The Effects of Sex and Power Schemas,Attitudes Toward Women,and Victim Resistance on Rape Attributions1

This study examined the effects of attitudes toward women, rape schemas, and victim resistance on rape attributions in a hypothetical rape scenario. One hundred twenty-eight female subjects participated in the investigation. In line with the hypotheses, a 2 × 2 × 2 (Traditional vs. Nontraditional Attitudes × Sex vs. Power Schemas × Presence vs. Absence of Resistance) ANOVA demonstrated a significant interaction effect between rape schemas and victim resistance for rape attributions. As predicted, those who held sex schemas of rape attributed less fault and responsibility to resisting, compared to nonresisting, victims. In addition, they attributed more fault and responsibility to the nonresisting victim than did those who held power schemas. Rape schemas and victim resistance exerted an interactive influence on perpetrator attributions. Although attitudes toward women did not affect victim attributions, traditional women attributed less fault and responsibility to perpetrators than did nontraditional women.     

Contribution of Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex to the Acquisition and Extinction of Conditioned Fear in Rats

The ventrolateral, agranular insular portion of prefrontal cortex (PFC) in rats is involved in visceral functions and has been shown to be involved in emotional processes. However, its contribution to aversive learning has not been well defined. Classical fear conditioning has been a powerful tool for illuminating some of the primary neural structures involved in aversive emotional learning. We measured both the acquisition and the extinction of conditioned fear following lesions of the ventrolateral PFC of rats. Lesions reduced fear reactivity to contextual stimuli associated with conditioning without affecting CS acquisition, and had no effect on response extinction. Ventrolateral PFC may normally be involved in the processing of contextual information while not being directly involved in extinction processes within the aversive domain.     

Intrinsic motivation and education: Competence in context

Our research program involving both laboratory and everyday activities suggests that there may be multiple goals relevant to interest in a task, and these goals include but are not limited to achieving a particular level of competence. The same information and feedback can thus either aid or obstruct intrinsic motivation, depending on its match with how students define the goals of their involvement. Furthermore, this potential flexibility in activity definitions allows individuals to purposely explore different routes to interest to maintain their motivation to perform relatively uninteresting, but perhaps important, activities. Intrinsic motivation thus appears to be created and maintained through an ongoing temporal process, with individuals potentially having an active as well as passive role in the process. This suggests that the potential to foster interest in education may not depend solely on the ability and efforts of educators or educational materials, but also on the ability and efforts of the individual student.The research described in this paper was funded by grants to the first author from the Spencer Foundation, and the Biomedical Research Support Grant Program, Division of Research Resources, National Institutes of Health (BRSG S07 RR07092). Portions of the research and preparation of this article were also facilitated by a grant awarded to Carol Sansone and Cynthia A. Berg from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and National Institute on Aging (HD25728). We would like to thank Mark Lepper for his helpful comments on a previous version of this article.     

BELIEF, PRACTICE, AND RELIGION

Abstract. How to reconcile belief in God with the worldview generated by modern science is a concern for those who see such belief as the essence of religion. Some religious traditions emphasize correct behavior, including observance of ritual, more than belief. Others stress individual pursuit of inner tranquility without prescribing particular beliefs or rituals by which that is to be achieved. Theological issues relating to "the God question in an age of science" are relevant to Christians, whose religious emphasis is on right belief as necessary to personal salvation; but science does not raise such issues for religion generally.     

Assessing differences in chemically dependent adolescent males using the Child Behavior Checklist

A study was conducted with 59 chemically dependent (CD) male adolescents (ages 13 to 16) using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBC). The CD sample was compared to a normative group on four adaptive behavior scales and twelve behavior problem scales, and was found to be significantly different on all measures. The CD sample was also compared to a general clinical group on nine behavior problem scales, and was found to score significantly higher on scales measuring delinquent and uncommunicative behaviors, and significantly lower on scales measuring immature and hostile-withdrawn behaviors. Summary profile types were compared with the clinical population and a separate assaultive/aggressive population. More of the CD population fit an uncommunicative/delinquent profile type and relatively fewer fit schizoid and immature/aggressive profile types as compared to the two other groups. The CBC differentiated subgroups in the CD sample with respect to completion of treatment and type of drug used, but not motivation for treatment at admission.     

Perceived self-efficacy and language differences

The relationship between language differences and perceived self-efficacy was examined for two different classes (ns = 89 and 66) of a linguistically diverse nursing student population. Sherer, et al.'s General Self-efficacy Scale was factor analyzed, producing two factors (subscales) labeled Tendency to Avoid/Give Up and Tendency to Persist. Students who were nonprimary speakers of English were more likely to avoid difficult tasks or give up because they believed they would fail than those students who were primary speakers of English. There were no significant differences between the groups on Tendency to Persist. Also, students' class level in the program was not related to self-efficacy.