This paper seeks to explain why some individuals sink further into states of flow than others, and what effects flow has in the context of a virtual education environment. Our findings--gathered from both questionnaire and behavioural data--reveal that flow states are elicited by the e-learners' senses of controlling the virtual education…

The psychological effects of exercise training are difficult to study in humans, but analogous emotionality changes in animals can be studied using simple measurements employed in emergence and open-field tests. The basis of these tests is that animals that are more emotional are more fearful when placed in a novel situation and will exhibit less…

Research shows that people comply more frequently to threats when the credibility of the source is high rather than low and that compliance is directly related to punishment magnitude. To examine the impact of an advisor on a target of threats, male college students (N=74) participated in an experiment that included high or low threatner…

Counteraggression is discussed as a biological function or survival instinct that escalates violence in schools. Expands Fritz Redl's explanation of underlying reasons why staff dealing with delinquent youth become counteraggressive. Preventing or controlling counteraggressive behavior through analysis of the reasons behind the reaction can help…

According to the learned helplessness hypothesis, organisms exposed to uncontrollable events learn the independence between their responses and environmental outcomes. This learning is believed to interfere with subsequent behavior. To further examine the dimension of uncontrollability, 48 college students were given solvable, unsolvable, or…

Examines resident assistant (RA) burnout as a self-defeating behavior. Discusses causes and costs of burnout and positive alternative behaviors. (RC)

Examines characteristics of today's teenagers and discusses their buying power and buying patterns. (GT)

Describes the development of a behavior-anchored scale to measure career indecision and presents the relationship of the behavioral scale to other career indecision and psychological measures. (Author)

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…

Compulsivity and obsessiveness are vaguely defined terms which include a broad range of behaviors and cognitions that have been elusive to quantify. To introduce the 22-item Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (OCS) and to perform preliminary validation studies, 114 (46 male, 68 female) college students and 57 counseling clients completed the OCS on two…

Study investigates the relationship between assertiveness and patterns of drug use. Found exploratory use of marijuana and hashish was the norm among this sample of college students. Current users and those never using such drugs were less assertive than those who had experienced these drugs but no longer did so. (Author)

Observes the failure of law schools to teach students how to cope with the professional stress induced by complicated conflicts of interest. Describes resulting insensitivity and unawareness which can lead to unprofessional and unethical behavior. Suggests how schools and graduates can help alleviate the syndrome. (JT)

Assessed several behavioral and personality characteristics that have been implicated in studying the onset of bulimia in female college students (N=80) classified into bulimia, binge eating, and control groups. Results indicated that bulimics and binge eaters differed significantly on all but a few variables. (LLL)

The spread of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) depends very much on the way people behave. Individuals from some groups have been successfully persuaded to modify behaviors that put them at increased risk of HIV infection. The salient questions for future AIDS prevention and control programs are…