What We Talk About Matters: Content Moderates Cognitive Depletion in Interracial Interactions

The antecedents and consequences of intergroup interactions have been well studied, but interaction content—what partners actually talk about—has not. In the experiment we report here, interaction content moderated well-documented self-regulation effects (i.e., cognitive depletion) among White participants interacting with a Black partner. Specifically, White individuals participated in a video email interaction with an ostensible Black or White partner who broached topics systematically varying in intimacy. Greater cognitive depletion was evident after interacting with a Black partner relative to a White partner, but only after discussing more intimate topics. When conversation topics aligned with Whites’ preferences to avoid intimacy in interracial interactions, depletion effects were reduced. Thus, interaction content, which has been largely ignored in intergroup interaction research, has important implications for intergroup interaction.     

What I Talk About When I Talk About Teaching and Learning

In this text I discuss two events in which I learned something important about life and about education in order to formulate in a precise manner two propositions for my pedagogical creed. In focus for both are the interrelatedness of theory and life. The stories are told through the lenses of Emmanuel Levinas’s and Jacques Rancière’s thinking, but the stories also are shown to be essential in my understanding of their thinking. The first story is about learning ethics as a consequence of meeting an old man on a remote island and the second story is about teaching, when a young girl in a situation of war taught me something important about political life. In a final section I discuss briefly what those theoretical/practical experiences and memories bring to my understanding of education.     

The Pleonasticity of Talk About Concepts

Philosophical Studies -     

浅谈“圣经观”的问题

圣经是信仰的“教科书”,信徒信仰生活的必读物。圣经所展示给每一个信徒应该说是一样的:面对同样的版本,卷数一样经节一样,字数一样,甚至标点符号都是一样;但确实存在着信徒对圣经有着不同的理解和认识。     

Why We Still Have to Be Reductionists About Group Memory

Groups do not, in general, pool their members' knowledge successfully. This can be generalized to the point that groups perform more poorly than the sum of their members' individual potential in most tasks with objectively‐measurable standards of performance. In this closing essay of the colloquy, I discuss some matters inspired by the essays responding to my original argument, most notably the status of baseline models and the importance of research relevant to communication content and process during group discussion.     

Girls Talk About Mathematics and Their Future: A Partial Replication

Grade 11 girls ( n = 63) who had previously been extensively tested in Grade 8 were interviewed and readministered the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales 11. Girls who had enrolled in three years of the college preparatory math sequence wete contrasted with those who had taken two years. The groups were equated on three cognitive measures as assessed in Grade 8. Results confirmed previous research in these ways: "fear of success" in math becarne less from Grade 8 to Grade 11; girls continuing in math had more positive attitudes toward math, came from more favored environments, were closer to parents arid more influenced by them. Most girls planned to combine work, marriage arid children, but plans were poorly articulated in relationship to each other; 29% would play dumb while 76% said other girls do. Results demonstrate developing sex-role strain.     

Talk About School Between Mothers and Children With or Without ADHD

Twenty mother-child dyads including a child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and 20 mother-child dyads containing a child without ADHD recorded a conversation about the children's school experiences. Mothers' ratings of their children's school-related performance were also assessed. Mothers of children with ADHD rated their children's behavioral conduct lower than did other mothers, and dyads including children with ADHD discussed behavioral conduct more and academics and interpersonal relationships less than did the other group of dyads. For ADHD dyads, less elaboration about children's interpersonal relationships was related to lower maternal ratings about children's school-related performance. The results are discussed in relation to potentially poorer developmental outcomes for many children with ADHD.     

Sex Talk: Discourses About Female Bodies in Hong Kong Media

Sex and Chinese culture appear to be at odds with one another. Sex talk, however, has been on constant supply in Hong Kong media in the past decade. Considering that Chinese culture prefers to conceal, rather than reveal, sexual matters, this study probes into the phenomenon which sees the proliferation of sex-related debates and controversies in news media in this predominantly Chinese society. Two cases about photobooks of female models were used to illuminate the dominant discourses regarding female bodies in Hong Kong media. Since 2009, photobooks featuring teenage models in sexy poses have become standard provisions in the annual Hong Kong Book Fair. In 2015, a 6-year old girl participated in the production of a photobook. It soon caught the attention of critics who questioned the sexual connotations of a few pictures. Despite the decision to recall all copies, the incident provoked debates on child pornography and a rare discussion about sexual agency. This study has identified various discourses in mainstream news media and social media. It was found that morality and money are two keywords that best summarize how Hong Kong responds to sex matters, while changing media technologies are opening up space for alternative views.     

What We Know About Women's Technology Use,Avoidance, and Abandonment

With the increasing availability of assistive technologies, persons with disabilities have unprecedented opportunities for full societal participation. But women, especially women with disabilities, have typically not had much exposure to and experience with technologies and can find them intimidating and frustrating. While many women use technologies regularly and with satisfaction, others use theminfrequently and with reluctance, avoid them entirely, or try them only to abandon their use. This article discusses factors associated with technology use, avoidance, or abandonment as being outcomes of the interactionof: (a) The particular technology (design, service delivery), (b) the person's abilities and personality (judgment, expectations), (c) characteristics of the disability (type, severity), and (d) the person's psychosocial environment (social support, training and education). Assessment instruments exist comprehensively profile individuals in the four areas so the most appropriate technologies can be recommended and needed modifications to technologies made.