Motivations for parenthood among young adult college students

Two hundred and sixty three young adult college students responded to openended questions assessing their specific intentions, motives, and plans for having children. The most commonly stated motives for childbearing reflected a strong interest in establishing an identity and social network. Financial, marital, and emotional stability were identified as important factors influencing the timing of parenthood. Several significant sex differences were found for both motives and the timing of parenthood. These findings are discussed in terms of changing social norms regarding parenthood and changing sex role expectations.Portions of this research were presented at the Eastern Regional Psychological Association Convention in New York, April 1986. This research was funded by a grant from Trenton State College, Committee for Faculty and Institutional Research and Sabbatical Leave.     

The impact of pre-employment integrity testing on employee turnover and inventory shrinkage losses

A major home improvement chain located primarily in the western United States initiated the use of thePersonnel Selection Inventory, a written integrity test, as part of its pre-employment hiring process. For two years only, those job applicants who passed this test and other pre-employment criteria were hired by the chain. Following the introduction of the inventory, there was: (1) a 50% reduction in the number of employee terminations for theft, illegal drug use, and violence over a five year period and (2) a savings in shrinkage losses that amounted to over two million dollars over a two year period.     

Temporal manipulation of stimulus patterns using the Apple II: Tachistoscopic and part presentation

A technique is described in which line-drawn pictures can be rapidly interlaced, allowing for sequential part presentation or tachistoscopic presentation on the Apple II. This is accomplished using a two-stage process in which the pictorial stimuli are converted into machine code data files and then used to create a rapidly changing display consisting of two or more line drawings. The latter stage could be accomplished in less than 2 msec but is limited by the frame time of the monitor (17–20 msec).     

Variables which differentiate placement of adolescents into juvenile justice or mental health systems

Studies of the variables that determine whether an adolescent is placed in the mental health or juvenile justice system for treatment have led to conflicting conclusions based on impressionistic data. The primary hypothesis of this study--that demographic variables would and personality/psychopathology variables would not differentiate into which system a youth will be placed--was supported. Adolescents were studied at intake into both the juvenile justice system and the mental health system. Data were collected on demographics (structured interviews), personality/psychopathology (MMPI), social adjustment (CAAP), and academic achievement (PIAT). A discriminant function analysis identified eight statistically significant variables which differentiated the two groups. In order of decreasing importance they are: ethnicity, gender, MMPI-depression, previous mental health history, CAAP-productivity, drug use, parental marital history, and parental religious preference.     

Ambient Temperature and Violent Crime1

Baron and Ransberger (1978) argue that civil violence increases as temperature rises into the mid 80s, and then decreases as temperatures rise further. Two experiments test this hypothesis using data on temperature and the incidence of crime for summer months in two midwestern cities. The crime data were divided into violent and nonviolent crimes, and then correlated with the maximum, minimum, and average temperatures, and several humidity measures. Violent crime correlated significantly with temperature; nonviolent crime did not. This relationship was linear in the first study, but curvilinear in the second. Inspection of the data suggests that the incidence of aggressive behavior (i.e., violent crime) does not drop off in the mid-80s as laboratory findings and Baron and Ransberger's results would suggest, but continues to increase as temperatures rise into the 90s. The mean incidence of violent crime was higher for days in the 90s than for days in the 80s. A hypothesis for resolving this contradiction between real world and laboratory findings is discussed.     

TESTICULAR SELF-EXAMINATION: VALIDATION OF A TRAINING STRATEGY FOR EARLY CANCER DETECTION

Testicular self-examination (TSE) can lead to early diagnosis and treatment of testicular cancer, the third leading cause of death in young men. We evaluated the effectiveness of a brief and specific checklist for teaching TSE skills. Ten men were videotaped while performing testicular self-examinations before and after training. The TSE training resulted in large and significant increases in the number of TSE steps completed and duration of the TSE. Two urological validation measures supported the improvements observed in the mens' self-examinations. Subjects reported continued performance of TSE during a follow-up telephone interview. This pilot study indicates that a brief and specific checklist is an effective strategy for teaching early cancer detection skills.     

Superimposition of response-independent reinforcement

Studies that have superimposed response-independent reinforcement (or reinforcers scheduled by contingencies placed on the absence of responding) upon conventional response-dependent schedules are reviewed. In general, providing alternative sources of reinforcement reduced response rates below the levels observed when alternative reinforcement was absent. However, response-rate elevation was sometimes found, particularly when rates of superimposed response-independent reinforcement were low. Superimposition of schedules providing reinforcers contingent on the absence of responding usually produced more severe response-rate decrements than superimposition of response-independent reinforcement. A variant of Herrnstein's equation, which assumes that some of the alternative reinforcers function as if they were delivered by baseline response-dependent source of reinforcement, is in qualitative agreement with the overall body of results obtained, and can predict both increases and decreases in response rate as resulting from superimposed reinforcers.     

Relationship between specific disfluency variables and dichotic listening in stutterers

86 stutterers' disfluency patterns were examined in relation to their laterality preferences. Results suggest that young stutterers are a heterogeneous group and that specific disfluency variables were not related to ear preferences on a dichotic consonant-vowel listening task.     

Kohut's case of Mr Z: overcoming countertransference in self psychology

This paper has attempted to discover if the two analyses of Mr. Z by Kohut do in fact substantiate the clinical efficacy of his theoretical model. A brief overview was presented, as were critical assessments. The major point was developed, that a creative working-through of a complementary countertransference was largely responsible for the success of a second analysis after a first phase was seriously undercut by interfering material which rigidified the therapist's interpretation. It was concluded by noting how Kohut's need to overcome the countertransference played a vital role in catalyzing the evolution of his new theory.