Previous research has stressed the role of both expectancies and reinforcement in the decision making process. In order to determine if the measure of externality and internality correlates with an association between willingness to risk and external/internal locus of control, and to determine the role of social learning in students…

Bulimia, an eating disorder characterized by binge eating, may be increasing in frequency. In order to examine and assess: (1) the prevalence of bulimia in a non-clinical sample of college women; (2) the relationship of reports of binge eating to the fulfillment of operationalized Diagnostic and Statistical Manual III (DSM III) criteria for…

Self-efficacy is defined as the belief that one can successfully perform a behavior. Self-efficacy theory asserts that self-efficacy expectancies exert powerful influence on behavior and behavior change. The Self-efficacy Scale, which was developed to assess generalized self-efficacy expectations, consists of two subscales: general self-efficacy…

Forty-four family-oriented, prime time television program episodes (30 hours) aired in November and December 1982 were selected for content analysis from 12 commercial television series which met selection criteria for Neilsen Television rating, airing time, and theme. Family oriented programming was defined as any series with a primary theme that…

Research has shown that many behaviors previously thought to be purely psychological in origin do, in fact, have a physiological basis. To examine the relationship of smoking behavior to locus of control, and to attitudes toward, knowledge about, and behavior with respect to nutrition, 116 Canadian undergraduate students completed the Nutrition…

Interviews with executives, managers, and entry-level engineers and analysts in 15 large corporations from both technical and nontechnical fields yielded sociolinguistic information about some of the writing problems young professionals have. The first of the problems is the familiar case in which the writer uses overly elaborate syntax and…

One explanation for the lack of contraception use among adolescents is that young women may feel embarrassment or rejection by their partners if they initiate the use of contraception. To explore young adults' reactions to contraceptive use, 160 college students evaluated a description of an unmarried young couple which varied the length of time…

The relation of moral reasoning to moral behavior has been the subject of a substantial number of empirical studies; it may be more productive to employ a configuration of characteristics to predict moral behavior. To investigate the relation of moral reasoning and personality variables to moral behavior, 74 undergraduates, 30 males and 44…

This study examines the relationship between three variables in the problem-solving approaches of emotionally disturbed children. The variables of locus of control, persistence behavior, and reflection-impulsivity were related to each other and to problem-solving approach. The varying nature of these relationships is discussed. (SJL)

Explores the variable of social distance between teacher and learner by observing the pattern of interaction between Anglo- and Mexican-American mothers and their own preschool sons, boys from a similar background, and boys from a different ethnic and social class background. (Author/SDH)

The classroom setting is a source for daily and creative writing material for teachers as well as students. Teacher and student writing samples help to illustrate classrooms as cultures-in-the-making in which new rules are invented every day and suggest that stories of classroom life must of necessity end in question marks and untied threads.…

An exploratory study investigated the success of a small group behavior change program in eliminating self-defeating behavior (SDB) in outpatients with chronic mental illness. Four of the six subjects were outpatients at the local mental health center but were currently not exhibiting psychotic behavior. The remaining two subjects were student…

Assessment thus far has been shaped primarily by questions about student learning outcomes; however, assessment "behind outcomes" means looking more carefully at the processes and conditions that lead to improved student learning. Nine areas of inquiry for assessment "behind outcomes" are suggested, with appropriate methods for addressing them and…

A study examined the role of emotion in organizational life (specifically, in a corrections organization) to determine the communicative circumstances and effects associated with emotional communication events. A detailed questionnaire administered to 105 employees of a state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation provided data on the nature…