This study compared the academic preparation, aspirations, and first-year college performance of first-generation college freshmen with other college freshmen at Indiana State University. It found that first-generation students were more likely to drop out during the first semester and had lower first-semester grades than students with one or more…

Delineates the current consensus regarding the nature and the development of intellectual ability. Examines when one would expect general abilities to moderate the relationship among domain-specific and other processes. Reviews recent studies in which general abilities were used as independent variables or covariates. Suggests that generally,…

An investigation was conducted to determine whether differential predictive validity, as detected in previous studies, exists for a recent sample of 3,703 college students. Results confirmed that the phenomenon still exists. For women, but not minorities, the difference in predictive validity appears related to course selection. (SLD)

Examined the discriminant validity of sexual responses to stories of child sexual assault when told from the point of view of a male perpetrator versus that of a female child victim. Results indicate the relevance of changing deviant preferences and enhancing empathy for the victim while treating child molesters. (RJM)

Addresses the controversy regarding the conceptual overlap between difficult child temperament and behavior problems using treatment outcome study data. Forty mothers of preschool children were randomly assigned to either a temperament-focused parent-training program or a wait-list control group. Results suggest that the observed associations…

Examines people's behavior in the Monty Hall Dilemma (MHD), in which a person must make two decisions to win a prize. In a series of five studies, found that people misapprehend probabilities in the MHD. Discusses the MHD's relation to illusion of control, belief perseverance, and the status quo bias. (RJM)

Experimental phonological synthesis (sound blending) and analysis (rhyme detection) tasks were administered to children (n=76) preceding kindergarten entry. Measures of beginning reading were administered after kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. The sound blending task was significantly related to most interim and outcome measures. The…

Suggests that models of parenting style, such as Baumrind's popular model, are insensitive to variations in parenting resulting from characteristics of the different situations in which the parenting is expressed. Argues that considering parenting in context adds greater specificity to the model and enhances the potential for predicting child…

Five affective and personality instruments were completed by 126 urban Hispanic working women, aged 18-65. Dysphoria was positively related to role conflict and negatively related to masculinity (instrumentality), life satisfaction, and self-esteem (the latter 3 having positive correlations with each other). Educational attainment was negatively…

Tested a triple-interaction hypothesis predicting problems of adolescent adjustment. Data obtained from Japanese 14-year-olds, parents, and teachers provided measures of parent-adolescent cohesion, parent socialization values, and 4 personality clusters. Found that lowest Resilient Impulse Control and Interpersonal Warmth scores were obtained for…

Data from the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1982-84, were used to examine lifetime prevalence (LTP) of childhood asthma among Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans. LTP was related to Puerto Rican ethnicity, birth outside U.S. mainland, low weight for age, male gender, poverty, urban residence, and single parenthood. Implications…

Considers sexual harassment from the perspective of abuse of power, and discusses the possibility of having power within a situation that automatically and nonconsciously triggers a sexuality schema, just as racial or gender features automatically trigger stereotypes of that group. The possible origins of the automatic power/sex linkage and its…

Examines the development of normative sleep-wake state characteristics in full-term infants, and atypical state characteristics as presented in several clinical populations including preterm and autistic children. Reviews and critiques the literature on the usefulness of infant state parameters in predicting developmental outcomes of infants at…

A national survey of 355 licensed pharmacists investigated their perceptions of themselves as lifelong learners, participation in various professional and leisure activities, attitudes predicting lifelong learning behavior, and respondent characteristics. The two analytical models used arrived at different demographic and other variables…

Reviews research related to humor, especially the role humor can play in the instructional process. Highlights include theories of humor; variables associated with humor; health benefits derived from humor; developmental stages and humor; effects of humor in children's educational television; and humor in the college environment. (25 references)…