The influence of Judaism on American psychology

Although the beginnings of psychology as a discipline were present from the late nineteenth century, the field truly began to differentiate itself from philosophy in American during the twentieth century. Beginning in these formative years and continuing to the present, Jews have contributed greatly to the topics that occupied psychology in many areas. Rather than see this as a coincidence, it is maintained that central values and concepts of Judaism induced Jews both to be attracted to and to shape the direction in which psychology grew. Examples of major contributors from the areas of individual personality development and therapy and of social psychology are presented, along with a discussion of how the Jewish experience influenced their focus and work

Response Latencies in a Word Association Test: A New Measuring Method and Its Results

Recording of response delay to stimuli in a word association task to measure emotionality of the stimulus to the subject goes back to Jung (1910) but is still used quite often (Pollio, 1966). However, the measuring methods and devices have been relatively crude, yielding no better than the second discriminations and involving human intervention in the stimulus presentation and measurement process. The current research sought to assess the results of recording response latencies using a microcomputer for presentation of the stimuli and the precision measurements of the latencies. Comparison was then made as to whether significant differences in response latencies would be found between stimulus words rated by another method as high and low emotional responses, and whether the presence/absence of a human observer would significantly alter the subjects\u27 response latencies

Stereotyping of the deaf student and Klineberg\u27s kernal of truth hypothesis

Investigation of stereotyping has generally taken place either well after the process has occurred or within laboratory situations. The recent formation of the National Institute for the Deaf (NTID) within the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) offered a rare opportunity to investigate what occurs when a stigmatizable minority group is introduced into a majority culture. The deaf in general are readily distinguishable from the hearing due to their inability to easliy follow verbal communications, wearing of hearing aids, use of manual communication involving gestures in addition to or in place of sounds, and other observable behavior. Klineberg (1950) proposed a kernel of truth hypothesis with regard to a group stereotype. He stated that there should be found to be more than a random correspondance between a stereotype of a group and an o bjective measure of the group\u27s characteristics. Harding et al (1969) point out that there have been few tests of this hypothesis. This research then is directed toward two hypotheses: (1) A stereotype of the deaf student has been formed on the RIT cmapus; and (2) This stereotype will correspond with an objective measure to the personality of the deaf

Precision teaching of the deaf

Forty-eight deaf NTID students were randomly assigned to an introductory psychology course, 31 to a group which was conducted under a precision teaching method and 17 under the traditional lecture format. Although comparable initially in intelligence and hearing discrimination skills, the group which received the precision teaching scored 13.6 to 16.6 points higher in three written, multiple-choice examinations. They also indicated on a written questionnaire increased enjoyment of the course over the lecture group receiving identical material. It is hypothesized that noth increased learning and motivational factors bring about the examination score differentials

The Next Generation of Human-Computer Interfaces: A Psychological Perspective

Before we can extrapolate to the next generation of human-computer interfaces, a relevant question is How many generations of human-computer interfaces have there been so far, and what were they

Attitudes Toward the College Deaf Student: Stereotype or Kernel of Truth ?

The introduction of a minority group of deaf students into the majority hearing culture (approximately 410 NTID students and 5000 full-time RIT students, as of 1972) offered an intense microcosm of the situation when any minority exists within a majority group. The deaf students in general are readily identifiable as a group since they of course do not hear well enough to participate easily in a conversation with an ordinary hearing students. The present investigation then seeks to establish if any stereotype does exist among the hearing about the personality of the deaf, and, if there is such a set of beliefs, whether there exists a basis in fact for these perceived characteristics

Distributing your Inheritance Fairly: Equity Theory and Will Power

187 Ss simulated distributing $100,000 in a will to their three children, one of whom was described as High Equity/Low Need, one described s Low Equity/High Need, and one described as Low Equity/Low Need. The majority of Ss allocated equal amounts of money to all their children, although a substantial minority chose to give more to the needy child. Few chose to assign more to the High Equity/Low Need child. Both respondents\u27 gender and age influenced the pattern of distribution but not the targets\u27 gender. The implications of the results for Equity Theory are discussed

Passing Money On: Equity Theory and Distribution of Money in a Will

127 respondents were asked to distribute $100,000 in a will among their four children shown as differing in helpfulness to the respondent and need for the money. The majority of respondents divided the money unequally, with more than 2/3 rejecting a norm of equality in favor of rewarding helpfulness (equity) and relative need. Last year\u27s research produced results favoring equality. Possible reasons for this disparity and implications for further research on Equity theory are presented