MacLaboratory for psychology: General experimental psychology with Apple’s Macintosh

Every student at Drexel University is required, on admission, to purchase a Macintosh computer. Consequently, there is an understandable demand to effectively utilize this resource in the undergraduate curriculum. We have developed what amounts to a series of “take-home” programs that convert the Macintosh into a number of “pieces” of experimental psychology equipment. Providing each student with a personal psychology “MacLaboratory” has apparent pedagogical and practical benefits, from creative hands-on experience to ease of independent research. This paper summarizes details of the program to date, its development process, supporting materials, and our experience when every student has a personal computer.     

The Social Intelligence of Acting Students

American acting students were asked to predict the ratings made by the general population of undergraduate psychology students on an adjective checklist dealing with several professions, one of which was acting. The same task was set for two benchmark comparison groups (psychology graduate students and a sample from the general population of students). Chi-square comparisons of the ratings of the undergraduate psychology students and their predicted ratings by the acting students revealed that the acting students achieved a 70% correct prediction rate. Chi-square analyses of the performance of the psychology graduate students and the general student sample showed that the acting students' predictions were inferior to those of the psychology graduate students but no different from those of the general undergraduate student sample. The acting students were more accurate in predicting the endorsement of negative adjectives (100%) than positive adjectives (55%). The acting students tended to distrust other people's attitudes towards actors, whereas, in fact, the general population of students' feelings about them were mildly positive.     

Characteristics of doctoral and nondoctoral school psychology programs: Their implications for the entry-level doctorate

In the past 10 years the number of graduates in school psychology has doubled, and student enrollment has tripled. Rapid growth in the psychological profession has brought with it an attempt to make the doctoral degree the minimal credential for entry to independent practice. Examination of the characteristics of doctoral and nondoctoral training programs in school psychology suggests that each type of program has distinct points in its favor.     

EFFECTS OF CONTINGENCY CONTRACTING ON STUDY RATE AND TEST PERFORMANCE1

A contingency contracting program designed to increase study rate and subsequent test performance was implemented with a group of undergraduate psychology students. The function of the contingency contracting program in producing increased study rate was evaluated by individual experiments with each student in an experimental contracting group. The overall effect of the program on test performance was assessed by comparing the final scores for the course earned by the experimental group with those earned by two matched control groups. A reversal procedure established that contingency contracting did significantly increase the study rate of students of a wide range of ability. However, it was selectively effective in improving the test performance of below-average students only. Study rate gains in contracted courses did not generalize to noncontracted courses. Self-recording of study time in the absence of scheduled differential consequences did not improve test performance. Study rate under no-consequence conditions varied with test schedule. For both consequence and no-consequence groups, the correlation between study time and final score for the course was only moderate.     

Computerized laboratories for psychology instruction: How successful are they?

This paper discusses the impact of two computerized laboratories on the undergraduate psychology program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. An assessment of student and instructor reactions together with other measures of success is presented, and strengths and weaknesses of upgrading traditional psychology laboratories to computerized facilities are addressed.     

Frequency of measurement and data utilization as factors in standardized behavioral assessment of academic skill

A study was conducted to investigate the effects on students' spelling achievement of variations in teacher assessment procedures. Teachers measured student spelling performance at a constant level of task difficulty using different measurement frequencies and different rules to interpret the data. Each teacher wrote two consecutive 3-week goals for improved spelling performance for two sets of 100 spelling words and then measured student performance either daily or weekly by dictating randomly selected words from each 100-word list. Teachers were trained to apply either a predetermined set of decision rules or their own judgment to the data to decide if the spelling program they had implemented for the student was effective. Ineffective programs were changed or modified. Results indicated that daily measurement was significantly more effective than weekly measurement in increasing spelling achievement and that, under certain conditions, decision rules were more effective than teacher judgment in determining when to make program changes or modifications.This research was conducted pursuant to Contract 300-77-0491 between the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped (now called Special Education Programs) and the University of Minnesota Institute for Research on Learning Disabilities.     

Issues in the effective use of computers in introductory and advanced courses in psychology

The recent proliferation of time-shared terminals, computers, and instructional software is producing a dramatic change in undergraduate education in psychology. Although computers have been used for many years in research in psychology, their use as instructional alternatives only recently has been thrust upon the academic community, a development for which many faculty-even experienced computer users—are ill prepared. The use of computers and microcomputers in instruction can provide the instructor, and more importantly, the student, with an effective pedagogical tool. However, computers cannot be introduced into the curriculum in a piecemeal or haphazard fashion. In this paper, issues involved in the effective introduction and use of computers in teaching are outlined.     

Improving Research Training in Doctoral Counseling Programs

The authors surveyed the research training practices of doctoral-level, APA-approved counseling psychology programs, non-APA-approved counseling psychology programs, and counselor education programs to identify ways to improve such training. Some differences were found according to program type. No differences were found in percentage of students' publishing or presenting research during 1983–84. Suggestions for improving future research training were assessed; highest ratings were given to required participation in research teams; 1st-year, “hands-on” research experience; and greater emphasis on design rather than statistics training. Programs characterized by high and low student research productivity differed in the areas of required research training, research emphases and research climate, required presentation or submission of research for publication, and material support for student research. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Graduate school mentoring in clinical,counselling, and experimental academic training programs: an exploratory study

This study focused on graduate student mentoring within clinical, counselling and experimental psychology programs. A nationwide survey of 336 psychology graduate students indicated that counselling students reported higher levels of socioemotional support in their mentoring relationships, as well as higher overall levels of satisfaction, compared with clinical and experimental students. Clinical and experimental students, however, reported higher levels of selected outcome variables, such as research productivity. The relationships between mentoring qualities and several outcome variables were noted and discussed. This study adds to the developing literature concerning graduate student mentoring within professional psychology training programs.     

Exemplary efforts in psychology to recruit and retain graduate students of color

Many psychology departments are striving for a greater representation of students of color within their graduate preparation programs with the aim of producing a more diverse pool of psychological service providers, scientists, and educators. To help improve the minority pipeline in psychology, the authors identify and describe recruitment and retention strategies used at 11 departments and programs considered to be making exemplary efforts to attract and retain minority students of color. The strategies most consistently used included engaging current minority faculty and students in recruitment activities, offering attractive financial aid packages, having faculty members make personal contacts with prospective students, creating linkages with historical institutions of color, having (or approached having) a critical mass of faculty and students of color, offering a diversity issues course, and engaging students in diversity issues research. Despite the similarities, the programs and departments were each distinctive and innovative in their overall approaches to student recruitment and retention. Highlighting the strategies used at successful institutions may help others develop plans for improving the minority pipeline within their own departments and programs.     

IMPACT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TEACHING/LEARNING CYCLE ON TEACHER DECISION-MAKING AND EMERGENT READERS

No topic is on the minds of the general public, federal and state legislatures, parents, and educators more than the issue of establishing and maintaining school programs that are consistent in their ability to produce competent readers. Teachers, administrators, and teacher preparation programs are admonished to change programs, resources, monitoring procedures - whatever it takes to bring about this reformation of student reading achievement. Topics under investigation include effective models, methods, and strategies of instruction; essential teacher knowledge; teacher decision-making; and professional development of in-service and pre-service teachers. From this body of research the terms "balanced literacy" and "engaged literacy" have emerged. These terms are defined as emphasizing instruction on identified student need and including skills development as well as experience in a variety of texts. The teaching/learning cycle, a model for evaluating student reading behaviors and planning focused instruction, providesa foundation for the development of essential teacher knowledge and skills. As teachers articulate their understanding of the reading process, the characteristics of the learner, and the supports and challenges offered in text and teaching approaches, their practice is changed to make it more congruent with these stated beliefs. When teacher instructional practice is aligned with clear understandings and beliefs, student achievement increases. This study explored how knowledge and use of the teaching/learning cycle in beginning reading instruction impacts teacher decision-making and student achievement. While investigating teachers' knowledge and use of the teaching/learning cycle, two research questions focused on how student learning was affected and the impact of the changes on student/teacher interactions.     

Writing programs on the Apple for the student psychology laboratory: Routines,subroutines, and sources of information

Writing programs for the student psychology laboratory on the Apple II series of microcomputers presents the programmer with a number of problems. Among these are increasing program execution speed, obtaining precise response and interval timing, reducing program memory requirements, obtaining efficient disk I/O, providing good error trapping, and presenting clear screen displays. Since Applesoft BASIC is not equipped with many of the desirable features of a more advanced language, ways to solve these problems are not obvious. This paper suggests a number of potential solutions and provides additional sources of information.     

SCOPE: A Comprehensive-Sequential Approach to Career Counseling

SCOPE is a comprehensive career-counseling program presently in operation at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, New Jersey. It consists of a basic program plus a cluster of supplemental, optional exercises. The basic program has a sequence of four career-planning phases, one of which applies to each undergraduate year. Efforts are made to process students systematically through the entire basic program. An individual checklist kept for each participating student provides an internal mechanism for program evaluation and modification. Early results suggest effectiveness and positive student reactions.     

Exemplary multicultural training in school psychology programs

This study examined the characteristics of school psychology programs noted for training students from a multicultural perspective. The program characteristics and training environment at 17 programs were studied through semistructured interviews with faculty and students, and reviews of prospective student application materials for multicultural content. Findings suggest that students at all programs were exposed to minority clients during applied fieldwork, 94% of the programs required a diversity issues course, 59% of the programs specialized in training with specific minority group populations, 31% of the students and 25% of the faculty represented a racial-ethnic minority group member, and 24% of the faculty were bilingual. Most programs used multiple multicultural curriculum models and employed a wide variety of recruitment and retention strategies specifically aimed at minority students. Faculty and students characterized their overall university training environment as supportive of programmatic initiatives regarding diversity issues, yet several reported uneven experiences with implementation.     

Protecting Sexual Minority Youth from Research Risks: Conflicting Perspectives

This paper examines how a younger white female graduate student and an African American female undergraduate viewed the relationship between the graduate student and older African American working class women. This relationship was formed around a community garden project. The graduate student understood the relationship to be based on gender and class background similarities; the undergraduate viewed it based on race differences and unexamined white privilege. Both interpretations are challenged as unidimensional. Through this re-telling, questions are raised about why situating ourselves via our identities is not practiced more frequently. Possible explanations of this lack of attention to situativity include a Cartesian philosophy of science that separates objectivity and subjectivity, a general unawareness of privilege by those who have it, and a dominant scientific discourse that neglects the role of the researcher. This paper illustrates why reflexivity is crucial for the work of community psychology.     

Graduate attributes of the 4‐year Australian undergraduate psychology program

This paper outlines the background, process and outcomes for a project that delineated a set of graduate attributes of the 4‐year Australian undergraduate psychology program. The nature of the current undergraduate psychology program and its quality assurance system is described, followed by a consideration of current issues in psychology education and training. The processes involved in delineating the six graduate attributes (i.e., knowledge and understanding, research methods, critical thinking, values, communication, and application) are then described. Some issues and suggestions related to their implementation are then outlined. Finally, the authors summarise what has been accomplished in delineating the graduate attributes, and what still needs to be achieved.     

Men Pursuing an Undergraduate Psychology Degree: What’s Masculinity Got to Do with It?

Using discursive psychology as its theoretical and methodological framework, the present study explored male Canadian undergraduate students’ accounts of their reasons for studying psychology, their experiences of being male undergraduate psychology students, and their anticipated future careers. Ten men (19–29 years-old) who were at least in their second year of study in the psychology major program were interviewed. Contrary to survey research concluding that men who make gender-atypical vocational choices conform less to masculine norms than do men who make typical academic and career choices, our participants produced contradictory accounts. On the one hand, in talking about their experiences as psychology students in the context of the gender gap, they argued that gender does not matter. On the other hand, they showed that gender does matter in brief “boy moments” when they shared tacit gender knowledge with the interviewer and in justifying their academic paths toward futures that involved leaving psychology for a male-concentrated field. Thus, gender-does-not matter was the preferred argument when gender was an explicit topic of conversation, and the doing of gender occurred in unacknowledged ways.

     

Where should the balance be between “scientist” and “practitioner” in Australian undergraduate psychology?

The scientist—practitioner model of training in psychology has been widely influential in the development of undergraduate curricula in Australia. The model had its origins in post‐war America and has formed the basis for accreditation of psychology courses in Australia since the late 1970s. Recently a reconsideration of the model in Australian undergraduate psychology was argued for, suggesting that the absence of significant practical skills development in most curricula is detrimental to the discipline's graduates and their employers. The authors agree that the need for some practical skills development in undergraduate curricula is becoming increasingly important for psychology. Many of the exemplars of curriculum revision provided, however, are impractical and are unlikely to make significant contributions to Australian programs. There is an urgent need to consider the graduate attributes desired for 3‐year and 4‐year trained psychology graduates who will go on to employment without completing postgraduate study. Curriculum innovation to enhance graduates' employability will flow from this development, and will be likely to incorporate information technology solutions, rather than placement experience. This process is entirely compatible with the scientist—practitioner model of training and education in psychology.