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A previous study on the underlying structure of the Wechsler intelligence test (WISC-R; [Wechsler, D. (1974). Manual WISC-R: Wechsler intelligence scale for children-Revised. New York: Psychological Corporation]), using smallest space analysis (SSA) [Guttman, L., and Levy, S. (1991). Two structural laws for intelligence tests. "Intelligence," 15, 79-103] had indicated a three-dimensional cylindrical solution. The first described level of abstract thinking (rule inferring, rule applying, rule following or new learning tasks), the second related to mode of representation (verbal, numeral, visual), while the third dimension related to output mode (oral, manual, or pencil and paper). In view of the appearance of the recent version of this test (WISC-IV; [Wechsler, D. (2003). Manual for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth edition. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation]), the purpose of the present study is to test Guttman's model of intelligence on the current version of the scale. Thus, the intercorrelation matrix of the WISC-IV subtests of the entire normative sample of 2200 children was submitted to SSA. This solution replicates Guttman and Levy three-dimensional cylindrical structure almost completely, and it offers further differentiation of the visual mode into geometric and pictorial modes and implies that the Block Design subscale relates to the "rule inferring" category. The Guttman model organization of the present solution provides an elegant description of the structure of intelligence and suggests the construction of new subscales for measuring different aspects of intelligence.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the contributions of motivation, personality, learning strategies, and scholastic aptitude to academic achievement in college students. One hundred and eighty six [...]

Presents a study of comprehension as a function of the stimulation-seeking motive in relation to the degree of structure involved in information presented in film. The study indicates possible differential-encoding or information processing strategies between individuals, both high and low in the stimulation-seeking motive. (Author/JEG)

Farley's arousal/sensation-seeking model of delinquency was tested in part on a sample of adult male institutionalized addicts. The important implications of the environment for this biological approach to delinquency were discussed, and research directions suggested. (Author)

Common items, items which appear on several scales on psychological tests, are investigated in this study. It is concluded that the common item problem is not a serious one in personality measurement. (Author/JKS)

A comparison of observed classroom behavior, tonic and phasic physiological arousal level, and task performance of 98 male and female first-grade children revealed sex differences in only 3 of 18 variables. Many assumed sex differences may be negligible and teachers' expectations may influence their perceptions. (SB)

Most psychological tests and inventories, particularly in personality and attitude measurement, contain common items. The present report specifically considered common-item contributions to test internal consistency reliability using extant data from the California Psychological Inventory. No negative contribution of item overlap was found. (Author)

Describes the stimulation needs of some hyperkinetic children which can be met within the classroom environment. Suggests school counselors can provide guidance while the child is on drug therapy and encourage a transition to other forms of remediation. Urges counselors to help the child and teacher recognize warning symptoms. (JAC)

Children in open and traditional classrooms were observed and tested on physiological and performance measures. The children were categorized into subgroups according to their arousal level. Analyses of variance revealed that performance of high-arousal children in open classrooms decreased over time in contrast to all other subgroups. (Author/AL)

Studied the medical fears of female and male college students. Significant differences were found between scores for males and females, with the latter showing substantially higher generalized and phobic fear scores. Females were most fearful of surgery and becoming mentally ill. Males were most fearful of dentists and surgery. (Author)

Summary This study investigated personality effects on cognitive task performance by experimental means. Ninety-six male and female college Ss were randomly assigned to either an "unstressed" or "stressed" individual administration of the revised Nufferno tests, followed by the administration of the Eysenck Personality Inventory. The data were analyzed by a series of least-squares analysis in factorial designs. Major findings were as follows: (a) extraverts performed significantly faster on problem-solving latency than introverts under the unstressed condition; (b) no main effect of neuroticism on problem-solving latency was obtained; (c) labile-extraverts were significantly faster than stable-introverts in the unstressed condition, and stable-introverts were significantly faster than labile-introverts in the stressed condition; (d) where accuracy and persistence were concerned, no significant personality sources of variance were identified; (e) a main effect of stress was found for all personality groups, with stressed performance being significantly faster, but less accurate than unstressed performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY It was hypothesized that the incidence of reminiscence over one week would be greater for color as opposed to black and white multimedia presentation. This hypothesis was tested in 52 undergraduate nursing students (50 female, two male, age 19-25 years), who were randomly assigned to a slide-tape presentation in either color or black and white followed by an immediate versus seven day retention (comprehension) measure. Results supported the prediction (p < .05), with greater incidence of reminiscence being obtained in the color over black/white presentation condition. The results may be contrasted with previous work showing little or no effect of color on such complex learning. It is argued that the present approach to color and media effects emphasizing arousal and information processing may be fruitful and might well be extended to individual difference analyses, including a proposal for the individualization of instruction through arousal X treatment interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the relationships among state and trait anxiety. cognitive style, and mathematics achievement. The Ss were 50 junior college students enrolled in a mathematics course. The results confirmed the hypothesis that high state anxiety would be associated with poor mathematics achievement; trait anxiety showed no significant relationship to achievement. The need to develop learning aids and strategies to counteract the possible debilitating effects of state anxiety in learning and mathematics assessment was discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interviews B.A.D. Taste, the oldest American psychologist. Perception of Taste on the domains of psychology; Contribution in the developing field of phenomenological retrospective longitudinal methodology; Views on the episodic and apocryphal memory of the psychologists.

Focuses on the plans for the reorganization of the Division of Educational Psychology in the U.S. Investigation on the consequences of the reorganization; Estimates of the size of the population for a Society for Educational Psychology; Opinions regarding the advantage of forming a Society for Educational Psychology.

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), as a measure of global personality characteristics, and the Tennessee Self Concept Scale (TSC), as a measure of self-actualization, were administered to volunteers in an experimental group consisting of recovering alcoholics and of individuals with general emotional problems participating in a three-month program of Transcendental Meditation, and to a control group from the same population. In addition a TSC for each S was completed by a "significant other" (OTSC) designated by the S. Experimental and control groups were not significantly different on any of the pretest measures, and at posttesting no significant differences between the two groups were found. Reasons for failing to find a significant change in global personality or self-actualization due to the practice of Transcendental Meditation, and cautions in conducting this type of research, were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It was predicted from a theoretical analysis of delinquency that adjudicated delinquents would be significantly greater in stimulation-seeking than nondelinquents matched on age, sex, race, and SES. Stimulation-seeking in 32 delinquent black adolescents and 32 nondelinquent black adolescents matched on age, sex, and SES was compared using the Sensation-Seeking Scale. In support of the theory, the delinquents were significantly higher in stimulation-seeking than the nondelinquents. Discussion centered on comparison with data for white adolescents and on the direction future tests of the theoretical analysis should take. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The characteristics of fears in the U.S. and Israeli female college students were studied in terms of the things feared, the intensity and extremity of fear ratings, and the generality of fearfulness across a wide range of stimuli. The study consisted of female undergraduate students at generally comparable public universities in Israel and the U.S. The former were Bar-Ilan University and Tel-Aviv University and the latter the University of Wisconsin. The students were primarily education majors in all universities. The two samples were matched, S by S, on age, and when possible on socioeconomic background. The mean age of the American sample was 22. 7 years, and the Israeli sample 22.8 years. The mean generalized and extreme fear scores, and SDs, for the American sample were as follows: generalized fear mean = 181.27, SD = 45.11; extreme fear mean 4.58, SD = 6.06. The comparable scores for the Israeli sample were as follows: generalized fear mean 197.12, SD 32.98; extreme fear mean = 6. 17, SD = 6. 10. The generalized fear means were compared by t test, yielding a t ratio of 2.18. The number of extreme fear responses were compared by t test, yielding a t ratio of 1.50. A chi square analysis of frequencies of extreme responses in the two samples was not significant.