Values of Postpartum Women from the Inner City: An Exploratory Study

An exploratory study of the values of inner-city postpartum women was conducted. Subjects were largely single, with many on/or going on public assistance. Each subject was given the Rokeach Value Scale and asked to prioritize the terminal values (goals) in terms of herself and the instrumental values (means) in terms of what she would like to teach her child. Rankings were compared to corresponding rankings compiled by a national sample, considered a more traditional era, and by marital status within the postpartum mother sample itself. Economic values were ranked higher by inner-city mothers than by the national sample. The top terminal value was family security and the top instrumental value was responsible. When compared by marital status, the only significant difference was the higher ranking of mature love given by married women. Results suggests that the values of the inner-city single postpartum mother can be conceptualized as a mosaic incorporating values shared with the mainstream and values adapted to the conditions of poverty.     

Explicit contamination in “implicit” memory for new associations

In one view of implicit memory, priming arises from modification of preexisting representations; however, the role of such representations is currently in doubt following findings of implicit memory for newly formed associations. Closer consideration of studies reporting this effect, and of others that have failed to obtain it, suggests that such priming might result from the employment of explicit memory strategies. With measures designed to permit exclusion of such strategies, three experiments using lexical decision and stem-completion tasks found no evidence of truly implicit memory for unrelated pairs. Instead, priming was found only in those subjects (50% of the total in one experiment) who reported using explicit memory in stem completion. Contrary to previous conclusions, the results indicate a role for established representations in explaining implicit memory.     

Test Anxiety, Self-Awareness, and Cognitive Interference: A Process Analysis

ABSTRACT Participants performed a cognitive task under evaluative, self-awareness, and neutral conditions, Task performance was determined jointly by trait test anxiety and situational factors. Test anxiety led to poorer performance in both evaluative and self-awareness situations, relative to the neutral situation. We examined the cognitive activity variables that might mediate the effects of test anxiety and situational variables on performance, and identified a significant cognitive mediator of the main effect of test anxiety, but not for the Test Anxiety x Situation interaction effect. Therefore, the current experiment offered some support for Sarason's (1980) cognitive interference theory, as well as integrating test anxiety and self-awareness research.     

Managers' alcohol use: Roles and symbolic functions

Alcohol was used widely by a representative sample of managers in the private business sector. Manager's perceptions of the roles and the symbolic functions played by alcohol are reported. The inclusion of the roles and symbolic functions in change strategies are advocated.This study was funded by the Alcoholic Liquor Advisory Council of New Zealand. The author would like to acknowledge the work of Ruth Houghton and Prue Toft in conducting the original study.     

The recovering female alcoholic: A family affair

Supported by a review of relevant literature and a case study, the author argues that family therapy intervention enhances the likelihood of a female alcoholic's positive prognosis. With a basis in systems theory, family therapy views the family as a system and, hence, perceives the alcoholism as a symptom of that family. A profile of the female alcoholic, how her drinking affects her family, and the role that family therapy plays in the recovery process are examined.     

‘Belonging to a global religion’: The sociological dimensions of international elements in Sahaja Yoga

The paper introduces a contemporary Hindu‐based sect, Sahaja Yoga, and outlines the extent to which the beliefs and rituals of the group foster its internal perception of itself as a global movement. The network of contacts maintained between British members and the international ‘collective’ of disciples which also go towards supporting this view are highlighted. The paper then describes the extent to which there is international cultural conformity within Sahaja Yoga. The final section draws on Rajneeshism for a comparative discussion of issues raised. It explores the factors behind the differing global configurations of religious groups, the advantages and disadvantages of having a global ethos and some of the ways in which New Religious Movements mirror aspects of the contemporary process of globalisation.     

Selectively prompting speech repairs in stages I to V: A technique for investigating early metalinguistic abilities

When children aged from 1;6 to 3;6 made errors in relation to targeted morphemes within grammatically obligatory contexts, a prompt of “Pardon?” was given. Morpheme repair rates increased with linguistic proficiency, and with target morpheme mastery. The selective use of prompted repairs appears to be a useful technique for assessing rudimentary abilities to monitor grammatical form within very young children.     

“Subordination” and sensitivity to nonverbal cues: A study of married working women

Sex Roles - Women's superiority in decoding nonverbal cues of emotion has often been discussed as an adaptation to low status. To examine the relation of status to nonverbal sensitivity,...