The interactive effects of a student's conceptual level and the structure of the teaching environment are examined. Concept level for the purposes of this study is identified as maturity in information processing and in interpersonal competence. Thirty-three preservice teachers were classified as being at a high, middle, or low conceptual level.…

Male and female adolescents (n=274) indicated (1) the amount of stress they experienced in their day-to-day living, (2) their satisfaction with the help they received from their mothers, fathers, and peers, and (3) perceptions of their well-being in three conceptually distinct areas (life satisfaction, various affective states, and mental and…

This task group report is one of a series prepared by eminent psychologists who have served as consultants in the U.S.O.E.-sponsored grant study to conduct a Critical Appraisal of the Personality-Emotions-Motivation Domain. In order to achieve the goal of identifying important problems and areas for new research and methodological issues related…

The major objective of this study was to identify verbally reticent (V.R.) students in the community college population, beginning with first-term speech students. A total of 527 students enrolled in first-term daytime speech classes completed the V.R. Scale (Verbal Reticence Test Developed by Myron W. Lustig) during the first week of classes.…

Responses on both the state and trait scales of the State-Trait Anxiety (STAI) Inventory were examined under two conditions. The first condition presented a simulated real-life situation containing competitive and evaluative cues without directly suggesting faking and asked subjects to complete the STAI. After an intervening task, the STAI was…

This study explores the notion of "fear of success" as a function of cultural expectations rather than as an intrapsychic motive held by women. A total of 476 male and female students (including 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th graders) were tested on semantic differential scales to gauge their reactions to the success or failure of a woman or a man. It…

Playfulness, a personality trait consisting of sense of humor, manifest joy, and spontaneity, was demonstrated to relate to divergent thinking at the kindergarten and high-school levels. The differential valence given to it by kindergarten-teachers and JHS- and HS-teachers was discussed in relation to creative potential. There was a consensus of…

This study tested opposing predictions made by Gamson's Minimum Resource Theory and equity theory concerning the type of coalitions that will be formed when members of a triad expect that rewards will be correlated with amounts of individual resources. Results supported equity theory in that subjects, whose work on a pretask was used as the basis…

The purpose of the study was to assess non-intellective correlates of achievement in a lower-class, all black, urban elementary school. These students were compared with a University school population which was different in many dimensions. There were residual similarities relative to the general role of the elementary school student. In neither…

This paper is intended primarily for elementary school teachers. It summarizes what is known about classroom anxiety and how teachers can reduce this anxiety and its detrimental effects. This is a nontechnical literature review designed to give advice to practitioners. The paper describes kinds of anxiety and outlines three different methods of…

Nine studies are summarized which investigated the relation between attributes of performance as perceived by the subject and corresponding objective measurements. The attributes studied were: (1) intellectual activity perceived to be involved when dealing with a task (Studies 1 and 2), and (2) perceived difficulty (Studies 4 to 9). Study 3…

This psychoanalytic descriptive case study of a 2-year-old girl investigates the emergence of self-object differentiation, particularly in relation to the anal, urinary, and genital zones. An early emergence of genital excitation and awareness in this child due to certain early experiences, intensified a search for "the missing phallus." In the…

This paper reports two experiments whose purpose was to relate two bodies of research on anxiety: test and trait-state anxiety. It was reasoned that state anxiety measures obtained in an evaluation testing condition should be more similar to test anxiety than state anxiety measures obtained in non-evaluative situations, such as a game in Study I…

A course that capitalizes on individual and group experiences and encourages students to expand their powers of observation and discernment is presented in the course, students analyzing their thoughts and translate them into written responses. The performance objectives are: A. Given opportunities to experience sensory and emotional stimuli,…

This paper describes recent research on causal attribution (ways people construe the events in their lives) and how knowledge of this psychological phenomena can be used to aid students in developing attributional processes that will enhance motivational factors and have positive effects on academic achievement. Four specific suggestions are made…