Epistemology and Adolescents' Conceptions of Procedural Justice in School.

When evaluating instructional practices, adolescents (n = 128, ages 14-19) coordinated knowledge of epistemology, fairness, and motivation in their conceptions of procedural justice. Adolescents ranked the fairness and effectiveness of instructional practices differently for controversial and noncontroversial topics. They raised epistemological, moral, and motivational concerns in their justifications but coordinated these issues differently for each science topic. Using prototypical practices as a stimulus, adolescents described how students could practice the scientific method, remember current scientific positions, or invent their own theories and methods. The proportion of adolescents offering different conceptions for each science topic was significantly different from chance, but 50% relied on one conception to evaluate all instructional practices. Adolescents' conceptions reflected their standards for evaluating educational experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychologist of the future: Scientist, professional, or both.

A familiar issue in psychology is the "relation between our science and its applications." As the goal of doctoral training, the present explicit model of the psychologist as the combination scientist-professional is considered. 3 alternative conceptions are considered: (a) to train psychologists exclusively as scientists; (b) exclusively as professionals; (c) to "train two brands, one for scientific work only, the other for professional work only." Each proposal is considered. Criteria proposed "lead me to prefer our present models for training psychologists to any of the alternatives available." Major topic headings are: the scientist-professional conception of the psychologist in practice, alternative conceptions of the psychologist, re-examination of the scientist-professional model, training the scientist-professional, the psychologist of the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social desirability and individual conceptions of the desirable.

In a large proportion of the college students studied, there was a strong tendency for the person to believe that his own notions of desirable personal traits were "absolute," which should be recognized as desirable by others. Yet there were such wide, and predictable, differences among individuals' conceptions of the desirable that the term "social desirability" could have little common meaning; hence the attempt to control distortion of personality test responses by a forced-choice technique, which assumes common conceptions, would seem fruitless. A standard forced-choice measure of personality needs administered to college students did not correlate so well with self-reports of their own relevant behaviors as did a single stimulus form of the same instrument. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Strategies for preserving the confidentiality of psychological reports.

Describes strategies that appear to be effective in reducing breaches of confidentiality due to unauthorized dissemination of psychological reports. Strategies suggested include (1) clarifying the word "confidentiality," (2) not placing psychological reports in general medical records, and (3) insisting that forms authorizing release of information specifically name the psychology department or an individual staff member. It is concluded that operationally defining in the report itself how the report is to be treated is a complementary strategy that may help reduce breaches of confidentiality. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Selective role of aggression in concept formation.

This experiment investigated how "Direction" in verbal problem solving is influenced by aggression. A Four-Word Problem (FWP) test was designed, consisting of: Set A, eliciting an aggressive or nonaggressive classification of equal conceptual quality; Set B, where the aggressive selection is inferior; and Set C where neither classification involves aggression. Rankings of aggressive behavior were obtained for the 75 Ss who were administered the FWP and a word association test. Thematic protocols were available for 57 Ss. Results were: (a) A positive relationship was found between rankings of aggression and "Difference Scores," i.e., the difference in selection of conceptually inferior classifications between Set B and Set C. (b) A positive relationship was obtained between Set A and aggression in the thematic data. (c) The word associations were found to be unrelated to Set A or the thematic material. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

U.S and Chinese cultural beliefs about learning.

This study examined U.S. and Chinese conceptions of learning with leaning-related terms collected from U.S. and Chinese college students. Cluster analysis yielded a hierarchical structure of this lexicon for each culture. The 2 sets of cultural beliefs contained such different notions about learning that there was little overlap, however. The English terms included elaborated conceptions of mental processes, internal learner characteristics, social contexts, and externally existing bodies of knowledge. Most Chinese terms dealt with "seeking knowledge" including personal attitudes, purposes, and action plans for leaning. Chinese conceptions also emphasized achievement standards of breadth and depth of knowledge, the unity of knowing and morality, and contributions to society. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation.

Reviews the book, Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation by R. Keith Sawyer (2006). Explaining Creativity is a refreshing analysis of creativity within a broad range of creative domains that are often neglected in scientific treatments of creativity. The book is divided into five parts. In the first part, Sawyer reviews previous conceptions of creativity, such as "creativity comes from the unconscious," and "everyone is creative" and claims many such conceptions are myths. The second part of the book reviews individualist approaches to creativity. In the third part of the book, Sawyer reviews evidence from sociology, culture, and history to show how researchers from various perspectives all converge on the importance of context for recognizing creativity. The fourth part reviews the creative process of performance-based, collaborative artistic forms of creativity, such as installation art, screenwriting, sitcom writing, jazz improvisation, and comedy improvisation. The fifth section shows how science and business creativity are also embedded in a social context and can be even more reliant on collaboration than artistic creativity. The book then ends with tips for being more creative. A complete textbook on creativity should be comprehensive, present all the evidence and viewpoints, and be critical of everything. This is not such a book. Nonetheless, this is one of the first books to go beyond the psychological study of creativity and to synthesize various different levels of analysis to understand diverse creative behaviors. To this end, the book is highly recommended to nearly anyone that wants to have a more complete understanding of how creativity operates in today's world. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Student conceptions of learning and their use of self-regulated learning strategies: A cross-cultural comparison.

This study examines differences between Australian and Japanese secondary school students' conceptions of learning and their use of self-regulated learning strategies. Australian students have a narrow, school-based view of learning. The Japanese students view learning from a much broader perspective. For them, learning is not only related to what happens at school, it is also seen as a lifelong, experiential process leading to personal fulfillment. However, in spite of these differences in learning conceptualizations, the strategies used by students in a Western learning context are similar to those used by Japanese students. A conception of learning as "understanding" is associated with a greater total use of strategies for both Australian and Japanese students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hermeneutics, authenticity and the aims of psychology.

The contribution hermeneutic philosophy can make to reflection on issues in psychology is shown through a critique of the "positive psychology" movements inaugurated in the special issue of the American Psychologist edited by M. Seligman and M. Csikszentmihalyi in 2000. Drawing on the broad historical sense advocated by hermeneutics, it is shown that the conceptions of the good life defended by the contributors to the special issue might turn out to be limited to the rather narrow range of questionable and shallow ideals of contemporary Western consumerist economy. In particular, the attempt made by S. E. Taylor, et al (2000) to show that "positive illusions" are conducive to a good life is shown to rest on dubious conceptions about what is genuinely worthwhile in life. As an alternative to the somewhat arid conception of human existence presupposed by the authors contributing to the special issue, M. Heidegger's (1962) conception of authentic existence is put forward as a hermeneutically inspired basis for rethinking what constitutes the richest and most fulfilling life for humans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment: Semantics.

Letter comments that in recent years a succession of experimental (and other) textbooks have used (actually misused) the word "dangerous" in referring to concepts, research designs, conclusions. The word "danger" refers to physical menace or threat, thus may introduce confusion when used as indicated above. Adequate substitute words would include "misleading," "illusory," "untenable." The author goes on to provide examples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Word knowledge and working memory as predictors of reading skill.

Three measures of working memory capacity and three measures of word knowledge were used as predictors of three different measures of reading skill. The results demonstrated that the size of a reader's vocabulary and the speed of accessing it are independent of a "depth" measure of word knowledge and that reading comprehension, reading speed, and text inferencing ability are all independent measures of reading skill. A series of regression analyses were conducted to derive a causal model of the three reading performance measures. The results indicated that working memory efficiency during reading was related to comprehension, whereas a more passive working memory capacity measure was related to reading speed. Moreover, text inferencing ability was related only to word knowledge. We conclude that concepts such as "reading skill," "working memory," and "word knowledge" are multidimensional constructs that cannot be captured by a single variable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning the languages of research: Transcending illiteracy and indifference.

Although approaches to research other than experimentation and quasi-experimentation have recently become more prevalent in psychology, resistance to these approaches continues. Outright condemnation may have diminished, but equally powerful forms of resistance--illiteracy and indifference--remain. The nature and consequences of these forms of resistance are explored, particularly with respect to undergraduate education. I suggest we need to realize more fully how learning both traditional and alternative approaches informs our understanding of the other, and we need to encourage the growth of what S. Collini (1993) refers to as "the intellectual equivalent of bilingualism," a capacity to exercise the language of both kinds of approaches and to engage in a mutually intelligible exchange of views. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Molecular regulation of human IgE synthesis

The purpose of this study was to examine students' conception of their learning in a problem-based learning medical curriculum. A multiple case study design was used with two units of analyses: two PBL lab groups; and 15 individual students within each lab group. Data collected included weekly journals by students, video-tapes of PBL sessions, focus group interviews with students, two open-ended questionnaires completed by students, and interviews with the PBL tutors. Three thematic categories of students' conceptions of their learning emerged: (1) awareness of PBL goals and expectations; (2) efficiency and expertise; and (3) the role of the tutor.     

Developing an intuitive understanding of conservation and contamination: Invisible particles as a plausible mechanism.

Four studies examined whether 3–7 yr olds appreciate that a substance can continue to exist and maintain its inherent properties (e.g., taste, having weight) even after it has become invisible upon dissolution. These studies also examined whether young children have the concept of "tiny, invisible particles" and, if so, whether they can use it to reason about material kinds. These studies revealed that, by age 3, some children could appreciate both conservation of matter despite visual disappearance and the existence of tiny, invisible particles. Moreover, they could make use of the particle concept to come up with a plausible mechanism for how a substance can continue to exist and maintain its inherent properties despite visual disappearance upon dissolution. The proportion of children who could do so increases with age. Such abilities can play an important role in the development of an intuitive theory of material kinds and in the acquisition of scientific concepts and theories in chemistry. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Research strategies toward a conception of positive mental health.

Problem areas in the field of science for a concept of mental health and the question of how research may be brought to advance our understanding of optimal human functioning are considered. Major sections are: Some Conceptual Difficulties with "Mental Health," The Frontal Assault, The Multiple Criterion Approach, Fundamental Research in Personality, and Systems Theory as a Frame of Reference. "The systems framework as a way of thinking ties mental health to our most general conceptions of personality in a schema that permits or, better, requires elaboration by research… . Mental health… is complex and not easily schematized." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of internal versus external information processing on symptom perception in an exercise setting.

Determined the effects of internal vs external attentional focus on symptom perception and performance in an exercise setting. 15 undergraduates ran 1 mi under each of 3 experimental conditions: "word-cue," in which Ss were required to focus externally by listening for a target word heard repeatedly over headphones; "breathing," in which Ss were directed to attend to their own breathing and heart rate; and a control. Ss reported significantly less symptomatology, particularly exercise-relevant symptoms (as measured by a symptom/emotion checklist), in the word-cue condition than in the breathing or control conditions. Findings are discussed with reference to previous theory, and methodological differences between this and earlier research by J. W. Pennebaker and J. M. Lightner (see record 1981-22664-001) are delineated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expanding test–retest designs to include developmental time-lag components.

Test-retest data can reflect systematic changes over varying intervals of time in a "time-lag" design. This article shows how latent growth models with planned incomplete data can be used to separate psychometric components of developmental interest, including internal consistency reliability, test-practice effects, factor stability, factor growth, and state fluctuation. Practical analyses are proposed using a structural equation model for longitudinal data on multiple groups with different test-retest intervals. This approach is illustrated using 2 sets of data collected from students measured on the Woodcock-Johnson—Revised Memory and Reading scales. The results show how alternative time-lag models can be fitted and interpreted with univariate, bivariate, and multivariate data. Benefits, limitations, and extensions of this structural time-lag approach are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Undoing theory/practice dualism: Joint action and knowing from within.

The relation between theory and practice is the object of a central debate in the history of science. In a recent contribution to the issue, L. E. Sandelands (see record 1991-11441-001) equates practice with G. Ryle's "knowing how" and theory with Ryle's "knowing that," arguing that practice and theory are incommensurate forms of knowing such that theory cannot be translated into practice. R. T. Craig (see record 1996-04965-004) took issue with Sandelands' position, pointing out that it reflects an academic approach removed from everyday social behavior in which problem solving is always both practical and theoretical. The authors agree and take this blurring of the theory/practice dichotomy as a cue to deconstruct the conception of two ways of knowing. J. Shotter's concepts of "joint action" and "knowing from within" suggest a third type of knowing which develops between knowers in particular contexts or circumstances. This third way of knowing has important implications for psychological training and inquiry. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)