Task effects in family interaction.

The effect of different experimental tasks on emergent patterns of family activity, conflict, and influence was assessed by means of multivariate analysis procedures on a sample of 30 family triads. Although a task effect did emerge for the family activity measure, the overall pattern of findings indicates marked consistency in family interaction across the three experimental tasks. Findings are discussed in terms of methodological and theoretical explanations that could account for obtained results.     

Parental antecedents of sex-role orientation in college men and women

Parental modeling and reinforcement antecedents of masculine, feminine, androgynous, and undifferentiated sex-role orientation were tested for 228 college men and women using self and parent versions of the Bem Sex Role Inventory and the Parent Behavior Form. Parent scale differences indicated that psychological androgyny is associated with high levels of masculinity and femininity in both parents, with high levels of warmth and involvement, particularly with the same-sex parent, and, in females, with maternal cognitive/achievement encouragement. Sex typing occurred where both parents modeled traditional sex-role attributes and, for females, with extreme closeness with father in the absence of maternal cognitive/intellectual encouragement. An undifferentiated sex-role orientation was associated with low emotional and cognitive involvement with father in males and with an undifferentiated but emotionally involved mother in females. Finally, cross-sex typing in both sexes was associated with parental rejection, low feminity in both parents, and an absence of warmth or cognitive encouragement from either parent. These findings confirm and expand those of an earlier study for androgynous subjects, but differ markedly for cross-sex-typed subjects.     

The California drought: A quasi-experimental analysis of social policy

The effect of fines for failure to conserve water during the California drought of 1976 to 1978 was evaluated in a retrospectively arranged multiple-baseline design across three San Francisco Bay area cities. The data indicated that, on a community level, significant savings of water occurred regardless of whether fines were introduced or not. However, on an individual level, fines appeared to have an effect on private, as opposed to commercial or industrial, consumers who had received at least one fine. The limitations imposed on these conclusions by the quasi-experimental nature of the design were highlighted. Possible reasons for water conservation in the absence of fines were discussed within the framework of stimulus control. It was suggested that an area for future research should be the delineation of stimulus parameters involved in producing behavior change in entire communities.     

The development of change detection

Changes to a scene often go unnoticed if the objects of the change are unattended, making change detection an index of where attention is focused during scene perception. We measured change detection in school-age children and young adults by repeatedly alternating two versions of an image. To provide an age-fair assessment we used a bimanual choice rather than open-ended verbal responses. The difference in detection speed and accuracy between 50-ms versus 250-ms blank screens between views indexed change detection in short-term visual memory independent of sensory and response processes. Younger children were significantly less efficient than older participants, especially when an object changed color or had a part deleted. Changes in object orientation were detected more readily. These results point to important differences in the perceptual reality of younger and older children.     

Methodological issues in the psychology of religion: toward another paradigm?

Recent evaluations have identified the psychology of religion as a field in crisis and have called for a new multilevel interdisciplinary paradigm. However, a critical meta-perspective on methods reveals a broad range of methodologies, each appropriate for particular levels of complexity in the psychology of religion. No single methodology is appropriate for every level, nor can higher levels of complexity be explained by data from lower levels. The authors identify the different types of research practiced in the psychology of religion and critically discuss philosophical presuppositions involved in two major methodological traditions, the empiricist-analytical and the hermeneutical, often identified as quantitative and qualitative traditions, respectively.     

Intermittent visual information and the multiple time scales of visual motor control of continuous isometric force production

In an experiment, we examined the effect of intermittency (from 25.6 Hz to 0.2 Hz) of visual information on continuous isometric force production as a function of force level (5%, 10%, 25%, and 50% of maximal voluntary contraction [MVC]). The amount of force variability decreased and the irregularity of force output increased as a function of increased visual intermittency rate. Vision was found to have an influence on the frequency structure of force output up to 12 Hz, and the 25% MVC force level had more high-frequency modulations with higher rates of visual information. The effective use of intermittent visual information is mediated nonlinearly by force level, and there are multiple time scales of visual control (range, approximately 0 - 12 Hz) that are postulated to be a function of both feedback and feedforward control processes.     

Community Science, Philosophy of Science, and the Practice of Research

Embedded in community science are implicit theories on the nature of reality (ontology), the justification of knowledge claims (epistemology), and how knowledge is constructed (methodology). These implicit theories influence the conceptualization and practice of research, and open up or constrain its possibilities. The purpose of this paper is to make some of these theories explicit, trace their intellectual history, and propose a shift in the way research in the social and behavioral sciences, and community science in particular, is conceptualized and practiced. After describing the influence and decline of logical empiricism, the underlying philosophical framework for science for the past century, I summarize contemporary views in the philosophy of science that are alternatives to logical empiricism. These include contextualism, normative naturalism, and scientific realism, and propose that a modified version of contextualism, known as perspectivism, affords the philosophical framework for an emerging community science. I then discuss the implications of perspectivism for community science in the form of four propositions to guide the practice of research.Portions of this paper are based on an invited paper presented at the May 1997 Pre-Conference Workshop of the Biennial Conference of the Society for Community Research and Action, Columbia, South Carolina.     

Effect of orientation and of shape similarity on perceptual grouping

A method in which as were asked to partition a pattern into two regions was used to investigate the perceptual grouping produced by changes in the orientation and shape of two-line figures. The results show that the judged similarity of the figures fails to predict the degree to which the figures form distinct perceptual groups. Grouping was most strongly influenced by differences in the orientation of the lines composing the figures. Crossing of lines making up the figures also affected grouping, but was less decisive than line orientation.     

Effect of orientation and of shape similarity on perceptual grouping

A method in which Os were asked to partition a pattern into two regions was used to investigate the perceptual grouping produced by changes in the orientation and shape of two-line figures. The results show that the judged similarity of the figures fails to predict the degree to which the figures form distinct perceptual groups. Grouping was most strongly influenced by differences in the orientation of the lines composing the figures. Crossing of lines making up the figures also affected grouping, but was less decisive than line orientation.     

Counselor training for Chinese international students in a United States graduate program: Experiences during training and after returning to China

An interpretative phenomenological analysis explored the experiences of former Chinese international students trained as counselors in a United States-based program (n = 9), both with respect to training and work experiences upon returning to China. Themes included strong counselor identity, struggles with adapting to mental health policies in China, and complications acclimating to training in the United States. Suggestions for educators include emphasis on international education and adjustments to hiring practices.