Predictors of Young Adolescents’ Math Grades and Course Enrollment Intentions: Gender Similarities and Differences

Gender differences and similarities in the relations of key constructs in Eccles and colleagues (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000) model of achievement were examined as predictors of math grades and enrollment intentions for Grade 9 boys (n = 263) and girls (n = 277). A number of gender similarities were found, particularly in the prediction of math grades. There were, however, two gender-specific paths: for girls, a direct path from competence beliefs to enrollment intentions, and for boys, a direct path from prior math grades to enrollment intentions. In addition, for boys, the path from utility value to enrollment intentions was stronger than it was for girls. These differential predictive patterns were found even though girls and boys reported similar levels of math utility and girls had lower math competence beliefs. For girls, competence beliefs were a significant predictor of both intentions and current math grades, which indicates the central role of competence beliefs.     

Visual recognition: as soon as you know it is there, you know what it is

What is the sequence of processing steps involved in visual object recognition? We varied the exposure duration of natural images and measured subjects' performance on three different tasks, each designed to tap a different candidate component process of object recognition. For each exposure duration, accuracy was lower and reaction time longer on a within-category identification task (e.g., distinguishing pigeons from other birds) than on a perceptual categorization task (e.g., birds vs. cars). However, strikingly, at each exposure duration, subjects performed just as quickly and accurately on the categorization task as they did on a task requiring only object detection: By the time subjects knew an image contained an object at all, they already knew its category. These findings place powerful constraints on theories of object recognition.     

Use of the adolescent SASSI in a juvenile correctional setting

The Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory-Adolescent (SASSI-A) is used in evaluation and treatment planning for incarcerated juveniles. Validity of the SASSI-A in a juvenile correctional facility was examined using archival data. Findings generally support the validity of SASSI-A substance use scales. However, there is concern regarding the potential for ethnic bias in this setting. Cut-scores suggest that the SASSI-A may best be used for detecting problematic alcohol consumption using the Face Valid Alcohol Scale > or = 3. Future studies should more closely investigate whether the three underlying dimensions of the SASSI-A are useful in treatment planning. Results are presented in light of the relatively new SASSI-A2.     

Maternal Perceptions of Competence and Children’s Academic Adjustment: Longitudinal Relations across Early Elementary School

Children’s perceptions of their academic ability play an important role in their academic adjustment, but relatively little research has examined the factors affecting academic self perceptions of young children, especially the role of parents. Seventy-seven children and their mothers were followed longitudinally from kindergarten to fourth grade to assess the association between mothers’ early perceptions of children’s academic abilities in reading and math and children’s later academic adjustment. Mothers’ perceptions of children’s reading ability in kindergarten were associated with children’s later self-perceptions of academic competence and later achievement, above and beyond kindergarten achievement. However, mothers’ perceptions of math ability in kindergarten were not significantly associated with later outcomes. In reading, mothers’ perceptions of children’s natural talent were positively associated with later self-perceptions and mothers’ perceptions of children’s difficulty in school were negatively associated with later self-perceptions. Additionally, mothers’ perceptions of children’s reading competence were positively associated with later reading achievement. This was the youngest sample in which these relations have been examined to date. Longer-term implications for early parental perceptions are discussed.     

Health Care Reform: What History Doesn’t Teach

The paper begins by tracing the historical development of American medicine as practice, profession, and industry from the eighteenth century to the present. This historical outline emphasizes shifting conceptions of physicians and physician ethics. It lays the basis for showing, in the second section, how contemporary controversies about the physician’s role in managed care take root in medicine’s past. In the final two sections, I revisit both the historical analysis and its application to contemporary debates. I argue that historical narratives can function as “master narratives” that suppress or leave out historical facts. I bring to the surface what is covered up by the master narrative approach, and show its relevance to contemporary ethical debates. I conclude by proposing that preserving the integrity of medicine will require modifying the master narratives we tell about physicians. The integrity of medicine also offers new perspectives for thinking about managed care and the broader topic of health care reform.     

A BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION FOR IMPROVING VERBAL BEHAVIORS OF HEROIN ADDICTS IN A TREATMENT CLINIC

Positively reinforcing appropriate behaviors improved verbal behaviors of opioid-dependent patients in a buprenorphine treatment clinic. During B phases of an ABAB design, clients received stickers for engaging in appropriate verbal or nonverbal behaviors. Each sticker provided a chance of winning $25. No reinforcement was provided during the A phases. Appropriate verbal behaviors increased during reinforcement periods, and inappropriate verbal behaviors decreased.     

A Reconsideration of the Structure of the Emotion Lexicon

This study replicated a pile sort task involving 135 emotion terms originally presented by Shaver, Schwartz, Kirson, and O'Connor (1987) with a slight change in procedures, from an unconstrained single-sort task to a constrained successive-sort task, made necessary by methodological problems during their data analysis. Subjects (86 male and female undergraduates) were asked to assign names to their piles during the successive stages of sorting. This change produced a hierarchical cluster analysis solution supporting interpretations other than the prototype structure found by Shaver et al. Decision criteria reported by subjects during sorting were described and revealed dimensions reported by previous investigators, suggesting that this is a viable method of determining dimensions important in distinguishing emotion terms. Nancy Alvarado is now at the Center for Human Information Processing     

Involvement in Meaningful Activities and Self-Reported Aggression and Delinquency Among Inner-City Teenagers

Ninth grade students from an inner-city high school (n = 163) completed self-report measures assessing their participation in meaningful activities, behavioral problems, and locus of control. In multivariate analyses, Gender × Activity Level interaction effects were shown: males with higher levels of meaningful activity had significantly lower scores on aggression and delinquent behavior subscales than males with lower levels of meaningful activity. However, this relationship was not shown for females. Of youth who reported clinically significant levels of aggression and/or delinquency, females reported significantly higher levels of meaningful activities than males. Gender differences in findings and future research directions are discussed.