Contemporary Title VII Enforcement: The Song Remains the Same?

Equal employment opportunity (EEO) law is constantly evolving and many changes can happen in 50 years. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 has always been the most comprehensive law related to workplace discrimination. Like all laws, Title VII has matured over time, including amendments by Congress, refinement by the courts, and creation and updates of regulations by enforcement agencies. However, there are several controversies that have endured during this maturation process, and this article focuses on four of them: (1) adverse impact theory, (2) reverse discrimination, (3) sexual harassment, and (4) retaliation. There are common issues across these controversies. However, for purposes of exposition, each one is treated as a separate entity. For each of the four controversies, we review historical context, recommend compliance strategies and share best EEO practice recommendations for practitioners and employers.     

Intimate Partner Violence and Relationship Dissolution Among Reserve Soldiers

The military has sought to prevent intimate partner violence (IPV) and relationship dissolution. This study examined the longitudinal associations of psychosocial, demographic, and military service characteristics with IPV and relationship dissolution among 546 married or cohabiting reservist military personnel that both mobilized and demobilized during an approximate 8-month period in 2003. Over 13% reported engaging in IPV in the year prior to mobilization. Younger age and more stress were associated with IPV. Upon demobilization, 5% of the sample had experienced relationship dissolution, which was associated with less education, CONUS (continental United States) deployments, and enlisted rank. Identifying the factors associated with IPV and relationship dissolution may help detect couples at potential risk to improve family support and military readiness.     

Psychometric and Behavioral Measures of Central Auditory Function: The Relationship Between Dichotic Listening and Digit Span Tasks

We hypothesized that the Digit Span (DS) subtest and component tasks (Wechsler, 1991) would show strong relationships with a dichotic listening test (Musiek, 1983). In two sets of archival clinical data (N = 74 and N = 51) we demonstrated that: (a) individuals with central auditory deficits had lower DS scores, F(1, 72) = 7.34, p = .008; η² = .09; and (b) left-ear dichotic deficits impacted forward span, F(2, 48) = 8.45, p = .001. Right-ear dichotic listening performance also accounted for significant variance in digit forward span (R ² = 0.17, p = .003). While limited in scope, the studies conclude that forward but not reverse span performance is strongly related to dichotic listening, and can serve as a marker for possible central auditory deficits.     

An Investigation of Neuronal Integrity in Severe Paediatric Traumatic Brain Injury

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) and its association with neuropsychological functioning was examined in the chronic injury phase of paediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI). Fifteen children, aged 10-16 years, with severe TBIs were compared with 15 controls, matched for age and gender. The TBI group was found to have significantly lower levels of N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) and Choline (Cho) in the right frontal lobe and generally displayed reduced performances on neuropsychological tests. A correlation between metabolites and reaction times was also obtained. Findings indicate a role of proton MRS as a measure of neuronal integrity following severe paediatric TBI and suggest a potential association of MRS with specific neuropsychological impairments.     

An Examination of Lexical and Sublexical Reading Skills in Children with Neurofibromatosis Type 1

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is an inherited neurocutaneous disorder associated with a high frequency of cognitive and learning difficulties. Based on discrepancies between IQ and academic achievement, approximately 17% of children with NF1 have been classified as having reading impairments. In this study, the lexical and sublexical reading skills of children with NF1 (n = 30) were examined using the Castles' Word/Non-Word Test (modified version), together with measures of neuropsychological functioning and academic achievement. Twenty children (67%) demonstrated deficits in one or more reading subskills, with 75% of these meeting criteria for phonological dyslexia and 20% classified with mixed dyslexia. These findings indicate that a large proportion of children with NF1 may be characterized by a specific difficulty with the sublexical procedure, suggesting a difficulty employing spelling-to-sound rules to assemble a pronunciation when reading. In line with previous studies, the present findings also suggest that discrepancy-based methods may not be sufficiently sensitive to identify children who experience reading difficulties.     

A novel executive function battery for preschoolers: Sensitivity to age differences

The present study investigated sensitivity to age differences in a novel executive function (EF) battery for children aged 18 months to 5 years, and whether the pattern of associations among the measures was consistent with a hierarchical model of EF development. Participants (n = 261, aged 18–67 months) were administered a battery of novel tasks designed to assess 3 key EF components (working memory, inhibition, and shifting). The results indicate that the EF tasks were sensitive to age differences and provide partial support for the hierarchical model of EF development.     

Marital event appraisals and frequencies: A comparison of distressed and nondistressed husbands

Abstract

Frequencies of marital events have been shown to vary according to whether a marriage is classified as distressed or nondistressed, but it is not known if these two groups of subjects appraise or view marital events in the same ways. This study examined husbands' appraisals of five marital events which were recorded daily for 90 consecutive days. Subjects appraised events according to four qualities: desirability, changingness, meaningfulness, and control. Event frequencies of desirable and undesirable events replicated previous work, but contrary to our expectations, there were no differences in how husbands from distressed and nondistressed marriages viewed events.     

Rushton’s contributions to the study of mental ability

This essay describes Rushton’s contribution to examining the nexus of intelligence, race, and genetics, specifically what I termed “Spearman’s hypothesis”. It states that Black–White differences are “most marked in just those [tests] which are known to be saturated with g”. I (Jensen) had confirmed this hypothesis using large data sets in the 1970s and 1980s and also found that Black–White differences were most marked on the more heritable rather than the more cultural subtests. Rushton confirmed and extended these findings in many highly innovative ways and demonstrated Spearman’s hypothesis applied among samples of Gypsy Roma in Serbia, and East Asian, European, South Asian, Colored and Black samples in South Africa. He has not only documented group differences in brain size, intelligence, life span, family structure, infant mortality, developmental precocity, personality, and temperament, and rates of two egg twinning, and crime among East Asians, Europeans, and Africans, but also provided a life history theory that explains them.