Milton M. Schwartz

Prediction of Success in Graduate School at Rutgers University

THE PRESENT STUDY is part of a broad and j continuing program of research on graduate student selection at Rutgers University. Although this pa per concerns the Department of Applied and Mathe matical Statistics, several other departments are also cooperating, namely the departments of English and Chemistry and the schools of E ng i neering and Agriculture. These results will be presented in forthcoming articles upon their completion. The Department of Applied and Mechanical Sta tistics offers courses leading to the Master of Sci ence degree for part-time evening students employ ed in local industry. Most of these students have returned to academic study after a lapse of several years. For this reason, itwasfelt undergraduate grades did not have the predictive significance they would have for recent graduates and another predic tor was desired, preferably in the form of a con venient test. A total of 150 students enrolled in courses given by this department were tested and complete data for this study were finally obtained for 56 of these students. This constituted the ex perimental group, all of whom had been accepted for graduate study. Three predictors of success were used, namely, undergraduate grade averages and two tests of The Psychological Corporation, restricted to use in graduate student selection, the Miller Analogies Test (1) and the newer Doppelt MathematicalRea soning Test (2). 2 Three criteria of success were employed. They consisted of graduate grades, an academic competence rating, and a job-effective ness rating. Further description of the predictors and criteria is given in the later sections of the ar ticle. In summary, three types of data were gath e r e d : 1) Doppelt and Miller tests admi nistered during the regular classroom period, 2) undergrad uate and graduate grade averages and 3) rankings by instructors of academic competence and job ef fectiveness. Predictors

The Effects of Subject-and Experimenter-Induced Defensive Response Sets on Picture-Frustration Test Reactions

Abstract Thirty male college students, half scoring high and half low on the MMPI K-scale, were administered a multiple-choice (M-C) modification of the Rosenzweig P-F Study under three instructional sets. Two of these sets were induced by E and compared with the third which represented Ss normal test-taking set. The two induced sets included (1) a “should” set in which concern for the social consequences of behavior was accentuated, and (2) a “wish” set in which concern for social consequences was minimized, and freedom of self-expression was accentuated. It was hypothesized that Ss making extremely high or low scores on the K-scale would likewise score differently on the M-C, P-F test. High K, defined by its authors as a measure of test defensiveness, and low K, as test-taking candidness, would be associated with P-F score patterns reflecting these test-taking attitudes: High K Ss showing Impunitive (M) dominant reaction patterns and low K showing Extrapunitive (E) or Intropunitive (I) dominant pattern...

Maze Learning by Secondary Reinforcement without Discrimination Training

An experiment was conducted to determine whether discrimination training is necessary to establish a neutral stimulus as a secondary reinforcer. Twenty rats were discrimination trained with 65 reward trials and 25 nonreward trials (black end-box positive, white end-box negative, and vice versa); 20 rats were single-stimulus trained to either a black or white end-box for 65 reward trials. T-maze test trials were given at a rate of 1 free choice and 3 forced-choice trials per day for 11 days. One-half of the Ss in each training group were given standard nonreward test trials; one-half of the Ss from each training condition were rewarded for both maze choices. The results showed that all 4 experimental groups performed significantly better than chance in the T maze. The successful test effects were attributed, in part, to the control of such factors as frustration and stimulus novelty. The data further suggest that discrimination training is not necessary for the production of secondary reinforcement effects.

Responses of Middle Managers to Case Studies under Conditions of Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Stylistic Grouping

This paper concerns the effects of small group composition, i.e., managerial style, on feelings and responses to an unstructured task, the case study. 95 middle managers tested with the Management Styles Diagnosis Test were divided into groups of similar then dissimilar style on two successive occasions. Managers were placed in three approximately equal groups on each occasion for discussion of a case study after which a questionnaire was administered. Consistent with earlier studies, the high “Task” group compared with both high “Relationship” and “Task-Relationship” groups showed more varied and differentiated responses as did the heterogeneous group when compared with the homogeneous one. It was inferred that the varied responses would benefit decision making.

Uniformity of Policy Interpretation Among Managers in the Utility Industry

Seven levels of management from five electric utility companies rated eight cases involving infraction of rules by hourly workers on a disciplinary action scale. Higher level managers rated the cas...