Relationship of three field-dependence measures to the reading and math achievement of Anglo American and Mexican American children.

Previous studies relating field dependence to the superior academic achievement of Anglo-American children relative to Mexican-American children have relied exclusively on single-method approaches of measuring this cognitive style. The present study attempted to make a more comprehensive test of the relationship between field dependence and achievement by comparing members of both cultural groups on 3 commonly used measures of field dependence in order to determine the consistency of cross-cultural differences, intercorrelations, and predictive validity of these measures for Anglo-American and Mexican-American schoolchildren. 40 Mexican-American and 40 Anglo-American 1st–4th graders served as Ss and were administered the WISC Block Design subtest, the Children's Embedded Figures Test, and the portable rod-and-frame test. Results generally fail to support the assumptions that (a) Mexican-American children are more field dependent than Anglo-American children, (b) intercorrelations between the 3 field-dependence tests should be significant and comparable for members of both cultural groups, and (c) field dependence is of substantial importance to the school achievement of Anglo-American and Mexican-American children. The educational implications of the findings are discussed. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Success expectancies and the probability learning of children of low and middle socioeconomic status.

Studied lower and middle SES groups each containing 16 children high and 16 low in expectancy of success, as defined by teachers' assessments of the children's general classroom successfulness. SES was not found to influence performance of a 3-choice partially reinforced discrimination learning task. However, low success-rated Ss made more maximizing responses, indicating their willingness to accept a lesser degree of reinforcement, than did high success-rated Ss. SES by Sex interactions indicated the complex determinants of children's probability learning. The findings are related to the issue of homogeneous vs heterogeneous grouping of children in schools. The effects such practices might have on children's success expectancies are discussed. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal conditioning of middle and lower socioeconomic class schizophrenics.

An experiment with 140 male VA hospital patients assessed the verbal conditioning of middle and lower socioeconomic class schizophrenics and normals under conditions of social reinforcement. Ss were reinforced with a positive or negative word said in a positive, negative, or neutral tone of voice. Social class moderated diagnostic group differences in learning. Combining social classes, schizophrenics learned less than normals with reinforcement entailing incongruent word and tone but were equivalent to normals with congruent word/tone reinforcement pairs (i.e., positive word/positive tone and negative word/negative tone). Results are interpreted in terms of the double-bind theory of G. Bateson et al (1956), which views schizophrenic behavior as a response acquired after prolonged exposure to inconsistent patterns of verbal and nonverbal communication. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family status, family constellation, and home environmental variables as predictors of cognitive performance of Mexican American children.

Examined the relative contributions of several family status variables (child and parental language, parental schooling attainment and location, and SES), a family constellation variable (family size), and the Henderson Environmental Learning Process Scale (HELPS) to the prediction of cognitive performance among 140 Mexican-American preschool children (aged 38–71 mo) from low-income backgrounds. Ss were administered the McCarthy Scales of Childrens' Abilities (MSCA). A factor analysis of the family status and constellation variables produced 3 factors. The General Cognitive Index (GCI) of the MSCA was predicted by multiple regression procedures. The 3 status/constellation factors and HELPS served as independent variables. As hypothesized, the best predictor of GCI was HELPS. A Language/Schooling factor made an additional significant contribution to the explained variance. The theoretical and practical implications of including proximal as well as distal background variables in future research on relations between family characteristics and intellectual performance are discussed. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modeling relationships among socioeconomic status, hostility, cardiovascular reactivity, and left ventricular mass in African American and White children.

In African American and White children and adolescents (N?=?147), socioeconomic status (SES) was measured in 2 ways: (a) using neighborhood-level measures of population density, median income, educational attainment, and the number of children born to single mothers and (b) using family-level measures of parents' occupation and education. Structural equation modeling revealed that both lower family SES and lower neighborhood SES were independently associated with greater hostility and consequently greater cardiovascular reactivity to laboratory stressors in African Americans. Independent of neighborhood SES, only lower family SES was associated with greater cardiovascular reactivity in Whites. Heightened cardiovascular reactivity was associated with greater left ventricular mass (LVM) in Whites and marginally greater LVM in African Americans. Results suggest the importance of using multiple indicators of SES and confirm the relationship between SES and LVM in African Americans and Whites, albeit through different pathways. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictive validity of six neurodiagnostic tests: A decision theory analysis.

Investigated different aspects of predictive validity for EEG, skull X ray, brain scan, arteriogram, pneumoencephalogram and the Block Rotation Test. The validation sample was based on cases referred to a Neuropsychology Service from 1964-1968. The criterion distribution, brain disease (B) and no brain disease (F), and the test signs, positive (+) and negative -, were both dichotomized for analysis. The overall hit rate, percentage of valid positives, and strength of predictive association were extremely low for several of the tests. However, the predictive utility reversed appreciably for some of the tests when base-rate information (inverse probabilities) and types-of-error risk (cost efficiency) were computed. Implications for diagnosis in neurology and psychology are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sociopolitical development, work salience, and vocational expectations among low socioeconomic status African American, Latin American, and Asian American youth.

Structural barriers constrain marginalized youths' development of work salience and vocational expectations. Sociopolitical development (SPD), the consciousness of, and motivation to reduce, sociopolitical inequality, may facilitate the negotiation of structural constraints. A structural model of SPD's impact on work salience and vocational expectations was proposed and its generalizability tested among samples of low-socioeconomic-status African American, Latin American, and Asian American youth, with Educational Longitudinal Study data. Measurement and temporal invariance of these constructs was first established before testing the proposed model across the samples. Across the three samples, 10th-grade SPD had significant effects on 10th-grade work salience and vocational expectations; 12th-grade SPD had a significant effect on 12th-grade work salience. Tenth-grade SPD had significant indirect effects on 12th-grade work salience and on 12th-grade vocational expectations for all three samples. These results suggest that SPD facilitates the agentic negotiation of constraints on the development of work salience and vocational expectations. Given the impact of adolescent career development on adult occupational attainment, SPD may also foster social mobility among youth constrained by an inequitable opportunity structure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Potthoff bias analyses of K-ABC MPC and Nonverbal Scale IQs among Anglo, Black, and Puerto Rican kindergarten children.

Bias analyses, via R. F. Potthoff's (1966) regression technique, were conducted to investigate the predictive utility of Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) Mental Processing Composite (MPC) and Nonverbal scale IQs using 65 Anglo, 24 Black, 27 English-dominant Puerto Rican, and 30 Spanish-dominant Puerto Rican kindergarten children (aged 5 yrs through 5 yrs 11 mo) on 4 achievement criteria. Nonverbal scale IQs were poor predictors for English-dominant Puerto Rican Ss. MPC slope and intercept differences underestimated low-scoring Blacks on the teacher-assigned-grades criterion. When significant differences were found during other comparisons, results consistently showed that K-ABC IQs overestimated achievement for the minority Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-concept of white, middle socioeconomic status addicts: a controlled study

Commonalities in the developmental patterns of both narcotic addiction and negative self-attitudes motivated this controlled study of 70 White, middle socioeconomic status (WMSES) addicts and 70 WMSES nonaddicts. The hypothesis that measures of self-attitudes would distinguish addicts from nonaddicts was confirmed with highly significant differences. The hypothesis that antecedent conditions purported to result in positive self-attitudes would distinguish addicts from controls was also supported. Developmental conditions posited as indices of early self-attitudes further discriminated the two groups. A self-reported profile of the WMSES addict was compiled describing drug-use patterns and childhood situations.     

Performance on Piagetian tasks of Black children of differing socioeconomic levels.

233 Black children in Grades 1–6 and from 2 socioeconomic (SES) levels, as determined by eligibility for the school lunch program and parents' occupations, were given 5 Piagetian tasks to determine if differences in SES were associated with differences in cognitive development levels. Measures of reasoning, seriation, classification, causation, and conservation were used. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that in all 5 variables the higher SES Ss performed better than lower SES Ss. The conservation measure showed distinct developmental differences between the high- and low-SES Ss. Examination of the means suggested only a small difference in developmental level between the SES groups on the other tasks. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cost-effectiveness of detecting breast cancer in lower socioeconomic status African American and Hispanic women through mobile mammography services

A new method based on jackknifing is presented for measuring the difference between two conditions in the onset latencies of the lateralized readiness potential (LRP). The method can be used with both stimulus- and response-locked LRPs, and simulations indicate that it provides accurate estimates of onset latency differences in many common experimental conditions.     

Neuropsychological deficit, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.

The results of a community study dealing with the ecological distribution of intellectual and various perceptual-motor deficits, presumed to be functionally related to neurological status, are presented. Ss were 158 White and 60 Black 3rd graders of public and parochial schools. Measures included a parents' questionnaire, school achievement data, behavioral ratings, and such tests as the Culture Fair Intelligence Test, Wepman Auditory Discrimination Test, and the Bender Gestalt Test. Results suggest that levels of neurological integrity vary along a socioeconomic gradient and between ethnic groups. An environmentally based model of social causation is presented as the most appropriate explanation of the patterned distribution of neurological pathology across social class and ethnic-group lines. This model focuses on such factors as malnutrition/undernutrition, adverse conditions of environmental stimulation, inadequate obstetrical and pediatric care, and environmental deterioration. (105 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The DSM-IV construct of cocaine dependence in a treatment sample of Black, Mexican American, and White men.

The unidimensionality of the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-lV) construct of cocaine dependence was examined among 263 Black, 212 Mexican American, and 256 White men admitted consecutively to 5 substance abuse treatment programs in the Bay Area of northern California. Interviews of about 1 hr were conducted in the programs' facilities by trained interviewers who used a standardized questionnaire. Results of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) generally supported a unidimensional model of the 7 indicators of DSM-IV cocaine dependence across the men in all 3 ethnic groups. The results of the CFA, latent trait analysis, and latent class analysis suggested that the indicator representing health problems from cocaine use may not be as useful as the other criteria for identifying cocaine dependence. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex identity in American children: Memory, knowledge, and preference tests.

Tested recall, knowledge and preference for masculine and feminine items in 240 US 5- and 8-yr-old white boys and girls from working-class and professional middle-class families. Ss recalled, knew, and preferred same-sex items significantly more than opposite-sex items. Girls' scores were less rigidly sex typed than were boys'. Older Ss showed greater stereotypy in preference tests than did younger ones. Sex differences in preference scores of older Ss were greater in the working than in the middle class. Compared with data for English 5 yr olds, US girls appeared less sex typed than did their English counterparts and accounted for the predicted decrease in sex polarity of preference scores. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictive validity of cocaine, sedative, and alcohol dependence diagnoses.

This study examined the predictive validity of Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-III-Revised (DSM-III-R) (R. L. Spitzer et al, 1990) based substance dependence diagnoses (i.e., cocaine, sedative, and alcohol) for 518 opioid-dependent outpatients entering methadone maintenance. Patients were followed over 1 year of treatment, which involved daily methadone substitution supplemented by individual and group counseling. Urine specimens were tested randomly 1–4 times per month. Patients diagnosed with current cocaine, sedative, or alcohol dependence were more likely to use these drugs than were patients with past only or no dependence syndrome. Current cocaine dependence predicted early treatment dropout. The results demonstrate the predictive and discriminant validity of several substance dependence diagnoses common among patients in substance abuse or other psychiatric treatment settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differentiation of abilities, socioeconomic status, and the WISC.

The study investigated the effect of an increase in age on the factor structures of the subtests of the WISC, and the relationship between subtest scores and socioeconomic status (SES). The scores of 70 Ss, tested at ages 10 and 12, were factor analyzed and structures at the 2 age levels compared. The sample was also divided into high and low SES groups, and subtest means calculated for each group. At both age levels, between-group mean differences were significant at or beyond the .05 level of confidence in the case of verbal subtests, while factor structures, which were similar, indicated a trend towards integration of abilities. The structures defined 2 main factors, identified as verbal and performance IQ, respectively. (31 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Subjective social status, objective socioeconomic status, and cardiovascular risk in women.

Objective: Subjective perceptions of personal social status may relate to health beyond the effects of objective socioeconomic status (SES). The authors examined the relationship between subjective social status (SSS) and psychosocial, behavioral, and physical cardiovascular risk factors in middle-aged women. Design: Ninety-two women (90.2% White) completed ladder-based, pictorial self-report measures of SSS relative to others in their community and in the United States. Psychosocial measures of depression, anxiety, pessimism, stress, and social support and behavioral risk factors of fruit and vegetable consumption, leisure physical activity, and body-mass index were obtained. In addition, women underwent measurement of clinic blood pressure and assessment of daytime ambulatory systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP; DBP) over 2 consecutive days. Results: Community SSS was significantly inversely related to anxiety, pessimism, stress, and daytime ambulatory DBP after controlling for objective SES and U.S. SSS. Women with lower U.S. SSS showed less healthy dietary and exercise behaviors and, contrary to predictions, lower clinic and ambulatory DBP. Conclusion: This study provides additional evidence that perceptions of one's position in the social hierarchy could have important health implications beyond the impact of objective SES. Further, the cardiovascular risk implications of perceived community versus U.S. social status appear to be distinct. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Birth order, discrimination in admissions, and socioeconomic status.

Contends D. P. Campbell (see record 1972-11560-001) neglected an explanation for the finding that highly educated occupations have much higher proportions of firstborn children; this explanation could have been deduced from certain sociological generalizations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Culture, socioeconomic status, and coronary heart disease risk factors in an African American community

In this paper, cultural influences are examined in the relationship between socioeconomic status and health. Cultural definitions of material lifestyles are investigated as a correlate of disease risk in an African American community in the rural South. A new technique--called "cultural consensus analysis"--is used to test for a cultural model of lifestyles indicative of success. Survey data are then used to operationalize the degree to which individuals adhere in their own behavior to that cultural model; this measure is referred to as "cultural consonance in lifestyle." Cultural consonance in lifestyle is more strongly associated with hypertension and smoking (but not serum lipids) than are conventional measures of socioeconomic status (occupation, income, and education). These results suggest that the extent to which individuals are unable to live in accordance with cultural norms regarding lifestyles may contribute to the risk of coronary heart disease in the African American community.     

Relationship of family constellation and schooling to intellectual performance of Mexican American children.

The relationship of 13 family constellation and sociocultural variables to intellectual performance was examined for a sample of 190 Mexican-American preschool children from low-income families. Variables were reduced through a factor analysis that produced 4 independent variables. Intellectual performance was then predicted using an MAXR stepwise multiple regression procedure that generates a new model for each variable entered. The best single-factor predictor on intellectual performance, as measured by the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities, was a language/schooling factor that consisted of language of child and parents, parents' schooling attainment, and country (Mexico or the US) in which parents were educated. The best 2-factor model added socioeconomic status to the prediction. Family constellation, consisting of family size and birth order, constituted a clearly separate and distinct factor that contributed less than 3% of the variance in intellectual performance. The relationship of cultural variations to predictions based on the confluence model of R. Zajonc and G. B. Markus (1976) is discussed. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)