Predictor variables related to the classification of learning disabilities.

Psychoeducational assessment variables for high school students were subjected to a discriminant function analysis. Variables predictive of learning disability classification were spelling, IQ, and a student interview question.

Empathy-based helping: is it selflessly or selfishly motivated?

A substantial body of evidence collected by Batson and his associates has advanced the idea that pure (i.e., selfless) altruism occurs under conditions of empathy for a needy other. An egoistic alternative account of this evidence was proposed and tested in our work. We hypothesized that an observer's heightened empathy for a sufferer brings with it increased personal sadness in the observer and that it is the egoistic desire to relieve the sadness, rather than the selfless desire to relieve the sufferer, that motivates helping. Two experiments contrasted predictions from the selfless and egoistic alternatives in the paradigm typically used by Batson and his associates. In the first, an emphatic orientation to a victim increased personal sadness, as expected. Furthermore, when sadness and empathic emotion were separated experimentally, helping was predicted by the levels of sadness subjects were experiencing but not by their empathy scores. In the second experiment, enhanced sadness was again associated with empathy for a victim. However, subjects who were led to perceive that their moods could not be altered through helping (because of the temporary action of a "mood-fixing" placebo drug) were not helpful, despite high levels of empathic emotion. The results were interpreted as providing support for an egoistically based interpretation of helping under conditions of high empathy.

What do first-line nursing managers do?

Appropriate selection and preparation of nursing managers is essential; however, the unclear role descriptions for first-line managers has hindered the selection and preparation process. A specific image of the actual tasks performed by first-line nursing managers provides the information necessary to design a clearer role description and an appropriate educational program for the development of managers.

Self-awareness and transgression in children: two field studies.

Two field studies explored the relationship between self-awareness and transgressive behavior. In the first study, 363 Halloween trick-or-treaters were instructed to only take one candy. Self-awareness induced by the presence of a mirror placed behind the candy bowl decreased transgression rates for children who had been individuated by asking them their name and address, but did not affect the behavior of children left anonymous. Self-awareness influenced older but not younger children. Naturally occurring standards instituted by the behavior of the first child to approach the candy bowl in each group were shown to interact with the experimenter's verbally stated standard. The behavior of 349 subjects in the second study replicated the findings in the first study. Additionally, when no standard was stated by the experimenter, children took more candy when not self-aware than when self-aware.

Effects of altered responsibility, congnitive set, and modeling on physical aggression and deindividuation.

This laboratory investigation using 64 college students as subjects assessed the role of three disinhibiting variables in producing both physical aggression and an internal state of deindividuation. Altered responsibility, congnitive set, and modeling were manipulated in a factorial design, and all three variables significantly increased physical aggression. No interaction produced significant results. The increase due to altered responsibility and varying cognitions supports Zimbardo's theory of deindividuation which relates certain input variables to wild, impulsive behavior. Questionnaire data indicated that the increase in aggression was not accompanied by internal mediational factors such as reduced self-awareness. It appears that disinhibiting forces may produce increases in antisocial behavior without necessarily producing a deindividuated internal state.