CAN-4, an advanced author language for CAI,computer-based testing and psychological experimentation: PDP-9 implementation

The effective use of computers for tutorial (programmed instruction) teaching and on-line testing requires that curriculum authors have powerful special-purpose languages. One such language, CAN-4, has been designed and implemented to run on the PDP-9. The language includes advanced scoring, data recording, computation, timing, and file control facilities. The language and its implementation are described in relation to the instructional problems which the facilities are designed to meet.     

Rassenschande,Genocide and the Reproductive Jewish Body: examining the use of rape and sexualized violence against Jewish women during the Holocaust?

Rape and sexual violence against Jewish women is a relatively unexplored area of investigation. This article adds to the scant literature on this topic. It asks: how and why did women's reproductive bodies (gender), combined with their status as Jews (race), make them particularly vulnerable during the Holocaust? The law against Rassenschande (racial defilement) prohibited sexual relations between Aryans and non-Aryans. Yet, Jewish women were raped by German men. Providing a more nuanced account than is provided by the dehumanization thesis, this article argues that women were targeted precisely because of their Jewishness and their reproductive capabilities. In addition, this piece proposes that the genocidal attack on women's bodies in the form of rape (subsequently leading to the murder of impregnated women) and sexualized violence (forced abortions and forced sterilizations) must be interpreted as an attack on an essentialized group: woman-as-Jew.     

The relative influence of conduct problems and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in the development of adolescent psychopathy

An in depth literature review was conducted into the relative influence of conduct problems and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in the development of child/adolescent psychopathy. Lynam (1996) wrote that children/adolescents exhibiting behaviors of both were ‘fledgling psychopaths;’ however, recent evidence suggests that if youth with comorbid conduct problems and ADHD exhibit a persistent form of antisocial and/or psychopathic behavior, the cause is primarily due to the levels of conduct problems, not the influence of ADHD. This article looks at the three perspectives regarding the development of psychopathy: (1) Conduct Problem Mediation, (2) the Independent Position, and (3) the Comorbid Subtype. The studies examining the three perspectives found that the Conduct Problem Mediation, not the Comorbid Subtype, was the most important in the development of psychopathy.     

Contrasting task demands alter the perceived duration of brief time intervals

Four experiments were performed to assess the effects of task differences on duration judgments. Experiments 1 and 2 used the method of reproduction in prospective, within-subjects designs; their results supported previous research on the effects of task difficulty. Both experiments, using tasks that varied along somewhat different dimensions, found that subjects provided reproduction values that varied inversely with task difficulty. That is, while subjects tended to underreproduce across all tasks, the more difficult the task performed during the target interval, the greater the extent of the under-reproduction. Experiments 3 and 4 used a modification of the reproduction method by placing demands upon the subjects during both the target interval and the reproduction phase of each trial; they demonstrated that the greater the degree of contrast between demands made by the task performed during the target interval and those made during reproduction, the less accurate the duration reproduction. The results are discussed in terms of the contextual and resource allocation models of duration estimation.     

College students' acceptance of potential treatments for ADHD

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the influence that the professional occupation of a consultant making a treatment recommendation may have on college students' (82 women and 52 men) acceptance of a proposed treatment for a child displaying characteristics of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Consultants were special education teachers, school psychologists, or physicians. The study also examined college students' ratings of treatment acceptability associated with three frequently implemented interventions of either nonspecific medication, token economy with response cost, or time-out for children with characteristics of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Analysis indicated college students found a token economy intervention was the least acceptable recommendation by a physician.     

“Approach” and “avoidance” coping and PTSD symptoms in innercity youth

This study examined the function of approach and avoidant coping on the relations between exposure to violence and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. The sample included seventy African-American, inner-city children (ages eleven to fourteen). Tests of moderating effects investigated the mechanism of two avoidant coping strategies, cognitive distraction and behavioral avoidance. Cognitive distraction was found to moderate the level of violence exposure such that, as violence increased, the use of cognitive distraction was related to an increased frequency of cognitive arousal. Behavioral avoidance moderated violence such that, under higher exposure to violence, the lowered use of behavioral avoidance was related to an increased frequency of behavioral arousal. Tests of moderating effects examined the function of two approach strategies, problem-solving and social support. Neither strategy showed significant effects. This study provided a first-step in the examination of coping within inner-city children. Portions of this research were supported by a grant from the U. S. Department of Portions of this research were supported by a grant from the U. S. Department of Portions of this research were supported by a grant from the U. S. Department of     

Parenting Characteristics Protective Against Substance Use and Deviant Peer Involvement in High-Risk Neighborhoods

Robust research shows that poor parenting practices are related to adverse outcomes among adolescents; however, few have examined the interaction between parenting variables and adolescent outcomes within the context of exposure to relentless crime. The current study examined the combined effects of parental monitoring and discipline on marijuana involvement and deviant peer affiliation among adolescent males living in Los Angeles neighborhoods with concentrated crime. For this study, areas with higher-than-average crime rates were selected based on census data, published statistics, and law-enforcement data. The study included 349 males between 13 and 17 years of age, mostly Latino (70.2%) and African American (28.4%). Data were collected using questionnaires to interview participants and analyzed using logistic regression. Results suggest that among adolescent males in geographic areas of high violence and crime, the interaction between parental monitoring and discipline was significantly related to marijuana involvement and deviant peer affiliation. Follow-up analyses showed parental monitoring was only an effective tool at higher levels of consistent parental discipline. In the absence of consistent discipline, good parental monitoring was ineffective at preventing marijuana involvement and affiliation with deviant peers. Results suggest that if time and resources are limited, clinicians should consider focusing on the use of consistent discipline with parents residing in high-crime neighborhoods.