Occupational prestige: Exploration of a theoretical basis

Drawing on the theory and research of psychophysics, a nonlinear model is hypothesized to explain the connection between education and income and occupational prestige. To achieve this, Weber's (R. L. Gregory, 1981, Mind in Science, Cambridge, Cambridge Univ. Press, pp. 501–503) and Stevens' (S. S. Stevens, 1970, Science170, 1043–1050) laws are brought together in an intrinsically nonlinear model. Guided by the earlier work of R. L. Hamblin (1971, Sociometry, 34, 423–452) and others, the work of O. D. Duncan (1961, in A. J. Reiss, Jr., O. D. Duncan, P. K. Hatt, & C. C. North (Eds.), Occupations and Social Status, New York, Free Press) is reanalyzed testing the possibility that work on the socioeconomic index can be understood as a prestige allocation process which follows psychophysical principles. That is, prestige is assigned to occupations, given specifiable levels of educational and income attainment, in a manner parallel to the way in which individuals respond to changes in the intensity of other stimuli. Using first the data developed by Duncan (1961) to test the model and the 1963 NORC data (R. W. Hodge, P. M. Siegel, & P. H. Rossi, 1964, American Journal of Sociology, 70, 286–302) to replicate it, a measurement model consistent with the theoretical model is evaluated. Comparing the results of the nonlinear model to that of the linear, it is concluded that a model is obtained yielding theoretical confirmation with no loss in predictive accuracy. The resultant nonlinear model yields alternative substantive implications concerning the relative influence of income and education on occupational prestige to those to be inferred from linear models. Perhaps most important, however, is the candidacy given by these results to psychophysics as the explanatory mechanism in the prestige allocation process.     

Examining the reliability and validity of an adapted scale of educational-vocational undecidedness in a sample of graduate students

The present study was an attempt to determine the reliability and validity of an adapted vocational indecision scale designed for undergraduates (Osipow, S. H., Carney, C. G., Winer, J. L., Yanico, B. J., & Koschir, M., In Journal of Vocational Behavior, 1976, 9, 237) for use in a graduate student population. Internal consistency, test-retest, interrater reliability, and validity coefficients were calculated. A factor analysis and a multiple regression were also conducted. The findings suggest that the characteristics of the adapted indecision scale for the graduate students sample are similar to the characteristics of the unadapted instrument for the undergraduate sample in the S. H. Osipow, C. G. Carney, and A. Barak (Journal of Vocational Behavior, 1976, 9, 223–243) study. Potential therapeutic and research uses of the adapted indecision scale are also discussed.     

EFFECTS OF CULTURES AND LANGUAGES ON SELF CONCEPTIONS*

Cultural evolution in self conceptions under the influence of external cultures was explored through semantic differential ratings of Turkish English-speaking (TK/EN) students. As the criterion for inter-cultural and inter-language comparisons, the “norm” conceptions were obtained from two indigenous samples that represent the American/English (AM/EN) culture and the Turkey/Turkish (TK/TK) culture respectively. Results indicated significant transfusion effects of the “providing” (AM/EN) culture on self conceptions of the “receiving” (TK/EN) culture - in desaturating as well as elevating the semantic intensities of various aspects of self identity over the “native” (TK/TK) culture. An implication was made that future cross-cultural interactions should become an effective mutual learning process for improving inter-cultural and inter-group heterogeneities and conflicts, rather than for spliting a homogeneous indigenous culture into many fragmented and isolated entities.     

Auditory-visual conflicts in the perceived duration of lights, tones and gaps

The perceived duration of a short tone (1,000 or 1,500 msec) was longer than that of a separately presented light of equal length. Thus, when light and tone were presented simultaneously, there was a conflict in perceived duration. In that case, the perceived duration of an interval filled with both light and tone was close to that of an interval filled with tone alone. A silent gap in otherwise continuous tone was perceived as longer than a gap in otherwise continuous light, and the perceived duration of a gap occurring simultaneously in both light and tone was close to that of a gap in tone alone. Thus, auditory dominance occurred under the preceding conditions-that is, auditory-visual conflicts in perceived duration, whether occurring between filled intervals or gaps, were resolved in favor of the auditory modality. Visual dominance occurred only under one condition, in which the intensity of tone was reduced, and in which the perceived duration of a 500-msec light was longer than that of a 500-msec tone. The finding of auditory dominance in the perception of time runs counter to the results of studies of sensory conflicts in spatial perception, where vision typically dominates audition and touch.     

Differential effects of fixed- and variable-time feedback on production rates of elementary school children

The performance of 26 third-grade students who worked on individual weekly academic tasks was compared under fixed- and variable-time "home reports". During fixed-time home reports, each student was given a report to take home on Friday that indicated the quantity of work the student had completed that week, contained comments concerning the quality of the work, and had a space for parental remarks and signature. The same report was given during the variable-time reports, except that seven to nine students were randomly selected each day to receive a home report. During variable-time reporting, students completed more assignments and completed assignments on a greater percentage of available workdays than during fixed-time reporting. The teachers' preference for the variable-time reporting was one additional advantage for the variable system.     

Neurodynamics: A critical survey

Following a brief introduction to the functional complexity of an individual nerve cell, the current status of neural network dynamics is reviewed. This survey is then used as a basis for suggesting some fundamental difficulties in developing a science of the human mind.