Implicit theories of intelligence and self-perceptions of academically talented adolescents and children

Beliefs about intelligence can vary from the view that it is stable to the view that it is unstable. Third through eleventh grade academically talented students (n =153) rated their beliefs on the stability of intelligence using a 6-point Likert scale. They also rated themselves on similar scales for how smart and hardworking they thought they were, and how much they liked hard tasks. Students' views of the stability of intelligence paralleled a normal distribution, with almost one-half having borderline views that can be easily modified to match environmental demands. Approximately 9% of these talented students were at risk for underachievement based on their self-perceptions of relatively low ability and the belief that intelligence is stable. High school students believed intelligence was more stable than elementary students and females described themselves as being harder workers than males. Findings may account for the differing academic experiences and performance of academically talented students over time.Received Ph.D. in Psychology from University of Maryland Baltimore County. Research interests include self-perceptions, achievement, motivation, metacognition, and family factors that contribute to the development of academic talent.Received Ph.D. in Psychology from Johns Hopkins University. Research interests include gender differences, cognitive styles, and exceptional ability. Her other interests include gifted-learning disabled students and international education.     

Rape and the devalued victim

Numerous jurisdictions have made changes in their rape statutes in recent years. Five modifications that have commonly appeared in the amended rape legislations are aboulition of capital punishment as a sanction for rape, lowered sentence structure, a graduated continuum of offenses and penalties for rape, the reformulation of rape statutes to a sex-neutral definition of participants, and a change in terminology away from rape to such nomenclature as criminal sexual conduct. While the intent of the legal reforms was to insure fairness, we contend that the unintended effect of many of these changes is to trivialize the offense of rape and to devalue the victim.     

Decentralizing supervision to attain higher productivity: the case of the ecuadorian health system

There is growing interest in developed and developing countries about how to best administer public programs in order to maximize the return on invested resources. This paper examines the extent to which decentralized supervision can help improve health worker productivity. Data on health workers in Ecuador are analyzed. The results suggest that local (or decentralized) supervision is conducive to higher productivity and more hours worked per day by Ecuador's health promoters. The implications for higher health status, and for improving health care in other developing countries are discussed.