Holland's theory and non-college-degreed working black and white women

The main concern of this study was to investigate differences between black and white American women employed in traditional female occupations who took the Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) and the Self-Directed Search (SDS). The VPI and the SDS were administered to 110 black and white non-college-degreed workers in three occupations (laboratory technicians, sales clerks, and clerk-typists) corresponding to three of Holland's environmental categories (Investigative, Enterprising, and Conventional). In general, the findings for the three VPI and SDS scales and for these six occupational groups are mixed. On the SDS scales, findings indicate that black and white women in the same occupation seem to be far more similar than different. On the scales of the VPI, however, white and black women in the same occupation seem to be more different than similar.     

Unequal reinforcer magnitudes and relative preference for cooperation in the dyad

College-student subjects, who were paired with a confederate, chose to respond either independently or cooperatively for money reinforcers. The subject's relative preference for cooperation was assessed by a procedure (analogous to the psychophysical method of limits) in which response choice was monitored as reinforcer magnitude for one response mode was systematically varied while the other remained constant. Relative preference for cooperation was assessed when the confederate's payoff for cooperation was greater than the subject's (Experiment I) and when the confederate's payoff for independent responding was less than the subject's (Experiment II). For some subjects, changes in the confederate's reinforcer magnitudes resulted in shifts in relative preference for cooperation, which reduced the earnings differences, even though these preference shifts reduced the subject's absolute earnings. For those subjects for whom within-dyad differences in reinforcer magnitude produced no effect, a changeover button was introduced that allowed the subject to eliminate the payoff difference without reducing her own earnings; some subjects used this changeover button to eliminate earnings differences. Thus, the behavior of subjects varied, in part, as a function of reinforcer magnitudes provided for the confederate.     

Associative factors in free recall

An experiment on the free recall of 18-word lists is reported in which variations were made in associative frequency, word frequency and the number, and therefore size, of the presented groups. Recall efficiency was positively related to increasing associative frequency and larger presented group size. Measures of clustering were obtained along with subjects' own reports on the associative labels helpful to them in organizing their recall. A two-level storage model is proposed to account for the results.     

“Principles in his nature which interest him in the fortune of others…”: The heritability of empathic concern for others1

The present research was conducted to explore genetic influences on empathic concern for others. First, an index of empathic concern was created by combining relevant items from Gough's Adjective Check List (ACL). This index was validated by correlating scores of 88 undergraduates on the index with their scores on a self-report measure of empathy, which has been related to prosocial behavior. Correlations were sufficiently high to accept the validity of the index. Next, previously collected ACL responses of 114 monozygotic (MZ) and 116 dizygotic (DZ) twins were reanalyzed in order to create an empathic concern score for each twin. The twins were middle-aged males initially raised together but living apart at the time they completed the ACL. Comparison of intraclass correlations for MZ and DZ twins revealed, as predicted by the genetic hypothesis, significant (p < .005) heritability in empathic concern scores. This finding suggests that there may, indeed, be a genetic influence on individual differences in empathic concern for others. Some limitations of the present data are also considered. How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him.     

Fine points aside: data are data

Movement responses by 5 1/2- to 6 1/2-year-old children on the Holtzman Inkblot Test were reported on by Lockwood et al. in volume 45 of this Journal. Criticism of the findings discussed in that article by J. Swartz, Reinehr, and C. Swartz was published in the December, 1981, volume of the Journal. The present article rebuts their criticism and emphasizes the significance of the original findings which reflect new and highly discrepant normative M response data from that previously available.     

Body-cathexis and self-cathexis in an interactional, awareness training class.

This study examined the effects of a psychology of adjustment class on body-acceptance and self-acceptance. An introductory psychology class served as a control group. Subjects were pre- and posttested with the Body-cathexis and Self-cathexis scales. Two by two analyses of covariance indicated that the adjustment group showed a larger gain on both scales than the control. Sex interacted with group significantly on the Body-cathexis scale only. Means indicated that the main effect of groups on the Body-cathexis scale may be attributed to the larger gains by females in the adjustment class.     

Book Reviews

S idoli , M ara and B ovensiepen , G ustav (eds). Incest Fantasies and Self-Destructive Acts: Jungian and Post-Jungian Psychotherapy in Adolescence
S tevens , A nthony . Private Myths, Dreams and Dreaming
K ast , V erena . Imagination as Space of Freedom: Dialogue Between the Ego and the Unconscious
S egal R obert A. (ed.). The Allure of Gnosticism: The Gnostic Experience in Jungian Psychology and Contemporary Culture
E dinger , E dward F. The Eternal Drama: The Inner Meaning of Greek Mythology
H illman , J ames . Healing fiction
K napp , B ettina L. Manna and Mystery: A Jungian approach to Hebrew Myth and Legend
B lÉandonu , G Érard . Wilfred Bion: His Life and Works, 1897–1979
B roadribb , D onald . The Mystical Chorus: Jung and the Religious Dimension
S ymington , N. Emotion and Spirit: Questioning the Claims of Psychoanalysis and Religion
N egri , R. The Newborn in the Intensive Care Unit: A Neuropsychoanalytic Prevention Model
E arly , E mmett . The Raven's Return: The Influence of Psychological Trauma on Individuals and Culture     

Book reviews

G uggenbÜhl -C raig , A dolf . From the Wrong Side: A Paradoxical Approach to Psychotherapy
Z oja , L uigi . Growth and Guilt: Psychology and the Limits of Development
L angs , R obert . Doing Supervision and Being Supervised
S chaverien , J oy . Desire and the Female Therapist: Engendered Gazes in Psychotherapy and Art Therapy
P arker , R ozsika . Torn in Two: The Experience of Maternal Ambivalence
K awai , H ayao . Dreams, Myths and Fairy Tales in Japan
P riestley , M ary . Essays on Analytical Music Therapy     

Optimism, pessimism, and false failure feedback: Effects on vigilance performance

Following the logic of a prior experiment (Seligman et al., 1990) with varsity collegiate swimmers, sixty student volunteers performed a brief, but highly stressful vigilance task. Half were then given false feedback indicating poor performance; the others experienced a non-evaluative display at that point. All were then asked to repeat the vigil. Half the observers were assessed as high optimists and half as high pessimists. The pessimists showed a steeper vigilance decrement than the optimists, consistent with a model (Scheier and Carver, 1987) that proposes that pessimists are more emotion-focused under stress than optimists, and hence would be less attentive to the vigilance display, regardless of feedback condition. The false negative feedback actually turned out to be ineffective; hence, based on Seligman's account of the swimmer study, which requires effective negative feedback, there should have been no vigilance performance difference between optimists and pessimists, either pre- or post-feedback.