Students' perceptions of female professors

This paper examines student attitudes towards academic women. The literature on females in male-dominated professions suggests that clients resent their authority, deny their competence, and accord them less prestige than men. One hundred and eighty one university students evaluated professors in terms of 21 semantic differential scales and an occupational prestige ranking instrument. Contrary to expectation, female professors were perceived as more competent than male instructors in both task and socio-emotional competence. Further, the males were not assigned a significantly higher prestige score. Despite Goldberg's (1968) conclusion that females are prejudiced against their own sex, the attitudes of the female students were the more favorable.     

Measuring epistemic authority: studies of politicians and professors

Two studies assessed the perception of epistemic authority (denoting a source of information which has a determinative influence on the acquisition of knowledge) by means of a scale (Epistemic Authority Scale) which was constructed for this purpose. The first study showed that individuals perceive political leaders with similar political orientations as greater epistemic authorities than political leaders with different political orientations. In addition, the study investigated the reasons used by the subjects to explain reliance or lack of reliance on political leaders. In general, the responses showed that leaders' expressed opinions and characteristics were important determinants in epistemic authority selection. The second study found that students of statistics departments have a greater tendency to perceive their professors as epistemic authorities in their disciplinary knowledge than students of psychology departments, while the latter are more likely than the former to perceive their professors as epistemic authorities in general knowledge domains. Analysis of the Reason scores for reliance on the professors in the two departments reveals that expertness received the highest ratings.     

高中生数学元认知水平调查问卷的设计与编制*

对于元认知能力的评价和测试一直以来都是研究的难点,特别是就数学学科而言,已有研究多围绕数学问题解决过程中元认知监控水平的评价以及能力的培养展开,鲜有全面评价学生数学学习元认知水平的问卷。同时,没有针对高中生编制的元认知水平调查问卷。故本研究在已有研究的基础上,对已有的问卷进行修正和完善,通过征求专家意见与样本测试和数据分析,形成《高中生数学元认知水平调查问卷》。该问卷具有较好的内容效度和结构效度。信度方面,问卷整体的内部信度为0.952,分半信度为0.931,重测信度为0.946,说明问卷具有很好的内部一致性和测量稳定性。     

Beliefs about memory among psychology students and their professors in psychodynamic clinical and experimental study programs

IntroductionResearch has shown that lay people, and even psychologists, may have distorted knowledge about memory functioning. May different study programs in psychology influence their ideas?Objective(s)The study was aimed at evaluating psychology students’ and psychology professors’ knowledge about memory and factors potentially affecting the accuracy of episodic memory reports in clinical and legal contexts.MethodA questionnaire was administered to introductory and advanced students of psychology enrolled at different curricula – experimental psychology and clinical psychology with a psychoanalytical orientation – and to professors teaching the courses in the same curricula.ResultsResults showed that advanced students and professors in experimental psychology have higher general knowledge of factors influencing memory performance than their peers, including memory issues of particular relevance to clinical psychology; no difference between the curricula was found for the introductory students.ConclusionThe results are discussed in terms of the risks that the lack of knowledge on memory functioning of the psychologists with a psychodynamic orientation may have in producing wrong reports in forensic contexts.     

Contrapower Sexual Harassment: A Survey of Students and Faculty Members

We conducted two studies to shed light on contrapower sexual harassment in an academic setting. In the first study, we surveyed a random sample of 158 college students (83.4% White) concerning their potentially sexually harassing behaviors toward professors, sexist attitudes toward women, and proclivities to harass sexually. Almost one third of the students reported having sexually harassed a professor at least once. Male students were more likely than female students to be the perpetrators. In the second study, all tenured and tenure-track faculty were mailed a survey; 209 professors (88.9% White) completed the survey concerning their experiences with sexual harassment from students as well as their coping responses, definitions of sexual harassment, and reactions to hypothetical scenarios. Over one half of the professors reported having been at least once sexually harassed by students. Although male and female professors experienced similar rates of sexual harassment from students, the psychological outcome was worse for women than for men. Male and female professors defined sexual harassment similarly. However, when more contextual information was provided in the hypothetical scenarios, several gender differences emerged. In addition, men and women used both internal and external coping responses to different types of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment as both a tool and a result of male dominance in society is discussed.     

Promoting Gratitude and Positive Feelings About Learning Among Young Adults

Universities are increasingly offering positive psychology courses; however, very few studies have been conducted to see if they enhance positive psychology outcomes for students. This study, conducted at a Western university in the U.S., examined the effects of a semester long positive psychology course on 26 undergraduate students’ gratitude and emotions toward studying. The course included broad aspects of positive psychology, such as gratitude, mindfulness, autonomy supportive communication, intrinsic life goals, intrinsic learning goals, acts of kindness, and identifying strengths. Using a retrospective pretest-posttest design, paired sample t tests revealed that students improved significantly on both gratitude and homework feelings. The effect size (Cohen’s d) for homework feelings was 1.03, indicating that students experienced a strong improvement in positive emotions toward studying and homework. The effect size for gratitude was .76, indicating a moderate to large positive effect on thankfulness. Percentage of classes attended was moderately positively associated with pre- to post-course improvement in gratitude and emotions, indicating that students with higher attendance were more likely to experience greater personal growth. Students of minority background (e.g., Latino) improved more than European American students on gratitude, whereas they improved equally well on positive emotions. Implications for universities, professors, and others interested in the positive psychological development of young adults are discussed.     

Entraînement au monitoring métacognitif et performances à l’université

In French universities, only one out of two students is successful in his/her first year. The change of the working rhythm and the importance of self-regulated learning (relying on metacognition) can to a large extent explain these dramatic rates. Techniques have been developed to help students improve monitoring their activities. In this study, we adapted a method tested in previous research, and noticed positive effects on students’ performance. This intervention would be easy to implement in university classes, and would benefit students even more if generalized and complemented by techniques focused on more global aspects of metacognition and self-regulated learning.     

The value of everyday examples in the teaching of learning: a comment prompted by machado and silva (1998)

Why are so few psychology students and professors interested in the study of learning? Part of the answer lies in the techniques we use for teaching behavioral psychology and communicating its relevance to numerous aspects of life. We add to this journal's discussion of the teaching of learning by explaining the importance of using examples drawn from everyday life: Numerous familiar examples provide powerful pedagogical tools for showing the importance of learning theory and helping students learn behavior principles. This approach does not exclude using other strategies and techniques in our quest to communicate the value of learning theory and teach our behavioral science in meaningful and thought-provoking ways.     

幼儿元认知"乐观主义现象"研究述评

儿童元认知发展是当代发展心理学研究的热点领域之一,其中儿童对自身能力的认识与评估又是研究者很感兴趣的课题。大量研究表明,与年长儿童和成人相比,年幼儿童特别是学龄前儿童往往对自己的能力和在各种任务中的成绩作出不切实际的高估,这种高估具有跨领域的一致性,并且具有内在固执性,即通常不受过去失败经验的影响。这就是所谓幼儿元认知“乐观主义现象”。本文对这一领域的相关研究进行整体回顾与分析,并在此基础上尝试对这一现象产生的原因及影响因素作出解释和说明。     

Business Students' Perceptions of Best University Professors: Does Gender Role Matter?

This study investigated the relationship between the gender and gender-role of students and their “best” university professors. Two hundred and ninety two business students in 2 universities in Atlantic Canada rated their best professors and themselves using Bem's Sex Role Inventory. Male business students were more likely than females to choose a male as their best professor, and female business students were more likely than males to choose a female as their best professor. The study also indicates that a student's own gender and gender role are significantly related to those of his/her best professor. Male professors with low femininity scores (but not necessarily high masculinity scores), and female professors who are gender-neutral (i.e., androgynous or undifferentiated) were more often chosen by students as their best professors. In general, masculinity seems to be valued more by older, part-time students with greater work experience. Implications of these findings for university teachers are discussed.     

Influence in the Ivory Tower: Examining the Appropriate Use of Social Power in the University Classroom

A study was conducted to determine how appropriate university students feel it is for professors to use varying bases of social power as a means of influence. Participants ( n  = 91) completed a modified version of the Interpersonal Power Inventory ( Raven, Schwarzwald, & Koslowsky, 1998 ) and a demographic questionnaire. Students rated the use of soft power as significantly more appropriate than harsh power. Repeated-measures ANOVA indicated that informational and expert power were thought to be the most appropriate bases for professors to use, and a gender effect was observed such that female students rated the use of social power in the classroom as significantly less appropriate than did male students. Implications for university instructors and other power holders are discussed.     

自发走神和有意走神及其与元认知的关系

走神包括有意走神和自发走神两种类型,元认知对二者的影响可能不同。研究使用两维度走神量表和元认知-30量表,对国内部分高校学生的走神和元认知(元认知信念、元认知加工和认知自信判断)进行调查,结果显示:(1)走神可以划分为有意走神和自发走神;(2)失控和危险感既能预测自发走神也能预测有意走神,但认知自信只能预测自发走神,认知的自我意识只能预测有意走神。说明元认知对自发走神和有意走神的影响存在差异。     

Reinventing the University Through the Teaching of Diversity

University reform encompasses an increased emphasis on the social and emotional development of students. In particular, the development of caring, empathy, and community are emphasized. This team of psychology professors approaches the task of university reform by presenting both its philosophy of diversity inclusion and specific inclusion strategies as means of promoting enhanced development of our students. Although the discipline of psychology is used as an example, the philosophical argument and the strategic approaches may be applied to other disciplines.     

初中生数学元认知的发展轨迹：两年半追踪研究

采用问卷法对101名初中生在两年半间数学元认知的发展状况进行5次测试。利用潜类别增长模型等探讨初中生数学元认知的发展轨迹,并考察性别对数学元认知的影响。结果发现：(1)初中生数学元认知及各成分在初二表现出下降趋势。(2)初中生数学元认知的发展表现出三种类型,即高-缓慢下降组(32.67%)、中-显著下降组(54.46%)以及低-缓慢下降组(12.87%)。(3)与女生相比,男生有着更多的数学元认知知识和更高的数学元认知初始水平,且与低-缓慢下降组相比,男生比女生更有可能属于高-缓慢下降组。     

心理理论和元认知的关系述评

近年来,心理理论和元认知的发展问题已成为发展心理学界关注的热点问题。关于心理理论和元认知的发展关系问题,研究者存在争议。本文从心理理论和元认知的综合研究视角出发,对二者的含义、主要研究方法和关系进行了分析,从而为未来的相关研究提供一种角度。     

Unpacking Backlash: Individual and Contextual Moderators of Bias against Female Professors

This research unpacks backlash against female professors by examining how individual characteristics and social context interact to predict student evaluations on RateMyProfessors.com. As predicted, students evaluated female professors in high-status departments more negatively than female professors in low-status departments, and this backlash effect was attenuated when the female professor was “hot.” Moreover, backlash was most pronounced for female professors who had been hired more recently and who were tough graders. A follow-up experiment replicated the main findings concerning status and attractiveness and suggested that perceived gender nonconformity may help to explain backlash against female professors.     

Distinction in Psychology and the Alma Mater

With use of several indices of distinction, the biographies of selected samples of psychologists were examined to determine which educational institutions produced a disproportionate number of those alumni who recently have occupied positions of eminence in the field. Unlike other investigations that have attempted to rank departments of psychology on the basis of the quality of their current faculties, the present study focused on the doctoral and baccalaureate origins of prominent psychologists rather than on the institutions where they now reside. In general, it was found that among well established psychology programs, the same few universities tend to have produced more than their share of doctoral students who made significant career contributions to the field, although the precise rank ordering varied according to the particular index of distinction employed. With notable exceptions, the higher ranking graduate programs were also the undergraduate alma maters of a significant proportion of this same generation of scholars.     

The effects of metacognitive training on the academic achievement and happiness of Esfahan University conditional students

Although the current literature supports the effectiveness of metacognition as a learning strategy, little is known about the effects of metacognition on academic achievement and happiness. This study analyzed the effectiveness of training metacognition on the academic achievement and happiness of Esfahan University conditional students. Conditional students are the students whose averages are lower than 12 (12 out of 20). After three times of becoming conditional they are expelled from university. The sample consisted of 60 once-conditional female students. They were randomly selected and allocated to an experimental group and a control group. The independent variable was the metacognitive training sessions performed in the experimental group. The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire scores and the students’ second semester average scores in 2003–2004 were dependent variables. The study predicted that training in metacognition should have positive effects on the academic achievement and that it would increase students’ happiness. The results suggested that metacognitive training had increased the academic achievement average of the experimental group. Similarly, metacognitive training had increased the happiness scores average of the experimental group.     

The Lost E-Mail Technique: Use of an Implicit Measure to Assess Discriminatory Attitudes Toward Two Minority Groups in Israel

The effectiveness of the "lost e-mail technique" (LET) as an unobtrusive attitude measure was successfully demonstrated in 2 studies. In Study 1, we found that Israeli students were more likely to reply to a similar other than to a minority group member (an Israeli-Arab or an immigrant from the former Soviet Union). In Study 2, LET was administered to professors and administrators, and its effectiveness was compared to a more traditional self-report measure. Although professors showed less discrimination on the self-report measure than did administrators, they were nevertheless discriminative in their responses to lost e-mails. These results suggest that professors are not necessarily less prejudiced, but probably are better able to detect attitude probes and more motivated to appear unbiased.