Sex differences in Group Embedded Figures Test performance in relation to sex-role,state and trait anxiety

The Group Embedded Figures Test of field dependence (GEFT) was administered to first-year psychology students who were then assigned to four sex-role classes depending on whether or not they exceeded median masculinity and femininity scores on the Bem Sex-Role Inventory. Males achieved significantly higher GEFT scores but there were no significant sex-role effects. In a second study, other students were assigned to field dependent (DEP) and independent (INDEP) groups according to whether or not they exceeded the median GEFT performance for each sex. Between-group comparisons were then made of scores on the state and trait scales of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. In neither case was there a significant difference between the DEP and INDEP groups. However, for males only, there was a significant negative correlation between state and GEFT scores as well as a significant positive correlation between the two anxiety scales. Although the latter results suggested a sex difference in how the GEFT demands are perceived, it was concluded that neither sex-role nor state or trait anxiety could adequately account for consistently better male GEFT performance.     

The application of cognitive dissonance theory to consultation

Despite the importance of the consultation role for the school psychologist, the current literature on consultation has little to offer the practitioner in terms of empirically-based consultation strategies. This paper views consultation as, at least in part, a persuasive process. Cognitive dissonance theory is an extensively researched social psychological theory that predicts when a particular persuasive attempt will be successful and which has implications for consultation.

This article summarizes those aspects of dissonance theory that are most relevant to consultation, reviews the corresponding experimental support, and suggests practical applications of dissonance research and theory to consultation. Because these applications are extrapolations from research outside of consultation, they are viewed as hypotheses.     

Killing kids: The juvenile death penalty and community sentiment

In the Supreme Court's Eighth Amendment jurisprudence, “community sentiment” plays a central if not dispositive role in determining if a punishment is disproportionate. To gauge sentiment on the death penalty for juveniles, two experiments with death-qualified subjects were run, where age (a 15–25 age range) and case (heinousness) were varied in the first, and type of defendant (principal, accessory, or felony-murder accessory) and an extended age range (13–25) varied in the second. Significant age effects occur in both experiments, with approximately 75% and 65% refusing to give the death penalty for the youngest (13–15) and next youngest (16–18) groups, whereas 60% give the death penalty for the 25-year-old. In their reasons for their decisions, the killing kid was judged less blameworthy and death-worthy. Although politicians have called for “a man-sized punishment for a man-sized crime,” this community does not see that “man-sized” punishment fitting the kid.     

Visual-word recognition thresholds for screen-fragmented names of the Snodgrass and Vanderwart pictures

The set of names corresponding to the pictures from Snodgrass and Vanderwart (1980) were screen fragmented by means of a series of procedures implemented in Microsoft QuickBasic on a Macintosh microcomputer. Words were screen fragmented by deleting blocks of pixels from their images rather than by deleting individual letters. The screen-fragmentation procedure is particularly useful for the present set of words, in which a large proportion of the names of the pictures are short (fewer than five letters). The screen-fragmentation procedure can produce any number of fragmentation levels. In the present implementation, eight levels of fragmented images were produced, to correspond to the eight levels available for the Snodgrass and Vanderwart pictures.     

The display and animation of full-color images in real time on the Macintosh computer

Techniques for displaying and animating full-color and gray-scale images in real time are illustrated with Pascal examples. The Palette Manager procedures included in the Macintosh Toolbox are used to circumvent the speed limitations inherent in drawing and redrawing images on the Macintosh’s video display. With the technique of palette animation, images of arbitrary size and complexity can be displayed easily and animated at the scan rate of the video monitor. The routines described here are based on Toolbox procedures available on any Macintosh with color video capabilities.     

Children's attributions for Peers' positive behaviors: Social status differences

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences between aggressive-rejected and nonaggressive-cooperative boys in their attributions for peers'positive behaviors. In individual interviews, 27 aggressive-rejected and 27 nonaggressive-accepted boys were presented with 10 vignettes and a real-life situation in which a peer's action resulted in a favorable outcome for another peer or for the subject. Subjects' attributions for the peer's behavior were elicited with open-ended probes. Analysis of variance indicated that the groups did not differ in their tendency to infer positive intentions in the hypothetical story condition. In the real-life situation, aggressive-rejected boys were less likely to infer positive intentionality than were the nonaggressive-accepted boys. Boys' responses across the two conditions (hypothetical and real life) were moderately consistent.     

Sex-dependent habituation to novelty in rats

Male and female rats were familiarized with one-half of an exploration box for 30 or 60 minutes. When later tested, females showed higher preferences for the other novel half than males. Females also showed higher levels of rearing and ambulation. No sex differences were evident for grooming, freezing or defecation. The results were interpreted as females having habituated to the forced-exposure novelty of the familiar half of the apparatus more rapidly than males when the familiarization period was relatively short. With a longer period, males would have had more time to reach a similar level of habituation to that attained by females familiarized for 30 minutes. Relationships between novelty preferences and both rearing and ambulation as indices of exploration were also discussed in the light of significant correlations for males only.     

Self-concept and sociometric outcomes: a comparison of only children and sibling children from urban and rural areas in the People's Republic of China.

We investigated differences in self-concept between 360 only children and 555 sibling children in the sixth grade of three urban schools and three rural schools in the People's Republic of China. Peer perceptions and teacher perceptions were also collected using sociometric measures. Self-concept was determined by the Self-Perception Profile for Children (Harter, 1985). Comparisons of sibling children and only children showed no differences on self-concept; however, urban residents had higher self-concept scores than children from rural areas, and boys scored higher than girls. No significant interaction effects between sibling status, gender, and residence were found.