FIXED-INTERVAL PERFORMANCE AND SELF-CONTROL IN INFANTS

Twenty-six infants, 3 to 23 months old, were trained on fixed-interval schedules ranging from 10 s to 80 s. The operant response was touching an illuminated location on a touch-sensitive screen, and 20 s of cartoon presentation was the reinforcer. The subjects were also trained in a six-phase self-control procedure in which the critical phases involved choice between 20 s of cartoon available after a 0.5-s delay (impulsive choice) and 40 s of cartoon delayed for 40 s (self-controlled choice). All the youngest children (3 to 5 months) showed long postreinforcement pauses on the fixed-interval schedule, with most intervals involving the emission of a single, reinforced, response, and all made self-controlled choices. Older subjects (9 to 23 months) either produced the same pattern as the younger ones on the fixed-interval schedule (classified as pause-sensitive subjects) or produced short pauses and higher steady response rates (classified as pause-insensitive subjects). All pause-sensitive subjects made self-controlled choices in the self-control condition, and all pause-insensitive subjects made impulsive ones.     

The gender role journey measure: Scale development and psychometric evaluation

The Gender Role Journey concept was developed to help women and men explore their gender role changes and transitions. A 34-item Gender Role Journey Measure (GRJM) was conceptualized and developed through empirical methods. The construct validity of the five phases of the gender role journey is assessed. The GRJM and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ) were given to a sample of women and men (N=878). The sample was predominantly Caucasian from a mixed ethnic background. Principle factor analysis indicated three meaningful factors: Acceptance of Traditional Gender Roles; Gender Role Ambivalence, Confusion, Anger, and Fear; and Personal-Professional Activism. Moderately high test-retest and internal consistency reliabilities were found for each of the factors. Gender differences and gender by PAQ interactions were found for all three of the factors of the GRJM. Implications for future research, teaching, and workshops are suggested.This article was presented at the 99th convention of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, California, August 1991. It was supported by a grant from the Research Foundation of the University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut.     

Differences in extracurricular activity participation, achievement, and attitudes toward school between ninth-grade students attending junior high school and those attending senior high school

The purpose of this study was to determine the type of school organization that most benefited ninth-grade students. Results indicated that ninth graders in the junior high school setting participated significantly more in extracurricular activities and achieved significantly higher academically than did ninth graders in the senior high school setting.     

Peer-group association and adolescent tobacco use

Mosbach & Leventhal (1988) examined the relation of cigarette smoking to peer-group identification in rural Wisconsin adolescents. They found that among dirts (problem-prone youth), regulars (average youth), hot-shots (good social or academic performers), and jocks (athletes), youth most likely to smoke were dirts and hot-shots. We performed a replication with a Southern California cohort and also for use of smokeless tobacco. We hypothesized that jocks would be the main users of smokeless tobacco. We identified the same groups and an additional one, skaters (skateboarders or surfers). As Mosbach & Leventhal found, cigarettes were used most by dirts. Contrary to their results, but consistent with other research, we found that hot-shots were least likely to smoke. Contrary to our prediction, we found that skaters and dirts were more likely to use smokeless tobacco than were jocks. Our data show that both tobacco forms are used by problem-prone youth.     

Second-Guessing the Jury: Stereotypic and Hindsight Biases in Perceptions of Court Cases1

This research examined the effects of stereotypic beliefs and hindsight biases on perceptions of court cases. Subjects read evidentiary material pertaining to a criminal trial in which the defendant either was a stereotyped offender or was not. Additionally, some subjects were given outcome information about the verdict attained in the trial; half of these subjects were told that the defendant had been found guilty, and the other half were told that he had been found not guilty. The remainder were not given any outcome information. Subjects were than asked to predict the likely outcome of a trial based on the presented evidence. Typical hindsight bias effects were expected and obtained for nonstereotyped offenders; subjects considering these cases viewed the evidence as less incriminating when they were told the defendant had been found not guilty, and they found it to be more incriminating when they were told the defendant had been found guilty, when compared to the no-outcome-information group. However, no hindsight biases were evident in judgments of cases involving stereotyped defendants, who were seen as relatively more likely to be guilty regardless of the nature of outcome information presented. Particularly striking was the lack of impact of the “not guilty” outcome information on perceptions of the guilt of stereotyped defendants. These findings suggest that strong expectations held in foresight may not be amenable to modification in hindsight.     

Temporal learning in 4 1/2- and 6-year-old children: role of instructions and prior knowledge

The present study investigates effects of different types of instructions (high-rate, interval, and minimal) during training with a fixed-interval schedule as a function of prior acquired temporal knowledge. A pretest was used to assess 4 1/2- and 6-year-old children's ability to understand the temporal parameters of a fixed-interval schedule of reinforcement. The results as a whole show that the control exerted by instructions given by the experimenter or elaborated by the subjects themselves on fixed-interval performance of young children depends on the interaction of two factors: development of verbal self-control skills and mastery of knowledge required by the rules forming the instructions.     

Maternal depressed mood and perceptions of child temperament

Research has suggested that women who experience postpartum depression are subsequently more likely to perceive their preschool-aged children as temperamentally difficult and maladjusted. However, previous studies have not controlled for the effects of concurrent depression levels on maternal ratings of child temperament or evaluated the accuracy of maternal reports. In the present study we assessed maternal and paternal ratings of child temperament 2 years after subjects had participated in a study of postpartum depression. The findings indicate that correlations between postpartum depression and subsequent child temperament ratings were accounted for statistically by concurrent levels of depression. Although fathers' ratings corroborated some aspects of maternal perceptions, levels of parental agreement were only moderately high. Moreover, discrepancies between the parents' reports were significantly associated with maternal depression, indicating that parental disagreement is more likely when the wife is dysphoric.     

Contingent reinforcement effects on movement responses of prison inmates to the Holtzman Inkblot Technique

Prison inmates were administered the Holtzman Inkblot Technique (HIT) under conditions of either verbal or nonverbal reinforcement of movement responses. Overall, there were no differences among the verbal, nonverbal, and control groups. Inmates charged with violent crimes were found to give the fewest movement responses. With crime category controlled, more movement responses were given under nonverbal conditions. There were no sex differences for movement responses but testing time increased significantly when administered by the female examiner.     

A comparison of two multidimensional health locus of control instruments

This study examined the factor structure, internal consistency reliability, and construct validity of the multidimensional health locus of control (MHLC) instruments developed by K.A. Wallston, B.S. Wallston, and DeVellis (1978) and Lau (Lau, 1982; Lau & Ware, 1981). Both measures were administered to a sample of Veterans Administration (VA) medical outpatients (N = 181). Only minimal evidence of convergence was found between corresponding scales of the two MHLC instruments. Low convergent validity appears attributable to the poor internal consistency reliability of the Lau-Ware subscales. Moreover, results of factor analysis largely supported the a priori factor structure of the K.A. Wallston et al. (1978) MHLC instrument but failed to support the factor structure of the Lau-Ware instrument. Health locus of control (HLC) dimensions that emerged from simultaneous factor analysis of both instruments were most consistent with a three-dimensional typology (i.e., Personal Control, Professional Control, and Chance) rather than the four-dimensional typology proposed by Lau (Lau, 1982; Lau & Ware, 1981). Implications for HLC conceptualization and measurement are discussed.