Covariation assessment in rank order data

Two experiments were conducted to investigate how individuals assess covariation with rank order data. In both studies, subjects were given sets of rank order data, each set consisting of ten items ranked on two characteristics, and were asked to estimate the degree of relationship for each set. Contrary to previous research, subjects' estimates of covariation in this task were quite sensitive to actual levels of correlation in the data and remained unaffected by simple variations in the way rank order data were presented. More importantly, it appeared that this sensitivity to covariation was due likely to the use of a simple heuristic referred to here as the total discrepancy heuristic. These findings are discussed in terms of the availability of simple heuristics in rank-ordered versus other types of data and the consequences of using such heuristics in decision-making contexts.     

MOOD FLUCTUATIONS

Mood fluctuations in women and men were studied both prospectively and retrospectively to determine whether cyclic changes occur over phases of the menstrual cycle, lunar cycle, and/or days of the week. The participants (15 women using oral contraceptives, 12 normally cycling women, and 15 men), who did not know the purpose of the study, recorded the pleasantness, arousal, and stability of their moods daily for 70 days (concurrent data). Later they recalled (retrospective data) their average mood for each day of the week and phase of the menstrual cycle (women only). The only evidence of mood fluctuation over the menstrual cycle in the concurrent reports was that normally cycling women reported more pleasant moods in the follicular and menstrual phase than did men and women on oral contraceptives. Women's moods fluctuated less over the menstrual cycle than over days of the week. Recollections of menstrual mood changes differed from actual changes: Women recalled more pleasant moods in the follicular phase and more unpleasant moods in the premenstrual and menstrual phases than they had reported concurrently. Bias also was evident in recollections of weekday mood fluctuations: Weekend highs were exaggerated and Monday blues were reported even though they were not reported concurrently. There was no evidence of mood fluctuations over the lunar cycle and the groups did not differ in mood stability. The retrospective reporting bias for both the mensural cycle and days of week suggests the influence of stereotypes about moods. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Instituting music in the Boston public school curriculum: A classic example of the diffusion of innovation

Music came into American public schools via stages now identified as typical in the diffusion process. Pioneer educator Lowell Mason won acceptance for curricular music in Boston in 1838. His experience exemplifies steps characteristic in the diffusing of educational innovation. American music education owes its acceptance to his skillful handling of factors and processes identified by modern diffusion research. Carol A. Pemberton is the author ofLowell Mason: His Life and Work (1985),Lowell Mason: A Bio-Bibliography (1988), and many articles on music, music education, interdisciplinary studies, and English. Dr. Pemberton teaches English composition at Normandale Community College, Bloomington, Minnesota. Her composition textbook,Practical English, will be published in 1989 by Scott, Foresman/Little, Brown.     

The inflected noun system in Serbo-Croatian: Lexical representation of morphological structure

Repetition priming is examined for alternating and nonalternating morphologically related inflected nouns. In Experiments I and 2, latencies to targets in nominative and dative/locative cases, respectively, were invariant over case of prime. In Experiment 3, latencies to nominative-case nouns were the same whether the nouns were primed by forms in which the spelling and pronunciation of the common stem were shared (nonalternating) or not (alternating) with the nominative form. Results are interpreted as reflecting lexical organization among the members of a noun system. In Experiments I and 2, the pattern of latencies to primes suggests a satellite organization in which nominative forms are more strongly linked to oblique forms than oblique forms are to each other. In Experiment 3, atypical cases of alternating forms showed a different pattern of prime latencies, suggesting that the organization within a noun system may differ for alternating and nonalternating forms.     

Dressing for success: Effects of color and layering on perceptions of women in business

This study examines the effect on perceived competence of colors and layers in traditional business attire. Forty-five St. Ambrose College Master's in Business Administration program students (11 female, 34 male) judged eight artist's sketches of prospective job applicants varying in sex, color of suit worn (red or blue) and presence or absence of a jacket (layering). Analysis of variance results confirmed hypotheses that a person wearing blue or a jacket was perceived as more competent and properly dressed than a person wearing red or no jacket. Furthermore, these variables had more impact on the perception of male targets than of female targets. Finally, although males with blue jackets were rated most highly, female targets were rated more favorably than males overall. Apparently, while only a particular style of dress is considered suitable for men, a specific business uniform does not yet seem to have fully emerged for women. What has emerged as suitable dress for women seems to be to merely adopt, to some extent, traditional male attire.We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Carolyn Pillers and Michael Jerin for their help in data analysis and Rachel Chouteau for the preparation of artistic materials.     

Androgyny and its relation to adolescent psychosocial well-being: A review of the literature

The theoretical and empirical literature on androgyny in adolescence is reviewed in this paper. The traditional bipolar view of sex roles and more recent models of sex role development are contrasted. Then the research literature on the relation between sex role orientation and psychosocial well-being in adolescence is reviewed. From a review of several research articles on the topic, it is concluded that it is masculinity and the masculine component of androgyny that is most associated with both male and female adolescents' psychosocial well-being. This conclusion is discussed in light of current issues in the area of sex roles.     

The Impact of Case Characteristics and Prior Jury Experience on Jury Verdicts1

An archival analysis of records from 206 criminal cases was used to evaluate the impact of personal and situational factors on jury verdicts. In particular, we evaluated whether repeated jury service produced bias in jurors that was sufficient to affect jury decisions. A variety of case characteristics and indices of prior jury experience was examined for their relative impact on trial outcomes. Several of the case characteristics were related to verdicts, but the personal characteristics were not. Although more than half of the juries contained experienced jurors, juror experience had little influence on verdicts in either major or subsidiary analyses. However, there was a slight tendency for small juries with large proportions of experienced jurors to convict. This result is consistent with data from Kentucky; a meta-analysis across the two data sets indicates that it is a reliable finding. The results have implications for the determination of jury size. We suggest that future research examine the possibility that increasing jury size may reduce the influence of an individual's bias by providing a balance of other jurors with no or offsetting biases.     

Task performance and magnitude of goal valence

J. W. Brehm and his associates (J. W. Brehm, R. A. Wright, S. Solomon, L. Silka, & J. Greenberg, 1983, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 19, 21–48) recently argued that the magnitude of goal valence (the attractiveness or unattractiveness of a potential outcome) varies directly with motivational arousal level. Motivational arousal, in turn, is thought to be a function of the perceived difficulty of goal attainment. This formulation was tested in the present study by examining the relationship between goal attractiveness ratings and performance on an anagram task. According to the Yerkes-Dodson law (R. M. Yerkes & J. D. Dodson, 1908, Journal of Comparative Neurological Psychology, 18, 459–482), the relationship between motivational arousal and performance should be curvilinear; optimal performance is usually observed for moderate levels of motivation relative to either low or very high motivation levels. Consistent with the Brehm et al. hypothesis, optimum performance in the present study was observed for subjects who reported moderate levels of goal attractiveness relative to subjects who reported either low or high levels of goal attractiveness. Anticipatory ratings of the difficulty of the anagrams were also congruent with the Brehm et al. model. These findings converge with data from other studies supporting the utility of goal attractiveness as an index of motivational arousal and provide an additional dimension of support for the model proposed by Brehm et al.     

Family and psychosocial predictors of obsessive compulsive disorder in a community sample of young adolescents

A two-stage epidemiologic study conducted between 1986 and 1988 in the southeastern United States investigated family and psychosocial predictors of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and subclinical OCD in young adolescents. In the first stage, a life-event schedule and a family adaptability and cohesion scale were administered to a community sample of 3,283 adolescents. In stage two, the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia in School Age Children and the Children's Global Assessment Scale were administered to 488 mother-child pairs. In multivariable models family cohesion was the only significant correlate of OCD (odds ratio=0.95, 95% confidence interval 0.91–0.98). Gender, race, age, socioeconomic status, guardian status, adaptability, undesirable life events and desirable life events were not found to be significant predictors of OCD in models adjusting for cohesion. Note of the above variables were significantly associated with subclinical OCD. However, separate analyses of the 41 individual life events indicated seven specific events were significantly associated with OCD or subclinical OCD. These findings are at odds with the theory that overinvolvement of family members is a risk factor for OCD, though an association with overly rigid family structure cannot be eliminated based on these data. Further exploration of family characteristics is warranted.