Love and the addicted physician

This paper reviews the cases of two addicted physicians. One is dead and the other alive and well as a result of the heroic and compassionate effort of his friends. We offer speculations regarding the physicians' special vulnerabilities and the role of a tough love in transcending these vulnerabilities.     

Black-white college student attitudes and expectations in paying for dates

This study examined a black-white sample (N= 173) of university students to ascertain if there is a protocol related to paying for dates. The sample was comprised of 97 blacks and 76 whites. Most of the blacks were from a historically black university and most of the whites were from a predominantly white university, both located in the southeast. Blacks had a slightly lower mean family income when compared with whites. Both racial and gender role related attitudes and expectations related to paying for dates were also explored. African Americans have generally been noted to enact more flexible or nontraditional gender role attitudes and behaviors in some areas. This study sought to ascertain if this pattern followed in the economic dimension of dating. Findings showed race differences on several variables related to paying for dates. Blacks were found to be less flexible or more traditional than whites on several aspects of dating related attitudes and expectations. Whites were more likely to endorse more flexible role patterns and seemed less concerned with a dating protocol. Other important background variables related to more flexible gender role attitudes and expectations were classification, age, and total income of respondents' family of origin respectively.     

ASSESSING MANAGERS' SATISFACTION WITH STAFFING SERVICES

An application of TQM concepts is described for a survey assessment of State of Wisconsin managers' satisfaction with staffing-services delivered to them by the State's central staffing function. Focus groups of managers were used to identify the survey's content domain, and a steering group of managers guided decisions about final survey content, survey administration, and usage of results. The survey was administered to n = 645 line and HR managers. Results of psychometric analysis of responses provide favorable evidence (internal consistency, dimension independence) supporting usage of tke survey. Survey results served as a key input to implementation of several initiatives to improve staffing-service delivery. These initiatives lead to increases in speed of service delivery, elimination of paperwork, higher reported applicant quality, and positive applicant reactions. The satisfaction survey was not readministered, so it is impossible to specify what, if any, changes occurred in managers' satisfaction with staffing services.     

Sex Differences in Clinical Pain: A Multisample Study

A recent meta-analysis of the experimental pain literature revealed effect sizes of .55 for pain threshold and .57 for pain tolerance, indicating a moderate difference in pain perception between men and women, with women reporting an increased sensitivity to pain. The current study investigated the relationship between sex and clinical pain ratings, in patients seeking care at a tertiary care facility. Five samples of chronic pain patients were recruited from several diverse clinics associated with the University of Florida. Analyses of clinical pain ratings revealed similar effect sizes for all samples, ranging from –.07 to –.25, indicating small differences, with women reporting higher levels of clinical pain. This is the first paper to report effect sizes for differences in report of pain in samples of chronic pain patients presenting for treatment at a tertiary care facility.     

The effect of Method Variance on Relationships Between the Work Ethic and Individual Difference Variables

A great deal of research relating the work ethic to other individual difference variables has been conducted using questionnaires to measure all the variables. Many researchers believe that using a single method of measurement for multiple constructs results in artificially inflated correlations. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the work ethic, locus of control, and conscientiousness reveals that approximately 16% of the variance in measures of these constructs is a function of the method of measurement. This suggests that correlations in work ethic research based on only one method of measurement may be overstated.     

Reducing HIV risk-associated sexual behavior among african american adolescents: Testing the generality of intervention effects

This randomized controlled trial tested the effects of a theory-based culture-sensitive HIV risk-reduction intervention among 496 inner-city African American adolescents (mean age = 13 years) and examined the generality of its effects as a function of the facilitator's race and gender and the gender composition of the intervention group. Adolescents who received the HIV risk-reduction intervention expressed more favorable behavioral beliefs about condoms, greater self-efficacy, and stronger condom-use intentions postintervention than did those who received a control intervention on other health issues. Six-month follow-up data collected on 93% of the adolescents revealed that those who received the HIV risk-reduction intervention reported less HIV risk-associated sexual behavior, including unprotected coitus, than did their counterparts in the control condition. Self-reported sexual behavior and changes in self-reported behavior were unrelated to scores on a standard measure of social desirability response bias. There was strong evidence for the generality of intervention effects. Moderator analyses testing eight specific interaction hypotheses and correlational analyses indicated that the effects of the HIV risk-reduction intervention did not vary as a function of the facilitator's race or gender, participant's gender, or the gender composition of the intervention group. This research was supported in part by grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01-HD24921), the National Institute of Mental Health (R01-MH45668), and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions to this research of Margaret Bleier, Daria Boccher-Lattimore, Nancy L. Moore, Tatiana Perrino, Paul Pintella, and Fran Rosenfeld and the helpful suggestions of Isabel Fernandez, Caryn Lerman, and Ann O'Leary regarding an earlier version of this article.     

JUDGMENTS OF LEARNING AT DELAYS:

Abstract— Nelson and Dunlosky (1991) found that judgment-of-leaning (JOL) accuracy (measured using G) was nearly perfect if the JOL was made several minutes after study (the delayed-JOL effect ). However, over time, the distribution of judgments changed radically. When JOLs were made immediately, subjects typically used the middle of the scale, after a delay, more than 50% of judgments were made using the ends of the scale (Dunlosky & Nelson, 1994, Experiment 1). We replicated the delayed-JOL effect and found a similar rating shift. Is the delayed-JOL effect an artifact produced by this shift, or does it reflect true metamemory improvement? Monte Carlo simulations allowed us to separate these effects. Shifting judgments to ends of the scale did inflate JOL accuracy somewhat. The bulk of the delayed-JOL effect, however, resulted form increases in calibration. We conclude that the delayed-JOL effect reflects true metamemory improvement.     

JOB ANALYSIS MODELS AND JOB CLASSIFICATION

Recent research in job classification has focused on the appropriate data analysis model for analyzing the similarities and differences among jobs. In the present research, the data analysis model is held constant, and the type of job analysis data is varied to examine the effect on the resulting job classification decisions. Seven foremen jobs in a chemical processing plant were analyzed using three different levels of job analysis data: task-oriented, worker-oriented, and abilities-oriented. All three sets of data were analyzed using the same hierarchical clustering procedure. Results indicated that the number and type of resulting job clusters was clearly dictated by the type of job analysis data that was used to compare the foremen jobs. Practical implications of these findings are presented.