Although research suggests that highly test anxious subjects are often motivated to escape from situations in which they are being evaluated, many persons in experimental situations do not see escape as an option. To examine the behavior of test anxious persons in aversive test situations, 60 college students, who were assessed as being high or…

Based on a modification of Berglas and Jones' (1978) design, conditions of contingent and noncontingent success and failure were manipulated to determine when and why individuals choose to adopt self-handicapping strategies. Male undergraduates (N=76) were informed that they were participating in a study investigating the effects of music on…

Two enduring questions in psychology concern the effects on behavior of traits and of attitudes. One method of altering the relative influence of traits or attitudes is by manipulating the activity of those areas of the brain which attend more to the self or to the external environment. Two experiments were conducted to test whether manipulation…

Twelve reports on the spatial patterns present on the campus of Illinois State University are divided into three sections. Following an introduction, the first section focuses on behavioral patterns such as seating choices made in the university cafeteria or the classroom. Section II deals with the measures people take to save time. A microstudy…

Prompted by the lack of use and gratification studies that have concerned themselves with an examination of newspaper-related behaviors such as subscribing versus not subscribing, buying single copies versus not reading at all, and weekday versus Sunday newspaper readership, a study conducted a telephone survey of 543 persons to determine whether…

Despite low levels of criminal victimization, older people often express greater fear of crime than others. To examine the causes and consequences of such fear, 1,185 adults aged 60 and over, were interviewed about their personal characteristics, social resources, environment, subjective well-being, and lifestyle. Results showed that older people…

Discusses many factors involved in determining the complex nature of a child's knowledge base. Includes three kinds of considerations: 1) task-oriented criteria; 2) motivational elements; and 3) the relationship between personality and performance. (Author/CS)

Symmarizes some of the most significant features of the theory of Transactional Analysis and applies the theory to drill and exercise activity in the language classroom. (PMP)

An upward trend of psychoactive drug use within the lower grade levels was observed among 616 high school students. Although different patterns of drug use exist between parochial and public high school sophomores, by their junior year the two groups were similar. (Author)

The paper describes instruments for determining preferences of consumers for selected product characteristics associated with furniture choices--specifically style, color, color scheme, texture, and materials--and the procedures for administration of those instruments. Results are based on a random sampling of public housing residents. (Author/MW)

Learning disabled (LD) and juvenile delinquent (JD) adolescents have many characteristics in common and alternative educational approaches should be considered to prevent school failure and socially deviant behavior. (DB)

Although family planning clinics receiving some form of federal support constitute the major source of birth control for teenagers, they are not reaching large numbers of sexually active teens nor are they reaching them soon enough--especially those who are 14 and younger. In many cases they also fail to promote effective contraceptive use among…

The decisions and attitudes of sex-stereotyped and androgynous individuals (as defined by the Bem Sex Role Inventory) were compared in a social conformity paradigm. On each of 160 trials subjects predicted one of two possible stimuli after hearing predictions of two other "subjects." No effects of physical sex were observed. On trials when the…

A group of 40 parents were brought into the laboratory with two of their children (one preschool-age, one toddler) and given a cognitive task which competed with child care for their attention. This competing cognitive activity had substantial effects on parental behavior compared to a control phase with no competing task. In general, positive…