Qualitative insights into the relationship between socioeconomic status and students’ academic achievement goals

Recent research using quantitative methodologies and an emerging social psychological theory of socioeconomic status (SES) has found an association between students’ SES and their academic achievement goals. As a new area of research in the achievement goal tradition, there has been little investigation of the contextual influences upon particular goal orientations in divergent SES contexts. To explore these influences, focus groups were conducted with 24 secondary school students aged 16–17 years attending a high and a low SES school in New South Wales, Australia. These teenagers were approaching a ‘developmental deadline’ which required immediate decisions about future work and education pathways. As such, they could be experiencing a period of heightened contextual influences. Directed content analysis of the focus groups observed the broad distinctions in achievement goals seen in previous quantitative studies. However, the analysis elucidated some of the ways in which norms and values in different SES contexts influenced the adoption of particular goal orientations. In some cases, the same orientation had markedly different contextual influences stemming from students’ SES backgrounds. From these exploratory findings, we argue for further research into the factors which influence the adoption of different achievement goals by students from different SES backgrounds.     

The role of regional heterogeneity in age-related differences in functional hemispheric asymmetry: an fMRI study

Neuroimaging literature has documented age-related hemispheric asymmetry reduction in frontal regions during task performances. As most studies employed working memory paradigms, it is therefore less clear if this pattern of neural reorganization is constrained by working memory processes or it would also emerge in other cognitive domains which are predominantly lateralized. Using blocked functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the present study used a homophone judgment task and a line judgment task to investigate age-related differences in functional hemispheric asymmetry in language and visuospatial processing respectively. Young and older adults achieved similar task accuracy although older adults required a significantly longer time. Age-related functional hemispheric asymmetry reduction was found only in dorsal inferior frontal gyrus and was associated with better performance when the homophone condition was contrasted against fixation, and not line condition. Our data thus highlights the importance of considering regional heterogeneity of aging effects together with general age-related cognitive processes.     

Sex differences in aggression between heterosexual partners: a meta-analytic review

Meta-analyses of sex differences in physical aggression to heterosexual partners and in its physical consequences are reported. Women were slightly more likely (d = -.05) than men to use one or more act of physical aggression and to use such acts more frequently. Men were more likely (d = .15) to inflict an injury, and overall, 62% of those injured by a partner were women. The findings partially support previous claims that different methods of measurement produce conflicting results, but there was also evidence that the sample was an important moderator of effect size. Continuous models showed that younger aged dating samples and a lower proportion of physically aggressive males predicted effect sizes in the female direction. Analyses were limited by the available database, which is biased toward young dating samples in the United States. Wider variations are discussed in terms of two conflicting norms about physical aggression to partners that operate to different degrees in different cultures.     

Self-control and tool use in tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella)

Self-control is defined as forgoing immediate gratification to obtain a greater reward. Tool use may relate to self-control because both behaviors may require foresight and deliberate control over one's actions. The authors assessed 20 capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) for the ability to delay gratification in a tool task. Subjects were given rod-shaped food items that could either be consumed immediately or be carried to an apparatus and used to extract a more preferred food. The authors found that some monkeys were able to exhibit self-control. Monkeys with relatively more tool use experience demonstrated the greatest levels of self-control. These results indicate that capuchins are capable of delaying gratification when a higher quality reinforcer is present and that tool experience can influence levels of self-control in this task.     

External correlates of the MMPI-2 content component scales in mental health inpatients

External correlates of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) Content Component Scales were identified using an inpatient sample of 544 adults. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (SCL-90-R) produced correlates of the Content Component Scales, demonstrating external validity with clinician-rated and self-report scales. Relationships between MMPI-2 Content Component Scales and patient hospital chart variables were also examined. Results demonstrated cross-criterion validity in that most MMPI-2 Content Component Scales correlated with appropriate BPRS dimensions, SCL-90-R items, and other patient variables. Discriminant validity of the Content Component Scales was also demonstrated. In addition, the finding that similar patterns of correlates are produced when the component scales are correlated with a self-report measure, as well as clinician ratings and medical chart variables, provides converging lines of evidence supporting the construct validity of the Content Component Scales.     

Perceived exertion during resistance exercise by children

This pilot study examined the validity of a new scale of perceived exertion during acute bouts of resistance exercise in young children. The researchers developed an 11-point numerical scale with five pictures representing youths at various levels of exertion while lifting weights. 26 children (M age 10.1 +/- 1.2 yr.) performed one set of 10 repetitions at 35%, 55%, and 75% of their one-repetition maximum on the chest press and leg press exercises using child-size weight training machines. Scaling procedures for the perceptual anchors on the perceived exertion scale were based on one repetition maximum testing. Children could use this scale to translate into numbers their perceptions of physical exertion during upper and lower body resistance exercise. Perceived exertion distributed as a positive linear function of the percent of one repetition maximum on the chest press and leg press exercises (rs = .70 to .77), and perceived exertion increased significantly across all three exercise intensities on both exercises. These preliminary findings provide partial evidence for validation when this scale was used during resistance exercise with children. Additional validation regarding perceived exertion during resistance exercise with children is warranted.     

Principal components analyses of the MMPI-2 PSY-5 scales: identification of facet subscales

The Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY-5) is a five-factor personality trait model designed for assessing personality pathology using quantitative dimensions. Harkness, McNulty, and Ben-Porath developed Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) scales based on the PSY-5 model, and these scales were recently added to the standard MMPI-2 profile. Although the PSY-5 constructs are multidimensional in definition, explicit subscales for the broader PSY-5 scales have not been developed. The primary goals of this study were to empirically derive subscales for the MMPI-2 PSY-5 scales using principal components analysis (PCA) and to replicate these subscales with an independent sample. Individual PSY-5 scales were analyzed using PCA with an initial sample of 4,325 MMPI-2 protocols, and the component structure was replicated with a second sample of 4,277 MMPI-2 protocols. A third sample of 4,327 protocols was used to further evaluate the internal consistency reliabilities of the resulting facet subscales. Overall, replicable facet subscales were identified with content areas that are largely congruent with Harkness and McNulty's model.     

Three factors of the comprehensive system for the Rorschach and their relationship to Wechsler IQ scores in an adolescent sample

Principal axis factor analyses of the Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS) in a clinical sample of 152 adolescents yielded three clearly defined factors: Synthesized Complexity (defined by Zf, DQ+, and F%), Productivity (defined by R, D, and Dd), and Form Quality (defined by X+%, F+%, and X-%). Variables on the Synthesized Complexity and Form Quality factors were generally correlated with Wechsler Full Scale IQ, Verbal IQ, and Performance IQ scores. Overall, the factors in this adolescent sample replicated factors identified in earlier studies with adults. Implications for clinical practice are discussed.     

The development of the items-easy (Ie) and items-difficult (Id) subscales for the MMPI-A

This research involves the development, validation, and cross-validation of the Items-Easy (Ie) and Items-Difficult (Id) subscales for the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A; Butcher et al., 1992). These subscales were designed to assess the degree to which reading comprehension deficits may be responsible for significant elevations of validity Scale F and the standard clinical scales on adolescents' MMPI-A profiles. A difference score, bared on the two 13-item subscales, was created in order to compare subjects' responses to subsets of the more comprehensible (Ie) and less comprehensible (Id) items within the test. Hit rate, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive power, and negative predictive power were calculated on the basis of simple (Id - Ie) and weighted (3Id - 1Ie) difference scores for the validation (N = 495) and cross-validation (N = 264) samples, and for specific high-F profile subsamples. Although some of the indices reflected classification accuracy as high as 95%, none of the indices yielded consistently high results across the various samples and subsamples. It has been concluded that the Ie and Id subscales should be used only for research purposes at this time.