Effects of Self-Recording and Contingent Credit on Balancing Participation Across Students

This study compared the effects of students’ (a) receiving participation credit with and without self-recording their participation and (b) self-recording participation with and without receiving credit for participation on the percentage of students functioning at four participation levels: non-participation, credit-level participation, frequent participation (slightly above credit-level), and dominant participation (2.5+ times above credit-level). Participants came from three sections of a relatively large discussion course (initially 55 students per section). Credit (with and without self-recording participation) decreased the percentage of both non-participants and dominant participants and increased the percentage of credit-level participants, thus creating greater balance in participation across students in each class. In contrast, self-recording versus non-self-recording (with and without credit) did not significantly differentiate the percentages of either non-participants or frequent participants but did differentiate the percentages of credit-level and dominant participants under the recording conditions.     

Me, myself, and lie: The role of self-awareness in deception

Deception has been studied extensively but still little is known about individual differences in deception ability. We investigated the relationship between self-awareness and deception ability. We enlisted novice actors to portray varying levels of deception. Forty-two undergraduates viewed the videotaped portrayals and rated the actors’ believability. Actors with high private self-awareness were more effective deceivers, suggesting that high self-monitors are more effective at deceiving. Self-awareness may lead to knowledge of another’s mental state (i.e., Theory of Mind), which may improve an individual’s deception ability.     

Social Role Theory and the Perceived Gender Role Orientation of Athletes

In this research we examined the influence of athletic roles upon the perceived gender role orientations of male and female athletes. Participants were 148 students who read a bogus newspaper article that described either a male or female athlete who had successfully competed in an athletic event. The type of sport (football, basketball, and cheerleading) was manipulated. Female football players and basketball players were perceived as higher in agency than female cheerleaders. Male cheerleaders were perceived as higher in communality than male football players and male basketball players. Participants made external attributions concerning the motivations of athletes who competed in gender traditional sports. They made internal attributions concerning the motivations of athletes who competed in gender nontraditional sports. These findings are examined in relation to social role theory.     

Between the idea and the reality: A study of the counselling experiences of bereaved people who sense the presence of the deceased

There have been many theories of the process of loss and bereavement, from Freud, to the present day. Early theories of bereavement described a process which, following various stages and associated tasks, ended at the relinquishment of the bond to the deceased. In more recent years theories have taken different directions, identifying how bereaved people re‐learn life, recreate biographies, and continue relationships to the deceased. Some research studies of bereavement have investigated the counsellors’ perspective, but there are very few studies of the client's experience and most studies have focussed on outcomes of counselling. This qualitative study, using semi‐structured interviews, provides an insight into the bereaved client's perspective on the content and process of their counselling experiences. Taking as its focus the client's sense of the presence of the deceased, this study aimed to identify whether or how counsellors facilitate exploration of this experience and which theories they use in client work. The main finding is that 80% of the counsellors were not perceived by participants to have worked with them satisfactorily in relation to their sense of presence of the deceased or in relation to the story of the death itself.     

Social support and postpartum depressive symptomatology: The mediating role of maternal self‐efficacy

Research shows that social support and maternal self‐efficacy are inversely related to postpartum depression; however, little is known about the mechanisms by which these variables impact on depressive symptomatology. This study uses path analysis to examine the proposal that maternal self‐efficacy mediates the effects of social support on postpartum depressive symptomatology. Primiparous women (n=247) completed questionnaires during their last trimester and then again at 4 weeks' postpartum (n=192) . It was hypothesized that higher levels of parental support, partner support, and maternal self‐efficacy would be associated with lower levels of depressive symptomatology postpartum and that the relationship between social support and depressive symptomatology would be mediated by maternal self‐efficacy. Results indicated that as expected, higher parental support and maternal self‐efficacy were associated with lower levels of depressive symptomatology postpartum. Partner support was found to be unrelated to both depressive symptomatology and maternal self‐efficacy. Results from the path analysis supported the mediation model. Findings suggest that parental support lowers depressive symptomatology by the enhancement of maternal self‐efficacy.     

Learning procedures: the role of working memory in multimedia learning experiences

The ubiquitous label ‘some assembly required’ signals the appearance of instructions for assembly procedures. These instructions come in various formats, some of which may be more effective than others. Previous research has demonstrated advantages for multimedia as compared to single‐format presentations. The current study sought to outline the cognitive processes contributing to this advantage. Specifically, two experiments examined the working memory and source monitoring processes involved with remembering procedural instructions presented in three different formats. Participants learned procedural instructions while undertaking one of a variety of selective interference tasks targeting working memory subcomponents. Results, while supporting a multimedia advantage for learning, demonstrated selective working memory subsystem involvement with different instruction formats. Further, despite the multimedia advantage, participants often misremembered multimedia presentations as picture‐based ones. These results provide further insight into the cognitive processes that underlie comprehension and memory for multimedia experiences. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Trust and Acceptance in Response to References to Group Membership: Minority and Majority Perspectives on Cross‐Group Interactions1

This research examined anticipated feelings of trust and acceptance in cross‐group interactions among members of ethnic minority and majority groups, depending on whether an out‐group member referred to their group membership. In Study 1, Asian, Latino, and White participants read scenarios describing interactions between them and an in‐group member, an out‐group member, or an out‐group member who referred to their group membership. Participants from each group responded more negatively toward interactions with out‐group members when they referred to group membership. These findings were replicated in Study 2 with samples of Black and White participants, also showing that anticipated prejudice partially mediated the effects of out‐group members' references to group membership on feelings of trust and acceptance. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of facilitating intergroup communication and conversations about group differences.     

Construct Validity of the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART): Relationship with MDMA Use by Inner-City Drug Users in Residential Treatment

In a program of research assessing the validity of the balloon analogue risk task (BART; C. W. Lejuez et al., 2002) as a measure of risk taking, the BART was administered to a sample of inner-city drug users in residential treatment (n = 76). Construct validity of the BART was evaluated by measuring risk-taking behavior and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) use while controlling for self-reported impulsivity, sensation seeking, polysubstance use, and demographic variables. Supporting the construct validity of the BART, while controlling for interrelated variables in the context of logistic regression analyses, (BART) risk-taking propensity accounted for significant incremental variance in differentiating MDMA users from non-users. BART scores, polysubstance use, and younger age were most associated with MDMA use, and together these variables were associated with 91% classification accuracy in predicting MDMA use.     

“Everybody knows it’s true”: Social dominance orientation and right-wing authoritarianism moderate false consensus for stereotypic beliefs

European American university students (N = 89) judged the percentage of African Americans who possess 16 traits (e.g., poor, violent, and emotionally expressive) and then estimated how other students would make the same judgments. Participants also completed measures of social dominance orientation (SDO) and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA). Individuals with both high SDO and high RWA held the least positive views of African Americans. False consensus emerged in the form of a significant positive average within-person partial correlation between participants’ own ratings and their judgments of how other students would respond, controlling for the actual responses of other students. False consensus was positively related to SDO and a significant SDO × RWA interaction indicated that false consensus was highest for participants with both high SDO and high RWA. Results suggest that hierarchy-legitimizing beliefs in the form of stereotypes may be sustained internally through false consensus, especially among those most prone to prejudice.