ROLE PERCEPTIONS IN PERU1

Perception des râles au Pérou. — Le Différentiateur de Rôle (RD) a été utilisé pour étudier comment les Péruviens (N = 161) perçoivent les rôles. Les analyses factorielles font apparaître cinq facteurs de comportement identiques pour chacune des deux formes de l'instrument qui ont été utilisées. Une analyse factorielle (two-mode factor analysis) à 6 types de sujets pour chacune des deux formes, mais il n'y a pas de différences majeures dans les structures de réponses par rapport aux facteurs de comportement. Les échantillons sont supposés provenir de la même population. Les résultats sont cohérents avec l'hypothèse selon laquelle des normes de conduite clairement définies sont liées aux différences dans le statut social des paires de rôles qui reflètent le caractère hiérarchique de la société. l'hypothèse d'une invariance interculturelle de la structure factorielle des normes de conduite est confirmée. Les AA. résument brièvement les différences essentielles qui apparaissent dans la perception des rôles chez les Américains, les Grecs et les Péruviens.     

Target and arm observation effects on adaptation to prism displacement

Adaptation to displacement of objects in the visual field was studied as a function of preexposure test targets being absent or present in that field and lateral arm movement requiring no pointing at targets being observed or unobservable during prism exposure. Significantly greater adaptation was found when targets present during prism exposure were the same as those present during pre and postexposure test conditions. In addition, greater adaptation was found when S was permitted observation of lateral arm movement during prism exposure. Greatest adaptation was produced when both targets were present and arm movement was observable during prism exposure. In addition, when three targets were present during prism exposure, the greatest amount of adaptation was found for targets on S’s prismatically shifted visual field periphery.     

Perspectives on Psychology and Law

The past decade saw an explosive growth in psychological research on law (particularly the judicial process) that continues unabated. This article presents an intellectual history of this research and a critical assessment of its contemporary developments. It begins by tracing four stages in the relations between psychology and law that serve to place present scholarship in perspective. Then follow two sections consisting of conceptual, methodological, and jurisprudential critiques of two topics, respectively, that traditionally have been and still remain at the center of research attention: the pretrial phase of the criminal process (eyewitness identifications) and the criminal trial itself (jury selection, jury decision making, and presentations of evidence and law to the jury). Finally, some themes are culled from past and present experience that capture the mood, difficulties, and prospects of applying psychology to the law. The purpose of this theoretical overview of the field is to suggest some insights into two recurrent questions: why has psychological research not had more of an impact on the judicial process, and what can be done about it?     

Functional analyses and treatment of precursor behavior

Functional analysis has been demonstrated to be an effective method to identify environmental variables that maintain problem behavior. However, there are cases when conducting functional analyses of severe problem behavior may be contraindicated. The current study applied functional analysis procedures to a class of behavior that preceded severe problem behavior (precursor behavior) and evaluated treatments based on the outcomes of the functional analyses of precursor behavior. Responding for all participants was differentiated during the functional analyses, and individualized treatments eliminated precursor behavior. These results suggest that functional analysis of precursor behavior may offer an alternative, indirect method to assess the operant function of severe problem behavior.     

Personality and Fears

The contribution to self-reported fears of individual differences in extraversion-introversion (E) and neuroticism (N) was studied in 102 female college students. Four groups of 20 Ss each were constituted - high E high N, high E low N, low E high N, and low E low N. A fear survey schedule and the Eysenck Personality Inventory were employed. By analysis of variance, total fear scores were a significant function of N but not E. Extreme or phobic fears were a significant function of neither personality dimensions, though the N effect approached conventional significance levels. Correlational analyses on the full sample confirmed these findings, except that a statistically significant though slight (6 percent) proportion of extreme fear variance was accountable by N.     

Health Programming for Clergy: An Overview of Protestant Programs in the United States

The health of clergy is important, and clergy may find health programming tailored to them more effective. Little is known about existing clergy health programs. We contacted Protestant denominational headquarters and searched academic databases and the Internet. We identified 56 clergy health programs and categorized them into prevention and personal enrichment; counseling; marriage and family enrichment; peer support; congregational health; congregational effectiveness; denominational enrichment; insurance/strategic pension plans; and referral-based programs. Only 13 of the programs engaged in outcomes evaluation. Using the Socioecological Framework, we found that many programs support individual-level and institutional-level changes, but few programs support congregational-level changes. Outcome evaluation strategies and a central repository for information on clergy health programs are needed.