Norm-Narrowing and Self- and Other-Perceived Aggression in Early-Adolescent Same-Sex and Mixed-Sex Cliques

We examined the relations between group context and self- and other-perceptions of aggressive behavior in an ethnically-diverse sample of 168 male and female grade 7 adolescents. We used self- and peer-reports of aggression in high- and average-aggressive mixed-sex and same-sex cliques to examine whether group members would assimilate their self-report of aggression to the aggression report of their peers by way of perceived homophily or, conversely, engage in contrast and see their level of aggression as comparatively low in the face of high-aggression peers. Among boys in mixed-sex groups, comparison with highly-aggressive others resulted in a self-perception of lower levels of aggression than those perceived by their peers. Conversely, girls in mixed-sex groups reported their own levels of aggression to be higher than those perceived by their peers. We interpret these findings in terms of the notion of “norm narrowing”: rather than being set by the larger social environment, such as the school, norms are more narrowly determined within one's immediate peer group.     

Modifying food purchases in supermarkets with modeling, feedback, and goal-setting procedures

We compared several procedures designed to modify consumer food purchases with the objectives of reducing fat and increasing carbohydrate content, and reducing dollar expenditures on food. Participants were 126 volunteer community households which, after a 7-week baseline period, were randomly assigned to video-modeling, video-modeling-feedback, video-lecture, video-lecture-feedback, participant-modeling, video-modeling-discussion, and control conditions. The main dependent measure was a weekly record of food purchases, convertible to percentages of nutrients and dollar expenditures. Results indicated that modeling-feedback and participant-modeling procedures were most effective (e.g., 6% reduction of total fat consumption, 19% dollar savings). Strategies to refine and automate modeling and feedback in supermarkets that may benefit consumers, corporations, and government are discussed.     

External Correlates of the Personality Assessment Inventory Higher Order Structures

This brief report explores the external correlates of 2 higher order structures of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey, 1991, 2007); Hoelzle and Meyer's (2009a, 2009b) PAI Components and Hopwood and Moser's (2011) Internalizing and Externalizing Dimensions. Scores from these higher order structures were correlated with life-event data including education, marital status, employment, suicide attempts, psychiatric hospitalizations, trauma, medical problems, hallucinations, paranoid ideation, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and arrest. Although some differences were noted, the results showed that both Hoelzle and Meyer's Components and Hopwood and Moser's Dimensions were meaningfully correlated with a wide range of life outcomes in a conceptually consistent manner. Overall, these findings provide support for the utility of these higher order variables.     

Operants Were Never "Emitted," Feeling Is Doing, And Learning Takes Only One Trial: A Review Of B. F. Skinner's Recent Issues In The Analysis Of Behavior

This final collection of Skinner's papers was intended for the professional, although other readers will find much of interest. The first five chapters are devoted to what Skinner called “theoretical issues” and include clear presentations of his positions on “feelings” and on the “self” as an apparent agent of volition. Skinner skillfully discusses thinking, the origins of cognitive-mediational theories, and a favorite topic: the similarity of processes occurring in the histories of species and of individuals. The next four chapters cover what he called “professional issues,” including the often-misunderstood philosophy known as radical behaviorism as well as the operant aspects of behavior therapy and attempts to influence educational practices. He seemed disappointed in the lack of acceptance of programmed learning methods and pessimistic about the possibility of improving education practices. This pessimism was evident in the final section, “personal issues,” in which he expressed doubt that the powerful and self-serving forces of government, business, and religion will ever permit the changes that could be wrought by the application of behavior analysis to the great problems of society. Two other chapters in the last section will be useful to historians who are curious about the influence of logical positivism on Skinner's thinking (apparently there was not much influence) and to sophisticated readers who are interested in Skinner's retrospective consideration of his work.     

The relationship between factorial composition of test items and measures of test reliability

For continuous distributions associated with dichotomous item scores, the proportion of common-factor variance in the test,H ², may be expressed as a function of intercorrelations among items.H ² is somewhat larger than the coefficienta except when the items have only one common factor and its loadings are restricted in value. The dichotomous item scores themselves are shown not to have a factor structure, precluding direct interpretation of the Kuder-Richardson coefficient,r _K-R, in terms of factorial properties. The value ofr _K-R is equal to that of a coefficient of equivalence,H ² , when the mean item variance associated with common factors equals the mean interitem covariance. An empirical study with synthetic test data from populations of varying factorial structure showed that the four parameters mentioned may be adequately estimated from dichotomous data.This study was supported in part by an Air Force project (Contract Number AF18(600-170), monitored by the Crew Research Laboratory, Air Force Personnel and Training Research Center, Randolph Air Force Base, Randolph Field, Texas. Permission is granted for reproduction, translation, publication, use and disposal in whole and in part by or for the United States Government. Further support was given by the Northwestern University Graduate School. The computational assistance of Mr. Norman Miller is acknowledged. Professor Meyer Dwass provided mathematical advice both directly and indirectly relevant to the paper.     

Components of IQ Scores Across Levels of Measured Ability

Forty-three (43) students from the Talent Identification Program's Summer Residential Program living in North Carolina took the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised (WISC-R; Wechsler, 1974) during the program. The test was also administered to 50 other North Carolina Students who qualified for the SRP but did not attend, as well as 34 students who had not been identified as gifted. The scores were evaluated for normative and idiographic strengths and weaknesses on the 12 subtests of the WISC-R. The idiographic differences were calculated by comparison against the average score of only the 6 subtests in the same subscale of the test (Verbal or Performance) as well as against all 12 subtests on the test. It was found by means of the former comparisons that the gifted students showed significantly more idiographic strengths on the Verbal scales and weaknesses on the Performance scales than the academically competent sample.     

The effects of reciprocal peer tutoring with a group contingency on quiz performance in vocabulary with seventh-and eighth-grade students

The purpose of this study was to compare reciprocal peer tutoring with a group contingency to a traditional vocabulary program in a regular middle-school classroom. The participants were 20 seventh and 12 eighth-grade students enrolled in a private parochial school. A counter-balanced time-series design was employed to evaluate the effects of reciprocal peer tutoring across the two groups of students. The overall results indicated that when students participated in reciprocal peer tutoring, scores on weekly quizzes in vocabulary were signifcantly higher. Reciprocal peer tutoring with a group contingency was beneficial to middle school students, easy to implement, and a cost- and time-efficient system for teachers and students. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.