Tailoring sex-education programs to adolescents--a strategy for the primary prevention of unwanted adolescent pregnancies

The data for this paper were derived from 88 unstructured interviews conducted with a purposive sample of adolescents from September 1978 through July 1979. We content analyzed all interview abstracts with particular emphasis on the comments and suggestions made by adolescents in regard to sex education in order to ascertain their needs. Three areas in need of immediate revision were identified--curriculum, format, and lecturer. Respondents also provided a variety of suggestions which can be used by educators and planners in developing and implementing sex-education programs; thereby making programs sensitive to the expressed needs and wants of adolescents. This qualitative study supports the findings of many quantitative studies which found that many adolescents do not have, yet want, sensitive sex-education programs.     

Educational,social, and psychological correlates of vocational maturity

An investigation of the educational, social, and psychological correlates of vocational maturity was undertaken in an Ontario high school involving a sample of 272 students. The analysis of data revealed that the students' CMI scores were generally correlated with (i) their educational and occupational aspirations, (ii) self-estimates of their general ability and classroom performance, (iii) their parents' educational level, and (iv) educational and occupational aspirations parents held for them. It was found moreover that higher CMI scores were associated with higher self-esteem, more internal locus of control, and more intrinsic work values. Implications of the results are discussed for educational practice.     

Feature-positive effect in adults and attention to portion of stimulus array

In three experiments, adult humans were tested in a feature-positive or feature-negative simultaneous symbol task. In Experiment 1, some persons focused on the correct side of the stimulus cards, whereas other persons focused on the not-correct side of the stimulus cards. The feature-positive group learned faster than the feature-negative group did in the correct side condition; the feature-negative group learned faster than the feature-positive group did in the not-correct side condition. In Experiments 2 and 3, all persons focused on both the correct and not-correct sides of the stimulus cards. Under these circumstances, feature-positive and feature-negative performances were comparable. These results indicated that the usual superiority of feature-positive over feature-negative learning results from a tendency to attend to only a portion of the stimulus array.     

Response tempo and separable--integral responding: evidence for an integral-to-separable processing sequence in visual perception

Three experiments were conducted to examine the relation between response tempo and separable-integral responding. A restricted classification paradigm, in which similarity-based (integral) and dimensionally based (separable) classifications were pitted against one another, was used with the dimensions of length and density (all experiments) and size and brightness (Experiment 3). The subjects were college students (Experiments 1 and 2) and kindergarten, second-, and fifth-grade children (Experiment 3). In all three experiments, rapid responding was associated with fewer dimensional and more similarity responses than was slow responding. This result held when response tempo was simply measured (Experiments 1 and 3) and when it was manipulated by the experimenter (Experiment 2). The results were interpreted to be consistent with models of dimensional processing in which holistic, integral processing precedes analytic dimensional processing.     

The influence of metacontrast masking on detection and spatial-choice judgments: an apparent distinction between automatic and attentive response mechanisms

Several studies of metacontrast masking in the 1960s apparently showed that the latency of simple detection responses was uninfluenced by the phenomenal dimming of the target induced by the mask. More recent studies using more suitable methodologies have clearly shown that such is not the case for situations in which the masking is a monotonically decreasing function of stimulus onset asynchrony. Experiment 1 investigated this issue for the situation in which masking is a U-shaped function of stimulus onset asynchrony. Contrary to the results obtained in monotonic masking situations, simple detection responses were not slowed by the masking. Experiment 2 demonstrated that although detection responses are not slowed in the U-shaped masking situation, spatial-choice judgments are. Experiments 3 and 4 indicated that this masking effect on spatial-choice reaction time is lost relatively rapidly with practice. However, changing the stimulus-response assignments reinstates the effect. The experiments suggest that for the situation in which U-shaped masking functions are obtained, responses that require attention (spatial-choice judgments early in practice or after stimulus-response relationships have been switched) are influenced by the metacontrast-induced phenomenal dimming, whereas responses that are automatic (i.e., detection responses; practiced spatial-choice judgments with consistent stimulus-response mappings) are not.     

Inhibitory avoidance deficit following short-term adrenalectomy in the rat: the role of adrenal catecholamines

Impaired retention of an inhibitory avoidance response was observed in rats subjected to adrenalectomy (ADX) up to 120 hr before the single learning trial. Corticosterone substitution failed to normalize this behavioral deficit. Rats ADX 240 hr prior to the learning trial showed a normalized behavior. Adrenomedullectomy (ADXM) 48 or 240 hr before learning caused a similar impairment as in short-term ADX rats. The 240-hr ADX rats subjected to corticosterone substitution showed the same behavioral deficit as short-term ADX rats or ADXM ones. Immediate postlearning subcutaneous injection of adrenaline in a dose range of 0.005-5.0 micrograms/kg or of noradrenaline (0.005-0.5 microgram/kg) to 48-hr ADX rats resulted in a dose-related improvement of later retention behavior. Higher doses of catecholamines were less or ineffective. Postlearning treatment of 48-hr ADXM rats with adrenaline (0.5-500 micrograms/kg) caused a similar pattern of behavioral changes. It is concluded that adrenal catecholamines play an important role in the modulation of consolidation of memory. In addition, the high circulating ACTH levels that follow long-term ADX may correct for the behaviorial deficit induced by the absence of adrenomedullary catecholamines.     

Sexual activity and contraceptive use among low-income urban black adolescent females.

A modified form of Nathanson and Becker's (1983) Health Belief Model Questionnaire and other measures designed to assess cognitive processing were administered to low-income black adolescent female clients of an inner-city comprehensive health care clinic. The purpose of the study was to explore determinants of sexual activity and contraceptive use. Subjects were classified as not sexually active (n = 50), sexually active/noncontracepting (n = 20), or sexually active/contracepting (n = 72). Not sexually active subjects tended to be younger, more career motivated, to have a father at home, to be more influenced by family values, and to have more conservative attitudes regarding adolescent sexuality than did sexually active subjects. Sexually active/noncontracepting subjects tended to report fewer benefits and more barriers to the use of contraception. Level of cognitive processing did not differ among the three groups, but was at a lower-than-expected level for age. Finally, inconsistent contraceptive use was common to both sexually active groups.