Teachers with a growth mindset are motivated and engaged: the relationships among mindsets,motivation, and engagement in teaching

Social Psychology of Education - Past research on mindsets has mostly focused on studying students’ beliefs about the malleability of their intelligence or teachers’ beliefs about the...     

Infants of “depressed” mothers interact better with their nondepressed fathers

To determine whether infants of “depressed” mothers interact better with their nondepressed fathers, twenty-six 3- to 6-month-old infants were videotaped during face-to-face interactions with their parents. The “depressed” mother group consisted of twelve 3- to 6-month-old infants and their “depressed” mothers and nondepressed fathers. The control group was composed of 14 nondepressed mothers and nondepressed fathers and their 3- to 6-month-old infants. In the “depressed” mother group, the nondepressed fathers received better interaction ratings than the “depressed” mothers. In turn, the infants received better interaction ratings when they interacted with their nondepressed fathers than with their “depressed” mothers. In contrast, nondepressed fathers and mothers and their infants in the control group did not differ on any of their interaction ratings. These findings suggest that infants' difficult interaction behaviors noted during interactions with their “depressed” mothers may not extend to their nondepressed fathers. The data are discussed with respect to the notion that nondepressed fathers may “buffer” the effects of maternal depression on infant interaction behavior.     

A Test of the Three-Component Model of Gender-Based Prejudices: Homophobia and Transphobia Are Affected by Raters’ and Targets’ Assigned Sex at Birth

Sex Roles - The present study tested a three-component model of homophobia and transphobia that differentiates between general and specifically gender-based social threats that motivate these...     

Is Speech Arrest during Wada Testing a Valid Method for Determining Hemispheric Representation of Language?

Background and objective: The intracarotid amobarbital procedure, or Wada test, is the method of choice to determine hemispheric representation of language, and is routinely used in the presurgical evaluation for intractable epilepsy. Some investigators perform comprehensive language assessments, but others base language lateralization solely on speech arrest. This study sought to determine whether speech arrest alone during Wada testing provides valid data regarding language lateralization. Methods: The subjects (previously reported) were 21 patients evaluated for intractable epilepsy, who underwent language lateralization by Wada testing and functional MRI (FMRI). For each patient, language representation was determined by calculating: (1) a Wada laterality index based exclusively on speech arrest; (2) a Wada laterality index based on comprehensive language assessment; and (3) an FMRI laterality quotient. Correlation coefficients and categorical classifications were analyzed. Results: There was no significant correlation between the Wada laterality quotient derived from duration of speech arrest and either the comprehensive Wada language laterality score (r= .35,p= .12) or FMRI language laterality score (r= .32,p= .16). Categorical classification as left, right or bilateral language also showed marked discordance between speech arrest and the other two methods. Conclusion: Duration of speech arrest during Wada testing is not a valid measure of language dominance.     

Why Should We Lower Our Defenses About Defense Mechanisms?

Personality and social psychologists already use ideas that are closely related to defense mechanisms, but few of our paradigms include extensive theoretical or empirical treatment of such mechanisms. Yet defense mechanisms focus on negative affect and protection of the self, and many of the controversies, issues, and impasses contemporary researchers confront also concern negative affect and self-protection. This article discusses whether we might find systematic consideration of defense mechanisms and defensive processing to be broadly useful across several related areas of personality and social psychology in which the relationships between self and affect are implicated. Areas considered include positive illusions and adaptation, the interpretation of reports of negative affect, and related concepts from the coping, self-regulation, affect regulation, and goals literature. Thinking about defense mechanisms would seem to have both specific value for sharpening our understanding of different possible interpretations of our data, and broad heuristic value for thinking about personality integration and social behavior.     

Maintenance of mother-child aversive relationships: A fresh look at an old controversy

Data were obtained from 46 mother-child pairs from the Child Behavior Institute (CBI) at the University of Tennessee. These mother-child dyads were referred for psychological help because of the child’s aversive behavior. Child-parent interactions were quantified using a multi-code, observational system. Correlational and multiple regression analyses (stepwise) were conducted to find the best predictor of the child’s aversive behavior. Results showed that the child’s aversive behavior was significantly correlated with the mother’s aversive, indiscriminate, and compliance behaviors. The regression analysis showed mother’s aversive behavior to be the best predictor of the child’s aversive behavior. Moreover, our results seem to point out that the compliance hypothesis is more effective in predicting child aversive behavior than the predictability hypotheses. It appears that since the two hypotheses are dealing with similar processes, they are more complementary than oppositional. This study used data collected by the Child Behavior Institute (CBI) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The authors are indebted to Robert Wahler, Michael Smith, and Sue Dunn for their helpful comments on this paper.     

Wisdom and Life Experience: How Grandfathers Mentor Their Grandchildren

This exploratory study uses qualitative methods to focus on the largely unexamined role of the grandfather and to examine men's experiences as grandfathers. We gathered information through both surveys and individual interviews to explore men's feelings and attitudes toward the grandfather role. Of the 51 grandfathers that completed a survey, 20 participated in interviews. Our examination of the data collected reveals the life lessons men teach their grandchildren. The grandfathers in this study expressed strong desires for purposeful involvement in their grandchildren's lives and indicated desires for transferring values to grandchildren and teaching interpersonal relationships. Through this involvement, they educate through life experiences and serve as mentors for their grandchildren. We suggest that this mentoring role makes a positive contribution to the lives of grandchildren and to the identity of grandfathers.