Piaget's data and spearman's theory—An empirical reconciliation and its implications for academic achievement

A hierarchical simple structure factor solution was obtained for item scores from a psychometrized battery of Piagetian-type tasks individually administered to 660 kindergarten children. At the first level of factors were the Piagetian theoretical entities of seriation, classification, conservation of number, and temporal and spatial reasoning, with numeration loading on seriation and classification as indicated by the theory. At the second level were two factors identified as Piaget's logicomathematical and infralogical operations. A third-level factor was identified as a g factor. The association of the Piagetian-type tasks with kindergarden and first grade academic achievement was through the third-level g factor. The second-level factors appeared to be similar to Vernon's k:m and v:ed but, like the first level factors, made no important contribution to predicted achievement above that contributed by the g factor. A socioeconomic factor made no unique contribution to predicted first grade achievement. It was concluded that the Piagetian concrete operations variables have no unique role in the prediction of kindergarten or first grade academic achievement.     

Negative attitudes toward masturbation and pelvic vasocongestion: A thermographic analysis

The present study examined differences in pelvic vasocongestion as a function of negative attitudes toward masturbation. Pelvic vasocongestion was measured thermographically, which is a noninvasive means of detecting and photographing individual heat patterns to indicate physiological condition and functional changes within. The results indicated that women, with positive attitudes toward masturbation, who read an erotic story, experienced the greatest increase in pelvic vasocongestion. This and other findings were discussed in terms of masturbation acting to facilitate the patterning of sexual arousal and orgasmic functioning, especially in regard to creating the capacity for pelvic engorgement.     

Hemispheric asymmetries in faculty and student musicians and nonmusicians during melody recognition tasks

Current research has suggested that musical stimuli are processed in the right hemisphere except in musicians, in whom there is an increased involvement of the left hemisphere. The present study hypothesized that the more musical training persons receive, the more they will rely on an analytic/left-hemispheric processing strategy. The subjects were 10 faculty and 10 student musicians, and 10 faculty and 10 student nonmusicians. All subjects listened to a series of melodies (some recurring and some not) and excerpts (some actual and some not) in one ear and, after a rest, to a different series of melodies in the other ear. The task was to identify recurring vs. nonrecurring melodies and actual vs. nonactual excerpts. For student musicians, there was a right-ear/left-hemispheric advantage for melody recognition, while for student nonmusicians, the situation was the reverse. Neither faculty group showed any ear preference. There were no significant differences for excerpt recognition. Two possible explanations of the faculty performance were discussed in terms of physical maturation and a functionally more integrated hemispheric approach to the task.     

A psychometric analysis of the Personal Attributes Questionnaire

The psychometric properties of the Personal Attributes Questionnaire were examined in independent samples of male and female high school students, college students, and adults. In each of the six samples a two-factor structure (masculinity/instrumentality and femininity/expressivity) paralleling the empirically derived scales was found. Additional factor analyses of negative masculine and feminine traits were reported. Discriminant analyses revealed highly significant differentiation between the sexes. The reliabilities (Cronbach alpha) of the unit-weighted scales in each sample were also satisfactory.Support for this research was provided by NASA Grant NSG 2065 (Robert L. Helmreich, Principal Investigator) and NSF Grant BNS 78-08911 (Janet T. Spence and Robert L. Helmreich, Principal Investigators). The article was prepared while the second author was a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, with support from the Spencer Foundation, NIMH Grant 5T32MH14581-03, and the University of Texas Research Institute.     

An evaluation of the government's work experience programme for the young unemployed

An evaluation is offered of one of the Government's measures to alleviate youth unemployment-the Work Experience Programme (WEP). In a small-scale study conducted in Essex, most of the young people and employers involved in the scheme thought that its benefits considerably outweighed its disadvantages, and this view was shared by careers officers. The scheme helped the young participants to develop confidence in themselves and in their working potential, although at the same time it made them anxious about their ability and/or opportunity to continue this development. As a short-term response to youth unemployment, WEP has considerable value. Without certain improvements, however, it is not adequate for dealing with long-term structural unemployment.     

Naturalistic observations of pathological behavior in hospitalized psychiatric patients

Naturalistic observations were conducted on 19 acutely ill psychiatric patients in the hospital ward milieu. The study was designed to determine relationships between selected social and environment variables and overt atypical behavior. Patients were observed on an individual basis with time-sampling techniques. In total, 16 pathological behaviors were coded and the most frequent (postural deviance, pace, agitation, hyperactivity, withdrawal, foot shake/body sway, leg swing) were selected in order to determine variation in frequency of these behaviors as a function of the following variables: area within hospital, week of hospitalization, distance between the focal subject and his/her nearest neighbor, number of people in an area, and time of day. Results showed differential changes in pathological behavior as a function of week of hospitalization, number of people in a given area, and distance from the focal subject's nearest neighbor. There was no significant change in the frequency of pathological behaviors as a function of area within hospital or time of day. In addition, most pathological behaviors decreased significantly when patients were engaged in the sending or receiving of verbal behavior. Cluster analyses revealed varying degrees of dissociation between pathological behaviors and social-interaction behaviors. These results support (a) a nonunitary concept of the general category pathological and (b) the view that there are inhibitory effects of social interaction on the enactment of atypical behaviors. Clinical implications of these findings are discussed.R.H.P. completed this research during his tenure as a postdoctocal fellow in the Department of Psychiatry, Human Ethology Laboratory, UCLA (NIMH Fellowship 1 F32MHO7627-01). Support for this research also came from the Veterans Administration.     

Rorschach movement and color responses and MMPI social extraversion and thinking introversion personality types

Results of an analysis of MMPI profiles and Rorschach protocols scored by the Exner method for 100 psychiatric patients provided partial support for Rorschach's hypotheses that perceptions of color (FC, CF, and C) and movement (M) tap separate personality dimensions. First, the proportion of M responses on a protocol correlated significantly (p < .01) to thinking introversion as defined in terms of a subject's MMPI profile similarity to a prototypic MMPI profile with peak PtSc elevations. Second, the proportion of FC responses correlated negatively (p < .01) to social extraversion defined in terms of MMPI profile similarity to a prototypic MMPI profile with peak PdMa elevations. Hence, use of FC signified a socially reserved, controlled behavior. The findings regarding CF and C were inconclusive. Third, color and movement responses did not correlate significantly with somatization defined in terms of similarity to a prototypic MMPI profile with peak Hs, D, Hy elevations. Finally, the nonsignificant correlations of FC with M and with MMPI thinking introversion plus the nonsignificant correlation of M with color responses and MMPI social extroversion further supported the hypotheses that movement and color responses tap essentially unique personality dimensions.     

Alternate forms of the matching familiar figures test: a critical note

Criticism is leveled at attempts to develop alternative forms of the Matching Familiar Figures test when the literature suggests that what is required is a more reliable test, not simply an alternate version.