Although anecdotal material suggests that parenting changes people, experimental tests in this area are lacking. Undergraduates (N=139) and their same-sex parents read one of eight summaries of parent-child interactions which varied in terms of success and in terms of the sex of the story character. Descriptions were reduced to three parent…

The relationship between women's perceptions of rape controllability and their fear, worry, concern, and perceived risk associated with rape is examined from in-person interviews with women (N=58) in Chicago, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. Women's response to descriptions of the "typical rape" were used to divide them into those with high rape…

Recent theories of depression that have attracted enthusiasm are those of Lewinsohn and Seligman. Lewinsohn's theory emphasizes the importance of deficits in social skill leading to reduced reinforcement, while Seligman's emphasizes the evolution of the depressive's belief that his responding and reinforcement are independent. The present study…

The categorizations which humans make of the concrete world are not arbitrary but highly determined. In taxonomies of concrete objects, there is one level of abstraction at which the most basic category cuts are made. Basic categories are those which carry the most information, possess the highest category cue validity, and are, thus, the most…

The ability of 5-month-old infants to recognize two-dimensional (pictorial) representations of three-dimensional objects was investigated. Subjects were 24 5-month-old infants. The novelty preference technique was employed: all infants were familiarized with a three-dimensional object--a doll. Following familiarization, three novelty tests were…

How teachers evaluate the various instructional methods at their disposal is the question addressed in this paper. The issue is examined in an effort to determine which of certain models of teaching some teachers prefer, how teachers categorize models of teaching, and which factors are associated with their preferences. Results suggest that role…

The nonverbal behavior patterns and perceptions of males and females were investigated. Undergraduate students (N=36 men and N=30 women) viewed a series of high-contrast slides portraying two actors standing side by side. Half of the subjects saw slides depicting the person on the left touching the shoulder of the person on the right, while…

The adequacy of the evaluation, potency, and activity (EPA) system as a scheme for the dimensions of an individual's implicit personality theory was tested using two methods. In the free-response method, each subject described himself and a number of people known to him using trait terms of his own choice; in the other method, each subject used a…

This collection of three papers with introductory material examines the role of the Student Affairs Dean. Particular emphasis is placed upon the dean's historic relationship as assistant to the college president and the need for student affairs deans to develop ways to help their presidents prepare for the future. It also emphasizes the relevance…

An affective method is identified for increasing the sensitivity of paraprofessional psychiatric helpers to vocal (paralinguistic) expressions of the affect "sadness." Fifty-two male and female psychiatric hospital employees served as subjects and were divided into four groups, each of which was given identical pre- and post-testing. Group 2…

Recent empirical research identifies a potential area of both role and organizational conflict for the middle school principal and perhaps all principals. Findings from a role norm inventory reveal that middle school principals do not perceive the relative importance of disciplining pupils, while teachers--significant members of their role…

Subjects interacted once or twice with a confederate whose behavior in each interaction was friendly or unfriendly and either spontaneous or forced. Single interaction subjects formed impressions reflecting the confederate's behavior but not its cause. Subjects having friendly then unfriendly interactions formed impressions reflecting the cuase of…

A study was conducted to provide an assessment of the general efficiency of working memory in relation to level of field articulation. The task required a subject to retain a series of digits for subsequent report while performing a semantic modification of a target phrase. The working memory hypothesis predicts that the joint impact of high…

As part of a longitudinal study of first-term enlisted naval personnel, perceptions of job scope (the complexity and challenge of a job), were investigated to predict criteria of satisfaction, enlisted performance ratings, and turnover. Correlations between job scope (Job Diagnostic Survey scores) and behavior as moderated by a variety of…

The purpose of this study of secondary school department heads was to measure their level of competency in relationship to the perceived importance of leadership responsibilities. Any information acquired could then serve as a basis for inservice programs directed at improving their competence. The instrument used to measure perceived…