CROSS-CULTURAL VARIATIONS IN RELATIONSHIP RULES

A British study of the informal rules of 22 social relationships was replicated among Japanese, Hong Kong and Italian samples. Subjects were asked to rate the importance of 33 common and varying numbers of relationship-specific rules to each of these relationships on a 9-point bipolar scale. Multivariate analyses showed each culture has a structure of highly endorsed rules, although a number of cross-cultural differences emerged in the nature of these rules, particularly those relating to intimacy. Certain cross-cultural predictions were confirmed.     

Factors influencing adjustment in the families of autistic children.

This study investigated factors influencing the adjustment of families of 49 autistic children (38 boys, 11 girls) to the stress of raising an autistic child. Analysis indicated that the severity of the child's disorder (stress), mother's social support (resources), and mother's perceived locus of control (perception) were significant factors in family adjustment. In addition, evidence suggested that agency affiliation also was an unexpected, yet important factor.     

Measuring misinformation in repeat trial pick 1 of 2 tests

An extension is described to a product testing model to account for misinformation among subjects. A misinformed subject is one who associates the taste of product A with product B and vice-versa; thus, the subject would tend to perform incorrectly on pick 1 of 2 tests. A likelihood ratio test for the presence of misinformation is described. The model is applied to a data set, and misinformation is found to exist. Biases due to model misspecificationand other implications for product testing are discussed.The first author is currently on leave from Carnegie Mellon University.     

Performance of british university psychology departments as measured by number of publications in BPS journals

The aim of this investigation was to gauge the comparative research performance of university departments of psychology in Britain. The performance indicator was the number of publications per departmental staff member in the journals of the British Psychological Society (BPS) during the seven-year period 1983–1989. The contents of these journals were thoroughly searched, and articles written by members of university psychology departments in Britain were counted. The number of publications of each psychology department was divided by the size of the department in the corresponding year and the resulting annual figures were summed to determine the number of publications in BPS journals per departmental staff member over the seven-year period. These research performance figures correlated significantly with an earlier measure of departmental research performance based on publications in the seven European psychological journals with the highest citations per published article and with recent performance indicators based on other criteria     

Psychological and sexual functioning among outpatient sexual offenders against children: A Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) cluster analytic study

Multivariate clustering procedures were used to identify homogeneous subgroups of outpatient sex offenders against children (n=110)on the basis of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Results indicated a five-subgroup solution. Two within-normal-limits and two clinically elevated profile subgroups replicated subtypes found in previous cluster analytic studies of child sex offenders. The fifth subgroup appeared similar in MMPI profile pattern and elevation to a previously identified subtype of rapists. Discriminant analyses showed that subgroups differed along dimensions of cognitive disturbance and sexual functioning. Furthermore, levels of psychopathology corresponded with levels of sexual pathology. Results are discussed with reference to previous MMPI cluster analytic studies of sex offenders and theories of sexual aggression.Portions of this paper were presented at the meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, 1992, Chicago, Illinois.     

Mobilizing positive reinforcement in communities to reduce youth access to tobacco

A community intervention to mobilize positive reinforcement for not selling tobacco to young people was evaluated. The intervention had five components: (a) mobilization of community support, (b) merchant education, (c) changing consequences to clerks for selling or not selling to those under 18, (d) publicity about clerks’ refusals to sell, and (e) feedback to store owners or managers about the extent of their sales to adolescents. A multiple baseline design experiment was conducted, in which two small Oregon communities received the intervention, while two others continued in baseline. Outlets’ willingness to sell was assessed repeatedly by teenage volunteers. The intervention significantly reduced the proportion of stores willing to sell. Mobilizing socia and material reinforcement for stores not selling tobacco to young people is a viable means of reducing such sales. It may be especially valuable in communities where laws against sales to minors go unenforced. This paper supported in part by the National Cancer Institute Grant CA38273.     

Psychosocial Adjustment of Adult Cancer Survivors: Their Needs and Counselor Interventions

The author presents an overview of the literature on the psychosocial adjustment of cancer survivors, identifying 4 areas that may pose difficulties for cancer survivors as they learn to live with a life-threatening chronic illness: coping with the late physical effects of treatment; living with the uncertainty of long-term survival; resolving problems related to intimacy, marriage, and reproduction; and combating employment discrimination. Counseling interventions are proposed for counselors working with cancer survivors on these issues.     

TRANSSACCADIC MEMORY AND INTEGRATION DURING REAL-WORLD OBJECT PERCEPTION

Abstract— What is the nature of the information that is preserved and combined across saccadic eye movements during the visual analysis of real-world objects? The two experiments reported investigated transsaccadic memory and transsaccadic integration, respectively In the critical condition, participants were presented with one set of contours from an object during one fixation and with a complementary set of contours during the next fixation In Experiment 1, participants could at best inconsistently detect contour changes across the saccade In Experiment 2, a change in visible contour had no influence on object identification. These results suggest that a veridical representation of object contour is neither consistently preserved nor integrated across a saccade.     

Daydreaming and curiosity: stability and change in gifted children and adolescents

Developmental differences in daydreaming and curiosity based on cross-sectional data have been reported, but longitudinal data are lacking. Patterns of longitudinal stability and change in two intellectual styles, daydreaming and curiosity, in gifted children and adolescents are described in this paper. Seventy-four intellectually gifted children attended a special program during two consecutive summers. Self-reports of their frequency of and attitudes toward daydreaming and two measures of their curiosity were obtained each year. The findings suggest a pattern of both change and stability in intellectual styles over time. Measures which tap the content of daydreams changed over time, but measures of process or ways of relating to the environment, such as curiosity and frequency of daydreaming, were fairly stable.     

Attitudes of nursing students toward patients with AIDS

Nursing students (N = 124) voluntarily completed a questionnaire designed to measure attitudes towards patients with AIDS. The questionnaire included one of two vignettes, a prejudicial evaluation scale, and the Index of Homophobia. Results indicate that nursing students expressed a significantly more negative attitude toward the homosexual patients with AIDS. Homophobia accounted for a substantial amount of variation in the difference in expressed attitude between heterosexual and homosexual AIDS patients. The researchers recommend that nursing students and other prospective health care workers be provided educational programs dealing with AIDS which include study of homophobia and homosexuality.