Social Status and Minority Recruit Performance in the Navy: Some Implications for Affirmative Action Programs1

Aptitude, motivation, training completion, and job survival measures were compared for 1,091 blacks, 192 Hispanics, 186 Asian, and 1,785 white recruits who entered Navy paramedical training during 1973. The minority groups were found to have lower aptitude and motivation scores, on the average, than the majority group, but tended to do as well as, and in some cases better than, the majority group on the performance measures. The effect of social status on recruit expectations of the working environment is hypothesized to account for the apparent discrepancy. Based upon these data, it is suggested that the Navy can select minority group personnel for technical training whose chances of remaining on the job are quite good irrespective of their aptitude and motivation scores.     

Video Deficit in Toddlers’ Object Retrieval: What Eye Movements Reveal About Online Cognition

The purpose of this study was to determine whether toddlers exhibit different eye‐movement patterns when watching real events versus video demonstrations in an object‐retrieval task. Twenty‐four‐month‐olds (N = 36) searched for a sticker on a felt board after watching an experimenter hide it behind a felt object in person or via video. Eye movements during the hiding event were recorded. Compared to those watching in‐person events, children watching video spent more time looking at the target location overall, yet they had relatively poor search performance. Visual attention to the target location predicted search performance in the video condition only; children who watched in‐person hiding events had high success rates even if they paid relatively little visual attention to the correct location. Findings are consistent with the hypothesis that toddlers process information more quickly for in‐person (versus video) events, enabling them to learn as well (or better) despite relatively low selective attention. Thus, relatively poor encoding, as well as memory retrieval, may underlie the video deficit.     

The Erickson Life Study: A Five-Year Examination of a Screening Tool in a Continuing Care Retirement Community

Continuing care retirement communities are an increasingly popular housing choice for older adults. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the validity of an entrance tool to predict transitions over a 5-year time period. A sample of 261 participants was recruited. A discriminant analysis revealed that baseline scores correctly classified the Year 5 status of 71.3% of the cases, with 69.6% of those who experienced a change in status classified correctly. The use of the tool potentially provides the staff an objective means for pinpointing the areas where services may be required for the residents’ well-being.     

Learning about Cognitive Dissonance and Race Relations: A Study of the Personal Narratives of Older White Southern Women Who Grew up with Maids

A critical analysis of the content of a recent collection of personal narratives of 23 older White women from the Deep South who grew up with domestic servants in their homes was conducted to study how these Whites who enjoyed the fruits of segregation look upon their White privilege from the perspective of today. The interviews revealed much about the close bonds that formed across racial lines. However, they also provide a wealth of information about how the White individuals handled the dissonance or discrepancy between their personal values of today and their behavior and attitudes back then.     

American Attitudes toward Guest Worker Policies

In this study we use data from a 2004 New York Times/CBS News national survey to analyze public opinion toward a guest worker program and to compare predictors of support for guest worker and general immigration policies. In general, Americans tend to be divided in their attitudes toward a guest worker program, although support for temporary worker policies is stronger when legalization for unauthorized immigrants is conditioned on certain requirements, and when the program is coupled with enhanced border security. The results of the bivariate probit analysis indicate that individuals who favor reducing the immigration level also tend to oppose instituting a guest worker program. Perceptions of the “costs” of immigration emerged as the most important determinant of individuals’ attitudes toward immigration policies; such beliefs contributed to opposition to a guest worker policy and support for reducing the immigration level. We also found that residents of high‐immigration states and Latinos were more likely to support a temporary worker program. However, these characteristics do not appear to influence individuals’ judgments about the number of immigrants who should be admitted to the United States. Findings regarding the impact of political partisanship and ideology on attitudes toward the two policies were more ambiguous.