The virtues of the SDS and its associated typology: A second response to Prediger and Hanson

The author reviews the evidence for the beneficial effects of the Self-Directed Search (SDS), indicates that Hanson and Prediger have misinterpreted the theory, that their evidence is misleading, and that other evidence indicates that males and females of the same type are similar. The virtues of raw scores are summarized. The author recalls some methodological adventures and outlines where we are now in this controversy about the measurement of interests for special groups.     

The accuracy of self-administration and scoring on Holland's Self-Directed Search

This study assesed the extent to which Ss commit various types of errors when completing Holland's Self-Directed Search (SDS) entirely on their own. Nearly all Ss made some type of error and approximately half of the Ss made errors which affected their final three-letter summary codes. Almost one-fifth of the Ss made errors resulting in an incorrect high-point code. Whether or not Ss made errors that affected their summary codes was unrelated to the extent to which they were interested in knowing more about occupations or academic majors they might like. Neither were such errors related to whether Ss felt the occupations suggested by their summary codes seemed reasonable. Only slightly over one-third the Ss actually did feel that the occupations seemed reasonable.     

Effect of role choice on vocational high school students

This study was an attempt to determine whether the role choice dimension of Holland's theory was applicable to vocational high school students. The results of the study indicate that students with a clear role choice have significantly higher mean achievement scores, are more satisfied with their training program and have a lower attrition rate than students with an unclear role choice. These results seem to suggest that school counselors should listen to what students say they want to do in their work role.     

Cued recall in anterograde amnesia

After a single presentation of a word list, normal subjects exhibited better retention when prompted with semantic cues than with rhyme or letter cues. Alcoholic Korsakoff patients, patients receiving electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), and the patient N.A. exhibited impaired retention and, unlike control subjects, did not exhibit an advantage of semantic cues over letter and rhyme cues. Two experimental manipulations designed to equate the level of performance of amnesics and controls indicated that these amnesias could be understood as a reflection of weak memory strength that results from deficiencies in initial learning and retention. In addition, alcoholic Korsakoff patients appeared to have greater difficulty utilizing semantic cues than patients receiving ECT or patient N.A.     

A comparison of dichotic and visuo-acoustic competition in hemispherectomized patients

Following hemispherectomy, patients performing dichotic listening tasks have great difficulty reporting items presented to the ear ipsilateral to their intact hemisphere. One possible cause is an attentional imbalance which, when competing inputs are received from both sides of space, restricts the patient's attention to the stimulus contralateral to his remaining hemisphere. If this explanation is true, then a similar ipsilateral ear decrement should occur when a competing visual stimulus is presented in the contralateral field. In the present study, however, hemispherectomy patients easily reported a digit presented to the ear ipsilateral to their intact hemisphere despite the concurrent presentation of a visual digit to their contralateral field.     

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.     

Children's scales of length and loudness: A developmental application of cross-modal matching

The cross-modal matching techniques that have produced scales of sensory magnitude for a variety of perceptual continua in adults were used to construct similar scales in children. Subjects were adults and children 4, 6, 8, and 12 years old. Their task was, first, to match the loudness of a 1000-Hz tone to various visual lengths, and, second, to match the length of a white tape to various loudnesses of the tone. Almost all subjects were able to perform the matching tasks; the average precision of older subjects (12 and Adult) was somewhat greater, but in each of the younger age groups a majority of subjects performed with a precision that equaled that of older subjects. The exponent of the power function that relates length and loudness does not change with age. The scale factor does change, in a way that suggests either that a given sound intensity seems softer, or, more probable, that a given length seems longer, to younger children. The success of cross-modal matching with subjects as young as 4 years means that it is possible to investigate not only single perceptual scales but also intermodal organization in young children.     

The scaling of postural adjustments during bimanual load-lifting in traumatic brain-injured adults

Previous postural studies of traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients have been limited to identifying deficits in static and quasi-dynamic postural control tasks such as weight shifting. In this study, we examined whether or not patients with TBI are able to scale adequately their postural adjustments during the performance of the dynamic task of bimanual load-lifting. An age matched group of healthy adults served as controls. We used the Tetrax posturography system that calculates a stability score (ST) based on fluctuations in vertical ground reaction forces, normalized for body weight. During quiet standing, the ST scores of the TBI group were significantly higher than the control group. Forward weight shift and percentage change in the vertical ground reaction forces (lift postural adjustment (LPA) and post-lift postural adjustment (PLPA) scores) linearly increased with increasing load weight in both healthy and TBI subjects. Group differences were found in the magnitude of forward weight shift but not in the relative increase of the LPA and PLPA scores during the lifting and post-lifting phases respectively. The forward weight shift of the TBI group was lower-than-normal and asymmetrical--there was significantly less forward weight shift on the more affected than on the less affected limb. In addition, a significant amplitude coupling was found between the scaling of the weight shift of the heel and forefoot of each limb. However, no coupling was found between the weight shift amplitudes of homologous parts of both limbs in the TBI group. The results showed that scaling based on prior experience was preserved in the TBI group, though some TBI subjects demonstrated absent scaling in either the more affected or less affected heel or forefoot. The differences between the normal and TBI groups in postural adjustments are not necessarily a sign of pathology; rather they may represent a deliberate choice of the central nervous system to counteract predictable disturbances.     

The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler: Toward an Adlerian vocational theory

Within the past couple of decades, the Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler has become increasingly popular among consultants, educators, and psychotherapists alike. The approach also has gained the attention of several vocational researchers, and some vocational investigations on Adler's theory have appeared. Unfortunately, such empirical studies have been all too few, seemingly because no articulated framework exists of an Adlerian vocational theory. In this article, an Adlerian vocational theory is proposed. Specific hypotheses and corollaries, each derived from the substantive base of Individual Psychology, are presented and explained.     

Right-hemispheric language evidence from cortical stimulation

While the left-hemispheric dominance for language in most right-handers is unquestionable, clinical observations suggest that the right, nondominant hemisphere has a considerable capacity for language. Under certain neuroanatomical conditions, the right-hemispheric capacity becomes functional and, thus, measurable. This study focuses on evoked language responses during electrical stimulation of the right hemisphere in three left-dominant patients undergoing temporal lobe resections for medically intractable seizures.