Decision-making processes of youth

Research supports the theory that after administrators make a decision, feedback, both positive and negative, and also the administrators' perceived security vis-à-vis their position affect their level of commitment to a course of action. However, this research fails to recognize that subjects of college age playing administrators in the simulated, experimental treatments which have been presented in the research had nothing personally to lose if they made a bad decision--an orientation contradictory to the reality of most actual administrative positions. Additionally, the research ignores the interactional effects of the personality of decision makers in terms of their anxiety levels and the judgments they make. This study took both of these considerations into account by creating a decision-making situation within which prospective administrators made monetary commitments to long-term goals while their anxiety level, both as a basic personality attribute and an index of the reality of the decision-making process, was monitored under conditions of varying levels of job insecurity and resistance to their policies in relation to their decisions. Analyses revealed that contrary to the results of past research which used college students as subjects: (1) there is a significant negative correlation between levels of anxiety and commitments to previously chosen courses of action; (2) there are no significant effects of job security on commitment; and, most importantly, (3) high resistance to a policy decision leads to significantly less monetary commitments to long-term goals. The findings suggest that the basis for the contradictory results lies with the anxiety level of decision makers and the realism of experiencing a loss by making poor decisions.     

Memory for Faces in Children with Autism

Previous research has established that children with Autistic Disorder have deficits in aspects of social cognition and in verbal memory, but research on social memory is limited. Twenty-four autistic boys aged 7 to 12 years and normal controls matched for verbal mental age were administered parallel social and nonsocial matching and memory tasks. Results showed that the children with autism were impaired relative to the normal children on the social (face) memory task only. Furthermore, of the four experimental tasks, the social memory task had the highest and most consistent correlations with measures of social development and adaptive skills. Whereas the normal children used the special status of faces to recall them more easily than objects, the children with autism showed equal recall of objects and faces.     

Effect of multicomponent interventions on caregiver burden and depression: the REACH multisite initiative at 6-month follow-up

Meta-analysis was used to examine pooled parameter estimates of 9 active compared with 6 control conditions of the Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregiver Health (REACH) project at 6 months on caregiver burden and depressive symptoms. Associations of caregiver characteristics and outcomes were examined. For burden, active interventions were superior to control conditions (p = .022). Also, active interventions were superior to control conditions for women versus men and for caregivers with lower education versus those with higher education. For depressive symptoms, a statistically significant association of group assignment was found for Miami's family therapy and computer technology intervention (p = .034). Also, active interventions were superior to control conditions for Hispanics, nonspouses, and caregivers with lower education. Results suggest interventions should be multicomponent and tailored.     

Adolescent self-monitoring

Self-monitoring attributes of 239 adolescents were studied from the viewpoint of providing psychologists and educators with insight into impression management both as a facilitator of youths' development, especially with regard to identity formation, and as a possible detriment due to its overuse in a defensive posture. Adolescents highly adept at self-monitoring displayed social competencies most related to interpersonal adequacy, poise and ascendance; however, medium levels of self-monitoring were associated most with interpersonal values, maturity, and responsibility. It is suggested that high self-monitors may sacrifice concern for others in the interest of self-serving attitudes. Adolescents low in self-esteem are likely to use self-monitoring techniques as a defense against inadequate feelings. Generally, self-monitoring attributes were related mainly to social, rather than intellectual characteristics. In contrast to past research, the use of moderate self-monitoring levels along with sex and self-esteem as variables, provided a means of examining some variation in the adaptive uses of self-monitoring not heretofore observed.     

Differential importance of hierarchical learning, abstractness, and imagery

This research examined the relative contribution of hierarchical sequencing, abstractness, and imagery to learning. In the past, hierarchical, logical sequencing was not shown to be superior to other modes of instruction, and the interaction of imagery, abstractness, and sequencing had not been examined, especially regarding the possible superiority of any of these as a contributor to learning. The data were produced by 108 high school students who studied sequences of hierarchically related information arranged in a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design the dimensions of which varied according to the degree of imagery (high and low), abstractness (abstract and concrete), and type of sequencing (logical and scrambled). Analyses of the amount of learning under these conditions showed that hierarchical sequencing is not only relevant to learning but more related than either imagery or the abstractness of material to be learned. Additional suggestions are made regarding instruction and research especially in relation to matrix rather than hierarchial arrangements of information.