Locus of control is considered a primary factor in the difference between students' high and low achievement. This phenomenon is defined as a polar construct which refers to the degree to which individuals view their successes and failures as either contingent upon their own behaviors (internal locus of control) or independent of them (external…

This study examined the behavioral effects of prenatal and postnatal exposure to smoking, alcohol, and caffeinated beverages on 5-month-old infants. The sample consisted of 179 Caucasian infants and their mothers. All mothers were 19 years of age or older and had at least a tenth-grade education. Mental and motor portions of the Bayley Scales of…

School psychologists have traditionally experienced difficulty in assessing children referred for special services. In order to determine if the diagnosis of emotional disturbance in South Carolina schools follows the guidelines provided by the South Carolina Department of Education publication "Procedures for the Survey, Screening,…

The measurement of college impact on students has received much attention over the past two decades. To examine stability and change in personality, vocational orientation, study habits, and attitudes of college students from freshman to senior year, two samples of undergraduates (N=51) were tested as freshmen and as seniors. Students completed…

Many social policies rely on assessments of violence potential in their implementation. Decisions concerning such civil matters as involuntary institutionalization and level of institutional custody, and criminal matters such as type or length of sentence and the granting of bail often rely on estimates of the potential that an individual will be…

This symposium contains reports on two studies on the following topics: (1) ways of helping children manage stress, by Jayne G. Garside, (2) psychological stress and coping in adolescent victims of sexual abuse in Singapore, by Colleen Ward, and (3) an abstract of a study on estrangement, by Jaya Nagaraja. The article on stress management…

Principals of elementary and secondary schools in Idaho (N=246) responded to a questionnaire that asked them to identify some causes of teacher failure. The major problems leading to teachers being placed on probation or not having contracts renewed appeared to be in the areas of: (1) behavior management and student motivation; (2) personality and…

There are three basic types of career indecision: (1) developmental; (2) acute situational-reaction; and (3) chronic indecision. Developmental indecision is usually alleviated by maturity as well as by self-awareness activities and career information. Acute situational-reaction indecision is relieved by the removal of situational or environmental…

To examine the effects of background and personality on the attitudes of developing writers, a study surveyed and interviewed 17 high school students from a 1988 summer school writing class (an in-house Rural Scholars Program sponsored by the Continuing Education Office at Indiana University of Pennsylvania). Students completed a questionnaire…

The California Psychological Inventory (CPI) was administered to 54 exceptionally gifted (either high IQ's or high math science abilities) preadolescents and their parents. The profiles and factor structure of the 18 CPI scales were examined. The profiles of the parents were relatively even, suggesting that they are intellectually and socially…

Symbolic interactionists have proposed that one's self-concept is primarily affected by interactions with others to the extent and in the way one perceives those interactions. According to this perspective, an individual's global self-esteem is largely the result of subjective "reflected appraisals" of others' evaluations of him rather…

This study explored the efficacy of semantic behavior therapy in the management of chronic osteoarthritis pain in elderly patients as well as the relationships among pain, physical health, personality, and social characteristics in this population. The sample consisted of 8 elderly persons who had osteoarthritis of the knee, and 11 healthy elderly…

Research on the female offender has produced two explanations of the female criminal personality: the female offender either as a masculinated women or as an anguished woman possessing low self-esteem and poor self-control. To investigate the applicability of each position, 144 black male and female criminals and noncriminals completed the Bem Sex…

Research in the area of person perception has been dominated by the assumption that people seek stable trait information and view others as highly consistent. To examine whether perceivers would have difficulty in thinking of ways that people have changed, and in reporting instances of such change, 120 college students were asked to complete short…

Studies employing the Mooney Problem Check List (MPCL) have found that counseling center clients indicate more problems on the MPCL than nonclients. Domino and DeGroote identified 42 MPCL items concerned with self-satisfaction and a need for social contacts which further differentiated counseling seekers from nonseekers. In order to further…