An experimental college program has been developed to provide a different, less structured program for the first two undergraduate years for 150 students at the University of California. Program content is focused on the study of four periods of crisis and change in western civilization. Students and faculty will read from primary sources, holding…

Personality theory stresses the importance of communion with self to personal development. Since writing is a form of communion with self, researchers have begun looking for measurable differences in the personality development of writers and nonwriters. Several experiments have tended to confirm that writing has the potential to effect positive…

Examined the relationship between anxiety and self-actualization in a sample of college students. Items (N=33) from the Personal Orientation Inventory were found to measure anxiety and scored negatively for self-actualization. Removal of anxiety items and rescoring yielded self-actualization measures related postively to anxiety test scores.…

Factors which aid an individual's progression from one stage of moral reasoning to another remain a mystery. Theorists suggest that intraception, defined as a predominance of feeling, fantasy, and aspirations (connoting a humanistic outlook and an ability to develop role-taking skills) as opposed to a down-to-earth, skeptical attitude, may be an…

Review of literature suggests that paucity of information exists regarding how culture-specific issues such as being both African American and gifted influence psychological needs and personality development of gifted African-American students. Notes that stellar attempts are underway to develop theories and perspectives of racial identity…

A LONGITUDINAL STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE STUDENT CHANGE IN CRITICAL THINKING ABILITY, ATTITUDES IN STEREOTYPY, AND VALUE ORIENTATION WHILE IN AN INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION. CHANGES THAT OCCURRED WITH RESPECT TO THESE THREE CHARACTERISTICS WERE EXAMINED FROM 1 YEAR TO THE NEXT FOR 4 YEARS. STUDENT BACKGROUNDS, SUBJECT INTERESTS,…

The nature and purpose of US colleges is explored within the framework of student development and its relationship to social change. Data were gathered during a 5-year study on the educational, vocational and personality development of 10,000 graduating high school seniors. A strong relationship was found between college entrance, level of ability…

Reliability and construct validity of observer ratings on the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) were evaluated in a sample of 101 college students and the observations of 2 people who knew each student. Results document the strong internal consistency of each scale and a factor structure replicating previous findings. (SLD)

This paper reports on a study to investigate measurement of moral reasoning with respect to age. Additional potential influencing factors, including ethnicity, gender, and influence of early environmental factors, also have been included for analysis in this study. Twenty-seven nontraditional students participating in a new student orientation…

Offers a trenchant critique of Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg, both of whom claimed to identify stages in moral development that are "universal, culturally invariant, and nonregressive." Explains some inadequacies in these theories, which have become so influential in education, and offers suggestions for further investigation. (MJP)

Maintains that the Defining Issues Test (DIT) is now the most frequently used measure of moral judgment development. Reviews the history of DIT research. Asserts that the measurement system provided by the DIT would put the cognitive developmental approach in a better position to affect change in the moral development field. (CFR)

Identifies imagoes as idealized and personified self-concepts that we form in early or mid-adulthood. These characters dominate life stories and personal myths. Discusses a class exercise where students review the imagoes most frequently used in journal entries concerning individual myths and major life events. (MJP)

In response to the growing public interest in seeing that higher education institutions address the personal development needs of students, this study evaluated the personal and social growth of college students and introduced an index of personal and social growth of college students. The study used the new American College Testing Program's…

Hypothesizes that a conservative and individualistic orientation results in the fatalistic, alienated, and helpless outlook known as hopelessness. Provides extensive references to studies and theories characterizing conservatism and a work ethic belief as manifestations of an a maladaptive stage of psychological development. (MJP)