A multidimensional measure of neighboring

The study reports the development of a short and easily administered questionnaire aiming at measuring dimensions of social life within neighborhoods. Principal-components analysis consistently extracted four factors replicated in three independent samples (N=96 to 1,060). The factors emerged as theoretically meaningful dimensions tapping the concepts of supportive acts of neighboring, neighbor annoyance, neighborhood attachment, and weak social ties. Factor invariance and factor replicability were high. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct validity yielded acceptable results. The principal virtue of the measure is that it may be applied to discern qualitative differences between neighborhoods by simultaneous assessments of several dimensions of neighboring. This research was financially supported by The Norwegian National Research Council. We thank Jostein Rise for valuable comments, and David R. Jacobs, Jr., and Melanie Young for advice in translating the questionnaire.     

The tower experiment and the Copernican revolution

During the Copernican revolution the supporters of the Ptolemaic theory argued that the tower experiment refuted the Copernican hypothesis of the (diurnal) motion of the earth, but was in agreement with the Ptolemaic theory. In his defence of the Copernican theory Galileo argued that the experiment was in agreement both with Copernican and Ptolemaic theory. The reason for these different views of the same experiment was not that the two theories were incommensurable, as Paul Feyerabend argues, but that Galileo introduced a new theory of motion which he used as an auxiliary hypothesis in his discussion of the tower experiment, while those defending the Ptolemaic theory used the old Aristotelian theory of motion. Already before the Copernican revolution the Aristotelian theory of motion was criticized by philosophers in Paris, who suggested the impetus theory of motion. The later versions of this theory had the consequence that the tower experiment no longer refuted the hypothesis of the (diurnal) motion of the earth. Thus the impetus theory removed an old and important objection to the heliocentric theory. Galileo's inertial dynamics had the same function in the discussion of the tower experiment.     

Cognitions in generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder patients. A prospective approach.

Self-observations of cognitions during episodes of anxiety were examined in 38 patients with generalized anxiety disorder and 36 patients with panic disorder. Two independent observers who where blind to the diagnoses categorised the cognitions. The inter-rater reliability was high (mean kappa 0.82). The GAD-patients had significantly more cognitions in the following categories: interpersonal confrontation, competence, acceptance, concern about others and worry over minor matters, while the PD-patients had significantly more cognitions in the physical catastrophe category. Furthermore, GAD-patients with a comorbidity of social phobia reported more cognitions regarding social embarrassment than did GAD-patients with other or no (axis-I) comorbidity. The results of this study support the cognitive theory regarding the cognitive specificity of anxiety disorders. The implications of these results are discussed, along with the issues of reliability and validity of the instrument used.     

A comparison of the self-images of female and male assistant professors

The present study investigated role perceptions of male and female assistant professors at Cornell University in 1970 and the University of Rochester in 1975; 28 female assistant professors in the College of Arts and Sciences of the two institutions were matched with male assistant professors from the same school. Subjects were administered a 22-item questionnaire tapping job roles, job duties, departmental issues, university issues, and personal roles. Chi-square analyses and t tests found few differences between males and females on specific job duties (i.e., number of publications, degrees, desire to teach), some differences in job roles, more differences in perceptions of departmental and university issues, and many differences in subjects' personal lives. These similarities and differences are discussed in terms of role conflict for women, and implications for university policy making are presented.A version of this paper was presented at the annual convention of the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Phoenix, May 1976. The authors would like to thank Otto Wahl for his helpful comments.     

DIFFERENTIATION OF CHARACTER NEUROSIS AND SYMPTOM NEUROSIS ON THE BASIS OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TWO SERIAL EXPERIMENTS

The difference between two serial tests as regards signs of hysteria and obsession-compulsion is compared with differences in number of symptoms reported by the patient. Signs in the more formal colour-word test, measuring habitual behaviour patterns, correspond to fewer symptoms than signs in a tachistoscopic test revealing more of the perceptual representation (content) of behaviour disorders. This difference is supposed to reflect important aspects of the difference between character neurosis and symptom neurosis.     

On testing the equality of proportions in the paired case with incomplete data

The problem of testing two correlated proportions with incomplete data is considered by means of Monte Carlo simulations studies. A test proposed in this paper, which can be regarded as a generalization of McNemar's test, is recommended in all cases with incomplete data and not too small samples.