Biomedical subjects

V G Cicirelli

Publications and source records attributed to V G Cicirelli.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1990

Relationship of personal-social variables to belief in paternalism in parent caregiving situations.

Paternalism in family caregiving may jeopardize the older persons' autonomy; it needs to be better understood. Study objectives were to determine the relationship of belief in paternalism to personal-social characteristics and to determine the relative importance of these variables as predictors of belief in paternalism. Forty-six pairs of daughters (age 49.7) and mothers (age 77.7) were measured on belief in paternalism, dogmatism, attitude toward elders, affective feelings toward the other, and background and caregiving variables. Among both mothers and daughters, dogmatism and attitude toward elders were related to belief in paternalism; daughters' affective feelings was also related. Caregiving variables were unrelated, and demographic background was important only for daughters. Attitude toward elders was the strongest predictor. Results were interpreted in terms of a traditional family ideology.

Adult↗

PubMed1978

Effect of external standards on children's evaluations of their reproduction of visual forms.

96 second grade children and 144 4-yr-old nursery school children were asked to copy geometric designs. One group was given high standards for evaluating their work, one group was given low standards, and a control group was given no external standards. Differences between treatment groups were significant (p = .01); there were no sex or socioeconomic differences. Children in the low standards group rated their drawings higher, and children in the high standards group rated their drawings lower, thah children in the control group. Results suggest perceptual judgments might be used to shape visual-motor reproduction, rather than vice vera.

Art↗

PubMed1977

Relationship of siblings to the elderly person's feelings and concerns.

This study investigated the feelings and concerns of 64 elderly persons, as revealed by a projective instrument, in relation to number of sex of siblings. Partilal correlations, with effects of age, education, and occupation removed, were computed separately for each sex. The number and proportion of female siblings were found to have a greater influence than male siblings on the elderly's feelings and concerns. For men, sisters appeared to be emotionally supportive, while for women sisters appeared to be more challenging, as indicated by greater social concerns.

Aged↗

PubMed1976

Effects of evaluating task competence on the self-concept of children from different socioeconomic status levels.

Previous studies reported low SES children with higher self-concepts than high SES children; this experimental study probes explanatory factors. One hundred sixty second grade boys and girls were measured on self-concept following a design-copying task on which they received either a positive or a negative evaluation, either through the E's evaluative statements or through presentation of standards for the task. Direction of evaluation was reflected in children's ratings of their own work. There was an interaction between direction of evaluation and SES as they affected self-concept, with negative evaluation leading to enhanced self-concept scores of low SES children.

Achievement↗

PubMed1976

The relationship of task reinforcement to personal loss themes revealed in earliest memories of elderly subjects.

Institutionalization of the aged has been viewed as an environmental stressor, producing covert negative affect which is manifest as personal loss themes in the individual's earliest memories. It was hypothesized that reinforcement given for a cognitive task would produce a positive emotional response in the individual and result in decreased personal loss feelings. Subjects were 64 elderly persons (aged 65-88); half of each sex, half nursing home and half community residents, half receiving reinforcement and half receiving none. Subjects' earliest memories were scored for personal loss themes. Significant findings were that among subjects who were reinforced, those in the community had higher loss scores than those in the nursing home; there was no difference in loss scores between community and nursing residents who had not been reinforced. Among community subjects, those who were reinforced had significantly higher loss scores than those who were not; the opposite tendency was observed in nursing home subjects.

Aged↗

PubMed1976

Age differences in humor comprehension and appreciation in old age.

Ninety-six subjects in three age groups (50-59, 60-69, 70-79) who resided at home were tested on their appreciation and comprehension of 12 conservation and 12 nonconservation jokes. The conservation jokes depended on the Piagetian concepts of conservation of mass, weight, and volume for their comprehension. Cognitive ability of the subjects on the three conservation tasks was also tested. Appreciation increased with age and comprehension decreased with age for both types of jokes. The ability to conserve volume declined with age. Among conservers of volume, appreciation of conservation of volume jokes increased with age; among nonconservers, it tended to decrease. The study provided some support to the hypothesis that the cognitive perceptual theory of humor applies in old age as it does in childhood, with appreciation depending on a match between ability level and the cognitive demand of the joke.

Aged↗

PubMed1976

Categorization behavior in aging subjects.

Age changes in categorization and conceptual styles were studied using an object-sorting task in 276 subjects representing 7 age groups: 5, 6, 7, 19-21, 60-69. 70-79, and 80-89. Significant age effects (p less than 01) were found in the analysis of variance for four of six measures; there were no significant sex or interaction effects. Strong quadratic trends were found for number of ungrouped objects, % relational-thematic responses, and % categorical-inferential responses; oldest groups' responses were similar to children's. A linear trend was found for number of groups. There was no significant age effect for category breadth. Use of descriptive-analytic categories by the elderly was negligible compared to younger subjects.

Adult↗