Effectiveness of a study skills course for students of different academic achievement levels and personality types.

Classified 61 undergraduates voluntarily enrolled in a study skills course as (a) judgers or perceivers according to their scores on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and (b) underachieving or academically apprehensive by comparing their actual with predicted GPA. Precourse differences between judgers and perceivers and underachievers and academically apprehensive students were expected on measures of study skills knowledge, use, and GPA but not on a measure of adjustment problems. Differences between judgers and perceivers and academically apprehensive and underachieving students were expected at the end of the course. Multivariate ANOVAs supported the predictions of precourse differences, but the pattern of the differences was not the same for students of different personality types and academic achievement levels. When precourse differences were eliminated via covariance, no significant multivariate F ratios were found, although significant univariate interactions occurred on the measure of study skills use. The overall effectiveness of the course was supported. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interrelationship of study skills and personality variables in college students.

Although training in improved study skills is an important function of counseling center personnel, study skills are typically perceived as cognitive skills unrelated to other aspects of functioning. This study was undertaken to determine the relationship of study skills (i.e., study habits and attitudes), as measured by the Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes, to personality variables, as measured by the California Psychological Inventory. Data from 201 freshmen (correlational, contrasted groups, and factor analyses) clearly indicate the complex interdependence of study skills with personality factors and the need to take the latter into consideration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effectiveness of a parenting skills program for parents of middle school students in small communities.

This study provides evidence of the effectiveness of behaviorally based parenting skills provided by carefully trained and supervised group leaders who were not mental health clinicians. A program for parents of at-risk middle school students was evaluated in a randomized controlled trial in 8 small Oregon communities. Parents (N?=?303) were randomly assigned to immediate treatment or a wait-list condition. Data were analyzed using latent growth modeling. Participation in the program led to significant improvements in problem-solving interactions as indicated by parent reports and a Taped Situations Test. Parents' overreactivity and laxness toward their children's behavior were reduced and their feelings toward their children improved significantly as a function of treatment. Parent-reported child antisocial behavior was also reduced. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparisons of creative styles and personality types between American and Taiwanese college students and the relationship between creative potential and personality types.

The purpose of the study was to compare differences in creative styles (Kirton, 1976) and personality types between Americans and Taiwanese and to examine the relationships among various personality types and creative potential. Creative potential was measured by the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking-Figural, and personality types were measured by the Keirsey Temperament Sorter II. Ninety-three American and 76 Taiwanese college students specializing in teacher education participated in this study. The results indicated that Americans are more adaptively creative than Taiwanese, whereas there is no difference between the two groups in Innovative creative style. The results also indicated that there are significant relationships between Adaptive creative style and Intuition, between Creative Strengths and Intuition, and between Creative Strengths and Perceiving. It is concluded that there is a cultural difference in creative potential and personality types and that there are relationships between particular subscales of creativity and personality types. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal skills training for premedical students.

Premedical students participated in a 2?-hr orientation to 1 of 2 programs of communication-skills training: Interpersonal Process Recall or Human Relations Training. Ss were assessed on personality characteristics with the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale, Adjective Check List, and a scale measuring intolerance of ambiguity before the orientation session; following the session they indicated the perceived effectiveness of and satisfaction with the 2 programs. Although both programs were very positively evaluated by Ss, anxious and defensive Ss perceived the Interpersonal Process Recall program as potentially more effective and satisfying. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality differentiation, effectiveness of personality integration, and mood in female college students.

Personality differentiation was measured by an index computed from 72 female undergraduates' rod-and-frame test and Embedded Figures Test scores. Effectiveness of personality integration was measured by the Ego Identity Incomplete Sentences Blank. Personal Feelings scales were used as the mood assessment instrument. The final sample of 31 Ss rated their moods 3 times daily on each of the 16 Personal Feelings scales for 33 consecutive days. Measures of 3 characteristics of mood—affective complexity, mood level, and mood variability—were constructed by factor analysis of mood-rating records. Psychological differentiation theory was used to generate hypotheses concerning mood/personality relationships. Results indicate that (a) greater personality differentiation was associated with less affective complexity; (b) neither personality differentiation nor effectiveness of personality integration was significantly associated with mood level; and (c) greater effectiveness of personality integration was associated with less mood variability. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The process of becoming a supervisor for students in a doctoral supervision training course.

This qualitative, longitudinal study explored the experiences of 6 counseling psychology doctoral students engaged in an 8-month supervision training course. In-depth, tape-recorded face-to-face interviews were conducted at the beginning, middle, and end of the course to assess how these supervisors-in-training experienced the process of becoming clinical supervisors. Themes that were common to participants were identified through phenomenological data analysis and described for each of the 3 interview sets. The perceived importance of participants’ relationships with the supervisees and their senior supervisor throughout the course, as well as the common themes, are discussed in terms of implications for supervisor training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effectiveness of a question-exploration routine for enhancing the content learning of secondary students.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a question-exploration routine and an associated graphic organizer on students' ability to think about and answer complex questions. Participants were 116 students of diverse abilities in seven 7th grade classes. The effects of the routine were compared with the effects of a traditional lecture-discussion format using a counterbalanced design. The measure, composed of matching, multiple-choice, and short-answer questions, assessed students' knowledge and comprehension of facts, main ideas, and relationships that require higher order thinking. Overall, significant differences representing large to very large effect sizes were found between the total test scores of students in the 2 groups. Specifically, students taught using the question-exploration routine earned higher total test scores than did students taught using the lecture-discussion method. Similar differences were found for matching, multiple-choice, and short-answer items. The scores earned by subgroups of students (high achievers, average achievers, low achievers, and students with disabilities) followed the same general pattern. Students in all subgroups had more difficulty conveying main ideas in writing than in multiple-choice formats. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multidimensional ratings of teaching effectiveness by students from different academic settings and their relation to student/course/instructor characteristics.

Students' responses to the Students' Evaluation of Education Quality (SEEQ) survey were collected in 4,471 graduate and undergraduate courses, and these courses were separated into groups representing diverse academic disciplines and settings. Separate factor analyses of 6 groups of courses each clearly identified the evaluation factors that SEEQ was designed to measure, demonstrating the replicability and generality of the factors. The SEEQ factors were then correlated with a set of 16 student/course/instructor characteristics (e.g., class size, expected grades, teacher rank) in each group of courses. These correlations were typically small, and proportion of variance in the ratings that could be predicted by the combined set of characteristics (based on stepwise multiple regression) varied between .08 and .20 in the 6 groups of courses. Most of the predictable variance in each group of courses could be explained by the same 4 characteristics; more favorable ratings were associated with higher prior subject interest, higher expected grades, higher levels of workload/difficulty, and a higher percentage of students taking a course for general interest. Discussion indicates that the interpretation of these effects as a bias to student ratings is unwarranted, and alternative approaches are presented. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Further validation of antisocial personality types.

Describes more fully the 7 delinquent personality types previously derived by J. Kulik, K. Stein, and T. Sarbin (see record 1968-17429-001). Personality types were based on the scores of 346 institutionalized delinquent boys on 4 dimensions: delinquent role, drug usage, parental defiance, and assaultiveness. Validation was tested in relation to 5 classes of psychological and social variables: family relations, verbal and intellectual achievement, self-acceptance, delinquency, and miscellaneous. A 3-yr follow-up of police records as a measure of recidivism was included. Significant findings were utilized as definitional characteristics in describing each of the 7 types. Several general findings emerged: (a) a combination of typological pattern and magnitude of dimensional scores rather than either factor alone was a better predictor of future recidivism; and (b) among milder delinquent types, race may be operating as a bias in determining incarceration. Future research on the problem of discovering differential methods of intervention and behavior change in relation to the 7 types is discussed. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The development of a course in basic physical examination skills

Basic clinical skills of most medical school undergraduates continue unobserved and deficiencies have been detected in a significant number of physicians during residency. Nevertheless, our health care system is calling for competent graduates with solid basic clinical skills and a larger representation of qualified generalists in the increasingly important managed care environment. The need for a better introduction to Clinical Skills course was identified by students and clinical faculty at Ponce School of Medicine. In response to these concerns a new curriculum was developed with clear objectives, effective instructional strategies, and performance-based evaluation, with adult learning principles as its framework. The musculoskeletal examination unit of the curriculum was pilot tested and the course evaluation strategies revealed satisfaction with objectives, instructional and evaluation strategies, as well as improved confidence, and sense of usefulness for the learned skills. A curriculum in basic clinical skills that incorporates adult learning principles with solid instructional strategies can increase the confidence and skills of the learners and should lead to improved outcomes.     

Efficacy of brief coping skills interventions that match different personality profiles of female substance abusers.

Female substance abusers recruited from the community were randomly assigned to receive 1 of 3 brief interventions that differentially targeted their personality and reasons for drug use. The 90-min interventions were: (a) a motivation-matched intervention involving personality-specific motivational and coping skills training, (b) a motivational control intervention involving a motivational film and a supportive discussion with a therapist, and (c) a motivation-mismatched intervention targeting a theoretically different personality profile. Assessment 6 months later (N?=?198) indicated that only the matched intervention proved to be more effective than the motivational control intervention in reducing frequency and severity of problematic alcohol and drug use and preventing use of multiple medical services. These findings indicate promise for a client-treatment matching strategy that focuses on personality-specific motives for substance abuse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Holland personality types and academic achievement.

J. Holland (1973) viewed vocational choices, preferences, and achievements as functions of personality and contended that individuals can be categorized into 1 of 6 basic personality types: realistic (R), investigative (I), artistic (A), social (S), enterprising (E), and conventional (C). Holland's primary code types for 323 male and 352 female college freshman were assessed using the 6 General Occupational Theme scale scores of the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory. First-semester GPAs for each code type and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores served as criterion indices. Mixed support merged for Holland's prediction. Using primary personality types alone as the predictor of 1st-semester college GPA had some validity for males only. Although both I, S, A, and C males and females achieved the highest GPAs, the observed ordering of the groups did not conform with Holland's prediction. When SAT Total scores were examined, differences among the types emerged for both sexes. On this variable, I and A males achieved higher scores than S, E, or Tied types. Analogous with the GPA findings, A males appeared superior to the R types, whom Holland predicted to be the lowest achievers. I females obtained the highest mean SAT Total score, as predicted by Holland. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A basic psychology course for engineering students.

Describes a course in Psychology of Human Relations required of all junior engineering students. The course is problem-centered with attention to the kind of problems apt to be met by professional engineers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of congruity between parental personality types on offspring's personality development.

Tested J. L. Holland's (1973) hypothesis that individual parents' personality types encourage similar personality development in offspring, focusing on the development of offspring personality types when both parents possess the same personality type. Personality types were determined according to occupational choices. Female offspring tended to develop personality types more congruent with their parental-pair type. The degrees of congruence between male offspring and their parents' personality types conformed to chance expectation. Findings are discussed in terms of cultural sex role expectations and implications for exploration in career counseling. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality characteristics of successful college students who enroll in study skills courses.

Administered the Interpersonal Check List to 27 male and 25 female undergraduates without previous evidence of underachievement who were enrolled in a study skills course and 29 male and 27 female undergraduate controls. Experimental Ss were found to be low in self-acceptance and felt disappointed in and alienated from one or both parents. Results suggest sex differences in how experimental males and females perceive their parents. Findings are compared to those of previous research with underachievers. (25 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Autobiographies of college students as a teaching and research tool in the study of personality development.

Describes an undergraduate psychology project using students' autobiographies. The purpose of the project was to provide materials to illustrate the organization and development of personality. The autobiographies provided a holistic, subjective sketch of the individual more so than did the profile of scores from standardized tests. Implications for personality research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Training clinical students in personality theory.

In training graduate clinical psychology students at the University of North Dakota, "Using Hall and Lindzey's Theories of Personality as a basic text, the student studies each of the major theorists and is required to write a confidential personality evaluation of himself within the framework of the theory under consideration… . Aside from making the course more meaningful personally, students are found to become more introspective and to raise questions about their role in the clinical situation without ever having been exposed to such notions as counter-transference in any formal sense. The positive transfer to the course in projective techniques is also noteworthy." The student seems to approach clinical report writing in a more mature manner; he recognizes the advantages and inadequacies of a variety of personality theories. "To us it seems that a course in personality theory is one of the most fundamental in the training of clinical psychologists and can be enriched by relating the formulations of various theorists to the personal life of the student." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effectiveness of a school-based curriculum for reducing violence among urban sixth-grade students

OBJECTIVES: In this study, we examine the impact of a school-based curriculum designed to reduce violence among urban sixth-grade students. METHODS: This study used a staggered implementation design in which sixth-graders in six middle schools were taught an 18-session violence-prevention curriculum during either the fall or spring semester. Outcome measures were completed at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year. RESULTS: For boys, participation in the program during the fall resulted in significant posintervention differences in the self-reported frequency of violence and several other problem behaviors. Most of these differences were maintained at the end of the school year. Girls, in contrast, did not appear to benefit from the program. CONCLUSION: These results support the use of a school-based curriculum for reducing violence among sixth-grade boys. They also underscore the importance of early intervention and the necessity of examining gender effects in evaluating such programs.     

Alcoholic personality types: Identification and correlates.

Conducted a study (a) to identify the existence of distinct personality types among 282 white male alcoholic psychiatric patients and (b) to relate this empirically derived taxonomy to types from previous research with alcoholic patients and to general psychiatric types. Employing a sequential factor-analytic strategy, 8 bipolar typal dimensions that defined 1 cluster of persons at each pole of each dimension were identified. The 5 clearest bipolar typal dimensions were classified as follows: (a) acute anxiety vs denial and blunted affect, (b) antisocial attitudes vs hypochondriacal preoccupation, (c) hostile-hallucinatory syndrome vs neurotic depression, (d) neurotic disorganization vs hostile paranoid, and (e) emotional instability vs interpersonal conflict and depression. MMPI profiles from prior research with a variety of psychiatric groups showed marked correspondence with MMPI profiles estimated for the 8 common types. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)