The Effects of Switching on Denominational Subcultures

For many years, sociologists have examined the role of religious collectivities in shaping individual attitudes and behaviors. This research has assumed that religious groups are the "locus of subcultural differences" in social attitudes. However, scholars have not addressed how denominational mobility or switching affects denominational subcultures. Our research uses data from the General Social Surveys to examine the consequences of switching on denominational subcultures. Our analysis investigates denominational differences in central tendencies and differences in homogeneity for "switchers" and those who remain affiliated with the same religious group over the life course. Further, comparisons of both types of religious group differences are adjusted to account for sociodemographic characteristics. Several promising directions for future research on religious variations in social values and attitudes are discussed.     

The relationship between temperament and personality: An exploratory study

Although the terms temperament and personality are often used interchangeably in the literature and clearly are conceptually related, there is little empirical data to illuminate their relationship. In this exploratory study we measured temperament (using the Dimensions of Temperament Survey), and personality (using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire), in young adolescents and in adults. Some age and sex differences in relationships between the measures and their correlations were found. The temperament dimension of adaptability was clearly related to Eysenck's Extraversion factor and reactivity to Neuroticism in females. More substantial relationships emerged in the adult sample than in the adolescent group, Our data, combined with that of a 1984 Australian study using different techniques, provides substantial support for measurable overlap between some dimensions of temperament derived largely from the developmental literature, and Eysenck's personality theory.     

Individual needs and charismatic promises

Using psychoanalytic theory, the author explains how a woman came to devote herself to a man's group that conceived of itself as the New Kingdom of God. He refers to notes from counseling sessions with the woman, Jane, and to excerpts from the book,T, which is an autobiography of the group's leader, Thomas. The author compares their ego profiles as measured on ego assessment scales and argues that this allows us to see how Thomas gained his charismatic status.     

Behavioral contrast in chained schedules

In each of two experiments, the rate of key pecking maintained by a variable-interval food reinforcement schedule was measured, first when that schedule was studied in isolation, and then when it was correlated with the second component of a two-component chained schedule. In the first experiment, the first component of the chained schedule was correlated with a fixed-interval schedule; in the second experiment it was correlated with a variable-interval schedule. In both experiments, behavioral contrast was demonstrated in the second component of the chained schedule. Compared to the rate of responding on the food-reinforcement schedule when it had operated in isolation, the rate of responding on the food-reinforcement schedule when it was correlated with the second component was higher, while the rate on the schedule of the first component was lower. The results are discussed with reference to the determinants of contrast.     

Does the pot melt,boil, or brew? Black children and white assessment procedures

The experiences Black youths bring to school with them constitute a distinctive, viable culture. Their subsequent performance in educational and psychological testing situations cannot be assessed adequately without consideration of their particular attitudes, perceptions, and behavioral patterns, for all of these are determined by a kind of cultural conditioning which differs, in some fundamental ways, from mainstream Americans. Several of the social and psychological characteristics of Black culture are discussed. Included are Blacks' attitudes toward whites, systems of time allocations, expressions of identity, attitudes toward learning, dissemination of information among Blacks, Black learning styles and maturation processes. Each is discussed further in terms of its manifestation in a testing or assessment situation; how it conflicts with the assessor's orientations and expectations; and how distorted, unreliable evaluations result from the failure of assessors to consider implications of cultural relativism in interpreting Black behavior.     

Neighborhood effects in visual word recognition: Facilitatory or inhibitory?

In five experiments, in which subjects were to identify a target word as it was gradually clarified, we manipulated the target's frequency of occurrence in the language and its neighborhood size—the number of words that can be constructed from a target word by changing one letter, while preserving letter position. In Experiments 1–4, visual identification performance to screen-fragmented words was measured. In Experiments 1 and 2, we used the ascending method of limits, whereas Experiments 3 and 4 presented a fixed-level fragment. In Experiment 1, there was no relation between overall accuracy and neighborhood size for-words-between three and six letters in length. However, more errors of commission (guesses) were made for high-neighborhood words and more errors of omission (blanks) were made for low-neighborhood words. Letter errors within guesses occurred at serial positions having many neighbors, and these positions were also likely to contain consonants rather than vowels. In Experiment 2, a smallfacilitatory effect of neighborhood size on bothhigh- and low-frequency words was found. In contrast, in Experiments 3 and 4, using the same set of words,inhibitory effects of neighborhood size, but only for low-frequency words, were found. Experiment 5, using a speeded identification task, showed results parallel to those of Experiments 3 and 4. We suggest that whether neighborhood effects are facilitatory or inhibitory depends on whether feedback allows subjects to disconfirm initial hypotheses that the target is a high-frequency neighbor.