What Makes It Rape? A Lay Theories Approach to Defining Rape Among College Students

Recent changes in the U.S. Justice Department’s definition of rape have renewed its public attention. The present study applied a lay theories approach to the assessment of what college students currently think about rape. Participants (n?=?272) defined rape in their own words; responses were qualitatively analyzed and prominent themes identified. Major themes included the physicality of rape and the victim’s response; minor themes included the potential for victims to be physically harmed and rape’s gendered nature, among others. These findings provide insight into how this demographic conceptualizes and theorizes rape, which is an important step in reducing its prevalence.     

Two (Weak) Cheers for Markets in Votes

This paper offers the first moral defense of markets in votes in a democratic electoral system based on majority rule where there are no moral restrictions on how votes can be cast. In Part 1 I outline the type of vote buying that I defend in this paper, and defend my methodological assumption. In Part 2 I criticize Freiman’s arguments for legalizing vote buying (arguments that do not address its morality). In Part 3 I outline and reply to some responses that could be made to my criticisms of Freiman’s arguments. In Part 4 I draw from the flaws in Freiman’s arguments to argue that vote buying is morally permissible and defend these arguments against objections.     

Uninformed Consent? The Effect of Participant Characteristics and Delivery Format on Informed Consent

Although many people choose to sign consent forms and participate in research, how many thoroughly read a consent form before signing it? Across 3 experiments using 348 undergraduate student participants, we examined whether personality characteristics as well as consent form content, format, and delivery method were related to thorough reading. Students repeatedly failed to read the consent forms, although small effects were found favoring electronic delivery methods and traditional format forms. Potential explanations are discussed and include participant apathy, participants trying to save time by not reading the consent form, and participant assumptions about consent forms.     

Performance Effects of Reward-Related Feedback on the Dimensional Change Card Sort Task

The Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) is one of the most widely used measures of preschool executive function, yet relatively little is known about how altering emotional demands of the task affects DCCS performance. This study examined the effects of emotionally evocative reward-related feedback on preschool children's performance on the DCCS in a sample of 105 children aged 3.5–4.5 years. In a within-subjects design, children completed the standard DCCS and a modified version of the DCCS in which sticker rewards were gained or lost after each trial. With a reward at stake, children were more accurate but had slower reaction time on the post-switch DCCS. Another sample (N = 20) of 3.5- to 4.5-year-olds who completed the standard DCCS twice without reward showed no change in performance, indicating results are not due to practice effects. Findings demonstrate preschool children's ability to adjust their approach to the DCCS in the presence of emotionally evocative reward-related feedback by prioritizing accuracy over speed. Trial-by-trial reward-related feedback may facilitate cognitive control in early childhood.     

Effects of Curriculum-Based Monitoring on Classroom Instruction and Math Achievement

In recent years, concerns about the math achievement of U.S. students have been highlighted in the popular press, journal articles, major conference presentations, and official U.S. Department of Education (1998) reports. School personnel have responded to the issue of low math achievement by a) writing or rewriting standards, b) “ratcheting up” current standards, c) building accountability systems that include all students, d) developing programmatic interventions, e) extending the school year, and f) implementing effective instructional management systems. Research on teaching has linked instructional environment and achievement. Thus, this study was designed to determine whether the implementation of an instructional management system served to improve student math achievement and the classroom instructional environment. In addition, the study examined the extent to which adding a curriculum-based monitoring system to an ongoing math curriculum would result in positive changes in the classroom instructional environment and in achievement.     

Evaluation of a participatory,competency‐based model of staff training in a community habilitative setting

This study evaluated a participatory model of staff training within a community habilitative setting for adults with developmental disabilities. The objectives were to formulate an approach to training that was not time intensive, included multiple instructional methods, and incorporated all levels of staff involvement. Senior administrative, middle‐level supervisory, and direct‐care personnel comprised a committee that designed and implemented a training program that targeted performance and verbal report competencies required by ‘on‐line’ staff. Training consisted of corrective feedback, modeling, rehearsal, and practice procedures that were carried out with three individuals in a multiple baseline design across sets of target competencies. The training program was effective in establishing staff competencies although individual learning effects were revealed. The implications of these findings for the design of staff training programs within human service agencies are discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Anxiety Disorders Among Older Primary Care Patients

Data from the 1997 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) were accessed to obtain information about naturalistic patterns of recognition, service utilization, and treatment for late-life anxiety in primary care. The NAMCS is a national probability sample survey of office visits to non-Federal, U.S. physicians engaged in patient care. The survey was conducted by the Division of Health Care Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Data are now in the public domain. For the current report, all cases indicating office visits for patients age 60 and older were selected (n = 7,687). Anxiety disorders were assigned for 1.3% (n = 99) of these visits, with anxiety disorder NOS the most frequent diagnosis. For 20.2% of these visits (n = 20), a coexistent depressive disorder also was diagnosed. Depression without coexistent anxiety was diagnosed for 2.3% of all visits (n = 176). These figures suggest that late-life anxiety may often go unrecognized and may be more difficult to detect than depression. Nevertheless, other data indicate that appropriate pharmacological treatment and mental health services or referrals are often provided when anxiety or depression is recognized. However, visits wherein these disorders are recognized require increased physician time, and significant proportions of patients in some groups may still not receive appropriate mental health care. Results are discussed in terms of the nature of usual care for late-life anxiety and the needs for future research.