisal techniques from a philosophical angle. Metaphysics of guidance reviews the nature of the individual. Epistemology of guidance classifies various appraisal techniques based on the pattern of nyāaya, one of the systems of Indian philosophy.