On the possibility of the reemergence of a dysgenic trend with respect to intelligence in American fertility differentials

This paper examines the relationship between IQ and fertility in a sample of men and women aged 25–34 as of the late 1970s. This sample is of unusual interest for two reasons: (1) it is a national probability sample, representative of the non-institutional civilian population of the U.S. as a whole, and (2) it is for a post-World War II cohort. Most previous studies of the IQ/fertility relationship have employed nationally unrepresentative samples of cohorts born in the pre-war period, 1910–1940. The bias, in both time and place, of the samples used in these studies has not been adequately grasped by those who cite them as evidence of a eugenic trend with respect to intelligence.The major finding of these previous studies was that the IQ/fertility relationship is slightly positive, contrary to expectations though confirmatory of the so-called Eugenic Hypothesis. My working hypothesis is that this finding is special to the cohort chosen for study, i.e., one whose child-bearing took place during a period of rising birth rates (cohorts born between 1910 and 1940 were largely responsible for the baby boom after World War II). That is, in periods of rising birth rates, persons with higher intelligence tend to have fertility equal to, if not exceeding, that of the population as a whole. In periods of falling birth rates, the opposite is the case, according to my thesis.This thesis is generally supported by the data set described above. Fertility differentials to date within the post-World War II cohort, which entered its reproductive years during a period of falling birth rates, show a negative relationship between intelligence and fertility. The relationship is less negative for white men than for white women and for white women than for black women (black men are omitted from this study due to deficiencies in the data). The stated intentions of this cohort with respect to future fertility, if realized, will moderate the degree of this relationship, particularly for whites, but not change its sign.     

Sex differences in the structure of intelligence: A confirmatory factor analysis

The LISREL model of Jöreskog and Sörbom was used to perform a comparative factor analysis on intelligence data from four sex by generation groups. The covariance matrices for 10 psychometric ability measures were used to isolate Spatial and Verbal Intelligence factors. Results from a series of factor analysis models indicated substantial invariance in the factor pattern and factor covariance matrices, although the hypothesis of complete invariance in factor pattern was rejected. The groups did differ in observed and unique variances. The results were basically consistent with the hypothesis that males and females have similar intellectual structure, which would have been obscured had standardized factor analysis been employed. There were also sex and generation differences in the Spatial and Verbal factor means.     

The development of alertness

Two experiments explored variation in the alerting process across age and warning interval as well as the effects of alertness on subsequent processing. Experiment 1 obtained alertness functions for a group of 5-year-olds, 8-year-olds, and adults. Results revealed strong age differences in speed of alerting and in maintenance of alertness over a 1-sec interval. Five-year-olds alerted more slowly than older groups and sustained optimal alertness less well. Both groups of children showed more variability in alerting functions compared with adults. Experiment 2 examined the degree to which age differences in processing speed were attributable to differential speed and maintenance of alerting. Masking functions obtained across variations in the alerting interval revealed that when level of alertness was optimal in both 5-year-olds and adults, minimal age differences in processing speed were observed. During short, nonoptimal alerting intervals, speed of processing in adults was faster than in 5-year-old children. The pattern of results across studies suggested that alertness can fluctuate over time in young children, that level of alertness affects subsequent perceptual processing speed, and that developmental variation in speed and maintenance of alertness can partly explain observed age differences in processing speed. The potential role of alertness in more complex cognitive tasks is discussed.     

Need for achievement,career mobility,and the Mexican-American college graduate

Need for achievement and career mobility were measured for 111 Mexican-American college graduates. Those with a moderate need for achievement were found to have the highest upward mobility. Those with either a high or low need for achievement had lower mobility. The implications of this finding are discussed.     

Generalized multivariate lens model analysis for complex human inference tasks

A generalized multivariate lens model is presented which will permit the analysis of complex human inference tasks. Such tasks, occurring in their natural ecology, may involve judgments or decisions on multiple criteria and/ or where the influence of theoretically interesting partitions or augmentations of cue profiles needs to be systematically delineated. The generalized model incorporates the standard, hierarchical, and fully partialed lens models, the initial elaborations of which were made by N. J. Castellan (1972, Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 8, 242–261) and T. R. Stewart (1976, Psychometrika, 41, 101–120). Both multivariate and univariate lens model equations are presented within a common notational system. An example which demonstrates some aspects of the generalized model is discussed in detail. Other potential applications for the model are outlined.     

Subjective utility,anticipated utility,and the Allais paradox

One of the most notable counterexamples to expected utility theory is the “Allais paradox” (M. Allais, 1953, Econometrica, 31, 503–546). A number of alternative theories have been proposed in an attempt to resolve this paradox, notably including Karmarkar, 1978, Karmarkar, 1979, 24, 67–72). It is shown that SWU theory necessarily involves violations of dominance, but that the theory can be modified to avoid these violations. The result is a special case of J. Quiggin's anticipated utility theory (1982, Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organisation, 3, 323–343).     

论马一浮"六艺之学"视野中的易学研究

作为现代新儒家早期思想的代表人物,马一浮先生提出了以儒家"六艺之学"统摄天下诸学的主张.这是马先生的一个创举,体现着他对传统儒学有意识地改造和发扬.作为"六艺之学"的一个分支,易学研究在马一浮先生的学术研究中无疑具有着"本体论"地位和作用,它所体现的"心之本体",不仅是"六艺"所自出的本原,也是"六艺之学"共同的目的和归宿.     

A new processing model for predicting performance on Pascual-Leone's test of M-space

A new model is proposed for explaining children's performance on Pascual-Leone's test of M-space. The model differs from Pascual-Leone's in three regards. (1) It assumes that children do not stop sampling a compound stimulus until every simple stimulus in their field of attention has already been noticed and responded to. (2) It assumes that the probability of sampling different combinations of simple stimuli conforms to the laws of Maxwell-Boltzman statistics rather than Bose-Einstein statistics. (3) It assumes that children's ability to detect all the simple stimuli in a compound stimulus is highly dependent both on the relative saliencies of the simple stimuli and on the length of time for which the compound stimulus is exposed. Using the developmental values of M hypothesized by Pascual-Leone, and standard techniques of computer simulation, the new model is used to generate theoretical performance curves for children at four different age levels and seven different levels of stimulus complexity. It is shown that the predicted performance curves for an exposure time of 5 sec provide a reasonable fit to the data originally reported by Pascual-Leone (1970), and that the predicted performance curves for an exposure time of 10 sec provide a reasonable fit to data obtained more recently by Parkinson (1976). Finally, it is shown that the order of children's responses as well as the number of their responses can be predicted. Two conclusions are drawn. (1) The new processing model offers a viable alternative to the model originally proposed by Pascual-Leone. (2) Regardless of which processing model is employed, the M-values originally postulated by Pascual-Leone are valid.     

Student self-selection for specializations in engineering

The general hypothesis that students self-selecting themselves for different occupational fields differ in relevant values and interests was tested for specializations within engineering. Industrial engineers were found to be different in work values and in their image of their subfield from students of other engineering specializations. The study concludes that in terms of type of student selecting engineering, the profession cannot be treated as an undifferentiated entity. It is suggested that in future research engineering students may be regarded as relatively homogenous with respect to work values only if their area of specialization is duly considered.     

Three types of schemata in children's recall of cohesive and noncohesive text

Children, ranging in ages from 7.3 to 9.6 years, were identified according to the type of schemata structure they used to recall picture sequence events. These children were then required to recall several written text passages representing four different conditions: (1) theme first paragraphs, (2) theme final paragraphs, (3) paragraphs with no theme but having thematic structure, and (4) paragraphs with no theme and no thematic structure. It was found that the manner and the amount of the child's recall were a function of how the child's schemata structure interacted with a given paragraph structure. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the generally unquestioned assumption that only one “ideal” text grammar is needed to describe children's schemata for processing test.