Aspects of Communication in Families with Young Children

The subjects for this study were 16, non-pathological, four-person families, each with a child three or four years old and a child six or seven. Half the children were male and half female. The interactions studied involved both parents with one child and then with the other. The content of each remark was studied through a system of language-usage categories. This analysis indicated that older children sent and received a wider variety of messages than younger children did. Also, female children received a higher ratio of positive feedback to negative feedback from parents than males did. Who talks to whom, and who talks the most were also studied. These measures showed the formation of strong same-sex coalitions between parent and child. A number of the findings support a general systems interpretation of family interaction.     

Interpersonal attraction as a function of extreme gender role adherence

Although gender-specific constructs of hypertraditionality qualitatively differ (e.g., hyperfemininity and hypermasculinity), we view them as analogous constructs that can predict similarity/attraction effects. The similaritylattraction paradigm showed that individuals find attractive the traits in others that are similar to their own traits. We suggest that this effect applies to levels of hypertraditionality, as measured by the hyperfemininity and hypermasculinity personality scales. The studies were conducted to test this hypothesis. We began by manipulating stranger similarity in an attraction experiment. Results showed that similarity of hypertraditionality led to attraction. Women preferred target persons similar to themselves in hypertraditionality. Data from men revealed an unexpected interaction. Low hypermasculine men preferred women similar to themselves in hypertraditionality, yet high hypermasculine men did not distinguish between female strangers based on the stranger's level of hypertraditionality. We then studied dating couples. These couples provided real-world data that supported and expanded the laboratory observations. We found a significant positive correlation between the partners' levels of hypertraditionality. The implications of attraction based on hypertraditionality may provide insights for future studies of relationship formation and maintenance.     

Adolescent stress: Evaluation of the factor structure of the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (ASQ‐N)

Moksnes, U. K., Byrne, D. G., Mazanov, J. & Espnes, G. A. (2010). Adolescent stress: Evaluation of the factor structure of the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (ASQ‐N). Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 203–209. The present study reports an evaluation of the factor structure of the Norwegian version of the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (ASQ‐N) among 723 students. Principal components analysis (PCA) revealed nine internally consistent dimensions of adolescent stress. Scales constructed from this PCA correlated positively with measures of depression and anxiety and negatively with self‐esteem. Girls reported higher stress levels than boys in seven of the nine scales and age was also positively correlated with the scale scores of adolescent stress. The results revealed that the instrument has potential for measuring adolescent stress. The stability of the ASQ‐N needs to be tested repeatedly, across cohorts and over time, to establish the adequacy for use in Norwegian adolescent studies.     

Color and Similarity1

Similarity claims about the colors, for instance that blue is more similar to purple than to yellow, are Sometimes held to pose a serious problem for physicalism about color: the view that colors are physical properties of some kind. I examine various responses to this problem, find them wanting, and give my own solution, which appeals to the way colors are visually represented. Finally, I argue that the proposed account removes the principal motivation for Lewis's and Walker's response to Kripke's Wittgenstein, in terms of “natural” properties.     

Career Education for Students With Disabilities

Career education is as important for students in special education services as it was a decade ago. The majority of these students continue to experience extreme difficulties in making a successful transition from secondary programs to employment and independent living. The authors review the state of the art and then present a life-centered career education curricular approach to prepare students with the important competencies needed for successful adult adjustment. Sample programs are cited. The school counselor is viewed as an important contributor to this process, and several critical guidance functions are recommended by using a comprehensive guidance program model. A challenge to the professional is presented to complete the unfinished agenda that presently exists in services to students with disabilities.     

COMMENTS

The Irish are not in a conspiracy to cheat the world by the false representations of the merits of their countrymen.

No, sir; the Irish are a fair people — they never speak well of one another

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)
Boswell's Life Johnson