Offline: The possible effects of Internet-related behavior on work values,expectations, & behavior among Ultra-Orthodox millennials

ABSTRACT

This work examines differences in the work-related values, expectations, and behaviors between millennials who are significant users of technology and social media, and those who are not. We delineate the development of millennial behavior using a unique group of millennials, those in the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish (known as “Haredi”) community in Israel. Due to religious and community norms, many Haredi millennials were shielded from digital technology, and particularly the Internet and the various technologies associated with it, such as text messaging and social media. Those who were raised and remained in Haredi communities did not encounter the Internet with any regularity as children. Many as adults are still unfamiliar with social media. Thus, this community presents a unique natural experiment, comparing Haredi millennials who are immersed in social media with those who are not.     

Computerized assessment in neuropsychology: A review of tests and test batteries

This article contains detailed reviews of 13 computerized neuropsychological and performance test batteries and six stand-alone computer tests. Tasks found on these instruments are described and tables illustrate which batteries employ which measures. In addition to issues of reliability and validity, special considerations apply to computerized assessment. These issues are discussed and readers are provided information to help them assess computerized tests in relation to their particular clinical and research needs. Since many computerized tests were developed as performance assessment tools, the relationship between performance and neuropsychological assessment is examined.     

Between- versus within-family factor analyses of cognitive abilities

Confirmatory factor analyses of the 15 cognitive abilities tests from the Hawaii Family Study of Cognition were conducted on between-family (BF) means and within-family (WF) differences for 370 AEA (Americans of European ancestry) and 116 AJA (Americans of Japanese ancestry) sibling pairs. Difference chi-square significance tests, goodness-of-fit indices, and congruence coefficients for the estimated loadings on four specific cognitive abilities factors and on the second-order general intelligence factor nearly all indicated that the between-family factor structures were not significantly different from the within-family structures for both AEA and AJA siblings (the AEA and AJA structures were also not significantly different). The similarity of the BF and WF structures suggests that the genetic and environmental influences underlying cognitive abilities are “intrinsic” in nature, that is, not just due to between-family differences in culture, status, values, and fortuitous cross-assortative mating.     

Predictors of stress in adolescents: an exploratory study of pregnant and of parenting females

A study of 152 adolescents enrolled in school-based programs for pregnant and parenting youth in Colorado in 1987-88 found no differences in overall stress levels between these two groups; however, salient predictors of stressful life events for pregnant teens were not the same as those for teen mothers. The mean age of study subjects was 16.5 years (range 14-19 years); most were living with a parent rather than the child's father. The dependent variable, level of stress, was measured through use of an abbreviated Life Events Questionnaire. Independent variables were assessed through administration of the Inventory of Social Supportive Behaviors, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences scale. Of the 5 sources of stress measured (family, accidents, autonomy, deviance, relocation, and distress), only stress related to accidents differed significantly between pregnant and parenting adolescents. For pregnant adolescents, self-esteem was the only significant predictor of the overall level of stress; among parents, the only significant predictor was objective social support. Among adolescents, self-esteem was associated with more frequent use of social support and coping strategies. For parenting adolescents, self-esteem was correlated with the frequency of use of social support, satisfaction resulting from such use, and frequent use of coping strategies. Overall, the independent variables of social support, self-esteem, coping, and age were stronger predictors of stress in pregnant than in parenting adolescent females. This finding suggests that parenting teens may have successfully negotiated the multiple transitions involved in this new stage of the life-cycle. An important implication of this study is the need to design separate counseling components of school-based programs for pregnant versus parenting adolescents rather than to use a single curriculum.     

Hispanics in Ivy: Assessing identity and perceived threat

Membership in social groups is an important aspect of the self-concept, as a number of theorists such as Tajfel (1981) have recognized, and ethnic identity is a major exemplar of such groupings. In the present research, we focus on the particular case of Hispanic identity and the degree to which that identity may be threatened for first-year Hispanic students who enter a predominantly Anglo university. Forty-five Hispanic students (17 female, 28 male) at two Ivy League universities were interviewed early in their first year to assess Hispanic identity, collective self-esteem (Luhtanen & Crocker, 1988), and perceived threats to Hispanic identity. In addition, we considered the degree to which strength of cultural background relates to self-esteem and to perceptions of threat. The majority of students claimed Hispanic as an important identity. Strength of cultural background generally acted as a buffer to perceived threat, particularly for men. Cultural background was also related to collective self-esteem for men but not for women, even though Hispanic identity was more important for women than men. The results attest to the importance of both gender and ethnicity to self-definition and self-esteem, as well as to the complexity of the relationships among these variables.We thank Tracey Revenson as well as the members of the Identity Research Seminar at the CUNY Graduate Center for their comments on an earlier version of this paper.     

Evaluation of a “mental effort” hypothesis for correlations between cortical metabolism and intelligence

Previous research indicates that low scores on the Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM) test are associated with increased cortical glucose utilization during problem solving. We hypothesized that previous results may reflect the neurophysiological consequences of patterns of effort requirements; that is, high-effort expenditure from lower aptitude participants (for whom the problems are hard) and low-effort expenditure from higher aptitude participants (for whom the problems are easy). In this experiment, positron emission tomography (PET) data were gathered on participants (N = 28) who solved easy and hard problems that were tailored to the participants' own ability levels, thereby eliminating aptitude group differences in effort requirements. Contrary to previous results, high aptitude was associated with high cortical glucose use. Average aptitude participants showed diminished glucose use in the hard condition. A significant Group X Condition X Hemisphere Effect was also noted, with greater right hemisphere activation in the hard condition for the high-aptitude group. These results demonstrate that the relation of cerebral glucose use and cognitive ability is sensitive to participant and task selection.     

Judgments and definitions of sexual harassment by high school students

This study considers how high school students perceive incidents of possible sexual harassment toward students and how they define sexual harassment. Thirty-five male and 38 female high school seniors (44% Asian-American; 40% white, non-Hispanic; 6% Indian-American; 4% African-American; 3% Hispanic; and 3% other ethnic groups) evaluated scenarios that varied the type of sexual harassment, the status of the initiator (either teacher or student), and the gender composition of the dyad (either male toward female or female toward male). As predicted, type of harassment influenced ratings of severity. Compared to male respondents, female respondents rated the scenarios as more severe. Teachers were judged more critically than students. Differences in status were more apparent at less severe levels of harassment. In defining harassment, students relied on four factors: the behavior itself, the target's reaction to the behavior, the perpetrator's intentions, and the relationship that existed between the two people. Overall, the findings underline the importance of examining high schools as a locale for harassment.This study was originally conducted by the first author as a Westinghouse Science project at Stuyvesant High School, with the guidance of the second and third authors.     

Dimensional and metric structures in multidimensional stimuli

The present experiments investigated two characteristics of subjects’ multidimensional representations: their dimensional organization and metric structure, for both analyzable and integral stimuli. In Experiment 1, subjects judged the dissimilarity between all pairs of stimuli differing in brightness and size (analyzable stimuli), while in Experiment 2, subjects made dissimilarity judgments for stimuli varying in width height, and area shape (integral stimuli). For the brightness size stimuli, the findings that (a) brightness judgments were independent of size (and vice versa) and (b) the best fitting scaling solution was one that depicted an orthogonal structure are strong evidence that subjects perceived brightness size as a dimensionally organized structure. In contrast, for the rectangle stimuli, neither width height nor area shape contributed additively to overall dissimilarity. The results of the metric fitting were more equivocal. For all stimulus sets, the Euclidean metric yielded scaling solutions with lower stress values than the city block metric. When bidimensional ratings were regressed on unidimensional ratings, the city block metric yielded a slightly higher correlation coefficient than the Euclidean metric for brightness size stimuli. The two rules of combination were equivalent for the width-height stimuli, but the Euclidean metric provided a better approximation for the area shape stimuli. The results were discussed in terms of how subjects integrate physical dimensions for the case of integral stimuli and the superiority of dimensional vs. metric structure as an indicator of stimulus analyzability.     

Are introverts still more religious?

The JEPQ and a religious attitude scale, ASC 4B, were completed by 1715 school children aged 11–17 yrs. Attitude to religion was found to decline across the age range, girls were found to be more religious than boys, and introverts more religious than extraverts. The relationship between introversion and religiosity is consistent with previous research and the present study adds substance to this relationship with the use of a more recent E scale on an extended age range.