bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Old Employee Suggestion Box
Authors: Carnevale David G. , Sharp Brett S.
Published: March 2007

Suggestion systems are pervasive in both public and private organizations. Too often viewed as a simple suggestion box, suggestion plans can actually be major contributors to improving organizational productivity. What are employee suggestion programs like in government? What cost-saving benefits are incurred? This article provides fresh information on these questions and introduces new data on the relationship between employee participation in awards programs and dollars saved.
The Legal Status of Affirmative Action
Authors: Riccucci Norma M.
Published: March 2007

One of the most controversial areas of personnel management m the latter part of the 20th century has been affirmative action. In particular, the legal status of affirmative action is currently under intense attack. This article examines the legal status of affirmative action, mainly from the perspective of the rulings of the U S Supreme Court Through an examination of past and recent legal developments, the article offers assessments of what the future is likely to hold for affirmative action
A Midterm Case Study Assessment of Skill-Based Pay in the Virginia Department of Transportation
Authors: Shareef Reginald
Published: March 2007

Interest m skilled-based pay by public administration theorists and practitioners is increasing as this innovative pay system is viewed as a viable means of enhancing employee skills and work motivation. Pioneered in private organizations, Ledford (1995) and others have suggested that skill-based pay design and implementation determinants are now fairly settled This case study compares the outcomes of a skill-based pay intervention in a public agency with several of the determinants that are predicted to ensure successful implementation and diffusion. The results of the study indicate all five of the "principles" measured were utilized in this fairly successful skill-based pay intervention. However, the results also indicate that skill-based pay is only congruent with a participative work culture, and that this is probably the strongest variable in determining skill-based pay success.
Common Ground for Integrating Planning Theory and GIS Topics
Authors: Esnard Ann-Margaret , MacDougall E. Bruce
Published: March 2007

The basic premise of this article is that planning theory and geographic information systems (GIS) course topics should be integrated in the planning curriculum. The increased use of GIS technology for informing planning and public policy decision making is discussed in the first section, followed by a summary of related technical and theoretical disparities. The concept of links is then introduced and used in the final section to demonstrate the contexts in which common themes can be identified for integrating planning norms (ethics, values, communicative rationality, planning process, and context) and GIS methods (data creation, analysis, and presentation).
Local Government Land Use Policy Responses to the Century Freeway/Transitway
Authors: DiMento Joseph F. , Ryan Sherry , van Hengel Drusilla
Published: March 2007

Change in local land use policy is generally a necessary precursor to future land use changes. Using the recently opened Century Freeway/ Transitway (I-105) in Los Angeles County as a case study, this article examines the land use policy responses of local jurisdictions traversed by a new transportation facility. Focusing on this local policy context, we analyze former and current general plans and zoning ordinances from the 13 jurisdictions near the freeway! transitway and we interview city managers or directors of community development from each jurisdiction. Changes have most often been to foster commercial and mixed use designation. However, our analysis of zoning changes in the corridor area also indicates that some jurisdictions are attempting to deintensify land uses, and this dynamic is even more evident when a wider analysis area of the affected jurisdictions is employed (one mile band). We offer several reasons for these results and comment on relevance to an understanding of accessibility.
Genesis of a Western European Spatial Policy?
Authors: Albrechts Louis
Published: March 2007

Economic and social cohesion, sustainable development, and balanced competitiveness of the European territory are the arguments traditionally used in favor of a European spatial policy. This article focuses on documents and projects designed to lead toward an overall European Union spatial policy. It provides an overview of the content and the leading principles and indicates strengths and weaknesses of the emerging spatial policy as reflected in the documents Europe 2000, Europe 2000+, and the European Spatial Development Perspective. A European planning activity is considered to be acceptable to the extent that it is complementary, empowers the local level, and coordinates the EU spatial activities.
Writing the Planner
Authors: Beauregard Robert A.
Published: March 2007

Planning theories are theories of action. Consequently, theorists are compelled not just to specify the activities that comprise practice, but also to write the planner who will carry out these actions. That is, they must address the identity of their planners. This paper explores Leonie Sandercock's postmodernism and John Forester's communicative action in search of how identity is written and integrated into their respective arguments. The search leads to a reconsideration of three dilemmas in planning theory: the tension between redistribution and recognition, the relative importance of consciousness and consequence, and the interaction of interpersonal relations and institutional structures.
Revisiting the Scarface Legacy: The Victim/Offender Relationship and Mariel Homicides in Miami
Authors: Martinez Ramiro , Lee Matthew T. , Nielsen Amie L.
Published: March 2007

By incorporating the direct impact of ethnicity and immigration on crime, this article isthe first to use multivariate methods to compare and contrast Mariel to Afro-Caribbean, African American, and non-Mariel Latino homicides in a predominately immigrant city. In the current study, Mariels were overinvolved in acquaintance homicides, but little evidence surfaced that they were disproportionately involved in stranger homicides or were unusually violent, both dominant themes in popular stereotypes. In fact, an analysis of homicide event narratives verified the mundane nature of Mariel homicides, implying that the legacy of Scarface is not the Mariel killer but the Mariel Myth.
Discriminant Analysis of Behavioral Symptomatology in Hospitalized Hispanic and Anglo Patients
Authors: Dolgin Daniel L. , Grosser Rene C. , Cruz-Martinez Salvador , Garcia Ignacio
Published: March 2007

The objective of the present study was to assess differences in the problematic behavior of Hispanic and Anglo hospitalized inpatients. Case records were randomly selected from the files of the Colorado State Hospital for a final sample of 50 Hispanic and 50 Anglo patients. A list of 62 problem variables were constructed from problem lists contained within each individual case record. Hispanic patients were found to have significantly more problems than Anglo patients. A stepwise discriminant analysis was performed on the two ethnic groups using the 62 problem variables as predictors. The ethnic groups were the dependent variables and problems were the independent variables. This resulted in the successful separation of groups by problem variable. The results indicate that socioeconomic conditions alone are insufficient in explaining the prevalence of mental illness within the Hispanic inpatient population. The results also showed a pattern of problematic characteristics that Hispanic patients appear to share. The nature of these difficulties involve communication problems and resistance to the traditional hospital milieu. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Mass Media Orientations among Hispanic Youth
Authors: Greenberg Bradley S. , Heeter Carrie
Published: March 2007

This five-city survey of southwestern Mexican American youth focuses on media behaviors, functions and preferences, comparing media orientations of Hispanic boys and girls in the 5th and 10th grades. Both Spanish and English-language media orientations are assessed. Access to media, media use, and media content preferences for television, radio, records and tapes, newspapers, magazines, comic books and movies are detailed, as well as television and newspaper functions. The pattern of findings among these youngsters seems to parallel major external findings regarding boy-girl and age group mass media experience comparisons. The amount of media experience cumulates to about nine hours each school day Spanish-language media are little liked and seldom used.
Relationships among Acculturation, Sociodemographic Characteristics and Social Supports in Mexican American Adults
Authors: Griffith James , Villavicencio Sandra
Published: March 2007

The relationship of acculturation and sociodemographic characteristics to social supports was studied in a representative sample of adult Mexican Americans. The relationship between network characteristics and personal distress was also examined for subgroups who had varied in acculturation. Mexican American adults (N=259) living in one of three suburban communities in Southern California were selected by way of a multistage, random-digit telephone sampling method. Respondents named those persons on whom they depended when personal problems arose, and provided responses to a standardized measure of psychological distress. More acculturated (English-speaking and later-generation) Mexican Americans reported larger support networks, more contact with network members, more reciprocal helping, and more often cited primary kin, friends, and neighbors as support providers than did less acculturated (Spanish-speaking-only and earlier-generation) Mexican Americans. Variations in sociodemography primarily accounted for the observed differences in social supports across the acculturated subgroups. Increased number of friends and neighbors in networks was accompanied by more personal distress in only the Spanish-speaking subgroup. Results are discussed in relation to findings of previous studies investigating social supports among Mexican Americans.
Reinforcing Children's Effort: A Comparison of Immigrant, Native-Born Mexican American and Euro-American Mothers
Authors: Chavez John M. , Buriel Raymond
Published: March 2007

The present study examined the role of success, failure, and effort in the reinforcement practices of immigrant, and nativeborn Mexican American mothers and compared them to a baseline group of middle-class Euro-American mothers. Mothers viewed a videotape depicting a seven-year-old male confederate either succeeding or failing on a novel task while displaying varying amounts of effort. Mothers also completed a subjective rating scale in order to determine the effectiveness of the effort variable. Overall, contingent reinforcement was observed among all mothers. However, under conditions of high effort-failure, native born-Mexican American and Euro-American mothers gave more reinforcements than immigrant Mexican American mothers. Under conditions of low effort-success, immigrant Mexican American and Euro-American mothers gave more reinforcements than native-born Mexican American mothers. Results are discussed in terms of selective immigration of Mexican-born mothers and acculturation to United States society.
Alternative Definitions of Hispanics: Consequences in a Alcohol Survey
Authors: Caetano Raul
Published: March 2007

A nationwide study of drinking patterns and alcohol problems among Hispanics provided the opportunity for examining the impact of different definitions of Hispanic ethnicity on socio-demographic characteristics, drinking patterns and rate of alcohol problems among respondents. Subjects were selected at random and comprise a household sample of the U.S. Hispanic population as defined by family of origin. A total of 1453 individuals were interviewed, yielding a 72% response rate. Data were collected in face to face interviews conducted in the respondent's home. The four definitions of Hispanic ethnicity considered are ethnicity of family of origin, national group, country most ancestors came from and birthplace. Major differences were found between the sample as defined by birthplace and the other three groups. Hispanics in this group are more socially disadvantaged, having fewer people in the upper educational and income groups. The description of drinking patterns is also affected by definitions, with the sample defined by birthplace drinking less that the other groups. The frequency of self-reported intoxication, the mean number of drinks consumed per sitting and the rate of alcohol problems are not affected by changes in the definitions.
Scale for the Measurement of Attitude Toward Chicanos: A Research Note
Authors: Carranza E. Lou
Published: March 2007

This article describes the construction of a scale for the measurement of attitude toward Chicanos using the method of equal-appearing intervals as outlined by Thurstone and Chave. The description includes the methods and procedures used for the collection of statements. The procedures used to calculate the median, that is, the scale value (S value) and the interquartile range (Q value) for each of the items are delineated. Both the S values and the Q values constitute the criteria for the final selection of the items for two forms of the scale. The results are set forth together with the methods for scoring the scale. Finally, the result of equivalent-forms method used to estimate the reliability of the scale is reported.
Hispanic Masculinity: Myth or Psychological Schema Meriting Clinical Consideration
Authors: Casas J. Manuel , Wagenheim Burl R. , Banchero Robert , Mendoza-Romero Juan
Published: March 2007

Given the significant upsurge in research on White males of European origin that documents a relationship between the construct of male gender identity (i.e., machismo) and physical and mental health, there is a clinical need to study and understand this construct and its relationship to health across diverse racial/ethnic groups, including, but not limited to, Hispanics. To help develop such understanding, this article first directs attention to a psychologically based gender schema theory that in the past 2 decades has received quite a bit of attention from researchers studying gender identity within the White majority populace. In focusing on this theory, the intention is to demonstrate how it can be used to provide a solid theoretical basefor clinical work with men whose social, mental, and physical well-being is negatively affected by their staunch adherence to a rigid traditional male gender identity. Specific recommendations that both researchers and clinical practitioners might take into consideration vis-a-vis this construct in their respective work are presented.
English and Spanish Versions of a Memory Test: Word-Length Effects Versus Spoken-Duration Effects
Authors: Miranda Jose P. , Valencia Richard R.
Published: March 2007

This article offers a methodological strategy to examine cross-language equivalence for tests measuring short-term memory (STM). The test used is the Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test (English version, RAVLT-E) and a Spanish translation (RAVLT-S). Two units of analysis to examine comparability were used: "word-length" (as measured by syllable count) and "spoken duration." The participants were bilingual, Mexican American, male, college students. Although the word-length was considerably shorter in English than Spanish, the participants'performance on the RA VLT-Eand the RAVLT-S was not significantly different. Spoken duration quantification was not different between the two test versions. STM researchers and test developers need to be cautious about concluding, a priori, that translated Spanish STM tests (due to greater syllabic count) are inherently inequivalent to their English versions. It is recommended that both units of analysis-word length and spoken duration-be examined in such research.
Everyday Instruction: A Comparison of Mexican American and Anglo Mothers and Their Preschool Children
Authors: Moreno Robert P.
Published: March 2007

Building on previous research, this study examines the teaching behaviors of Mexican American and Anglo mothers using an "everyday task." The study focuses on two questions: What are the differences in the teaching behaviors of Mexican American and Anglo mothers? How do these maternal teaching behaviors relate to their children's perfonnance? The sample consisted of 36 mother-child dyads, 17 Mexican American and 19Anglo American. The children 's mean ages were 53.4 months (SD = 6.8 months). The results of the study demonstrate that not only are Mexican American mothers effective instructors of their children, their teaching behavior differs significantly from theirAnglo counterparts. Specifically, contrary to previous research, Mexican American mothers were found to use less "controlling" and nonverbal teaching behaviors (i.e., commands, corrections, physical control, and modeling) when instructing their children. The two groups also differed with respect to the association between maternal teaching behaviors and children's performance.
Substance Abuse Treatment: Critical Issues and Challenges in the Treatment of Latina Women
Authors: Amaro Hortensia , Nieves Rita , Johannes Sergut Wolde , Labault Cabeza Nirzka M.
Published: March 2007

This article presents data on the profile and history of childhood abuse from a study of 66 Latinas enrolled in a residential substance abuse treatment program. Data were gathered through interviews conducted at program entry. A significant majority reported a childhood history of abuse (80%) and past year diagnosis of mental health problems (76%) and health (68%) problems. Compared to those with no reported history of childhood abuse, women with a history of abuse were more likely to be predominantly Spanish speakers (p = .01), report significantly higher levels of health problems (p = .01), have had children removed from their custody (p = .008), and drop out in the early stages of treatment (p = .01). These findings have important implications for the course of treatment, how history of abuse is handled in residential treatment, and support services needed by clients. The authors discuss challenges and approaches to providing needed services.
Mexican American Children’s Ethnic Identity, Understanding of Ethnic Prejudice, and Parental Ethnic Socialization
Authors: Quintana Stephen M. , Vera Elizabeth M.
Published: March 2007

Mexican American children in Grades 2 (n = 22) and 6 (n = 25) were interviewed about their understanding of ethnic prejudice and were administered two indices of ethnic identity (ethnic knowledge and ethnic behavior). Most of the children (n = 19) were third generation or later (no parent or grandparent born in Mexico), but 11 had at least one parent born in Mexico. Parents of the children were administered acculturation and ethnic socialization measures. Study results suggested that (a) parental ethnic socialization about ethnic discrimination was associated with children’s development of ethnic knowledge, (b) low levels of parental acculturation to Anglo norms were associated with children performing ethnic behaviors, and (c) children’s advanced understanding of ethnic prejudice was associated with high levels of ethnic knowledge and higher grade levels. These results support and extend Bernal, Knight, Garza, Ocampo, and Cota’s multifaceted model of ethnic identity: One aspect of ethnic identity (i.e., ethnic knowledge) was predictive of children’s understanding of ethnic prejudice, whereas another index (i.e., ethnic behavior) was not. Moreover, this study’s results support Quintana and Vera’s model of children’s developmental understanding of ethnic prejudice. This study suggests that children’s understanding of ethnic prejudice represents an important aspect of the development of Mexican American children.
Documenting Improvement in College Writing
Authors: HASWELL RICHARD H.
Published: March 2007

This investigation sought normative longitudinal change in student writing during college. It used a random sample of students (N= 64), each of whom had produced essays at two points in their undergraduate careers, matriculation and junior year. Measures were writing features showing undergraduate change toward competent, working-world performance. From a principal-components factoring of variables used in a previous study, nine measures were selected as good representatives of nine factors—factors of independent and bound ideas, idea elaboration and substantiation, local cohesion, establishment of logical boundaries, free modification, fluency, and vocabulary. When applied to the 1st-year and junior-year writing, eight of the nine measures, including a holistic rating, recorded statistically significant change, all in the direction of workplace performance. Directions for further research are discussed.
Cognitive Questions from Discourse Analysis
Authors: MATSUHASHI ANN , QUINN KAREN
Published: March 2007

This article demonstrates the potential of discourse analysis for exploring cognitive processes that occur during writing. Discourse analytic studies and text comprehension studies are reviewed for their contribution to a cognitive process view of writing. Research is reported which combines discourse analysis with on-line pause data to determine how semantic propositions reflect sentence-level planning patterns. Results indicate that decisions regarding predicate relationships are central to sentence production. Some implications for a process model of writing are suggested.
Testing Claims for On-Line Conferences
Authors: SELFE CYNTHIA L. , MEYER PAUL R.
Published: March 2007

On-line computer conferences have been of increasing interest to teachers of composition who hope to provide alternative forums for student-centered, collaborative writing that involve all members of their classes in active learning. Some expect them to provide sites for discourse that are more egalitarian and less constrained by power differentials based on gender and status than are face-to-face discussions. These expectations, however, are largely unsupported by systematic research. The article describes an exploratory study of gender and power relationships on Megabyte University, one particular on-line conference. While the results of the study are not definitive, they do suggest that gender and power are present to some extent even in on-line conferences. During the two 20-day periods studied, men and high-profile members of the community dominated conference communication. Neither this conference domination nor the communication styles of participants were affected by giving participants the option of using pseudonyms.
Wearing Suits to Class
Authors: FREEDMAN AVIVA , ADAM CHRISTINE , SMART GRAHAM
Published: March 2007

Using the theoretical perspective offered by recent genre studies, this study compares student and professional discourse within the same field through a set of case studies written for a third-year course in financial analysis—writing that was conceived and designed by the instructor to simulate workplace discourse. Observational and textual analyses revealed the radically distinct social action undertaken in this student writing as compared to related workplace discourse, despite the simulation. Social motives, exigent rhetorical contexts, social roles, and reading practices were all distinct in ways that profoundly affected both discourse processes and products. At the same time, certain commonalities were apparent in the student and workplace writing. These shared features point to ways in which student writing enables and enacts entry into sociocultural communities.
Making Sense of My Own Ideas
Authors: GREENE STUART
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study is to trace the emergence of authorship in a beginning college writing classroom through two case examples. Three primary questions motivate this study of authorship: (a) What were students' interpretations of writing an essay based on sources? (b) How did these students organize their essays? and (c) What strategies did they use to advance their own ideas? An additional question focused on the instructional context of the course. In particular, how did the instructor represent the task of writing an essay based on different sources of information and the process of writing in the classroom? To answer these questions, each class was audiotaped during a 15-week semester and field notes were taken. Retrospective protocols and cued questions were used in order to understand students' evolving interpretations of the task they were given. The results show that although the instructor tried to foster a sense of engagement and commitment through reading, writing, and talking, the technical difficulty of the task, students' perceptions of their peers' interests, and a legacy of schooling and culture were equally important concerns that shaped the decisions made in writing. Implications for developing a theory of authorship are discussed as well as strategies for teaching.
Situated, Social, Active
Authors: CHAPMAN MARILYN L.
Published: March 2007

The author explores new conceptions of genre and genre learning: learning genres, learning through genres, and learning about genres. Drawing on the work of Bahktin, she argues that reconceptualizing genres as situated, social, and active, rather than focusing on formal features, can extend and enrich process approaches to writing and enhance learning in the elementary classroom.
Selected Standardized Noncognitive Measures and Their Utility for the Disadvantaged
Authors: Moore Allen B.
Published: March 2007

During the course of a pilot study designed to determine the effect of basic education instruction on the attitudes of disadvan taged adults, problems were experienced in the use of standardized noncognitive measures. This paper outlines some of the problems of the reliability of these standardized instruments and makes recommendations about their utility. First, there are few standard ized noncognitive measures available for this population, and second, the standardized measures that were used in the study appear to have limited utility for investigating the effects of basic education on disadvantaged adults.
An Interpretive Review of Social Science Research On Behaving-Valuing Patterns of Low Status People
Authors: Boggs David L.
Published: March 2007

This study extracts from scholarly studies of behaviors of low- status Americans a theory-based perspective for interpreting their behaving-valuing patterns. Valuing is defined, from the point of view of the valuing subject, as an activity tied to satisfaction of needs and assuagement of desires. Kreiberg's hypothesis that be haviors and values can be modified to the extent that they are serially independent, non-central to self-concept, monitored by peers, and dependent upon external circumstances was found to be particularly useful in accounting for the malleability of conven tional behaviors and values and the formation of new adaptive problem solving ones among low status people. Implications for the purposes of adult basic education are specified.
Evaluating Educative Temporary Systems
Authors: Dickinson Gary , Lamoureux Marvin E.
Published: March 2007

The framework of temporary systems theory presented by Miles was used as a basis for formulating theoretical units and propositions pertaining to the outcomes of intensive adult educa tion programs. Empirical indicators and research hypotheses were then developed and applied in the 1972 residential program of the Labour College of Canada. Forty-six participants completed three research instruments administered upon entry, at exit, and six months following termination of the program. The criterion vari able of change in the amount of participation in selected activities showed a mixed pattern of relationships with nine predictor vari ables when correlation coefficients were computed. Multiple re gression analysis indicated that 49 percent of the variation on the criterion variable was accounted for by six of the predictor vari ables. Thus, the Labour College of Canada appeared to be a complex educative temporary system whose outcomes could not be predicted using simple hypotheses. More complex models appear necessary in order to explain and evaluate the outcomes of educa tive temporary systems in adult education.
The Concept of Educational Need: an Analysis of Selected Literature
Authors: Monette Maurice L.
Published: March 2007

This study explores the concept of need in adult education literature in view of assessing its usefulness for practitioners and clarifying the issues which remain to be debated by researchers and practitioners alike. Several major uses of the term need are high lighted and McKinley's classification of diagnostic models sum marized. The following key issues are raised and discussed: whether need refers properly to both individuals and systems; who can best perceive need; the problem of shifting needs; and the critical relationship between needs and the operational philosophy of an institution. It is concluded that need assessment literature stresses technological at the expense of philosophical and normative considerations; that need assessment based solely on felt needs or on prescriptive needs is generally ineffective; and that need assess ment procedure generally favors adjustment and not education for transformation.
Adult Basic Education in Ohio: a Program Impact Evaluation
Authors: Boggs David L. , Buss Terry F. , Yarnell Steven M.
Published: March 2007

Two independent telephone surveys were conducted to assess the benefits which have accrued to former ABE students since their attendance. A sample of 351 former students from 1973-1974 and one of 1536 persons eligible for ABE who had never enrolled were selected through separate multistage designs and constituted a treatment and a control group respectively. Interviews were completed between April and July, 1977. The study revealed significant impact for former ABE students on measures of social involvement, employment and educational contin uance. However in the areas of parent/school relationships, voting, and home ownership results more often favored the control group. The limitations of a telephone study of ABE students are discussed. Recommendations for building alternative, comprehensive, complex methodologies to assess program impact are provided.
Effects of Fees On Clientele Characteristics and Participation in Adult Education
Authors: Boshier Roger , Baker Gary
Published: March 2007

Fifty-nine adult education courses were randomly assigned to a fee and non-fee condition to establish the extent to which fee and non-fee courses attract different clientele. Seven hundred and twenty-one participants completed the Education Participation Scale and a questionnaire eliciting social and demographic data. Nearly 70 per cent of the participants enrolled in the non- fee courses. Participants were motivated by E.P.S. factors cognitive interest and escape stimula tion. The social, demographic and motivational profile of non-fee payers was similar to that of the fee-payers. In pursuit of variable configurations that explain fee-status (paying or not paying) a multi-variate AID3 analysis was run. With fee-status as the dependent variable the independent variables accounted for 35 per cent of the variance. It was concluded that mere removal of fees from leisure-centered adult education courses does not result in the attraction of participants who are significantly different from the middle-class participants traditionally attracted to such courses. The results are discussed within the framework of Miller's force-field analysis and Boshier's congruence model.
Assessment in Adult Basic Education: a Comparison of the Apl and Ged Tests
Authors: Cervero Ronald M.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was to determine how the approach to assessing outcomes in ABE exemplified by the Adult Performance Level (APL) Survey compares with the most widely used approach exemplified by the General Educational Development (GED) test. The APL Survey was administered to 269 adults at the time they were taking the new forms of the GED test. It was found that there is a high positive relationship between total scores on the APL Survey and the GED test (r = .81, p < .00001). Factor analyses of scores on the two tests suggest that one mental trait, reading ability, significantly affects performance on both tests. It was concluded that these results from the factor analyses account for the high positive relationship between scores on the APL and GED tests.
Adolescent Peer Influence and Differential School Performance
Authors: Delgado-Gaitan Concha
Published: March 2007

Peer influence on student performance in school is the focus of this paper. The ethonographic study was conducted with high school dropouts and non-dropouts in a Colorado community. The contextual interactive model is used to explain the peer membership and influence process. One of the tenets of this model, supported by the findings, posits that peer group organization is interrelated with other student social networks including the family and school interactions. This multi-level approach to peer group influence examines the students' school performance from the students', parents' and teachers' perspective. Although the issue of dropouts and peer group influence have been studied widely, there is little research on how peers influence students' decisions regarding school.
Ten-Year Trends in At-Risk Behaviors
Authors: Benson Peter L. , Donahue Michael J.
Published: March 2007

This study investigated at-risk behaviors among Black and White adolescents using data from a nationally representative sample of United States high school seniors that permits examination of cohort, gender, and race effects. Designed both to describe trends in at-risk behaviors and to examine the strength and stability of a 10-variable regression model, this study found that (a) Black high school seniors reportedfewer at-risk behaviors than did White seniors, (b) Black girls consistently reported fewer at-risk behaviors than did other race/gender groups, (c) the 10-variable model lost predictive power between 1976 and 1985, and (d) the number of nights per week that seniors went out 'forfun and recreation, "their religiousness, and their college plans had the greatest predictive power for at-risk behaviors.
Sexual Abuse Correlates
Authors: Harrison Patricia A. , Hoffmann Norman G. , Edwall Glenace E.
Published: March 2007

A history of sexual abuse was examined for its relationship to signs ofpsychosocial dysfunction among an aggregated adolescent chemical dependency treatment sample. Chemical Abuse Treatment Outcome Registries (CATOR) collected and analyzed data on adolescents admitted to nine private treatment centers from 1984 to 1986; 210 self-reported female victims were compared with 234 nonvictims, 81 male victims with 890 nonvictims. Both male and female victims used a wider variety of drugs than did nonvictims and more used alcohol and drugs to self-medicate. More victims were troubled by nervousness, sleep problems, sexual problems, and suicidal thoughts. Twice as many victims as nonvictims had attempted suicide during the previous year. More victims were arrested at a young age, and more had suffered serious legal consequences. These findings have important implications for the evaluation and treatment of adolescents in clinical and correctional settings, as well as for rethinking priorities and strategies for prevention of substance abuse among the young.
Perceptions of Intrapsychic and Extrapsychic Functioning as Bases of Adolescent Ego Identity Statuses
Authors: Papini Dennis R. , Micka Jill C. , Barnett Jawanda K.
Published: March 2007

A total of 178 subjects participated in a study designed to assess whether adolescent perceptions of intrapsychic and extrapsychic functioning could be used to discriminate between pure identity statuses. Intrapsychic functioning was dimensionalized to include the degree of self-conscious reasoning, and the quality of the separation-individuation process of adolescence. Extrapsychic functioning was dimensionalized in terms of family coping, family cohesion, and openness of parent-adolescent communication patterns. The stepwise discriminant analysis yielded two discriminant functions which indicated that the adolescent's perceptions of intrapsychic and extrapsychic functioning significantly discriminated between the identity statuses. The classification results reveal that identity achieved and diffused adolescents were most accurately identified based on the discriminant functions. The discussion addresses the relevance of these findings to the model of adolescent psychosocial development advanced by Grotevant and Cooper.
Current Theoretical Perspectives on Adolescent Pregnancy and Childbearing in the United States
Authors: Caldas Stephen J.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this article is to synthesize and place in perspective contemporary theories and explanations of the high rates of adolescent pregnancy and childbearing in the United States. The study examined the strengths and weaknesses of the more prominent explanations of adolescent pregnancy and childbearing in light of current research. The success of health, school, and government programs designed to deal with adolescentpregnancy is in largepart contingent on the theoretical assumptions on which these programs are based. This article casts doubt on the hypothesis that the lack of reproductive information is in and of itself an important determinant of adolescent pregnancy in the United States. Many otherfactors are discussed that intervene to negate the effect of reproductive knowledge alone as a deterrent to adolescent pregnancy and childbearing. Suggestions for an integrative research agenda, as well as educational and health strategies focusing on adolescent pregnancy and childbearing are proposed.
It’s Not Academic, You’re in the Army Now
Authors: Wintre Maxine Gallander , Ben-Knaz Revital
Published: March 2007

The presumed efficacy of authoritative parenting, supported by a consensus in previous research conducted in authoritative institutions, is tested empirically by investigating the transition to a more authoritarian environment—the Israeli army. Employing a model developed to investigate the transition to university, the present study examines how perceptions of parents’rearing styles and aspects of current relationships with parents affect adjustment to the army as measured by psychological well-being variables, as well as scores on the four facets of the Soldiers’Adaptation to the Army Scale (adapted from the Students’Adaptation to College Scale). A group of 144 Israeli male soldiers was tested at the beginning and end of 3 months of basic training. The results demonstrated that authoritatively reared children were at a disadvantage with regard to successful adjustment to the army. These soldiers were more depressed, experienced greater stress, and had lower self-esteem when compared with soldiers from authoritarian and permissive backgrounds. The results cast doubt on the generalized goodness of authoritative parenting, and instead suggest attention to dynamic relationships between person-related variables and the environmental context.
Racial/Ethnic Identity, Congruence with the Social Context, and the Transition to High School
Authors: French Sabine Elizabeth , Seidman Edward , Allen LaRue , Aber J. Lawrence
Published: March 2007

The transition to high school may serve as a race/ethnicity consciousness-raising experience that stimulates the development of one’s racial/ethnic identity depending on newcomers’ racial/ethnic congruence with the student body and staff, as well as their perceived social transactions with the new school. The nature of this development was tested within samples of poor, urban, Black, White, and Latino students (n = 144). Racial/ethnic identity (group-esteem and exploration) and perceived transactions with school (academic hassles, participation, and social support) were assessed at the end of both the year prior to the transition and the transition year. The results suggested that changes over the transition to senior high school served as a race/ethnicity consciousness-raising experience for both Black and European American students but in dramatically different ways.
The Development of Perceived Scholastic Competence and Global Self-Worth in African American Adolescents from Low-Income Families
Authors: Campbell Frances A. , Pungello Elizabeth P. , Miller-Johnson Shari
Published: March 2007

Early childhood and concurrent factors associated with adolescents’self-perceptions of scholastic competence and global self-worth were examined longitudinally (at ages 12 and 15) among 88 adolescents from low-income families (87 African American). General linear mixed model analyses indicated that family conflict in adolescence, early childhood educational intervention, and academic achievement were predictors of perceived scholastic competence in adolescence, that the effects of the early home environment were moderated by early childhood educational intervention, and that the effects of the early home environment were stronger in earlier adolescence than in middle adolescence. Perceptions of scholastic, social, and physical competence, as well as the adolescents’ perceptions of concurrent family conflict, were significant predictors of global self-worth. This work adds to the understanding of the development of self-concepts by highlighting the influence of both early and concurrent factors on adolescents’views of themselves.
Hopelessness, Loneliness, Self-Esteem, and Personality in Russian Male Delinquent Adolescents versus Controls
Authors: Ruchkin Vladislav V. , Eisemann Martin , Hägglöf Bruno
Published: March 2007

The aim of the present study was to test for possible interrelations between hopelessness, loneliness, self-esteem, and personality in samples of delinquent adolescents (n = 187) and controls (n = 103) from the Arkhangelsk region in Russia. The subjects were assessed by means of the UCLA Loneliness Scale, Beck’s Hopelessness Scale, Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale, and Cloninger’s Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). The delinquents differed from the controls in most of the variables under investigation. The loneliness and hopelessness scales were highly interrelated. Furthermore, they correlated with the temperament dimension of harm avoidance and inversely correlated with the character dimension of self-directedness. Self-esteem appeared to be exclusively related with self-directedness. Our results reflect relationships between certain personality traits and psychological symptoms and indicate the potential of the TCI as a clinical assessment tool.
Pineal and Photoperiodic Influences on Fat Deposition, Pelage, and Testicular Activity in Male Meadow Voles
Authors: Smale Laura , Dark John , Zucker Irving
Published: March 2007

Pinealectomy completely prevented gonadal regression as well as reduction in body weight and white adipose tissue content of the gonadal and retroperitoneal fat deposits in male meadow voles transferred from long to short day lengths. Pineal influences on pelage characteristics depended on which parameter was assessed. For instance, the increase in guard hair length observed in short-day control voles was blocked by pinealectomy; however, a similar increase in underhair length was unaffected by removal of the pineal gland. Photo period-dependent changes in fat deposition, testicular activity, and guard hair length presum ably rely on altered pineal secretory activity to transduce the effects of day length on the neuroendocrine axis; however, mechanisms independent of pineal activity may be capable of mediating photoperiodic control of underhair growth.
A Re-Examination of the Role of the Nucleus in Generating the Circadian Rhythm in Acetabularia
Authors: Woolum John C.
Published: March 2007

The role of the nucleus in the generation of the circadian rhythm in Acetabularia has been unclear. Early experiments showed that the plant could exhibit a circadian rhythm in the absence of a nucleus. However, other experiments appeared to show that the nucleus could impart phase information to the rhythm, and so therefore must be a part of the system that generates the rhythm. We have conducted experiments similar to these—in particular, one in which the nuclear end of the plant was entrained on a light-dark cycle that was opposite that of the rest of the plant. The phase of the free running rhythm of this type of plant is not consistent with the conclusion that the nucleus is part of the circadian oscillator. We have also tried entraining opposite ends of plants with no nuclei on opposite light-dark cycles. The ultimate phases of these plants appear to be nearly random. A possible interpretation of these experiments is discussed.
Sleep and Waking Have a Major Effect on the 24-Hr Rhythm of Cortical Temperature in the Rat
Authors: Franken Paul , Tobler Irene , Borbély Alexander A.
Published: March 2007

The relationship between the time course of cortical temperature (TCRT) and sleep-wake alternation was investigated by correlation analyses and a computer simulation. The data for these analyses were collected in 10 rats in a 4-day experiment (LD 12:12), during which vigilance states and TCRT were determined for consecutive 8-sec epochs. On day 1 baseline recordings were obtained; on day 2 the animals were sleep-deprived; and days 3 and 4 served as recovery days.

The correlation analyses revealed that the alternation of sleep and waking accounted for 84% of the variance of TCRT when analyzed for hourly intervals. The residual variance displayed a 24-hr periodicity with an amplitude of 0.15°C. Similar results were obtained in a separate data set of a 2- day experiment, which consisted of a baseline day (LD 12:12) and a day with constant darkness. The periodicity of the residual variance of TCRT can therefore be considered to represent the circadian temperature rhythm not masked by the vigilance states.

In the computer simulation, the time course of TCRT was simulated on the basis of the sequence of the vigilance states with an 8-sec time resolution. It was assumed that TCRT increases during waking and rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep according to an exponential saturating function, and decreases exponentially during non-REM sleep. The simulations could account for 88-93% of the variance of TCRT.

We conclude that in the rat, the major part of the variation of TCRT is accounted for by vigilance states, whereas a minor part can be attributed to a direct effect of the circadian pacemaker.
Regulation of Circadian Photic Responses by Nitric Oxide
Authors: Melo Lucy , Golombek Diego A. , Ralph Martin R.
Published: March 2007

A role for nitric oxide in circadian responses to light has been indicated in previous studies. To determine the specific function of NO -, the authors manipulated NO- and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity prior to light pulses that would normally induce phase shifts. The NOS inhibitor, L-NAME, selec tively attenuated phase advances of locomotor rhythms and had no effect on phase delays. The NO- donor, SNAP, potentiated both photic responses, and phase delays were larger than the maximum responses that could be obtained with light alone. The data suggest a model in which NO- participates in the adaptation of the system to environmental lighting conditions by regulating in a phase-dependent manner responsiveness to light.