Immaturity,delinquency, and the WechslerP > V sign

The classic psychodiagnostic sign for delinquency —Wechsler Performance IQ being higher than Verbal IQ —has shown generally good validity, improvable by a modifier variable (Warren's I -level system). Reasoning from the I-level immaturity theory of delinquency, the present study investigated age as a possible substitute for the I-level in its role as a moderator variable for the Wechsler P> Vsign, within a population of male juvenile delinquents. As hypothesized, young age predicted a high P > Vscore, supporting the immaturity theory of delinquency. Types of immaturity are discussed. Future work should test the P > Vsign as an aid in evaluating delinquency treatment methods.     

Internal-external control of reinforcement and embedded-figures performance

Male and female Ss were tested in an extended series of 68 embedded figures. Rate of decrease in discovery time was related to Ss’ attitudes about locus of control of reinforcing outcomes. Results confirmed those of an earlier study, showing that practice dissipated sex-related performance differences observable in early trials.     

Validation of Basic Empathy Scale: Exploring a Korean Version

The Basic Empathy Scale was designed to measure the multidimensional aspects of empathetic feelings, such as cognitive and affective empathy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the Basic Empathy Scale (BES). The Korean version of BES was administered to a sample of early adolescents aged 12–14 (N = 1524). The result of confirmatory factor analysis showed a two-factor solution with method effects associated with negatively worded items to be the most adequate model. Empathy was positively correlated with the measure of attachment, negatively correlated with the measure of bullying problems, and exhibited satisfactory internal consistency. BES proved to be a reliable assessment tool for empathy in a Korean adolescent sample. Moreover, in line with the previous research, girls were found to score significantly higher in both cognitive and affective empathy than boys.     

IQ stability: the relation between child and young adult intelligence test scores in low-birthweight samples

The stability of IQ from childhood to adulthood in low-birthweight subjects was measured in two independent samples with follow-up intervals of approximately 14 and 9.5 years. In both samples, intelligence was assessed with the WISC at a mean age of 9.5. Twenty-six subjects were retested with the WAIS at a mean age of 23.5, and 78 subjects with the BPP (the Danish Military Draft Board Intelligence Test) at the age of 19.1. Both samples obtained childhood and adult test scores below the expected means. For the Wechsler Verbal, Performance and Full-Scale IQs, the stability quotients were 0.86, 0.86, and 0.89 in the WAIS sample, and the retest correlations for the three IQs with the BPP score were 0.66, 0.65, and 0.74. Thus, the majority of children showed stable patterns of intellectual development from middle childhood to young adulthood.     

Synergistic effects of ethanol and cocaine on brain stimulation reward.

The effects of two widely abused drugs, ethanol and cocaine, were examined alone and in combination on intracranial reward processes. In agreement with previous research, higher doses of both cocaine and ethanol alone produced facilitation of behavior maintained by brain stimulation reward. Low intraperitoneal doses of ethanol and cocaine, which alone did not affect performance, were found to reduce stimulation reward threshold and modestly increase response rate. The enhancement of brain stimulation reward by the combination of ethanol and cocaine suggests that both drugs may produce their rewarding effects through common neuronal substrates and that they may potentiate the abuse of each other.     

Distribution of DSM-II diagnoses in a child psychiatric setting

While DSM-II contains more diagnostic categories related specifically to children than did the earlier DSM-I, clinical utilization studies of the various categories have not been extensive. The present study reports data on the distribution of diagnoses of childhood disorders and analyzes relationships among several diagnostic categories and subject variables. Results indicate that clinicians are using a wide range of DSM-II diagnoses for childhood disorders, including some which were intended for use with adults as well as those which were designed specifically for children. Transient Situational Disorders and Behavior Disorders are assigned almost equally to two-thirds of the sample. Chi-square analyses revealed a relationship between diagnostic categories and subject variables of age and sex. These data suggest that boys, particularly between the ages of 6 and 13, are more frequently than girls categorized as Behavior Disorder, and that the Transient Situational Disorder category is overutilized for adolescents, both male and female.The authors are indebted to James H. Johnson for his valuable contributions in all phases of this study and to Peggy Louro for her assistance in data collection.     

Sex differences in assertive achievement patterns

Observations in mathematics and social studies classrooms were made of 40 sixth-grade children of average and high ability to investigate whether males and females differ in assertive achievement behavior. The prediction of less assertive achievement behavior for females than males was supported only among average-ability children. Particularly in social studies, average-ability females participated less in the classroom than average-ability males and either high-ability males or females. Average-ability females' deficit of assertive behavior became more pronounced as the behavior category increased in degree of assertiveness. High-ability females demonstrated a deficit only in the most assertive behavior category.