Examined motivations for condom use by adolescent males (n=1,880). About one-third reported using condoms consistently. Found greater consistency of condom use related to perceived costs benefits concerning pregnancy prevention, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, partner expectations, embarrassment, and reduction of pleasure. (Author/ABL)

Discusses use of reward and punishment as reinforcers, then considers when reward-punishment model does not seem to elicit predictable results. Discusses need to go beyond simple explanation of reward and punishment and to consider other, more subtle forms of motivation. Specifically addresses issues of identity and conformity. (NB)

Examined influence of migration on sexual behavior. Data from national probability sample of single females, ages 15-19 (n=1,287) revealed that moving was positively related to premarital sex. Migration may lower control through such mechanisms as weakening community bonds, decreasing supply and demand of parental supervision, and increasing…

Contends that comprehensive discussion of women's alcoholism must include understanding of how male-as-norm bias has affected alcoholism research, assessment, and treatment. Summarizes how male-as-norm bias has affected research on women's alcoholism and shaped perceptions of women's alcoholic behavior and their responses to treatment. (Author/NB)

Assessment of the neurotransmitter dopamine through measurement of the dopamine metabolite homovanillic acid (HVA) in adult subjects with mental retardation and with high rates of body stereotypy (n=12), compulsive behaviors (n=9), or neither (n=12) found lowest HVA concentrations in the stereotypy group and highest in the compulsive group. (DB)

Asserts that theory of mind is unique to humans and that its original function was to provide a more abstract level of describing ancient behavioral patterns, such as deception, reconciliation, and gaze following. Suggests that initial selective advantage of theory of mind may have been increased flexibility of already-existing behaviors, not…

Presents a preliminary case for the dispositionalist interpretation of grammatical knowledge by accomplishing two complementary tasks: first rejecting a prominent argument against the dispositionalist interpretation; second, advancing an original argument against the anti-dispositionalist interpretation. (Author/VWL)

Current psychometric models of choice behavior are strongly influenced by Thurstone's (1927, 1931) experimental and statistical work on measuring and scaling preferences. Aided by advances in computational techniques, choice models can now accommodate a wide range of different data types and sources of preference variability among respondents…

Studies have shown that cigarette smokers are generally aware of increased health risks associated with smoking, but that smokers tend to underestimate their own susceptibility to disease. In general, optimistic bias has been shown to increase with greater perceived control over an event or behavior; however, this phenomenon has not been examined…

Several theoretical views of automaticity are discussed. Most of these suggest that automaticity should be diagnosed by looking at the presence of features such as unintentional, uncontrolled/uncontrollable, goal independent, autonomous, purely stimulus driven, unconscious, efficient, and fast. Contemporary views further suggest that these…

General linear model procedures were used to investigate the association between financial behavior and sources of financial information, the association between savings and investing knowledge and financial information sources, and the association between financial behavior and savings and investing knowledge. The study participants were 253…

Background: In addition to the core symptoms, children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) often exhibit other problem behaviors such as aggression, hyperactivity, and anxiety, which can contribute to overall impairment and, therefore, become the focus of clinical attention. Limited data are available on the prevalence of anxiety in these…

Many studies have documented the ways in which shyness can be a barrier to personal well-being and social adjustment throughout childhood and adolescence; however, less is known regarding shyness in emerging adulthood. Shyness as experienced during emerging adulthood may continue to be a risk factor for successful development. The purpose of this…

This study investigated the psychometric properties and predictive validity of three self-report scales (the Psychopathy Content Scale, the Psychopathy-16 scale, and the Egotistic scale) derived from the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory (MACI) to screen for the presence of psychopathic and narcissistic personality characteristics. Exploratory…

The attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptom presentation of young adolescents with ADHD was examined in association with the transition to middle school. This study used data collected in the Multimodal Treatment Study of ADHD, which included children between 7 and 9 years of age with a diagnosis of ADHD (n = 258) and grade- and…