Younger and older adolescents' thinking about commitments

One hundred and sixty-three adolescents listed factors they consider or would consider when choosing a career and a romantic partner, and defined "commitment" in an open-ended essay. Male and female ninth graders, twelfth graders, and college juniors, from public and private schools served as subjects. Gender, grade, and type of school differences were found in the types and number of different types of factors listed for the above commitments, but not in the number of factors listed. Conceptions of the nature of commitment became more complex with grade, and differed as a function of gender and of type of school. Females listed more "internal" factors than did males for romantic commitments. Males described commitment more contractually, women more affectively. Older students focused more upon long-term and internal concerns, and defined "commitment" more in terms of cognitive processing and emotional attachment than younger students. Implications for related areas of work are discussed.     

Expectancy models of alcohol use

The primary goal of the present article is to compare expectancy models with competing attitude models of alcohol use. First, several methodological issues in expectancy research were addressed, to more adequately compare the theoretical models. Study 1 examined the effect of possible self-report biases on associations among expectancy constructs and alcohol use. In Studies 2 and 3, the basic distinction between general factors of positive and negative alcohol expectancies was investigated in both cross-sectional and prospective models. Alternative predictions that were based on competing expectancy and attitude theories were evaluated primarily in Study 3. Results from these studies supported the validity of the expectancy constructs and the proposed distinctions among expectancy and attitude constructs-in terms of strong discriminant validity, absence of self-report bias, and differential prediction of alcohol use. Furthermore, the findings favored certain expectancy models over alternative attitude models of alcohol use, reaffirming the usefulness of the expectancy framework.     

Prevalence of personality disorders among bulimics,nonbulimic binge eaters,and normal controls

We examined the comorbidity of bulimia and personality pathology among college women. Subjects included women (n=23) meeting DSM-III-R criteria for bulimia nervosa (bulimics), women (n=23) who reported binge eating but did not fulfill the criteria for bulimia nervosa (binge eaters), and women (n=23) who did not binge eat (normals). The subjects completed an assessment battery consisting of the Personality Disorders Examination and the SCID as well as the Beck Depression Inventory, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Index, and measures of impulsivity and self-defeating tendencies. Fourteen of 23 bulimics (61%) met criterion for a personality disorder using DSM-III-R Axis II criteria. In comparison, 3 of 23 (13%) binge eaters and 1 of 23 (4%) normal subjects received an Axis II diagnosis. Borderline and self-defeating diagnoses were the predominant personality disorders in 96% of the bulimics exhibiting clinically significant personality pathology. Bulimics also exhibited significantly more depression, impulsivity, and self-defeating behavior and lower self-esteem than binge eaters and normals. The findings are discussed within a conceptual framework that posits an interaction between personality pathology and restrained eating.     

A Piagetian perspective on mathematical construction

In this paper, we offer a Piagetian perspective on the construction of the logico-mathematical schemas which embody our knowledge of logic and mathematics. Logico-mathematical entities are tied to the subject's activities, yet are so constructed by reflective abstraction that they result from sensorimotor experience only via the construction of intermediate schemas of increasing abstraction. The ‘axiom set’ does not exhaust the cognitive structure (schema network) which the mathematician thus acquires. We thus view ‘truth’ not as something to be defined within the closed ‘world’ of a formal system but rather in terms of the schema network within which the formal system is embedded. We differ from Piaget in that we see mathematical knowledge as based on social processes of mutual verification which provide an external drive to any ‘necessary dynamic’ of reflective abstraction within the individual. From this perspective, we argue that axiom schemas tied to a preferred interpretation may provide a necessary intermediate stage of reflective abstraction en route to acquisition of the ability to use formal systems in abstracto.     

Normal values for Type A behaviour patterns in Danish men and women and in potential high-risk groups

The Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS) was administered to a normal population of randomly selected Danish adults, to patients consulting a cardiologist, and to physicians in order to compare those groups in terms of their coronary-prone (Type A) behaviour patterns. The standard procedure of rating the JAS was used in order to obtain scores for each of the four subscales: Type A (time urgency and ambitiousness), Factor S (speed and impatience) Factor H (hard-driving and competitive) and Factor J (job involvement). Gender differences were observed in the normal population for each of the four subscale scores, and age-related differences were obtained for Factor J. Elevated scores for Factor S were obtained by physicians and by people in the population who had a cardiovascular disorder. Physicians had also elevated scores for Factor J, whereas their Factor H scores tended to be reduced. No reliable differences in JAS subscale scores were observed between four groups of heart patients (i.e. angina pectoris, arterial hypertension, atrial fibrillation and atherosclerosis), although there was a tendency for Factor J to be elevated in atherosclerosis. The findings provide normal values for JAS scores in Danish men and women, and suggest that some facets of coronary-prone behaviour may be enhanced in Danish high-risk groups.     

Molly and Mahler

A symphony of Gustav Mahler becomes a cathartic experience following the death of a beloved goat.