Potential victims may be signalling their vulnerability to would-be assailants through gesturea, posture, and exaggerated nwvementu.Are there specific movements or behaviors that identify a potential victim of an assault and which signal (or are perceived as signalling) this vulnerability to a criminal? If there are such movements, can they be identified? This study sought to answer these questions by examining the movements of individuals rated by criminals as likely to be assaulted.The identification of such behaviors has important ramifications in terms of aid to those public agencies and officials attempting to solve some of the problems of assault. Any insight or further understanding of the variables involved in such a problem is invaluable in helping to apprehend criminals and decrease the frequency of assault. Identifying behaviors typical of potential assault victims would enable anti-crime decoys to attract more criminals. It would allow, too, major classes of victims (the aged and the infirm) to become aware of such behaviors so that they might become less vulnerable to assault.Another important aspect of this study is its methodology-the use of Labananalysis, an established system of movement notation for the study of nonverbal communication. Labananalysis came into being in 1970. It grew out of two major notation systems: Labanotation, originated by Rudolf Laban (14), and Effort/Shape, originated by Laban and Lawrence (15).As do many contemporary communication and behavioral science experts, Laban viewed movement as a process, rather than a series of static positions. He considered movement to be an extension as well as a reflection of emotions and thoughts, and not merely something which occurs sporadically as the result of external stimuli.Betty Crayson is on the marketing faculty of Hofstra University. Morns I. Stein is Professor of Psychology at New York University. Preparation of this article has been supported, in part, by a Research Career Award (MH-18697) from the National Institute of Mental Health to the second author.
This research investigated the association of two individual difference moderators of psychological phenomena with the time of semester students choose to participate in experiments. The Personal Need for Stmcture (PNS) scale and the Stein Self-Descriptioti Questionnaire were administered to the students in an introductory psychology class at the beginning of a university semester. Students' responses on these measures were related to their chosen dates of required participation in psychological research. Higher levels of PNS predicted earlier experiment participation and quicker completion of the experiment requirement once started. Personality types distinguished by the Stein Self-Description Questionnaire revealed that those indifferent or hostile to authority participate in experiments later in the semester than do the curious or more conforming types. Implications of these findings for external validity of social psychological research at different points in the semester are discussed.Research in psychology is cotiducted primarily iti the laboratory (Sears, 1986), with research participatits often coming from a pool of under-
C h u a l Psychologist, Mental Hygiene S e m b of the Ray Clinic, N e w York Rrgioml Ofice, Veterans AdministrationThe Sentence Completion Test described in this paper was developed in the Office of Strategic Services Assessment Program under the direction of Murray and MacKinnon(1). There it proved so valuable that it is being adopted for extensive use in the Veterans Administration. The purpose of this projective test as used in 0. S. S. was to provide interviewers with a body of data which when analyzed would yield brief descriptions of the personafities of the candidates. DESCRIPTION OF THE TESTThe Sentence Completion Test consists of two parts each of 50 incomplete sentences. The incomplete sentences were selected to contribute relevant information to one of the ten areas that were considered important for personality evaluation. The ten areas included : (a) Family : the candidate's attitude toward the family unit and toward each parent. (b) Past: the candidate's attitude toward the past, his reactions to previous frustrations and failures and the effect of past experience on his present behavior. (c) Drives: the primary motivating factors in a candidate's personality. (d) Inner States: the feelings which a candidate experienced most frequently and the nature of the situations that aroused such feelings. (e) Goals: the ends toward which a candidate was striving. ( f ) Cathezes: objects, activities or ideas which a candidate desired and for which he was willing to make sacrifices. (g) Energy: the energy level of a candidate and how this energy level was affected by stress and frustration. (h) Time Perspective: a candidate's attitude toward the past, present, and future. (i) Reactions to Others: a candidate's attitudes towards his inferiors, his equals, and his superiors. ( j ) Reactions of Others to the Cundidate: a candidate's impression of how others felt towards him.From an earlier version of the test many of the items were derived that are included in the version presented in this paper. Of this earlier form, 25 records were studied, and the words or phrases used to complete each of the 100 incomplete sentences were tabulated. If the range of answers to any one of the sentences was small (i.e., 50% to 75% of the answers being the same), then that item was said to have a high index of stereotypy. On the other hand if the range was large, few answers being alike, then that item was said to have a high index of individuality. In constructing the present form of the test, items which had a high index of stereotypy were eliminated and only those which had a high index of individuality and which could still be expected to yield material for any one of the ten categories indicated above were included. Additional items were constructed for those areas which had been incompletely covered. Analysis of 40 complete records of the present form of the test indicates that the index of individuality for each of the items is still high.The incomplete sentences may be divided into two types. Type A refer
Best Selling Thematic Apperception Test Books-Alibris This manual was prepared on the basis of research and clinical experience as an. were designed for adults, since most of his experience has been with this group.
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