The Vocational Exploration Group and minority youth: An experimental outcome study

This study was designed to investigate experimentally the effectiveness of the Vocational Exploration Group in assisting students to become more aware of the world of work and its relevance for them. Sixty male, Mexican-American, junior high students were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) Vocational Exploration Group, (2) VEG without interaction, or (3) Control. Upon completion of treatments subjects were post-tested with an instrument designed to assess knowledge of factors such as differing functions of jobs, interests and skills needed in different jobs and satisfactions available from work. Analyses revealed no statistically significant differences (a = .05) among groups.     

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.     

Socialization and career orientation among black and white college women

In a study of career orientation among black and white college women, support was found for hypotheses derived from postulates of Rotter's Social Learning Theory. Compared to whites, (1) blacks were less likely to expect the level of work involvement preferred; (2) blacks expected more employment; and (3) blacks were more likely to prefer less employment than they realistically expected. Antecedents of career expectation were categorized as internal, external, or neutral. As hypothesized, variables expressive of external control predicted level of career expectation among blacks, whereas variables expressive of internal control predicted high career expectations among whites.     

The response ratio hypothesis for magnitude estimation

Assume that each presentation of a signal produces two independent random variable representations and that the ratio of responses on successive trials of a magnitude estimation experiment are proportional to the ratio of a representation from the present trial, which representation is then lost, to the remaining one from the previous trial. The mean response to a particular signal depends on the mean of the representation used, but in general exhibits drift over trials and sequential effects due to the preceeding trial; the mean response ratio does not exhibit drift, but it has a simple form only when there are no sequential effects; however, a modified mean ratio function has a simple form. A model suggested by D. V. Cross is a special case of this one. Simple timing and counting models for the representations fail to exhibit sequential effects, contrary to considerable data. However, data of the authors have suggested a version of the timing model in which the sample size of the representation varies by an order of magnitude depending on how close the signal is to the preceding one; this hypothesis accounts for the observed sequential effects and other aspects of the data.     

Fixed and optional stopping models for two-choice discrimination times

Several current models for choice- or discrimination-time experiments represent the stimulus as a sequence of independent and identically distributed observations. This paper develops and compares models based on two different stopping rules that a subject might use to terminate his sampling process and convert his perceptual evidence into an observable response. The fixed and optional stopping rules yield different predicted forms for the speed/accuracy tradeoff function and for the relation between mean and variance of response times. These predictions are developed in the general case and then specialized for certain conditions of symmetry, so that the expressions are easier to apply and to compare between models. A later section considers how changes in stopping criteria (either between or within experimental trials) affect predictions about mean response times for correct responses and errors, and then uses these ideas to relate the optional stopping rule for the Random Walk models to those of the Accumulator models. A final section considers specialized models for stimulus detection and intensity discrimination that assume Poisson-distributed sensory input, and relates these models to the present fixed stopping model.     

The psychology of farming: A review of twenty-five years of research

If all of mankind is to have an adequate diet, we must both stabilize world population and increase markedly world food supply. Moreover, attaining any such increase in food supply may be as much a problem in vocational psychology (e.g. the skill, knowledge, openness to change, and motivation of farmers) as in agricultural technology. The purpose of this review is to further psychological work on agricultural productivity by listing and evaluating a cross-section of relevant articles since 1945. Because psychologists have largely ignored agriculture, most reviewed studies were conducted by other behavioral scientists. Studies are grouped according to three broad areas: (1) predictors of choice, success, and satisfaction; (2) adoption of recommended practices; and (3) communal agriculture.     

A behaviorally-based measure of manifest needs in work settings

This investigation represents an attempt to develop and validate a research instrument (Manifest Needs Questionnaire) capable of measuring the four needs of achievement, affiliation, autonomy, and dominance using behaviorally-based scales. The instrument is designed to measure such needs with specific reference to work settings and with minimal time requirements for completion. Results of both laboratory and field studies among 640 subjects indicate that the instrument exhibits acceptable levels of convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity, as well as reasonably high test-retest reliability and internal consistency. Results are compared to other, lengthier instruments designed to measure similar needs.     

Age trends in children's time-sharing performance

To investigate developmental differences in time-sharing performance, 60 boys, 20 in each of three age groups (7-, 10-, and 13-year-olds) performed an auditory matching task and a tracking task alone and concurrently, the latter under two sets of instructions. Decrements produced by concurrent performance were compared for the three age groups. When the time-shared tasks were presented as equally important, time-sharing produced significantly greater proportional decrements in the tracking performance of the younger children and for all age groups tracking task decrements were directly related to matching task difficulty. Subsequently, the children were instructed that one or the other of the tasks was more important and that they were to improve their performance on that task. All three age groups showed a significant improvement on the task emphasized by instructions. The relationship of the results to two models of information processing is discussed.