We developed the Draw-A-Computer-Scientist-Test (DACST) to better understand elementary school students' conceptions of computer scientists and the nature of their work. By understanding how young children perceive computer scientists, we can broaden their ideas about the activities and images of computer scientists. We administered the DACST to…

School principals' interpretation of the context for their work has significant implications for their practice and for organisational theory educational settings. Principals' sense-making capability can change over time, as in all adults. Sense-making capability is grounded in adult ego development (AED) theory which describes eight distinct…

An instrument for assessing coping style in emotionally disturbed children and adolescents is described, and intervention strategies for use once the coping style has been identified are reviewed. The "Assessment of Coping Style" instrument consists of drawings of persons interacting in various settings through which the subject can express his…

To explore the issue of prejudice against male participation in child care professions, a study was conducted with 13 female students in the process of completing 2-year associate degrees in child care. Subjects responded to a projective measure on which they were asked to inspect a list of nine personal "deficiencies" and rate, on a…

In order to measure the effects of exposure to filmed violence, 40 third-grade boys and girls were shown two television excerpts. One-half of the group viewed a segment from a violent detective series; the other half saw an exciting but nonviolent segment from a major league baseball game. Immediately afterward, each child was asked to "babysit"…

Finding innovative and effective methods to infer the ability of culturally diverse students continues to present a problem for educators. This paper proposes the House-Tree-Person (HTP) projective technique as a way for school educators to gather important data about student functioning without the use of culturally biased instruments. This…

Although the suicide rate of young adults has increased dramatically, few empirical studies examine suicide in the normal population. To examine suicidal thinking and behavior in a college student sample, 43 female and 23 male college students responded to an adverse life event scenario and then filled out an extended questionnaire regarding…

This paper discusses two techniques for improving the predictive validity of personality measures: (1) measuring dispositional levels of private self-consciousness, that is, one's tendency to habitually reflect on covert aspects of the self such as thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and motives; and (2) priming trait-relevant knowledge (temporarily…

This study delineates personality correlates of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD.) A standardized projective technique (the Roberts Apperception Test for Children (RATC) and the Conners Parent Rating Scale were administered to 52 ADHD children, ages 6-15. Results indicated that, when compared to the RATC standardization sample, ADHD…

According to Duke and Newicki, the distance maintained by a subject towards an approach stimulus is closely related to the internal structures of his personality. The test puts the subject's projective personality and the perception that the group has of the subject into relief. Duke and Newiski's "Comfortable Interpersonal Distance"…

Psychologists can gain insight into human behavior by examining what people feel about, know about, and do with, computers. Two extreme reactions to computers are computer phobia, or anxiety, and computer addiction, or "hacking". A four-part questionnaire was developed to measure computer anxiety. The first part is a projective technique which…

The research described in this paper was designed to assess the attitudes of male college students toward feminism, to analyze possible relationships between these attitudes and certain demographic characteristics of the family of origin, and to determine whether such attitudes affect the structuring of social stimuli. It was hypothesized that (1)…

Semi-projective holistic methods in political science research can augment knowledge of political attitudes and political reasoning. Semi-projective methods refer to techniques which present focused or structured stimuli and allow an unrestricted range of responses. Visual stimuli include ink blots, standard drawings, political cartoons, or…

Kinetic-Family-Drawings were obtained from 50 kindergarten or first grade children with delayed perceptual and/or motor development and 50 controls to investigate the effectiveness of this instrument as a measure of socio-emotional dimensions of high risk low achievers. Each child was asked to draw each member of his family (including himself)…

An instrument called the Selected Phrase Empathic Ability Key (SPEAK) was developed to measure empathy. The simply scored projective measure was then validated against physiological measures of reactive empathy. The SPEAK followed the classical instruments and used emotionally neutral line drawings (clip art) as projective stimuli for assessing…