The actual and retrospective-occupational self-concept dimensions of retired educators

A 20-item adjective checklist was used by 118 retired educators to describe their actual and retrospective-occupational self-concepts. The men made their retrospective ratings for middle-aged and preretired occupational roles. The intercorrelations among the self-concept ratings were multiple-set factor analyzed, and seven common dimensions were identified: (1) stability, (2) conventionality, (3) independence, (4) practicality, (5) status, (6) confidence, and (7) cleverness. The results suggested that the retired educators had used the same dimensions in describing their actual and retrospective-occupational self-concepts. The percentages of variance contributed by the dimensions within the self-concept structures were also reported and discussed within the framework of career development.     

The role of inference in children's comprehension and memory for sentences

In a series of studies, young children often failed to construct and remember inferred relationships which they were capable of understanding. A cued recall procedure was employed to assess the relative effectiveness of implicit and explicit word prompts for sentence memory. The implicit cues were much less effective than the explicit cues for 6–7 yr old children while the cue types did not differ for 11–12 yr olds. Instructions to imitate the actions described by the sentences eliminated the memory difference for the young children. Developmental improvement in spontaneous inferential operations and intentional plans to remember are mechanisms which appear to yield an elaborated memory representation and greater access routes through indirect and implied relationships.     

The Premack principle in human experimental and applied settings

Studies claiming support for the Premack Principle in human experimental and applied settings are reviewed in terms of the standard test conditions associated with the Principle and in terms of the Principle's conceptual constrains. Little definitive evidence was found to support the claim that a high probability response will reinforce a lower probability response, nor was the converse contention supported, that a low probability response will act as a punisher for a high probability response. More importantly, among the reports reviewed there was no evidence for the reversibility of the reinforcement relationship.     

Stigma,staring, and discomfort: A novel-stimulus hypothesis

Three experiments were conducted in order to assess the validity of the novel-stimulus hypothesis as an explanation for why people who are physically different (i.e., novel) are avoided. The hypothesis states that avoidance is mediated by conflict over a desire to stare at novel stimuli and a desire to adhere to a norm against staring when the novel stimulus is another person. In the first two field experiments, subjects viewed photographs of novel (handicapped or pregnant) and familiar (physically normal) people under conditions where staring was sanctioned or not. It was found that staring increased with novelty when staring was unobserved (sanctioned); however, the reverse obtained when an observer was present. In the third experiment, subjects interacted with a crippled, pregnant, or physically normal partner. Half of the subjects were first given the opportunity to observe their partner through a one-way mirror. The reduction in stimulus novelty for this group resulted in reduced avoidance. The question of whether such avoidance of the disabled results from feelings of dislike or disgust as previously suggested, or from discomfort created by novelty, is discussed.     

Systematic desensitization, relaxation-training and suggestion in the treatment of test anxiety.

In investigations that have examined the component procedures in traditional desensitization treatment, desensitization was more effective than relaxation-training alone in several studies (Freeling and Shemberg, 1970: Davison, 1968; Rachman, 1968). while these treatments were equally effective in other studies (Benjamin, Mark and Huson, 1972: Aponte and Aponte, 1971; Johnson and Sechrest, 1968). One possible determinant of these inconsistent findings may be the presence of uncontrolled differences in therapeutic suggestion due to the fact that desensitization treatment typically includes a specific ‘rationale’ that explains the expected course and outcome of treatment while comparable authoritative guidelines for providing the rationale for relaxation treatment are not available.The present study compared the relative effectiveness of desensitization and relaxation-training in the treatment of test anxiety under conditions in which suggestion concerning the nature and outcome of treatment were essentially the same for both procedures. To examine systematically the role of suggestion in the treatment of test anxiety, instructions that were high and low in suggestion were given. Treatment outcomes were assessed in terms of changes in measures of anxiety and in performance on objective ability tests. A no-treatment group controlled for the effects of using the same pre- and post-treatment measures.     

Assertive training versus rehearsal and the importance of making an assertive response

This study dealt with whether mere practice would enhance assertion, and whether assertive training would reduce negative effect in simulated target situations, even when subjects (Ss) made no overt response. Males reporting difficulty with authority figures received either rehearsal alone or the complete assertive training package; in a subsequent behavioral test half in each group were told to make a response, with the remainder instructed to remain silent. Objective ratings revealed marked improvement following assertive training, while the effects of practice alone were negligible. For Ss receiving assertive training, reduction in selfreported negative affect in the target situations appeared to be independent of whether or not they engaged in overt verbalization, suggesting that assertive training, per se may enhance feelings of well-being.     

Attraction and altruism: With a little help from my friends

The present experiment was designed to determine whether the reinforcement value of an altruistic response is a function of attraction toward the victim and/or the affective state of the subject. Subjects (N = 95) received positive or negative evaluations from a victim or from a bystander and subsequently performed an altruistic response which terminated shock delivery to a victim on a series of 14 trials. Analyses of variance indicated that the acquisition of an altruistic response was greatest when attraction toward the victim was most positive (p < .0001) and nonexistent when attraction toward the victim was least positive. The results were consistent with the proposition that attraction rather than affect mediates altruistic reinforcement. Those subjects receiving negative evaluations from the victim failed to acquire the altruistic response, suggesting that failure to help may function as a form of passive aggression.