The relationship between personality, approach to learning and academic performance

This study considers the relationship between students' approaches to learning, as measured by a short-form of Entwistle and Tait's (1995) Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory (RASI), the Big Five personality factors, as measured by Cattell's 16PFi, and the background variables of age, gender and prior educational achievement and academic performance. Subjects were 146 social science undergraduate students at a university in Scotland. Structural equation modelling identifies the Big Five personality factor scores account for between 22.7% and 43.6% of the variance across scores on the three approach to learning dimensions. Four of the Big Five personality factors and the three approach to learning dimensions were found to be poor predictors of academic performance. A linear regression analysis with academic performance as the dependent variable and age, prior educational attainment and conscientiousness as independent variables, accounted for 24.1% of the variance in performance. Our investigation suggests approach to learning is a subset of personality. However, we conclude it makes sense to measure these two groups of variables separately in educational settings.     

Building an identifiable latent class model with covariate effects on underlying and measured variables

In recent years, latent class models have proven useful for analyzing relationships between measured multiple indicators and covariates of interest. Such models summarize shared features of the multiple indicators as an underlying categorical variable, and the indicators' substantive associations with predictors are built directly and indirectly in unique model parameters. In this paper, we provide a detailed study on the theory and application of building models that allow mediated relationships between primary predictors and latent class membership, but that also allow direct effects of secondary covariates on the indicators themselves. Theory for model identification is developed. We detail an Expectation-Maximization algorithm for parameter estimation, standard error calculation, and convergent properties. Comparison of the proposed model with models underlying existing latent class modeling software is provided. A detailed analysis of how visual impairments affect older persons' functioning requiring distance vision is used for illustration.This work was supported by National Institute on Aging (NIA) Program Project P01-AG-10184-03 and National Institutes of Mental Health grant R01-MH-56639-01A1. Dr. Bandeen-Roche is a Brookdale National Fellow. The authors wish to thank Drs. Gary Rubin and Sheila West for kindly making the Salisbury Eye Evaluation data available. We also thank the Editor, the Associate Editor, and three referees for their valuable comments.     

Feminist Slants on Nature and Health

Ecological feminism (or ecofeminism) and feminist bioethics seem to have much in common. They share certain methodological and epistemological concerns, offer similar challenges to traditional philosophy, and take up a number of the same practical issues. The two disciplines have thus far had little or no direct interaction; this is one attempt to begin some conversation and perhaps stimulate some cross-pollination of ideas. The email dialogue engaged an active ecofeminist scholar, Karen Warren, and an active feminist bioethicist, Hilde Nelson, in an exchange of ideas. Jessica Pierce, whose research cuts between environmental philosophy and bioethics, served as moderator.     

Commentary: Response to Reviews of “Cultural Psychotherapy: Working with Culture in the Clinical Encounter”

Pastoral Psychology -     

When negative evidence increases confidence: change in belief after hearing two sides of a dispute

Four experiments examined change in confidence after hearing two sides of a dispute. The results showed that a case independently judged to weakly support one side often increased confidence that the opposing side was correct. Furthermore, the stronger the first case, the more likely a subsequent weak case had a reverse impact. Traditional belief‐updating models, which tend to focus on change in belief after individual pieces of evidence rather than entire cases, cannot account for these results, and a model that can account for them is introduced. In the new model, case strength is evaluated with respect to a relatively demanding (and malleable) reference point. A weak case can fall below this demanding reference point, resulting in a reverse impact on confidence. Cases must exceed relatively high strength thresholds in order to have their intended impact because they are expected to be biased summaries of evidence. When it is clear that a weak case is unbiased, it affects confidence in the intended direction. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of experience in children's developing folk epistemology: review and analysis from the theory–theory perspective

The role of experience in children's developing folk epistemology, specifically in their acquisition of an understanding of belief, is explored from the theory–theory perspective (i.e., the perspective claiming that children's conceptual development can be viewed as analogous to scientific theory development) through a selective review and analysis of extant empirical literature. Three types of investigations are identified: examinations of observed relationships between social experiences and belief understanding, attempts to facilitate the reasoning of children on the verge of belief understanding through experiences intended to compel children to face reasoning inconsistencies; and training studies demonstrating that children can be trained to understand belief over time through specific feedback experiences. A comparison of these studies reveals that experience is defined differently across them, resulting in varying and sometimes ambiguous implications for a theory–theory perspective on development. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Race,Class, and Gender: A Constellation of Positionalities With Implications for Counseling

Race, class, and gender are social, political, economic, and cultural constructs that describe the positionalities of people. How these constructs are defined depends on the status occupied by individuals and the individual, institutional, and societal status of the individuals who have the power to construct hierarchies. The authors examine the intersection of race, class, and gender and the dimensions of oppression and discrimination in counseling. Historical and contemporary dimensions of racism, misogyny, and classism are presented. La Raza, clase social, y el género son construcciones sociales, políticas, económicas, y culturales que describen las posicionalidades de la gente. La definición de éstas construcciones depende de la posición social ocupada por los individuos e instituciones que tienen el poder de construir estas jerarquías. Los autores examinan el cruce de la raza, la clase, y el género y las dimensiones de la opresión y la discriminación en la consejería. Las dimensiones históricas y contemporáneas del racismo, la misoginia, y el clasismo se presentan.