Robert R. Sears (1908–1989).

Presents an obituary for Robert R. Sears. Robert Richardson Sears, David Starr Jordan professor of psychology at Stanford University, chair of the Department of Psychology, 1953-1961, dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences, 1961-1970, and organizer and first head at Stanford of the Boys' Town Center for Youth Development, now known as the Center for the Study of Children, Youth, and Families, died at his home in Menlo Park, California, on May 22, 1989. Born in Palo Alto on August 31, 1908, he was 80 at the time of his death. During a period of failing health in his last year, he continued with his professional writing as best he could. He is survived by his wife, Pauline Snedden Sears, following 57 years of married life, and two grown children, David O. Sears and Nancy Sears Barker, plus six grandchildren. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of response patterns on the "refined empathy score."

"The refined empathy score, although controlling for similarity, is still an unsatisfactory measure of empathic ability. The patterns of response, previously unperceived, act through the scoring system to influence to a large extent, the refined empathy score. A subject receives a high empathy score, not necessarily because of his high empathic ability, but because of his pattern of response and the pattern of response of the associate whom he chooses." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

They saw a game; a case study.

When the Dartmouth football team played Princeton in 1951, much controversy was generated over what actually took place during the game. Basically, there was disagreement between the two schools as to what had happened during the game. A questionnaire designed to get reactions to the game and to learn something of the climate of opinion was administered at each school and the same motion picture of the game was shown to a sample of undergraduate at each school, followed by another questionnnaire. Results indicate that the "game" was actually many different games and that each version of the events that transpired was just as "real" to a particular person as other versions were to other people. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acknowledgement of handicap as a tactic in social interaction.

Nonhandicapped people often report discomfort and uncertainty when interacting with handicapped individuals. Three studies, using a total of 160 nonhandicapped undergraduates, investigated a possible tactic that handicapped people could use to reduce a fellow interactant's discomfort and uncertainty. Ss watched 2 videotapes of handicapped individuals being interviewed. Ss then chose the handicapped person with whom they would prefer to work on a cooperative task. Results of all 3 studies support the hypothesis that a handicapped person who acknowledges the handicap will be preferred to a handicapped person who does not. In Study 1, Ss significantly preferred a handicapped person who acknowledged the handicap to a handicapped person who did not disclose anything personal. In Study 2, Ss significantly preferred an acknowledging person over one who made a personal disclosure other than about the handicap. In Study 3, Ss preferred the individual acknowledging a handicap over one who disclosed something else personal even when the acknowledging individual was clearly nervous about doing so. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Quinn McNemar (1900–1986).

Quinn McNemar, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Statistics, and Education at Stanford University, with his primary base in the Department of Psychology, died on July 3, 1986. Born on February 20, 1900, he was 86 at the time of his death. He had retired at the age of 65 after long years of service at Stanford and spent an additional five years as Professor of Psychology and Education at the University of Texas, Austin. He then returned to reside again in Palo Alto until his death. His widow, Olga, who had a PhD in psychology from Columbia University, was long associated with him in his professional work and survived him after their marriage of 55 years. His status as a psychologist was recognized by his election to the presidency of the American Psychological Association to serve in the year 1963-1964. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)