Some conceptions of the new age

To verify and supplement a series of quantitative studies of attitudes about the New Age in which 143 panelists were surveyed, I analyzed qualitatively 86 comments. In general, findings were consistent with those yielded by statistical analyses. An expert panel was more tolerant of terms, practices, and beliefs than a panel of critics. Many respondents characterized the New Age as complex, diverse, and eclectic. When I examined those comments that were concerned with the survey itself, I classified them as predominantly unfavorable, with most charging ambiguity of items and bias on the part of the investigators. When I inspected the comments for frequent topics, those with off-beat religious preferences were more favorable to the New Age than those with traditional preferences. Positive suggestions, expressions of tolerance, and other remarks were noted. I concluded that skeptics and anti-cult specialists may have to change their conceptions of the New Age.An active member of the American Family Foundation, he is on the Board of Directors, the Research Advisory Committee, and the New Age Study Group. He is also on the Editorial Advisory Boards of theCultic Studies Journal andthe Journal of Religion and Health.     

Attribution processes in mother-adolescent conflict

Attributions reported by 115 mothers and 122 adolescents were examined as they related to family conflict. Subjects completed measures of parent-adolescent conflict (Issues Checklist, Conflict Behavior Questionnaire) and the Mother-Adolescent Attribution Questionnaire. The results revealed that parent-adolescent conflict correlated with mothers' and teenagers' negative attributions. Specifically, self-reported conflict was positively correlated with mothers' and teenagers' beliefs that one another's negative behavior was intentional, selfishly motivated, and blameworthy.     

A theory of argumentative understanding: Relationships among position preference,judgments of goodness,memory and reasoning

Data are presented that focus on the nature and development of argumentative reasoning. In particular our study describes how support for or against an issue affects memory for critical parts of an argumentative interaction, judgments of argument goodness, and the content of the reasons given in support of one view versus another. Two other factors were examined: developmental differences in argumentation skill and the conditional nature of supporting one side of an argument across varying contexts. Our results show that even seven year old children can recognize, identify, and use the basic components of an argument to provide evidence for and make judgements about their favored position. Moreover, if position support is held constant across all age groups of students, seven year old children were found to give reasons and explanations that were highly similar in content and principle to college students. The same similarities held across age with respect to biases in memory and judgements of argument goodness. The primary difference between children's and college students' argument behavior lay in the side of an argument the students chose to support. Seven year old children and some eleven yearold children supported positions that impute more value to friendship and social consequences than to the maintenance and advancement of individual rights, as specified in a contract agreement. The similarities and differences across development are discussed with respect to a theory of argumentation that speaks to the importance of understanding the nature of goal conflict and a theory of intentionality in predicting how arguments will be represented and resolved.     

Evaluation of instructional software: Design considerations and recommendations

The elements of desirable research design for the evaluation of educational technology are discussed with reference to the context of existing research. Sources of internal invalidity, type of compared educational activity, and outcome measures are considered. Finally, recommendations regarding the direction of evaluation research are made. Research designs that take into account the characteristics of the learner, the software, and the teacher preferably within the framework of a model of the learning process should be adopted.     

Cynical Hostility: A Risk Factor in HIV-1 Infection?1

The aims of this study of HIV-1 positive and HIV-1 negative gay males without disease were (a) to determine whether cynical hostility in these groups (measured by the Cook-Medley Ho scale) is associated with psychosocial deficits that potentially could influence the course of HIV infection; and (b) to examine the construct validity of the sum of three Ho subsets in this sample. Correlational analyses on the full samples, and multivariate analyses of high- and low-hostility groups (formed using Ho scale cutoffs from previous research), examined person variables (traits, coping style), environmental variables (social support, stressors), and affect. In all domains other than stressors (traits, coping styles, social support, and affect), cynical hostility was associated with psychosocial deficits, with results generally stronger for the full Ho scale than for the subset sum. Results support previous research on psychosocial deficits of the cynically hostile, extend findings to HIV-infected gay males, and enlarge our understanding of the trait and coping style correlates of cynical hostility. Implications of these findings for HIV infection are discussed.     

Influence of children's positive self-perceptions on donating behavior in a naturalistic setting

The present study investigated the effects of self-perceptions on the donating behavior of 43 fourth-grade students. The children had two opportunities to donate gum to another class. Half of the students received feedback after the first donation period indicating that they were particularly generous. These children subsequently gave more than children in the control group (p<.05). Sociometric measures indicated that the perceptions children had of themselves and others were related to donating. The results were similar for both males and females. Children process new information into their cognitive systems. The resulting cognitions help guide future behaviors.