Jay Hewitt

The Effect of Competency Restoration Training on Defendants With Mental Retardation Found Not Competent to Proceed

The present investigation focused on the reevaluations of “competency to stand trial” (CST) of 75 criminal defendants with mental retardation (MR) who were originally found incompetent and who were referred for treatment. The effect of competency restoration training was examined. Site of training was also investigated. Because habilitation facilities are specially designed to help individuals with MR, it was suspected that training at habilitation centers would have a greater effect on restoration of defendants with MR than the training at state hospitals. Results showed that significantly more defendants did not gain competency following training than those who did. Analysis revealed that (a) higher IQ and (b) being African American rather than Caucasian American were predictive of restoration. When discriminating factors were held constant, site of training did not significantly affect competency restoration. Possible explanations for this finding were discussed.

Self-esteem, need for approval, and reactions to personal evaluations

Abstract In accordance with theoretical predictions concerning the reactions of high and low self-esteem individuals, S s with low self-esteem scores showed an increase in liking for a positive evaluator of self and a decrease in liking for a negative evaluator of self. S s with high self-esteem scores and low Marlowe-Crowne scores did not show a significant change in liking for either a positive or negative evaluator of self. S s with high self-esteem scores and high Marlowe-Crowne scores showed a pattern of reaction similar to that of low self-esteem S s. It was suggested that a sizable percentage of high self-esteem scorers should be reclassified as low self-esteem. This subgroup seems to obtain high scores on a self-esteem inventory by presenting themselves in an overly favorable as opposed to honest manner (the defining characteristic of a high Marlowe-Crowne scorer) but shows behavior patterns similar to low self-esteem individuals.

EXAMINING THE HALO EFFECT OF PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS

Photographs were taken of unattractive female confederates. After professional make-up work and hairstyling, photographs of these individuals were re-taken. Independent evidence was gathered to support the classifications “unattractive” and “attractive” as describing the pre-post conditions. 167 subjects were shown these photographs and rated or rank-ordered the stimulus figures on a variety of dimensions. Interpersonal attraction covaried with physical attractiveness but there was no tendency to attribute more positive personality traits to physically attractive individuals. The results were similar to those of one prior study which also involved an experimental manipulation of physical attractiveness.

Differential reaction to touch by men and women.

An experimenter placed biofeedback electrodes on seven different locations of each subjects body. The electrodes were held in place by the experimenter for 2 min. (at each location) after which the subject rated his or her degree of comfort-relaxation. A three-factor design was employed in which the variables were touch type (hand top, forearm top and bottom, upper-arm top and bottom, shoulder, back), sex of subject, and sex of experimenter. It was assumed that males would react more adversely to same-sex touch than would females when the type of touch was typical of female-female interactions (hand or arm touch) but not when the touch was typical of male-male interactions (shoulder or back touch). Results were consistent with expectations.

Differences Between Saudi and U.S. Students in Reaction to Same- and Mixed-Sex Intimacy Shown by Others

Abstract U.S. and Saudi male and female students were shown 3 photos of 2 women sitting at a close, intermediate, and far distance from each other. Participants were then asked to imagine 2 sisters, 2 brothers, and a brother-sister team sitting at each of these 3 distances and to rate their comfort or discomfort with each scene. As predicted, the U.S. students felt more comfortable the farther away 2 brothers were sitting and the closer a brother and sister were sitting, whereas the Saudi students showed the opposite reaction. It was suggested that distances between the sexes in conservative Muslim countries is maintained even in intrafamily contact and that the aversion to public displays of male-male intimacy found in the United States and Europe does not generalize to other cultures.

ATTRACTION TO MEN AND WOMEN VARYING IN SELF-ESTEEM

Among 23 male and 29 female undergraduates, the men and women who were high and low in self-esteem rank-ordered their liking for men varying in self-esteem and for women varying in self-esteem. Although a person of equal self-esteem was liked more than a person of higher self-esteem, this preference was much stronger when the targets were women than when they were men. It was suggested that superiority may be a more powerful determinant of liking for men than liking for women.

Negative aging stereotypes and the agentic-communal dichotomy.

Prior research has documented negative aging stereotypes. Our hypothesis is that these only apply when a certain dimension of traits is employed and when older persons occupy certain roles. 42 college students were asked to rate the extent to which each of several “agentic” traits, e.g., active, aggressive, independent, and “communal” traits, e.g., understanding, warm, helpful, characterized a roommate and college professor, both of whom were stated to be either 23 or 65 years of age. For the roommate (but not the professor), the young person was seen as more agentic than the older person. No differences were found on the dimension of communality. It was concluded that young college students may attribute negative behaviors to older persons but this is more likely when the negative behaviors are agentic in nature and the older person occupies certain roles such as “retired person.”

Anticipated Reaction of others to Intimate Vs Nonintimate Self-Disclosure

22 men and 22 women were presented 8 hypothetical situations in which they disclosed something to a same-sex friend. They rated how good an impression they would create by each statement. In the 8 situations, the topic was positive or negative, intimate or nonintimate, and self-disclosure was high or low. Subjects expected that they would be less well received by high vs low self-disclosure when the topic was intimate. Only on a positive nonintimate topic did they expect to be better received through high self-disclosure.

Liking for Touchers as a Function of Type of Touch

Each of 18 men and 18 women had a series of get-acquainted sessions with a confederate. At the end of one session, the confederate touched the subject on the arm while at the end of another session the confederate patted the subject on the back. Subjects rated their liking for the confederate at the end of each session. When the subject and the confederate were of opposite sex, mean liking for the confederate was significantly greater when a subject received an arm touch than a back pat.

Increasing self‐esteem through participation in a goal‐attainment program

High and low self-esteem Ss were placed in one of three treatment conditions. Those in the goal-attainment condition were instructed to keep a daily list of the extent to which they complied with each of 10 goals. The goals concerned increasing sociability, improving interpersonal relations, and enhancing individual achievement. A self-esteem questionnaire was administered before and after 3 weeks of engaging in this activity. Low self-esteem Ss showed a significant increase in self-esteem. Ss did not show an increase in self-esteem in two other conditions, one that we labeled an “indulgence condition” and one in which people went through three counseling sessions. High self-esteem Ss enjoyed the goal-attainment condition the most of the three activities. Low self-esteem Ss enjoyed it the least–even though it was the only condition to increase self-esteem.