The Interpersonal Communication Inventory, a self-report instrument for assessing social skills, was given to undergraduate college students to determine its reliability. Following this administration, other small groups of undergraduates were asked to complete an attraction scale, the Interpersonal Communication Inventory, an assertiveness scale, and a sociometric questionnaire. Results confirmed the Inventory as a reliable instrument, but a stepwise multiple linear regression did not support the hypothesis that the Inventory was a useful predictor of sociometric choice. In addition, Pearson product moment correlations between the Inventory and an assertiveness scale did not confirm the prediction that the two instruments would measure behaviors from different response classes. Definite conclusions could not be stated due to lack of validity data for the Inventory and possible confounding variables.

During the past 80 years, similar descriptions of a hyperactive behavior pattern in children have appeared in medical, educational, and psychological literature. Hyperactivity has been conceptualized as a character disorder, an organic disorder, and, most recently, as a behavior disorder. In this study, hyperactivity was explained in interactional terms, using Rotter's social learning theory of personality. Little consideration has been given in research to the influence of an abnormally high activity level upon personality development during childhood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the general influence of negative interactions associated with hyperactivity upon the organization of four personality constructs: locus of control, self-esteem, trait anxiety, and state anxiety.

The Embree/Butler scoring system served as criterion for ascertaining brain dysfunction on the protocols of 100 subjects--50 had been diagnosed by health professionals as having brain dysfunction, and 50 had been diagnosed as having no brain dysfunction. In comparing the hospital's diagnoses with those of the Embree/Butler method, the data strongly supported the hypothesis that the Embree/Butler scoring system did effectively discriminate (chi square of 77.99 < .01) between those with organic brain syndrome (or cerebral dysfunction) and those with psychiatric classification. A point-biserial correlation was used to distinguish the relationship between diagnosis and the score. A cutoff score of above 14 produced the least false-negative or false-positive evaluations.

Although most research has focused on adults, studies indicate that children also experience detrimental psychological effects as the result of natural disasters. The purpose of the present study was to determine if the tornado which struck Wichita Falls,, Texas, on April 10, 1979, had any negative effects on the academic performance or social behavior of school children. Three groups of students were studied: (a) victims of the tornado who suffered a significant loss, (b) observers of the disaster who did not suffer a significant loss, and (c) newcomers who arrived after the disaster. Achievement test scores, grades, and attendance over a 4-year period were studied. The overall results do not indicate significant differences among the three groups.

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.

The present study examined whether a relationship exists between level of rigidity and prejudicial attitudes and whether prejudiced attitudes could be modified as a function of exposure to a competent black model. It was predicted that individuals with a high level of rigidity would display more racial prejudice than low-rigid individuals and that individuals with a low level of rigidity would demonstrate less prejudice than high-rigid individuals after exposure to a competent model. After exposure to a competent model, a significant main effect for rigidity was found which indicated that low-rigid individuals became less prejudiced than high-rigid individuals,

George Kelly has stated that persons place interpretations, or constructs, on what they perceive. Past research has indicated that subjects more meaningfully apply their own personal constructs to persons and situations than constructs supplied from other sources. This study attempted to confirm previous findings. Sixty-three university students used their own personal constructs, elicited from the Role Construct Repertory Test, and supplied instrumental-expressive role constructs to interpret and rate 12 actors portraying instrumental and expressive behaviors in six videotaped scenes. The purpose of this study is to compare the meaningfulness to subjects of stereotypic terms in a sex-role inventory to the meaningfulness of the subjects' own personal constructs when interpreting typical masculine- and feminine-typed behavior.