Children's responses to stories with male and female characters

The sex of the main character was varied in six children's stories which were then read by fourth, sixth and eighth graders. The children answered four questions about the stories. Both boys and girls responded more positively to the questions “Would you like to be (character's name?)” and “Would you like to do the things (character's name) did?” when the main character was a male. Boys preferred stories about males, and this preference increased with grade level. A preference for stories about females was marginally significant only for the older girls. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Extending Holland's theory to the later years

Sixty-five men and women, aged 50 to 88 years, completed Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) and a work history questionnaire. Each participant was assigned one-letter Holland personality type codes for his or her first full-time job, longest full-time job, last job (if retired) or present job (if employed), and hobbies. In general, VPI scale scores and high point codes were consistent with the occupational codes but less consistent with the hobby code. The usefulness of Holland's vocational theory to the aged population is discussed.     

A comparison of techniques to affect sociometric status: A small step toward primary prevention in the classroom?

Interdependent tasks and role play were implemented as treatment conditions in three elementary classrooms (n=142) to affect the peer nominations of the subjects. Third to fifth grade subjects, 68 female and 74 male, received $\text{1}\text{2}$ hour per day of treatment or a control condition for two weeks. Sociometric measurements were obtained prior to the treatment, one week after, and six weeks after. Analysis of covariance was used to test the effectiveness of the treatments. One week following treatment, intersependent tasks was effective (p<.05) in causing subjects in all grades to pick formerly low status children. On the six weeks followup only fifth grade subjects showed the effects of interdependent tasks (p<.01). Several post hoc analyses were performed to investigate the mechanisms behind the change. The results suggest that interdependent tasks may be an effective strategy in raising the popularity of low status children if the treatment becomes an ongoing part of classroom routine. The implications for primary prevention are discussed.     

Sensation seeking, augmenting-reducing, and absolute auditory threshold: a strength-of-the-nervous-system perspective

The following measures were obtained from 42 student volunteers: the General and the Disinhibition subscales of the Sensation Seeking Scale (Form IV), the Reducer-Augmenter Scale, and the Absolute Auditory Threshold. General sensation seeking correlated significantly with the Reducer-Augmenter Scale, r(40) = .59, p less than .001, and the Absolute Auditory Threshold, r(40) = .45, p less than .005. Both results proved general across sex. These findings, that high-sensation seekers tend to be reducers and to lack sensitivity to weak stimulation, were interpreted as supporting strength-of-the-nervous-system theory more than the formulation of Zuckerman and his associates.     

Factor analysis of the interpersonal trust scale with a noncollege population

This study tested the invariance of the factorial structure of Rotter's Interpersonal Trust Scale (ITS) in a noncollege population. Exploratory factor analysis of the responses of 214 volunteers yielded three factors interpreted as Exploitation, Sincerity, and Institutional Trust. This factor solution was cross-validated in a confirmation sample of 196 volunteers. Cosines between corresponding factors were high across samples and across sex. The similarity was pointed out between the present factor structure and the results of earlier studies with college students. Implications for possible refinement of the ITS were discussed.     

Instantiation in skilled and less skilled comprehenders

Previous research has shown that adults tend to infer particular meanings of words, according to their context, a process that has been termed instantiation. An experiment was carried out to investigate the relation between 7 to 8 year olds' skill at reading comprehension and their ability to instantiate. A cued recall paradigm was used: the subjects were presented with a series of short sentences, and either the general noun that had appeared in the original sentence, or a particular noun that fitted the context, was given as a cue. The results showed that both skilled and less skilled comprehenders recalled the original sentences equally well, given the original nouns, but that the performance of the skilled group was superior when they were given the particular word cues, indicating that the skilled comprehenders were instantiating more readily. An independent test showed that their superior performance was not attributable to their better general knowledge.     

The importance of inhalation volume when measuring smoking behavior

Theoretical and technical considerations of measuring puff and inhalation volumes during cigarette smoking are reviewed. Measures of smoking behavior using a flowmeter and inductance plethysmography are described and demonstrated with seven subjects smoking over a 3-to 4-h period. Puff volume and duration, inhaled volume and duration, interpuff and intercigarette interval, and number of puffs varied for each individual over the session. The ratio of puff volume to inhaled volume changed with successive cigarettes. Smokers adjust the concentration of smoke by blending air with the smoke. Thus, to completely characterize smoking behavior, the volume of smoke and air inhaled into the lungs must be measured directly.     

The relative efficacy of simulation experiments

A complex in-basket simulation and a paper-and-pencil scenario experiment were used to study relationships between organizational leadership and gender. Separate samples completed identical attitude instruments in the independent studies. Analysis revealed that substantially more of the total variance was accounted for in the simulation study than in the scenario investigation. Also, more overt, gender-based responses were observed in the scenario study. It was concluded that social simulation may tap a deeper level of psychological process and may elicit more subject involvement than typical experimental methods. Thus, the more complex procedures of the simulation, as compared to those of a typical method such as a scenario study, are justified in the study of organizational behavior.     

Reconceptualizing of the overjustification effect: A template-matching approach

The paper reviews traditional attributional explanations for the over-justification effect in task motivation, isolates their weaknesses, and proposes an alternative account based on the notion that individuals process task information schematically. It is proposed that task information relating to motivation is interpreted by cognitive schema or “templates,” which identify tasks as being either instrumental or expressive in nature. When the expressive template is evoked, the task is perceived to be playlike and is experienced as inherently motivating. When the instrumental template is evoked, the task is perceived as a means to an end and task motivation results from the perceived value of the task for attaining intrinsic and/or extrinsic rewards. Structural characteristics of these templates are proposed. According to this account, overjustification effects occur when the perceived characteristics of tasks change such that the expressive template is replaced by the instrumental template and expressive motivation is transformed into instrumental motivation.