Showing papers by "Roosevelt University published in 1976"

Psychotherapeutic effects of transcendental meditation with controls for expectation of relief and daily sitting.

Abstract: In 1959, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi introduced to America an exercise involving sitting quietly twice daily and passively attending to a special thought called a "mantra." This exercise is called transcendental meditation (TM) and has since been taught to at least 600,000 persons. One possible reason for TM's popularity is Maharishi's claim that the technique is a "natural and effective cure for mental illness". TM was taught by two official TM instructors from the East Lansing, Michigan, Students' International Meditation Society. The TM technique involves sitting twice daily for 15 to 20 minutes and passively and continuously attending to a special thought called a mantra. Periodic somatic inactivity (PSI) was a control treatment specifically contrived to match every aspect of TM with one exception: Instead of sitting and meditating, the PSI technique involved simply sitting with eyes closed.

Minority Group Status and Bias in College Admissions Criteria.

Abstract: Cleary's and Thorndike's definition of bias in college admissions criteria (ACT scores and high school percentile rank) were examined for black, white, and Jewish students. Use of the admissions criteria tended to overpredict blacks' performance, accurately predict whites' performance, and underpredict that of Jews. In light of Cleary's definition, the admissions criteria proved bias only against Jews. Employing Thorndike's definition led to similar conclusions.

Women under Italian Fascism

Abstract: Perhaps because the subject seemed so obvious, there has been little work done on women under fascism. This omission is unfortunate not only because Fascist policy was more complicated than the general impression of it but also because it offered an interesting example of the interaction between propaganda and reality in an authoritarian society. Women played an important role in several major propaganda campaigns of fascism, such as the ruralization policy and the battle to increase the birth rate. Concern for the role of women was at the heart of the conservative and stabilizing nature of fascism and, in so far as it meant the subjugation of the private lives of citizens to the demands of the State, policy towards women reflected the totalitarian and imperialistic side of fascism as well.

Psychology of the Scientist: XXXV. Terminal and Instrumental Values of American Graduate Students in Psychology

Abstract: Summary.-The terminal and instrumental values of 954 graduate students from 98 psychology departments across the United States were compared with the values of a national subsample of Americans matched on age, race and educational background. Comparisons were also made between graduate students specializing in nine different fields of psychology. The results showed little agreement between the graduate students and the national comparison group on the importance of various values. Among those majoring in the different specialties, disparities were less marked, but clinical majors tended to emphasize interpersonal affective values such as true friendship, loving and helpful, while experimental majors placed relatively greater emphasis on cognitive competency values such as logical and intellectual. Some of the more notable controversies in contemporary psychology revolve around the issue of values. For example, while few question the behavior modifiers' ability to change behavior by controlling an organism's access to rewards, many, because they are reluctant to relinquish the values of freedom and responsibility, see such techniques as undesirable (Skinner, 1971). And while many acknowledge the advantage of employing deception in research designs, others oppose its use, for deception violates the great importance they attach to being honest (Milgram, 1964; Baumrind, 1964; Kelman, 1967). To take a more controversial example, it can be argued that adversaries may be doing little more than projecting the importance they attach to the value equality when interpreting the somewhat incomplete findings concerning genetic determinants of racial differences on intelligence tests (Jensen, 1969; Brazziel,