William Fullard

A New Measure of Adolescent Sexuality: SKAT-A

Risky sexual behaviors among adolescents have become a critical public health concern as the specter of AIDS has spread to the general population. This paper summarizes efforts by the authors to develop the Sex Knowledge and Attitude Test for Adolescents (SKAT-A), a comprehensive adolescent sexuality scale. The SKAT-A has three main sections: knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. A principal component factor analysis indicates the presence of four subscales in the attitude scale: Sexual Myths, Responsibility, Sex and Its Consequences, and Sexual Coercion. The behavior section contains 43 questions concerning sexual behavior and experience. The results of test-retest and internal reliability assessments indicate that the subscales possess adequate temporal stability and internal consistency. An assessment of concurrent validity was also completed. Future efforts include the development of a sexual risk-taking scale and a interactive computer software package.

Absolute Judgments as a Function of Stimulus Uncertainty and Temporal Effects: Methodological Note

8 female Ss made absolute judgments of pure tones ac 4 levels of stimulus uncertainty, with 300 trials/level on each of 2 testing days. Sequence effects were balanced by a 4 × 4 Latin square design. Main effects in an analysis of variance showed significantly more correct responses in expected directions for stimulus uncertainty and higher scores on second testing day. Somewhat surprisingly, nonsignificant uncertainty-by-test-day interactions indicated homogeneous increases across uncertainty levels. Discussion focused on assumptions from information theory about asymptotic performance and on potential methodological value of Latin square repeated-measures designs for calculating T at different uncertainty levels.

The Relationship between Deductive Reasoning Ability, Test Anxiety, and Standardized Test Scores in a Latino Sample.

One Hundred and Twelve Latino students from Philadelphia participated in this study, which examined the development of deductive reasoning across adolescence, and the relation of reasoning to test anxiety and standardized test scores. As predicted, 11th and ninth graders demonstrated significantly more advanced reasoning than seventh graders. Error response patterns revealed a steady, age-related increase in the ability to use falsification strategies. Test anxiety was not related to reasoning performance. These results are discussed in terms of developmental theories of deductive reasoning. Negative correlations between deductive reasoning and standardized test scores for 11th graders are discussed in light of accountability standards required by the No Child Left Behind Act.

ORDERING PREFERENCE AND AUDITORY TRANSPOSITION

Ordering preference for 64 adults was determined by presenting sets of tones which could be ordered on either frequency or amplitude. Subjects were then assigned randomly to auditory discrimination and transposition tasks on either dimension. Results indicated that amplitude transposition is more likely regardless of ordering preference. A relationship was found between frequency preference and failure to transpose on frequency problems.