Bystander Responses to Public Episodes of Child Abuse

Bystander responses to public episodes of child abuse were surveyed among 269 self reported witnesses. Respondents completed an 80-item self-report questionnaire which inquired into a broad range of events, experiences, and behaviors surrounding naturally occurring incidents of perceived child abuse witnessed in public places. Almost one-half of the sample reported having witnessed at least one event of child abuse in public, but only one out of four witnesses acted to intervene. Data analyses identified 40 statistically significant variables across four categories: characteristics of the bystander, situation, victim, and perpetrator. Results were generally consistent with predictions and findings from previous research on bystander intervention, but a number of new and significant variables were identified that characterized intervention events. Direct and indirect forms of intervention were also distinguished. Implications of the findings are discussed, and educating people to intervene on behalf of abused children is proposed.     

Age differences in retention of fixed-interval responding: memory or habitation effects?

Long-term retention of fixed-interval curvature as an index of recall memory which is relatively free of retrieval cues was examined in younger and older rats. Previous research on free-operant behavior in younger and older rats showing within-session decrements in behavior of older rats and within-session increments in younger rats suggested that the results of recall memory tests would depend upon the duration of the test session and the point within the session where data were collected. Consistent with such expectations, recall of fixed-interval curvature was poorer in older rats when data from late in the test session or data averaged over the entire 45-min session were used, but the opposite finding, numerically better retention in the older rats, occurred when data from the earliest part of the test session were used. The results suggest that age-related performance differences from which age-related memory differences are inferred may be confounded by other age-related effects upon performance which have nothing to do with memory.     

A device to enable the automatic recording of rodent ultrasonic vocalizations

The difficulty of recording rodent ultrasonic vocalizations simultaneously with other behavior patterns has been overcome by the use of the apparatus described. The electronic circuitry automatically digitally codes specified frequencies of rodent ultrasounds on a behavioral recording device. A reliability study of its performance in recording vocalizations of copulating Mongolian gerbils, during experimental tests, is also described.     

Locus of control and self-esteem as correlates of role orientation in traditional and nontraditional women

This research attempted to establish relationships between locus of control, self-esteem, and traditional-nontraditional behavior. It was hypothesized that (1) women tending toward internality and high self-esteem should be more likely to manifest nontraditional behaviors, as evidenced through career-oriented roles, and to rank these roles as their primary source of satisfaction; and (2) women tending toward externality and low self-esteem should be more likely to manifest traditional behavior, as evidenced through family-oriented roles, and to rank these roles as their primary source of satisfaction. The sample consisted of 91 White females in a southern metropolitan area. The data were collected using a survey design. As expected, high self-esteem internals were more likely to manifest nontraditional behavior. Contrary to expectation, low self-esteem externals were more nontraditional in role orientation.     

The effects of hand and direction parameter preknowledge on choice reaction times

The two studies undertaken investigated how reaction times are affected by preknowledge concerning hand and direction parameters, and the order in which these data are disclosed. In the first experiment, preknowledge was manipulated by selecting 2-CRT pairs which had either a common hand or direction component. Reaction signal information content (as defined by the number of unknown response parameters) was controlled, but no parameter differences emerged. When parameter order was manipulated by sequential precuing, the ‘hand then direction’ order conferred a significant advantage. Motor preparation and response selection explanations for this effect are considered. Various difficulties with the paradigms used are discussed, including those of distinguishing between response selection and motor programming contributions, controlling and inferring the strategies adopted by subjects, and defining task difficulty. The prospects for independently fostering either response identification or motor preparation by means of an appropriate selection of precues are also discussed.     

Probabilities of homomorphic mappings from multiple graphs

Each partition of a population defines a homomorphic mapping of sociometric graphs onto a corresponding set of image graphs. For sets of images selected by substantive importance, the expected number of mappings is calculated when the array of sociometric graphs is drawn at random with equal probabilities. Upper and lower bounds are computed for the probability of finding at least one mapping from an array to the given images, and for the expected number of mappings given that there is at least one. Results of small Monte Carlo trials are reported.     

Control of responding by location of auditory stimuli: adjacency of sound and response.

Four rhesus monkeys were trained to respond on one key when a one-second noise burst was presented through one speaker and to respond on a second key when the noise burst was presented through a second speaker. The acquisition of stimulus control was studied under three conditions, in each of which the relationship between the sound source and the response-key positions varied: an adjacent condition in which the noise burst was presented through the key and a response on this key was reinforced; a reversed-adjacent condition in which the noise burst was presented through one key and responding on the other key was reinforced: and a nonadiacent condition in which responding on the key nearer the sound was reinforced. Under adjacent conditions, stimulus control developed within one or two sessions. Under reversed and nonadjacent conditions, 10 sessions were required for the development of control. The asymptote of correct responding was the same under each condition in all animals.