Previous research has demonstrated that changes in vocal frequency (pitch) influence judgments made about a speaker, although there is some question as to the relative importance of frequency to message content in person perception. Moreover, these studies have failed to examine the possible joint effect of frequency and individual differences in nonverbal sensitivity on person perception. The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the independent and joint effects of vocal frequency, perceptual salience, and nonverbal sensitivity (assessed by the Profile of Nonverbal Sensitivity) on person perception. Participants were assigned to one of nine experimental conditions and were asked to rate two male and two female speakers on seven unipolar adjective scales. The nine conditions were produced by factorially combining three levels each of salience (content, voice, control) and vocal frequency (decreased, increased, unmanipulated). The results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that variations in frequency did influence evaluative judgments of the speakers (competent, honest, persuasive), but that the magnitude of the influence varied as a function of the participants' levels of nonverbal sensitivity. The analyses, however, yielded no significant effects for participants' affective judgments, nor any significant effects involving perceptual salience.

This study reviewed and summarized the literature on the use of written tests in the selection of firefighters using a sample of 13,418 individuals drawn from 101 samples. For the prediction of job performance, cognitive tests showed substantial validity (.42), although mechanical comprehension tests showed even higher validity (.54). However, the best prediction was obtained by tests which were composites of cognitive and mechanical predictors (.56). Training criteria was best predicted by cognitive measures (.77), although mechanical comprehension predictors also showed substantial prediction value (.62). Tests which were composites of cognitive and mechanical measures showed validities equal to that of cognitive measures (.77).

Zusammenfassung

Mit diesem Buch möchte ich auf den großen Schatz des Kinderpsychodramas neugierig machen, das spielerische Leichtigkeit in die Kindertherapie bringt und es Kindern und ihren Familien ermöglicht, ihre kreativen und spielerischen Seiten wieder zu entdecken und für die Lösung ihres Problems zu nützen. Den Mut zu spontan-kreativem Handeln und zur Begegnung in der Kinder- und Familientherapie aufzubringen, ist jedoch nicht einfach. Wir fürchten, so Moreno, kreative Spontaneität, da wir uns „nicht auf die Beweglichkeit und Unsicherheit des Augenblicks verlassen“ wollen (Moreno 1974, S. 18). Spontan und kreativ handeln kann man nämlich nur, wenn man ein „Anhänger des wahrhaft Imperfekten“ (Moreno 1974, S. 441), fehlerfreundlich ist und sich auf das Risiko von Misslingen oder Zurückweisung einlässt. Jede Arbeit mit einem Kind und seiner Familie ist ein neues Wagnis und etwas ganz Besonderes, das nicht durch das korrekte Ausführen von methodischen Vorschriften zu erreichen ist.

Recent theory views adolescent behavior as nested in an ongoing system of family relationships. In keeping with this focus, differences in family functioning of high vs. low identity achievement youth were examined and variables to account for differing identity levels were explored. However, the hypothesized relationship (Circumplex Model) between family type and communication was also examined. Subjects were 411 male students, 18–24 years of age, belonging to intact nuclear middle-class homes, who resided with parents in urban areas. Measures used were the Identity Achievement Scale, Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale, and the Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale. Results supported an association between balanced family type and effective communication (p≤.001). Significant differences in the family types were found (p≤.001), with high identity subjects belonging to balanced families, experiencing more openness (p≤.01) and less problems (p≤.01) in communicating with parents. Openness with father, mother, and problems with father emerged as significant discriminants. There are important implications for counselling and therapy with youth, placing family at the center of the psychosocial milieu influencing their development.

My objective in Part IV is twofold: first, to make the case that we cannot and should not rely either on intuition or on simplistic models to manage a system as complex and important as our bodies; and second, to demonstrate the feasibility and potential utility of a new generation of dynamic computer-based tools for personal weight and energy regulation.

On follow-up 1 to 5 years after therapy, patients in six diagnostic groups who received EMG (N=53)and/or thermal (N=54)biofeedback and who reached criterion levels (EMG ≤1.1 μV; thermal ≥95° F) reported a higher improvement rate than those who had not achieved these criterion levels. Neither the patients nor the therapist were aware of these training criteria during therapy. Most patients received both EMG and thermal biofeedback training. Of the EMG achievers, 93% improved, compared to 65% of the nonachievers. Of the thermal achievers, 96% improved, compared to 76% of the nonachievers. These percentages significantly exceed the high base rate (81%) of long-term improvement in this study. Failure to achieve the criterion level in both modalities was associated with a lower improvement rate (73% did notimprove), while achieving the criterion in only one modality was sufficient to be associated with improvement. Of the patients who did notimprove, 80% had notachieved the EMG criterion, and 88% had not achieved the thermal training criterion. These results question biofeedback therapy outcome studies which show low improvement rates without determining whether self-regulation skills had, in fact, been acquired.

The purpose of the present study was to systematically compare the psychological and screening profiles of first-degree relatives (FDRs) of prostate cancer patients versus non-FDRs. FDRs (n = 56) and non-FDRs (n = 100), recruited through prostate cancer index cases and newspaper advertisements, completed questionnaires via mail. FDRs reported feeling at greater risk for prostate cancer, estimated that they were at higher average lifetime risk for the disease, agreed more strongly that prostate cancer is inherited, and that less can be done to prevent the development of the disease. Increased age, but not FDR status, was associated with more frequent screening behavior. Taken together, the results indicate that FDRs are characterized by greater perceived vulnerability to prostate cancer and lower expectations about disease prevention. Yet, they are no more likely to be screened than non-FDRs. These findings underscore the importance of developing, and evaluating, evidence-based health communication protocols to promote screening adherence among at-risk patients.