The Journal of Psychology

Richmond, Bert O.; Sukemune, Seisoh; Ohmoto, Makoto; Kawamoto, Hajime; Hamazaki, Takashi

doi: 10.1080/00223980.1984.9923609pmid: 6699794

Summary The What I Think and Feel, a revised children's manifest anxiety scale, was administered to 660 children in grades 1 through 6 in the U.S., Japan, and Canada. Both cultural and grade differences were found on the Lie and Anxiety scales. Males did not differ significantly from females on either anxiety or social desirability. Canadian and American children were generally higher on the Lie score (social desirability) and children from the U.S. reported a higher level of anxiety than did children from the other two nations.

Olowu, Akinsola A.

doi: 10.1080/00223980.1984.9923610pmid: N/A

Summary The study explores the cognitive styles of three-, four-, and five-year-old Nigerian preschool children. A modified form of the Coates Preschool Embedded Figure Test was administered to 60 boys and 60 girls. Field independence increased with age for the entire sample and for both sexes. Deficits in scores were explained in the light of the cultural differences between the Nigerian sample and an American sample on whom the test was standardized.

Snyder, Robert A.; Williams, Ronald R.; Cashman, James F.

doi: 10.1080/00223980.1984.9923611pmid: N/A

Summary Two large samples (n = 683, n = 833) of public service employees were used to investigate differences in reaction to performance feedback and their relation to individual demographic and perceptual variables. Stepwise regression was used to measure the incremental impact of the relevant variables. The results support the notion that many work-related perceptions vary consistently with performance feedback reactions. The strongest predictor of feedback reactions was a measure of vertical dyad linkage. Role conflict, role clarity, and multiple measures of competence had lesser, but still significant, effects. Age, tenure on the job, and tenure in the organization failed to show hypothesized relationships to reactions to performance feedback.

Kennedy, Janice H.; Bakeman, Roger

doi: 10.1080/00223980.1984.9923612pmid: 6699793

Summary The impact of the early mother-infant relationship on social competence was investigated in Ss from a low-income population born in a public hospital in a large city. Assessments of the mother-infant relationship were made at three months and one year. Social competence was assessed in three-week day camp sessions when the children were about three years old. The mother's responsiveness at three months was related to the child's later social competence with adults, while the infant's responsiveness to mother at three months was not correlated with measures of social competence with either adults or with peers. Ainsworth's “strange situation” classification at one year was related to the success of bids for interaction, complexity of bids, and whether the child spent time near peers or near adults at three years, as well as to camp staff members' ratings of social competence with peers and with adults. Staff ratings of social competence with both peers and adults consistently correlated positively with more objective behavioral measures.

Hogan, J. D.; Vahey, M. A.

doi: 10.1080/00223980.1984.9923613pmid: N/A

Summary In order to identify references in the child development literature of enduring value, but of more than historical interest, 14 child development textbooks were surveyed. Eleven publications, appearing between the years 1941 and 1960, were cited by six or more of the textbooks and are listed. Those authors cited in the most textbooks for the time period are also listed.

Bailey, Roger C.; Kelly, Michael

doi: 10.1080/00223980.1984.9923614pmid: N/A

Summary Early daters (n = 34), steady daters (n = 42), and engaged daters (n = 32) provided physical attractiveness ratings for self, a dating partner, an ideal dating partner, and the expected rating of self by the dating partner. Within-person correlations on these ratings showed that, independent of gender or intensity of relationship, daters evidenced a need for partners to support their own view of physical attractiveness. On the basis of judgments provided by objective raters (n = 16), Ss generally erred in physical attractiveness attributions made to self and partner.

Li, Anita K. F.

doi: 10.1080/00223980.1984.9923615pmid: N/A

Summary The present study provided descriptive, field-based observational data on children's peer interactions within the various activity settings in a high-density preschool environment. Ss were nine children from three preschool programs in Hong Kong, selected on the basis of observed rate of peer interaction (high interaction positive, high interaction negative, and low interaction). They were observed during all activities throughout the half-day programs on three mornings. Patterns of peer interaction pointed to an association between level of interaction and variation in activity settings. The data also suggested an association between high spatial density and decreased peer interaction in large muscle activity where space is essential. The study provided insights on how size and density might shape program formation.

Head, L. Quinn; Lindsey, Jimmy D.

doi: 10.1080/00223980.1984.9923616pmid: 6699795

Summary The finding of a previous study that student perception of difficulty level may be just as important as the actual difficulty levels was reinterpreted. A specially developed Educational Psychology Recognition Test and Test Perception Inventory assessed task difficulty and perception of exam difficulty, respectively, in 30 American undergraduates. A modified version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory assessed state anxiety. Results indicated, that 1) test difficulty did not significantly affect state anxiety but did significantly affect perception of exam difficulty, 2) students administered the high-difficulty test exhibited a perception of higher exam difficulty than those taking the medium- and low-difficulty tests, and 3) there was no significant difference for the perception of exam difficulty between students taking the medium- and low-difficulty tests.

Goldsmith, Ronald E.

doi: 10.1080/00223980.1984.9923617pmid: N/A

Summary Relationships between scores on five sociopsychological scales and scores on the open processing scale a new instrument developed to measure a personality trait described as the opposite of rigidity and intolerance of ambiguity, were investigated in 100 undergraduate business students (60 females, 35 males). Open processing was found positively related to empathy and self-esteem, negatively related to dogmatism. Tests with social character and cosmopolitanism were inconclusive. Results provide some positive evidence for the nomological validity of the open processing scale.

Wolfgang, Ann K.; Zenker, Sanford I.; Viscusi, Theresa

doi: 10.1080/00223980.1984.9923618pmid: N/A

Summary Male undergraduates bet on dice at odds ranging from 6:1 to 18:1 and then completed a self-report scale designed to measure the motive to control events in one's life. The amount bet was recorded for each S either under conditions which enhanced the illusion of control or under conditions which minimized it. Although no evidence was found that Ss high in control motivation were more susceptible than others to the illusion of control, high-control Ss bet significantly more “dollars” as represented by poker chips, regardless of condition, at the most conservative odds.