The impact of stress on cognitive components of child abuse potential

The purpose of the present research was to test the effects of situational stress on the components of the cognitive behavioral model, including expectations, interpretations, and behavioral responses to child behaviors (Twentyman et al., 1985). It was predicted that parental abuse potential would be positively related to inappropriate expectations, to negative and internally caused interpretations of child behavior, and to negative parental responses. Second, it was expected that interpretations and responses would be more negative as child abuse potential increased. Sixteen mothers from a child abuse prevention and treatment program completed the Child Abuse Potential Inventory (Milner and Wimberly, 1980) and provided interpretations, evaluations, and responses to a set of vignettes depicting normal child behaviors. The data supported the hypotheses. As abuse potential increased, parent responses were judged as more controlling, punishing, rejecting, and aroused. High stress strengthened the magnitude of these responses. These findings were interpreted within the context of a cognitive behavioral model.     

Entrepreneurship and University Technology Transfer

This paper argues that it is important to devote greater attention to the study of entrepreneurship in technology transfer in the light of greater government attention, the growth in the phenomenon, the need to identify how wealth can be created from spin-outs, changes in the cultures of universities and differences with technological entrepreneurship in general. The paper summarizes the contributions made by the papers presented in the special issue in terms of their levels of analysis. At the spin-out level, issues are raised concerning identification of typologies of spin-out firms, the evolution of spin-outs and external resources. At the university level, issues concerning policies, internal resources and processes are discussed. An agenda for further research is elaborated which relates to the need to examine further levels of analysis: the academic entrepreneurs themselves and how they recognize opportunities and shape their ideas to meet the market; the nature of internal university environments, processes and resources; and the nature of the scientific discipline which may have implications for the process of creation and development of spin-out ventures.     

Perceptions of candidates' issue positions

Following Shively, we propose a theory to explain why voters perceive or fail to perceive candidates' issue positions. The theory presumes that there is a continuum of methods that range from those that are very inexpensive in time, energy, and experience (e.g., guessing) to those that are moderately expensive (e.g., partisanship) to those that are rather costly (e.g., extensive use of the media). All these factors are shown to play a part in the formation of candidate perceptions, but with variations between candidates in ways specified by the theory.     

Racial variation in the sternal extremity of the rib and its effect on age determination

Most research on the aging process in the skeleton has not considered or elaborated differences that may exist between the races. Thus, techniques developed for the estimation of age assume that the racial background of the standards is compatible with the specimens to be assessed. However, racial differences in areas such as skeletal growth and bone density have been reported, along with specific variations in the aging process, in the ribs of disparate populations. The present investigation examines metamorphosis in the sternal ribs of American blacks (N = 53 males, N = 20 females), and tests the application of age estimation standards developed by the authors from a white population. All specimens were obtained from medical examiner's cases of known age, sex, and race. Although the sample was limited in both quantity and age range, analysis of the data revealed racial differences in both rate and pattern of metamorphosis. Statistical analysis showed that the calculated mean age per phase for black ribs was nearly identical to whites in Phases 1 through 4 or until the mean age of 28 years. By the early 30s, differences in morphology and their chronological association with the aging process became apparent and increased with age in both sexes. Blacks were consistently overaged from 3 to 10 years in Phases 5 through 7. Therefore, it was concluded that biological differences between these populations do exist and can affect age estimation from the rib. Social factors may also be involved, but they cannot be demonstrated from the available data. While the degree of interracial variation does not require completely new standards, the authors have suggested specific modifications of the white standards for use on black specimens.