No Sissy Boys Here: A Content Analysis of the Representation of Masculinity in Elementary School Reading Textbooks

In this study, we investigate the portrayal of gender characteristics in elementary school reading textbooks. Over the past 25 years, most of the research on textbooks has focused on female roles and characteristics. In this research, we focus particularly on how males are portrayed. Using an evaluative instrument based on the Bem Sex Role Inventory, we examine first, third, and fifth grade literature textbooks. In particular, we analyze traits pertaining to masculine and feminine stereotypes. Our results show that despite publisher's guidelines and Title IX, males are still primarily portrayed in a stereotypical light. Males are overwhelming shown to be aggressive, argumentative, and competitive.     

The role of expectation and memory‐retrieval techniques in the construction of beliefs about past events

This study assessed social factors affecting the elicitation of false reports for events occurring the day after birth. High, medium and low hypnotizable participants (N=170) were randomly assigned to hypnotic, guided imagery (non‐hypnotic), expectancy or control conditions. Participants were led to believe that they had experienced a specific event on the day after birth. Hypnotic and guided imagery participants were age regressed, while participants in the expectancy condition were provided with cues suggesting access to this memory was feasible. Relative to controls, these participants recalled higher levels of day‐after‐birth reports, although age‐regressed participants reported significantly more event specific details than expectancy participants. Furthermore, high and medium hypnotizables were more likely than low hypnotizables to recall events occurring the day after birth. Implications of this study within the therapeutic setting are discussed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Embedding prevention services within systems of care: Strengthening the nexus for children

System-of-care models that offer a continuum of integrated mental health services for children are being widely implemented in local communities. Preventive services, arising from the theoretically grounded prevention sciences, are an important but neglected component of this model. Studies of the use of mental health services by children are reviewed, and an integrative model is proposed to incorporate prevention services as a component of the child mental health service system. Construction of the prevention sciences has followed a linear phase model that has advantages and disadvantages for bridging prevention sciences and services research. As prevention science progresses into broader field tests of its effectiveness, studies of child services can be informative, especially in advancing the applicability and dissemination of research findings. Future directions are outlined to strengthen the nexus between services research and prevention science, and to construct a new genre of prevention services research.     

W. E. B. Du Bois’s “Conservation of Races”

Nothing was more important for W. E. B. Du Bois than to promote the upward mobility of African Americans. This essay revisits his “Conversation of Races” to demonstrate its general philosophical importance. Ultimately, Du Bois’s three motivations for giving the address reveal his view of the nature of philosophical inquiry: to critique earlier phenotypic conceptions of race, to show the essentiality of history, and to promote a reflexive practice. Commentators have been unduly invested in the hermeneutic readings and as a result have misunderstood its philosophical dimensions. Du Bois did more than introduce the concept of race into the purview of philosophy, he provided a method for philosophical inquiry into a concept that is notoriously difficult to approach with precision. The goal here is to show why no introduction to philosophy and no discussion about the nature of philosophical inquiry is complete without consideration of “Conservation.” Certainly, it is a text about race, but it is also an important philosophical text in general.     

Negativity bias in false memory: moderation by neuroticism after a delay

The negativity bias is the tendency for individuals to give greater weight, and often exhibit more rapid and extreme responses, to negative than positive information. Using the Deese-Roediger-McDermott illusory memory paradigm, the current study sought to examine how the negativity bias might affect both correct recognition for negative and positive words and false recognition for associated critical lures, as well as how trait neuroticism might moderate these effects. In two experiments, participants studied lists of words composed of semantic associates of an unpresented word (the critical lure). Half of the lists were comprised of positive words and half were comprised of negative words. As expected, individuals remembered negative list words better than positive list words, consistent with a negativity bias in correct recognition. When tested immediately (Experiment 1), individuals also exhibited greater false memory for negative versus positive critical lures. When tested after a 24-hr delay (Experiment 2), individuals higher in neuroticism maintained greater false memory for negative versus positive critical lures, but those lower in neuroticism showed no difference in false memory between negative and positive critical lures. Possible mechanisms and implications for mental health disorders are discussed.     

Effects of preference on performing a self-care skill among children with autism spectrum disorder

In this study, four children with autism were assessed to determine their preference choices for toothbrushes and toothpastes included during self-care skills teaching sessions. For two of the children, the presence of high-preference (HP) materials was associated with improved independent tooth brushing when compared to the presence of low-preference (LP) materials. There was no difference in independent tooth brushing between HP/LP conditions for the other two children. These findings suggest that preference and choice of materials alone can be a helpful instructional strategy for care providers serving children who have neurodevelopmental disorders and skill deficits.     

Application of Problem Solving Therapy for Late-Life Anxiety

Cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety has demonstrated lower efficacy in older compared with younger adults. Yet, few other evidence-based options for late-life anxiety have been examined. This case series aimed to demonstrate the application of Problem Solving Therapy (PST) to older adults with anxiety disorders building on PST’s strong empirical support for treating late-life depression. PST was implemented to treat three older primary-care patients diagnosed with anxiety disorders. We present treatment outcomes and discuss the feasibility and acceptability of using PST to treat these patients. Implications and lessons learned from these patients are discussed to inform further development of PST to better meet the needs of older patients suffering from late-life anxiety.     

A postdictive bias associated with déjà vu

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - Recent research links reports of déjà vu – the feeling of having experienced something before despite knowing otherwise – with an illusory...     

Potential Mediators in Parenting and Family Intervention: Quality of Mediation Analyses

Parenting and family interventions have repeatedly shown effectiveness in preventing and treating a range of youth outcomes. Accordingly, investigators in this area have conducted a number of studies using statistical mediation to examine some of the potential mechanisms of action by which these interventions work. This review examined from a methodological perspective in what ways and how well the family-based intervention studies tested statistical mediation. A systematic search identified 73 published outcome studies that tested mediation for family-based interventions across a wide range of child and adolescent outcomes (i.e., externalizing, internalizing, and substance-abuse problems; high-risk sexual activity; and academic achievement), for putative mediators pertaining to positive and negative parenting, family functioning, youth beliefs and coping skills, and peer relationships. Taken as a whole, the studies used designs that adequately addressed temporal precedence. The majority of studies used the product of coefficients approach to mediation, which is preferred, and less limiting than the causal steps approach. Statistical significance testing did not always make use of the most recently developed approaches, which would better accommodate small sample sizes and more complex functions. Specific recommendations are offered for future mediation studies in this area with respect to full longitudinal design, mediation approach, significance testing method, documentation and reporting of statistics, testing of multiple mediators, and control for Type I error.