Psychological Reports

32 male white rats, littermates from mothers of same strain, started to learn 20 habit-reversal problems at 50 days of age in an E-maze for water by the noncorrectional method. They were divided into 3 groups. Two groups of 11 each had been castrated at 32 days of age, and a group of 10 served as control. One castrated group received daily injections of testosterone propionate at 1 mg per kg of body weight 11 days after surgery. The other castrated group and the normal controls received saline. A week of preliminary training accustomed the animals to the daily routine of injection, about 30 min. before being put in the drinking box of a straight alley which they ran for water during the last 2 days. In maze learning proper, after a rat made 9 correct choices on 10 daily trials, the goal was reversed for the next problem. Early in learning, there were some fluctuations in performance, but throughout the rest of the experiment, the castrated-saline group was consistently and significantly inferior to the normals, testifying to the detrimental effect of castration upon adaptive ability in learning successive reversal problems. The fact that the castrated-testosterone group was far superior to the castrated-saline group and exhibited no significant difference from the normal-saline group shows unequivocally that testosterone propionate has a therapeutic property of raising the learning ability of the retarded, castrated white rats to a normal level. A theory is suggested.

40 middle-aged women, 35 to 55 yr. of age, participated in a study of the relation between satisfaction with body image, importance of body image, self-esteem, and mastery. Findings indicated that women with higher satisfaction with body-image tended to place more importance on body image. Those women also reported higher self-esteem and mastery of life events.

In an earlier study by Sprangers and Hoogstraten, a bogus-pipeline induction did remove response-style effects in the self-reported pretest. Response-shift bias, defined as a significant mean difference between conventional pre- and retrospective preratings, was consequently eliminated. It was concluded that response-style effects in the pretesting are a likely cause of response-shift bias. The present experiment was designed to examine whether these results are stable and generalizable to a different educational training. The present replication made use of the same bogus-pipeline procedure. The experimental training was a First Aid instructional film. Subjects were 53 freshmen in psychology who were fulfilling a course requirement. Contrary to expectation, a bogus-pipeline induction did not lower self-reported preratings. A response-shift did not occur in the bogus-pipeline or in the non-bogus-pipeline conditions. It was concluded that a construct not susceptible to removal of response-style effects is not susceptible to response-shift bias either. Results are consonant with the response-style basis for response-shift bias and show no contradiction of the former study. Data furthermore show that the administration of an objective pretest had no effect on subsequent objective posttreatment scores.

Perusal of the cross-cultural literature indicates an absence of reported research on a crucial aspect of interpersonal relationships, that of love and romance in South Africa. Accordingly, the Munro-Adams Love-Attitude Scale was administered to a random sample of 92 white adolescent seniors in secondary school from the Eastern Cape. While this study indicates that the white adolescent boys are more romantic than the girls, this finding might not be applicable to their black peers who are reported to show a reverse profile.

A model is introduced which combines traditional metacognitive explanations for the acquisition of social skills with situationally specific environment variables. This “metabehavioral” model suggests considering such variables as situational characteristics, task demands, and personal characteristics in predicting social performance. Use of this model may help professionals training behaviorally disordered children in social skills.

This study examined the group problem-solving process with 115 subjects in face-to-face groups responding to complex novel problems. A working theory of group problem-solving behavior in organizational settings was partially tested in a role-play task simulating top executive decision-making. Two problem-solving conditions were examined, a search condition (joint problem-solving) and a no-search condition (authority, impose and vote/mechanistic procedures). No significant differences were found between conditions with respect to (a) type of issue resolutions (integrative versus win-lose), (b) individual goal attainment, and (c) individual member's acceptance. Surprisingly, the direction of the results for completely achieved goals was opposite from that predicted. The findings may have been a result of perceived role ambiguity attributed to the confederate group leader.

Three groups of friends (small request only [a few minutes], larger request only [30 to 40 minutes], and small request then a larger request) and one group of strangers (larger request only) were investigated to assess a new application of the foot-in-the-door technique for the induction of compliance. Friends generally complied to requests and expected others to do so as well. Strangers generally did not comply to the 30- to 40-min. request and expected others to refuse also. An effect emerged when comparing the two-request condition of friends with the larger request-only condition of strangers. A reverse effect emerged when comparing the two-request condition of friends with the larger request only condition of friends. Female but not male requesters obtained greater compliance in the two-request of friends' condition. These findings indicated the differential effect of the foot-in-the-door technique for the induction of compliance and were discussed in relation to norms of friendship.

Women committing crimes before the surge of feminism (1965–1971) and long after this movement attracted national attention (1980–1985) were sampled. Greater antisociality in female criminals during the prefeminist period was associated with more dangerous crime, but predictability was lost by 1980–1985. It was suggested that rejection of role expectations inspired by feminism may have altered the determinants of dangerous crime in women.

Second- and third-grade children (N = 24) were assigned to one of two groups, assertiveness social-skills training or an attention control group. Both groups met for 1 hr., twice weekly, for 3 wk. Dependent measures were (a) teachers' ratings, (b) behavioral observations during free play, (c) observations during a structured play task, and (d) observations while being transported home. Children given assertiveness social-skills training exhibited an increase in frequency of cooperative interaction and a decrease in physical aggression during transportation.

This article presents information about Dr. George A. Kelly's work in attitude measurement while he was at Fort Hays Kansas State College (1931–1943). The use of bipolar scales to measure the attitudes and the progress of clients supports Kelly's Dichotomy Corollary, in addition to providing external validity for the use of the Semantic Differential.

Analysis of literature shows the number of laughs and targets evoking laughter are varied by contexts and situations.

The comparability of ratings of premenstrual symptoms obtained by different methods of data collection was studied. Ongoing ratings were compared with retrospective reports. A consecutive series (n = 17) of women attending a premenstrual syndrome (PMS) evaluation and treatment center completed daily diary cards over the course of one menstrual cycle as well as a retrospective evaluation of their premenstrual symptomatology. Comparisons were made between postmenstrual and premenstrual ratings on the diary cards to confirm the presence of premenstrual symptomatology Retrospective ratings of premenstrual symptomatology showed higher mean scores reflecting greater symptomatology than was recorded in daily diary cards. Analysis of predictors of retrospective reports, using multiple regression analysis, with postmenstrual and premenstrual ratings as predictors, indicated significant associations between the retrospective and prospective ratings of premenstrual symptoms. There were no significant assocations between the retrospective ratings of premenstrual symptoms and prospective ratings of postmenstrual symptoms, suggesting the specificity of retrospective report in reflecting symptoms experienced prior to menstruation. The significance of these findings for clinical practice is discussed.

Data from 1046 respondents in Virginia suggest subcultural, as compared to protective, motivations for possession of and carrying guns.

Referring agencies' anecdotal reports on 684 youngsters were scrutinized for information on (1) physical/verbal violence, (2) violation of property rights, (3) investigation of police or courts, or suspensions from school, and (4) referral to a social/legal agency for follow-up care. Some 330 children with a mean age of 11.14 yr. (SD = 2.21) met all four criteria and formed the conduct disordered group. The control group was formed by default and comprised 354 children whose mean age was 10.2 yr. (SD = 2.03). All youngsters were given the Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire which was scored for Psychoticism, Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Lie. Group mean scores for conduct disordered children, when compared with controls, were significantly higher on Psychoticism and Neuroticism, somewhat higher on Extraversion but significantly lower on the Lie scale. An item-by-item comparison of both groups provided a list of characteristics claimed by conduct disordered children but not by control youngsters. It was concluded that the Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire identified children in need of outpatient services.

The relationships of illness variables (demographic, illness-quality, treatment, lifestyle, and interpersonal) to the eight coping styles as measured by the Millon Behavioral Health Inventory were investigated in 38 adult patients with ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory disease of the colon, to identify coping styles important in managing this condition. Patients with ulcerative colitis were studied because this patient group has not demonstrated a characteristic personality profile and because the nature of the symptoms and disease pattern requires these patients to develop a long-standing coping style. Twelve significant correlations were found and explanations were proposed. The possibility that psychological treatment could alter illness variables and result in a more adaptive coping style was discussed with a suggestion for further investigation.

87 intervention workers indicated agreement with 18 statements about factors in excessive drinking of senior citizens (seniors) and 18 parallel statements concerning the general population. Respondents rated statements differently for seniors and the general population.

This study compared the relative attitudes toward various types of exceptionality among three groups of elementary and intermediate-grade children (ns = 36, 41, and 79) and one group of adults (n = 1030). It also investigated the stability of these rankings over 13 years and in different parts of the United States. The hierarchies of preferences for these two groups of southwestern children were highly correlated, as were those preferences for these children and adults in the east. A comparison of the ranks obtained in 1987 with those reported in 1974–75 showed a stable hierarchy over time and geographical locations.

Evaluation of teachers and college instructors has been studied extensively. The literature covers many variables, methodologies, and instruments; however, sloppy and careless evaluation on the part of students has not yet been examined. The present paper describes an analysis of whether evaluations of instructors are affected by overly global ratings by students, be those ratings positive or negative.

The validity of the Mosher Guilt Scales was evaluated by comparing guilt scores of 25 adult males who had voluntarily placed themselves in an alcoholism treatment center with those of a control group of 25 adult males. It was hypothesized that the alcoholic group would demonstrate higher guilt than the control group as the presence of strong guilt feelings should lead one to seek to remove a major source of guilt such as excessive drinking. This hypothesis was substantiated by higher sex guilt and morality guilt in the alcoholic group than in the control group.

In a predominantly middle-aged sample of 182, the four items of the Kansas Family Life Satisfaction Scale demonstrated adequate internal consistency. Further evidence of construct validity was found, as well as limited discriminant validity. The scale was positively correlated with Edmonds's measure of marital conventionalization, and a pattern of unequal variance at different levels of social desirability was found.

Individuals high or low in assertiveness were paired with one another and then brought together in dyads in either a social conflict or social acquaintantship. There was no relationship between self-reported assertiveness and acting assertively. In the conflict situation, where highly assertive persons were paired, they viewed their partners as more competent and desirable than paired groups low in assertiveness or groups of mixed high and low assertiveness. This effect for highly assertive persons became even more pronounced in the acquaintance situation. The roles of anxiety, sacrifice, and reasonableness were examined, and suggestions for further research were made.

Although emotional problems were substantive but similar among 45 hospitalized psychiatric patients, those in the Sheltered Workshop were older than those in Industrial Therapy and Vocational Rehabilitation. The youngest group showed higher scores on visual, auditory, and delayed visual memory as well as on fine motor skills of the McCarron Assessment of Neuromuscular Development. Continuation of contact and services from the hospital is desirable.

This report describes a study of the validity of typing inmates from their MMPI scores using the system developed by Megargee and Bohn. The subjects were female inmates of a state prison. The typology was not a strong predictor of either current or subsequent prison behaviors as derived from inmate records. When the various types were ordered for degree of deviance, however, the resulting validity of the typology appeared to increase. As currently used, the typology appears of limited usefulness with female prisoners of state institutions.

40 male delinquents, comprising four matched groups with fathers present or absent, and Negro or white, were studied to estimate the effect these variables had on the development of covert and overt sex-role identification. A trend was noted toward greater field-dependence for delinquent boys than for nondelinquents, and among boys whose fathers were absent than those whose fathers were present. The Negro delinquent boys with fathers present were significantly more feminine in interest patterns than the Negro nondelinquent boys whose fathers were present. Discussion is based on theories of identification and delinquency.

Relationships among the 12 items of MacKenzie's (1983) short Group Climate Questionnaire (GCQ-S) were examined from two perspectives. All 25 members of four small groups and 9 nonparticipant observers separately supplied 75 GCQ-S protocols for varied group sessions that were compared for items' correlations and mean differences. Similarities overshadowed the differences between ratings by members and observers although members consistently rated group sessions more favorably than observers. Both data sets featured positively intralinked but negatively interlinked quintets of items designated Affiliative and Disaffiliative This 10-item Affiliativeness composite fully coincided with the main findings of prior studies by Slough and Hurley and Brooks. Superseding MacKenzie's Avoiding, Conflict, and Engaged GCQ-S miniscales, Affiliativeness parallels the affiliation/evaluation factor central to mote comprehensive group-climate inventories and also closely resembles the interpersonal domain's prepotent affiliation dimension.

Moral Reconation Therapy is a systematic treatment strategy designed to enhance ego, social, moral, and positive behavioral growth in a progressive, step-by-step fashion. It is based upon the assumption that fully functioning, reasonably content, happy persons have a strong sense of identity and that their behavior and relationships are based upon relatively high moral judgment levels. The therapist strives to reeducate clients socially, morally, and behaviorally and to instill appropriate goals, motivation, and values. Moral Reconation Therapy has slowly evolved in response to the unique needs of particular client populations who are considered resistant to treatment. The therapy is an adaptable and utilitarian treatment system. This article is a review of the treatment system and relevant personality theory, and a description of how the system is applied to drug abusers and clients with antisocial personalities. In addition, the article presents preliminary research on the system.

30 male and 20 female college students completed a measure of narcissism and signed a simulated birthday card with the instructions to embellish their signatures as they normally would if sending the card to a good friend. While narcissism scores did not differ significantly between sexes, women who did choose to embellish their signatures with multiple exclamation points and underlinings had significantly higher narcissism scores than women who did not. Men added significantly fewer embellishments to their signatures than women, and their embellishments did not appear to be related to their narcissism scores.

Modifications in stress, measured using Spielberger, et al.'s self-rating State-Trait Anxiety Inventory were assessed on working and rest days for bank employees making regular use of videodisplay terminals. While on work days state-anxiety increased over that on rest days, it did not vary with respect to amount of use of videodisplay terminals. Moreover, state-anxiety significantly covaried with scores on trait-anxiety. These findings suggest that, while increases in state-anxiety can be induced by use of videodisplay terminals, these are not proportional to the amount of use but rather depend on such factors as personality.

The daily calcium intake of Type A (21 men, 49 women) and Type B (37 men, 95 women) college students was compared. No difference appeared between these groups, although men exhibited significantly higher daily milk and calcium consumption than women, contrary to earlier studies. The implications of this finding for further research were briefly discussed.

Beliefs in a variety of paranormal phenomena were examined in a sample of British college students and were compared with the beliefs obtained in a previous study from a sample of Southern USA college students. The main difference between the British and American students concerned traditional religious belief. Not only were the American students greater believers than the British students in traditional religion, but factor analysis indicated that traditional religious belief in these American students was separate from their other paranormal beliefs which was not the case for the British students.

The purpose of the research was to test the hypothesis that individuals who score high on a particular personality characteristic are more likely to be attracted to an organization reflective of that characteristic than individuals who are low on that characteristic. Three empirical studies using a total sample of 385 advanced management candidates tested the hypothesis. Each study focused on one particular personality characteristic: Dominance, Nurturance, or Autonomy, as measured or perceived from the individual and the organizational perspective. In all three studies there was a significant relationship between a person-environment fit and organizational attractiveness. Implications for organizational and individual outcomes and suggestions for research are discussed.

This is a review of the evidence regarding the value of psychotherapists' personal psychotherapy for the practice of psychotherapy. No study up to this time has been able to isolate successfully the effects on practice of personal psychotherapy. The complexity of the issue may prevent such a solution. As a result no definitive conclusion as to value can be reached; however, the existing evidence suggests probable merit of selective inclusion of personal psychotherapy for the training of psychotherapists.

Baker and Schulberg's Community Mental Health Ideology scale was administered to 53 executive directors of community mental health centers. Adherence to community mental health ideology was surprisingly low. Women directors were more community-oriented than men; ideology was not significantly related to age, discipline, or years of experience.

The purpose of this study was to examine the correlations between school-related perceptions of 57 Puerto Rican mothers residing in east-central Pennsylvania and achievement of their children. The school-related perceptions were obtained using the Marjoribanks Family Environment Schedule, which yielded scores for satisfaction with school, teachers, and subject areas as well as a measure of the mother's language of preference for instruction. The children's achievement was measured by the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Statistically significant correlations were not found between the Iowa reading scores and maternal satisfaction with all school-related variables. However, a significant value of .27 was identified between maternal satisfaction with teachers' and the children's Iowa mathematics scores. Of the mothers 86% expressed a preference for English as the language of instruction for their children. The school personnel need to identify factors contributing to these positive attitudes.

Boder-type screening tests were constructed from basic school readers. Three naive raters classified spelling errors of 104 monolingual and bilingual reading-disabled children according to Boder's patterns of dysphonetic, dyseidetic, and mixed strategies. The reliabilities were .53 for one rater and .77 for three raters.

The hypothesis that people have differential access (as measured by decision-processing time) to descriptive categories of what is applicable to male and female managers, who were effective or ineffective, was tested. A list of adjectives was presented sequentially on a CRT screen to 96 participants (48 men and 48 women, students and university employees), who evaluated each item as to “how characteristic” or “how uncharacteristic” the adjective was in describing a male or female effective (ineffective) manager. “How characteristic,” or rated prototypicality and decision-time were dependent measures. Analysis indicated that sex of target had little influence on either rated prototypicality or decision times when performance information was presented. Differences in correlations between decision times and prototypicality ratings varied primarily with the manipulation of effectiveness.

To assess possible morale and recruiting problems that might be associated with changing the military policy against admitting or retaining homosexual practitioners, a national systematic area-cluster sample of 4,340 adults and a Dallas sample of 842 were given a questionnaire concerning (1) feelings about nudity before homosexuals and heterosexuals, (2) military service and kind of discharge, (3) sharing communal facilities with homosexuals, (4) having a homosexual commanding officer, (5) having to depend upon a homosexual while under attack, (6) whether a change in policy would affect advice regarding joining the military, and (7) their opinion of current military policy. Consistent with other studies on the issue, 31% of homosexual versus 4% of heterosexual men reported less than honorable discharges. About three-quarters of the sample reported that, when disrobed, they were averse to being seen by homosexuals. About two-thirds of the men who had served, a majority of men who had not served, about a third of the women, and a minority of homosexuals felt that homosexuals should be excluded from or discharged from the military.

An instrument was developed to assess the levels and sources of stress experienced by health professionals. Based on a review of the literature, the Health Professions Stress Inventory was constructed and administered via a mail questionnaire to a large group of practicing physicians, pharmacists, and nurses. Data analyses indicated that the inventory possessed suitable internal consistency, as measured by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Scores also were correlated significantly with scores on Lyons' tension index. The inventory shows internal consistency and concurrent validity. It should be useful in assessing the relative stress perceived in health professions.

Psychological and physiological symptoms of strain are investigated with consideration of five personal orientations hypothesized to be causally related to health and illness: self-image, locus of control, interpersonal orientation, goal orientation, and time orientation. The Stress Processing Report, an instrument designed to measure dysfunctional thinking styles, was administered to 816 individuals who also provided self-report data on psychological and physiological symptoms of strain. Clusters of symptoms were identified empirically and regressed on the personal orientations, controlling for the age and income of respondents. The five personal orientations were directly and, to some extent, differentially related to the clusters of symptoms. These findings, along with those of other recent studies, underscore the importance of considering the direct effects of individual characteristics in research on stress.

A 25-yr.-old male psychiatric inpatient with a history of chronic psychogenic vomiting was treated using self-monitoring. Vomiting ceased after introduction of self-monitoring and reoccurred once prior to discharge.

Grading on the curve is described and solved for, where the a priori probabilities of the several letter grades are applied to the normally distributed population, not directly to the particular sample under consideration. (It is suggested that the conventional treatment of this problem fails properly to distinguish a population from a sample.) The relationship of this solution to that of Ebel (1965) is discussed.

This study explored cognitive performance differences between disadvantaged and middle-class boys on descriptive and inquiry tasks relating to everyday games. Fourth and eighth grade boys from both social classes were asked to describe the game they played most, then to learn a new game using yes-or-no questioning. The interviews were content-analyzed by category of game information and rated for effectiveness of description and inquiry. Grade 8 boys covered a wider array of categories for a description or inquiry of a given length. They were also more likely to explore the object of the game on all tasks. Grade 4 boys more frequently seemed at a loss in generating questions on the inquiry task. Socioeconomic differences were present, favoring middle-class boys, but they were smaller and less consistent than age/grade differences, and somewhat greater at Grade 4. While most Grade 8 boys were able to pursue an inquiry, more middle-class boys seemed involved in the task in a positive and motivated way. Complexity of grade and social-class differences in cognitive performance and the need for further research were discussed.

84 residents of Las Lomas, Santiago de Chile took part in a study of the relations of locus of control with residential satisfaction, job, and housing search. Null findings resulted, but in spite of extremely poor living conditions, high residential satisfaction prevailed.

This study was designed to estimate the correlations of the Zung Self-rating Depression Scale with age and sex in a psychiatric outpatient sample. 378 male and 671 female clients of 13 to 89 yr. of age completed the scale as part of their admission to an outpatient psychiatric clinic. The scores were classified according to sex and age (in 10-yr. groups). Analysis showed some statistically significant differences according to age and sex, but the magnitude of those differences was small. Comparison of these data with a previously published set of data from a nonpsychiatric sample showed, as would be expected, the psychiatric group scored consistently higher.

This study was designed to assess criterion-related validity of the Leadership Skills Inventory. The student subjects were 113 girls and boys (Grades 6–11) who had recently completed a 1-wk. Leadership Studies Program. Adult subjects were 55 community leaders who were chosen by a panel to represent arts, business, government, professions, and civic activities. Both groups completed the inventory. Mean self-rating for the children who had completed the training leadership was higher than mean self-rating of adults. Results are consistent with the criterion-related validity of the instrument.

A comparative study of 112 Japanese-American Sansei and Yonsei youth in Los Angeles, California, and Honolulu, Hawaii—drawn from the rosters of youth active in Japanese-American church organizations—found no over-all differences by location, generation, or sex. Some significant differences, however, were noted for specific items. Of particular note are the shared (and continued) traditional values of these Los Angeles and Honolulu church-going Japanese-American youth.

The pioneer work of Alfred Binet (1857–1911) on eyewitness testimony (1900) often is cited today in support for a traditional view of the extreme suggestibility of children. Binet, on the other hand, interpreted his findings as showing that suggestibility is not a static trait among children but rather is a function of cognitive and social factors associated with attempts to influence during interrogation. Ironically, those conclusions made nearly 90 years ago are mirrored in modern conceptualizations of the nature of children's suggestibility. In light of renewed interest in historical work on this topic, this paper provides general information about Binet's La suggestibilité (1900) and of some reactions surrounding its publication.

The concurrent validity of the Global Assessment Scale was investigated by correlating it with several measures of psychiatric symptomatology and impairment from 192 adults and children admitted for outpatient treatment. Results suggest questionable validity as an index of psychopathology.

6 elderly confused ladies were selected from a psychogeriatric ward (mean age: 77.5 yr.; age range: 73 to 83 yr.). An ABAB design was used to evaluate the effect of having the ladies seated in a circle with a group leader for group discussion. Recreational material relating to particular topics was used as an aid to discussion. Meetings lasted for 30 min. each week for 6 wk., during each phase of the study. Different categories of engaged and disengaged behaviour were devised and observations using these categories were made to assess changes throughout the study. Over-all, during experimental periods, ‘engagement’ was increased by the presence of staff and of recreational material, and neutral and ‘sleeping’ behaviour decreased. Observations on the ward showed no evidence of generalisation to the general ward environment. An unexpected finding in the group sessions was that patient-patient interaction decreased during experimental periods. Some implications of the findings for nursing and occupational therapy staff are discussed.

Although there are many methods used to measure memory, there is surprisingly little agreement as to the validity of these measures. This study was designed to assess the convergent and divergent validity of several different memory measures. 60 college students served as subjects in the study. A moderate degree of convergent validity was found for the memory scales. A principal component analysis gave two major factors, memory for verbal and nonverbal materials. Controlling for intelligence (Quick Test) did not substantially reduce the convergent validity of the memory measures, establishing the divergent validity of memory. While there is a need to assess clinically the memory functions of individuals, the current methods appear to need additional work to improve the level of convergent validity and to reflect the diversity in memory.

50 subjects were asked to keep a diary of instances in which they realized they had forgotten something. The 750 forgettings recorded were grouped on the basis of nominal similarity, with 64% of them falling into one of 24 categories. The major categories included forgetting to comply with requests, failures of habitual actions, absentmindedness, and forgetting to bring something. Most failures involved the forgetting to perform a future action (i.e., forgetting to do something) as opposed to forgetting facts, names, or other information once known. These results suggest that the failure to retrieve the intention to do something at the appropriate time is the source of many forgettings, and this finding may have implications for the construction of memory inventories.

Analysis of data from Cloninger, collected in 1977, showed that his set of variables provided a more powerful predictor of the homicide rates of the continental states in 1955–1959 than of the execution rates.

This study is about the “maquillage”, the practice of bleaching one's skin by use of cosmetics. Our objective was to appraise the extent to which the “maquillage” is accepted in the population of Brazzaville and to measure attitudes toward this practice. Administering a questionnaire to 420 subjects (190 youth and 230 adults; 210 women and 210 men), we obtained the following results: bright complexion is suitable for women while a dark one is preferable for men. A quarter of the men and half of the women are users of brightening products, when we do not take into account antiseptic soaps. The motivations put forward were chiefly a longing for beauty and skin care (64%), seduction to be noticed in society (44%), identification with the white (18%), and fashion (14%).

Research on lethal violence suggests that economic stress is associated with high rates of homicide, while economic well-being is correlated with relatively high suicide rates. Henry and Short explained these trends as a tendency to direct aggression toward the environment under conditions of external stress and restraint and toward the self in the absence of such conditions. In the present study this hypothesis was tested on a sample of 19, mostly industrialized, countries. The proportion of suicides was regressed on a measure of well-being as well as the proportion of the population in the 15– to 19-yr. age group. The results seem to provide a mild support for the hypothesis.

A series of questions, generated by Rotton and Kelly in response to Cyr and Kalpin's refutation of literature reviews which recommended that attempts to validate the lunar hypothesis be terminated, are addressed. We maintain that it is preferable for researchers to question whether any hypothesis is deemed tenable only after the most advanced methodologies and statistical analyses have been applied rather than to stop all investigations in an area based on results generated by a series of methodologically inconsistent studies which were analyzed inappropriately.

18 agoraphobics with panic attacks had significantly higher scores on the Willoughby Personality Schedule, a measure of social-evaluative anxiety, than 18 matched patients with panic disorder. Results are compatible with the position that hypersensitivity to criticism is associated with and may contribute to the development of agoraphobia following panic attacks, but further research is needed.

This study attempted to test Eysenck's hypothesis of ‘cross-voting’ which suggests that many middle-class people are conservative in their economic beliefs but liberal in their general social attitudes. 80 Australian and 51 British middle-class subjects completed two questionnaires and positioned themselves on a right-left wing political dimension. Despite various analyses no support was found, showing rather that conservative economic beliefs were associated with conservative social attitudes and political beliefs. Various reasons for these findings were posited, and the limitations of the study outlined.

7 subjects (mean age of 27 yr.) who complained of chronic pain symptoms were compared to seven age- and sex-matched controls on the following variables: number of physical symptoms, Type A tendency (Glazer Stress Control scores), and over-all stress (Social Readjustment Rating Scale scores). The pain subjects showed significantly more physical symptoms and greater Type A tendencies than controls but did not differ on over-all stress.

Over-all significantly higher mean scores on impulsiveness were found on the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale and on the nonplanning and motor subscales for two cohorts of 40 male felons and 40 unwed mothers than for a sample of 360 randomly selected adults. These results support Barratt's conceptualizations of impulsivity.

In this study of whether feedback from students improved peers' writing 56 students in a medium-size class of introductory psychology gave written feedback to their peers who then revised their own essays for final grading. Students were more critical evaluators than the teaching assistant. Although quality of essays improved upon revision, there were some mitigating issues. The continuing need to develop writing skills is stimulus for additional research on the use of peer review.