A method for coping with overall productivity when making between-group category comparisons

A straightforward method for dealing with the effect of response productivity when comparing individual scoring categories between groups was presented along with an example. It was contended that percentage comparisons based on group data can circumvent the reliability problems associated with percentage scores derived from single protocols. Other problems connected with ratio and percentage scores were discussed.     

Young children's processing of television: Modality differences in the retention of temporal relations

Two experiments were conducted to examine modality differences in pre-schoolers' ability to recognize or recall temporally related events. Results of both experiments demonstrated that temporally related events were remembered more frequently when they were conveyed visually rather than aurally. This modality effect was found both when the semantic content of the auditory and visual sequences was either the same or different, and for shows designed for educational and purely entertainment purposes. The data suggest that children show relatively impoverished integration of the temporal parameters of auditory information, which may contribute to their misunderstandings about the plot of a televison show.     

Reliability of heterosocial skills measurement with sex offenders

The heterosocial skills of 79 sex offenders were assessed using two self-report inventories, the Social Anxiety and Distress Scale (SAD) and the S-R Inventory of Anxiousness (SRI). In addition, staff members rated the offenders on modified versions of the SAD and the Heterosocial Skills Behavior Checklist for Males (HSB). Twenty-one offenders were also videotaped during a brief interaction with a female confederate. The tapes were rated using the HSB. All ratings and videotapings were conducted twice within a two-week period. The two self-report scales showed good test-retest reliability (r=.88) and correlatedr=.63 with each other. However, the SAD correlated significantly with the Crowne-Marlowe Social Desirability Scale and showed significant change from first to second administrations. The SRI showed less reactivity to social desirability and changed less over time. The staff ratings showed higher test-retest (r=.72–.76) than interrater (r=.36–.43) reliability. They correlatedr=–.56 with each other and did not show a significant relationship to the Crowne-Marlowe. However, both staff-ratings changed significantly from test to retest. Inspection of correlations between staff and self-report measures indicated that these instruments may be strongly affected by rater variance. Different measures completed by the same person correlated higher than the same measure completed by different persons. The HSB showed high levels of interrater agreement (90–100%) and split-half reliability (r=.95–.97). However, test-retest reliability was poor for the overall score and for the category measuring form of conversation. Categories measuring voice and affect were moderately reliable over time (r=.53–.74). However, the voice category scores changed substantially from first to second videotaping. On almost all measures used in this study, the sex offenders' scores were similar to those derived from normal populations. Only the category measuring affect on the HSB seemed to differentiate this group from normals.     

Differences in Hand Test responses of healthy females across the life-span.

The Hand Test was administered to 175 females ranging from 17 to 72 years. Subjects were all "community-living," within normal range of hearing and vision, in good health, and had a modal education level of high school graduate. Results were consistent with previous findings using projective techniques with the elderly, in that a depletion and constriction of personality appears to be concomitant with the normal aging process.     

Selected Hand Test personality variables related to accidents in female drivers.

The Hand Test was administered to 170 females ranging in age from 17 to 72 years to determine if specific personality tendencies measured by the Hand Test would be significantly related to incidence of automotive accidents. Results indicated that the personality characteristic associated with DIR was significantly correlated with accidents, but that relationships differed somewhat with age.     

Quantitative analysis of the electromyogram using triggered correlation

A study has been made to determine the usefulness of triggered correlation as a method of automatic quantitative analysis of graphic representations of the somatic electric currents associated with muscular action. Although an electromyogram is neither a normally distributed nor a stationary random process, the method has been found to be suitable for clinical electromyography. The method is easy to use, with measuring values that may be used for diagnostic purposes being obtained within a few seconds. In the case of normal subjects and patients with neuromuscular diseases, parameters of triggered correlograms are compared with those of visuamanually analyzed or digitally averaged potentials of individual motor units.     

Hand Test indices of violent and destructive behavior for institutionalized mental retardates.

The Hand Test (Wagner, 1962) and the maladaptive behavior scale of the AAMD Adaptive Behavior Scale (ABS) were administered to 78 institutionalized retardates (46 males and 32 females) in order to investigate the relationship between violent and destructive behavior and two purported indicants of violent and destructive acting-out behavior on the Hand Test, the acting-out-score (AOS and movement-content response (ACT-MOV). Significant correlations between the two Hand Test indices and the number of types of violent and destructive behavior evinced during a three-month period were obtained.     

Weekending on the Coronation Gulf

Allen E. Ivey's visit to Coppermine, an Inuit village in the Canadian Arctic, is the basis for this assessment of the difficulties that arise when a traditional society is confronted and affected by the changes that inevitably accompany technological advancement and so-called Western contact. This article is written in narrative form that incorporates some aspects of a travelogue as well as professional observation and analysis. Focus is particularly held on the matter of counseling and guidance techniques and the question of their applicability outside the milieu in which they have been developed.     

Social representations,group affiliation,and projection: Knowing the limits of validity

It is argued that social representations and similar constructs can only be conceived of as mental structures containing meta-information about the group, within which the representation was formed and where it is part of social identity. The most important information will be to know the limits of its validity, that is, to know to which social group a representation pertains. Experiments on social projection have shown that people tend to project their opinions onto others, if they are perceived as being similar in background values. Such projection cannot be expected with idiosyncratic attitudes and beliefs. Consequently it is hypothesized that idiosyncratic and private attitudes, opinions, etc., are not attributed to specific social groups, whereas knowledge pertaining to social representations the subject subscribes to is projected onto the ingroup and less on the outgroup. This effect is expected to be independent of the relative number of people holding this opinion. This is what was found in a quasi-experimental questionnaire study. Implications of the findings are discussed with regard to the definition and criteria ofsociul representations and to the structure of the theory.