Twenty first-year medical students were randomly assigned to one of four short-term empathy training groups (discussion, modeling, experiential-simulation and control). Empathy skills were assessed immediately after and four weeks after training sessions. Although results were not statistically significant, the trends were in the predicted…

Recent theories of depression that have attracted enthusiasm are those of Lewinsohn and Seligman. Lewinsohn's theory emphasizes the importance of deficits in social skill leading to reduced reinforcement, while Seligman's emphasizes the evolution of the depressive's belief that his responding and reinforcement are independent. The present study…

The current study addresses antecedent factors associated with the decision to parent vis-a-vis the decision to not parent. Three interrelated aspects of fertility attitudes and behaviors were examined: (1) the existence of family size norms; (2) the strength of social sanctions regarding family size preferences and; (3) the influence of other…

This study presents an analysis of the process of becoming a marijuana dealer. It is only through an understanding of this process that the problem of marijuana can be completely understood. The process of becoming a dealer is seen as a process consisting of two parts: (1) the development of the external relationships which allow entrance into the…

Analysis of data from 13 planned new communities, 13 control communities, and two retirement communities indicates that a highly effective model for predicting service preferences can be constructed using per capita income, age, sex and community type. This model limits itself to data available to all planned organizations and suggests that,…

This research seeks to develop a theory of children's achievement motivation and to move research in the direction of greater educational application. Five studies demonstrate that: (1) high anxious children function very poorly on basic arithmetic skills in conditions involving time pressure and some failure but do almost as well as low anxious…

This research sought to (1) evaluate the effectiveness of four multi-media presentations designed for use in support of the Navy Career Counseling Program, and (2) obtain additional data relative to the importance, adequacy, and flow of information relevant to objectives of the Navy Career Counseling Program. A film for use by Command Retention…

The nonverbal behavior patterns and perceptions of males and females were investigated. Undergraduate students (N=36 men and N=30 women) viewed a series of high-contrast slides portraying two actors standing side by side. Half of the subjects saw slides depicting the person on the left touching the shoulder of the person on the right, while…

The adequacy of the evaluation, potency, and activity (EPA) system as a scheme for the dimensions of an individual's implicit personality theory was tested using two methods. In the free-response method, each subject described himself and a number of people known to him using trait terms of his own choice; in the other method, each subject used a…

A list of stressful events associated with onset of parenting is developed. The events and established weights are ranked to reflect the degree of disruption that would be caused should that event occur. Whether the rankings and weightings differ as a function of parent sex and maternal work status is also considered. The means for developing the…

Subject groups were classified on the basis of behavioral ratings for degree of anxiety exhibited and level of social skill displayed during a simulated dating interaction. Subjects were then asked to view and evaluate their own skill performance and the performance of bogus subjects during the same interaction when presented on videotape. All…

In this study, the task was to analyze the separate effects of contingent reinforcement (money) and monitoring (counting) on the frequency of responses indicative of anxiety. Observed (physiological) and introspective (covert statements about experiencing anxiety) were used to determine the effects of reinforcement and monitoring on anxiety prone…

Subjects were 138 inmates from the pre-release unit of a Southwestern prison system, randomly divided into three groups of 46 each. Each group viewed a video-taped model delivering a speech. The independent variable had three levels: (1) lecturer attired in a shirt and tie; (2) lecturer attired in a correctional officer's uniform; and (3) model…

Subjects interacted once or twice with a confederate whose behavior in each interaction was friendly or unfriendly and either spontaneous or forced. Single interaction subjects formed impressions reflecting the confederate's behavior but not its cause. Subjects having friendly then unfriendly interactions formed impressions reflecting the cuase of…

This paper presents the results of a study to examine the existence of sexual stereotyping of black males by white college students. Subjects were 180 male and 180 female white undergraduates; they were tested in sexually segregated groups. Each read one of three types of pornographic stories (hard-core, erotic realism, or sexual fantasy). The…