Gender effects on individual verdicts and on mock jury verdicts in a Simulated Acquaintance Rape Trial

Since more women than men college students vote guilty in a simulated acquaintance rape trial [e.g., G. J. Fischer (1991) “Cognitive predictors of not-guilty verdicts in a Simulated Acquaintance Rape Trial,”Psychological Reports, Vol. 68, pp. 1199–1206], guilty mock jury verdicts were expected to increase as a function of the number of women on the jury (i.e., 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12). However, guilty verdicts did not increase significantly until either females were an overwhelming majority (i.e., 10 women to 2 men) or the jury was all female. Even in the latter conditions, guilty verdicts were fewer than would be expected based on the 86% of women and 66% of men voting guilty on a survey completed after reading about the trial, but before serving on a jury. Although a very large majority of females were needed to increase guilty verdicts, a majority appeared to lessen the likelihood of not guilty verdicts. For example, when a majority of jurors were female, 0/18 hung juries leaned toward a not guilty verdict vs. 11/34 juries leaning toward a not guilty verdict when less than or equal to one half of the jurors were female. Most of the students were White (85%), with 4% Asian, 3.2% Black, 3.2% Hispanic, and 4% “Other.”     

Pathological left-handedness and familial sinistrality in relation to degree of mental retardation

The relationship between personal and familial hand preference and mental retardation was examined. Six unimanual tasks were performed by 232 subjects within four mental retardation severity groups. Family handedness histories were obtained. Right hand preference varied inversely with severity of mental retardation. The handedness of mentally retarded groups at the different functional levels paralleled, but tended much more to the sinistral, than that of the corresponding parent groups. The parent-proband handedness correlations were largely insignificant, especially in lower functioning groups. The findings support both pathological left-handedness theory and an association between brain damage causing mental retardation and familial sinistrality.     

Relating infant temperament to learning disabilities

The role of infant temperament in the development of learning disabilities was at issue. As infants, boys with severe learning disabilities were found to be (1) lower in activity level, (2) more irregular, (3) less approaching, and (4) more negative in mood than normal boys. Discussion centered around conceptualizing learning disabilities as the outcome of a developmental process. Thus patterns of early parent-infant interaction are established, based in part upon the infant's temperament, that may evolve into a learning disability.The authors would like to express appreciation to George Diamond, director of Pupil Personnel Services for the Addison, Illinois, School District, for his help in obtaining these data.     

The attitudes toward forcible date rape (FDR) scale: Development of a measurement model

Using data from 341 female and 237 male college students that were collected previously (Fischer, G. J.,Archives of Sexual Behavior, 15, 457–466, 1986), several true score measurement models were used to describe the variance-covariance structure of a nine-item attitude toward a forcible date rape (FDR) scale. The congeneric true score model fit the data best, but not satisfactorily. By deleting noncongeneric items, a six-item, unweighted linear composite variable based on the congeneric true score model was shown to fit the data, and reliabilities and validities based on this model proved satisfactory for females, males, and the total sample. The factor structure of the model for females and for males was not equivalent, but the general patterns were similar. Suggestions for further research included a validation study of the six-item scale on an independent sample and a comparison of 5-and 7-point Likert response scales to see if the lack of model equivalence by gender could be due, in part, to more variability in attitudes toward forcible date rape in men than women.     

A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Investigation of the External Correlates of Sluggish Cognitive Tempo and ADHD-Inattention Symptoms Dimensions

The objective was to determine if the external correlates of sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) and ADHD-inattention (IN) dimensions were the same in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Teachers and aides rated SCT, ADHD-IN, ADHD-hyperactivity/impulsivity (HI), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and depression along with academic impairment in 758 Spanish children (55 % boys) on three occasions (twice at the end of the first grade year [6-week separation] and then again 12-months later at the end of the second grade year). Three of eight SCT symptoms showed substantial loadings on the SCT factor and substantially higher loadings on the SCT factor than the ADHD-IN factor for teachers and aides at each assessment (seems drowsy, thinking is slow, and slow moving). Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses yielded similar results with SCT and ADHD-IN factors having different and unique external correlates (higher scores on SCT predicted lower scores on ADHD-HI and ODD while higher scores on ADHD-IN predicted higher scores on ADHD-HI and ODD with SCT and ADHD-IN both uniquely predicting academic impairment and depression). Developmental and methodological reasons are discussed for the failure to find an inconsistent alertness SCT factor (daydreams, alertness fluctuates, absent-minded, loses train of though, and confused).     

Individual differences in hypothetic-deductive reasoning: importance of cognitive skills and flexibility

Recent investigations show that people's differential performance when solving reasoning tasks is due to differences not only at computational level, but also at the rational or intentional level. This study is within the framework of this context and it specifically analyses individual differences in hypothetic-deductive reasoning, taking into account the characteristics associated with the task itself (content and instructions) as well as the individuals' differential characteristics. Two hundred and seventy-six students from the University of Santiago de Compostela participated in this study. Several psychometric tests were administered and participants were requested to solve various reasoning tasks. The results obtained confirm that, in effect, the differences between competent and non-competent reasoners are observed at both the above-mentioned levels: cognitive skills and abilities (algorithmic level) and cognitive flexibility (intentional level).     

Peter Block's Flawless Consulting and the Homunculus Theory: Within Each Person Is a Perfect Consultant

Authenticity on the part of the consultant is significant to the process of consulting, according to Peter Block (1981). As the consultant acknowledges feelings and thoughts when they surface, client commitment and trust develop. By defining five phases to consulting and by detailing the work that must be completed in each phase, Block (1981) has provided a step-by-step procedure for consulting without errors.