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.

We examined the relationship between abortion and the Adlerian personality construct of social interest or gemeinschaftsgefuehl. The Social Interest Index was used to measure the social interest of women in the week before their abortion procedure (pretest), 2 weeks following the procedure (posttest), and 3 months after the abortion (follow-up). We hypothesized that social interest scores would be lowest just prior to the abortion, and the results supported this, showing a significant increase in scores at postabortion and follow-up. Furthermore, social interest scores at the 3-month follow-up did not differ significantly from scores obtained by a nonaborting sample of women from the general population. Our findings suggest that the effect of abortion on social interest is temporary and support the situational nature of social interest.

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The relationship of locus of control to deciding on an abortion was investigated. Rotter's Scale was given to 118 women immediately prior to abortion, 2 wk., and 3 mo. following the abortion. Subjects' locus of control scores were compared across the three times, and the abortion group's pretest scores were compared with those of a nonpregnant control group. As hypothesized, the aborting group scored significantly more internal than the general population but no differences in locus of control were found across the three times. The length of delay in deciding to abort an unwanted pregnancy following confirmation was also assessed. Women seeking first-trimester abortions were divided into internal and external groups on the Rotter Locus of Control Scale and the lengths of delay were compared. The hypothesis that external scorers would delay the decision longer than internal ones was confirmed. The results confirm characteristics of the locus of control construct and add information about personality characteristics of women undergoing abortion.