Electronic Library of Scientific Literature
STUDIA PSYCHOLOGICA
Volume 37 / No. 1 / 1995
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THE EFFECT OF INDUSTRIALLY POLLUTED ENVIRONMENT ON MEMORY PERFORMANCE OF CHILDREN
Olga HALMIOVA
Institute of Experimental Psychology, Slovak Academy of Sciences,
Dubravska cesta 9, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Abstract: Children (8-9 years old) living and growing up in an environment polluted by industrial pollutants including neurotoxic substances (Affected Group) and children in a relatively unpolluted area (Control Group) were presented with three reproduction tasks. The children were retested after a period of two years. The results confirmed the negative effects of a polluted environment on memory performance. However, in the retest, the performances of both groups in tasks with a character of mechanical memorization approached each other. Highly significant differences between the two groups prevailed in those tasks which required the use of memory strategies. The effect of maturation of children in relation to the effectiveness of processing of the materials presented is discussed.
Key words: Environmental pollutants, recall performance, memorization strategy
pp. 3-10
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CROSS CULTURAL COMPARISON OF THE ANXIETY AND AROUSABILITY INVENTORY (AAI)
Anna Laura COMUNIAN¹, Ivan SARMANY SCHULLER²
¹University of Padua, Piazza Cavour 23, 35122 Padua, Italy
²Institute of Experimental Psychology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Abstract: In this cross-cultural study we have compared two groups of university students, one in Italy (Padua) n=191 and one in Slovakia (Bratislava) n=192, majoring in two professional fields: engineering and pedagogy. We used an identical method - the Anxiety and Arousability Inventory (AAI, Nabil E. El-Zahar, 1985). The results confirmed good psychometric characteristics of the Italian as well as Slovak translation of the scale. In both samples studied the following was confirmed: 1. significant positive relationship between anxiety and arousability; 2. significant negative relationship between anxiety and arousability with age; 3. differences between males and females in anxiety and arousability, where females score significantly higher in both tra its than males. In evaluating both cultural samples we found that the Slovak students' overall higher level of anxiety and arousability is statistically significant; taking intersexual differences into account, Slovak men and women score significantly higher in anxiety and arousability than their Italian counterparts. Similarly, pedagogy students score significantly higher than engineering students in both the Slovak and the Italian samples. Some questions of possible cultural influences on the level of the anxiety and arousability trait are discussed.
Key words: Anxiety, arousability, cross-culturral comparison Italian-Slovak
pp. 11-19
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QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF ERRONEOUSNESS IN SYLLOGISTIC REASONING
Michal STRIZENEC, Alexandra PROKOPCAKOVA
Institute of Experimental Psychology, Slovak Academy of Sciences,
Dubravska cesta 9, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Abstract: Following previous overviews we have analyzed erroneousness in selecting the correct conclusion in 20 syllogisms in a sample of 119 students. Erroneousness was influenced mainly by the syllogism figure, the type of premise as well as the order of the conclusions given. Greater erroneousness was found in negative and particular statements.
Key words: Thinking, syllogistic reasoning, erroneousness
pp. 21-25
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THE JOINT EFFECTS OF INDIVIDUAL CAREER PLANNING AND ORGANIZATIONAL CAREER MANAGEMENT ON EMPLOYEE JOB PERFORMANCE AND JOB INVOLVEMENT
Christopher ORPEN, Jayne POOL
Dorset Bussiness School, Bournemouth University,
Christchurch Rd, Dorset BH 1 3LG, England
Abstract: The separate and joint effects of individual career planning and organizational career management on employee job performance and job involvement were examined among 43 part time management students engaged mainly in supervisory positions, by means of hierarchical regression. As hypothesized, both these individual and organizational efforts at improving careers had significant effects on involvement and performance. Their joint effects on both these outcomes were also significant, with individual career planning making a net contribution, beyond that of organizational career management. The results are interpreted as providing additional support for individuals and organizations taking "joint responsibility" for employee careers.
Key words: Individual career planning, organizational career management, job performance, job involvement
pp. 27-29
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FAMILY VALUES MAY BE RESPONSIBLE FOR BULLYING
Pavel RICAN
Institute of Psychology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
Husova 4, 110 00 Praha 1, Czech Republic
Abstract: From a sample of 374 Prague elementary school children, data from peer nomination, Olweus's bully-victim questionnaire, and a new Family Principles Questionnaire (FPQ) were gathered. Factor analysis yielded 2 factors interpretable as Selfish assertion and Selfless care. A series of MANOVAs was performed on item as well as factor scores. Differences found between the groups of bullies, victims, and the control group show a tendency of bullies and victims to differ from the controls in the same direction. At the factor level, bullies were significantly lower than controls in the Selfless care but not - as expected - in the Selfish assertion.
Key words: Bullying, family, values, victim
pp. 31-36
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THE "INTELLIGENT STUDENT" AS PERCEIVED BY UNDERGRADUATES WITH DIFFERENT MAJORS
Alessandro ANTONIETTI, Raffaella IAFRATE, Franca MEAZZA
Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Milano,
Largo Gemelli 1, 20123 Milano, Italy
Abstract: The purpose was to investigate university students' representation of academic intelligence with regard to the subject in which they are majoring. A total of 235 undergraduates, aged 20 to 26, filled out a questionnaire in which they were requested to think of the prototype of the "intelligent student" in their major and to rate on a 5-point scale how close each of the various intellectual abilities involved in academic courses is to such a prototype. Analyses showed that the "intelligent student" was a multicomponential concept including both thinking and expressive abilities. Furthermore, the definition of an intelligent student varied as a function of the undergraduates' academic major: more precisely, students tend to overevaluate the specific abilities linked to their own major.
Key words: Implicit theories of intelligence, academic intelligence, differences in academic majors
pp. 37-45
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MAN'S QUALITY OF LIFE: A CLICHE OR A SCIENTIFIC CATEGORY?
Damian KOVAC
Institute of Experimental Psychology, Slovak Academy of Sciences,
Dubravska cesta 9, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Abstract: The pros and cons of whether man's quality of life should be studied by the appropriate sciences is discussed. Psychologists have begun to study such phenomena as health, satisfaction, well-being, happiness, life style as well as some of their contraindicators (life crisis, depression, dependencies, loneliness and suicide). Based on a system approach the author presents a multilevel and multidimensional model of man's quality of life. Its main components on the basal level are: somatic state, psychological functioning, family, economic-social situation, needs-values and environment. From these, higher level components are derived in this model.
Key words: Quality of life, health, overall well-being, self-development, meaning of life.
pp. 47-55