Induction into the workplace: The impact of internships

Some form of work experience or internship ranks high on the list of criteria used by recruiters of college graduates for positions as management trainees. While internships are discussed positively by students, faculty, and recruiters, their evaluation has been faulted as being highly subjective and lacking in the use of controls and psychometric sophistication. This study used an Institutional Cycle design to investigate changes occurring after participation in internships with three cohorts of college age students. Changes were noted in both terminal and instrumental values and in work-specific needs. In the former, changes moved the profiles of the students closer to those of campus recruiters. In the latter, changes moved the students' needs in the direction of characteristics of the job, away from environmental characteristics.     

Decision making styles and progress in occupational decision making

This study provides a reexamination of the role of different decisional strategies in facilitating progress in occupational decision making. Although the assumptions that a rational decision making style is the preferred mode of vocational functioning has been endorsed in a variety of career theories and interventions, there has been conflicting evidence about the validity of this assumption. To examine the role of different decisional approaches in the progress of making an occupational decision, the rational, intuitive, and dependent decision making style scores of 71 undergraduate students were used to predict progress in occupational decision making. The results of the regression analyses failed to provide support for the assumption that a rational style is the most effective in accomplishing this careerrelated task, but indicated strong support for the conclusion that the use of dependent decisional strategies is damaging, particularly in early stages of the decisional process.     

An empirical investigation of self-esteem as a composite construct

Three measures of chronic self-esteem, plus four measures developed to assess situational components of self-esteem (task-specific self-esteem and social self-esteem), were administered to 238 undergraduates at a large, urban university and a community college in the southeastern United States. Evidence for a composite construct of self-esteem was found. Results also indicate task-specific self-esteem correlates as high as .42 (p < .01) with chronic self-esteem and as high as .76 (p < .01) with social self-esteem. Task-specific self-esteem was found to be a better predictor of grade point average than chronic or social self-esteem. Suggestions are made for further research on the situational components of self-esteem to extend current findings.     

Transfer of matching-to-figure samples in the pigeon

Three pigeons were trained on a modified six-key matching-to-sample procedure. The third peck on the figure-sample key (which presented a bird, hand, face, beetle, rabbit, fish, flower, or red hue, as the sample) lighted only one comparison key. Every three additional pecks on the sample lighted another comparison key, up to a maximum of five keys. Pecks on keys of matching figures produced grain. Pecks on nonmatching keys (mismatches) turned off all lights on the comparison keys and repeated the trial. Three figures were used during acquisition. The birds learned to peck each sample until the matching comparison stimulus appeared on one of three comparison stimulus keys, and then to peck that key. Later, five novel stimuli, employed as both sample and comparison stimuli, and two additional matching keys were added. Each bird showed matching transfer to the novel samples. The data suggest that the birds may have learned the concept of figure matching rather than a series of two-component chains or discrete five-key discriminations.     

Experimental analysis of individual differences and personality

In psychological studies individual differences that result in variability in data and thus mask the effects under investigation have been reduced or eliminated in two ways: (1) through the use of large numbers of subjects and statistical manipulations, or (2) through extensive and controlled studies of individual subjects. The latter, behavior-analytic, method is scientifically better because it permits identification of the variables that result in individual differences. This paper advocates the direct study of individual differences and personality rather than indirect study through experimental control procedures. Some data are presented showing that individual differences in response patterns have orderly characteristics. Extension of the experimental analysis of behavior to the study of individual differences and personality is likely to be important both scientifically and for the future growth of behavior analysis.     

The effects of ethanol intoxication on phobic anxiety

Behavioral conceptions of alcohol abuse often include the hypothesis that drinking behavior is a negatively reinforced operant, with ethanol intoxication viewed as alleviating aversive environmental and internal states. This hypothesis has not been confirmed or refuted by previous studies which employed mild stressors and limited assessment methodology. In the present experiment, 22 patients with severe phobias approached their phobic animal under two consecutive conditions—first while sober and second after drinking either a placebo or an intoxicating dose of ethanol. The severe anxiety induced was assessed behaviorally, physiologically and by the patient's self-report of fear. The intoxicated patients did not experience decreased anxiety, tachycardia or avoidance, compared to the placebo group. These results have clinical implications and suggest the need to reconsider tension-reduction theories of alcohol abuse.     

The effects of progressive relaxation on stress and diabetic control

Four insulin-requiring diabetic Ss were followed in single-S designs to measure the impact of progressive muscle relaxation training on blood glucose and stress levels. Measures of blood glucose, stress, activity and caloric intake were taken four times a day, along with a daily measure of anxiety. Two of the 4 Ss showed a significant decrease in blood glucose during treatment periods as compared to baseline measures. Similarly, 2 of the 4 Ss showed a significant decrease in stress levels during treatment. A multiple regression analysis revealed some significant relationships between blood glucose, stress, activity level and caloric intake. The results support previous studies that show relaxation techniques to be a viable aid in establishing greater diabetic control.