Evaluation of A Single Presentation Format For Education About Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Disease1

This study explored the efficiency and effectiveness of a single presentation format for education about human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease. Pretraining and posttraining questionnaires assessing knowledge and risk assessment were given to police officers attending a two-hour seminar on HIV disease. A one-way ANOVA was used to compare posttraining scores of 42 officers who attended the seminar one year ago with the pretraining scores of 63 officers currently attending the seminar, some of whom had attended the seminar one year earlier. Significant differences were found on knowledge items (p < .05). Post hoc analysis revealed no significant decline in knowledge scores after one year, while pretraining knowledge scores for those who had attended the seminar before were significantly greater than for those who had not. No significant differences were found on risk assessment items, suggesting that beliefs about on the job risk have become part of the officers' common culture.     

The repressor personality and avoidant information processing: A dichotic listening study

The present research was designed to investigate the proposition that repressors, operationally defined by the conjunction of low anxiety and high defensiveness, are particularly adept at avoiding the processing of information when motivated to do so. Four groups of participants (nondefensive-low anxious, high anxious, repressors, and defensive-high anxious) were administered a dichotic listening task involving neutral or negative affective words presented in the unattended ear. Participants shadowed the material presented to the attended ear and simultaneously responded to a probe task presented on a video monitor. Results revealed that repressors made significantly fewer shadowing errors than high anxious and defensive-high anxious participants and marginally significantly fewer shadowing errors than low anxious participants for both neutral and negative words. High anxious participants, however, were later able to recognize the negative words that had been presented to the unattended ear at well above chance levels, whereas the recognition memory of repressors for such negative unattended words was at chance levels. In addition, repressors' responses to a postexperiment questionnaire indicated a significantly greater number of distracting thoughts during the experiment relative to other participants. Repressors, it seems, are indeed skillful at avoidant information processing and this capacity may well be related to the emotional memory deficits they have displayed in previous research.     

Assertive community treatment for frequent users of psychiatric hospitals in a large city: A controlled study

Evaluated a large-city adaptation of the assertive community treatment (ACT) model (Stein & Test, 1980). Outcomes were examined after 1 year for 82 clients, averaging over 17 lifetime psychiatric hospitalizations, randomly assigned either to ACT or to a drop-in (DI) center. After 1 year, 76% of the ACT clients and only 7% of DI clients were involved in the respective programs. The ACT team averaged 2 home and community visits per week to each client. ACT clients averaged significantly fewer state hospital admissions and state hospital days than did DI clients. ACT clients reported greater satisfaction with program services, fewer contacts with the police, and less difficulty with practical problems associated with psychiatric readmission. More ACT clients were known to have stable community housing. Annual per-client treatment costs for ACT were estimated to be $1,500 less than for DI.     

Units of analysis and item statistics for environmental assessment scales

Choice of units of analysis is a critical problem in evaluating environmental assessment items. The “Ecological Fallacy” involves interpreting results based on ecological entities, such as environmental settings, as applying to individuals. A less familiar error, the “Individual Differences Fallacy,” involves interpreting results based on individuals as applying to settings. Although this second error has been ubiquitous, little is known about the empirical consequences of using different units of analysis in item analysis. This study examined this issue when the units were (1) individuals, (2) observed settings, or (3) “artificial” or random settings. Neither item validities based on individuals nor item validities based on settings yielded unequivocal results. However, a measure developed specifically for environmental research, the Split-Sample Correlation, appeared useful for identifying environmental items. Researchers constructing environmental assessment scales should select items with both high Split-Sample Correlations and high setting-level item validities.     

Solutions to some problems in the implementation of conjoint analysis

Methodological problems encountered in implementing conjoint analysis include (1) the impractically large set of multiattribute choice alternatives created by the factorial combination of more than a few attributes, (2) the hypothetical nature of the alternatives in the choice set, and (3) the assumption that each individual’s preferences can be described by the same composition rule. The techniques of tailoring, belief matching, and axiom testing are suggested as solutions to these problems, and their use is demonstrated in a conjoint analysis study of individuals’ contraceptive preferences. It is noted that tailoring and belief matching can also be used as methodological enhancements in functional measurement studies.     

Intelligibility and comprehension of time compressed sign language narratives

A method of time compressing visual displays was devised to assess the effects of compression on the comprehension of American sign language (ASL). Two ASL narratives were visually presented to three groups of deaf ASL users. A compression group was presented narratives compressed to 50% of the duration of the normal rates. A no-compression group was presented narratives signed at normal rates. A pause group was presented compressed narratives with blank pauses inserted so that the total time per narrative was equal to that of the no-compression versions. Following each narrative, subjects completed a written comprehension task. Comprehension in both compression and pause groups was significantly lower than in the no-compression group. Pauses did not significantly affect scores relative to compression. An additional group of deaf ASL users was presented an intelligibility task in which signs taken from the narratives were presented in isolation either with or without compression. The total number of signs correctly identified was significantly lower with compression. Decrements in comprehension were best explained as the result of cumulative decrements in sign intelligibility and not as the result of decrements in available processing time.     

The effects of a laughing versus a nonlaughing model on humor responses in preschool children

Three groups of preschool children, 2–4 years old, were observed individually as they listened to a humorous tape recording either alone (Group 1), or after they had observed a nonlaughing (Group 2) or laughing peer model (Group 3) listen to the tape and then leave. There was a significant difference between the laughing model group and the nonlaughing model group in time spent smiling as well as significant differences in time spent laughing among the no model group, the nonlaughing model group, and the laughing model group. It was concluded that imitation learning plays a role in determining whether or not children will laugh or smile in a humorous situation.     

A theory of careers encounters sex: Reply to Holland (1976)

This paper is the third in a series beginning with a report (by the authors) of research on the application of Holland's theory of careers to women and men. Holland's response, “The Virtues of the SDS …” is considered, in particular, research he cites on the effect of the Self-Directed Search (SDS) on counselees and his advocacy of raw score reports of personality patterns. The widely divergent career options suggested to men and women by SDS raw scores are noted and misunderstandings concerning the implications of Holland's assessment procedures for his theory are discussed. Holland's defense of raw score reports of personality characteristics is found wanting, especially in light of the support provided for his theory by normed scores.