Dating age and stage as correlates of adolescent sexual attitudes and behavior

Dating experiences, especially the type or stage of dating, have consistently been found to be related to premarital sexual behavior. Findings regarding the age at 1st date and sexual behavior have been less consistent. This paper examined the age at which dating began and the type of dating relationship as correlates of premarital sexual attitudes and behavior among mid-teen adolescents. The analyses were based on a sample of high school students (n=836), most of whom were between the ages of 15 and 18 when the surveys were conducted. Early dating, especially early steady dating, was related to permissive attitudes and to premarital sexual experience among both males and females. The relationship between early dating and intercourse experience was particulary strong among Mormons, a religious group which has institutionalized age 16 as the legitimate age to begin dating.     

Social adjustment in the offspring of parents with bipolar affective disorder

The social adjustment of the adolescent offspring of parents with bipolar affective disorder (n=41) was compared to that of the offspring of parents with nonaffective psychiatric disorders (n=22) and the offspring of normal controls (n=26). In addition, the relationship between social adjustment and cyclothymia in offspring was determined. Social adjustment was assessed using the Life Activities Inventory, a new measure developed to assess social functioning in adolescents and young adults. Cyclothymia was assessed with the General Behavior Inventory. As a group, the offspring of bipolar parents did not differ significantly from either control group on social adjustment. However, the cyclothymic offspring of bipolar parents exhibited significantly poorer social adjustment than the noncyclothymic offspring of bipolars and the offspring of psychiatric and normal controls. These findings suggest that poor social functioning in the adolescent offspring of parents with bipolar illness may be associated with the early manifestations of affective disorder. In addition, these data indicate that despite its subsyndromal intensity, cyclothymia can result in significant social impairment.This study was supported in part by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Research Grant MH-39782 to Daniel N. Klein and NIMH Grants MH-33083 and MH-37195 to Richard A. Depue.     

Social and solipsistic observer training: Effects on agreement with a criterion

The need to train accurate, not necessarily agreeing, observers is discussed. Intraobserver consistency as an intermediate criterion in such training is proposed and contrasted with the more familiar criterion of interobserver agreement. Videotaped observations of social interactions between handicapped and nonhandicapped preschoolers provided the medium for examining the criterion agreement of four observers trained against each type of standard. Observers generally failed to show high levels of criterion agreement whether trained to a within- or to a between-observer agreement standard. The results varied somewhat with the frequency of behaviors, however. Correlations between interobserver agreement and intraobserver consistency were variable but somewhat higher when interobserver agreement was the training criterion than when intraobserver consistency was the criterion. Correlations between interobserver agreement and criterion agreement ranged from — .16 to .89 during interobserver agreement training. Correlations between intraobserver consistency and criterion agreement ranged from — .23 to .99 during intraobserver consistency training.     

Fertility of mating in rats (Rattus norvegicus): contributions of androgen-dependent morphology and actions of the penis

Three experiments with rats (Rattus norvegicus) were conducted to examine the roles of the male's penile spines and penile cups (flaring of the distal glans) in the induction of luteal activity in the female, and in the removal of copulatory plugs from the vaginal tract. The results of Experiment 1 revealed no role for the cup in luteal induction but did suggest that elements of the ejaculatory reflex apart from cup formation contribute to the elicitation of this neuroendocrine response. The origin of this stimulatory effect was not directly determined, but indirect evidence suggested a role for penile spines. In Experiments 2 and 3, features of the glans penis that might help effect plug removal were investigated, and the experiments demonstrated that penile spines, perhaps in conjunction with penile cups, contribute to the extraction of plugs from the vagina.     

Comparative studies of squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) and titi monkeys (Callicebus moloch): performance on choice tasks in near space

Squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) and titi monkeys (Callicebus moloch) were studied in tasks involving reaching for food in near space (arm's reach). Although performance by monkeys of the two species differed in several ways familiar from previous studies, the species did not differ in the tendency to adopt a habitual position or limb during reaching. The findings contrast with previous work on spatial preferences in these species in tasks involving movement of the whole body. Together with the results of previous studies on movement patterns in these two species, the findings are placed in a comparative psychological framework of the proximate sources of use of space in nature.     

Spontaneous alternation behavior in animals: A review

Factors affecting spontaneous alternation behavior (SAB) in animals, for example, age, gender and species studied; type of apparatus and cues employed; and neuro-anatomical, neuro-chemical and motivational status of the organism, were reviewed. Despite a myriad of experiments showing interesting main effects of such variables, little research has been performed assessing the interactive affects of these factors on alternation behavior. For example, psychologists test rats in central nervous system (CNS) lesion studies, whereas psychopharmacologists tend to assess SAB in mice. Most importantly, studies have not been reported investigating the possible interactions among species, brain lesions and drugs. This is an unfortunate omission since several important alternation models include propositions relating to cholinergic and/or serotonergic coding in the hippocampus. Examination of behavioral studies revealed the primary cue for alternation among invertebrates to be body turn, whereas vertebrates rely primarily on directional and odor cues. Reference to the seeking of stimulus change remains the most compelling motivational account of why animals manifest this ubiquitious and reliable behavior pattern. This review and the unpublished studies were supported by Research Grants MH16962, MH21288, and MH36491 from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Wake Forest University Research and Publication Fund.     

The process of scapegoating in a neonatal nurses' group

This paper reviews the literature on scapegoating, elaborating on the underlying mechanisms before describing the process of scapegoating as it occurred in a neonatal nurse support group. Illustrative vignettes are used to discuss how scapegoating was used by group members to avoid painful feelings arising from their care of extremely ill infants. Group process is related to the stages of the group's development as feelings were addressed more directly and the need to use scapegoating as a defense decreased.     

Leaders' behavior and group members' interpersonal gains

Early and late in 18 2-day solo-led psychodynamic groups for mental health professionals, 185 participants rated their own behavior and each other's on composite measures of Acceptance versus Rejection of Self (ARS) and of Others (ARO). Only on ARO were leaders consistently rated more favorably than members. Considered by group units, members' mean ratings of peers made modest but significant early-to-late advances on both measures. About two-thirds of all intergroup differences in members' net shifts were separately predictable from ratings of leaders by self and also by pooled group members each time. Groups' ARO shifts were best predicted by members' ratings of leaders toward Warm versus Cold. Leader self-ratings toward Accepts others versus Rejects others best predicted groups' ARS shifts. Featuring interpersonal behavior's two principal dimensions and bridging the common split between studies of group outcome versus group processes, these findings generally support Roger's (1959) theory of personality change.