The recent article by Stephen T. Black (1993) comparing genuine suicide notes with simulated notes is examined here. This article corrected a sampling error made in the original study by E. S. Shneidman and N. Farberow (1957), but Black's design suffers from theoretical and methodological problems that render it uninterpretable: First, no theoretical background is elaborated, and no hypotheses are offered. Second, no constructs are operationalized, and no predictions are tested. In the present article, the operational design is critiqued, and then it is suggested that the study of suicide notes in this fashion should cease.

Objectives: To assess undergraduate helmet use attitudes and behaviors in accordance with the theory of planned behavior (TPB). We predicted helmet wearers and nonwearers would differ on our subscales. Methods: Participants (N=414, 69% female, 84% white) completed a survey. Results: Principal component analysis and reliability analysis guided the creation of subscales. Group differences were detected on 9 of 10 subscales: F(18,788) = 10.721, P=.001, eta 2 = .187. Few ethnicity and sex differences were detected. Conclusions: This study supports the validity of the TPB in predicting college student helmet use and offers a new scale for future research purposes.