This investigation was concerned with the goals parents set for their children, the child-rearing methods parents use to instill their goals in the child, and the behavioral and personality characteristics of the child. To measure these dimensions, participation was solicited from parents who had children enrolled in the North Texas State University Laboratory School.

The present investigation evaluated sport-related motivational climates by assessing personal and perceived parental goal orientations and perceived parental pressure in children and adolescents. Data were collected from 202 middle-class, racially diverse students, including 43 male and 50 female children aged 12 or below (M age = 10.6) and 51 male and 58 female adolescents aged 13 or above (M age = 14.7), who had participated in a variety of organized sports, and were enrolled in elementary, middle, and high schools of the Dallas (TX) Independent School District. Measures included personal and parental projected versions (mother's and father's) of the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ), the Sport Parental Pressure Scale (mother's and father's versions), and a background assessment.

Upper limb deficiencies in children may be the result of trauma, disease, or congenital problems. Although biomechanical losses are the primary problem associated with a limb deficiency, the loss of such an obvious body part has cosmetic and psychosocial implications as well. Fitting a child with a prosthesis typically is the treatment chosen by families. Presently, there are three types of prostheses available for pediatric amputees, including passive, cable-operated, and myoelectric arms, but the myoelectric appears to be the most popular choice of children and their families. However, there is growing concern among clinicians that, despite its advanced technological capabilities, the myoelectric prosthesis is chosen for aesthetic rather than functional reasons. It is difficult, then, to justify the expense of fitting a myoelectric prosthesis when a more inexpensive prosthesis, or none at all, would be a more appropriate prescription. The question of when to prescribe a myoelectric prosthesis for a pediatric patient remains one of the most controversial questions in the field of prosthetics today due to this cost/benefit issue. In this study, the researcher examined psychological factors that may influence whether or not a child will wear a prosthesis and how that prosthesis will be used. Thirty prosthetics patients …

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between a set of cofactors and severity of cognitive impairment, to determine if there were any factors which significantly predicted more severe neurocognitive deficits in persons with AIDS. Twenty-four male volunteers recruited from community groups and physician referrals participated. Subjects completed several self-report questionnaires eliciting information regarding demographics and risk factor variables, in addition to a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests. A severity of cognitive impairment summary score was computed for each subject, reflecting both the number of impaired tests and their distance in the impaired direction from normative data. Neither CD4 count, number of months since diagnosis of AIDS, number of AIDS-related illnesses, number of recent stressors, history of head injury/LOC, history of substance use, current or past psychiatric disorder, history of learning disability nor history of other medical illness were found to be significantly related to severity of cognitive impairment in this sample, after controlling for the effects of age, level of education, estimated premorbid IQ and mood status. However, no reliable conclusions could be drawn from this study because the small sample size resulted in an unacceptably low level of statistical power for the desired regression …

Review of previous research on cultural differences in pain experience and/or pain behavior revealed that cultural affiliation affects pain perception and response. Unfortunately, the many inconsistent findings in the literature on cultural differences in pain experience and behavior have made interpretations and comparisons of results problematic. These inconsistent findings could be attributed to variations in acculturation level among cultural groups. The purpose of this study was to investigate cultural differences in pain experience (assessed by McGill Pain Questionnaire, the Box Scale, the Headache Pain Drawing, and the Headache Questionnaire) and pain behavior (measured by determining medication use and interference of daily functioning due to headaches) among Mexican (n = 43), Mexican American (n = 36), and Anglo American (n = 50) female chronic headache pain sufferers. The contribution of acculturation to differences in pain experience and behavior among cultural groups was measured by the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans. The three cultural groups of women significantly differed on pain experience and pain behavior. Specifically, Mexican women experienced their headache pain more intensely, severely, and emotionally than Mexican American and Anglo American women. Furthermore, Mexican women were more willing to verbally express their pain than the other two groups. As …

It has been suggested that the use of standardized intelligence tests is biased against minorities. This study investigates the newly revised Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III in which Wechsler states that the new scale has eliminated biased items. Comparisons of the scores on the WISC-R and the WISC-III of a clinical population of sixteen African American and eighteen Caucasian males, ages ten to sixteen, revealed significant differences between the two groups on the WISC-III. The minority scores decreased predictably from the WISC-R to the WISC-III, but the Caucasian scores increased rather than decreasing. The findings of this study do not support the predictions and goals of revision as stated in the manual of the WISC-III.

Postoperative spinal patients were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions and were taught five adaptive movements by occupational therapists. The Control group received routine hospital occupational therapy; the Placebo group participated in an imagery relaxation task unrelated to the mental practice task of the Imagery group, which was shown line drawings of the adaptive movements under study, provided movement instructions, and asked to mentally practice each movement in a familiar, daily living situation. Thirty-five patients returned for follow-up, and a measure of outcome was obtained through the use of a quantified movement assessment instrument. Subjective ratings for anxiety, rumination, and imagery were made by the occupational therapists. An occupational motoric-symbolic rating scale was developed to assess the symbolic portion of the patient's job experience. Statistical procedures including chi square, analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation were performed. Results were in the predicted direction although statistical significance was not achieved. Possible explanations for the obtained results were discussed.

The main objective of this investigation was to study the influence of sex on extreme response style as measured by a semantic differential. The previous studies led to a general hypothesis formulated as follows. Normal males and females differ from each other with regard to their mean extreme response style scores with females having the greater extreme response scores on the semantic differential.

Research points out the many complex problems of the disadvantaged child. The purpose of establishing many preschool programs throughout this country has been to seek the most effective ways of educating the culturally deprived and to utilize the standardized measurements to assess various programs. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the intellectual functioning and sensory-motor abilities of the disadvantaged child at the preschool level, to determine his growth in these areas during his participation in the program, and to determine whether or not four different teaching models are instrumental in bringing about intellectual and sensory-motor improvements.

Rational-emotive therapy was proposed as a therapeutic treatment approach to romantic jealousy. It was hypothesized that rational-emotive therapy would be significantly more effective than an attention placebo group in the reduction of romantic jealousy with undergraduate single female subjects. It was also hypothesized that reductions in romantic jealousy would be sustained to a significantly greater extent in the rational-emotive therapy group rather than the attention placebo group on a follow-up evaluation after a 2-month period. Advertisements soliciting single females who were romantically jealous and who felt that this was a problem in their love relationships yielded 18 female subjects from the North Texas State University campus. The pre-treatment, post-treatment, and follow-up assessments consisted of two self-report questionnaires. The pre- and post-treatment also included a physiological measurement (heart rate) while the subject was imagining a jealousy scene. Both of the self-report questionnaires (Sexual Jealousy, Irrational Beliefs) were given to a significant other (such as a boyfriend or lover). Results support the hypothesis that rational-emotive therapy is more effective than an equally credible placebo in the reduction of female romantic jealousy.

This investigation is concerned with the problem of determining the variation of test achievement obtained by students enrolled on a MWF and a TTh schedule. The purpose of the study is to determine if either schedule is superior. The Ss were students enrolled in an Introductory Psychology course at North Texas State University. A t test was administered to the experimental data. The experimental hypothesis of an expected higher test achievement by students enrolled in the TTh schedule was rejected. It was concluded that test achievement for this study was not affected by scheduling.