Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement

A mail survey of 810 Greater Vancouver Area residents investigated how the public's acceptance of a request for euthanasia was influenced by the method of death (e.g., lethal injection vs. withdrawal of life-support) and by the identity of the patient featured in a vignette (e.g., stranger vs. oneself). The study also identified considerations people found most important in deciding whether a patient's request for euthanasia was legitimate (e.g., patient's pain, chance for recovery). Life-support withdrawal was found significantly more acceptable (90% support) than a lethal injection (79% support), yet the identity of the person involved did not affect the acceptability of euthanasia. However, a factor analysis suggested that the decisions about oneself may be more complex and more closely scrutinized than decisions about others. The considerations rated most important by participants paralleled legal guidelines from the Netherlands and Oregon.

The ethical codes of the Canadian Psychological Association and the American Psychological Association prescribe certain research practices (informed consent, stated permission to withdraw from the experiment, and debriefing) to reduce or eliminate ethical concerns in studies employing stressful stimuli and/or deception. APA has further recommended a cost-benefit analysis as the appropriate method of determining whether or not a study is ethically acceptable. In two experiments, 192 introductory psychology students, 22 senior undergraduate students, and 28 faculty gave their reactions to "proposed" research that varied orthogonally with regard to the use of stress, deception, informed consent/permission to withdraw from the experiment, and debriefing. All participants perceived the use of stress and/or deception as raising ethical problems; however, manipulation of ethical safeguards within the descriptions of these studies was found not to significantly alter the ethicality ratings for any of the subject populations. Both faculty and senior undergraduate students rated apparently innocuous studies as less troublesome than did introductory students. On the other hand, faculty and senior students gave more negative ratings to the combination of stressful stimuli and deception. The ethical review process is discussed in terms of the problems and methods of determining the ethicality of proposed research.

This research established the psychometric properties of 2 friendship questionnaires; the McGill Friendship Questionnaire–Respondent's Affection (MFQ–RA) taps respondents' feelings for a friend and friendship satisfaction, and the McGill Friendship Questionnaire–Friend's Function (MFQ–FF) taps respondents' assessments of the degree to which a friend fulfills 6 friendship functions (stimulating companionship, help, intimacy, reliable alliance, self-validation, and emotional security). Ss were 227 junior-college students (aged 16–21 yrs). Factor analysis supported the subscale structure of each questionnaire. The subscales showed high internal consistency, covaried with the duration of being a best friend and with a self-esteem subscale regarding close friends, but not with other self-esteem measures. Women reported higher positive feelings for their friend than did men and evaluated the friend higher on friendship functions. Finally, positive feelings and satisfaction covaried with each friendship function subscale. It is concluded that the MFQ–RA and the MFQ–FF, though brief and easy to administer, provide reliable and valid assessments of friendship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Although much work has been published on differences between the sexes in Western countries on tests of abilities, interests, and personality traits, little attention has been paid to comparing the organization or structuring of psychological variables among males and females. 198 male and 189 female Canadian 8th graders were given a battery of tests (e.g., the Safran Student's Interest Inventory and the Embedded Figures Test). Results indicate that the ability factors in the 2 sexes were closely similar, although their relations to age, artistic and scientific interests, social attitudes, personality tendencies, and other variables often differed markedly. For example, large sex differences in the psychological significance of field independence and of divergent thinking, and the organization of career and other interests indicate that mixed-sex studies should be discouraged. (French summary) (28 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

In order to describe conceptions of health of male adolescents, structured interviews were individually conducted with 700 14–16 yr old boys from a disadvantaged urban environment. A classical content analysis of respondents' verbalizations was conducted and interrater reliability coefficients were calculated. Results indicate that being functional, lifestyle health behaviours, and to a lesser extent psychological well-being are the most important components of their conception of health. Adolescents emphasized vegetation, natural elements, and the absence of pollution in their neighbourhood, as well as encouragements to engage in physical activity. Mothers and television are the main sources of health information. Respondents rarely mentioned issues related to leading health problems for adolescents: unintentional injuries, suicide, teenage pregnancy, and sexually transmitted disease. It is concluded that adolescents' conception of health may just mirror what the adults try to transmit to them in terms of health promotion or prevention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Administered Form A of the 16 PF to 567 undergraduates, and obtained correlations between all items. The present analysis concerns the number of significant interitem correlations. Of the 16,836 interitem correlations, 3,267 were significant at the .01 level. Of these 3,267, only 348 were intrafactor correlations out of 984 possible significant intrafactor correlations. The most homogeneous item groupings were found in surgency, parmia, and ergic tension. In general, this widely used personality test does not satisfy critical scrutiny at the item level. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Argues that social psychologists in Canada have an important role to play in policy analysis and evaluation. The multiculturalism policy of the federal government is proposed as one policy area for which social psychological theory and research may be particularly relevant. The policy is outlined and a number of social psychological issues and assumptions in the policy are identified, including group maintenance and development, intergroup contact and sharing, and group acceptance and tolerance. Generally, the policy seems to be supported by theory and empirical findings, but there is a need to guard against possible countereffects. It is argued that more long-term programmatic research is required in social policy areas if social psychologists are to make a useful contribution. (French abstract) (49 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Compared D. W. Reid and E. E. Ware's (see record 1974-32481-001) 32-item locus of control measure to a shortened (18-item) version of the same scale, using data from 534 university students. Compared to the original instrument, the shorter measure had clearer dimensions and explained more of the variance while retaining similar reliability coefficients. Norms are provided for this shorter version in view of its usefulness as an economical measure of multifactorial locus of control. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Tested a total of 96 18-, 24-, 30-, and 36-mo-olds on an apparatus that included 7 interchangeable slotted templates. In increasing complexity, the templates included a straight alley (training maze), 1 2-turn, and 1 5-turn T-maze, each in 2 forms, and 2 6-turn mazes (T-maze and D-maze). For 18- and 24-mo-old Ss mazes were presented in order of increasing complexity and for 30- and 36-mo-old Ss, half received the order 2-, 5-, 6-turn and the other half 2-, 6-, 5-turn. The experimenter assisted a child either after the same blind had been reentered 3 times or when a child refused to complete a trial. Results indicate that slotted mazes can differentiate among age groups. The inability of younger Ss to complete the mazes without assistance as complexity increased, a decrease in errors on any 1 level of maze complexity as age increased, and an increase in errors of 1 age group as maze complexity increased were evident. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Studied the psychometric validity, the internal consistency, the factorial structure, and the discriminant properties of the Canadian-French version of an instrument designed to measure client satisfaction with psychotherapeutic services. Human subjects: 126 male and female French-Canadian adults (aged 19–67 yrs). All Ss had received treatment for dysthymic disorders, emotional problems, or mild personality disorders. Ss were interviewed by telephone during the week in which they initially sought treatment and at the end of treatment. During the course of treatment, the Questionnaire d'Auto-Évaluation de la Détresse Psychologique ("Self-Report Questionnaire of Psychologic Distress") (SCL-10) by T. D. Nguyen et al (1983) and the Psychiatric Symptom Inventory (1974) by L. Derogatis et al were administered. At the end of treatment, the Canadian-French version of the CSQ for psychotherapeutic services by Sabourin et al (1987) was administered during a telephone interview. The results were analyzed statistically according to client satisfaction, demographic factors, utilization of psychiatric services, and efficacy of treatment. The psychometric validity of the CSQ was determined. (English abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Discusses major eyewitness research findings regarding topics such as the relationship between accuracy and confidence, the identification of perpetrators from lineups, and the influence of misleading information on eyewitness memory and reports. It is contended that the debate regarding expert testimony (XT) has sharpened researchers' conceptions of generalization problems and the quality of jurors' knowledge about eyewitness accuracy and has raised concerns about the proper role of experimental psychologists in the legal system. It is proposed that the confusion and controversy over XT involves the fact that XT represents an attempt to provide services to the judicial rather than the evidence-production phase of the fact-finding process. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Tested 86 7-15 yr. old Canadian reserve Indian children on the D. B. Harris and F. L. Goodenough Draw-a-Man (see 25:4) and J. C. Raven's Progressive Matrices (1938) tests. The Draw-a-Man mean IQs were: girls 100, boys 113; a significant difference. The Raven mean IQs were: girls 79, boys 85; not significantly different. Tests were significantly correlated (raw scores, r = .67; IQs, r = .53). Older Ss had significantly lower IQs on the Raven only. Results caution against assuming that these tests, especially the Raven, are "culture free" measures of intelligence. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

The aim of this study was to validate a French-Canadian version of the Role Conflict and Ambiguity Scales (J. R. Rizzo et al, 1970). A sample of 470 Ss (mean age 39.4 yrs) was used to establish the psychometric properties of the instrument. The internal consistency coefficients were found to be .77 and .79 for the conflict and ambiguity scales, respectively. A confirmatory factor analysis supports the factor structure of the original version. Correlations between the role conflict and ambiguity scales with work satisfaction, role overload, and psychological distress provided some indication of construct validity. The two scales were weakly associated with social desirability. Future studies are needed to further investigate their construct validity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Conducted a total of 7 surveys with 2 separate sample populations (310 English-Canadian residents and 595 Canadian college students) before, during, and after the Canadian kidnapping crisis of 1970, in which a militant French separatist group kidnapped 1 English and 1 Canadian official. While no long-term effects on opinions towards French Canadians or the government's use of restrictive measures were observed, results show considerable short-term changes in opinions during the height of the crisis. Ss increased their support of any action which was or could be taken by the government in order to deal with the crisis; they also tended to obscure differences between those directly or indirectly involved with the crisis. Other reactions to the crisis as well as the methodological implications of the study are discussed. (French summary) (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Modeling procedures are frequently used as remedial and instructional techniques with diagnostic groups such as autistic, mentally retarded, and learning-disabled children. The authors describe the theoretical underpinning of the use of modeling in these atypical groups and then consider the scientific merit of 65 studies in 10 diagnostic categories, analyzed from a research design-validity basis. In the analysis of experimental design requirements for remediation research, it was suggested that within-S procedures are essential for interpretable experiments with atypical groups, but no appropriate within-S designs were found in the corpus of studies analyzed. Of the relatively few between-S experiments in the corpus, most were found to be valid in terms of their including the manipulation of at least one modeling variable. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Analyzed relationships among reviewers' appraisals and editorial decision making for 120 manuscripts submitted to the Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science. Reviewers' ratings on 8 standard evaluation criteria were evaluated for interrater agreement. The same criteria were used to predict the same reviewer's overall recommendation, and the reviewers' ratings were used to predict the editor's final decision to accept, reject, or request revisions. Interrater agreement on specific indices of manuscript quality were quite low. A principal components analysis revealed that reviewers effectively evaluated 2 factors: internal validity and importance of scientific contribution. Reviewers' ratings on specific criteria were correlated with moderate strength to their own final recommendation, and their recommendations were predictive of the editor's decision, explaining 63% of the variance. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Investigated the relationship between perceived status in politics and judged physical stature. 177 Ss were interviewed. Comparison of estimated heights of Canadian federal party leaders before and after the 1988 federal election indicated that the losers, Broadbent and Turner, were judged to be shorter afterwards, while the winner, Mulroney, was judged taller. Although the relationship between status and judged height has previously been demonstrated, this result indicates that it is dynamic (i.e., election outcomes alter rated tallness). A gender effect also was noted. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Assessed attitudes toward aspects of multiculturalism (Multicultural Ideology, Perceived Consequences of Multiculturalism, and Multicultural Program Attitudes) and toward ethnic and immigrant groups, as well as Tolerance and Canadianism with 3,325 Ss. Attitudes toward multiculturalism were moderately positive, and tolerance moderately high; there was also a relatively high sense of attachment and commitment to Canada. Immigrant and ethnic groups of European origin were more positively evaluated than those of non-European origin. Variations in these attitudes by region of residence and ethnic origin revealed significant differences, as Ss of French origin living in Quebec tended to be less supportive than Ss of British and other origins living outside Quebec. Despite some signs of ethnocentrism, there are good prospects for achieving a diverse and tolerant society in Canada. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Examined the extent to which cognitive and motivational factors influenced 123 undergraduates' consensus estimates for the 1992 Canadian Constitutional Referendum. A significant false consensus (FC) bias was observed in Ss' estimates of how Canadians would vote. Ss who planned to vote Yes (Yes-Voters [YVs]) estimated, on average, that 56% of the people across Canada would vote Yes, whereas students who planned to vote No (No-Voters [NVs]) estimated, on average, that only 51% would vote Yes. Subsequent analyses of the estimates of YVs revealed that selective exposure (a cognitive mechanism) and emotional involvement (a motivational mechanism) were significant predictors of higher estimates. Among NVs, attributional influence was the sole predictor of higher estimates. Results provide support for the influence of 3 mechanisms implicated in the FC effect and suggest that different processes were at work for YVs and NVs. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

The widespread employment of the Beck Depression Inventory-1A ({bdi}-1{a}) has spawned a number of practices: (1) The employment of an unweighted total score as a measure of depression; (2) Its use in populations other than that in which it was normed; and (3) The employment of {bdi}-1{a} total scores in hypothesis tests about population differences in mean depression. A sequential procedure based on item response theory was employed to assess the validity of these practices for the case of 4 populations: clinical depressives ( n = 210), mixed nondepressed psychiatric patients ( n = 98), and students from 2 different universities ( n = 624). The findings suggest that the 1st practice was not justified for any of these populations, that the {bdi}-1{a} was employable only with clinical depressives and with 1 of the university populations, and that mean comparisons were not allowable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Compared the discriminative powers of (1) the mental and motor indexes of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID) (N. Bayley, 1969), (2) the 5-cluster regrouping of the BSID by R. Kohen-Raz (1967), and (3) the 7-cluster regrouping of the BSID by L. J. Yarrow et al (1975). Ss were 29 3.5-mo-old, 53 6-mo-old, and 57 9-mo-old Haitian, Canadian, and Vietnamese infants. Ss' performances on the BSID were analyzed with the mental and motor scales of the BSID, the 5-cluster regrouping, and the 7-cluster regrouping. The 3 systems were compared with regard to their ability to detect age, gender, and cultural differences. (English abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Although some studies suggest positive effects of treatment for sexual offenders, most studies have been hampered by the unknown influence of selective attrition (e.g., volunteers and drop-outs). In the 1980s, the Correctional Service of Canada began to require weekly community treatment sessions for all sex offenders released in the Pacific Region. This policy change provided a unique opportunity for comparing an unselected cohort of treated sex offenders (n = 403) to an untreated cohort (n = 321) released in earlier years. After an average 12-year follow-up period, no differences were observed in the rates of sexual (21.1% vs 21.8%), violent (42.9% vs. 44.5%) or general (any) recidivism (56.6% vs 60.4%) for treated and untreated groups, respectively. The outcome remained comparable after controlling for length of follow- up, year of release, age, and seven static risk factors coded from official criminal history records. Retrospective ratings of the treatment quality also showed no relationship to observed recidivism rates. The static risk factors coded in the current study accounted for considerable variance in recidivism and could easily be used to improve statistical controls in future evaluations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Used questionnaire responses to select 200 undergraduates who did not hold extreme opinions on the topics of unidentified flying objects and ecology. Ss were assigned to 1 of 4 groups and heard a communicator deliver messages either for or against 1 of the 2 issues. One-half of the Ss in each of 4 conditions heard a message from a "maverick" who had quit an organization over the issue he was now discussing. The other 1/2 heard a person who was a member of an organization and who delivered a message in line with the official position of that organization. The "mavericks" were perceived as fairer and more trustworthy than the "nonmavericks," but not as more expert. The mavericks' conclusions were perceived as better justified by the facts, and more opinion change was elicited toward their positions, as measured by the percentage of Ss changing and by the pre-post communication position of audiences. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

K. A. Brennan et al (1998) developed a measure known as the Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR) based on existing adult attachment questionnaires. The present article concerns the French translation of the ECR and proposes 2 validation studies carried out with French Canadian adults (N=329) and couples (N=316). The 1st study consisted of verifying the exploratory and confirmatory factorial validity of the French version of the ECR. The exploratory factor analysis showed that 18 items measure the avoidance dimension and 18 items measure the anxiety dimension. Results of the factorial confirmatory analyses demonstrated the value of a 2-stage model. This model included 8 1st-order attachment components that are related to 2 2nd-order dimensions, namely, avoidance of intimacy and anxiety over abandonment. The 2nd study served to counter-validate the 2nd-order model using a sample of couples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Factor analysis of ability tests for Eskimo, White, and Indian-Metis 9-12 yr. old pupils indicated for each sample 2 highly correlated oblique factors labelled v:ed and reasoning from nonverbal stimuli. When native Ss were scored on white T-score norms, least ethnic differences and least decline with age relative to white Ss occurred in the latter abilities. Written memory was an outstanding exception. There were almost no sex differences for any of the samples. (French summary) (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)