Choice of reinforcement rates and work rates with concurrent schedules

A constrained optimisation theory or choice in concurrent schedules of reinforcement is presented. The theory posits that subjects evaluate both reinforcement rates and the work rates required to produce them and select the most highly valued combination. The chosen reinforcement rate is obtained by efficiently allocating work rate across schedules. The theory provides a unified explanation for maximisation of the overall reinforcement rate, the law of least effort, choice under Conc FR FR, Conc VR VR. Conc VI VI and Conc VI VR schedules, and choice of work rate.     

Television as a diagnostic indicator in child therapy: An exploratory study

This paper explores the relation between television viewing and clinical indicators for the mental health profession. Television viewing is seen from a systemic process perspective, based on data about children in therapy from therapists and parents. Family viewing patterns appear to be related to certain types of clinical indicators, especially attention deficit disorder and acting out. Of particular interest is the finding of a strong association between parental viewing habits and ADD on the part of children. The results suggest that television may be a useful indicator of family health for mental health practitioners and researchers.     

PARENTS,PEERS, PERCEIVED PRESSURE,AND ADOLESCENT SELF-CONCEPT: IS A DAUGHTER A DAUGHTER ALL OF HER LIFE?

Data collected in 1981 from 316 high-SES junior and senior high students suggest support for traditional perspectives regarding sex-differentiated self-esteem. While a significant proportion of the variance in self-esteem level is predicted by perceived approval and support from family for both girls and boys in junior high school, high school females and males drawn from the same community differ substantially. Cues of family approval continue to predict a large proportion of the variance in high school girls' self-concept, but are no longer significant for high school boys. Acceptance by friends is an important element for males at all school levels, and accounts for a small but significant proportion of the variance in high school but not junior high school girls' self-esteem scores. Daughters may not "be daughters' all of their lives, but our data suggest that young females still going to school and living at home are much more dependent on family approval and support than are young males in the same situation.     

Where does social change come from?

Many discussions, academic and otherwise, implicitly assume that public opinion changes because opinions change. This ignores the possibility that public opinion changes because publics change. In this paper I show how, by modifying existing component-difference methods, the proximate sources of societal change - actual individual change versus change in publics (turnover) - can be separated using repeated survey data. The method is applied to change in gender role attitudes in the United States, using 1972–1988 data from the General Social Surveys. Both components have contributed substantially to the trend away from traditional attitudes. Yet there is an important difference: Population turnover has contributed steadily to the trend, whereas the contribution of individual change has been erratic from survey to survey.