The question as to whether the format of a scale influences results has been examined infrequently and with conflicting answers. Two Likert-type formats, one with all choice points defined and the other with only end-points defined, were administered to 121 subjects. Each subject completed half of the items in the defined and the other half in the end-defined condition. Results were not significantly different between forms, nor did subjects indicate a format preference. Although the end-defined items exhibited greater variability than did the every-point defined items, the results suggest that minor Likert-type format changes do not critically affect outcomes.
We describe the development of professional development schools at the University of South Carolina in terms of the five stages of collaboration identified by Kagan: formation, conceptualization, development, implementation, evaluation, and termination/reformation. Other research on the change process is also considered. In addition, lessons learned from the collaborative activities involving school personnel and university faculty are described.
Patients who have undergone invasive medical procedures requiring radical body changes often experience feelings of worthlessness and particularly negative feelings about their sexuality. Their initial contact with the healthcare team is frequently a nurse who may be poorly equipped, too busy, or too embarrassed to help address the patients' sexual issues; therefore, vital information may be lost to the healthcare team. The PLISSIT Model offers nurses or case managers a concise framework for intervention to address patients' concerns at the earliest stages of their distress, and helps assure informed feedback to the healthcare team regarding the patients' sexual issues.
Variations in attention during intentional or incidental learning were investigated. Materials for intentional learning were presented to 165 college students in conjunction with peripheral cues of humorous and non-humorous materials presented for incidental learning. An hypothesized funneling effect, an attentional shift during learning to the incidental materials, was not found for humorous or non-humorous materials and intentional recall of materials. Subjects with high self-reported sense of humor attended significantly more than subjects with a low sense of humor to incidental humorous materials. Further, subjects with high sense of humor showed significantly greater recall of incidental humorous materials than subjects with low sense of humor. A one-item self-report scale of sense of humor provided behavioral discrimination. The complexity of intentional and incidental learning and the effects of sense of humor on attention to intentional and incidental materials were discussed.
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