CHANGES IN STUDENTS' EXPLANATIONS FOR GENDER DIFFERENCES AFTER TAKING A PSYCHOLOGY OF WOMEN CLASS: MORE CONSTRUCTIONIST AND LESS ESSENTIALIST

We explored how students' endorsements of essential (biological and personality) and constructed (socialization and contextual) explanations for gender differences changed from the start to the end of Psychology of Women (POW) classes along with their feminist attitudes. Results from surveys of 120 POW students from three universities indicated that these students began class with more feminist awareness, immersion, and constructionist thinking than 228 general students, and that constructionist thinking was associated with perceptions that gender differences can be eliminated. Students' essentialism declined across their POW class, whereas their constructionist thinking increased and their feminist attitudes strengthened. End-of-semester feminist identification was associated with stronger endorsement of contextual explanations for gender differences above and beyond initial identification. We discuss implications for researchers, instructors, and activists.     

Visual layout modulates Fitts’s law: The importance of first and last positions

When a target in the last position of a structured visual array is aimed for, movement times (MTs) are shorter than predicted by Fitts’s law (Adam, Mol, Pratt, & Fischer, 2006). That study, however, confounded relative target position with absolute target location. To determine whether target position does, indeed, produce changes in the speed-accuracy trade-off function, the present experiment manipulated relative target position (e.g., first or last) independently of absolute target location (e.g., nearest or farthest). This was accomplished by presenting connected placeholders at three adjacent locations from a set of five possible locations (i.e., the middle location could be the first, middle, or last placeholder position in an array). The results of a speeded manual-pointing task showed that relative position is important for Fitts’s law; when absolute location was held constant, shorter MTs were found for last-position than for middle-position targets. In addition, a similar effect was found for first-position targets. These results suggest that Fitts’s law holds within, but not between, relative target positions in visible structured arrays.     

Do irrelevant depth cues affect the comprehension of bar graphs?

Eight participants decided whether two‐ or three‐dimensional bars embedded within two‐ or three‐dimensional frames were semantically consistent with written inequalities of the form ‘A>B’. Inequalities were presented either before (Experiment 1) or after the graphs (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, irrelevant depth cues were associated with slower decision times and there was no processing cost associated with an inconsistency between the dimensionalities of bars and frames. Memory encoding and retrieval times in Experiment 2 were affected by both graph complexity and consistency. Neither a depth consistency heuristic nor the maximum ink–data ratio principle can account for these results. More appropriate guidance for graph design will come from elaborating the working memory component of current cognitive models of graph processing. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Good vibrations: A review of vocal expressions of positive emotions

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - Researchers examining nonverbal communication of emotions are becoming increasingly interested in differentiations between different positive emotional states...     

Unser Leben mit Alzheimer – wie Angehörige Demenz erleben

psychopraxis. neuropraxis - Viele Demenzpatienten werden in der eigenen Familie, oft vom Partner betreut. Besonders die Verhaltensauffälligkeiten dementer Patienten belasten diese...     

Churches in transforming mission: A story of Lutheran communion in Africa

The argument of this paper is that the legacy of “ecclesia semper reformanda” (churches in a continued reformation and renewal) in Africa should not only transform the theological perspective of the Lutheran communion, but also take stock of the diaconal, social, economic and political realities of its members. In other words, a theology done in Africa needs tools and methodologies that are more comprehensive.     

Exposure to a Mnemonic Interferes with Recall of Suicide Warning Signs in a Community‐Based Suicide Prevention Program

The incremental impact of adding a mnemonic to remember suicide warning signs to the Air Force Suicide Prevention Program (AFSPP) community awareness briefing was investigated with a sample of young, junior‐enlisted airmen. Participants in the standard briefing significantly increased their ability to list suicide warning signs and improved consistency with an expert consensus list, whereas participants in the standard briefing plus mnemonic demonstrated no learning. Both groups demonstrated positive changes in beliefs about suicide. Results suggest that inclusion of the mnemonic in the AFSPP briefing interfered with participants' ability to learn suicide warning signs, and that increased confidence in the perceived ability to recognize suicide risk is not related to actual ability to accurately recall warning signs.     

Gender and Suicide Risk: The Role of Wound Site

That males have higher suicide rates than females is one of the most empirically documented social facts in suicidology, but the reasons for this continue to be debated. For the present paper, we tested a neglected contributing factor to the gender suicide ratio: wound site or the area of the body that is wounded in firearm suicides. Males may have a higher suicide rate, in part, due to their greater likelihood than women for shooting themselves in the head as opposed to the body. This has been related to gender differences in fear of facial disfigurement and suicide intent. Data from the Wayne County Medical examiner's office regarding 807 suicides committed with firearms was analyzed. The dependent variable was dichotomous and referred to the location of the site of the wound: gunshot to the head vs. gunshot to the body. Controls for demographic covariates of suicide included age and race of the suicide victim. The results of the multivariate logistic regression analysis determined that women were 47% less apt than men to shoot themselves in the head. Further analysis determined that women were less apt than men to use shotguns and rifles in their suicides (weapons that make head shooting more awkward). The findings are consistent with the notion that women are more concerned than men with facial disfigurement, and that women have a lower desire to die than men.     

Suicidal Behavior in the Western Pacific Region: Characteristics and Trends

Current knowledge of suicidal behavior in the Western Pacific region is relatively limited when compared to other areas of the world. This area is characterized by a wide diversity of social, economic, and cultural aspects that do not permit any homogenous reading of suicide phenomena. Data from countries of the region included in this article suggest the existence of important differences among nations in terms of gender, age, and methods of suicide, as well role of mental illness. In addition, the Western Pacific region appears to be affected by higher rates of suicide than other areas in the world, with signs of progressive worsening in recent years and worrying predictions for the next two decades. The Suicide Trends in At‐Risk Territories (START) Study, initiated by the World Health Organization Regional Office in Manila, seeks to research the incidence of both fatal and nonfatal suicidal behavior in countries of the region and to implement interventions for suicide attempters. This ambitious project is expected to standardize data collection procedures and improve the knowledge cultural factors in suicide.