Problems in conducting research with public offenders include lack of: a systematic body of knowledge, avenues of dissemination of information, a data base describing the situation, and communication between researchers and criminal justice staff members. Ethical concerns need to be dealt with. (Author)

Analyzes and critiques an attempted application of cognitive dissonance and reactance concepts to a therapy analogue. An experiment by R. M. Gordon is discussed. Key prerequisites for dissonance arousal and for reactance induction were not present. Self-selection of volunteers for treatment is an unreported factor. Gordon replies to this critique.…

Outlines a model of decision making known to researchers in the field of behavioral decision theory (BDT) as subjective expected utility (SEU). The descriptive and predictive validity of the SEU model, probability and values assessment using SEU, and decision contexts are examined, and a 54-item reference list is provided. (JL)

Examines the relationships between child and adolescent television use motivations and various sociodemographic characteristics, television viewing levels, program preference, and television attitudes. Viewing motivations include learning, passing time, companionship, escape, arousal, and relaxation. Discusses implications within the conceptual…

This study examines the ways in which neighborhoods as physical environments affect children's play and play patterns. Four urban neighborhoods were examined for terrain, access to play space, social interaction, locus of play, safety, and mobility. It was found that children's play patterns are influenced by the environment they live in. (DS)

The amount of anxiety suggested the need for clinical intervention to reduce procedure-related distress in children with cancer. Younger children exhibited consistently higher levels of distress than older children and displayed a greater variety of anxious responses over a longer time span. (Author/BEF)

Results indicated that female monozygotic twins were more satisfied with their total self-concepts, including categories of identity, behavior, moral-ethical, personal, family, and number of deviant scores, when compared with male monozygotic twins. (Author)

The Group Test of Openness (GTO) was shown to have a moderate degree of stability. Predictive validity was demonstrated through a 14-week high school course in counseling skills in which scores on the GTO increased. GTO focused on behavior within a group and had an objective method of scoring. (Author)

Maslow's need hierarchy theory is restated by means of a matrix arrangement of the constructs within the theory. After consideration of the consequences of this restatement, some significant research is discussed and directions for future research suggested. (Author)

Examines the effects of interpersonal perspective upon certain noncontent communicative behaviors, specifically, unwillingness to communicate, predisposition toward verbal behavior, and disclosiveness. Significant differences are shown among persons with analytic, cooperational, and instrumental perspectives on a linear combination of…

The study examines the effect of a prior tornado disaster occurring in a community and that community's current response to a tornado threat. The study concludes that it is not past experience with tornadoes that relates to response to warnings, but rather awareness. Experience is but one source of information contributing to their awareness. (RE)

The question of changes in men's family roles is considered from the standpoint of approaches that feminists of both sexes might use to bring about those changes. Emergent consensus subsumes strategies labeled as prosocial and self-interest. The remaining approach subsumes negotiation strategies. Suggestions and practical applications follow.…

Reconsiders Mehrabian's formula for message impact using the all-channel condition as the criterion variable and the verbal, vocal, and facial channels as predictor variables. Regression equations for each of four messages were quite different from Mehrabian's formula and from each other, indicating a "contextual" rather than…

Discusses research supporting the conclusion that projective and quasi-projective measures of interpersonal distance do not measure the same phenomena as interactional measures. It is possible that they are more indicative of psychological rather than physical distance. (JMF)

Summarizes current research regarding the influence of cognition (things people think and feel) in the understanding of human social behavior. Discussed are experiments in attribution, social perception, self-concept, and attitude change which contribute to the author's point that the cognitive theme is becoming a unifying phenomenon in social…