Identifies goals of character development for elementary school children. Offers four processes that promote positive social growth and moral maturity: (1) building self-esteem and a sense of community; (2) learning to cooperate and help others; (3) reflecting on moral choices; and (4) participating in decision making. Suggests how teachers have…

The Bi/Polar Inventory of Core Strength was administered to two senior dental classes. This inventory identifies preferences on three fundamental underlying dimensions of personality and yields eight personality patterns, which were subsequently correlated with the students' self-assessment of various aspects of the dental school experience.…

Discussion of the relationship of personality variables to programing ability highlights a study of undergraduates that investigated the influence of cognitive style on the programing skill of debugging. Use of the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) is described, scoring schemes for diagnostic tasks are explained, and suggestions for further…

In a study of 53 psychiatric inpatients (ages 6-13), depressed children reported significantly more hopelessness, more negative self-perceptions, negative self-perceptions across a wider variety of domains, and more dysfunctional attributional styles than nondepressed controls. Additional results suggested that childhood depressive disorders may…

A study of families of 30 learning handicapped and 30 nonhandicapped adolescents revealed that adolescents in each group had similar perspectives on family adaptability, cohesion, and communication patterns, while parents of learning handicapped adolescents perceived less family cohesion and lower levels of communication than did their offspring.…

Teachers rated elementary-aged students on the Critical Events Index of the Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders instrument. In 2 studies, 74 students who were identified by teachers as the highest ranked externalizers and internalizers were found to exhibit strikingly different profiles on the Critical Events Index. Behavioral descriptions…

The instructor's preparation and organization, clarity and understandableness, stimulation of interest, motivation of students to reach high standards, encouragement of discussion and openness to others' opinions, and elocutionary skills consistently explain 10 percent or more of the variance in student achievement regardless of the method of…

The author comments on articles that discuss the roles of demographic variables, qualitative variables, and the interview in making sound selection for medical school admission; analyze the effectiveness of traditional predictors in selecting successful students; and examine the predictors that best identify minority students likely to succeed in…

Temperamental characteristics, especially low reactivity-high manageability, appeared to curtail the influence of adverse family factors on children's adjustment. Strength of relationships between temperament and children's behavioral adjustment differed as a function of time, temperamental characteristics, and the source of behavioral ratings.…

A study to determine if there are any relationships between the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory personality preferences and academic performance in schools of pharmacy is discussed. Differences in academic performance that could be related to gender are reported. (Author/MLW)

The study with 110 undercontrolled children (ages 6-12) found that children's self-reports of depressive symptoms were not significantly correlated with parents' and teachers' ratings of depressive symptomatology; and that there were no differences in level of self-reported depressive symptoms in children rated as either depressed or not by their…

This study examines the contribution of assessments of interpersonal behavior to the prediction of initial teacher success. Findings indicate that the widely used predictor of cognitive ability has limited predictive power. Evaluations of interpersonal skills, including oral intelligence, significantly contribute to the prediction of success in…

Describes the development of a new sex role inventory, the Masculine-Feminine Personality Traits Scale, based on Bem's Sex Role Inventory and using Mexican sex role stereotypes. The instrument includes scales measuring assertive masculinity, affective femininity, aggressive masculinity, and submissive femininity. Results show expected response…

Surveys 100 female and 77 male college students to study the influence of sex and sex role orientation on sexual coercion. Finds that sex, rather than sex role orientation, is a more critical factor in determining, initiating, or responding to sexual coercion. (FMW)

Compared heavy and light-moderate drinking female college students along personality dimensions. Although no differences were found in social desirabiliy or locus of control, heavy drinkers possessed greater fear of failure and greater sensation seeking than did light-moderate drinkers. Results have implications for causes of problem drinking…