Memory for political actors: Contrasting the use of semantic and evaluative organizational strategies

This paper explores the organizational strategies used to represent information about political actors in memory, and it illustrates the usefulness of a specific measure, the adjusted ratio of clustering score (ARC), for inferring memory structure. Assuming the operation of an associative network model, we argue that information about a political actor can be organized along three distinct dimensions: attribute type (differentiating between issue positions and personal attributes), partisanship (differentiating between characteristics typical of Republicans and Democrats), and evaluative type (differentiating between positively and negatively evaluated attributes). The results of a laboratory study indicate that organization along the attribute type dimension was most common, with some evidence of partisan organization. There was no evidence of organization along the evaluative dimension. The implications of the study for understanding individual differences in political reasoning, and the consequences of memory organization strategies, are discussed.     

Identity and dating commitment among women and men in college

Lower division and upper division college women's and men's commitment in a dating relationship was examined in connection with their (a) gender role attitudes, (b) educational aspirations, (c) certainty about their future vocation, and (d) the importance they attach to work vs. marriage as a source of life satisfaction. Dating commitment was also examined for women in relation to their dedication to work for pay after marriage, and for men in terms of their ideas about their future wife working. The more certain upper division college women's vocational identity, the more committed they were to their dating partner, but the more they planned to work after marriage the less involved they were in a relationship. Additionally, upper division women who placed more importance on a job than marriage and who had a clearer vocational identity were less involved in a relationship. The clearer upper division men's vocational identity, the more committed they were in a relationship. Lower division men who placed more importance on work compared to marriage were less involved in a dating relationship. The results are discussed in light of Erikson's stages of identity development and more recent research that suggests women's identity development follows a different course from men's.Received Ph.D. in child development and family relationships at the University of Texas at Austin. Current research interests include the influence of parent-child interaction on children's mastery and achievement motivation, peer and intimate relationships, and identity development.Received Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Albany. Research focuses on the development of relationships from courtship into marriage and first-time parenthood.Received Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. Program of research concerns the developmental origins, correlates, and consequences of identity formation in adolescence. Recent research addresses the dynamics of relationships in adoptive families and the consequences of openness in adoption on family members.Received B.A. in child development and family relationships program at the University of Texas at Austin.     

Older adolescents' thinking about academic/vocational and interpersonal commitments

Sixty-eight college students listed the factors they consider or would consider when making the following commitments: choosing courses, choosing a major, choosing a career, choosing a friend, choosing a romantic partner, and choosing a lifelong partner. In addition, subjects provided their own definition ofcommitment in an unstructured essay. Subjects listed more factors, more distinct types of factors, and more original factors for interpersonal commitments than for academic/vocational commitments. There were few gender differences found in these measures, contradicting the idea that men and women think differently about different commitments. In addition, few gender or class year differences were found in the themes present in the essay definingcommitment. Conceptions of commitment, as described in essays, predicted thinking about specific commitments only slightly.Received Ph.D. in Psychology and M.S.E. in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania, and has research interests in the areas of cognitive development and reasoning and decision making.Received Ph.D. in Counseling and Guidance from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and has research interests in adolescent development and adolescent psychopathology.     

Emotional and temperamental correlates of Type A in children and adolescents

Emotional and behavioral correlates of Type A behavior in children and adolescents were examined in 184 fifth-, seventh-, and ninth-grade students, classified as high or low Type A, using self-report, teacher ratings (fifth grade only), and structured interview procedures. Measures included the Hunter-Wolf A-B Rating Scale, Behavioral Symptoms of Stress Inventory, Dimensions of Temperament Survey, Desire for Control Scale, Eysenck Personality Inventory, and the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist. High Type A children reported significantly more stressed-related behaviors, higher levels of depression, anger, anxiety, and cognitive disorganization, and greater reactivity than Low Type A. No differences were found on measures of temperament (activity level, attention span, adaptibility, and rhythmicity), desire for control, or introversion-extroversion. Females, in general, reported significantly more behavioral stress symptoms. However, no other gender differences were found. Possible reasons for reported differences between Type A children and adults are discussed, along with gender differences in behavioral symptoms. Need for multiple measures of Type A across situation is considered along with need for controlled longitudinal studies of Type A components and the influence of contexts.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: Adolescent problems, stress.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: Type A, anger/hostility; AIDS prevention.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: child & family problems, stress disorders.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: psychoneuroimmunology.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: pain disorders, stress.Received Ph.D. from Stanford.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: anxiety and phobic disorders.     

Evaluation of laser desorption mass spectrometry and UV accelerated aging of dyes on paper as tools for the evaluation of a questioned document

Laser desorption mass spectrometry (LDMS) may be used for the detection and identification of dyes found in inks. Naturally-aged and artificially-aged blue and black ballpoint pen inks containing the cationic dye methyl violet were analyzed on paper. The average molecular weight of the dye sample was calculated from LD mass spectral data and plotted versus time. The resulting aging curves demonstrate that, as dye degradation increases, the average molecular weight of the dye decreases. Typical variables involved in ink aging, such as the type of paper and ink formulation, were investigated. Results show that these variables influence the rate of dye degradation. Furthermore, UV accelerated aging has been developed and tested as an alternative to thermal approaches.     

Epistemic Reasoning and Adolescent Egocentrism: Relations to Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms in Problem Youth

This investigation addressed the question of how two forms of social cognitive reasoning – epistemic reasoning and adolescent egocentrism – interface with externalizing and internalizing forms of psychopathology during adolescence. Adolescents’ epistemic reasoning (i.e., types of belief entitlement, or degree of doubt, held by an individual when confronted with contradictory sides of an issue), and imaginary audience and personal fable ideation, were assessed in a sample of 29 adolescent boys with behavioral problems and 30 of their peers without behavioral problems. To assess internalizing and externalizing symptomatology, teachers completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL-TRF). Results revealed that, compared to those without behavior problems, boys with behavioral problems were lower in epistemic reasoning. Further analyses revealed consistent relations between dimensions of social cognitive reasoning to specific forms of psychopathology. These findings suggest that social cognitive reasoning, particularly epistemic doubt, is important in understanding problem behaviors among typical and atypical adolescents.

Short versus Long Coalitions: Electoral Accountability and the Size of the Public Sector

This article examines the policy consequences of the number of parties in government. We argue that parties externalize costs not borne by their support groups. Larger parties thus internalize more costs than small parties because they represent more groups. This argument implies that the public sector should be larger the more parties there are in the government coalition. We test this prediction using yearly time-series cross-sectional data from 1970 to 1998 in 17 European countries. We find that increasing the number of parties in government increases the fraction of GDP accounted for by government spending by close to half a percentage point, or more than one billion current dollars in the typical year. We find little support for the alternative claim that the number of legislative parties affects the size of the public sector, except via the number of parties in government .     

Mental health professionals in forensic arenas

The authors discuss a variety of forensic matters using cases in which they have been involved as experts. Pertinent issues are illustrated in cases in which the offender is charged with homicide. The need for a comprehensive evaluation, the importance of corroboration of the offender's statements, and the value of preparing a thorough report are discussed.