Hispanic adolescent fertility

Knowledge regarding the fertility of Hispanic adolescents in the US is quite limited. This paper discusses the fertility of these adolescents and summarizes what is known about sexuality, contraception, pregnancy, and childbearing among male and female Hispanics of various countries of origin. As a group, Hispanic adolescents have birth rates that fall between those of non-Hispanic whites and blacks, but there is considerable within-group variation in Hispanic fertility. More research is needed concerning the correlates of these rates with factors such as age, marital status, socioeconomic level, or generational status in the US.     

Allocation of complex, sequential operants on multiple and concurrent schedules of reinforcement

Pigeons could produce food by pecking exactly four times on each of two keys, in any order. In the first experiment, these response sequences were reinforced on a series of multiple schedules of variable-interval reinforcement. In the second experiment, these response sequences were reinforced on a series of concurrent schedules of reinforcement. In both experiments, highly stereotyped response sequences developed. If these response sequences were treated as individual responses, the resulting data conformed to what is typically reported in studies of multiple and concurrent schedules involving individual responses. For example, behavioral contrast was observed with the multiple schedules, and matching was observed with the concurrent schedules. However, schedule manipulation had no effect on within-sequence characteristics of responses like accuracy, stereotypy, or rate. These data constitute further evidence that response sequences can become functional behavioral units.     

Influence of personal and universal failure on the subsequent performance of persons with type A and type B behavior patterns

We conducted this experiment to compare the task performance of Type A and Type B persons following failure on a task in which no one succeeded (universal failure) versus failure on a task in which others had succeeded (personal failure). Postfailure performance was measured in terms of speed of completion of anagrams. Initial analyses indicated that the failure manipulation was effective in influencing the subjects' perceived cause of their failures, and that subjects were more anxious and depressed following personal failure than universal failure. More important, we found that Type A subjects performed better following personal rather than universal failure, whereas type of failure had no effect on the performance of Type B subjects. The results suggest that contrary to what is usually thought, Type A persons do not struggle for success indiscriminately. The results are discussed in terms of need for control and self-esteem.     

Roommate Compatibility: Is There An Ideal Relationship?1

Three theories of interpersonal attraction were tested for their ability to predict roommates' compatibility. The similarity hypothesis (that we are attracted to and compatible with people who are similar to our self-concepts) received moderate support; the social desirability hypothesis (that we are attracted to and compatible with people who possess socially desirable traits) received scant support. The ideal hypothesis (that we are attracted to and compatible with people who are similar to our ideals) received strong support. The utility of these theories in terms of preinteractionally matching students in order to maximize compatibility was found to be minimal because it could not be assumed that students peiceive their roommates in the same manner as their roommates perceive themselves.     

Some correlates of stuttering severity judgments

Thirteen adult male stutterers recorded the Amplifier Passage on high-quality audiotape. One sentence from each recording was paired with one sentence from each of the remaining 12 recordings. The resulting 78 sentence pairs were presented to eight speech-language pathologists who were asked to judge which stutterer in each pair was more severe and to rate the confidence of each of these judgements. The confidence ratings were analyzed by means of the individual differences model of multidimensional scaling. The results suggested that reading rate and the number of intrasentence pauses were important parameters in determining the severity of stuttering.     

Help-agents' views about clinical interactions with acting-out children

A scale to measure nonprofessional child-aides' views about, and practices in, working primarily with acting-out children is described. The scale was used as part of an overall evaluation of a program to teach the aides Ginottian limit-setting approaches for work with such children. A prior study had shown that the training was followed by significantly more favorable treatment outcomes. Compared to 44 nontrained child-aides, the 19 trained aides had significantly higher postprogram scale scores on opinions and beliefs about acting-out children, changes in feeling about working with them, and actual observed changes in their playroom behaviors. Item analysis indicated that, following training, aides felt more comfortable with and had a richer repertoire of techniques for dealing with acting-out children. Specifically, they found it easier to set limits and to deal with overtly aggressive behaviors. Those changes may be key factors in explaining the significantly greater effectiveness of the trained aides working with acting-out children.This study was supported by a grant (MH-11427-02) from the NIMH Experimental and Special Training Branch, for which the authors express sincere appreciation. Thanks also to Mary Boike, Michael A. DeStefano, and Alice B. Wilson for their contributions to the data analyses.     

The word order problem in agrammatism : I. Comprehension

The results of a picture-pointing comprehension test show that agrammatic aphasics have difficulty understanding sentences in which the underlying semantic roles are marked by the order of noun phrases around a verbal element. Agrammatic patients performed poorly on reversible constructions involving spatial prepositions (e.g., “The square is above the circle”) and verbs (e.g., “The dancer applauds the clown”). These results have significance for the interpretation of the underlying disturbance in agrammatism—whether the deficit is syntactic or purely phonological.     

Differences in family functioning in grandparent and parent-headed households in a clinical sample of drug-using African American adolescents

Grandparents play a critical role in African American families, providing support and important leadership functions. Little is known, however, about family functioning in grandparent-headed households with a drug-using adolescent. Such knowledge is particularly salient for researchers and therapists who work with drug-using adolescents and their families. Using a clinical sample of convenience, analyses were conducted to identify similarities and differences in adolescent substance use and behavior problems, family relationships, and family social ecology relationships between African American grandparent-headed (n=12) and parent-headed (n=54) households. Results indicated that adolescents from the 2 household types reported similar levels of problem behaviors, but that grandparents reported less delinquency with peers than did parents. Primary caregivers in grandparent-headed households reported less monitoring and supervision of peers and less within-family conflict. Implications for treatment are discussed.     

Identity status measurement across contexts: variations in measurement structure and mean levels among White American, Hispanic American, and Swedish emerging adults

We conducted this study to examine measurement equivalence and mean differences in identity status across 3 ethnic/cultural contexts: White American, Hispanic American, and Swedish. We used the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status II (EOM-EIS-II; Bennion & Adams, 1986), a commonly used instrument in the identity status literature. We conducted analyses to ascertain the extent to which the EOM-EIS-II functioned equivalently in 3 ethnically/culturally different samples. The internal structure of the measure was consistent across contexts. When we statistically controlled effects of age and gender, mean differences tended to be largely cross-cultural at the observed level of analysis but to be both cross-ethnic and cross-cultural at the latent level of analysis. This divergence in findings was found despite the limited age range represented in each of the samples. We therefore concluded that measurement error may have played a role in these differences and that data gathered using the EOM-EIS-II should be analyzed using latent variable methods. We discuss results in terms of using the EOM-EIS-II with diverse populations.     

Regulatory fit as input for stop rules

Three experiments show that the motivational effects of regulatory fit (consistency between regulatory state and strategic means) are context dependent. With no explicit decision rule about when to stop (Experiment 1) or an explicit enjoyment stop rule (Experiments 2 and 3), participants exerted more effort on tasks when experiencing regulatory fit than when experiencing regulatory nonfit. With an explicit sufficiency stop rule (Experiments 2 and 3), participants exerted less effort when experiencing regulatory fit than when experiencing regulatory nonfit. The interactive effect of regulatory fit and stop rules can be explained by misattribution of rightness feelings from regulatory fit; the effect was eliminated by drawing participants' attention to an earlier event as a source of rightness feelings (Experiments 1 and 3).