Alcohol Consumption and the Theory of Planned Behavior: An Examination of the Cognitive Mediation of Past Behaviorid

This study examined the predictive power of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) in explaining alcohol consumption in 3 prospective samples of students ( Ns = 178. 176. and 159). Generally, the TPB performed well. with attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control (PBC) explaining between 28% and 46% of the variability in intentions. Intentions and PBC explained between 12% and 50% of the variability in behavior. Measures of self-identity as a "drinker" and past behavior contributed to predictions of intentions over and above the contribution of attitudes. subjective norms. and PBC. Measures of past behavior but not self-identity consistently contributed to predictions of behavior over and above the contributions from intentions and PBC. The direct relationship between past behavior and intention and between past behavior and behavior (independent of the TPB variables or self-identity) could not be attributed to common method variance.     

When Good Intentions Are Not Enough: Modeling Postdecisional Cognitive Correlates of Condom Use1

Measures of intention usually leave substantial proportions of the variance in behavior unexplained. It has been suggested that improved behavioral prediction could be achieved by identifying postdecisional cognitive processes capable of distinguishing between intenders who do act and those do not act. Condom-related self-report measures of postdecisional cognitive processes were developed and tested in a cross-sectional questionnaire study involving 447 heterosexual students. A discriminant function composed of postdecisional measures was found to significantly distinguish between intenders who reported use and non-use and to correctly classify 80% of intenders. The results indicate that measures of the relative importance of competing intentions, prior planning of specific preparatory actions, and action-specific self-efficacy may enhance the prediction of condom use among intenders.     

Trauma Accommodation and Anniversary Reactions in Children

Anniversary reactions in traumatized children have been well recognized in the literature. Examined herein are temporal issues in the mourning process often realized by traumatized children. The case study of Laura is presented as a clinical illustration of problems in trauma accommodation that include anniversary reactions in children. Anniversary reactions in children are more common than is generally recognized in clinical practice. Such reactions are more likely to be found among children who exhibit persistent, repetitive, but insufficient efforts of trauma mastery through their incomplete grief and inadequate mourning process. Clinical issues are discussed.     

The Association of Group Self-Identification and Adolescent Drug Use in Three Samples Varying in Risk1

This study provides a cross-sectional analysis of the relations between group self-identification and adolescent drug use in 3 samples of youth: comprehensive high-school, continuation high-school, and runaway/street youth. Youth identified with discrete groups in all 3 samples, and similar general groups were formed. In most comparisons, a high-risk group showed greater levels of drug use than did other groups. This is the first study to demonstrate that group self-identification (a) is a generalizable construct across different types of adolescent samples, (b) is related to use of drugs other than tobacco, and (c) remains a significant correlate of drug use controlling for its relations with demographic variables and several other psychosocial variables.     

Weapon Focus and Gender Differences in Eyewitness Accuracy: Arousal Versus Salience

Competing theories of arousal versus salience and object enhancement vs. reduced perceptual processing as explanations for the weapon focus effect in eyewitness identification were examined. Male and female students ( N = 200) viewed a videotape of a male or female intruder rudely barging into a classroom while carrying a book, a gun, or an unusual object and demanding to know the whereabouts of another student. Feature accuracy recall of both the intruder and the object were assessed on a postexperimental questionnaire. Results supported the salience and reduced-perceptual-processing hypotheses, suggesting that weapon focus may be a special instance of a more general salient object effect. An own-gender bias in eyewitness identification was replicated when no weapon or unusual objects distracted eyewitnesses, but was reversed when a weapon or an unusual object was present.     

What variety of attention is automatically captured by peripheral cues?

Previous studies have shown that the voluntary allocation of attention to a location in space can influence accuracy in two ways. First, additional processing resources can be allocated to the attended location, leading to an improvement in perceptual quality for objects presented at that location. Second, decision processes can be restricted to information arising from the attended location, which improves accuracy without influencing the perceptual representation. The present study examined the operation of these two attentional mechanisms when nonpredictive peripheral cues were used to capture attention automatically. Experiment 1 showed that, like predictive cues, nonpredictive cues influence accuracy by summoning perceptual resources and also by influencing decision processes. However, both the cues and the targets in this experiment were defined by luminance increments, making it possible that the cuing effects were mediated by a task-controlled attentional set rather than being fully automatic. Experiments 2 and 3 examined this possibility by using luminance-defined cues and color-defined targets; evidence was again obtained for both perceptual-level and decision-level attention effects. The capture of attention by a nonpredictive peripheral cue thus appears to influence both perceptual resource allocation and postperceptual decision processes.     

Coherence and Explanations

The article advocates a particular coherence theory of justification that emphasizes the significance of explanatory relations. It is shown that other approaches to coherence have failed because they underestimate the importance of explanatory theories in forming a system of beliefs. Additionally, a conception of explanation as a unifying substantial embedding of models is sketched that closely conforms with the proposed theory of coherence.     

Organizational Attractiveness and Individual Differences: Are Diverse Applicants Attracted by Different Factors?

Recruiting is a critical staffing activity for organizations, but its impact on the job seeker is poorly understood. Much remains to be learned about individual differences in reactions to recruitment efforts. This paper discusses the results of a study of MBA candidates that examined (a) the relative importance of various job, organizational, diversity, and recruiter characteristics on assessments of organizational attractiveness, and (b) the extent to which these assessments differed when applicant race and gender are taken into account. Results confirmed that relative to organizational, diversity, and recruiter characteristics, job factors were reported as most important to organizational attraction. However, within the job, diversity, and recruiter characteristics categories interesting gender and/or race differences emerged. The implications of these differences for research and for practices are offered.