Predictors of scientific majors for black and white college students

The differences in the personality and social backgrounds of science and non-science majors were assessed for 91 black and 109 white natural, social, and nonscience college majors. Subjects were administered the 16PF, Bem Sex-Role Inventory, and the Attitude Toward Women Scale, and data were collected on birth order, number of siblings, and social class level. Natural science majors were of a higher social class, had higher intelligence test scores, were more reserved, sober, practical, and male sex-role oriented than the social and non-science majors. Blacks and females resembled their white or male counterparts when categorized by college major.     

The effects of service activities on adolescent alienation

This research evaluated the effects of involvement of adolescents in community service activities on levels of alienation. It was proposed that alienation could be reduced through the implementation of a model which utilized community service activities to facilitate adolescent access to adult society, development of responsibility, collaborative and cooperative work, and control over planning and outcomes. It is suggested that adolescent involvement in service activities can produce positive benefits, among which are reduced levels of alienation, improved school behavior, improved grade point average, and acceptance by the adult community. These findings also suggest that females respond more positively to school when allowed to problem-solve collectively and collaboratively.     

Factors associated with juvenile detention truancy

Factors influencing truancy from a juvenile court treatment facility were investigated. Youth born in 1962 (N = 124) who were placed in the facility were compared for number of truancies, background, and personality variables. Results showed that males with prior adjudication for home or school truancy had a 65% probability of eloping from the court facility as compared to a 34% probability for youth adjudicated for other offenses. Most females were adjudicated for truancy offenses and showed a 62% probability of truancy while in the court facility. Further, for females who eloped and were returned, the probability of a subsequent truancy was above 80%. Personality characteristics of truants varied with sex: male truants were more likely to be conduct disordered youth for which impulsivity and disregard for social norms is prevalent; female truants appear more likely to be in conflict over autonomy issues.     

Variables which differentiate placement of adolescents into juvenile justice or mental health systems

Studies of the variables that determine whether an adolescent is placed in the mental health or juvenile justice system for treatment have led to conflicting conclusions based on impressionistic data. The primary hypothesis of this study--that demographic variables would and personality/psychopathology variables would not differentiate into which system a youth will be placed--was supported. Adolescents were studied at intake into both the juvenile justice system and the mental health system. Data were collected on demographics (structured interviews), personality/psychopathology (MMPI), social adjustment (CAAP), and academic achievement (PIAT). A discriminant function analysis identified eight statistically significant variables which differentiated the two groups. In order of decreasing importance they are: ethnicity, gender, MMPI-depression, previous mental health history, CAAP-productivity, drug use, parental marital history, and parental religious preference.     

Recognizing people seen in events via dynamic "mug shots"

This study examined effects of an event and dynamic mug shots on facial recognition. Witnesses saw either a film of a liquor store holdup staged by six perpetrators, slides of the same targets, or freeze-framed views from the filmed event. Slides of different facial views of targets among 12 foils, or dynamic 180 degrees mug shots of the same men, or multiple static views were administered 24 hr later in yes-no recognition tests. Recognition (d') was poorer for the same men seen in the event than in slides, but better for dynamic than for static mug shots. Nondynamic event characteristics were responsible for poor recognition of people seen in events, whereas dynamic aspects of facial transformations, not multiple views, seemed responsible for the superiority of dynamic mug shots. The implications of these results for issues of ecological validity of traditional face recognition methodology and for static feature models vs. dynamic transformation models of face recognition are discussed.     

The revival of "Dora": advances in psychoanalytic theory and technique

For nearly six decades after its publication in 1905, Freud's remarkable case of Dora remained untouched by critical comment. However, beginning in the early 1970's, an abundance of articles began to appear, which focused exclusively on the Dora case. The present paper reviews the literature of this so-called "Dora revival" in order to explain the historical and theoretical reasons leading to this extraordinary burst of research. Above all, two vital developments in the psychoanalytic discipline created the climate that fostered the Dora revival. First, there was a revolutionary change in attitude toward the phenomenon of countertransference: in contrast to the classical view of countertransference as a disruptive interference in treatment, analysts increasingly regarded countertransference as a pervasive and natural process, which could be potentially utilized to enhance understanding of the patient's unconscious conflicts and defenses. Second, there was enormous and rapid growth of a comprehensive psychoanalytic theory of adolescence and its treatment. Thus, based on a more favorable attitude toward countertransference, and a much improved understanding of the unique problems of adolescence, psychoanalysts could reexamine and better understand the decisive events that contributed to Freud's abortive analytic treatment of Dora.