Representing Radcliffe: Perceptions and Consequences of Social Class

Using retrospective data from a sample of women who graduated from Radcliffe College in 1964, this paper examines the perceptions (what women notice) and consequences (how it makes them feel) of social class during college in these women's lives. The majority of women acknowledged that social class was salient at Radcliffe by stating so directly, by noticing members of different class groups, and/or by mentioning their own class backgrounds. In addition, women consistently perceived two markers of social class: exclusivity and the differences between public and private high school graduates. Surprisingly, there were no differences by social class background in the rates of these perceptions; social class indicators were equally apparent to women from different social class backgrounds. However, most commonly among women from working-class backgrounds, there were psychological consequences of social class that were manifested in feeling bad about themselves. In order to understand the psychology of social class most fully, it seems important to distinguish between perception and consequence in the psychological study of social class, and to pay attention to the impact not only of people's backgrounds, but of social class cues in the environments in which they operate.     

TESTS OF THE “CARPENTERED WORLD” HYPOTHESIS BY RACE AND ENVIRONNEMENT IN AMERICA AND ZAMBIA1

La sensibilité aux illusions optico-géométriques est-elle un trait héréditaire ou dérive-t-elle de facteurs d'environnement ? Ces deux hypothèses — hypothèse physiologique de Pollack et hypothèse écologique de Segall et al. — ont été examinées à l'aide des illusions de Muller-Lyer et de Sander appliquées à un échantillon américain et cinq échantillons zambiens. Dans le premier cas, on a étudié l'effet des variations de pigmentation rétinienne en milieu constant; en Zambie, au contraire, la variable raciale étant contrôlée, on a observé l'influence de différentes écologies (degré de “charpentisation” du milieu). Les résultats ne révèlent aucun effet significatif dû à la pigmentation rétinienne et appuient l'hypothèse de l'influence écologique. l'effet de la variable âge est aussi confirmé, la suggestibilité diminuant avec l'âge, tandis qu'apparaît un effet peu remarqué jusqu'ici, celui du sexe, les femmes se montrant moins sensibles à l'illusion.     

The two-flash threshold: An evaluation of critical-duration and visual-persistence hypotheses

The two-flash threshold is reduced by increasing the duration of both pulses of light or light adapting the eye. Increasing the duration of the first pulse also decreases the two-flash threshold, contrary to what a critical-duration explanation of the threshold would predict. Decreasing the duration of the second pulse increases the threshold when the second pulse is very brief. Light adapting the eye under such conditions serves to increase the two-flash threshold, unlike the effect adaptation has when a long second pulse is used.     

Targeting Insight in First Episode Psychosis: A Case Study of Metacognitive Reflection Insight Therapy (MERIT)

One aspect of schizophrenia contributing to its complexity is the lack of insight individuals often have into their illness. While poor insight is prevalent throughout the course of the illness, more severe levels are associated with first-episode psychosis (FEP). Interventions addressing insight are necessary but current treatments have been shown to have limited effectiveness. Thus, a novel intervention, Metacognitive Reflection and Insight Therapy (MERIT), is being studied for its efficacy of improving insight in individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. MERIT is an integrative metacognitive therapy consisting of eight elements to assist clients in improving their ability to form complex ideas about themselves and others and to use this knowledge to respond to psychological problems. The present study is a case illustration of the implementation of MERIT to improve insight in FEP. Clinical outcomes were assessed and results showed that the client improved in both metacognition and insight. With replication, these results suggest that integrative metacognitive psychotherapy may serve as an intervention that improves insight in FEP, which marks an important step toward improved interventions for individuals with psychosis.