Attitudes Toward Women's Rights: Relationships with Social Dominance Orientation and Political Group Identities

This research assessed the extent to whichattitudes toward women's rights are predicted by socialdominance orientation (SDO) and the political groupidentities socialist and capitalist. Respondents were 181 Australian undergraduates (54 males, 127females), most of whom were of European descent. Theresults of multiple regression analyses suggested thatSDO was the most consistent predictor of negative attitudes, although the extent to which itunderpins attitudes toward women's rights was found tovary for men and women: for men it was the onlysignificant predictor. Support was also found for theideological asymmetry hypothesis. The results are discussedwith reference to social dominance theory.     

Why some are perceived as more confident and more insecure, more reckless and more cautious, more trusting and more suspicious, than others: Enriched and impoverished options in social judgment

In line with the principle of compatibility, when making social judgments, people tend to focus on personality attributes compatible with the trait under consideration. Better known, orenriched, personages are more likely to present attributes that are compatible with a particular trait than are personages about whom little is known. As a result, enriched personages are more likely to have various, sometimes even conflicting, traits attributed to them. This hypothesis is supported by a number of studies that compare the frequency with which some people are chosen as being better described by opposite trait adjectives than are others. Celebrities more often have both of a pair of opposing adjectives ascribed to them than do less well known figures. Similarly, subjects judge themselves to be better described by either of a pair of opposite adjectives than is a person who is relatively unknown in their lives. The implications for social judgment and for everyday decisions are discussed.     

Neurons in Human Temporal Cortex Active with Verbal Associative Learning

In neuronal activity recorded from human middle temporal gyrus during learning of associations between word pairs, a population was identified that had greater activity for associations that were learned rapidly during initial encoding compared to those learned slowly or not at all by an individual subject. This population can be separated from other neurons by the combination of inhibition during word reading when no learning is required and excitation during recent memory for words. These neurons are present in both hemispheres, predominately in deeper layers of cortex. During initial encoding, the increased activity appears at presentation of all word pairs but persists for several seconds only for the rapidly learned pairs, likely reflecting rehersal of items being learned. Human associative learning is related to activity of this specific population of “association” neurons, identified here for the first time.     

Integrating Minuchin's Boundary Continuum And Bowen's Differentiation Scale: A Curvilinear Representation

The purpose of this article is to discuss an integration of Minuchin's boundary continuum and Bowen's differentiation scale. Minuchin's boundary continuum provides a framework for understanding proximity and distance within relationships. It graphically depicts health in relationships as being a dynamic middle ground between the extremes of enmeshment and disengagement. Bowen's differentiation scale illustrates differences in emotional health, such as the ability to distinguish between thoughts and feelings, associated with varying levels of differentiation. A curvilinear integration of Minuchin's continuum and Bowen's scale retains the advantages of each and also expands their understanding.     

Methylphenidate Does Not Modify the Impact of Response Frequency or Stimulus Sequence on Performance and Event-Related Potentials of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Twenty-six children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) participated in a double-blind trial consisting of 2 consecutive weeks each of placebo and methylphenidate (M = 26.92 mg/day = 0.78 mg/kg/day). As expected, stimulant therapy resulted in moderate weight loss, increased somatic complaints, and teacher and parent reports of reduced inattentiveness, aggression, and oppositionality. In both phases of the trial, patients were tested in a choice reaction time task assessing two aspects of the task that presumably affect response selection: response frequency (ratio of targets/nontargets = 25/75 vs. 50/50) and stimulus sequence (alternations vs. repetitions). Both manipulations yielded expected results on performance and event-related potentials (ERPs). Stimulant treatment increased accuracy and speed among younger children and curtailed variability of reaction time for the sample as a whole. However, methylphenidate did not affect ERPs. In combination, the results imply that the enhancement of performance by methylphenidate does not involve the demands of response selection examined in this study.     

Two effects of repetition: Support for a dual-process model of know judgments and exclusion errors

In three experiments, aremember/know recognition test (Experiments 1–2) and an exclusion test (Experiments 2–3) were used to examine effects of repeated study presentations. An effect of study repetition was obtained for remember but not know judgments, similar to results reported by Gardiner, Kaminska, Dixon, and Java (1996). Experiment 2 demonstrated the similarity between know responses and exclusion errors; neither was affected by repeated study presentations. In Experiment 3, a response deadline procedure was used to show that exclusion errors are the product of two opposing processes—recollection and familiarity—both of which are influenced by repetition. The interpretation of exclusion errors and know responses is shown to require a dual-process model that includes an assumption about the relationship between processes.     

Antecedents of Goal Commitment: An Empirical Examination of Personal and Situational Factors1

The purpose of this study was to provide a partial test of the Hollenbeck and Klein (1987) model of goal commitment. Four variables from that model (reward structure, social influence, type-A behavior, and self-esteem) were examined as to their relationships with the expectancy and attractiveness of goal attainment and goal commitment. The results, based on 88 college students performing an anagram task, were generally supportive. Significant person by situation interactions were also observed.     

Is guidance an applied science?: The role of theory in the careers guidance interview

Some of the findings of a study investigating careers officers' use of theoretical models in the careers guidance interview are discussed. Data were collected through visits to institutions offering Diploma in Careers Guidance courses, a large-scale questionnaire survey of careers officers, and semi-structured interviews and group discussions. There was evidence that in initial training, theory is used to support, rather than determine, the development of skills. Results also suggested that practising careers officers are familiar with a fairly wide range of theories, although in their interviewing they tend to apply broad principles of theory, rather than specific elements. Careers officers who trained some time ago were less familiar with theories than were those who trained more recently, and there was no support for the hypothesis that long service leads to a greater recognition of the relevance of theories generally. Familiarity with guidance and counselling theories appears to be more influential than knowledge of career theories on the way careers officers think about interviewing. Overall, the findings cast doubt on the view that careers guidance is an applied science.     

A multi-dimensional model for treating families that have survived mother assault

This paper offers a multidimensional family systems approach to treating children and their mothers in families who have survived violence and are in father-absent families. The model incorporates theoretical and clinical ideas from the child witness-to-violence field, the field of traumatic stress, and from feminist thinking. Three areas of intervention are detailed.The authors gratefully acknowledge the suggestions of the reviewers.