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Rev. Gregory Boyle, S.J., was ordained a priest in 1984 and shortly afterward became the pastor of Dolores Mission parish, serving from 1986-1992. While at Dolores Mission, he developed numerous programs for at-risk youth in the community. In 2001 his various projects assisting youths in gangs were united under one banner: Homeboy Industries. Through Homeboy, Fr. Greg has provided job training and work experience, mental health counseling, tattoo removal, and education, including Opportunities for Learning Charter High School, all in an environment where once-rival gang members are able to work side by side. In his talk to the Catholic Higher Education Collaborative conference (CHEC) attendees at Loyola Marymount University (LMU), Fr. Greg challenged educators to reach out to youth at the margins. Rather than being in service to, he called on his audience to be in solidarity with those who are most at-risk. His story is an example of what can be accomplished through unconditional love for troubled youth. What follows is the text of Fr. Greg's talk to CHEC at LMU in January 2009.

The wording of university academic job advertisements can reflect a commitment to equity (affirmative action) as opposed to academic merit in hiring decisions. The method of judgemental content analysis was applied by having three judges rate 810 Australian tenure-stream advertisements on seven-point magnitude scales of equity and merit. The influence of time (Years: 1970-1973; 1984-1987; 2000-2003), institution (major research universities, the self-designated Group of Eight (Go8); colleges of advanced education and institutes of technology; regional and distance education institutions), as well as academic discipline (physical sciences and technology; social sciences; humanities) on ratings were also examined. Inter-rater reliabilities were high ([greater than or equal to] 0.92), and the "equivalence hypothesis" (that merit and equity are the same) was not supported. Merit and equity criteria increased over time and were influenced by institution type and academic discipline, although in different ways. While some effects could be viewed as being due to rational policy decisions, other significant effects suggested influences that are more difficult to explain. University administrators need to be sensitive to the balance between merit and equity when formulating hiring policies. (Contains 3 figures.)

Research relating to the factor structure of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF) and the Clinical Analysis Questionnaire is reviewed. Different opinions about the factors measured by the 16PF are discussed. Focusing on the second-order factor level could eliminate problems with the instruments' reliability. (SLD)

Comprehensive assessment of personality traits of 110 direct service personnel employed in community residential units for the intellectually disabled was conducted. Overall, personnel exhibited nonaberrant profiles of personality traits, and there was a notable lack of psychopathology. Sensitivity was significantly elevated, seemingly a desirable attribute. (Author/DB)

This paper reports sex differences in cognitive task performance that emerged when 39 Australian university undergraduates (19 men, 20 women) were asked to solve verbal (lexical) and visual-spatial cognitive matching tasks which varied in difficulty and visual field of presentation. Sex significantly interacted with task type, task difficulty, laterality, and changes in performance across trials. The results revealed that the significant individual-differences' variable of sex does not always emerge as a significant main effect, but instead in terms of significant interactions with other variables manipulated experimentally. Our results show that sex differences must be taken into account when conducting experiments into human cognitive-task performance. DOI 10.2466/PMS.110.2.396-410

This study assesses the effects of severe traumatic brain injuries on family members and functioning--a topic of interest for those working with survivors and their families. This issue is receiving increased attention as recent findings suggest that family adjustment influences outcome for brain-injured persons. The Family Environment Scale and the Profile of Mood States were completed by 25 individuals who had a family member with a severe traumatic brain injury. These scales were also completed by a comparison group of 32 individuals who had no brain-injured family member. In terms of family functioning, the findings suggest that, when a family member suffers a severe traumatic brain injury, depression may be elevated, along with a decreased ability to express feelings, decreased time and energy for social and recreational activities, and increased control in comparison to families without a brain-injured member. While this might contribute to family isolation which could last for many years, the overall finding of the present study was that caregiver families were coping adequately.

This theoretical note describes an expansion of the behavioral prediction equation, in line with the greater complexity encountered in models of structured learning theory (R. B. Cattell, 1996a). This presents learning theory with a vector substitute for the simpler scalar quantities by which traditional Pavlovian--Skinnerian models have hitherto been represented. Structured learning can be demonstrated by vector changes across a range of intrapersonal psychological variables (ability, personality, motivation, and state constructs). Its use with motivational dynamic trait measures (R. B. Cattell, 1985) should reveal new theoretical possibilities for scientifically monitoring change processes (dynamic calculus model; R. B. Cattell, 1996b), such as encountered within psychotherapeutic settings (R. B. Cattell, 1987). The enhanced behavioral prediction equation suggests that static conceptualizations of personality structure such as the Big Five model are less than optimal.