Intractable self-fulfilling prophecies fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education

The civil rights struggle for equal educational opportunity has yet to be achieved at the start of the 21st century. Inequality persists but problem and remedy are refrained from integrating schools, to ensuring equal access in resegregated settings, to closing the performance gap. As seen through ecological theory (R. S. Weinstein, 2002b), complex, multilayered, and interactive negative self-fulfilling prophecies create or perpetuate educational inequities and unequal outcomes. Society has failed to grapple with its entrenched roots in the achievement culture of schools. If this insidious dynamic is to be changed, an educational system that sorts for differentiated pathways must be replaced with one that develops the talents of all. Psychology has a critical role to play in promoting a new understanding of malleable human capabilities and optimal conditions for their nurturance in schooling.     

Emotional,motivational and attitudinal consequences of autonomous prosocial behaviour

When do prosocial actors experience positive versus negative psychological outcomes from helping others? In four studies and an internal meta-analysis, we tested the hypothesis that autonomy shapes the psychological consequences of helping others. In Study 1, prosocial behaviour was associated with a robust pattern of negative well-being outcomes (i.e., depression, anxiety, stress) for individuals low but not high in autonomy. In Studies 2–4, relative to reflecting on a neutral interpersonal experience, reflecting on an autonomous helping experience increased sadness and happiness, strengthened intentions to help in the future and raised support for social welfare. By contrast, reflecting on a controlled helping experience increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions, but did not affect attitudes or behavioural intentions. Collectively, the findings indicate that autonomy (or lack thereof) shapes the emotional, motivational and attitudinal consequences of helping behaviour.     

Sustained attention and related perceptuomotor functions

The present study examined the relationship between two measures of sustained attention on the Continuous Performance Test (reaction time and omission errors) and several performance measures on neuropsychological tests. Analysis suggests that sustained attention as measured by processing speed predicts performance on neuropsychological measures of relatively greater complexity and that the Stroop test, which requires maintaining steady focus on a changing stimulus field, may be more sensitive to lapses in attention than other neuropsychological tests.     

An implementation and empirical evaluation of an exploration environment with different tutoring strategies

An exploration environment and tutoring strategies were developed for the first few hours of learning the programming language LISP. In this environment, the amount of exploratory and receptive learning can be systematically manipulated. In an experimental study with three different learning conditions, learning in a basic exploration environment (without an automated tutor) was compared to learning with an automated tutor that provided help rather selectively, and with an automated tutor that provided help whenever possible. The results showed that the selective tutor condition was most effective: The students in this condition took the least time in acquiring knowledge and solving the criterion test tasks, while solving equal numbers of the tasks correctly.     

The personal and professional development of the counsellor: The relationship between personal philosophy and theoretical orientation

This paper examines the relationship between visions of reality held by counsellors and their professed theoretical orientations. It is suggested that there exist a number of states of congruence between the tow variables and that there are potential problems when the two are not in harmony. The implications for the training and continued professional development of counsellors are explored. Finally, Some provesional findings are offered from the authors' own research.     

Assessing the state of organizational safety—culture or climate?

This article explores the concepts of safety culture and safety climate in an attempt to determine which is the more useful for describing an organization's “state of safety.” From a review of the literature purporting to measure safety culture or safety climate, it is argued that, although the two terms are often interchangeable, they are actually distinct but related concepts and should be treated accordingly. The term “safety climate” best describes employees' perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs about risk and safety, typically measured by questionnaire surveys and providing a “snapshot” of the current state of safety. “Safety culture” is a more complex and enduring trait reflecting fundamental values, norms, assumptions and expectations, which to some extent reside in societal culture. The expression of these “cultural” elements, perhaps, can be seen through safety management practices which are reflected in the safety climate. Basically, measurement of safety culture requires in-depth investigation including an analysis of how organizational members interact to form a shared view of safety.     

An investigation into some implications of a Vygotskian perspective on the origins of mind: psychoanalysis and Vygotskian psychology, Part I.

The Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky proposed an analysis of language, thought, and internalization that has direct relevance to the current concerns of psychoanalysts. Striking methodological and conceptual similarities and useful complementarities with psychoanalysis are discovered when one peers beneath the surface of Vygotskian psychology. Our adaptation of Vygostsky's views expands upon Freud's assigned role to language in the topographic model. We suggest that the analysand's speech offers several windows into the history of the individual, through prosody, tropes, word meaning, and word sense. We particularly emphasize Vygotsky's views on the genesis and utilization of word meanings. The acquisition of word meanings will contain key elements of the internal climate present when the word meaning was forged. Bearing this in mind, crucial theoretical questions follow, such as how psychoanalysis is to understand the unconscious fantasies, identifications, anxieties, and defenses associated with the psychodynamics of language acquisition and later language usage. We propose that the clinical situation is an ideal place to test these hypotheses.