Social class and academic guidance: A social-psychological analysis.

Canadian research has consistently shown that, compared with high social class students, a lower proportion of low social class students have high educational expectations. This difference persists even when the level of mental ability between the 2 groups is the same. To answer the question of why so many low social class students do not have high educational expectations, a sample of 1,329 Grade 8 students were administered Form A of Scale 2 of the Culture Fair Intelligence Test and a measure of academic self-confidence. Results show that academic self-concept played a critical role in the way students developed their educational expectations. Part I found that high social class students had a higher academic self-concept than low social class students, even though both groups had a similar level of mental ability. Using a subsample of low social class students with high mental ability, Part 2 found that such students' perception of guidance information was based more on their academic self-concept than on their mental ability. Their academic self-concept thus operated as a frame of reference for interpreting academic advice. Results thus extend previous research by showing that students' academic self-concept does not necessarily match the level of their mental ability, one consequence being that many low social class students develop low educational expectations even though they have high mental ability. Furthermore, even when academic guidance is offered, many of these students, on the basis of their low academic self-concept, interpret the advice as advocating low educational expectations for them. (French summary) (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Psychological Diagnosis In Clinical Practice.

Reviews the book, Psychological Diagnosis In Clinical Practice by Benjamin Pope and Winfield H. Scott (1967). The aim of this book according to the authors, is to demonstrate how the clinical psychologist transforms data obtained from tests into diagnostic formulations. They address the book to a wide audience including student psychologists, teachers, social workers, nurses, counselors, and lawyers. While one might like to see such interest, it is difficult to imagine student nurses ploughing through the intricacies of interpreting Card 4 of the Rorschach. Likewise, while one might feel that law students ought to have a smattering of psychology behind them before being turned loose on the public, it is doubtful if this book provides the best source. While the theoretical portion of this book brings together in a useful fashion some of the more recent findings in the psychometric area, there is very little evidence that the authors have permitted this information to affect their actual practice in the clinical situation. Their approach to diagnostic problems appears virtually unchanged from that which was being advocated a quarter of a century ago. As such they sire unwittingly likely to realize the dual aims of discouraging the "better" more critical student from taking clinical psychology seriously, while at the same time providing further ammunition for those individuals within the discipline who are critical of diagnostic testing in general. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethical issues in research on student protest.

An overview of research on student protest reveals that some researchers view dissenting students as "sick," while others view society and its institutions as culpable. The ethics of research are examined, and it is concluded that the same phenomena are interpreted differently by researchers depending on their own attitudes. Modern and traditional views of researchers account for the different conclusions obtained. It is suggested that caution be taken when interpreting these contradictory findings in treating the individual dissenting student. It is proposed that contrary results may be reconciled by examining the underlying preconceptions of researchers toward students and society. (22 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Dynamics of groups at work.

As I studied this book, I constantly found myself seeing an authoritarian dean of students read it, nod his head in satisfaction, and then go forth and quote formulas from it to justify the disruption of democratic student experiments. When the princes had such as Machiavelli, propaganda analysts for the common man had it difficult enough. Now that they have such polished social engineers as Thelen who sincerely work "for the development of the 'humane community' toward which man's nature . . . is driving him," analysis becomes all the more difficult and efforts to communicate it all the more confusing. But I trust I am overrating the group dynamics cult! Fortunately society has many antitoxins against its continued successful manipulation. Some of them may work slowly, but they work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction to Estrada-Hollenbeck et al. (2010).

Reports an error in "Toward a model of social influence that explains minority student integration into the scientific community" by Mica Estrada-Hollenbeck, Anna Woodcock, Paul R. Hernandez and P. Wesley Schultz (Journal of Educational Psychology, np). The name of the author Mica Estrada-Hollenbeck should have read Mica Estrada. All versions of this article have been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2010-22529-001.) Students from several ethnic minority groups are underrepresented in the sciences, indicating that minority students more frequently drop out of the scientific career path than nonminority students. Viewed from a perspective of social influence, this pattern suggests that minority students do not integrate into the scientific community at the same rate as nonminority students. Kelman (1958, 2006) described a tripartite integration model of social influence by which a person orients to a social system. To test whether this model predicts integration into the scientific community, we conducted analyses of data from a national panel of minority science students. A structural equation model framework showed that self-efficacy (operationalized to be consistent with Kelman's rule orientation) predicted student intentions to pursue a scientific career. However, when identification as a scientist and internalization of values were added to the model, self-efficacy became a poorer predictor of intention. Additional mediation analyses supported the conclusion that while having scientific self-efficacy is important, identifying with and endorsing the values of the social system reflect a deeper integration and more durable motivation to persist as a scientist. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rejoinder to Burke's review of Organizational behavior.

Responds to Burke's review (see record 2007-04325-001) of the book, "Organizational Behavior: The Psychology of Effective Management (2nd ed.)" by David J. Lawless (1979). Professor Burke's criticisms would be quite appropriate if directed towards a book, treatise, or thesis expounding the author's theories, but I think they fail to appreciate the objectives of a textbook directed primarily to the undergraduate student. I believe that every textbook writer, consciously or not, has to decide the question of whether he/she writes for students or for colleagues. I write for my students, and not for my colleagues, as teacher-administrator and not as researcher. Professor Burke would make me a purist writing for my colleagues and that is not my intent. The textbook writer provides only the framework upon which the good teacher can build, can embellish, and from which to intrigue his or her students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluation of a food frequency questionnaire-food composition approach for estimating dietary intake of inorganic arsenic and methylmercury

The author argues against the criticism that contemporary medical students, like most educated youth in our society, are self-centered moral relativists without a sense of social responsibility. He first frames his argument in terms of what Charles Taylor calls the three "malaises of modernity," namely, the rise of individualism, an emphasis on instrumental reasoning based on bureaucratic efficiency, and the loss of political action. He goes on to show how these malaises are manifested in the academic health center and their effect on the professional socialization of future physicians. Then, using John Evan's perspective of the need to shift from "supply-side" to "demand-side" thinking in the way today's medical students are trained and Hafferty and Frank's thesis that the most critical determinants of a physician's identity operate not within the formal curriculum but in a "hidden curriculum," he presents his own case of how Rush medical students, by participating in student-generated, voluntary projects--via the Rush Community Service Initiatives Program--are harnessing their individualism through commitment to serving the poor and disadvantaged. To show that the situation at Rush is not unique, the author also points to the impact that the Health of the Public and service-learning programs have been having both in academic health centers and in the communities being served. Finally, it is his contention that these community service experiences, given unconditionally to people in need, broaden the students' education by offering a population and community perspective of health and illness and, perhaps more important, bind them closer to society in both a moral and a political sense.     

Social Crisis.

I am bewildered at the fact that the pages of the American Psychologist reflect almost no awareness of the tragic social upheaval which is accompanying the efforts of the American Negro to win his political, economic, and no less important, his psychological integration with the remainder of American society. This crisis will not disappear because we ignore it. It will be resolved one way or another. The Negro has apparently turned his face from acceptance of his unhappy circumstances and is determined to fight for his human and Constitutional rights. I think it is time that we, as a profession, give recognition to what is occurring around us, that we discuss what our role can and should be, and that each of us, in our own communities volunteer our services and our knowledge to work towards a just and peaceful integration of the American Negro into the American society of the twentieth century. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Student attitudes regarding the temporary closing of a major university.

Describes a set of attitudes linked to the temporary closing of a major university. Data came from 434 students who completed questionnaires sent to their homes prior to the reopening of the university. Results indicate that the average student was concerned, yet moderate in his views. A minority of students, however, (from 19-44%) gave answers to key questions which seemed to represent a "change at any price" syndrome: drastic educational change, overturn of the administration, and violence. A final portion of the questionnaire elicited attitudes presumed to be held by significant others. Students believed that parents, relatives, and friends agreed with them about most issues other than the justification of the student actions. Specific changes in student attitudes during the 10-day closing are enumerated and thought to result from the interaction between students and significant others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Recent Court Experience.

Because of the recent interest in the testimony of the psychologist as an expert witness, I would like to share a recent court experience with APA members. A patient murdered his estranged wife during the time he was being evaluated for treatment at the Hamm Memorial Psychiatric Clinic, a privately endowed community clinic. He was seen once in May, 1955, by the psychiatric social worker and the psychiatrist; but he did not return until November of the same year, at which time he again saw the psychiatrist, who referred him to me for psychological evaluation. Eight days after I saw him, he shot and killed his wife. The entire psychiatric team was subpoenaed by the defense attorney to testify in the Ramsey County District Court as to the patient's mental condition prior to and at the time of the murder. In addition, the defense attorney requested that the psychiatrist, as well as myself, evaluate him in the jail as to his mental condition subsequent to the murder. The first professional member called to the witness stand was the psychiatric social worker, who was questioned rather briefly as to her impressions of the defendant at the time he was first referred. I was called to testify immediately afterwards and was subjected to questioning and cross-examination for a five-hour period. One hour was spent in qualifying me as an expert in terms of education, experience, academic appointments, and the like. The remainder of the time was devoted to an analysis of the psychological tests, as well as my clinical opinions as to the psychological condition of the patient. No attempt was made by the prosecuting attorney to harass me personally, although he would occasionally intersperse such comments as, "You are not a qualified psychiatrist, are you?" or, "You do not have an MD degree, is that right?" At the same time, he did not raise objections when the defense attorney asked for my diagnostic impression or opinion as to whether or not the patient knew right from wrong at the time of the shooting. Following my testimony, the psychiatrist was called to the witness chair and gave essentially the same picture based on his evaluation of the patient. The jury deliberated six hours and the defendant was found guilty of murder in the first degree which carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. An informal polling of the jurors after the trial by the attorney for the defense revealed that the jury at no time questioned my expertness and fully accepted me as a professional member of the community. The majority agreed that the patient was psychotic but apparently did not feel he was insane. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

“Interacting with sexist men triggers social identity threat among female engineers”: Correction.

Reports an error in "Interacting with sexist men triggers social identity threat among female engineers" by Christine Logel, Gregory M. Walton, Steven J. Spencer, Emma C. Iserman, William von Hippel and Amy E. Bell (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2009[Jun], Vol 96[6], 1089-1103). The affiliation for William von Hippel is incorrect. The affiliation should have been University of Queensland. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2009-07435-001.) Social identity threat is the notion that one of a person’s many social identities may be at risk of being devalued in a particular context (C. M. Steele, S. J. Spencer, & J. Aronson, 2002). The authors suggest that in domains in which women are already negatively stereotyped, interacting with a sexist man can trigger social identity threat, undermining women’s performance. In Study 1, male engineering students who scored highly on a subtle measure of sexism behaved in a dominant and sexually interested way toward an ostensible female classmate. In Studies 2 and 3, female engineering students who interacted with such sexist men, or with confederates trained to behave in the same way, performed worse on an engineering test than did women who interacted with nonsexist men. Study 4 replicated this finding and showed that women’s underperformance did not extend to an English test, an area in which women are not negatively stereotyped. Study 5 showed that interacting with sexist men leads women to suppress concerns about gender stereotypes, an established mechanism of stereotype threat. Discussion addresses implications for social identity threat and for women’s performance in school and at work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The shame of American education.

Recent analyses of American schools and proposals for school reform have missed an essential point: Most current problems could be solved if students learned twice as much in the same time and with the same effort. It has been shown that they can do so (a) when the goals of education are clarified; (b) when each student is permitted to advance at his or her own pace; and (c) when the problem of motivation is solved with programmed instructional materials, so designed that students are very often right and learn at once that they are. The theories of human behavior most often taught in schools of education—particularly cognitive psychology—stand in the way of this solution to the problem of American education, but the proposal that schools of education simply be disbanded is a step in the wrong direction. Teachers need to be taught how to teach, and a technology is now available that will permit them to teach much more effectively. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beyond the two disciplines of scientific psychology.

Aptitude * Treatment interactions are demonstrated with reference to G. Domino's studies (1968 and 1971) of instructor demand and student personality and J. K. Majasan's (1972) study which found that achievement in college psychology was greatest when the student's position on a scale of beliefs regarding behaviorism and humanism were similar to his instructor's. Further evidence on interactions in social psychology, personality, learning, and experimental psychology is cited. It is suggested that higher order interactions make it unlikely that social scientists will be able to establish generalizations applicable beyond the laboratory or that generalizations established in the field work will be maintained. Social research should be less concerned with hypothesis testing and more concerned with interpreting findings in local contexts. (59 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of work experience on the validity of student evaluations of teaching effectiveness.

Examined whether student evaluations of teaching effectiveness changed significantly once the students had left the university and had gained work experience. Students in their final year at a university were asked to grade lecturers on 9 items relating to teaching effectiveness and course effectiveness; 723 students responded. After the students had graduated and had been working for 1 yr, they were asked again to give a rating of teaching effectiveness for their former lecturers and to nominate the "best" and "worst" teachers; 506 replied. Comparisons of the results show that there was little difference in the 2 ratings of lecturers by their teaching scores. Increasing maturity and job experience did not significantly alter student evaluations of relative teaching effectiveness. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The teaching of psychology.

Concerns the beginning teacher of psychology, educational objectives, selection of subject matter, teaching methods, student interests, and the teacher's own preparation for teaching. It is suggested that a beginner will be on the way to becoming a good teacher if he (a) has enthusiasm for his subject; (b) has respect for his students; (c) is open-minded about method, willing to challenge tradition and experiment with new procedures; and (d) regards his subject as a meaningful part of a larger educational enterprise. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Business and politics.

From the point of view of a student of political science, Bauer's article (Amer. Psychologist, 1960, 15, 650-655) ends on any but "a happy note." While business organizations undoubtedly share features with social and political systems in general, the differences are significant. Bauer has not given any attention to the differences in goals of business and political systems, and the consequent implications for organization. If we believe that it is possible for a society, as well as its members, to have goals not derived from its system of production, and that it is possible for such goals to take precedence over the values of business, including productivity, then we are not compelled to accept organizational studies as our picture of reality. We would be far happier in emphasizing the differences between business organizations and political societies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)