The experiment in physics has often been pictured as an ideal for the less mature social sciences, especially by positivist philosophy of science. The thesis to be presented here is that the physical experiment as a paradigm for psychology is merely a pretext, a smoke-screen for a more fundamental and concealed technological paradigm for the study…

Investigates the differences between rehearsal span and memory span and evaluates the research of Dalrymple-Alford (1967) on the part of rehearsal on reinforcing memory traces. (Author/RK)

Examines the knowledge explosion's affect on researchers' writing, referencing, and citing. Counts of references within empirical journal articles in sociology, physics, biology, and experimental and social psychology reveal effects of the knowledge explosion in all disciplines, particularly within psychology. Results illustrate how substantial…

In vocational psychology, the person-environment fit concept remains viable, but should be expanded to include occupational choice and work adjustment. Research is needed on commonalities among interests, self-efficacy, personality, goals, and well-being. Both qualitative and quantitative research philosophies and methods are needed. (Contains 54…

Whether or not there is an interaction between two factors in their effects on a dependent variable is often a central question. This paper proposes a general mechanism by which an interaction may arise: (a) the two factors are the same thing--or, at least, have a dimension in common--in the sense that it is meaningful to add (or subtract) them;…

The Wing-Kristofferson model (A. M. Wing & A. B. Kristofferson, (1973a, 1973b) decomposes the variance of isochronous finger tapping into 2 components: a central clock component and a peripheral motor component. The method assumes that there is no drift in the intertap intervals. A new method is introduced that further decomposes the clock…

This article discusses the promise and problems associated with integrating research on child temperament and research on childhood psychopathology. Unfortunately, these 2 extensive and influential areas of psychological research with children have largely been conducted independently of each other. This article provides a summary of the…

Psychologists occasionally study eminent individuals, such as Nobellaureates, U.S. presidents, Olympic athletes, chess grandmasters, movie stars, and even distinguished psychologists. Studies using such significant samples may be differentiated along 7 distinct dimensions: qualitative versus quantitative, single versus multiple case, nomothetic…

Differing theoretical approaches to the study of emotions are presented: emotions as private (psychodynamic approaches); emotions as sociocultural phenomena (social constructionist approaches); and a third perspective (interactionist approaches) transcending these two. These approaches have important methodological implications in studying…

In their article, "Disconfirmation of the Predictive Validity of the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire in a Sample of High-Risk Drug Offenders," criminologists Mitchell and MacKenzie (2006) purported to evaluate psychometric properties of the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire (SAQ), the first self-report risk/need measure estimating violent and nonviolent…

Elementary and middle school children were given a large battery of tests evaluating reading subskills and reading-related cognitive abilities. These measures were used to define latent representing skills and abilities believed to be important components of reading comprehension. Hypothesized relationships among these constructs were specified…

Developmental changes in the amount of social consensus in grid ratings are investigated in six samples of school children spanning the age range 6-17. (Editor)

The problems of accounting for people's likes and dislikes and how they developed were related to familiarity. (Author/RK)

The assumption that auditory attention is locked onto a shadowed (verbally tracked) message was examined. (Editor)

A learning-to-learn approach was taken in the present study in an attempt to draw the subjects' attention to the associative relations among items and to examine whether the presentation of four functionally equivalent interitem lists would result in the subjects' using a higher cognitive strategy. (Author/RK)