A computer-controlled administration of the matching familiar figures test

The Kagan Matching Familiar Figures Test of Impulsivity/Reflectivity was modified to allow computer control of stimulus presentation and data acquisition via IBM-compatible systems. The comparability of computer administration and traditional hand administration was examined in a split-half study with a sample of 58 students (ages, 18–39 years). Analyses of variance revealed no significant differences between the administration techniques for latency and a small but significant difference for accuracy. Correlations between the two administration techniques were .61 for latency and .40 for error scores. Internal consistency coefficients for computer administration exceeded those for hand administration on both latency and accuracy. These data compare favorably with results reported by others and suggest that computer administration offers a viable alternative to traditional hand administration of the MFFT in research applications.     

Mémoires exacte et inférentielle en arithmétique mentale

Dans cette recherche, nous cherchons à éprouver la pertinence de la distinction de deux mémoires qualifiées d'exacte et d'inférentielle. Dans les deux expériences, sur 140 élèves de Cours Moyen et 456 étudiants respectivement, les sujets prennent d'abord connaissance d'un matériel numérique: un problème arithmétique ou un calcul mental (e.g. 86 + 47 + 93 + 52). Ensuite, ils sont interrogés à la fois sur des données exactes contenues dans ce matériel et sur des données susceptibles d'en ětre inférées. La recherche ne confirme pas clairement une indépendance des deux types de mémoire. En revanche, elle apporte des évidences en faveur d'une moindre sensibilité à l'amorçage de la mémoire exacte. Elle suggère aussi que l'effet de distance peut, en calcul mental, ětre différencié suivant les opérations arithmétiques: les opérations additives y sont plus sensibles que les opérations multiplicatives.     

The relationship between religiosity and health-risk factors in geriatrics

Background: This study investigates the relationship between religion and alcohol use, sedentary life style, and tobacco use. A survey of 990 noninstitutionalized persons 62 years of age and older was completed. Five life-style questions, three religious questions, and patient demographic information were studied. Results and conclusions were clear. Persons who are married, above the poverty level, non-white, and male are more likely to use alcohol. Subjects with sedentary life styles are more likely to be older, single, non-white, and female. Smokers are more likely to be below the poverty line and non-white. Finally, the relationship between religion and health risks seems minimal, possibly because of a selection bias.     

RELATIVISM AND ANTI-REALISM

I characterise a relativist account of truth as one according to which the truth value of a sentence can vary without its meaning changing. Relativism is to be contrasted with absolutism, which states that the truth values of sentences cannot change, so long as their meanings remain constant. I argue that absolutism follows from the realist account of meaning and truth conditions. According to realism, the meaning of a sentence consists in objective truth conditions and sentences are true if and only if certain objective conditions obtain. Relativism is a consequence of anti-realism. Anti-realists believe that the meanings of sentences consist in recognisable conditions and that sentences are true if and only if certain recognisable conditions obtain. I contrast the sorts of relativism which results from partial, empiricism-based anti-realisms, and global anti-realism, which is linked to a coherence theory of knowledge. I offer a few remarks on how global anti-realists can restrict the scope of their relativism.     

Interpersonal determinants of attitude change following counterattitudinal behavior

In a test of predictions derived from an identity-analytic model of self-presentational behavior, individuals who privately endorsed positive or negative attitudes about sexual behavior were asked to deliver a prosexuality speech while alone, while watched by observers, or while being watched by observers who questioned the morality of the subject’s actions. Subsequent attitude measures indicated that the subjects who initially adopted negative attitudes justified their behavior by expressing more favorable attitudes about sexuality, but only when no audience witnessed their speech. When an audience was present, these individuals emphasized their lack of choice. In contrast, subjects who privately endorsed positive attitudes publicly expressed less favorable attitudes when their morality was challenged by the observers. These findings suggest that attitude change following counterattitudinal behavior (a) stems from private image-maintenance needs as well as public self-presentational concerns, and (b) is sometimes designed to secure an image of morality as well as an image of consistency.     

Efficacy of delayed auditory feedback for treating cluttering: Two case studies

Two clutterers were treated with similar preplanned delayed auditory feedback (DAF) procedures, using probe samples in which the DAF was not present to measure treatment efficacy. Whereas both clients met established fluency criteria during treatment, both clutterers had difficulty transferring gains to probe sessions—one more than the other. Differences in results of DAF treatment are discussed from the perspectives of differences in cluttering severity, coexisting disorders, and supplementary clinical techniques.     

A tabular summary of cluttering subjects in the special edition

Tables summarizing results of questionnaires, completed by authors, for each cluttering subject are presented. The first table summarizes symptoms and abnomalities manifested by the 29 clutterers. The second table summarizes the targets, procedures, and results of therapy for 15 of the clutterers for whom knowledge of therapy was available.     

Dimensions of Masculinity: Relations to Date Rape Supportive Attitudes and Sexual Aggression in Dating Situations

Sexual assault in general and date rape in particular are major issues for practitioners, educators, and researchers in counseling. This study sought to extend and refine existing research on the links between masculine gender roles and date rape by exploring 3 masculinity-related constructs that, until recently, have received relatively little attention in the context of rape research: masculinity ideology, attitudes toward feminism, and homophobia. In general, combinations of masculinity-related constructs were found to predict self-reported acceptance or perpetration of sexually coercive behaviors. Specifically, multiple regression analyses revealed that attitudes toward feminism and various, specific dimensions of masculinity ideology (vs. a global assessment, as in previous research) predicted unique variance in several types of date rape-supportive attitudes and beliefs: the Facade/Counterdependence dimension of masculinity ideology also predicted unique variance in self-reported history of sexual coercion. Implications for prevention, education, and future research are discussed.