Adults' perceptions of infants' cries were evaluated by means of multidimensional scaling. Twenty-four nonparents and 20 parents judged the similarity of all possible pairs of 12 recorded cries. Subjects also rated the cries on 29 attributes, including perceived aversiveness, possible caretaking responses, affective responses, and semantic…

Adults inexperienced with mental retardation, parents of retarded children, and teachers of the retarded children viewed slides of retarded and nonretarded children whose facial expressions depicted happiness, anger, sadness, and/or neutrality. Inexperienced adults identified fewer expressions of retarded children than did parents who, in turn,…

Study recorded the ongoing verbal and nonverbal behavior of 156 preschool children (M age=51.1 months) as they played, in dyads, during 78 cooperation episodes. The results are discussed in terms of the motivational and organizational role of both transient and enduring affective states during cooperation episodes. (Author/RWB)

Describes four experiments in childhood autism used as research examples in areas of cognition and social skills. An hypothesis which attempts to connect various areas of impairment, nemely, lack of imaginative play, lack of expressive gestures, and inability to predict and understand behavior in others is explored through a specific cognitive…

Investigated the relationship between sensitivity to emotions and behavioral empathy and explored the validity of the revised Kagan Affective Sensitivity Scale (KASS) in a study of 30 social work students. Results confirmed that sensitivity to emotions is involved in accurate behavioral empathy. (JAC)

The purpose of this study was to investigate what effect a pre-session given prior to a typical library instruction class had upon the affective experience of freshman composition students. Students in six paired classes were given pre-test and post-test questionnaires to determine if there was a difference in scores in four areas measured by the…

Author made a number of suggestions toward making more effective course evaluation and considered the interaction between student and teacher. (RK)

Reports the results of a study to test an instrument which was designed to evaluate science interest. The instrument was fashioned from the scales of evaluation, potency, and activity from Osgood's Semantic Differential, and is presented in its entirety in the appendix. (JR)

The judgment of vocal affect was studied in 19 language delayed children and 19 children with normal language. The children identified utterances spoken in an angry, happy, or sad tone of voice. The language delayed children made significantly fewer correct judgments. (Author/SEW)

Changes in the motivation and self-confidence of children participating in the Perach Project (an Israeli tutorial program) were investigated. Affective measures were administered to experimental (i.e., tutored children) and control groups during the two-year study. Pretest/posttest results indicated that tutored children performed better on…

Examines the structure of the Philadelphia Geriatric Center (PGC) Morale Scale using a multiple indicator structural equation model. Based on the 1968 National Senior Citizens Survey, the model is consistently replicated across four subsamples. The claim that the PGC Morale Scale is multidimensional is only appropriate for first-order factors.…

Describes the clinical use of the Marital Satisfaction Inventory (MSI), a multidimensional self-report measure of marital interaction. Two case studies of couples in marital therapy are presented. The MSI is presented as a cost-efficient procedure, permitting objective assessment across multiple areas of a couple's relationship. (Author/JAC)

A modified multitrait-multimethod validation matrix was generated to evaluate the construct validity of the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS). Results were consistent with the use of RCMAS as a measure of chronic, manifest anxiety levels in children. Large correlations occurred with other trait measures of anxiety. (Author/PN)

Developed eight independent content scales to assess components of marital intimacy (Conflict Resolution, Affection, Cohesion, Sexuality, Identity, Compatibility, Autonomy, and Expressiveness). Measures were designed to be relatively free from social desirability and acquiescent responding. Test retest and internal consistency reliabilities were…

A factor analysis was performed on data from the University Residence Environmental Scales (URES). Although 10 meaningful factors were derived, only 50 of the original items were retained as marker items. Only 36 percent of the variance was accounted for by the 10 factors. (Author/BW)