Rapid Estimation of Standard Errors of Means for Small Samples

The general impression that precision of an estimator increases with increasing sample size is scrutinized. It is demonstrated that, if the estimator under consideration is an average function, the statement does not hold good when the population elements are drawn with varying probabilities of selection at each draw. An example is presented to illustrate the point.     

Group counseling for children adopted at older ages

Children adopted at older ages have special emotional needs and problems that can complicate their development. Counseling groups specifically designed for this population provide these children with opportunities to share with others who have had similar experiences.     

The profile of intercohort increase

"The paper develops a technique for identifying the cohorts that initiated what in the 1950s was designated the population explosion. A numerical example is given for Indonesia, but essentially the same picture appears for many other countries, and for the aggregate of the world. The intercohort increase can be estimated for each age using two successive censuses; the method here developed gives very nearly the same increase whatever age is used for the estimate." (SUMMARY IN FRE)     

Hand-drumming to build community: the story of the Whittier Drum Project

Over the years, the author participated in drum circles and classes in Denver, Fort Collins, and Boulder, Colorado. He noticed that drumming made him feel grounded and at peace. Drumming is very accessible, not like playing the piano or violin. Simple rhythms can be taught to people with no drumming experience very quickly and an ensemble rhythm created with a group in one sitting. Drumming turned out to be a highly effective way to engage with young people not only to address their individual spirits but to join with others to create a community.     

ASYMMETRY OF INFLUENCE IN ALCOHOLICS' MARITAL COMMUNICATION: ALCOHOL'S EFFECTS ON INTERACTION DOMINANCE*

Eight couples participated in a study of dominance in alcoholics' marriages. Data for this investigation were derived from pretreatment assessment materials, a study on alcohol's effects on marital communication, and a study of insiders' and outsiders' perceptions of marital interaction. Little support was found for the contention that alcoholics are submissive or less influential when compared to their spouses. While alcoholics perceive themselves as submissive, on behavioral measures they are not. Alcohol may function to reduce the discrepancy between alcoholics' perceptions of their influencing ability and their actual performance. This would support current models of alcoholism and marriage which attribute adaptive consequences to drinking.     

Tests and limits for the common odds ratio of several 2 × 2 contingency tables: methods in analogy with the Mantel-Haenszel procedure

For a postulated common odds ratio for several 2 × 2 contingency tables one may, by conditioning on the marginals of the seperate tables, determine the exact expectation and variance of the entry in a particular cell of each table, hence for the total of such cells across all tables. This makes it feasible to determine limiting values, via single-degree-of-freedom, continuity-corrected chi-square tests on the common odds ratio–one determines lower and upper limits corresponding to just barely significant chi-square values. The Mantel-Haenszel approach can be viewed as a special application of this, but directed specifically to the case of unity for the odds ratio, for which the expectation and variance formulas are particularly simple. Computation of exact expectations and variances may be feasible only for 2 × 2 tables of limited size, but asymptotic formulas can be applied in other instances.Illustration is given for a particular set of four 2 × 2 tables in which both exact limits and limits by the proposed method could be applied, the two methods giving reasonably good agreement. Both procedures are directed at the distribution of the total over the designated cells, the proposed method treating that distribution as being asymptotically normal. Especially good agreement of proposed with exact limits could be anticipated in more asymptotic situations (overall, not for individual tables) but in practice this may not be demonstrable as the computation of exact limits is then unfeasible.     

Preschool children's ability to identify and label emotions

The present study examined preschoolers' and adults' ability to identify and label the emotions of happiness, sadness, and anger when presented through either the face channel alone, the voice channel alone, or the face and voice channels together. Subjects were also asked to rate the intensity of the expression. The results revealed that children aged 3 to 5 years are able to accurately identify and label emotions of happy, sad, and angry regardless of channel presentation. Similar results were obtained for the adult group. While younger children (33 to 53 months of age) were equally accurate in identifying the three emotions, older children (54 to 68 months of age) and adults made more incorrect responses when identifying expressions of sadness. Intensity ratings also differed according to the age of the subject and the emotion being rated.Support for this research was from a grant by the National Science Foundation (#BNS8317229) to Nathan A. Fox. The research was also supported by a grant awarded to Nathan Fox from the National Institutes of Health (#R01MH/HD17899). The authors would like to thank Professor A. Caron for providing the original videotape, Joyce Dinsmoor for help in data collection and the staff of the Center for Young Children for their cooperation.     

How many people have lived on the earth?

A simple formula is proposed for estimating the number of people who have ever lived. Using assumptions that seem reasonable, an estimate of 69 billion (1960) is obtained. The present world population is about 4 percent of this number.     

The Relations between Reactivity at 4 Months and Behavioral Inhibition in the Second Year: Replication across Three Independent Samples

This paper examines the predictive relations between two infant temperamental biases assessed at 4 months and inhibited behavior during the first 2 years of life in three independent samples from two research laboratories. Although each sample used slightly different criteria for classifying infants, the results across samples were consistent. Infants of both genders who displayed high levels of motor activity and distress to unfamiliar events were more inhibited at 14 months of age. By 24 months, there were significant sex differences: Boys identified as high reactive were more inhibited than high reactive girls.