Performance of black and white adolescents on intellectual and attitudinal measures as a function of race of tester.

Investigated the effects of black and white testers on the performance of 46 black and 38 white high school students in a racially mixed testing situation. Tests given included the verbal and abstract reasoning scales of the differential aptitude tests, the marlow-crowne social desirability scale, a counterbalanced version of the edwards' social desirability scale, the traditional family ideology scale, and the american core culture scale. Findings indicate that intellectual performance was not affected. In the domains of racial attitudes and authority relationships within the family, race of the e had a significant selective effect which was comparable for both races. Consistent with previous research, a number of differences between black and white students were obtained. Implications of these findings with respect to blacks in authority positions are discussed. (26 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

IQ as a protective factor for subjects at high risk for antisocial behavior.

The current project compared the characteristics of four groups of men from a Danish birth cohort: (a) those at high risk for serious criminal involvement (with severely criminal fathers) who nevertheless succeeded in avoiding criminal behavior; (b) those at high risk who evidenced serious criminal behavior; (c) those at low risk (with noncriminal fathers) who did not evidence criminal behavior; and (d) those at low risk who nevertheless evidenced serious criminal behavior. We examined the possible role of high IQ (as tested by an abbreviated version of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale) in protecting high-risk men from criminal involvement. As hypothesized, the first group evidenced a mean IQ score that was significantly higher than that of the other risk groups. The results are interpreted in terms of the reinforcing effect of success in the school system. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A prospective replication of the protective effects of IQ in subjects at high risk for juvenile delinquency.

The purpose of the study was to test the replicability of a protective effect of high IQ against criminality. Support has been found in prior studies for the hypotheses that Ss at high risk would have an elevated risk of serious criminal involvement, that seriously criminal Ss would have a lower mean IQ score than noncriminal Ss, and that Ss at high risk who had not become involved in serious criminal behavior would have the highest IQs. This report tests these hypotheses in a prospective design. Subjects were 1,037 members of a longitudinal investigation of a New Zealand birth cohort. IQs were examined for male and female Ss who were divided into 4 groups formed on the basis of risk status at age 5 years and delinquency outcome at ages 13 and 15. Analyses were conducted with and without mild delinquents excluded from the nondelinquent groups. We found that male and female delinquents showed significantly lower IQ scores than nondelinquents. By varying S selection procedures, we also found that a very high IQ may help boys, even those at risk, to stay free of delinquency altogether. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Explaining the relation between IQ and delinquency: Class, race, test motivation, school failure, or self-control?

An inverse relation between IQ and delinquency has been well established, but the direction of effect remains to be specified. Differing explanatory accounts of the relation were empirically examined in the present study using data on 13-yr-old boys involved in a high-risk longitudinal study. Accounts that interpreted the relation as spurious or that posited that delinquency-related factors lead to low IQ scores received no support; findings were most consistent with the hypothesis that the direction of effect runs from low IQ to delinquency. The IQ–delinquency relation was robust after race, class, and observed test motivation were controlled statistically. Additionally, the effect of IQ was mediated by school performance for Black youth but not for White youth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Explaining race differences in IQ: The logic, the methodology, and the evidence.

Examines the claim that there are genetic racial differences in IQ, which has been based mainly on 2 grounds: the evidence for high within-race heritability for IQ and the failure of various environmental explanations to account completely for mean racial differences. It is argued that neither of these trends has direct relevance to the question of whether race differences in IQ have a mainly genetic or environmental origin. The assumption that these factors are relevant and that they support a genetic account is criticized as a "hereditarian fallacy." The choice between a genetic and an environmental account of race differences is most properly based on jointly genetic/environmental designs, which control for both genetic and environmental differences in a behavior genetic framework. Studies using environmental, genetic, and joint models are reviewed. Although evidence tends to support an environmental over a genetic account, it is not considered to be sufficient. Identification of what the relevant environmental differences may be would require turning away from the traditional heredity vs environment question and focusing on the detailed causal influences that affect the development of intellectual level generally. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Objections to MMPI items as a function of interpersonal trust, race, and sex.

Investigated objections to the MMPI items by 392 Black and White male and female college students who were classified as high or low trust according to their responses on the Rotter Trust Scale. Ss were instructed to consider the items in the context of applying for a job and to mark "O" by those items they found to be objectionable. Low-trust Ss objected to significantly more items than high-trust Ss. Race and sex did not influence number of objections. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Efficacy expectation changes as a function of hypothetical incentives in smokers.

Examined the role of hypothetical incentives in altering efficacy expectations (EEs) as a function of situational characteristics. 42 smokers (aged 20–47 yrs) were asked for efficacy estimates in refraining from cigarettes for gradually increasing long periods of time, and for estimates of their ability to shoot a basketball through a hoop from gradually increasing distances. Results indicate a different influence of incentives on the 2 tasks and support I. Kisrsch's (see record 1982-23701-001) conclusion that efficacy ratings have different meanings depending on task characteristics. Whereas the EEs for the basketball task were not malleable, EEs for smoking cessation were reliably modified by hypothetical incentives, suggesting that treatment professionals can modify patients' EEs for smoking cessation through the use of incentives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental hospital staff attitudes as a function of experience, discipline, and hospital atmosphere.

Asked 234 mental hospital employees in 5 disciplines to complete a staff attitude scale. 6 attitude factor scores were compared using a Discipline * Experience multivariate analysis of variance with education as covariate. Attitudes toward patient care were significantly different among 4 disciplines and across 6 different experience levels. A separate analysis yielded no sex differences. Using previously published means from 6 hospitals, plus data from the present sample, a multivariate Hospital * Discipline analysis was completed on 2,178 Ss. The 6 traditional hospitals differed significantly from a transitional hospital. Because of possible violations of assumptions, the last analysis requires further support. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patients' anxiety as a function of expectation and degree of initial interview ambiguity.

Each of 9 psychiatric residents administered 5 structured and 5 unstructured initial interviews to patients of an adult outpatient clinic. Patients' expectations about psychotherapy were obtained before the interviews. As predicted, when patients experienced interviews compatible with their expectations, they tended to rate their anxiety significantly lower than did patients experiencing interviews incompatible with their expectations. The kind of interview alone did not make a significant difference. Residents rated those interviews incompatible with the patients' expectations as most difficult. The implications for psychotherapy of these and related findings are discussed. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The scalability of behavioral expectation scales as a function of developmental criteria.

Conducted a scalogram analysis of the items on behavioral expectation scales (BES) to test the assumption that such scales are unidimensional and cumulative. The effects of varying developmental criteria on the scalability of BES were also examined. BES items developed for faculty evaluation were randomly ordered on a checklist and presented to 48 undergraduates. The reproducibility coefficients of the original scales ranged from .65 to .81. Analyses indicated that higher coefficients resulted from a free ordering of items or elimination of items on the basis of applying a more stringent standard deviation criterion. Reallocation percentage agreement did not affect reproducibility. Scalogram analysis is suggested as an addition to BES developmental procedures. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

IQ and delinquency: A direct test of the differential detection hypothesis.

A number of studies have reported that juvenile delinquency is negatively related to IQ scores. The IQ/delinquency relation has been questioned on the basis of the differential detection confound, which attributes the apparent relaton to biased likelihood of detection, and thus inclusion in research, of low-IQ delinquents. A direct test of the differential detection hypothesis was conducted by comparing the mean IQ scores of two groups of delinquent subjects from the same birth cohort. Group 1 had been detected in delinquent acts by police. Group 2 was not known to police, but was equivalent to Group 1 on amount and seriousness of self-reported delinquency. The two groups did not differ significantly on IQ, but both groups scored significantly below nondelinquent cohort members. Results were inconsistent with the prediction of group differences posed by the differential detection hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Explaining the relation between IQ and delinquency: Class, race, test motivation, school failure, or self-control?" Correction.

Reports an error in the original article by D. Lynam et al (Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1993[May], Vol 102[2], 187–296). The coefficient in Figure 1 representing the effect of impulsivity on delinquency for White youth was printed as –.27 but should read .27. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1993-29924-001.) An inverse relation between IQ and delinquency has been well established, but the direction of effect remains to be specified. Differing explanatory accounts of the relation were empirically examined in the present study using data on 13-yr-old boys involved in a high-risk longitudinal study. Accounts that interpreted the relation as spurious or that posited that delinquency-related factors lead to low IQ scores received no support; findings were most consistent with the hypothesis that the direction of effect runs from low IQ to delinquency. The IQ–delinquency relation was robust after race, class, and observed test motivation were controlled statistically. Additionally, the effect of IQ was mediated by school performance for Black youth but not for White youth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Heredity, environment, and race differences in IQ: A commentary on Rushton and Jensen (2005).

J. P. Rushton and A. R. Jensen (see record 2005-03637-001) ignore or misinterpret most of the evidence of greatest relevance to the question of heritability of the Black-White IQ gap. A dispassionate reading of the evidence on the association of IQ with degree of European ancestry for members of Black populations, convergence of Black and White IQ in recent years, alterability of Black IQ by intervention programs, and adoption studies lend no support to a hereditarian interpretation of the Black-White IQ gap. On the contrary, the evidence most relevant to the question indicates that the genetic contribution to the Black-White IQ gap is nil. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Failure to find differences in drinking behavior as a function of familial risk for alcoholism: A replication.

Groups of high-risk (alcoholic fathers), middle-risk (second-degree alcoholic relatives) and low-risk (no first- or second-degree alcoholic relatives) male college students were compared with respect to drinking behavior, sociodemographic variables, personality, cognitive functioning, and mental health and drug use problems in themselves and in family members. The groups differed significantly on only one of a number of sociodemographic variables. No significant group differences were revealed in drinking behavior, or alcohol-related symptoms or consequences. High-risk subjects reported significantly more childhood attentional and social problems than did low-risk subjects. No group differences were found with respect to other childhood problem behaviors, cognitive functioning, subject or family drug use, or mental health problems. The findings are discussed in terms of the questions they raise concerning the results of high-risk studies and the contribution of genetic factors to alcoholism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Studies in efficiency: Verbal conditioning as a function of degree of task centering. A replication.

The present study is an approximate replication of an experiment by Letchworth and Wishner (1962). Its substantive purpose was to test the effects on verbal conditioning of self- and other centered (SC and OC) instructions in interaction with 2 types of task orienting instructions. From the concept of efficiency it was predicted that there would be a significant interaction of the following form: SC Ss would have a relatively higher rate of conditioning than OC Ss under relaxed instructions, while the reverse would be true under problem instructions. Procedural changes from the previous study were incorporated in order to increase experimental control. A significant interaction supported the experimental hypothesis and duplicated the results of the previous study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Changes in locus of control as a function of encounter group experiences: A study and replication.

Investigated the effects of encounter group experience on locus of control. 2 phases are reported. In Phase 1, 39 graduate students were assigned to 3 experimental encounter groups led by supervised graduate students, and 1 no-treatment control group. In Phase 2 (replication), 44 equivalent Ss were assigned to 4 groups. The Rotter Internal-External Locus of Control scale was administered to each S before and after the encounter experience. Significant increases in internal locus of control occurred as a result of encounter group experience. These experiences are seen as a potent means for inducing cognitive behavioral change. Implications of the modification of generalized expectancies are noted and future studies considered. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Delay of gratification as a function of incentive preference and race of experimenter.

Offered 14 incentive items to 133 black and 85 white 7-12 yr olds. Each S could choose 1 of 4 "inexpensive" items ($.05-.08) to receive at the end of the school day on which the test was given, or 1 of 10 "expensive" items ($.25-.35) to receive 3 wks later. The black and the white Ss differed in their preferences for expensive incentive objects. No statistically reliable differences were found between the black and the white Ss in ability to delay gratification. Results are contrasted with those obtained by B. R. Strickland (see record 1972-24694-001). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Compulsivity as a moderator variable: A replication and extension.

Replicated and extended earlier studies which found that 2 indirect measures of compulsivity (the Strong Accountant scale and a ratio score of reading speed to vocabulary) moderated the correlations of other Strong interest scales with grade-point average (GPA) for male engineering freshmen—the correlations were higher for the less compulsive students. In the present study, the 2 compulsivity variables did not moderate the correlations of the Strong scales with freshman-year GPA for liberal arts students of either sex, although they did for men in the engineering program. The compulsivity variables were not significantly correlated, they did not moderate the same interest scales, and their joint use did not enhance the moderator effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Race, IQ, and rampant misrepresentations: A reply.

In L. E. Longstreth's (see record 1979-23197-001) critique of F. K. Trotman's study (see record 1978-06591-001), he attributes conclusions and interpretations to Trotman that indicate either a misunderstanding or misinterpretation on Longstreth's part or a failure in effective communication on Trotman's part. In any case, Trotman's response represents an attempt to clarify Longstreth's apparently cloudy view of the earlier Trotman work. J. L. Wolff (see record 1979-23222-001) suggested that experimenter bias operated to produce anomalies in Trotman's findings that despite similarity in socioeconomic standing, there was a difference in the intellectual home environments of Blacks and Whites, that IQ was related to home environment, and that home environment did as well as academic achievement in predicting IQ. On examination of Wolff's statements and reference citations, however, Trotman finds evidence of bias and irregularities in his critique. For example, Wolff misconstrues data, selectively either omits or includes reference citations, or statements out of context, and misrepresents previous investigations, suggesting a possibility of commentator bias. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cardiovascular and neurohumoral responses to behavioral challenge as a function of race and sex.

Cardiovascular and hormonal responses to a structured interview, an electronic video game, a cold pressor test, and exercise on a bicycle ergometer were assessed in 83 normotensive Black and White men and women (aged 25–44 yrs). Black Ss showed significantly greater diastolic blood pressure (DBP) responses than White Ss during the cold pressor test, which were not accounted for by an increase in plasma catecholamines. Exercise produced reliably greater systolic blood pressure (SBP) increases in Black women than in Black men or White women. Men showed significantly greater SBP and DBP changes than women during the video game. The pattern of physiological reactivity elicited by challenge may be related to the Ss' race and sex. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)