Empirical derivation of SVIB-Holland scales: A brief report

The Strong Vocational Interest Blank responses of 93 students were used to construct six empirical scales similar to the scales of Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory. Scores on the empirical scales were correlated with actual VPI scores. The resulting correlations were compared to coefficients obtained from correlating the intuitive scales designed by Campbell with actual VPI scores. It was concluded that (1) meaningful estimates of VPI profiles can be obtained by scoring selected items from the SVIB and (2) further work with the empirical scales is needed prior to settling on a SVIB scoring procedure for estimating VPI profiles.     

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.     

Learning from negative outcomes in stuttering therapy: I. Getting off on the wrong foot

Considering the long history of research into stuttering, it is surprising that so little time has been devoted to the study of factors that contribute to the success of therapy. Even less attention has been devoted to uncovering forces that promote poor treatment outcomes. In this article and the companion piece that follows it, an attempt has been made to delineate what may prove to be predictors of unsuccessful therapy. In this first of the two articles, the focus in on the identification of patient, extraclinical, and clinician variables that could act to negate progress during the establishment phase of treatment.     

Children's use of perceptual set

The effects of perceptual set and of “sequential visual noise” on the identification of briefly exposed pictures were examined in 5-year-olds, 8-year-olds, and adults. Subjects were asked to indicate whether a brief target matched a standard. The standard picture was presented either before the target picture (to establish a set) or after the target. The target was presented either alone or last in a series of six brief pictures (i.e., in noise). Adults and 8-year-olds were at ceiling when the target was presented alone, but set facilitated their identification of the target in noise. The 5-year-olds benefited from set both when the target was presented alone and when it was presented in noise. These findings suggest that set for a specific target picture functions similarly at all ages.     

Self-esteem as a moderator of performance-satisfaction relationships

Korman's (Journal of Applied Psychology, 1968, 52, 484–490) prediction that performance and satisfaction should be positively related for high self-esteem individuals and unrelated for low self-esteem individuals was tested with samples of scientists, engineers, homemakers, firefighters, and clerical workers. Although there was a slight tendency for this prediction to be supported with the male scientist, engineer, and firefighter samples, Korman's theory was unsupported in the homemaker and clerical worker samples. Since the correlations found for low and high self-esteem persons significantly differed in only one of eight comparisons, self-esteem did not appear to be a reliable moderator of the performance-satisfaction relationship. Problems with previous studies purporting to test Korman's prediction are discussed, and the possibility of a confound between self-esteem and sex role and/or status is introduced.     

Spatial visualization and sex differences in quantitative ability

The hypothesis that sex differences in spatial visualization ability might account for sex differences in mathematical ability was supported for a group of 183 male and 81 female college students. With spatial visualization statistically controlled, no significant sex differences in Quantitative Scholastic Aptitude Test (QSAT) scores was found; including sex as a predictor variable increased the variance explained by less than 1%. Although the slope of the regression of mathematics on spatial visualization did not differ as a function of sex, males were somewhat more predictable than females. As the OSAT of both males and females high on spatial visualization was more predictable than the QSAT of those scoring less well, it appears that the sex difference in predictability is due to males having higher spatial ability than females.     

Developmental changes in the linguistic performance correlates of reading achievement

The present study evaluated the hypothesis that measures of linguistic skills differentially contribute to the variability in reading achievement at different ages. Linguistic skills that develop earlier and are more important for earlier phases of reading were predicted to contribute more to the variability of reading achievement at earlier ages (5–7) than at older ages (10–12). Conversely, linguistic skills that develop later and are more important for later phases of reading were predicted to contribute more to the variability in reading achievement at older ages (10–12) than at younger ages (5–7). To test these developmental hypotheses, measures of language skills with different developmental rates were administered to cross-sectional samples of disabled and nondisabled readers at three mean ages: 5.5, 8.5, and 11 years. Reading group differences were apparent at each age on measures assumed to develop earlier, thus failing to confirm the first prediction. However, these measures may not have been sensitive to linguistic skills important for beginning reading. Reading group differences on measures of later developing language skills were apparent only for older readers, thus confirming the second prediction. The latter age-dependent relationships provided additional evidence for developmental changes in the linguistic correlates of reading achievement.