Relating tests given to different samples

Suppose a collection of standard tests is given to all subjects in a random sample, but a different new test is given to each group of subjects in nonoverlapping subsamples. A simple method is developed for displaying the information that the data set contains about the correlational structure of the new tests. This is possible to some extent, even though each subject takes only one new test. The method uses plausible values of the partial correlations among the new tests given the standard tests in order to generate plausible simple correlations among the new tests and plausible multiple correlations between composites of the new tests and the standard tests. The real data example included suggests that the method can be useful in practical problems.     

Christian College Students' Perceptions of Faculty Spirituality

At an evangelical Christian university, 21 college seniors were interviewed to determine the criteria by which they evaluate faculty spirituality. Students expressed hesitancy in making such an evaluation because of the complexity of determining the quality of another person's spirituality. However, the four most-mentioned, perceived indicators of faculty spirituality were prayer at the beginning of class, devotions at the beginning of class, integration of faith and learning, and caring and concern for students. Students attached qualifiers to prayer and devotions as indicators, but not to the integration of faith and learning or to caring and concern for students.     

America's loss of innocence: Bicentennial reflections

This article explores some of the values and meanings of dreams through the life cycle, especially in later life when problems of physical decline require another return towards the unconscious to deal with aspects of vulnerability and issues in the mother complex still impeding relations between the ego and Self as the dreamer cycles towards a death of the physical body.     

Online communication preferences across age, gender, and duration of Internet use.

The present study explored variations in online communication and relationship preferences for friends, family, coworkers, and unknown individuals across gender (men, women), age (young, middle, late), and duration of Internet use (low, medium, high). A total of 174 individuals participated in this study. They were divided into two gender (86 men and 88 women), three age (60 young, 60 middle, and 54 late) and three Internet use duration (60 low, 58 medium, and 54 high) groups. All participants completed several questionnaires that assessed online communication and relationship building preferences. Results indicated no significant main effect for gender and online communication and relationship preferences. The main effect for age was significant for online communication with friends and unknown individuals. Young adults indicated their higher preferences for online communication with friends and unknown individuals compared to middle and late adult age groups. The main effect for duration of Internet use was significant for online communication and relationship preferences. High Internet users indicated higher scores on online communication and relationship building, compared to their counterparts. No significant main effects for duration of Internet use were significant on any of the offline characteristics. Implications of these findings and their relevance to mental health issues and organizational environment were discussed.     

Empirical bayes estimation of coefficients in the general linear model from data of deficient rank

Empirical Bayes methods are shown to provide a practical alternative to standard least squares methods in fitting high dimensional models to sparse data. An example concerning prediction bias in educational testing is presented as an illustration.The authors would like to thank the referees for several useful comments.The analysis of the data discussed in this report was part of a study funded jointly by the Graduate Management Admission Council and Educational Testing Service.     

Perspectives on contemporary mysticism

Contemporary mysticism is in continuity with religious mysticism of all ages. Mysticism, like all religion, has an ideological and an experiential dimension. Traditional Freudian theory is inadequate for understanding either the ideological or the cognitive aspect, because it does not adequately account for either the cognitive process or the self-conscious I. Categories of both ego psychology and the social scientific approach to religion illuminate contemporary mysticism in ways unavailable to the traditional Freudian psychoanalytic approach. The epistemological implications of the mystical attitude are considered, in both the religious and the scientific enterprises.     

Toward a psychological theory of multidimensional activation (arousal)

The traditional physiologically defined activation or arousal continuum, which ranges from intense emotion and vigorous activity on one extreme to calmness and sleep on the other, is rejected in favor of a psychological model with two activation dimensions and a single continuum of energy expenditure. One activation dimension ranges from subjectively defined feelings of energy and vigor to the opposite feelings of sleepiness and tiredness. Activation states associated with this dimension regularly vary in a circadian rhythm, and this dimension underlies gross physical activity and many aspects of cognition. The second dimension ranges from subjective tension to placidity and quietness, and it probably underlies a variety of emotions (e.g., anxiety) and stress reactions (e.g., effects of loud noise). While the two dimensions are positively correlated at moderate levels of energy expenditure, they are negatively correlated at high levels of expenditure; therefore, tension is lowest when energy-vigor is greatest and vice versa. Vulnerability to tension increases at late night, early morning, and at other times when effort and stress have increased tiredness and reduced vigorousness. Extremely low activation on either dimension de-energizes the whole system. Although only two dimensions are assumed, the possibility of four or more activation dimensions is discussed.I am grateful to Carolyn Thayer, Leonard Hommel, John Jung, Lyle Creamer, and Kenneth Armbruster for reading and commenting on an earlier version of this paper. I also wish to thank David McCarty for his aid in collecting and reducing data for Study 1. Finally, thanks are due to David Payne for his contributions of thermometers for Study 1 and literature retrieval services for other aspects of this work.     

Observing preschoolers' social-emotional behavior: structure, foundations, and prediction of early school success

Social-emotional behavior of 352 3- and 4-year-olds attending private child-care and Head Start programs was observed using the Minnesota Preschool Affect Checklist, Revised (MPAC-R). Goals of the investigation included (a) using MPAC-R data to extract a shortened version, MPAC-R/S, comparing structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and stability of both versions; and, using the shortened measure, to examine (b) age, gender, and risk status differences in social-emotional behaviors; (c) contributions of emotion knowledge and executive function to social-emotional behaviors; and (d) contributions of social-emotional behaviors to early school adjustment and kindergarten academic success. Results show that reliability of MPAC-R/S was as good, or better, than the MPAC-R. MPAC-R/S structure, at both times of observation, included emotionally negative/aggressive, emotionally regulated/prosocial, and emotionally positive/productive behaviors; MPAC-R structure was similar but less replicable over time. Age, gender, and risk differences were found. Children's emotion knowledge contributed to later emotionally regulated/prosocial behavior. Finally, preschool emotionally negative/aggressive behaviors were associated with concurrent and kindergarten school success, and there was evidence of social-emotional behavior mediating relations between emotion knowledge or executive function, and school outcomes. The importance of portable, empirically supported observation measures of social-emotional behaviors is discussed along with possible applications, teacher utilization, and implementation barriers.