Ideology and personality: Aspects of identity formation in adolescents with strong attitudes toward sex-role equalitarianism

Middle-class adolescent boys and girls with strong attitudes for and against the sex-role ideology of the Women's Movement were administered a Q-sort to study two aspects believed to be related to identity formation: flexibility-rigidity and independence-dependence. A significant positive relationship was found, more strongly for independence than for flexibility and more strongly for girls than for boys. More favorable attitudes toward sex-role equalitarianism were associated with flexibility and independence. The strength of the associations varied with the nature of the Q-sort: ideal self, self as ideal member of opposite sex, and self as ideal to each parent.This article is based on the dissertation by Dr. Kirsch in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy Degree at the Graduate School of Education, University of Marylandm, College Park, MarylandPsychotherapist in private practice in Potomac, Maryland, with special interest in psychology of women. Received her Ph.D. in human development from the University of Maryland, Graduate School of Education, in 1974.Received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Boston University in 1955. Diplomate in clinical psychology (ABPP). Interest is adolescent development with emphasis on innovative programs for optimal growth as well as treatment services.Received his Ed.D. in human development from the University of Maryland in 1961. Current interest is in developing preservice education programs for Middle School personnel.     

Comparing the Recognition Memory Test and the Word Choice Test in a Mixed Clinical Sample: Are They Equivalent?

The Recognition Memory Test (RMT) was compared to the Word Choice Test (WCT) within the same fixed neuropsychological battery administered to a mixed clinical sample of 237 adults to empirically evaluate the psychometric equivalence of these two instruments. On average, there was a 3-point difference in raw scores between the two instruments (M _RMT?=?44.3, SD _RMT?=?6.8; M _WCT?=?47.1, SD _WCT?=?4.6; p?d?=?.48). The probability density functions differ substantially at the two ends of the scale but are similarly ≤42. Cross-validation analyses suggest that the RMT cutoff of ≤42 is functionally equivalent to a WCT score of ≤45.     

Ink Dating Using Thermal Desorption and Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry: Comparison of Results Obtained in Two Laboratories

An ink dating method based on solvent analysis was recently developed using thermal desorption followed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and is currently implemented in several forensic laboratories. The main aims of this work were to implement this method in a new laboratory to evaluate whether results were comparable at three levels: (i) validation criteria, (ii) aging curves, and (iii) results interpretation. While the results were indeed comparable in terms of validation, the method proved to be very sensitive to maintenances. Moreover, the aging curves were influenced by ink composition, as well as storage conditions (particularly when the samples were not stored in “normal” room conditions). Finally, as current interpretation models showed limitations, an alternative model based on slope calculation was proposed. However, in the future, a probabilistic approach may represent a better solution to deal with ink sample inhomogeneity.     

The “Digital Revolution” Reconsidered – NPS Christian Bay Best Paper Award APSA 2015, San Francisco,CA

This article responds to the 2014 American Political Science Association Annual Conference’s theme of “Politics After the Digital Revolution.” It first gives a brief assessment of how the discipline of political science has reacted to the digital revolution. It then seeks to couch the putative revolution in Thorstein Veblen’s theory of a “machine process” in order to recast it less as a discrete phenomenon to be dealt with by the discipline, but instead as part of an evolutionary process of social change that instils habits of mind of those who are subject to it, and who in turn, influence the machine process itself in a co-determinant manner. This article offers the synthesis of Veblen and the Frankfurt School to theorize how the digital revolution might be critically assessed in its evolutionary framework, and speaks towards an evolutionary critical theory for analysing political society beyond discrete events.     

Ball Memorial Hospital: Section 2 Sherman Act analysis in the alternative health care delivery market

In 1986, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Ball Memorial Hospital v. Mutual Hospital Insurance denied an injunction sought under the antitrust laws by the plaintiffs, eighty acute care hospitals, which would have precluded Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Indiana from implementing a Preferred Provider Organization. The Ball court used a conservative economic analysis to deny the injunction and failed to consider many industry-specific factors. This Note examines these factors and challenges the Ball court's position by arguing that antitrust scrutiny of alternative health care delivery markets must go beyond the court's narrow approach.     

A GC/MS study of the drying of ballpoint pen ink on paper

The determination of the age of an ink entry from a questioned document is often an essential problem and a controversial issue in forensic sciences. Therefore, it is important to understand the aging process of the different components found in ink. The aim of this work was to study the drying process of ballpoint ink, characterised by the disappearance of volatile solvents from the ink entry. Phenoxyethanol is of particularly high interest as it is found in more than 80% of the blue ballpoint pens at different concentrations. Liquid extraction followed by splitless gas chromatography/mass spectrometry in the selected ion mode was used to measure the quantitative decrease of solvents from ink entries made with a blue Parker ballpoint pen. Quantities of ethoxyethoxyethanol, dipropylene glycol, phenoxyethanol and phenoxyethoxyethanol were studied in ink entries up to 1.5 years old, thus allowing to calculate aging curves for this particular pen. The low quantities of solvents (in the microgram range for a 1 cm ballpoint entry) were found to decrease quickly after deposition of the ink on paper through the competitive processes of evaporation and diffusion. Losses of up to 75% of solvents were observed after a few seconds. The amount of ethoxyethanol stopped decreasing after about 10 days (quantities reached the nanogram range for a 1 cm ballpoint entry), while the aging curves of dipropylene glycol, phenoxyethanol and phenoxyethoxyethanol level off considerably after 2 weeks. It was observed that ethoxyethanol, dipropylene glycol and phenoxyethanol can also migrate from one sheet of paper to another if placed close enough (e.g. in a book or a stack of papers), therefore contamination from fresh ink strokes from other paper sheets has to be taken into account for those solvents. In this paper we demonstrate that differentiation between fresh ink (<2 weeks) and older inks is possible under laboratory storage conditions. For real cases samples, more parameters have to be studied and other possible pathways have to be considered.     

The Grooved Pegboard Test as a Validity Indicator—a Study on Psychogenic Interference as a Confound in Performance Validity Research

This study was designed to replicate an earlier report on the link between low scores on the Grooved Pegboard test (GPB), invalid responding, and elevated self-reported psychiatric symptoms. A fixed battery of neuropsychological tests was administered to 100 consecutively referred outpatients (M_Age?=?38.3, M_Education?=?13.6 years) following traumatic brain injury at a Midwestern academic medical center. Classification accuracy of GPB validity cutoffs was computed against a free-standing PVT and three composite measures of embedded validity indicators. Previously suggested GPB validity cutoffs (T?≤?29 in either hand) produced good combinations of sensitivity (0.25–0.55) and specificity (0.89–0.98) to psychometrically defined invalid performance. Raising the cutoff to T?≤?31 resulted in a reasonable trade-off between increased sensitivity (0.36–0.55) and decreased specificity (0.84–0.94). T?≤?31 in both hands was highly specific (0.93–0.98) to noncredible responding. GPB validity cutoffs were unrelated to psychiatric symptoms or injury severity. Failing PVTs based on forced choice recognition was associated with elevated self-reported depression, somatic concerns, and overall symptomatology. Low scores on the GPB are reliable indicators of noncredible responding. Self-reported emotional distress has a complex relationship with performance validity. Psychogenic interference is a potential mechanism behind PVT failures, and its expression is likely mediated by instrumentation and sampling artifacts. Further research on the topic is clearly needed to advance current understanding of psychogenic interference as a confound in cognitive testing.