This article examines the idea that social norms are not permanently incorporated into a person's personality. The author presents the argument that in a group situation subjects are conditioned toward similarity while afterward, the individual's behavior gradually returns to an "operant level". Tests show this argument to be essentially true.…

This study suggests that the feelings of isolation experienced by some older people may be more likely than their actual lack of interaction. Data were collected from 163 subjects, aged 60 and older, by interview. Significant differences were obtained for the age and income variables and two of the proximity variables. (Author)

Effects of differential reinforcement of cautiousness upon intellectual performance in the elderly were investigated employing 56 females and 32 males. Systematically varied pre-test instruction conditions involving two levels of risk and of response omission when taking the PMA Test. Results suggest performance in intelligence tests is influenced…

This study tested Deiker's hypothesis that "naysaying" accounts for the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Overcontrolled-Hostility (O-H) scale's ability to discriminate among criminal groups differing in their propensity for violence. It was concluded that the validity of the O-H scale is not dependent on naysaying. (Author)

Tested two hypotheses: (1) academic underachievers will have less problem solving flexibility during failure than during success; and (2) academic overachievers will have more problem solving flexibility during failure than during success. Subjects were tenth grade boys. (Author/SDH)

This book is a comprehensive review of competitive anxiety research that has used the Sport Competition Anxiety Test, or SCAT (a trait scale), and the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2). The book describes the theoretical basis and development procedures for both scales, including detailed information on reliability and validity. In…

Learned helplessness is an insidious condition involving undeveloped executive functioning, lack of persistence, and an undeveloped sense of connecting new words or concepts into a web of meanings. Remedial teaching in most small-group, diagnostic/prescriptive settings encourages continued learned helplessness because students are dependent on the…

Research has shown that siblings can experience either negative or positive mental health outcomes as a result of having a brother or sister with disabilities. When maladjustment occurs, it is frequently attributed to the stress of excessive helping. This research-based paper proposes that siblings of children with disabilities, perceiving…

In spite of general concern about the impact on women's mental health of multiple roles, most studies have examined only the impact of individual roles. This study examined the relationship between multiple-role occupancy and quality and psychological distress in a disproportionate random sample of employed female health care workers (N=403).…

The idea that "breaks from experience" are necessary in teacher learning is a response to the fact that teachers come to their preparation with set ideas about their work that tend to fit with the given. This paper examines justifications for such "breaks" centering, first, on the limitations of what teachers learn through experience and, second,…

Mentally retarded adults (N=180) were asked 30 yes/no questions, to determine if their acquiescence is explained by indiscriminant yea-saying in response to the yes/no question format or due to subjects submitting to the influence of the interviewer. After selected questions, the interviewer either nodded his head "yes" or shook his head…

The character of internalization as a continuous phenomenon was explored, with particular attention given to children's movement from heteronomy to autonomy. (The term "internalization" refers to the process by which an individual acquires an attitude, belief, or behavioral regulation from external sources and progressively transforms it…

The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable and valid instrument that conveniently measures a person's attitude toward computers. The final version of the instrument is composed of 40 items on a Likert-type scale which assign scores to subjects on their "appreciative" and "critical" attitude toward computers. The sample…

Pointing out that stresses that children must deal with have increased in recent years while their sources of adult support have decreased, this paper defines stress, indicates sources of stress, describes coping patterns, lists signs of stress in children, and describes helping strategies through which adults, and teachers particularly, can…

Shifting theoretical perspectives of intercollegiate policy debate, especially the changing affirmative case constructs, warrant reformulations of various strategies open to the negative case such as those developed by W. Ulrich, R. Dempsey, and D. Hartmann. Options open to the affirmative have increased, e.g., the comparative advantages case, the…