Increasing achievement motivation and work productivity in a chronic psychiatric population

The major goal of this study was to determine if social reinforcement for behavior in a simulated work activity would increase achievement motivation, work interest, and simulated work activity production. Forty-five chronic psychiatric patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups: work sample with praise, work sample without praise, and a no-treatment control group. A 3 (between) × 2 (within) analysis of variance was run for each dependent measure, that is, achievement imagery, work interests, and simulated work production. The main effect for the interaction between trials and treatment was significant on each dependent measure. Follow-up Duncan Multiple Range Tests indicated that the praise group showed a significant improvement on each dependent measure, pre to post, as well as significantly greater improvement than the no-treatment control group and/or the work sample without praise group. These results are discussed in terms of the procedure used as a method for increasing motivation and in terms of possible generalization of results to other treatment situations.     

The measurement of perceived opportunity for occupational attainment

Many writers implicate perceptions of the opportunity structure in the labor market as essential components of the formation, stability, and enactment of socioeconomic achievement attitudes. These perceptions of opportunity are thought to be observed structural constraints and reflective of more than just pure motivation. Previous attempts at measuring “perceived opportunity” have no consistent approach or conceptualization. This study evaluates a 10-item scale of perceived occupational opportunity in an attempt to overcome many of these problems. Using panel data covering the period of career decision making and labor force entry (adolescence to young adulthood), the internal reliability and construct validity of the linear composite are assessed. The scale's external validity is then further explored within the context of a structural equation model linking perceived opportunity to social origins, adolescent career plans, and early socioeconomic attainments.     

The effects of verbal and behavioral noncompliance on third party instigation of aggression

Females, assigned to one of four conditions defined in terms of a confederate's behavior, suggested which shock intensity the confederate ought to set for an opponent during a reaction time competition, should the opponent lose the trial (had slower reaction time). Confederates either verbally complied or disagreed with suggestions to set high shock, while either actually setting the intensity suggested or setting a lower intensity. Over trials, the opponent became increasingly provocative. Results revealed the main effects and interaction of confederate's verbal and actual behaviors, as well as provocativeness of the opponent, significantly influenced the level of shock subjects suggested. Subjects with verbally and behaviorally compliant confederates suggested more intense shock than subjects who encountered any noncompliance.     

A scale of educational-vocational undecidedness: A typological approach

A scale designed to measure and identify antecedents of educational-vocational indecision was administered to a variety of college student groups expected to differ in career-decidedness. Results indicate that the scale is reliable, appears to discriminate career-decided from career-undecided students, and is responsive to interventions designed to alleviate educational-vocational indecision. A factor analysis of the scale yielded four factors: need for structure, perceived external barriers, positive choice conflict, and personal conflict. The instrument has potential for diagnostic, criterion, and conceptual purposes related to career indecision.     

The effects of modifying color-meaning concepts on racial concept attitudes in five- and eight-year-old children

Williams and Edwards (1969) found that changing the positive and negative evaluations given to color concepts by preschool children through reinforcement procedures over two sessions reduced their racial concept attitude scores measured during a third session. The present study replicated their negative reinforcement and control procedures with 5-year-old children, and extended their research to include 8-year-old children. The present results replicated the original findings and in fact showed a larger change in racial attitude scores. While the color-meaning concepts were modified to a greater extent in the older children, the effect of the negative reinforcement procedure on racial attitude scores was similar for the two age groups.     

Cardiac-somatic changes during a simple reaction time task: A developmental study

The relationship during a simple reaction time task between heart rate and four measures of task irrelevant somatic activity was evaluated in four age groups of children, i.e., 4-, 5-, 8-, and 10-year-olds and young adults, in order to evaluate further a hypothesized coupling of cardiac and somatic activity. At all age levels, phasic decreases in both heart rate and somatic activity coincident with performance were found with the magnitude of the effect increasing with age only on three somatic measures. However, tonic levels of both heart rate and somatic activity decreased with age. Performance on the reaction task was found to be inversely related to the age-related phasic somatic effects as well as age-related tonic heart rate and somatic activity.     

Required relaxation: a method of inhibiting agitative-disruptive behavior of retardates

Institutionalized retardates frequently exhibit agitative-disruptive behavior. Recent experiments have shown that overcorrective training in specific types of behavior can inhibit inappropriate behavior. A procedure was developed in which overcorrective practice in relaxation was given to each of eight adult retardates for their disruptions. The agitated resident was required to spend a fixed period of time in relaxation in his own bed upon each occurrence of agitation. This overcorrective relaxation resulted in a rapid, enduring and almost complete reduction in such behavior as self-injury, threats, physical aggression, screaming, crying, cursing and tantrums. Ward attendants strongly preferred the required relaxation procedure to the time-out technique and other inhibition procedures they had used. The procedure appears to be about as effective as alternative techniques and to have the advantages of ease of implementation and acceptability by ward staff and retardates as a ‘reasonable’ reaction to agitation.     

Related factors of the Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes and the Vocational Preference Inventory

The Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes (SSHA) and the Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) were administered to 100 undergraduates. The scales of the two instruments were compared using canonical analysis. The analysis revealed a relationship between a component of the SSHA and a component of the VPI which accounted for 31% of the variance of the two instruments. The related components were interpreted as indicating that a dimension running from an academic orientation to a nonacademic orientation was measured by certain scales of each instrument.