Statistical simulation on microcomputers

The statistical simulation program DATASIM is designed to conduct large-scale sampling experiments on microcomputers. Monte Carlo procedures are used to investigate the Type I and Type II error rates for statistical tests when one or more assumptions are systematically violated-assumptions, for example, regarding normality, homogeneity of variance or covariance, mini-mum expected cell frequencies, and the like. In the present paper, we report several initial tests of the data-generating algorithms employed by DATASIM. The results indicate that the uniform and standard normal deviate generators perform satisfactorily. Furthermore, Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests show that the sampling distributions ofz, t, F, χ², andr generated by DATASIM simulations follow the appropriate theoretical distributions. Finally, estimates of Type I error rates obtained by DATASIM under various patterns of violations of assumptions are in close agreement with the results of previous analytical and empirical studies; These converging lines of evidence suggest that DATASIM may well prove to be a reliable and productive tool for conducting statistical simulation research.     

Standards for Organizational Consultation Assessment and Evaluation Instruments

Although consultation researchers and practitioners have called attention to the need for more psychometrically sound instruments, little advancement has occurred in this area. The authors outline key quantitative and qualitative psychometric standards for organizational consultation assessment and evaluation instruments. In addition, a framework and review of several existing questionnaires are presented. Implications for instrument use by practitioners and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

Quality care in residential placement for children and youth with developmental disabilities

There is a growing concern for quality care in residential placements outside of the natural family for children and youth with developmental disabilities. Ideally, children with developmental disabilities should remain with their natural parent or parents of parents with appropriate supports until the age when children typically leave home. In reality, parents of children and youth with development disabilities are not always able or willing to care for their children at home, and alternate residential placements must be found. This paper will discuss some of the issues surrounding the provision of quality care in out-of-home residential placements for children and youth with developmental disabilities.     

Perceptual organization of auditory temporal patterns in European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris)

The perception of continuously repeating auditory patterns by European starlings was explored in seven experiments. In Experiment 1, 4 starlings learned to discriminate between two continuously repeating, eight-element, auditory patterns. Each eight-element pattern was constructed from different temporal organizations of two elements differing in timbre. In Experiments 2–7, the repeating patterns were transformed in ways designed to identify the starlings’ perceptual organization of the patterns. In Experiment 2, the starlings identified patterns beginning with novel starting points. In Experiment 3, discrimination performance was adversely affected by reorganizing the elements in the patterns. In Experiments 4 and 5, the pattern elements were altered. In Experiment 4, the patterns were constructed from two novel elements. In Experiment 5, the temporal location of the two pattern elements was reversed. The transformations of the patterns in Experiments 4 and 5 affected discrimination performance for some, but not all, of the starlings. In Experiments 6 and 7, replacing either of the two elements with silent intervals had no effect on discrimination performance. The results of these experiments identify basic grouping principles that starlings use when they perceive auditory patterns.     

The prediction of adjustment at age 7 from activity level at age 5

One-hundred and ninety-two children (equally split between boys and girls) were studied when they were 5 years old in two settings, school and home. The children were observed in playgroups and at home, and were rated on activity level by their parents on the Rothbart Child Behavior Questionnaire. At age 7, the children were tested in our laboratory on the Harter Test of Perceived Competence and on an achievement task, and parents filled out the Child Behavior Checklist, the Child Behavior Questionnaire, and the Conners Parent Rating Scale. Home observations of activity level were significantly related to parent ratings of activity level, but not to school observations. Activity level at age 5 was related to parents' ratings of aggression and hyperactivity and to girls' learning problems at age 7. Activity level was not related to the children's self-perceived competence, but mothers' rating of high activity level at age 5 was related to low reading comprehension at age 7.Preparation of this paper was supported in part by the Center for Research for Mothers and Children, NICHD, U.S. PHS grant HD 19739 to Beverly I. Fagot.     

Dick and jane in 1989

This study is a replication of the 1972 study Dick and Jane as Victims done by Women on Words and Images. The original study examined 134 children's readers, and found sex stereotyping in both number of times males and females appeared, and the activities in which they were shown. The replication is a content analysis of 62 children's readers in use in 1989 to determine if males and females were still shown in sex-stereotyped roles. It was found that although there are still differences in the rate of portrayal for males and females, and in the variety of roles assigned to each, the differences are not as pronounced as they were in 1972.     

African American women's sexual satisfaction as a dimension of their sex roles

African American women's sexual satisfaction in heterosexual relationships was examined as a dimension of their sex roles. Responses to questions about sexual behaviors and interactions they preferred in primary relationships were selected from a larger study of a stratified random sample of 126 African American women. Three factors were identified: sexual responsiveness, sexual expression, and sexual interest and enthusiasm. The factors are described as profiles that may enhance or limit women's male-female sexual relationships. The implications of African American women's sexual satisfaction as an important dimension to understand in today's AIDS related sexual climate is discussed within a socio-cultural context.A modified version of this paper was presented at the American Anthropological Association, November 1987, Chicago, Illinois. The research was funded by The Center for Prevention and Control of Rape, NIMH Grant, R01 MH33603 and through a Research Scientist Career Development Award to the first author, K01 MH00269.     

Adult Attachment Styles, the Desire to Have Children, and Working Models of Parenthood

ABSTRACT College students who had yet to marry and begin a family were asked about their desire to have children and their beliefs and expectations about themselves as parents (Study 1) and the characteristics of their prospective children (Study 2). Persons with more avoidant and anxious-ambivalent models of close adult relationships harbored more negative models of parent-hood and parent-child relationships. These findings indicate that working models of parenting and parent-child relationships form well before marriage and the birth of children and that these models are systematically associated with attachment styles in adult relationships. The findings also suggest ways in which insecure attachments between child and parent may be influenced by the caregiver's models of parenting and parent-child relationships.