PRESCHOOL CHILDREN'S VISUAL ATTENTION TO ATTRIBUTES OF TELEVISION

Preschool children's visual attention to nearly three hours of a heterogeneous sample of children's programing was examined in relationship to the presence of 37 simple visual and auditory attributes of television programs. A factor analysis of the attributes indicated that they were largely independent, with the exception of two factors, which were labeled “women and children” and “puppets.” Attributes and factors that were positively related to attention were the puppet factor, women and children factor, auditory changes, peculiar voices, movement, cuts, sound effects, laughter, and applause. Attributes that were negatively related to attention were adult male voices, extended zooms and pans, eye contact, and still shots. Other attributes had both positive and negative effects on attention depending on whether the child was looking at the TV at the time the attribute occurred. It is suggested that attributes are positive or negative to the degree to which they signal informative comprehensible content.     

A Two Factor Taxonomy of Creative Bechavior

Two empirical studies examined the similarities and differences between creative professionals in science and art. In the first, 16PF personality profiles of industrial scientists, musicians and artists, and general undergraduates (N = 99) showed no difference between scientific and artistic groups on the Creativity composite index, and both groups differed significantly from general undergraduates. There were a few significant differences on specific traits, however. In the second study, self-reports of involvement in creative behavior collected from larger similar samples (N = 590) were factor analyzed. Two distinct but correlated factors (r = .32) emerged that separated artistic from scientific and business activity. The results indicated that people who specialize in one content domain often make contributions in other domains as well.     

Have Hexagon Will Travel: An Interview With John Holland

John Holland is one of the major theorists, living or dead, in the area of career development/choice. He is the author of two books, more than 150 articles, and two inventories, one the popular Self-Directed Search. During the interview he seemed torn between his desire to be frank, honest, and outspoken, and his fear that should he be, the sex bias controversy that consumed so much of his time several years ago would be stirred up again. When he was first approached with the request for an interview, he declined because he felt that other individuals have made greater contributions than he. In this interview, Holland shares his views on how the SDS was developed, on the strengths and weaknesses of his theory, on how to provide vocational counseling efficiently, and outlines his hopes for the future.