Motor perseverative behavior in adult stutterers and nonstutterers

The performances of 22 adult stutterers and 22 adult nonstutterers on motor tasks requiring the graphic reproduction of a sequence of alternating figures following the production of a series of nonalternating figures were studied. The finding that there were no differences in the performance of the two groups on the alternating motor tasks was interpreted as challenging the validity of previous observations that motor perseverative behavior exists in stutterers and is indicative of a central neurological deficit in that population.     

Behavior modification with culturally deprived school children: two case studies

Techniques of behavior modification were employed with two second-grade Negro girls in a demonstration school for culturally deprived children to increase the girls' appropriate classroom behaviors. A classification system that provided for continuous categorization of behavior was used to code the children's behavior in two classroom situations. Data were also taken on the type, duration, and frequency of the teachers' verbal interactions. The study included four conditions: Baseline, Modification I, Postmodification, and Modification II. The treatment variable was positive social reinforcement-attention and approval contingent upon desirable classroom behaviors-which was presented, withheld, or withdrawn (timeout from social reinforcement). Withholding of social reinforcement was contingent upon inappropriate attention-getting behaviors. Timeout from social reinforcement was contingent upon behaviors classified as aggressive and resistive. After 25 days of Modification I, desirable behavior increased markedly for each girl. The teachers were then asked to return to their Baseline level of performance. The resultant behaviors demonstrated that for one girl, behavior was still primarily under the control of the treatment contingencies. For the second child, many desirable behaviors that had increased in frequency during Modification I remained high, but inappropriate behaviors increased. When treatment was reinstated, the amount of time spent in desirable behaviors increased and remained high for both girls. Three checks during the three months following data collection showed that these behaviors continued to remain high.     

Sex Bias in Educational Software: The Effect of Designers' Stereotypes on the Software They Design1

Why is the computer more alluring to boys than it is to girls? One answer to this question is drawn from a social psychological model of human interaction. Social psychological research indicates that the expectations an individual has about another person can shape his or her interaction with that person. We hypothesized that, in a similar manner, the expectations software designers hold about the users of the software they design are central in determining the way the software they design interacts with the user. In order to test this notion, we had 43 educators with programming experience design software for either boys, girls, or students, and found that programs for girls were classifiable as “learning tools,” whereas programs for both boys and students were most like “games.” These differences occur as a function of the designers' expectations of the characteristics of potential users of the program and result in sex stereotyped software. We conclude that it is not the computer, or even the software, that is at the root of the sex bias in software, but the expectations and stereotypes of the designers of the software.     

Women in popular music: A quantitative analysis of feminine images over time

Popular song lyrics from the years 1946, 1956, 1966, and 1976, were content analyzed for feminine images. Eleven stereotyped female images were examined: woman as evil; emphasis on physical characteristics; woman's need for man; woman as a possession of man; woman as mother; woman as sex object; woman as delicate; woman as child; woman on a pedestal; woman as physically attractive; and woman as supernatural. Significant changes over time were found for 8 of the 11 images. Of the songs sampled from 1946–1976, 96% contained at least one of the female stereotypes examined in this investigation.     

Cognitive dissonance and psychotherapy: The role of effort justification in inducing weight loss

The role of effort justification in psychotherapy was examined. It was hypothesized that the effort involved in therapy, plus the conscious decision to undergo that effort, leads to positive therapeutic changes through the reduction of cognitive dissonance. An experiment was conducted in which overweight subjects attempted to lose weight through one of two forms of “effort therapy”. These therapies were bogus in that they were based solely on the expenditure of effort on a series of cognitive tasks that were unrelated to any existing techniques or theory addressing weight loss. One of the therapies called for a high degree of effort while the degree of effort in the second therapy was low. A no-treatment control group was also included. It was predicted that greater weight loss would occur for high-effort than low-effort or control subjects, and that this weight loss would be maintained or increased over time. Results supported these predictions. Over an initial 3-week period, high-effort subjects lost slightly more weight than low-effort subjects or controls. A 6-month follow-up revealed that the effects of effort on weight loss had increased and were highly significant. Reliable differences remained even 1 year after the initial experimental sessions. Possible mechanisms mediating the dissonance effect were discussed, as were several alternative explanations.     

A Comparative Study of Perceived Job Stressor Sources and Job Strain in American and Iranian Managers

Des échantillons de chefs d'entreprise aux USA et en Iran ont été comparés quant aux pressions au travail (contrainte, orientation du rôle du responsable/tâche, travail/maison et le support à ne pas travailler), cinq agents tenseurs (la dissatisfaction au travail, la tension mentale, la tension physique, l'intention de quitter le travail et l'absentéisme) et le sentiment de contrôle (LOC) au travail. Comme attendu, les chefs d'entreprise iraniens étaient davantage externes et davantage sous pression sur les cinq types d'agents stressants. Les américains ont montré de plus fortes corrélations entre les agents stressants. Les relations entre pression et tension au travail étaient similaires dans chacun des échantillons et dans les deux échantillons le LOC interne était associéà un niveau de stress plus bas. Bien que la statut marital n'ait pas été associé au stress au travail et aux agents stressant chez les américains, de fortes relations existent chez les iraniens.
Samples of Iranian and US managers were compared on four sources of job pressure (constraints, managerial role/tasks, home/work, and nonwork support), five strains (job dissatisfaction, mental strain, physical strain, intention of quitting the job, and absence), and work locus of control. As expected Iranian managers were more external and were higher on pressure and on all five job strains. Americans showed higher intercorrelations among strains except for absence, whereas Iranians had higher correlations among sources of pressure. Relations between pressure and job strains were similar across both samples, and in both samples internal locus of control was associated with lower strain. Although marital status was not associated with job stressors and strains among Americans, it showed strong relations among Iranians.