Arthur A. Dole

Life goals and plan determinants reported by black and white high school seniors

Abstract Black secondary school seniors were compared with their white peers on motivational patterns in posthigh school plans and life goals. Subjects, all members of the 1970 graduating class in a small urban high school, included 34 black males, 32 black females, 119 white males and 157 white females. The investigation replicated a pilot study of the 1969 class. Variables included eight reported determinants of posthigh school plans and 29 categories of the Vocational Sentence Completion Blank. Significant differences as a function of sex were more frequent than those attributable to race.

Prediction of Performance in a Doctoral Education Program by the Graduate Record Examinations and Other Measures

Averaged rankings by faculty members on scholarship and professionalism were used as criterion variables for 61 doctoral recipients. A function of the age at entrance into the program was highly negatively related to both criteria. Undergraduate and graduate grade-point averages showed statistically significant validities of moderate magnitude. The scores from the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) Aptitude Test and Advanced Education Test gave somewhat lower correlations than did the grade-point averages. Use of the GRE for various purposes is discussed.

Some conceptions of the new age

To verify and supplement a series of quantitative studies of attitudes about the New Age in which 143 panelists were surveyed, I analyzed qualitatively 86 comments. In general, findings were consistent with those yielded by statistical analyses. An expert panel was more tolerant of terms, practices, and beliefs than a panel of critics. Many respondents characterized the New Age as complex, diverse, and eclectic. When I examined those comments that were concerned with the survey itself, I classified them as predominantly unfavorable, with most charging ambiguity of items and bias on the part of the investigators. When I inspected the comments for frequent topics, those with off-beat religious preferences were more favorable to the New Age than those with traditional preferences. Positive suggestions, expressions of tolerance, and other remarks were noted. I concluded that skeptics and anti-cult specialists may have to change their conceptions of the New Age.To verify and supplement a series of quantitative studies of attitudes about the New Age in which 143 panelists were surveyed, I analyzed qualitatively 86 comments. In general, findings were consistent with those yielded by statistical analyses. An expert panel was more tolerant of terms, practices, and beliefs than a panel of critics. Many respondents characterized the New Age as complex, diverse, and eclectic. When I examined those comments that were concerned with the survey itself, I classified them as predominantly unfavorable, with most charging ambiguity of items and bias on the part of the investigators. When I inspected the comments for frequent topics, those with off-beat religious preferences were more favorable to the New Age than those with traditional preferences. Positive suggestions, expressions of tolerance, and other remarks were noted. I concluded that skeptics and anti-cult specialists may have to change their conceptions of the New Age.

WHAT DO EMPLOYERS WANT: FUNCTIONS, KNOWLEDGE AREAS, AND CHARACTERISTICS DESIRED OF PROFESSIONAL PSYCHOLOGISTS

To determine what they prefer when they select a psychologist, we surveyed a sample of 105 administrators in the Philadelphia area. Most respondents held doctorates in clinical, counseling, or school psychology. Preferences for functions, areas of knowledge, and characteristics suggested discrepancies with APA standards for training. There was only moderate support for a scientific, quantitative orientation. Factor analyses identified six functions, six areas of knowledge, and two characteristics. Treated as composites, the intercorrelations suggested a further reduction into a practitioner-oriented and a scientist-oriented pattern. Over-all, respondents rated highest the personal characteristics of a practitioner (rather than scientist), knowledge of human development and of psychodiagnostics, and the appraisal function. When 10 selected agency characteristics were analyzed by composite scores, sponsorship of setting and typical age range of clientele accounted for the most differences. Implications for the professional identity of the major specializations, for education, and for practice were discussed.

Moon Over Academe

The authors consider critically the Annual International Conference of the Unity of the Sciences (ICUS) sponsored by S.M. Moon. Thirty eminent scientists who had endorsed ICUS responded to a personal letter. By analyzing their replies systematically, we identified their rationales in the face of anti-cult publicity. Our experiences represent a case history in the calculated misapplication of the principles of open expression, religious freedom, and the search for values.

Life goals and academic interests as predictors of extracurricular activities of secondary school sophomores

Abstract The life goals and interests of eighth-graders were examined in relation to their reported extracurricular activities in secondary school. In 1969, 204 females and 178 males, attending three feeder schools, completed the Vocational Sentence Completion Blank, a semiprojective measure of life goals, values, quests, aspirations hopes, preferences, and concerns. For the Milwaukee Academic Interest Inventory, which measures curricular interests, the complete test records of 183 females and 150 males were available. In 1971, all subjects reported about their participation in six secondary school activities. Approximately two-thirds of the 29 VSCB categories and all 7 MAII variables were predictive at a low level of association. The statistically significant relations between eighth-grade predictors and specific extracurricular activities in the first year of secondary school seemed reasonable. Implications for adolescent development were discussed.

Characteristics of Male Disciplinary Students at a Catholic University.

This study examined selected measures of demographic, social, and academic characteristics for a male disciplinary population at Villanova University, to determine the usefulness of these variables in predicting membership in a disciplinary group from one graduating class to the next. The step wise multiple regression analysis showed that the predictability of these measures for this population was minimal.