Perceived Benefits and Challenges of a Multiethnic-Racial Identity: Insight From Adults With Mixed Heritage

The purpose of this inquiry was to explore the lived experiences of multiethnic-racial individuals (i.e., individuals with parents from different ethnic-racial groups). In-depth interviews were conducted with 29 adults from the United States with mixed ethnic-racial backgrounds ranging in age from 18 to 52 (female n = 20, male n = 9). We identified a number of themes related to perceived benefits (e.g., pluralistic world views, stronger sense of self) and challenges (e.g., identity tensions, communal concerns) of having a mixed heritage. Findings are discussed in terms of four considerations for ethnic-racial identity of individuals with mixed ethnic-racial backgrounds: emphasizing constellations of experiences, life-span and developmental considerations of identity, (mixed) ethnic-racial identity as constituted in interactions, and the potential promise of pluralistic world views.     

Stimulus needs are a moving target: 240 additional matched literal and metaphorical sentences for testing neural hypotheses about metaphor

As the cognitive neuroscience of metaphor has evolved, so too have the theoretical questions of greatest interest. To keep pace with these developments, in the present study we generated a large set of metaphoric and literal sentence pairs ideally suited to addressing the current methodological and conceptual needs of metaphor researchers. In particular, the need has emerged to distinguish metaphors along three dimensions: the grammatical class of their base terms, the sensorimotor features of their base terms, and the syntactic form in which the base terms appear. To meet this need, we generated nominal metaphors (and matched literal sentences) using entity nouns as the base terms, with the intention that they be used in concert with already published sets of predicate metaphors or nominal metaphors using event nouns. Using the results of three norming experiments, we provide 120 pairs of closely matched metaphoric and literal sentences that are characterized along 14 dimensions: 11 at the sentence level (length, frequency, concreteness, familiarity, naturalness, imageability, figurativeness, interpretability, ease of interpretation, valence, and valence judgment reaction time), and three related to the base term (visual, motion, and auditory imagery). These items extend previously published stimuli, filling an extant gap in metaphor research and allowing for tests of new behavioral and neural hypotheses about metaphor.     

Perceived Discrimination Among Ethnic Minority Young People: The Role of Psychological Variables1

Because of difficulties in objectively determining discrimination, attention has turned to individual differences in perceptions of discrimination. This study aimed to build on such work by investigating the role of psychological variables in predicting perceived discrimination (PD) in a UK sample of ethnic minority young people (n= 154). A series of multiple regression analyses yielded 3 pathways leading to PD. There was a direct effect of gender on PD. Depression and low self‐esteem and need for approval predicted anxiety, which in turn was related to higher PD. Finally, private collective self‐esteem correlated with public collective self‐esteem, which in turn predicted lower PD. The results point to the importance of psychological variables, both personal and collective, in the perception of ethnic discrimination. Furthermore, the findings enhance our understanding of the complex associations between self‐esteem, affect, and PD.     

An ethnographic inquiry of cooperative learning implementation

Qualitative research methods were employed to explore variations in teacher implementation of a research-based model of cooperative learning. Participants included five middle school math and science teachers who were trained in the Johnson, D.W. and Johnson, R.T. [Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (1983). The socialization and achievement crisis: Are cooperative learning experiences the answer? Applied Social Psychology, 4, 199-124.] model of cooperative learning. Implementation was examined via interview and observation. Principles from cognitive psychology defined constructs for study, which included teacher concepts, plans, and enactment of cooperative learning in the classroom. Study design included features characteristic of ethnographic inquiry: prolonged engagement, purposeful sampling, persistent observation, multiple source data collection, and recursive interpretation. Triangulation of data sources revealed that relationships between concepts, plans and enactment were mediated by teaching style, teaching context, and degree of teaching expertise. Findings suggest that when attempting to implement cooperative learning lessons, teacher may benefit from attention to teacher and student roles, curricular requirements, instructional time, and classroom management skills. Findings further demonstrate the important contributions of qualitative research to the cooperative learning literature.     

Spatial and reversal learning in the Morris water maze are largely resistant to six hours of REM sleep deprivation following training

This first test of the role of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep in reversal spatial learning is also the first attempt to replicate a much cited pair of papers reporting that REM sleep deprivation impairs the consolidation of initial spatial learning in the Morris water maze. We hypothesized that REM sleep deprivation following training would impair both hippocampus-dependent spatial learning and learning a new target location within a familiar environment: reversal learning. A 6-d protocol was divided into the initial spatial learning phase (3.5 d) immediately followed by the reversal phase (2.5 d). During the 6 h following four or 12 training trials/day of initial or reversal learning phases, REM sleep was eliminated and non-REM sleep left intact using the multiple inverted flowerpot method. Contrary to our hypotheses, REM sleep deprivation during four or 12 trials/day of initial spatial or reversal learning did not affect training performance. However, some probe trial measures indicated REM sleep-deprivation-associated impairment in initial spatial learning with four trials/day and enhancement of subsequent reversal learning. In naive animals, REM sleep deprivation during normal initial spatial learning was followed by a lack of preference for the subsequent reversal platform location during the probe. Our findings contradict reports that REM sleep is essential for spatial learning in the Morris water maze and newly reveal that short periods of REM sleep deprivation do not impair concurrent reversal learning. Effects on subsequent reversal learning are consistent with the idea that REM sleep serves the consolidation of incompletely learned items.     

A comparison of repeated exposure to fearful and disgusting stimuli among spider phobics

This study examined the role of fear and disgust in repeated exposure among spider phobics. Thirty spider phobics were randomly assigned to one of two experimental groups. Both groups completed measures of fear and disgust and performed two initial standardized Behavioral Avoidance Tests (BATs; one with a fear stimulus – live tarantula, and one with a disgust stimulus – dead rat). One group was then repeatedly exposed to the tarantula and the other to the dead rat. Results of the study indicated that exposure to either the disgust stimulus or the live tarantula was associated with significant decreases in fear, avoidance, and disgust. However, it was found that repeated exposure to the fear stimulus produced a greater decrease in avoidance behavior. Results suggest that both types of exposure can be effective in alleviating associated symptoms and provide additional evidence that disgust sensitivity plays a role in the treatment of spider phobia. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An inversion effect modified by expertise in capuchin monkeys

The face inversion effect may be defined as the general impairment in recognition that occurs when faces are rotated 180°. This phenomenon seems particularly strong for faces as opposed to other objects and is often used as a marker of a specialized face-processing mechanism. Four brown capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) were tested on their ability to discriminate several classes of facial and non-facial stimuli presented in both their upright and inverted orientations in an oddity task. Results revealed significantly better performance on upright than inverted presentations of capuchin and human face stimuli, but not on chimpanzee faces or automobiles. These data support previous studies in humans and other primates suggesting that the inversion effect occurs for stimuli for which subjects have developed an expertise.     

Relationships of smiling and flirtation to aggression and 2D:4D, a prenatal androgen index

Smiling has been reported to be a signal of submission/lower status, or a sign of cooperation. In the present study, use of smiling and flirtation to "make people receptive to my ideas" was conceptualized as mild aggression, since it is mildly manipulative of the perception of others as to one's internal emotional status. For 91 participants (55 female, 36 male), use of smiling and flirtation to make others receptive to one's ideas were associated with relational aggression and a more male-typical (smaller) right 2D:4D finger length ratio. The only significant relationship in the male sample alone was the relationship between smiling and relational aggression. In the female sample alone, use of smiling and flirtation to "make people receptive to my ideas" was associated with a more male-typical 2D:4D finger length ratio pattern, and there was a trend for flirtation to be associated with greater physical aggression. Both 2D:4D and physical aggression have been associated with higher prenatal androgen level. It is concluded that deliberate smiling and flirtation are mild forms of relational aggression, and are related to prenatal androgenic activity in a manner similar to physical aggression. These findings are discussed in terms of the different evolutionary strategies of men and women to control their social environments.