EFFECTS OF HUMOROUS ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLLEGE TEXTBOOKS

Written educational selections and cartoons drawn to illustrate different educational points were arranged to effect a factorial variation in (1) level of difficulty of educational material (easy, difficult) and (2) amount of humor (no humor, moderate humor, extensive humor). Students read one version, evaluated it on a number of dimensions, and were tested over the material. Pictorial humorous illustrations were found to have no effect on information acquisition and on motivation, positive effects on appeal, and negative effects on persuasibility.     

The impact of television,print, and audio on children's recall of the news.

Recent research has shown that children remember more from television news than from print news, a finding that has been explained by the extra mnemonic support offered by redundant television pictures (the dual‐coding hypothesis). The present study was designed to examine three alternative explanations, which attribute children's superior recall of television news to (a) underutilization of the print medium, (b) a recall advantage of listening compared with reading, and imperfect reading ability. A sample of 192 fourth and sixth graders was presented with children's news stories, either in (a) their original television form, (b) a bare print version, a print version supplemented with photo material or in (d) an audio version. Results indicated that the television presentation was remembered better than any of the other three versions. The results of the study were consistent with the dual‐coding hypothesis, whereas no support was found for the alternative explanations tested in the study.     

Work,marriage, and health behaviors of African American working couples

Using a sample of 379 African American working husbands and wives, this study examined a unique link between work and marital experiences on health‐promoting behaviors. Results of the dyadic model show that husbands' and wives' control over work are directly associated with husbands' and wives' health‐promoting behaviors, respectively, after taking into account the dependencies between husbands and wives. The results of the dyadic model also show that husbands' and wives' control over work are indirectly associated with husbands' and wives' health behaviors through their perceived marital integrations. By understanding how work control and marital integration combine to influence both husbands' and wives' health behaviors, programs that promote healthy behaviors can be better designed and more effectively implemented.     

CHILDREN'S IMITATION OF A RIDICULED MODEL

In order to test the effectiveness of ridicule as an educational and social corrective in children's educational television programs, arbitrary activities involving a novel object were performed by a Muppet model, videotaped, and presented to 4- and 6-year-olds. In each of three conditions of type of motivational message (ridicule, command, suggestion), a highly specific action was discouraged, another was encouraged, and a third was neither discouraged nor encouraged. The frequency with which subjects played with the novel object served as a measure of imitation. Four-year-olds consistently responded most effectively to correction when commands were given. In sharp contrast, 6-year-olds were most responsive to ridicule and least responsive to command.     

Perceived community disorder,hostile marital interactions,and self‐reported health of African American couples: An interdyadic process

Using a sample of African American husbands and wives, this study investigates whether marital interactions and health are linked to their perceived community disorder. Findings suggest that only husbands' perceived community disorder is associated with their hostile behaviors toward their wives. Although wives' perceived disorder is strongly associated with husbands' perceived disorder, wives' perceptions are not directly associated with their hostile behaviors toward their husbands. Findings also suggest that husbands' and wives' hostile behaviors are strongly associated with each other. In general, spouses' hostile behaviors toward their partners are associated with their own as well as their partners' physical and mental health. Furthermore, husbands' perceived community disorder is directly associated with their own physical and mental health.     

THE EFFECT OF POSITIONING A MESSAGE WITHIN DIFFERENTIALLY COGNITIVELY INVOLVING PORTIONS OF A TELEVISION SEGMENT ON RECALL OF THE MESSAGE

The effect on message recall of placing a message within differentially cognitively-involving portions of a complex audiovisual program was examined. In an experimental design that controlled for time of total exposure to stimulus material and for the time interval between exposure to a test message and later recall and interest tests, subjects viewed a program package consisting of a commercial, a pretested segment of an action-adventure program, and an especially created control in one of four conditions of commercial placement: (1) the commercial was placed between two moderately involving portions of the program which occurred a few minutes prior to both the action-climax and the resolution of the suspense, (2) the commercial was placed immediately subsequent to the highly involving climax and immediately prior to the moderately involving resolution, (3) the commercial was placed subsequent to the climax and immediately subsequent to the resolution, or (4) the commercial was placed between two minimally involving portions of the control communication. Assessments of message recall were taken on one-half of the subjects shortly after they had completed viewing the experimental materials. In order to assess for long-term effects, the remainder of the subjects received a similar recall test and a test of interest in the product depicted in the commercial message one month after the experimental viewing session had been completed. The findings supported the proposition that recall of message content is inversely related to the cognitive involvement potential of the program material presented immediately before and after the critical message.     

品味:主动用心地感受积极体验

品味(savoring)是积极心理学中的一个重要概念,它主要指个体延长和增强积极体验的过程。本文在介绍Bryant和Veroff的品味理论基础上,结合最新研究进一步对品味的概念、结构、机制、测量进行系统论述,并探讨了品味和幸福感的关系以及提高品味能力的方法。除了需要在品味的神经生理机制、品味的毕生发展研究、品位的文化差异等一些研究领域继续努力外,品味的测量以及应用等问题也都值得未来研究注意。     

Married Black men's opinions as to why Black women are disproportionately single: A qualitative study

This study's purpose was to explore the reasons Black women are disproportionately single according to the unique viewpoint of married Black men. The sample comprises 52 married Black men who resided in northeast Georgia (mean age = 43). Qualitative interviews were conducted in 2010 as part of the Pathways to Marriage study. The authors analyzed the data in a collaborative fashion and utilized content analyses to explore the relationships in the data, which were derived from qualitative interviews with the men. Findings on the reasons for the disproportionality of singlehood among Black women reflected these four themes: gender relations, marriage education and socialization, individual development, and a preference for gay/lesbian relationships. Recommendations for future research are discussed.