Reaction to Mortality: An Interdisciplinary Organizing Principle for the Human Sciences

Ernest Becker's theory about death denial is one example of depth psychological theory. Because very important features of Becker's theory have now successfully and singularly met the rigorous empirical testing of Terror Management Theory (TMT), it must be concluded that the theory of death denial stands apart from and above alternative depth psychological theories in explaining human behavioral and attitudinal motivation. Nevertheless, TMT only touches the surface of Becker's theory in the round. This essay looks at how Becker's wider theories of death denial are applied to (1) personal psychological, (2) social psychological, (3) political, and (4) spiritual aspects of human experience and suggests that what Becker has given us is an organizing principle, a theory of considerable integrative, explanatory, and interpretive power, for a broadly interdisciplinary social science of human behavior.     

A validation of the five-factor model of personality in academically talented youth across observers and instruments

Four instruments—the NEO-Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), the Adjective Check List (ACL), the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the California Child Q-Set (CCQ)—and two data sources—self reports and parental ratings—were used to assess personality dimensions according to the five-factor model of personality in 870 academically talented youth (mean age = 13.77) from the U.S.A. Data from the parents of 565 of these children were also analysed. The factor structure of the self and parent reports, the convergence between the two sources of reports and the correlations of the adjectives in the ACL with the scores on the NEO-FFI were all consistent with previous results obtained from adults. The findings largely support the notion that the five-factor model as derived from data from adults is applicable to academically talented youth.     

Problems in the measurement of vocational maturity

Problems posed by the measurement of vocational maturity are discussed. One is the choice of an appropriate approach to the construction of vocational maturity measures, and another is how to demonstrate that a developmental variable has been measured. A combined rational-empirical methodology is proposed as a possible solution to these problems, and a model of vocational maturity is formulated which can be used as a conceptual frame of reference for constructing theoretically meaningful and psychometrically valid measures of the variables.     

Components of verbal learning in children: Analysis by selective reminding

Free recall verbal learning by 5- and 8-year-old children was analyzed by selectively reminding them only of items not recalled on the preceding trial (instead of continuing to present the entire list before each recall trial) to show learning by retrieval from long-term storage without presentation. Concurrent analysis of long-term storage, consistent and random retrieval from long-term storage, and recall from short-term storage indicates that, while 5-year-olds showed slower acquisition than 8-year-olds, lower recall by 5-year-olds also was due to less effective retrieval from longterm storage. Repeated retrieval, without any further presentation after an item has been recalled just once, indicates that lower recall by 9-year-old children than by adults also reflects retrieval difficulty, since these children showed storage and retention of almost as many items as adults by eventual spontaneous retrieval without further presentation.     

Distracted pedestrians in crosswalks: An application of the Theory of Planned Behavior

Thousands of adult pedestrians are killed or injured each year. In spite of ever growing knowledge of correlates of risk pedestrian behavior, much remains to be learned. A small body of research has applied the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to the problem of risky crossing decisions. We employed TPB to examination of intentions to cross under varying types of distraction. Eighty adults completed measures of injury exposure, followed by a questionnaire structured around TPB assessing intentions to cross streets under common conditions of self-imposed distraction. Results were similar to other research, suggesting attitude and perceived behavioral control predicted intentions to cross streets while distracted. Results are discussed in the context of similar studies, and with regard to future directions and injury prevention efforts.     

Behaviorism and Society

A probable list of causes for the limited acceptance of behaviorism in our society is identified. This is followed by a summary review of the proposed solutions identified in other papers in this special issue of The Behavior Analyst, most of which relate to either better marketing of either the behavior analytic process or the results achieved as a consequence. One paper proposes a more broad conception of behavior analysis. This paper endorses the solutions identified in previous papers and then goes on to propose an even more broad conception of behavior analysis and makes the point that behavior analysis is unlikely to flourish unless behavior analysts understand a good deal more about the cultural and other contextual features of the environments in which they work.     

Pregnancy hypertension and the risk for neuropsychological difficulties across early development: A brief report

Despite documented effects on fetal brain development, little is currently known about the relationship between maternal pregnancy hypertension and child neuropsychological outcomes. This brief report examined the association between maternal hypertension during pregnancy and children’s social cognition and executive functioning when children were 18 months, 3 years, and 4.5 years. A community sample of 501 families (23 hypertensive mothers; 478 nonhypertensive) was recruited when children were newborns. Social cognition (including theory of mind [ToM]) and executive functioning (EF) were measured using a battery of age-appropriate standardized and/or observational tasks. Information on pregnancy and prenatal factors were measured via maternal report when children were newborns. After controlling for prenatal and demographic covariates, the presence of hypertension difficulties during pregnancy was associated with all measures of social cognition, ToM, and EF. A secondary analysis comparing the hypertension group (n = 23) to a nonhypertensive matched control group (n = 23) supported the effect of pregnancy hypertension on children’s social-cognitive and EF development. Future studies using obstetrical records are encouraged based on these preliminary findings.