The relationship of computer self-efficacy expectations to computer interest and course enrollment in college

Gender differences in perceived self-efficacy for computer use may help account for differential computer interest and course enrollment at the college level. Three hundred sixty-eight students completed a two-page questionnaire assessing perceived computer self-efficacy, plans to take a computer science course, perceived importance of computing skills, and interest in learning about computers. Men rated themselves higher than did women for perceived self-efficacy. They were also more positive on the cognitive outcome measures, but with computer self-efficacy held constant, the magnitude of these differences was decreased, suggesting that perceived self-efficacy may be an important consideration when examining gender differences in computer interest and use.The author wishes to thank Dr. Martin Ford and Dr. Albert Bandura for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this article. This research was supported by a grant from the San Jose State University Foundation. Portions of this research were reported at the annual meetings of the American Educational Research Association in San Francisco, April 1986.     

Attributions of success and failure for actors and observers

Causal attributions of a person actually experiencing a success or failure (the actor) and someone who read about the situation (the observer) were compared. Results supported Jones and Nisbett (1971). Actors were relatively more likely to perceive their outcomes as caused by external factors (task difficulty), while observers attributed these outcomes more to internal factors (effort). Attributions for both actors and observers were also strongly affected by whether the outcome was a success or failure. Hypotheses concerning sex differences in attributions were not supported.     

The role of awareness in human conditioning

The cognitive view of human classical conditioning is that Ss are active in thinking about the pattern of stimulus events which occurs, the demands of the situation, and the kind of responses which they give. A question crucially central to conditioning theory is whether these thoughts and expectations determine conditional responding. This paper reports on two conditioning and personality experiments, employing the standard procedure of a single cue CS-UCS schedule and masking task, which assess awareness of stimulus contingencies and demand characteristics by means of a postexperimental questionnaire. Results were quite clear in showing no significant relationship between measures of awareness and eyelid conditioning.     

Relationships among affective and cognitive factors in humor

One hundred and twenty-five college students rated a total of 74 jokes, chosen by stratified sampling, on funniness and on 13 other scales suggested by humor theories. Highly similar factor structures were found with two sets of jokes. Ratings of surprise, resolution, and originality correlated strongly with funniness and helped define a factor on which funniness ratings loaded. Scales pertaining to painfulness, anxiety, or importance of joke topic were positively correlated with funniness but defined a factor essentially independent of it. Partial correlations suggested that these scales were related to funniness through their common relationship with incongruity and resolution scales. Ratings of how much a joke made subjects “feel free” correlated much more highly with ratings of incongruity and resolution than with ratings of painfulness, anxiety, or importance of joke topic. Results were interpreted as providing support for an incongruity-resolution theory of humor, and for the interdependency of affective factors with incongruity-resolution mechanisms.     

Developmental trends in cue utilization for attributional judgements

Fourth through twelfth graders of both sexes were tested for developmental trends in making causal attributions for success and failure and in using past history, social comparison, and importance information in making their attributional judgements. Results suggested that basic information processing rules had already developed by the fourth grade but that children continue to develop and become more consistent in applying these rules. Sex differences indicated that girls were more defensive generally in not taking responsibility for their outcomes by attributing them externally.     

Mobility Strategies and Career Outcomes: A Longitudinal Study of MBAs

This research examines the impact of work- and non-work-related mobility on salary, promotions, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment among 671 male and female managers over a 7-year period. Results indicated that those with frequent lateral moves had significant gain in salary increases compared to those who did not move. In addition, frequent lateral moves had a negative impact on work-related attitudes, specifically overall job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Implications of these findings for career strategies and future research are discussed.     

Medical crisis counseling: A new service delivery model

The diagnosis or exacerbation of a chronic illness, the aftermath of a serious accident, or worries about future in the context of illness or debilitating injury are all examples of medical crises that pose significant coping challenges. Too often, traditional approaches to psychotherapy have been unable to respond the most urgent needs of people confronting such crises. Medical crisis counseling is a specialized approach to addressing the needs of individuals and families confronted by the difficulties of coping with losses or changes, as well as the challenge of living with long-term illness. This paper describes the medical crisis counseling model in contrast with other more traditional intervention approaches.