Areas of behavioral and social science research that have achieved significant breakthroughs in knowledge or application or that show future promise of achieving such breakthroughs are discussed in 12 papers. For example, the paper on formal demography shows how mathematical or statistical techniques can be used to explain and predict change in…

Four hundred and seventy residents of Ridgewood, New Jersey, and 493 residents of Jyvaskyla, Finland, were randomly selected and interviewed about their attitudes concerning nuclear war. In each area, a high proportion of the sample believed that some kind of nuclear incident is likely in the next decade. The vast majority stated that a nuclear…

Proposes an operant framework for the analysis of environment-intelligence interactions in old age and calls for an implementation of research aimed at examining the range of modifiability of intellectual proficiency in the elderly. Intellectual decrement is interpreted to reflect the lack of supportive environmental contingencies. (Author/SDH)

Two treatment components were manipulated in this study: (a) contingency contracting with parents and (b) the order in which problems of varying difficulty were treated. The meaning of convergence and discrepancy among data sources is discussed with regard to individual cases and the sample as a whole. (Author)

Results were interpreted as supporting Spielberger's notion that trait anxiety reflects a dispositional tendency to respond with anxiety in ego-threat situations and as suggesting that personality trait measures may be more relevant outcome indicators than measures of transitory mood states in marathon therapy research. (Author)

Under the assumption that traditional approaches to organizational structure have provided little insight into how structure might affect individual attitudes and behavior, this paper describes communication patterns within organizational structures and develops a network approach as a means by which individual response to traditional structural…

This experiment asked Clinical Psychology and Counseling graduate students to evaluate the mental health of strangers using attitude statements and behavior statements purported to refer to fictitious strangers. Holding behavior statements constant, strangers displaying attitudes dissimilar to the students' were rated as significantly more…

This study measured the increase of heart rate during reading (over a baseline rate when the subject was at rest) caused by anticipation of comprehension questions to follow. It also investigates correlations between heart rate and reading speed and comprehension. Twenty-four college subjects, considered normal readers according to SAT-Verbal…

The general purpose of this project was to examine the process of becoming a scientist, from elementary school through four years of post-college work. Seven hundred male students in the Boston area, from 5 different grade levels (grades 5, 8, 11, 14, and 16), were studied for 5 years, thus covering a 16 year developmental span. Data collection…

Farley's theory of arousal and stimulation-seeking proposes specific educational alternatives for high and low arousal and hyperkinetic children. This study tested the prediction that open classrooms provide children at the lower end of the physiological arousal continuum with enough external stimulation to reduce their overt seeking of…

The purpose of this paper is to call attention to certain important aspects of self-concept which have been largely neglected in behavioral science research literature. Self-concept is defined as the totality of the individual's thoughts and feelings with reference to himself as an object. Three broad areas of self-concept are discussed. The first…

Developments that laid the groundwork for the modern psychology of attitude began with early Greek philosophy. Conceptions of the cosmologists during the Golden Age of Greek Civilization and the Sophist movement served as a link between mythology and science. Contributions of British Empiricism and German Experimentalism were instrumental to the…

The study compared the level of development observed in the imaginative play of young children with the level of development revealed in conservation an classification tasks. The sample included 40 children, with one 5/6-year old group of 20 children (10 boys, 10 girls), and two six/seven-year old groups of 20 children (14 boys, 6 girls). The…

It was hypothesized that children, like adults, cognize social groups by applying social schemata. Their facility with social schemata was predicted to be a function of their level of cognitive development. When children were asked to complete partial social structures, formal and concrete operational, but not preoperational children, readily…

The hypothesis in the present study is that in work situations which evoke sex role stereotypes, women will respond less stereotypically than males since it is in their best interest to do so. The method comes from the Rosen et al. (1975) study of male managers. In the present study, 293 introductory psychology students were asked to role play an…