Crossing the Line: Case Studies of Identity Development in First-Generation College Women

In this paper we present four case studies of adult women from working class backgrounds who attended Hillside College (a pseudonym for one of the seven-sister colleges) during the early 1990s. Although research on women has led, over the past few decades, to a more complex picture of the contexts in which women develop their identities, one important context that has been underexplored is social class. Drawing on data from three lengthy interviews with each of our four participants, our purpose was to explore the identity concerns of adult women from working class backgrounds in their experience getting to and attending Hillside College, which has historically been home to the middle and upper social classes. Implications for college retention are discussed.     

Effects of experienced disgust on habituation during repeated exposure to threat-relevant stimuli in blood-injection-injury phobia

Despite growing evidence implicating disgust in the etiology of blood-injection-injury (BII) phobia, the relevance of disgust for exposure-based treatment of BII phobia remains largely unknown. Individuals with BII phobia were randomly assigned to a disgust (view vomit videos) or neutral activation (view waterfall videos) condition. They were then exposed to 14 videotaped blood draws, during which fear and disgust levels were repeatedly assessed. Participants then engaged in a behavioral avoidance test (BAT) consisting of exposure to threat-relevant stimuli. Examination of outcome comparing the identical first and last blood-draw clips revealed that fear and disgust toward blood draws was significantly reduced in both groups. Disgust levels were also found to be more intense for the video stimuli relative to fear levels whereas the opposite was true for BAT stimuli. Contrary to predictions, the disgust induction did not enhance reductions in negative responses to the target video or reduce behavioral avoidance. Growth curve analyses did show that individuals with BII phobia exposed to the disgust induction showed greater initial fear levels during repeated exposure than those in the neutral condition. However, this effect was not consistently observed across different analytic approaches. Changes in fear during exposure were also found to be independent of changes in disgust but not vice versa, and greater initial fear levels during repeated exposure to threat was associated with fear and disgust levels during the BAT. The implications of these findings for conceptualizing the role of disgust in etiology and treatment of BII phobia are discussed.     

Resilience in Families that have Experienced Heart-Related Trauma

The aim of this study was to identify resilience qualities in families in the wake of heart-related trauma of one of their members. The theoretical framework of this study was the Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation, which represents a paradigmatic shift from a pathological to a strength-based view of a family. Self-report questionnaires and an open-ended question were used to collect data from 22 family members who experienced the heart-related trauma. The results indicate that family time and routines, parent–child togetherness, family chores and affirming communication are key qualities for mediating family adaptation, while inflammatory communication was found to be negatively associated with family adaptation. Other relevant qualities were social support, family hardiness and a coping style where problem situations are reformulated. The identification of these qualities can serve as the focus for intervention and prevention, enhancing the quality of life for families with a cardiovascular patient.     

NO QUICK FIXES: ADDING CONTENT ABOUT WOMEN TO ECOLOGY COURSE MATERIALS

This study reports on a three-semester model project designed to assess the impact of enriched content related to Women's and Gender Studies on students enrolled in an undergraduate ecology course. The two constructs of interest were (a) students' attitudes toward women in science and society and (b) students' assessment of the classroom climate for women. The data included 398 matched pretest and posttest survey responses from a control group, a minimal enrichment group, and an increased enrichment group. Findings indicated that, although small course revisions did not influence students' attitudes toward women in science and society, such revisions had a positive influence on students' assessments of the classroom climate.     

Bilateral entorhinal cortex lesions impair acquisition of delayed spatial alternation in rats

Entorhinal cortex lesions induce significant reorganization of several homotypic and heterotypic inputs to the hippocampus. This investigation determined whether surviving heterotypic inputs after bilateral entorhinal lesions would support the acquisition of a learned alternation task. Rats with entorhinal lesions or sham operations were trained to acquire a spatial alternation task. Although the sham-operated rats acquired the task within about 3 weeks postsurgery, rats with bilateral entorhinal lesions failed to learn the task after 12 consecutive weeks of training despite heterotypic sprouting of the cholinergic septodentate pathway and the expansion of the commissural/associational fiber plexus within the dentate gyrus. Thus, heterotypic sprouting failed to ameliorate significantly the effects of bilateral entorhinal lesions. Rather, entorhinal lesions produced a persistent impairment of spatial memory, characterized by a mixture of random error production and perseverative responding.     

Information theory and collative motivation: incentive value of uncertainty, variety, and novelty for children

We tested the applicability of concepts and measures from information theory to studies of the development and operation of collative motivation. Three variables nominated by Berlyne as potential motivators of information seeking--uncertainty, variety, and novelty--were put into correspondence with three informational theoretic measures--average uncertainty in bits, number of possible outcomes, and outcome probability--to investigate the incentive properties of each variable for first and fourth graders. Increasing bit levels of uncertainty by adding alternatives to the set of possible outcomes was generally positively related to cover choices; however, increasing bit values by varying outcome probabilities from unequal to equal had no effect on choice. Without uncertainty, variety provided a weak source of collative motivation, systematically related to the choice of the transparent cover only for the older children when rewards occurred equally frequently. In contrast, the transparent cover was chosen significantly more frequently when the outcome probability of the associated reward was low. We obtained developmental stability in motivational effects except for variety operating in the absence of uncertainty.     

The role of househusband and housewife as perceived by a college population

The research literature frequently conveys the notion that gender roles are becoming less stereotypical. In this study the authors explored the question of how a college population views the role of househusband and housewife and if there are significant differences in role expectations. A 51-item questionnaire was constructed and administered to 526 college students. This sample was chosen because college students are likely to be assuming these roles in the near future. As predicted, the role expectations for househusbands and housewives are not the same. Women tended to question the current structure of household roles more than did men, and the role of househusband was generally more negatively perceived. Reasons for these findings are discussed.     

Emergent leadership as a function of sex and task type

Emergent leadership was examined in relation to sex and task type; 120 subjects participated in four-person mixed-sex groups. Three task conditions (masculine, neutral, and feminine gender orientations) were tested with 10 groups in each condition. It was predicted and found that more men than women would emerge as leaders in the masculine and neutral task conditions, while more women would assume the leadership role in the feminine task condition. The effects of the gender orientation of a task are discussed. It is suggested that expertise with a task may explain the task type effect found.This study is based on the senior author's master's thesis, conducted at Wayne State University under the direction of the second author.     

Determinants of tax evasion and compliance

The problem of tax evasion and subsequent revenue loss is an important one for our nation. Noncompliance with tax laws causes multibillion dollar annual losses for the U.S. treasury. An investigation of psychological variables is suggested as the most promising route to increase tax compliance. Hence, a review of the legal, economic, sociological, and psychological literature concerning the motivation and causes of noncompliance with tax laws is presented. Theoretical models and empirical studies addressing the issue of tax evasion are reviewed. An individual's feelings of equity and sense of norm commitment may be the crucial factors in the decision to comply or evade legally mandated taxes, superseding the notion of sanctions as the most effective deterrent. A legal reasoning model is one suggested alternative in the search for a causal explanation of noncompliance.