After acquiescing to a small initial request, people typically are more susceptible to a later call for assistance. This foot-in-the-door phenomenon was examined based on principles of social reinforcement. In Experiment 1, subjects induced to perform the same initial prosocial behaviors were found to be differentially susceptible to a later…

EFFORTS WERE MADE TO DISCOVER THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SUPERINTENDENTS, PRINCIPALS, AND TEACHERS. MAJOR AREAS OF INVESTIGATION CONCERNED THE ROLE OF THE PRINCIPAL AND HIS FULFILLMENT OF THAT ROLE. THE STUDY WAS TO PROVIDE A BASIS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH IN THESE AREAS. THE ROLE OF THE PRINCIPAL CONCERNED THE TASKS OF SELECTION OF CURRICULUM,…

MANY OF THE REPORTED BEHAVIORAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FAMILIAL RETARDATES AND NORMAL CHILDREN OF THE SAME MOTOR ABILITY ARE PRODUCTS OF A VARIETY OF DIFFERENCES IN MOTIVATION RATHER THAN PERMANENT EFFECTS OF MENTAL RETARDATION ITSELF. MANY RESEARCHERS, HOWEVER, HAVE TAKEN THE POSITION THAT MENTAL RETARDATES ARE INHERENTLY "DIFFERENT." THIS…

ACCORDING TO SOCIAL SCIENTISTS AND BIOLOGISTS, ALL RACES ARE EQUAL IN ABILITY, NEVERTHELESS, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION EXISTS WHEN THE CULTURE OF A SOCIETY ALLOWS PEOPLE TO EXPRESS THEIR AGRESSIONS IN A SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE WAY. ONE WAY TO DEFINE GROUP BOUNDARIES IS TO SINGLE OUT A CHARACTERISTIC OF A MINORITY GROUP AND TO INSTITUTIONALIZE THIS…

A study was conducted concerning television program decision-making based on a theory of human information processing. Twenty-eight programers from 13 markets completed experimental simulations of television programing decisions. Important steps in the procedure were determined to be evaluation, search for alternatives, and selection of…

Self-efficacy theory maintains that self-efficacy expectancy, a belief about one's ability to perform a behavior successfully, is independent of outcome expectancy, a belief about the likelihood of the behavior leading to a specific outcome. To examine this hypothesis, subjects (N=95) read communications that differed in descriptions of the…

One hundred and seventy right-handed children from kindergarten through grade 2 were asked to copy 26 upper and 26 lower case letters and the numbers 1-9 shown at one time on slide projections. The resulting stroke patterns which were observed, supported predictions derived from the starting, progression, and horizontal rules expressed in the…

One attributional model of achievement proposes that individuals attribute their own and others' performance outcomes to one or more of four causes, i.e., ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck, and that such attributions have motivational significance for subsequent achievement-related behavior. The effects of gender, level of resultant…

The relative effects of imagerial covert rehearsal with attentional shifts and the use of an independent reinforcing agent in a covert reinforcement therapy were compared. A 17-year-old female student, requesting treatment for a snake phobia, served as the subject. The phobia was measured along four dimensions: behavioral approaches to a live…

Previous research indicates that social beliefs can act in a self-fulfilling manner, affecting responses to individuals and thereby constraining these individuals to behave in ways that spuriously confirm attitudes about them. The possible role of self-perception, i.e., whether targets of such self-fulfilling prophecies not only alter their…

Characterizations, given in the form of descriptive adjectives, of second- through fifth-grade elementary school children by their classroom teachers and by classroom observers were analyzed in this report and compared with each other. Females consistently received more favorable characterizations than males, especially as reflected in teacher…

This dissertation study of the interaction between black fathers and their kindergarten daughters was conducted in order to increase knowledge about the black father-daughter relationship in the early years. The study was concerned with the effect fathers' reported child-rearing attitudes had on their own and their kindergarten daughter's actual…

Attitudes toward crime were investigated among Pittsburgh residents. Respondents were asked their opinions regarding crime trends, fear of crime, residential problems and life styles, and local police performance. Results indicated that Pittsburgh residents believed that others ran a greater risk than they did and that other neighborhoods were…

The Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Scale was administered to 35 Caucasian, Protestant couples who were married an average of nine years, largely middle class, and lived in Knoxville, Tennessee. Significant correlates of marital adjustment were organized into groups of similar variables. Correlate groups that were the same for the husband and…

The paper describes the Coping Inventory, an observation instrument that provides an index of handicapped children's adaptive behavior by assessing the behaviors and skills they use to meet their own needs and adapt to the demands of their environment. Coping is defined as an active, adaptive process of using strategies to manage one's world.…