Physical fitness, body image, and locus of control in college freshman men and women

This study examined the relations among physical fitness, body image, and locus of control. The Hall-Physical Fitness Test Profile, the Winstead and Cash Body Self-relations Questionnaire (BSRQ) and the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale were administered to 243 freshmen. Women were significantly more positive about their physical appearance than men. Men were more positive about their physical fitness than women. Men were more physically fit than women. Men and women scoring in the internal direction viewed the physical fitness domain of their body image positively. Unlike men, internally oriented women had more positive perceptions of the health aspect of their body image. Physically fit men and women had positive attitudes toward the physical fitness component of their body image. Physically fit men differed from physically fit women in that men were more internal and held more positive attitudes toward the physical health dimension of their body images.     

The validity of verbal protocols

The reactivity of a "think aloud" verbal protocol and the veridicality of different retrospective protocols were tested over four dissimilar tasks. Generating a concurrent protocol altered accuracy in two tasks, simple addition and a choice between two gambles, and generally prolonged response times. Such reactivity partially qualifies the dominant theory of protocol generation (Ericsson & Simon, 1984). Retrospective protocols yielded substantial forgetting or fabrication in all tasks, supporting the consensus on the nonveridicality of these methods. It is concluded that protocol validity should be based on an empirical check rather than on theory-based assurances.     

Behavioral correlates of developmental expressive language disorder

The association of behavior problems with preschool language disorders has been documented extensively. However, researchers have typically failed to differentiate subgroups of language-impaired children, to use observational data in documenting the behavior disorders, or to study children at the youngest ages. Using a multimodal assessment, this study examined parent-child interaction and behavior problems in a clearly defined subgroup of language-impaired children, those with developmental expressive language disorder (ELD). These children exhibit a delay in expressive language compared with receptive language and nonverbal cognitive skills. Subjects were identified and studied at the youngest age at which the disorder can be assessed. A group of ELD children, averaging 27 months of age, was contrasted with a group of normally developing children, matched for age, sex, and receptive language ability. Groups were compared on observed parent-child interactions as well as maternal responses on the Parenting Stress Index, the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory, and a behavior-related structured interview. ELD children, when compared with normally developing children, exhibited higher levels of negative behavior and were perceived as different by their parents.Portions of these data were presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Baltimore, April 1987, and at the annual meeting of the Society for Pediatrie Research, Anaheim, California, April 1987. This work has been supported by NIMH grant no. 1 R03 MH41603 to author Fischel, and by NICHD grant no. 1 ROI HD19245 to authors Whitehurst and Fischel. It has also been supported by grants of equipment from Commodore Business Machines, Inc., Koala Corporation, and NEC Telephones. We thank the Department of Pediatrics at the Nassau County Medical Center for the use of their facilities.     

Inconsistent communication: A simplified method for selecting messages

In examining the family's role in the development and perpetuation of disordered behavior, studies of inconsistent communication have focused on the frequency and impact of such communications in disturbed versus non-disturbed groups. For these and other lines of study, current methods for defining and selecting inconsistent messages are extremely time-consuming, and as a result, large-scale efforts have been discouraged. To address this problem, the current study attempted to develop and evaluate an efficient procedure for selecting inconsistent communications which would be comparable to the standard method. Most important, it was found that raters are capable of accurately judging affect in a particular channel when presented with several channels simultaneously, and as such, it is unnecessary to artificially separate channels when affect ratings are to be obtained. Future research should be facilitated by the method developed in the current study.     

Perioral somatosensory determinants of nursing behavior in Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus)

Prior to assuming the upright crouching posture over their pups during nursing bouts, lactating rats typically engage in several oral behaviors, including nuzzling, licking and rearranging pups. By acutely depriving dams of various aspects of perioral stimulation from pups (with anesthesia of the mystacial pads or of the tongue, with mouth suturing, or with muzzling), we found the following: (1) Distal stimulation from pups maintains proximity-seeking behavior, but is insufficient to stimulate nursing behavior. (2) Lack of tongue feedback decreases pup licking and hastens the onset of crouching. (3) Snout, but not tongue, contact with pups is required for hovering over them. (4) The position of the dam while hovering over her litter enables the pups to gain access to her ventrum, thereby provoking her upright, crouching posture. (5) Older pups are capable of bypassing the dam's perioral attentions and stimulating crouching directly by burrowing under the dam's ventrum.     

Automated data collection using bar code

Using bar code technology to automate data collection provides a rapid and reliable alternative to paper-and-pencil tracking or keyboard entry into pocket or laptop computer. An array of bar code symbols is printed on a data menu, with a unique symbol corresponding to each possible observation. Bar code symbols are scanned using hand-held readers, which record the event, log the observation time, and store data for transfer to a personal computer. Advantages of the bar code monitoring system include: (1) ease of use by staff with minimal technical training, (2) reduced data entry errors and increased entry speed, (3) reliable portable operation, and (4) low-cost hardware. While the bar code system described here is used for behavioral monitoring in a residential treatment setting for the developmentally disabled, with minimal modification this system can be adapted for use in a wide variety of research and clinical applications.     

Developmental levels of processing in metaphor interpretation

We outline a theory of metaphor interpretation. The theory posits varying levels of semantic processing and formalizes them in terms of kinds of semantic-mapping operators that transform properties of the metaphoric vehicle (i.e., predicate) into properties of the metaphoric topic (i.e., subject). We used cognitive-developmental theory to estimate the mental-processing complexity of the various mapping operators, and thereby to predict the timing of their emergence in childhood, and to construct a measure of the metaphoric-processing levels. Metaphor interpretations collected from children (aged 6-12 years) and adults were coded and scored according to the processing levels. In two separate developmental studies, processing score increased with age in a predictable way. Growth in a mental-attentional resource accounted for much of the developmental variance in metaphor interpretation. Possible moderating effects of knowledge and context are discussed.     

Effects of Salience of Consciousness-Raising Information on Perceptions of Acquaintance versus Stranger Rape

In the present study the effects of salience of consciousness-raising information on the perception of acquaintance vs. stranger rape were focused on. One half of the subjects were exposed to information which emphasized the inappropriateness of sexual inequality (salient condition), while the other half were exposed to no such information (nonsalient condition). Subsequently, subjects read a passage which depicted an acquaintance rape or a stranger rape. The results indicated that those subjects in the salient condition perceived the victim more favorable and reported a lesser likelihood to commit rape (male subjects) than those in the nonsalient condition. Additionally, those in the stranger rape condition perceived the victim more favorably and reported a lesser likelihood of committing rape (male subjects) than those in the acquaintance rape condition. Finally, there was a significant interaction between salience and type of rape. To amplify, when subjects read the stranger rape passage, perceptions did not vary as a function of salience. On the other hand, when subjects read the acquaintance rape passage, those in the salient condition perceived the victim more favoraby and reported a lesser likelihood of committing rape than those in the nonsalient condition.     

Image Attributions and Smoking Intentions Among Seventh Grade Students

Previous research has indicated that adolescents who intend to smoke differ from those who do not intend to smoke in the imagery they associate with smoking. The present study examined relationships among self-image, ideal self-image, image of smokers in general and image of models in cigarette ads for seventh-grade students. The strongest finding was a positive correspondence of smokers image to self-image in predicting intention to smoke cigarettes. This correspondence between smokers image and self-image derived from a relative depression of self-image in combination with a relative elevation of smokers image for youth who were more likely to report intentions to smoke. There was also a trend for the ideal self-image of youth with greater intentions to smoke to be similarly depressed. It is suggested that when both self-concept and aspirations for self-improvement are diminished, smoking may seem particularly desirable as a means of enhancing identity.     

Fallout From The Day After. The Impact of a TV Film on Attitudes Related to Nuclear War1

A household survey utilizing a quasi-experimental design was undertaken to assess the impact of the TV movie. The Day After, on a number of psychologically and politically important variables such as the salience of the issue of nuclear war and individuals' beliefs about the efficacy of their own political actions in helping to prevent such a war. Respondents were initially surveyed 2 weeks prior to the movie's airing and were resurveyed afterwards. Contrary to the impression conveyed by reports of a number of public opinion polls, which focussed on attitudes toward government policies, we found that The Day After and the surrounding controversy had a substantial impact on many dimensions including the salience of nuclear war, feelings of personal efficacy, affect related to the idea of a nuclear war, intentions to engage in anti-nuclear behavior, estimates of the probability that a nuclear war would occur, and beliefs about the likelihood and desirability of survival. Two general conclusions emerged. First, many of the effects occurred for the entire sample rather than only for those who watched the film, suggesting that the widely publicized controversy that surrounded the movie contributed to its impact. Second, reactions appeared to be depressive in nature. Compared to the pre-airing responses, the post-airing survey found more passive affective reactions to the idea of nuclear war, decreased estimates of the chances of survival, a decreased desire to survive, and a decreased sense of personal efficiacy. Nonetheless, respondents, especially those who watched The Day After, were more likely to intend to engage in antinuclear war activities after the film than before.