The big-fish-little-pond effect on academic self-concept.

Marsh and Parker (1984) described the big-fish–little-pond effect ({bflpe}), whereby equally able students have lower academic self-concepts in high-ability schools than in low-ability schools. The present investigation, a reanalysis of the Youth in Transition data, supported the generality of the earlier findings and demonstrated new theoretical implications of the {bflpe}. First, differences in the academic self-concepts of Black and White students, sometimes assumed to represent response biases, were explicable in terms of the {bflpe}. Second, equally able students earned higher grades in lower ability schools. This frame-of-reference effect for grades was distinct from, but contributed to, the {bflpe} for academic self-concept. Third, a longitudinal analysis demonstrated that academic self-concept had a direct effect on subsequent school performance beyond the effects of academic ability and prior school performance. About one quarter of this effect could be explained in terms of the {bflpe}. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Composite Index of Compliance for Chronic In‐Center Hemodialysis Patients

We developed a composite compliance index as the sum of the compliance scores for interdialytic weight gain (IDWG), pre‐dialysis serum potassium and phosphorus concentrations (each scored from zero to 3, with 3 indicating the poorest compliance), and skipping hemodialysis sessions (scored from zero to 9, with 9 indicating the poorest compliance). We used this composite score to prospectively evaluate compliance in 25 prevalent hemodialysis patients over a period of 1 year. We then followed these patients for another 3.5 years. The patients studied were divided into two groups: group A (poor compliance) consisted of 9 subjects with composite score ≥ 9 (13.2 ± 3.2); group B (better compliance) consisted of 16 subjects with composite score < 9 (4.7 ± 1.8). Age, duration of hemodialysis, and frequency of diabetes mellitus did not differ between the groups. Group A contained higher fractions of subjects with history of alcoholism (66.7% vs 12.5%, p = 0.010), other substance addiction (44.4% vs 0%, p = 0.010), and severe psychosocial problems (88.9% vs 18.8%, p = 0.002). Mean survival from the beginning of observation, estimated by actuarial life‐table survival analysis, was 1.19 years in group A and 2.60 years in group B (p = 0.0265). A composite compliance index incorporating domains indicating adherence to diet, medications, and dialysis schedule identified other behavioral problems in poorly compliant patients. Hemodialysis patients characterized by this composite index as poorly compliant had shortened survival.     

Thirty years later: Attitudes toward the employment of older workers.

Replicated W. K. Kirchner and M. D. Dunnette's (see record 1955-03161-001) study on attitudes toward older workers with 71 male and 5 female hourly employees (aged 18–61 yrs) and 22 male supervisors (aged 27–63 yrs) of a nonunion manufacturing plant. Ss completed a questionnaire that was nearly identical to the one administered in the Kirchner and Dunnette study. Results are similar to those obtained in the earlier study: Hourly workers held more positive attitudes toward older employees than did supervisors, and attitude score correlated strongly with the age of hourly workers but not with the age of supervisors. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Big-Fish--Little-Pond effect on academic self-concept: A cross-cultural (26-country) test of the negative effects of academically selective schools.

Academically selective schools are intended to affect academic self-concept positively, but theoretical and empirical research demonstrates that the effects are negative. The big-fish--little-pond effect (BFLPE), an application of social comparison theory to educational settings, posits that a student will have a lower academic self-concept in an academically selective school than in a nonselective school. This study, the largest cross-cultural study of the BFLPE ever undertaken, tested theoretical predictions for nationally representative samples of approximately 4,000 15-year-olds from each of 26 countries (N=103,558) who completed the same self-concept instrument and achievement tests. Consistent with the BFLPE, the effects of school-average achievement were negative in all 26 countries (M beta=-.20, SD=.08), demonstrating the BFLPE's cross-cultural generalizability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of Undrained Sinkhole Collapse

Sinkholes are surface depressions or shafts resulting from the collapse of a submerged cavity in soil. The cavities that lead to sinkholes form as a result of underlying geology in limestone areas, or as a result of human activity such as mining or leakage from a sewer. The formation of sinkholes is often sudden and can lead to extensive damage and loss of life, especially in urban areas. Much of the literature on the subject of sinkhole formation is empirical in nature, often being associated with specific locations. This paper presents the results of a study, using numerical modeling, of the undrained stability of the submerged cavities that lead to sinkhole formation. Finite-element limit analysis techniques (using programs developed at the University of Newcastle) are used to obtain upper and lower bound values of a suitable load parameter, which bracket the exact solution. The results are compared to analytical solutions, both from literature and derived independently.     

One Hundred Years of Social Psychology Quantitatively Described.

This article compiles results from a century of social psychological research, more than 25,000 studies of 8 million people. A large number of social psychological conclusions are listed alongside meta-analytic information about the magnitude and variability of the corresponding effects. References to 322 meta-analyses of social psychological phenomena are presented, as well as statistical effect-size summaries. Analyses reveal that social psychological effects typically yield a value of r equal to .21 and that, in the typical research literature, effects vary from study to study in ways that produce a standard deviation in r of .15. Uses, limitations, and implications of this large-scale compilation are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

WAIS-R Information subtest item bias for Canadian high school students.

The WAIS-R Information subtest was combined with 21 potential substitute Canadian content items and group-administered to 119 high school students ranging in age from 16 to 19 years. Seven acceptable substitute items were identified. Mean scores on the American items for the 16-17 and 18-19 age groups suggested that Canadians of these ages are not penalized by American content with respect to either Verbal or Full Scale IQ. Nevertheless, the research identified eight Information items, four easier and four more difficult than the standard WAIS-R implies. Similar results were noted in two previous studies of the WAIS-R, and indicate the extreme caution required for the clinical interpretation of intra test scatter. There is also evidence that item difficulty within the Information subtest may vary with the age of the subject. These results were considered indicative of the necessity for Canadian content Information items and the development of Canadian norms for an adapted WAIS-R Information subtest. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alliance and Dropout in Family Therapy for Adolescents With Behavior Problems: Individual and Systemic Effects.

This study examined the relationship between alliance and retention in family therapy. Alliance was examined at the individual (parent and adolescent) and family levels (within-family differences). Participants were 34 families who received functional family therapy for the treatment of adolescent (aged 12-18 years) behavior problems. Families were classified as treatment dropouts (n=14) or completers (n=20). Videotapes of the first sessions were rated to identify parent and adolescent alliances with the therapist. Results demonstrated that individual parent and adolescent alliances did not predict retention. However, as hypothesized, dropout cases had significantly higher unbalanced alliances (parent minus adolescent) than did completer cases. These findings highlight the importance of alliances in functional family therapy and suggest that how the alliance operates in conjoint family therapy may be a function of systemic rather than of individual processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)