Rater agreements in assigning stanford-binet items to Guilford's structure of intellect operations categories

Nineteen school psychologists assigned the 142 items in the Form L-M of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale to the five Operations categories of Guilford's Structure of Intellect model, following flow charts prepared for this purpose by Meeker (1965). On the average, one rater agreed with another on about half the items, and their modal assignments agreed with Meeker's (1969) assignments on only 81 (57%) of the items. These levels of agreement are judged not to be high enough to justify classifying Stanford-Binet items in accordance with the Structure of Intellect Operations categories.     

Effects of speech and language treatment on recovery from aphasia

Language recovery in aphasic patients who received one of three types of speech and language treatment was compared with that in aphasic patients who received no treatment. One hundred aphasic patients were followed from 2 to 4 weeks postonset for 1 year or until recovery, using a standardized test battery administered at systematic intervals. Both treatment methods provided by trained speech-language pathologists were efficacious, while the method provided by trained nonprofessionals approached statistical significance. Small group size prevented resolution of the question of whether one type of treatment was superior to another.     

The use of the large-scale integrated sensor (LSI) to estimate energy expenditure

The relationship between activity counts from the large-scale integrated sensor (LSI), placed at the hip and ankle, and heart rate-estimated energy expenditure was examined in three nonobese males during three conditions: normal morning activities, a 1-mi walk, and a 2-mi walk. Results showed that estimated caloric expenditure was related to activity counts for both monitoring placements, with correlations between counts and energy expenditure exceedingr=.90. These results show that energy expenditure in the activities sampled can be reliably estimated using activity monitors.This research was supported in part by a grant provided by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Network on the Psychobiology of Depression, Clinical Research Center Grant 5-30915 from the NIMH, and Grant HD 16411 from the NICHD awarded to Dr. Epstein.     

Effects of career orientation on retirement attitudes and retirement planning

The impact of career orientation and demographic variables on retirement attitudes, intended age of retirement, and retirement preparation is examined among a sample of university employees. Results indicate that occupational status is associated with unique patterns of career orientation as well as differences in anticipated age of retirement. Career orientation variables are observed to be stronger predictors than demographic characteristics of retirement attitudes, while the demographic factors are found to be more efficient in predicting retirement age and level of preparation. Use of career orientation variables in the retirement preparation process is discussed.     

STACKING THE DECK: TEACHING SOCIAL SKILLS TO RETARDED ADULTS WITH A MODIFIED TABLE GAME

This study developed and evaluated a social skills training program for institutionalized mildly or moderately retarded and dually diagnosed individuals. Social skills were conceptualized as requiring an action or reaction within six skill areas: compliments, social interactions, politeness, criticism, social confrontation, and questions/answers. The program taught social skills using a commercially available table game, Sorry, and a specially designed card deck. Each card represented one of the skill areas and was designed to train either an actor or reactor response. The program featured response specific feedback, self-monitoring, individualized reinforcers, and individualized performance criterion levels. A multiple baseline across two groups (N = 3 per group) revealed that the game contingencies increased social skills in all targeted areas. After training, the subjects displayed their newly learned skills at or above their trained levels in two different settings with novel persons present. Although untargeted, the complexity of the subjects' responses increased across conditions, since there was a steady increase in the number of words they used per response. The program appears to be a viable means of training social skills since it uses standardized training procedures, requires only one facilitator, and is in itself a social situation that may encourage interactions with peers, cooperation, competition, and politeness.     

The changing nature of diagnosis in an inpatient service over 20 years

This study examined factors related to mental illness in children and adolescents. A survey of all 362 files of child and adolescent patients discharged from a single residential treatment facility in 1961-1962, 1971-1972, and 1978 revealed several major diagnostic trends. The proportion of cases diagnosed as schizophrenic decreased by one-third, those diagnosed as neurotic increased over ten-fold, and significant increases occurred in the proportion of children diagnosed as autistic, personality disorder, and behavior disorder of childhood and adolescence. There was a decrease in cases between 6 and 12 years of age and a significant increase in 13- to 18-year-olds. The relative importance of symptoms appeared to be interpreted differently at various times. Significant changes were also found In treatment length, in medications used, and in a number of factors related to the characteristics of the family.     

Letters of Recommendation: What Information Captures HR Professionals' Attention?

HR professionals evaluated the credentials of job candidates based upon actual letters of recommendation (LORs). The LORs contained both relevant and irrelevant information about the job candidate. Policy capturing revealed that professionals differed in both their consistency in evaluating candidates and in the relative weights they gave various forms of information. Some sex differences in decision policies also were discovered. Results are discussed in terms of how to strengthen the LOR as a selection tool.     

Vocational identity and career choice congruence of gifted and talented high school students

This study examined the career development of gifted high school juniorss in terms of vocational identity and congruence. The My Vo;cational Situation (MVS)was used to measure the career development of gifted high school ljuniors. Gender differences in vocational identity were found. Students who hasd tentative career and college major choices were found to have a higher level of vocational identity than those who did not have tentative choices. Measures of career choice congruence and college major choice congruence were obtained by examining the agreement between the Holland interest code and the tentative career and college major choices of participants. Gender differences were found o;n college major choice congruence, but not on career choice congruence. Vocational identity was related to college major choice congruence, but not to career choice congruence. Implications for counselling gifted students and research were discussed.     

European American Students' Perceptions of Crimes Committed by Five Racial Groups1

Past research examined perceptions of crimes believed to be committed by African Americans (Sunnafrank & Fontes, 1983), Hispanics (Bodenhausen, 1990; Bodenhausen & Wyer, 1985), and European Americans. Research also indicated stereotypical crime commission results in higher culpability assignment for African Americans (Feild, 1979; Gordon, 1990, 1993; Gordon, Bindrim, McNicholas, & Walden, 1988) and Hispanics (Bodenhausen, 1988, 1990; Bodenhausen & Lightenstein, 1987). This study expanded earlier assessments of perceived crime stereotypicality by examining different crime categories and including additional male racial groups. The groups examined were European Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans. Results indicated perceptions of crime stereotypicality differed significantly between the groups, confirming earlier results and providing additional insight into consensual beliefs about crime commission. The identified stereotypical crimes will be useful in future research on biased culpability assignment.     

When Physical Disabilities Are Not Liabilities: The Role of Applicant and Interviewer Characteristics on Employment Interview Outcomes

An applied sample was randomly assigned to evaluate the credentials of a job candidate with or without a physical disability and whose interview responses varied in quality (positive vs. average vs. negative). In addition to making hiring decisions, participants completed a number of measures including the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (Crowne & Marlowe, 1964), the Interaction with Disabled Persons Scale (Gething, 1991), an interview comfort measure, and an EEOC knowledge quiz. Results consistently indicated that participants evaluated the job candidate with a disability more favorably than the job candidate without a disability. Data also indicated a relationship between participants' level of comfort when interacting with persons with disabilities and their interview evaluations of such individuals. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for diversity management.