Non-equivalence of WPPSI, WPPSI-R, and WISC-R scores

The WPPSI-R, WISC-R, and WPPSI were administered in a counterbalanced design to 72 children, between the ages of 5 years, 11 months and 6 years, 8 months, in order to determine their equivalence by testing the equality of means, variances, and covariances based on scaled scores and IQs. The results indicated that the three scales were not equivalent with respect to any of the IQs because they did not meet one or more of the criteria. The relative magnitudes of the mean IQs on the three scales were in accord with the predicted order: highest IQs on WPPSI, next highest on WISC-R, and the lowest on WPPSI-R. Results were discussed in the context of the secular inflation in IQs and the corresponding compensatory deflation built into the normative data of the new versions.     

Gender role orientation,ethical and interpersonal conflicts,and conflict handling styles of female managers

This study examines the influences of socialization and structural variables on relations among gender role orientations, interpersonal and ethical conflicts, and conflict handling styles. The data were collected from 134 female federal and provincial government supervisors and managers (Mage 40.1). Results of multivariate analyses of variance indicated that managers with high-instrumental traits are likely to indicate that they would use a dominating conflict handling style, and androgynous managers (high-expressive and high-instrumental traits) are more likely to indicate that they would use an integrating style. Managers did not report that they would use different conflict handling styles for ethical and interpersonal conflicts. Moreover, nonsignificant interaction effects indicated that the nature of the conflict did not moderate the gender role orientation and conflict handling style relationship.

     

Effect of a terminal constraint on control of balance during sit-to-stand

The speed at which sit-to-stand (STS) motions are performed and the subsequent terminal constraint upon upright stance can present subjects with contradictory goals. Previous findings suggested that subjects might adopt a strategy of limiting the peak horizontal momentum of the center of mass (CM), and perhaps of body segments as well, regardless of the speed of ascent. The primary purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the limitation in CM momentum is related to the constraint on upright stance at the termination of the task. The secondary purpose was to describe the contribution of the shank, thigh, and upper body (head-arm-trunk) to the peak horizontal momentum of the CM under each test condition. Nine healthy adult males rose from a seated position under the following three conditions: (a) at natural speeds (natural STS); (b) as fast as possible (fast STS); and (c) as fast as possible, followed by falling forward while keeping the feet fixed and using the arms on a support bar to stop the fall (fast STS+fall). The results showed that the peak horizontal momentum of the CM did not change substantially from the natural to fast STS, but increased significantly from the fast STS to the fast STS+fall. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that limiting peak horizontal momentum of the CM may reflect a movement control strategy related to maintaining equilibrium at the termination of the voluntary task of rising from a chair. The momentum profile of the upper body, but not of the thigh or shank, remained constant across all experimental conditions, suggesting that the motion of the upper body may be tightly controlled in STS, regardless of the altered constraint on balance.     

Education and testing strategy for large-scale cystic fibrosis carrier screening

Population-based screening for cystic fibrosis carrier mutations presents a number of challenges for genetic counselors, owing primarily to the inability of current DNA testing technology to identify all possible mutations and the difficulty involved in conveying the concept of residual risk to those patients who test negative. To address these issues, we are conducting a pilot study, as part of a consortium established by the National Center for Human Genome Research, to explore the efficacy, acceptance, and psychosocial impact of various approaches to carrier screening in an ethnically diverse Southern California population. This article reports the patient instructional and screening strategies we developed in the initial phase of the project in order to optimize our chances of answering these questions and delivering this service on a large scale.     

Measuring behavioral, biosocial, and attitudinal correlates of fertility regulation

A theoretical base consisting of 17 hypotheses was constructed to identify attitudinal, behavioral, and biosocial characteristics of families successful in fertility control. A multiple-choice instrument entitled Rating of Self Status International (ROSSI) was devised to measure attitudinal and behavioral characteristics postulated by the hypotheses. Factor analysis of ROSSI, based on the responses of 297 undergraduates (192 women and 105 men) at a Midwestern university, identified 12 factors that corresponded with one or more of the nondemographic constructs embodying the hypotheses. A quasi-experimental design was outlined that could be used to conduct a crucial test of both the theory and the instrument offered for measuring the theoretical constructs pertinent to fertility control and regulation.     

Attributional style and the generality of learned helplessness

According to the logic of the attribution reformulation of learned helplessness, the interaction of two factors influences whether helplessness experienced in one situation will transfer to a new situation. The model predicts that people who exhibit a style of attributing negative outcomes to global factors will show helplessness deficits in new situations that are either similar or dissimilar to the original situation in which they were helpless. In contrast, people who exhibit a style of attributing negative outcomes to only specific factors will show helplessness deficits in situations that are similar, but not dissimilar, to the original situation in which they were helpless. To test these predictions, we conducted two studies in which undergraduates with either a global or specific attributional style for negative outcomes were given one of three pretreatments in the typical helplessness triadic design: controllable bursts of noise, uncontrollable bursts of noise, or no noise. In Experiment 1, students were tested for helplessness deficits in a test situation similar to the pretreatment setting, whereas in Experiment 2, they were tested in a test situation dissimilar to the pretreatment setting. The findings were consistent with predictions of the reformulated helplessness theory.     

On the nature of the probe reaction-time task to uncover the attentional demands of movement

McLeod (1980) reported some findings which showed that no phase of a movement was more attention-demanding than the other phases, contrary to all the results previously reported (e.g., Ells, 1973; Glencross, 1980). However, McLeod used a paradigm in which the two tasks were serial. Each task consisted of a series of 50 reaction time (RT) trials and/or 50 aiming movement trials. In addition to this, the interval of time between a response and the following signal within each series was constant. In order to try to replicated McLeod's findings, two experiments were conducted in which the response-signal interval was manipulated. The hypothesis was that time certainty associated with a constant interval would facilitate the allocation of time and would thus artificially reduce the interference between tasks. In Experiment 1, manual responses were used for the RT task; in Experiment II, they were vocal. Manipulation of the response-signal interval does not change one of the conclusions reached by McLeod: when the RT task involves vocal responses and the results on the RT task are analyzed in terms of response rather than stimulus arrival during the movement, then there is no phase of the movement which is more attention-demanding than the other phases. However, the results of Experiment II in which both the vocal RT task and the movement task significantly deteriorated in the dual-task condition were taken as an indication that the movement studied involved central attentional demands.