Clinical judgement involves a search for internal consistency which can be validated by predicting responses within a protocol, or internally. Internal predictive validity assumes that one source of consistency is the individual--an assumption that was tested in a prediction task using the sentence completion test (SCT). Artificial protocols…

Examined attitudes of probation officers to determine how these attitudes correlated with decisions to recommend sentences of incarceration or probation for hypothetical defendants described in six case studies. Used Fishbein's theoretical model for the prediction of behavioral intentions to examine this relationship. Implications and suggestions…

A sample of 5,607 severely/profoundly mentally retarded children under 18 years was studied to determine predictor variables in out-of-home placements. Examined were child age, maladaptive/adaptive behavior, and presence of multiple handicaps. Results suggest that variables other than child characteristics should be included in analyses of…

This paper presents a multinomial logit analysis of the methods used by Taiwanese individuals who completed suicide between 1991 and 1993. We investigated the influence of age, gender, urban or rural residence, seasons, and occupations on the six "choices" of suicide methods. The findings suggest that a systematic pattern exists between the choice…

A model specifying relationships between life stage, motives for using television and the perceived reality of television was tested with data from 140 telephone interviews of adults living in Southern Illinois. The adults ranged in age from 18 to 87 years. Life stage was related to five of the 11 motives for using television: learning things,…

From a sample of eighth-grade pupils, 96 class clowns were identified and compared to a sample of 237 nonclown classmates. Clowns were predominantly males, and were seen by their teachers to be higher than nonclowns in Asserting, Unruliness, Attention Seeking, Leadership, and Cheerfulness, and to be lower in Accomplishing. (Author/CP)

Assessed the relative influence of personal, attitudinal, and behavioral variables on behavioral intentions and voluntary turnover among nonsupervisory plant workers. Results show that personal variables have little direct effect on turnover; rather, their influence on turnover is channeled through their effects on behavioral intentions. (Author)

Assessed the value of "noncontractual social exchange" (NSE) to describe leader behavior. Results of an experiment using an in-basket memo device showed that subordinate competence best predicted the intentions of such behavior by a sample of working adults: subjects were more likely to initiate NSE with highly competent subordinates. (Author)

A study examined the relationship between neuroimaging findings and the behavioral characteristics of 29 patients with tuberous sclerosis. Findings indicate a positive linear relationship between a patient's total number of tubers and degree of intellectual impairment. The number of tubers in the cerebellum was associated with more autistic…

A social psychology of problem behavior was employed in a longitudinal study of high school youth to predict time of onset of marijuana use. Nineteen personality, perceived environment, and behavioral variables among nonusers of marijuana were shown to account for a significant amount of the variance in time of onset of use. (Author)

A study of women's information-seeking behavior with regard to the purchase of cosmetics was conducted to determine the effects on their behavior of six individual variables (ambiguity about cosmetic products, price consciousness, income, amount of money spent on cosmetics, age, and education) and six social variables (perceived social utility of…

A follow-up study of 60 nonworking persons with visual impairments who contacted a vision rehabilitation agency for vocational placement services over a five-year period found that the absence of other health or physical conditions and being unemployed one year or less were significant predictors of job-seeking behavior. (Contains references.)…

Predicting occurrences of violent behavior in the population of emotionally disturbed criminal offenders was investigated by identifying a pattern of characteristics that significantly discriminates between violent and nonviolent offenders. Subjects were 149 current and former male patients in the Forensics Division of St. Elizabeths Hospital in…

In 1960, Project TALENT gathered demographic, cognitive, and socio-pyschological data from a nationwide sample of high school students. In addition, responses from a saturation sample of 16,000 cases in Knox County, Tennessee were collected. The relationships between attitudes, personality traits, and subsequent alcohol abuse (as shown by Knox…

Examined the role of individual characteristics and peer influences in evoking early substance abuse in young boys. Individual characteristics, such as fighting, hyperactivity, oppositional behaviors, and likability, were found to be pivotal in the development of substance abuse--more than friends' deviance. Results suggest that prevention…