The Korean ‘Examination Hell’: Long Hours of Studying,Distress, and Depression

The goal of this study was to investigate whether the higher rates of clinical depression found among Korean than American adolescents was related to Korean's daily ordeal of studying and schoolwork in preparation for the competitive college entrance examination. A sample of 56 high school seniors in Korea and 62 seniors in the United States provided time-sampling data on the amount of time they spent in daily activities and their affect states during these activities. The Korean adolescents were found to spend much more time in schoolwork and less time in discretionary activities than their American counterparts. Korean adolescents' affect states across daily activities were more negative relative to American adolescents. In the combined sample of Korean and American adolescents spending less time in active leisure activities and experiencing more negative affect states during schoolwork, socializing, and passive leisure activities were related to higher depression. These findings suggest that the effect of the college exam in generating depression in Korean adolescents may be partly mediated through its effect on their daily experience.     

The identification of 2-chloro-4,5-methylenedioxymethylamphetamine in an illicit drug seizure

This work outlines the unequivocal identification of the "ecstasy" analog, 2-chloro-4,5-methylenedioxymethylamphetamine, using combined gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-NMR). This compound was identified along with 3,4-methylenedioxymethylamphetamine (MDMA) in an illicit tablet seizure, which included 26 off-white tablets.     

Evaluation of real-time PCR amplification efficiencies to detect PCR inhibitors

Real-time PCR analysis is a sensitive template DNA quantitation strategy that has recently gained considerable attention in the forensic community. However, the utility of real-time PCR methods extends beyond quantitation and allows for simultaneous evaluation of template DNA extraction quality. This study presents a computational method that allows analysts to identify problematic samples with statistical reliability by comparing the amplification efficiencies of unknown template DNA samples with clean standards. In this study, assays with varying concentrations of tannic acid are used to evaluate and adjust sample-specific amplification efficiency calculation methods in order to optimize their inhibitor detection capabilities. Kinetic outlier detection and prediction boundaries are calculated to identify amplification efficiency outliers. Sample-specific amplification efficiencies calculated over a four-cycle interval starting at the threshold cycle can be used to detect reliably the presence of 0.4 ng of tannic acid in a 25 microL PCR reaction. This approach provides analysts with a precise measure of inhibition severity when template samples are compromised. Early detection of problematic samples allows analysts the opportunity to consider inhibitor mitigation strategies prior to genotype or DNA sequence analysis, thereby facilitating sample processing in high-throughput forensic operations.     

Endogenizing the median voter: Public choice goes to school

This paper investigates implications of the relationship between voter self-selection and the behavior of politicians. Voter self-selection arises in elections because only a portion of eligible voters actually vote. It is likely to be more pronounced whenever the implied net benefits from a given electoral choice are disproportionately distributed across voters. Public choice theory predicts that incumbent officials will manipulate this self-election pursuant to the maximization of their personal objective functions. This paper provides evidence from school bond elections that politicians influence voter self-selection via manipulation of election parameters.     

The relationship between congressional spending and tenure with an application to term limits

Whether term limits would increase or decrease federal spending depends on the reason for the causal relationship between tenure and spending. We investigate this subject by empirically studying congressional spending and tenure for all United States House and Senate members who entered Congress between the 94th and 102nd Congresses (1975–1992). As our measure of congressional spending we use the National Taxpayers Union's Congressional Spending Scores. Our study finds that a statistically significant relationship exists between congressional spending and tenure for some groups of congressmen. We then test three hypotheses relating tenure and spending. No single hypothesis is consistent with all of our empirical results. Nevertheless, the small sizes of the empirical effects estimated in this study suggest that term limits would have an inconsequential impact on the level of federal spending – at least via the “moral hazard” mechanisms described in this paper.     

Social context and the subjective experience of different types of rock music

The psychological impact and meaning of rock music for adolescents needs to be addressed as a joint function of the type of music and the social context in which it is listened. Young adolescents in this study carried pagers for one week and reported their affect, arousal, and psychological involvement in their activities, including music listening, when signaled at random times. Regression analyses indicate that social context has its greatest impact on soft rock where subjective states are dramatically higher when this music is listened to with friends, as opposed to alone. This suggests that intimate companionship transforms the themes of longing and sadness characteristic of this music into a more positive and binding experience. Subjective states experienced listening to this music are also high when listening occurs in the bedroom, a finding that indicates a consistency between the music's themes and the use of the bedroom as a place for contemplation and reflection. Top 40 and hard rock/heavy metal music are experienced positively across a variety of social contexts, suggesting that their energy and collective message allows teens to experience mastery and power over their environment, even in contexts that are ordinarily lonely and alien. The one exception is when hard rock/heavy metal is listened to in the presence of family members, a situation that creates very negative subjective states. This is undoubtedly due to the dissonance of this music's themes with parental values.This research was carried out at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago with a grant to Reed Larson from the National Institute of Mental Health (No. MH38324).He received his M.A. from University of Windsor. He is in the final stages of completing a Ph.D. dissertation investigating the role the news media play in contributing to selected social and political attitudes toward AIDS.He received Ph.D. from the Committee on Human Development, University of Chicago. His research focuses on daily experience associated with health and psychopathology in adolescence and across the life span.     

The life space and socialization of the self: Sex differences in the young adolescent

In this conclusion we examine the implications of the special issue findings for the development of the self. We discuss how well the young adolescent experiences in schoolwork, maintenance, talk, and leisure provide bases for an evolving adjstment to the adult roles of work, love, and play. Gender differences clearly emerged in the experience of daily life; children entered adolescence with differences in how time is experienced already firmly established, and by midadolescence these differences were intensifying. Our data support the three heuristics of communion versus agency, gender intensification, and the public versus private dichotomy. Concern is raised as to the viability of traditional sex role socialization when adult roles may demand more egalitarian behavior.     

Beeping children and adolescents: A method for studying time use and daily experience

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) among preadolescents and young adolescents by examining its implementation in a study of 483 5th–9th graders. Four specific methodological questions are addressed: (1) How adequate is the sampling of adolescents? (2) How adequate is the sampling of adolescents' experiences? (3) Does the method alter the phenomenon it attempts to measure? (4) How valid are the data obtained? Methodological information collected as part of the study suggests that the data obtained by the ESM accurately represents most of the experience of most of the individuals in the sample population.     

Book reviews

Computer Software — Legal Protection in the United Kingdom, 2nd edition Henry Carr and Richard Arnold Sweet and Maxwell 1992. ISBN 0 421 44380 4 £45

Legal Protection of Computer Programs in Europe — a Guide to the EC Directive Bridget Czarnota and Robert J Hart Butterworths 1991. ISBN 0 406 00542 7

Intellectual Property Rights in Sound Recordings, Film and Video J A L Sterling Sweet and Maxwell 1992. ISBN 0 421 4570 9

The European Market Place James Hogan Macmillan 1991. ISBN 0 333 51858 6

Intellectual Property D Bainbridge Pitman 1992. ISBN 0 273 034265 X