Autobiographical memory and perceptual learning: A developmental study using picture recognition,naming latency,and perceptual identification

Memory &; Cognition - In this paper, we report four experiments aimed at extending the distinction between recognition memory and perceptual memory introduced by Jacoby and Dallas (1981). In...     

Pre-employment honesty testing: Fakability,reactions of test takers,and company image

Two common employer concerns about pre-employment honesty testing were addressed: fakability and the test taker's reaction to such tests. Students, 84% with work experience in industries where honesty tests are common, took an honesty test under one of three instructional sets: respond honestly, fake good, and respond as if applying for a job. While subjects instructed to fake good could easily do so, the scores of subjects responding as job applicants more closely resembled those of subjects instructed to respond honestly. Strong negative reactions to honesty tests were not found; rather, most subjects felt that such tests were appropriate. The use of pre-employment honesty tests was not found to have a large impact on test taker perceptions of employers using such tests.     

Parent-identified problem preschoolers: Mother-child interaction during play at intake and 1-year follow-up

Parent-referred 2- and 3-year-olds and controls, participating in a longitudinal study of hyperactivity and related behavior problems, were observed with their mothers during play at an initial assessment and a 1-year follow-up. Mothers of problem children provided more redirection initially and made more negative control statements at follow-up than mothers of controls; problem youngsters tended to play more aggressively. Sex differences were prominent. Mothers of boys, regardless of referral status, were more directive at the initial assessment; their sons were less cooperative and somewhat more aggressive in their play. Maternal involvement in play decreased over time, possibly as a response to developmental changes in children's play. Group by time interactions indicated that mothers of control children provided fewer negative control statements at follow-up relative to mothers of problem children and to their own levels at the first assessment; mothers of problem youngsters redirected their children less than they had initially. Mothers of boys were also less directive at follow-up relative to their initial levels. Situational and developmental factors are discussed briefly.     

Comparative effects of externally managed and self-managed response-cost systems on inappropriate classroom behavior

This study compares the relative efficacy of externally managed and self- managed free token response-cost systems in decreasing the inappropriate behavior of two learning-disabled students. The differential effects of the two treatment conditions were assessed by using an alternating treatments design. Experimental control was demonstrated by adding reversal phases comparing the treatments with baseline conditions. The results indicated that the two treatment conditions are equally effective in decreasing inappropriate behavior. The reasons for and implications of the findings are discussed.     

Instructional control of sex-related motor behavior in extremely masculine or feminine adults

The main purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which apparently sex-typed subjects manipulated behaviors on the Sex Role Motor Behavior Checklist in response to instructions to convey specific sex-role impressions. Extremely masculine and feminine males and females (10–12 per group) were assessed for their ability to change sex-related motor behavior upon request. Subjects were able to produce significant increases in masculine and feminine motor behavior, particularly in the areas of walking and sitting. Many individual behaviors, however, showed small or inconsistent changes. Apparently, many of the motor differences naturally displayed by males and females are either not consciously part of sex-typed adults' concept of given sex roles or are relatively inflexible in this population. Secondary purposes of the study were to identify specific sex-related motor behavior (a) to alter when changes in sex role seem desirable and (b) to utilize as dependent measures in measuring changes in sex role. Walking and sitting were shown to be especially important areas.The authors would like to thank David Millsaps, Reid Smith, Donna Gosnell, Ruth Rankin, and Stephanie Stohr for their assistance.     

AIDS and intimate relationships: Adolescents’ knowledge and attitudes

The knowledge level about HIV/AIDS among American adolescents aged 16 to 19 has been assessed on several occasions, showing that in recent years their knowledge base has improved. The knowledge bases of British adolescents and of adolescents younger than 16 have been largely ignored. In attempting to assess the likely impact on present or future behaviors of increasing adolescents’ knowledge base about AIDS it is important to also know something of adolescents’ attitudes to intimate relationships and to sex within those relationships. Previous studies have not linked these two aspects. In this study two hundred London schoolchildren aged 14 and 15 years completed a questionnaire tapping both their knowledge about HIV infection and its transmission and their attitudes to intimate relationships. Their answers revealed that they had absorbed the simple media messages about AIDS, that it kills and that use of a condom during sex offers protection. However they were less well informed on detailed aspects of prevention, although, worryingly, they believed that they knew all that they needed to about preventive measures. The majority had attitudes to intimate relationships that were compatible with the message of restricting their number of sexual partners; however, a significant minority did not. The latter were more likely to deny the risk associated with promiscuity. It is suggested that school-based AIDS education programs should help individuals to develop new attitudes to intimate relationships that are compatible with risk avoidance.     

Comparison of the Effects of Formal and Informal Accountability on the Correct Performance of a Lifeguard Rescue

We compared instructional strategies used to train lifeguards. Fifteen undergraduates participated in the study during their twice weekly 90 minute lifeguard classes. A checklist of 15 steps was used to define correct performance of a lifeguard (water) rescue. The dependent variable was the percentage of steps completed correctly. Data were collected from videotapes of 32 sessions. A multi-treatment reversal design was used to assess the efficacy of typical peer instruction, a triad where students verbally supported one another, a triad where members used a checklist to prompt correct performance, and a instructor-mediated condition where for each 90% or better correct performance the participant received a bonus grade point. The significance of the rescue was not enough to produce competent performance, neither was peer support, nor peer-mediated instruction using a checklist, but all participants achieved 90% correct performance or better during the instructor-mediated condition. Our results suggest that the instructor-mediated condition is considerably more effective than informal accountability.     

Priesthood and the Epistle to the Hebrews

Current controversies about the ordination of women have shown the need for a re-examination of what the Christian Church means by priesthood. This article looks at the Epistle to the Hebrews' contribution to our understanding. To that end it focuses on the institution of priesthood in its first-century Jewish context and shows the use made of it by the author of Hebrews in his presentation of Christian faith.
Section 1 emphasizes some all-important differences between the NT's use of the language of priesthood and ours. Not least, it nowhere uses "priest" to designate Christian ministers. All the more striking, therefore, is Hebrews' depiction of Jesus as "high priest".
Section 2 discusses Judaism' Day of Atonement ceremonies – Hebrews' dominant cultic model. In the comparison drawn between Christ's death and exaltation with these rites, he becomes not only the high priest but also the expiatory victim.
As far as Judaism' cultic institutions are concerned, however, Jesus was not and never could be a priest, since he was of the tribe of Judah rather than Levi. Hence Hebrews appeals to Melchizedek. How this non-Israelite model is used by Hebrews to subvert the whole notion of priesthood as caste is discussed in section 3.
Finally, in section 4 Isaacs concludes that for Hebrews there is no longer a role for an ongoing priesthood, since Jesus has definitively achieved access to God, which was its raison d'être . Melchizedekian high priesthood is unique to Christ; neither inherited nor transmitted. Hence, unlike other NT authors, for Hebrews even the church as a corporate body is not a priesthood. As its closing chapters show, in this Epistle the cultic model gives way to the more inclusive one of pilgrimage.     

Academic achievement in children of divorce

The influence of parental divorce on Swedish children's final grades from compulsory school was studied. The study group comprised all children (n = 74) of a 1-year-sample of divorcing parents, who finished school within 1 year before, to 5 years after the parental divorce. Each child was matched with two classmates of the same sex from nondivorced homes, born at approximately the same time (control group). Comparisons of grade point average were made among children with different socioeconomic status. The grades of the children of divorce and the controls were similar, but children of manual workers were found to have a lower grade point average than children of higher level nonmanual employees. Thus, the study indicates that parental divorce in itself does not imply a significantly detoriated outcome in final school grades among children.