Changes in Fear of AIDS and Homophobia in a University Population

A survey measuring attitudes toward fear of AIDS and homophobia, taken in the fall of 1985, was repeated in the fall of 1989 on the same university population. The results indicated that whereas fear of AIDS decreased, the degree of homophobia remained essentially unchanged. In addition, although respondents were much more knowledgeable about AIDS in 1989 than in 1985, there was no evidence of any change in the relatively high correlation between the fear of AIDS and homophobia.     

Alcohol and Sex Offending: What Do Child Sex Offenders Think About Drinking?

The relationship between general and sex-specific alcohol expectancies and drinking before offending was examined in a sample of child sex offenders. Regression analyses revealed that sex-specific expectancies were the single best predictor of the proportion of times the offenders reported drinking before offending, even when the offenders' (preincarceration) customary drinking behaviors were accounted for. These results highlight the importance of assessing expectancies related to particular social domains. Implications for offender treatment and relapse prevention are discussed.     

Children's developing notions of (im)partiality

This research examines the development of children's understanding that people's judgments may be skewed by relationships, and that situational factors may make it difficult to be impartial. One hundred and seventy-one adults and children between kindergarten and eighth grade heard stories about judges in contests with objective or subjective criteria for winning. In Experiment 1, by fourth grade, children rated a judge with no personal connection (the "neutral judge") as being more likely to be objective than a judge with a personal connection (the "connected judge"). Younger children showed the opposite pattern. Experiment 2 replicated this finding for judges, and also found that children across development have similar ideas regarding the characteristics for being a good judge. Not until eighth grade, however, did children indicate that a connected judge was more problematic in subjective situations than in objective ones.     

Effects of contact with individuals with disabilities: positive attitudes and majoring in education

Attitudes toward and contact with individuals with disabilities have been topics of research for years. The major purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of contact with individuals with disabilities on attitudes and choosing to major in education. Participants were 211 undergraduate students who completed a survey of attitudes and contact with individuals with physical, developmental, and behavioral disabilities. Results demonstrated that lower misconceptions about disabilities mediated the relation between increased contact with individuals with behavioral disabilities and being an education major. The results of this study (a) can be used to determine how future teachers should be trained and (b) highlight the need for future teachers to engage in certain field experiences.     

An evaluation of the overjustification effect across multiple contingency arrangements

The overjustification effect suggests that external rewards may decrease intrinsically reinforced behaviors; however, this conclusion is often drawn from pre‐ and post‐assessment data. The majority of studies published in this area do not take repeated measures of behavior. In addition, previous research has not distinguished between the use of rewards and reinforcers by demonstrating a reinforcement effect; hence, it is possible that the occurrence of the overjustification effect varies depending on the nature of the stimuli that are used. This study extended previous research by evaluating whether the overjustification effect was relevant to the use of non‐reinforcing stimuli, reinforcers, or both. The effects of verbal praise were also evaluated in relation to the overjustification effect. Results indicated that behavior did not decrease below baseline levels following the contingent delivery of non‐reinforcing stimuli, reinforcers, or verbal praise. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Biased decision‐making: developing an understanding of how positive and negative relationships may skew judgments

The current experiment examines if and when children consider the possibility of relationships skewing judgments when evaluating judgments in different contexts. Eighty‐seven 6‐year‐olds, 8‐year‐olds, 10‐year‐olds, and adults heard stories about judges who made decisions matching or mismatching possible relationship biases (e.g. a judge choosing a friend or an enemy as the winner) in contests with objective or subjective criteria. While even 6‐year‐olds distinguished between subjective and objective contests, neither children nor adults focused on the objectivity of the contest criteria when evaluating a judge's claims. Instead, by age 8, if not earlier, children focused on relationships, trusting judgments that mismatched someone's relationship biases and discounting judgments that matched someone's relationship biases. The findings also suggested that children are better at recognizing that a judgment may have been biased than predicting that one will be, and that they may understand that negative relationships may skew judgments before positive ones.