Examining Subtypes of Behavior Problems Among 3-Year-Old Children,Part I: Investigating Validity of Subtypes and Biological Risk-Factors

This study examined 3-year-old children who were classified as hyperactive (HYP), oppositional-defiant (OD), hyperactive and oppositional defiant (HYP/OD), and non-problem based on mothers' reports of behavior. Using fathers,' teachers,' and observers' ratings of children's behavior, concurrent validity was excellent for the HYP/OD group, moderate for the HYP group, and poor for the OD group. As predicted, both the HYP/OD and HYP groups reported more prenatal/perinatal birth complications and a greater family history of hyperactivity than did non-problem children. Furthermore, the HYP/OD group showed a greater family history of conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms than did non-problem children; however, the HYP group also showed a greater family history of ODD than did non-problem children. Results suggest that as early as age 3, these behavior subtypes appear to be linked to biologically-based risk-factors in ways that are consistent with theories of the development of ADHD.     

The group as a resource: reducing biased attributions for group success and failure via group affirmation

Self-affirmation theory proposes that people can respond to threats to the self by affirming alternative sources of self-integrity, resulting in greater openness to self-threatening information. The present research examines this at a group level by investigating whether a group affirmation (affirming an important group value) increases acceptance of threatening group information among sports teams and fans. In Study 1, athletes exhibited a group-serving attributional bias, which was eliminated by the group affirmation. In Study 2, the most highly identified fans exhibited the most bias in terms of their attributions, and this bias was eliminated by the group affirmation. These studies suggest that groups can serve as resources from which people can draw in response to threatening group events.     

Disgust sensitivity and attitudes toward organ donation among African-American college students.

241 African-American college students (94 men and 147 women, mean age = 20.3 +/- 3.4 yr.) completed the 1994 Disgust Scale of Haidt, McCauley, and Rozin and a modified form of Parisi-Rizzo's 1987 Attitudes Toward Organ Donation Scale (negative subscale only) as well as a behavioral measure of intention to donate organs after death. Analyses indicated that the higher the disgust sensitivity, the more negative the attitude toward organ donation and the less likely the student was to indicate intent to donate organs. It was further shown that negative attitudes toward organ donation mediated the relationship between disgust sensitivity and the behavioral intention measure. Results highlight the complexity of the issues surrounding organ donation within an African-American population and provide additional empirical evidence for the development of a theoretical model to explain the organ donation phenomenon.     

Dispositional motivations and message framing: a test of the congruency hypothesis in college students.

The authors examined the congruency hypothesis that health messages framed to be concordant with dispositional motivations will be most effective in promoting health behaviors. Undergraduate students (N=63) completed a measure of approach/avoidance orientation (behavioral activation/inhibition system) and read a gain- or loss-framed message promoting flossing. Results support the congruency hypothesis: When given a loss-framed message, avoidance-oriented people reported flossing more than approach-oriented people, and when given a gain-framed message, approach-oriented people reported flossing more than avoidance-oriented people. Discussion centers on implications for health interventions and the route by which dispositional motivations affect health behaviors through message framing.     

The natural history of cigarette smoking: predicting young-adult smoking outcomes from adolescent smoking patterns

Assessed the magnitude of risk that adolescent cigarette smoking carries for adult smoking. Using a longitudinal, prospective design, results indicate that even infrequent experimentation in adolescence significantly raises the risk for adult smoking and that regular (at least monthly) adolescent smoking raises the risk for adult smoking by a factor of 16 compared to nonsmoking adolescents. Relative risk was also increased by an early onset of smoking and by a stable, uninterrupted course from experimentation to regular smoking. Relative risk did not significantly vary by age or sex. The continuity of smoking behavior between adolescence and adulthood supports the importance of primary prevention programs directed at adolescent populations.     

ARIS: A computer-assisted instruction system

The automated real-time instructional system (ARIS) is a small computer-assisted instructional system written to run under the UNIX operating system on a PDP-11/34A machine. ARIS is a tool used to provide highly individualized instruction and, at the same time, to study the process of learning by keeping detailed records of students’ actions. Currently, the system is used to teach logic and set theory. This paper describes the general philosophy, operation, and implementation of ARIS.     

On the consequences of priming: Assimilation and contrast effects

Two experiments investigated the effects of priming (activation of a category by unobtrusive exposure to exemplars of that category) on subsequent judgments in an unrelated task. Subjects were primed with one of four levels of ferocity (size) in the course of a “color perception” experiment, and were later asked to judge the ferocity (size) of real (unambiguous) and unreal (ambiguous) animals. An interaction between ambiguity of judged stimuli (real vs unreal animals) and extremity of primed exemplars (moderate vs extreme levels of ferocity or size) was revealed. Assimilation effects (judgments consistent with the primed category) occurred only when moderate exemplars were primed and ambiguous stimuli judged. Contrast effects occurred when extreme exemplars were primed and ambiguous stimuli judged and, irrespective of extremity of the primed exemplar, when unambiguous stimuli were judged. The results are interpreted in terms of an integration of social judgment and social cognition perspectives.