One of the greatest problems that has confronted the physical education profession is that of evaluating sport skill tests and their relationship to successful performance. This study was thus undertaken to investigate the relationship of basketball skill tests and player biographic data to success in playing basketball. Ninety-four subjects ages…

It was hypothesized that women in different current life circumstances would emphasize different life content areas in verbal reports of their life histories. A basically homogeneous sample of 30 women (average age = 58.5) was divided into women who had never had children, women whose children had left home, and women who had at least one child…

A United States Employment Service (USES) General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) plan was formulated to evaluate and develop additional job-related assessment methods. Eighteen alternative predictors were reviewed, from which biodata was selected for development. The literature indicates that biodata provides increased validity with little or no…

The study reported here assessed individuals' selection of excessive exercise dependent behaviors as they relate to self-esteem, family environment, and perceptions of family members exhibiting dysfunctional behaviors or addictions. A survey was taken of exercisers from a stratified random sample of competitive triathletes selected from the…

In April 1987, a pilot study was undertaken to develop an instrument designed to assess the effects of life events on undergraduate students' academic performance. Focus was on the design and construction of the instrument--the Life Events and Academic Performance Questionnaire (LEAPQ). Subjects were 75 male and 75 female undergraduates at a large…

Recent theory and research concerning sex roles have viewed masculinity and femininity as separate and independent dimensions of desirable human functioning, denoting dominant-instrumental and nurturant-expressive domains of behavior, respectively. Androgynous self-definitions may also provide greater adaptive advantages for members of both sexes.…

An individual folk anthology unit covering eight topics is described in this paper. The eight topics include (1) I have an identity, (2) my interesting name, (3) mandalas and sentences, (4) rhythms and rhymes of old times, (5) myths of my childhood, (6) folk legends/old and new, (7) aspects of folklore, and (8) slang. The activities accompanying…

Differences between 50 Israeli and 87 American students in grades 9 through 12 were investigated using the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking-Figural Form A. Results showed that Israeli students scored higher than the American students in grades 9, 10 and 12 on fluency and flexibility. Israeli students scored higher on originality only in grade…

A promising avenue for characterizing individuals lies in an examination of the antecedents of recorded behaviors. Autobiographical information from college students was used as an alternative to traditional personality methodology to demonstrate the scientific utility of biodata. The traits selected for investigation were positive and negative…

In order to avoid the projected shortfall of a half a million science and engineering professionals by the year 2010, many believe that we must find ways to increase the number of minorities and women who choose the sciences as a discipline of study. This study, involving 500 high school students, explores the collective relationships among…

Interest in and use of the System of Multicultural Pluralistic Assessment's (SOMPA's) Health History Inventories (HHI) has been intensive despite the unavailability of psychometric data estimating its stability. This paper reports the results of a longitudinal study designed to provide data on the stability of the HHI over a four year period. The…

Older people grow and develop psychologically; they do not necessarily decline in intellectual functioning; and they are capable of learning and enriching their own lives and the lives of others with their wisdom and experience. However, in a fast-paced and impatient culture, little time is given to hearing what older people have to say. Older…

A series of profiles are presented, drawn from a Student Biographical Inventory questionnaire that asked students to rate themselves on a list of traits. The evaluations, obtained from 2710 entering students at Empire State College, have been grouped into two sets of analysis: traits reflecting the individual's success orientation and traits…

The transition from education into the world of work that leads to career success is in some part dependent on the nontechnical work skills developed by students and the extent to which they can demonstrate those skills on the job. Research by Brauchle, Petty, and Morgan has shown that five important nontechnical work skills can be measured by the…

A study investigated tenacity of adult students who have once again made their way back to academia. The specific purpose was to discover how these students understood their own history of college enrollment and their perceptions of themselves as persisters. Participants were 63 "tenacious persisters" in three sections of an orientation class at a…