The fantasy-reality distinction in televised violence: Modifying influences on children's aggression

Fifth-grade and kindergarten boys and girls were exposed to a violent televised episode that was introduced as a fictional portrayal (fantasy condition) or as a news broadcast (reality condition). Additional groups were given no information (no-instructional-set condition) about the violent stimulus or were not exposed to the violent episode (no-TV condition). Aggressive responses and helping responses were recorded immediately following exposure. Boys were most aggressive in the reality and no-TV conditions. They were less aggressive in the noinstructional-set condition and least aggressive in the fantasy condition. In almost direct contrast, girls were most aggressive in the fantasy and no-instructional-set conditions and least aggressive in the reality and no-TV conditions. A posteriori analyses of this interaction effect revealed that girls were less aggressive than boys in the no-TV condition and in the reality condition, but not in the fantasy condition nor the no-instructional-set condition. These effects held for both older and younger children.     

What does the lateral ear advantage relate to?

The lateral ear advantage, which has been suggested to change according to environmental factors and reading ability, was determined for a large group of children for three tasks. While ear advantages were readily found, they did not relate to age, sex, reading ability, or socioeconomic status. Methodological problems and the theoretical basis of the lateral advantage are considered. It is concluded that there is little reason to expect lateral ear advantage should be related to such variables.     

Training research in aging on the fluid ability of inductive reasoning

The modifiability of older adults' performance on Induction tasks was examined through cognitive training. The posttraining performance of 52 older adults ($\text{X}\text{age = 70.3}\text{years}$) was assessed with regard to a transfer-of-training paradigm and maintenance of training effects at three posttests (one week, one month, six months). A pattern of differential training transfer across the posttest battery of fluid and crystallized intelligence measures was predicted, with the largest training effects expected for near transfer (Induction) measures. The predicted pattern of training transfer was obtained at one-week and one-month posttests, with significant training effects to the nearest Induction measure. Large retest (practice) effects across posttests also occurred for training and control groups. This research contributes to the position that modifiability of intellectual performance through cognitive intervention extends across the adult life span.     

The perception of emotionally toned sentences by right hemisphere-damaged and aphasic subjects

The perception of 60 emotionally toned sentences, divided into meaningful and meaningless utterances, by high- and low-verbal aphasics and right hemisphere-damaged subjects who were not aphasic was investigated. The intended moods were happiness, sadness, and anger. Results indicated (a) significant differences between the aphasic groups in identifying the intended emotion but none between groups in identifying the intended emotion but none between either of these groups and the right hemispheric dysfunction subjects; (b) sentence meaningfulness only affected the responses of high-verbal aphasics; and (c) while the happy mood seemed to be the least frequently selected among the three moods, closer inspection indicated that the subjects in absence of response bias were distinguishing among the three moods with equal success.     

A definitive,large-sample factoring of personality structure in objective measures,as a basis for the high school objective-analytic battery

Eighty-two subtests chosen from a series of preceding researches as the best marker variables for 12 previously checked and interpreted personality factors (U.I. 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23–26, 28, 32, and 33) were administered to 2,522 boys of high school age. The ensuing factor analysis, aimed to check and precision the factor patterns, to lead to the definitive HSOA battery, and to yield scores for further age and genetic analyses, observed the following procedural requirements: (1) Scree test for number of factors, (2) iterated communalities, (3) blind automated rotation, carried further by rotoplot to a maximum simple structure, (4) a test of simple structure significance, and (5) matching of patterns for invariance against other studies. As before in this domain, 19–20 factors were found, and the 10 for which definite markers had been made available matched very well with former patterns. Although a small minority of tests failed to load as hypothesized, this results in some weakness of factor estimate only on U.I. 32, Exvia-Invia. For on all 10 factors for the planned HSOA battery, with this possible exception, the validities of weighted battery scores reached acceptable levels.     

The factor structure of the Vocational Preference Inventory for black and white college students

This study investigated whether the variables measured by the Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) were the same for both black and white students. Kaiser et al. (1969) have noted that the same measurements used with different populations may not measure the same variables and have presented a method of determining the degree of correspondence in the two populations. In the present study, the VPI scores for a group of black students and a group of white students were factor analyzed separately and the black structure was rotated to correspond to the white structure. The correspondence between the variables measured by the VPI for black and white students was found to be very similar. This is to say that the VPI measures the same variables for both black and white college students.     

Personality types and traits in the Vocational Preference Inventory

The relationships between the six scales on which Holland's (1973) theory is based (viz., Realistic, Investigative, Social, Conventional, Enterprising, Artistic) and the five other scales (viz., Self-control, Masculinity, Status, Infrequency, Acquiescence) of the Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) (Holland, 1970) were investigated using canonical analysis. Considering the six personality type scales as one set of variables and the five trait scales of the VPI as the second set of variables, five significant canonical correlations were obtained for a sample of 373 mostly white undergraduate students. In a second study, three significant canonical correlations were found for a sample of 115 black college students at another school. The weights of the VPI scales suggested that three patterns of relationships among the scales are shared by the black sample and the mostly white sample.     

Sequential variables and the Kamin effect

The results of two experiments demonstrated that retention deficits occurred in a within-subjects design only when the intermediate interval test was either the first or second test of the retention of prior aversive conditioning experience; when two relearning tests preceded a 1-hr test, no performance deficits were observed. It was suggested that internal cues may serve as memory attributes of avoidance behavior during early stages of avoidance learning, while other stimuli may facilitate the retrieval of the memory of prior avoidance training with repeated testing.     

Mediators between frustration and aggression in a field experiment

To assess some of the mediators between a frustrating incident and subsequent aggressive behavior in a field situation, 320 male and female subjects were assigned to one of 32 experimental conditions in a 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design. Either a male or female experimenter, saying “Excuse me” or not, dressed in high or low status clothing, cut in line in front of the subject, who was standing near the front or back of the line. Verbal and nonverbal aggressiveness were coded and summed to measure total aggression. Subjects near the front of the line or interacting with a low status experimenter were more aggressive than those at the back of the line or seeing a high status experimenter. Less aggression was directed against the female experimenter or one who said “Excuse me,” and there was a strong tendency for subjects to be more aggressive to a same-sex experimenter. It was suggested that further research on instigators to aggression be carried out in such field situations.