Paul N. Dixon

Response Differences and Preferences for All-Category-Defined and End-Defined Likert Formats.

The question as to whether the format of a scale influences results has been examined infrequently and with conflicting answers. Two Likert-type formats, one with all choice points defined and the other with only end-points defined, were administered to 121 subjects. Each subject completed half of the items in the defined and the other half in the end-defined condition. Results were not significantly different between forms, nor did subjects indicate a format preference. Although the end-defined items exhibited greater variability than did the every-point defined items, the results suggest that minor Likert-type format changes do not critically affect outcomes.

Response Alternatives in Likert Scaling

Over the past several years, numerous questions have arisen pertaining to response alternatives for Likert scaling. Specifically, both two-column and one-column Likert formats are commonly used in educational and psychological measurement. Which format, however, is to be preferred? Is one format superior to the other and under what restraints? This study makes a start toward clarifying these issues by analyzing the results of applying two different methods of Likert-scale construction (single-column and discrepancy-column formats). The findings indicate that the discrepancy format clearly provides stronger discrimination for purposes of measuring need than does the single-column approach.

Subject Recruitment Incentives, Personality Factors, and Attitudes toward Experimentation in a Simultaneous Intentional-Incidental Learning Task

Summary Ss were 134 male and female undergraduates. Three methods of S recruitment——volunteer, paid, and required——were compared with S attitudes toward participation in an intentional-incidental learning task. Comparisons between S attitudes toward the experimentation, learning task performance, locus of control, and other-direction were also made. Volunteers were significantly more hostile toward the experimentation than required or paid groups. Ss performing above the median in the incidental task had significantly more positive attitudes than Ss lower in incidental task performance. Other comparisons were nonsignificant. However, further investigation using two factor derived subscales of the attitudes toward experimentation questionnaire revealed significant differences by locus of control, performance, and recruitment.

Neurolinguistic Programming as a Persuasive Communication Technique

Abstract Bandler and Grinder (1975) have suggested a psycholinguistic model for indirect persuasion of clients in a counseling setting: Through the use of pacing, metaphor, and various phonemic devices, client resistance is overcome. The present study compared the persuasive power of aspects of their neurolinguistic programming to direct and informational only (placebo) content messages in a group persuasion context. Results indicated no significant differences in attitudes following treatment for the three groups, whereas the direct message treatment was significantly more persuasive than the other treatments as reflected in the behavioral measure.

Personality and motivational factors on an intentional-incidental learning task.

Locus of control, other-direction, and academic achievement motivation were investigated as a function of acceptance of motivational cues in intentional-incidental learning. Correlations among the three personality constructs were also calculated. The subjects were 134 college students studied under high and low learning motivation for each personality construct. It was hypothesized that high academic achievement motivation would be associated with increased intentional learning and that internal subjects would have consistent intentional and incidental learning under both levels of motivation. The externals, accepting experimenters instructions, would show a funneling effect toward greater intentional learning under high motivation with corresponding decreases in incidental learning. No significant differences on the learning task by locus of control or other-direction were found. Subjects high in achievement motivation performed significantly better on the intentional task than those low in achievement motivation. The highly motivated group performed significantly better than those who were low on the incidental task, suggesting that the motivation may focus the subjects attention toward embedded incidental cues. Significant intercorrelations were obtained among the three personality constructs.

Individualized versus Group Instruction in Bilingual Education: A Two-Year Study

The Elementary School Journal Volume 81, Number 4 ? 1981 by The University of Chicago 0013-5984/81/8104-0003

The impact of abortion on social interest

01.00 Many educators view bilingual education as an essential tool in assisting students who come to school with limited English proficiency to benefit from their school experience. They design learning experiences on both an individual and a group basis to enhance language skills-listening, speaking, reading, and writing. In addition, they provide socialization and cultural experiences to assist the students to develop healthy concepts of themselves and others.

Response preference within the Rotter I-E Scale: perceived locus of control of self, average, and ideal others.

We examined the relationship between abortion and the Adlerian personality construct of social interest or gemeinschaftsgefuehl. The Social Interest Index was used to measure the social interest of women in the week before their abortion procedure (pretest), 2 weeks following the procedure (posttest), and 3 months after the abortion (follow-up). We hypothesized that social interest scores would be lowest just prior to the abortion, and the results supported this, showing a significant increase in scores at postabortion and follow-up. Furthermore, social interest scores at the 3-month follow-up did not differ significantly from scores obtained by a nonaborting sample of women from the general population. Our findings suggest that the effect of abortion on social interest is temporary and support the situational nature of social interest.

The Comparative Feeling of Inferiority Index.

The Rotter I-E scale was administered to college juniors in education under five different instructional sets. Subjects were asked to complete it (a) as they would ordinarily (self-perception), (b) as they believed an average person of the same sex would, (c) as an average person of the opposite sex would, (d) as an ideal person of the same sex would, and (e) as an ideal person of the opposite sex would. As hypothesized, subjects saw the ideal person of both sexes as significantly more internal than themselves, while they saw the average person of both sexes as more external than themselves. These results suggest the general desirability of being perceived as internally oriented.