The term "intervention validity" refers to the extent to which assessment results can be used to guide the selection of interventions and evaluation of outcomes. In this article, the authors review the defining attributes of rating scales that distinguish them from other assessment tools, assumptions regarding the use of rating scales to…

This study examined the idea that expectations of behavior in hypothetical situations involving potential moral transgressions are related to emotion attributions relating to both moral and cost-benefit considerations. We asked younger (14 years 5 months) and older (16 years 1 month) female and male adolescents (a) to make predictions about the…

Evolutionary and biological approaches tend to suggest that social dominance is predominately an aspect of male social organization. Furthermore, when females behave non-normatively, they are less positively evaluated than males engaging in the same behavior. Alternate, less familiar models of females and dominance/aggression underlie the present…

This dissertation investigates how the intersections of race, class, and gender operate in the everyday teaching and professional norms of middle-class White women teachers--particularly in schools such as the one in this study, where a majority of middle-class, White women teachers serve predominantly low-income, racially and ethnically diverse…

This article reveals the results of a survey of sexual behavior and contraception of 180 unmarried college students selected at random. (PD)

Examines some of the values in Perls's theory of psychotherapy, which his Gestalt Prayer epitomizes. Argues that at least five of the major value claims presupposed by his psychotherapeutic theory and practice are in fact dangerous half-truths. (JAC)

Used a sample of 165 long-time soap opera viewers to examine the context, motives, and consequences of drug use in daytime serials. Results showed alcohol was seen more frequently than any other drug. Portrayal of illegal drugs was much less common than that of legal drugs. (JAC)

Introduces purpose of symposium: to discuss research which explores the factors determining how a child, faced with obtaining some goal or fulfilling some criterion of performance, responds to given instructional or evaluative cues. Delineates variety of research strategies employed. (JH)

Discusses Kenneth Burke's contributions to sociology. Shows that he does not distinguish between knowledge and meaning. Although Burke emphasizes interpretations as a cause of action, he sees interpretive frames as social, external, and constraining, derived from the dominant mode of production. They help legitimate and reproduce the social order.…

A cross-generational procedure was used to examine E. R. Service's redistribution theory of social evolution. (Author/SS)

The perceived inability of behaviorism to deal with complex human behavior has been a recurrent theme among its critics. Although ingenious and subtle, even Skinner's Verbal Behavior (1957) is widely faulted on these grounds, in particular, for failing to explain linguistic generativity (Chomsky, 1959). In Relational Frame Theory: A…

This initial study explored the social behaviors of kindergarten children in two classrooms (one developmentally appropriate, one developmentally inappropriate) where the teacher used either positive or negative guidance strategies. Six pairs of kindergartners--three dyads (boy-boy, girl-girl, boy-girl) from a classroom in which the teacher used…

The recent publication of David Heise's "Expressive Order" (2007) provides an occasion for discussing some of the key ideas in Affect Control Theory. The theory proposes that a few dimensions of affective meaning provide a common basis for interrelating personal identities and social actions. It holds that during interpersonal interactions, social…

Comments on the article by G. M. Herek, "Legal recognition of same-sex relationships in the United States." There are many arguable contentions Herek made in his defense of same-sex marriage. We have chosen to focus on only one in this commentary: What is the active ingredient in marriage that serves the socially advantageous goal of civilizing…