Psychology Teacher Networ is published by the Educatiok n ... · above, this paradigm springs from the same phil- o sophical roots as social constructionism—the perspe-c tive that

Psychology Teacher NetworkEducation DirectorateAmerican Psychological Association750 First Street, NEWashington, DC 20002-4242

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Psychology Teacher Network is published by the EducationDirectorate of the American Psychological Association.Subscriptions are free to High School Teacher Affiliates of theAPA and APA Members and $15 a year for all others. Addresseditorial correspondence to Psychology Teacher Network,Education Directorate, APA, 750 First St., N.E., Washington, DC20002-4242. Address inquiries regarding membership or affilia-tion to the Membership Office, APA, at the same address.

Senior Editor ...........................................................Julie GoldsteinTOPSS Editor..................................................................Mary SpilisCommunity College Editor ...............................Martha Ellis, Ph.D.APA’s Pre-College and

Undergraduate Officer.......................................Peter Petrossian

November-December 1997•Volume 7•Issue 5

APA EDUCATION DIRECTORATEFor Teachers of Introductory Psychology

Inside:Briefing . . . . . . . . . . . . .

What Works: Vision Distorting Goggles . . . .

Nature vs. Nurture . . . . .

TOPSS Annual EssayContest . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

New TOPSS Members . .

Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Dear Doctor . . . . . . . . . .

Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Announcments . . . . . . .

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In June, 32 exceptional undergraduate studentsconvened at The Johns Hopkins University inBaltimore, MD for the third APA Summer Sci-ence Institute (SSI). Hailing from the UnitedStates, Canada, and Puerto Rico, students cameto SSI for 8 days of intensive study in psycholog-ical science.

The APA Summer Science Institute is an 8-day intensive program designed to engage stu-dents in the science of psychology, to model andillustrate the intellectual processes of scientific in-quiry, and to give students hands-on experiencein cutting-edge psychological research throughlectures, discussions, and laboratory visits.

Ludy T. Benjamin, Jr., PhD, Professor ofPsychology at Texas A&M University, led the In-stitute, as he did in 1996. Distinguished re-searchers and teachers came to SSI from univer-

sities around the countryto present and discusstheir work in the areas ofsensation and taste, clin-ical research, social psy-chology, developmentalpsychology, and behav-ioral toxicology. The fac-ulty included Linda Bar-toshuk, PhD, Yale Uni-versity; Charlotte Brown,PhD, University of Pitts-burgh; Robert Cialdini,PhD, Arizona State Uni-versity; Carol Dweck,PhD, Columbia Univer-sity; Jack Nation, PhD,

Texas A&M University; and Martin Seligman,PhD, University of Pennsylvania. In addition,faculty from Johns Hopkins led small groups ofstudents in a 3-day lab experience.

Students attending SSI were Spencer Allen,Hendrix College; Sarah Austrin-Willis, Wake For-est University; Daniel Barry, Vanderbilt Univer-sity; Jennifer Bryan, Acadia University; EmmaBuchtel, Yale University; Sapna Cheryan, North-western University; Mattie Gabston, Scripps Col-lege; Sharmin Ghaznavi, Massachusetts Instituteof Technology; Eric Hamako, Stanford Univer-sity; Colleen Head, College of William andMary; Paul Johnson, University of Arizona; ErikJohnston, University of Denver; Sarah Karlen,University of Iowa; Jebby Lacey, WestminsterCollege; Heather Littleton, Clemson University;

See Undergrads, page 7

Undergrads Enjoy APA Summer Science InstituteBy Maggie Nelson, APA Science Directorate

Martin Seligman, PhD. ofthe University of Pennsyl-vania, answers students’questions after his presentation on learnedoptimism. Left to rightare Matthew Presley,Jason Oraker, SapnaCheryan, Sarah Karlen,Sarah Austin-Willis, andAndrew Shannon.

PHOTO AFPO

2 Psychology Teacher Network November-December 1997

BRIEFING

Why Study the Psychology of Men?Those not familiar with this new work sometimes ask:"Why do we need a psychology of men? Isn't all psy-chology the psychology of men?" The answer is: Yes,males have been the focal point of most psychologicalresearch, but in studies which viewed males as repre-sentative of humanity as a whole. Feminist scholarschallenged this traditional viewpoint by arguing for agender-specific approach, and in the past quartercentury, have rewritten the canon on the psychologyof women. In the same spirit, men's studies scholarsover the past fifteen years have begun to examinemasculinity not as a normative referent, but rather asa complex and problematic construct. In so doing,they have provided a framework for a psychologicalapproach to men and masculinity that questions tra-ditional norms of the male role, such as the emphasison competition, status, toughness, and emotional sto-icism, and views certain male problems (such as ag-gression and violence, devaluation of women, fear andhatred of homosexuals, detached fathering, and ne-glect of health needs) as unfortunate but predictableresults of the male role socialization process. Theyhave also provided a framework for creating positivenew definitions of masculinity that support the optimaldevelopment of men, women, and children.

This new psychology of men is both overdue andurgently needed. Men are disproportionately repre-sented among many problem populations—substanceabusers, the homeless, perpetrators of family and in-terpersonal violence, parents estranged from theirchildren, sex addicts and sex offenders, victims ofhomicide, suicide, and fatal automobile accidents, andvictims of life-style and stress-related fatal illnesses. A new psychology of men might contributeto the understanding and solution of some of thesemale problems which have long impacted women,men, children, and society in negative ways.

Moreover, due to long delays in dealing withmany of these problems, we are currently experienc-ing a "crisis of connection" between men and women(Levant, 1996). As a result, the pressures on men tobehave in ways that conflict with various aspects oftraditional masculinity ideology have never beengreater. These new pressures—pressures to commit torelationships, to communicate one's innermost feel-ings, to nurture children, to share in housework, to integrate sexuality with love, and to curb aggressionand violence — have shaken traditional masculinityideology to such an extent there is now a "masculinity

crisis" in which many feel bewildered and confused,and the pride associated with being a man is lowerthan at any time in the recent past (Levant, 1997).Many such men are gravitating to organizations suchas the Promise Keepers (Promise Keepers, 1994) andthe Fatherhood Initiative (Blankenhorn, 1995), whichpropose to return the male to his "rightful place" asthe "leader of his family" by rolling back the gains ofthe women's movement. A new psychology of menmight help men find solutions to the masculinity crisisand the crisis of connection that enhance rather thaninflame gender relations, and provide them with toolsfor the reconstruction of the traditional male code(Levant & Kopecky, 1996).

The purpose of this article is to introduce thisnew field. We will cover the gender role strain para-digm, masculinity ideology, and the three varieties ofmale gender role strain—discrepancy strain, dysfunc-tion strain, and trauma strain.

The Gender Role Strain ParadigmThe new psychology of men views gender roles

not as biological or even social "givens", but rather aspsychologically and socially constructed entities thatbring certain advantages and disadvantages, and,most importantly, can change. This perspective ac-knowledges the biological differences between menand women, but argues that it is not the biologicaldifferences of sex that make for "masculinity" and"femininity". These notions are socially constructedfrom bits and pieces of biological, psychological, andsocial experience to serve particular purposes. Tradi-tional constructions of gender serve patriarchal pur-poses; non-traditional constructions, such as Gilmore(1990) described among the Tahitians and the Semai,serve more equalitarian purposes.

The Gender Role Strain paradigm, originally for-mulated by Joseph Pleck in The Myth of Masculinity(1981), is the forerunner, in the new psychology ofmen, of social constructionism, and of modern criticalthinking about masculinity, having been formulatedbefore social constructionism emerged as a new per-spective on masculinity (Pleck, 1995). It spawned anumber of major research programs that have pro-duced important data which have deepened our un-derstanding of the strain men experience when theyattempt to live up the impossibility of the male role.

Pleck demonstrated that the paradigm which haddominated the research on masculinity for fifty years(1930-1980)—the Gender Role Identity Paradigm—

Dr. Levant is the co-founder and first President ofthe Society for the Psycho-logical Study of Men andMasculinity, Division 51 ofAPA. He is the co-author ofMasculinity Reconstructed(Plume, 1996) and the co-editor of A New Psychol-ogy of Men (Basic Books,1995) and of Men andSex: New PsychologicalPerspectives (John Wiley &Sons, 1997). This article isadapted from an article thatappeared in ProfessionalPsychology: Research andPractice.

The New Psychology of MenBy Ronald F. Levant, Ed.D., Nova Southeastern University

Psychology Teacher Network November-December 1997 3

not only poorly accounts for the observed data, butalso promotes the patriarchal bifurcation of society onthe basis of stereotyped gender roles. In its place,Pleck proposed the Gender Role Strain Paradigm.

The older Gender Role Identity Paradigm as-sumed that people have an inner psychological needto have a gender role identity, and that optimal per-sonality development hinged on its formation. Theextent to which this "inherent" need is met is deter-mined by how completely a person embraces theirtraditional gender role. From such a perspective, thedevelopment of appropriate gender role identity isviewed as a failure-prone process; and, failure formen to achieve a masculine gender role identity isthought to result in homosexuality, negative attitudestowards women, or defensive hypermasculinity. Thisparadigm springs from the same philosophical rootsas the "essentialist" or "nativist" view of sex roles—the notion that (in the case of men) there is a clearmasculine "essence" that is historically invariant.

In contrast, the Gender Role Strain Paradigmproposes that contemporary gender roles are contra-dictory and inconsistent; that the proportion of per-sons who violate gender roles is high; that violation of gender roles leads to condemnation and negativepsychological consequences; that actual or imaginedviolation of gender roles leads people to overconformto them; that violating gender roles have more severeconsequences for males than for females; and thatcertain prescribed gender role traits (such as male aggression) are often dysfunctional. In this paradigm,appropriate gender roles are determined by the pre-vailing gender ideology (which is operationally defined by gender role stereotypes and norms), andare imposed on the developing child by parents,teachers, and peers—the cultural transmitters whosubscribe to the prevailing gender ideology. As notedabove, this paradigm springs from the same philo-sophical roots as social constructionism—the perspec-tive that notions of "masculinity" and femininity" arerelational, socially constructed, and subject to change.

Masculinity Ideology. Thompson and Pleck(1995) proposed the term "masculinity ideology" tocharacterize the core construct in the corpus of re-search assessing attitudes toward men and male roles.Masculinity, or gender, ideology is a very differentconstruct from the older notion of gender orientation.Gender orientation arises out of the Identity Para-digm, and "presumes that masculinity is rooted in ac-tual differences between men and women" (Thomp-son & Pleck, 1995, p. 130). This approach has at-tempted to assess the personality traits more often as-sociated with men than women. In contrast, studies ofmasculinity ideology take a normative approach, inwhich masculinity is viewed as a socially constructed

gender ideal for men. Whereas the masculine male inthe orientation/trait approach is one who possessesparticular personality traits, the traditional male inthe ideology/normative approach "is one who en-dorses the ideology that men should have sex-specificcharacteristics (and women should not)" (Thompson& Pleck, 1995, p. 131). Thompson and Pleck (1995)adduced evidence to support the notion that genderorientation and gender ideologies are independentand have different correlates.

Masculinity ideologies. The Strain Paradigmasserts that there is no single standard for masculinitynor is there an unvarying masculinity ideology.Rather, since masculinity is a social construction,ideals of manhood may differ for men of different so-cial classes, races, ethnic groups, sexual orientations,life stages, and historical eras. Following Brod (1987)we therefore prefer to speak of masculinity ideologies.To illustrate, consider these brief descriptions of vary-ing male codes among four ethnic-minority groups inthe contemporary United States:

African-American males have adopted distinctiveactions and attitudes known as cool pose ...Em-phasizing honor, virility, and physical strength, theLatino male adheres to a code of machismo...TheAmerican-Indian male struggles to maintain con-tact with a way of life and the traditions of elderswhile faced with economic castration and politicaltrauma... Asian-American men resolve uncertaintyprivately in order to save face and surrender per-sonal autonomy to family obligations and needs.(Lazur & Majors, 1995, p. 338).

Traditional masculinity ideology. Despitethe diversity in masculinity ideology in the contempo-rary U.S., Pleck (1995, p. 20) points out that "there isa particular constellation of standards and expecta-tions that individually and jointly have various kindsof negative concommitants." It is common to refer tothis as "traditional" masculinity ideology, since it wasthe dominant view prior to the deconstruction ofgender that took place beginning in the 1970's.

Traditional masculinity ideology is thought to bea multidimensional construct. Brannon (David &Brannon, 1976) identified four components of tradi-tional masculinity ideology: That men should not befeminine (labeled by Brannon "no sissy stuff"); thatmen should strive to be respected for successfulachievement ("the big wheel"); that men should nevershow weakness ("the sturdy oak")' and that menshould seek adventure and risk, even accepting vio-lence if necessary ("give 'em hell"). More recently,Levant, Hirsch, Celentano, Cozza, Hill, MacEachern,Marty, & Schnedeker (1992) defined traditional mas-culinity ideology in terms of seven dimensions: The


requirement to avoid all things feminine; the injunc-tion to restrict one's emotional life; the emphasis ontoughness and aggression; the injunction to be self-re-liant; the emphasis on achieving status above all else;non-relational, objectifying attitudes toward sexuality;and fear and hatred of homosexuals.

Types of Male Gender Role StrainPleck (1995), in an update on the Gender Role

Strain Paradigm, pointed out that his original formu-lation of the paradigm stimulated research on threevarieties of male gender role strain, which he termed"discrepancy-strain", "dysfunction strain", and"trauma-strain". Discrepancy strain results when onefails to live up to one's internalized manhood ideal,which, among contemporary adult males, is often aclose approximation of the traditional code. Dysfunc-tion strain results even when one fulfills the require-ments of the male code, because many of the charac-teristics viewed as desirable in men can have negativeside effects on the men themselves and on those closeto them. Trauma strain results from the ordeal of themale role socialization process, which is now recog-nized as inherently traumatic.

Discrepancy StrainOne approach to investigating discrepancy strain

used a version of the time-honored self/ideal-self re-search paradigm, in which participants were firstasked, using adjectival rating scales, to describe the"ideal man," and then asked to describe themselves.The discrepancy between the two ratings was used asindex of discrepancy strain, which was then studied interms of its correlations with other variables such asself-esteem. This line of research has not been partic-ularly productive.

Another approach has been more fruitful. Thisapproach does not ask participants whether discrep-ancy strain exists for them, but rather inquires as towhether they would experience particular gender dis-crepancies as conflictual or stressful if they did exist.Two major research programs have used this approach:O'Neil's (O'Neil, Good, & Holmes, 1995) work on malegender role conflict, and Eisler and Skidmore's (1995)work on masculine gender role stress.

Dysfunction StrainThe second type of gender role strain is dysfunc-

tion strain. The notion behind dysfunction strain isthat the fulfillment of the requirements of the malecode can be dysfunctional because many of the char-acteristics viewed as desirable in men can have nega-tive side effects on the men themselves and on thoseclose to them. Pleck (1995) reviewed some of the research that documents the existence of dysfunctionstrain, which includes studies that find negative

outcomes associated with masculine gender-relatedpersonality traits on the one hand, and lack of involvement in family roles on the other hand.

Brooks and Silverstein (1995) in a far-reachingdiscussion of the "dark side" of masculinity, provide ataxonomy of the problems that result from dysfunc-tion strain. These are significant social and publichealth problems that Brooks and Silverstein (1995)argue result, through one pathway or another, fromadherence to traditional masculinity ideology. Theseproblems include: (1) violence, including male vio-lence against women in the family, rape and sexualassault, and sexual harassment; (2) sexual excess, in-cluding promiscuity, involvement with pornography,and sexual addiction; (3) socially irresponsible behav-iors, including chemical dependence, risk-seeking be-havior, physically self-abuse, absent fathering, andhomelessness/vagrancy; and, (4) relationship dys-functions, including inadequate emotional partnering,non-nurturing fathering, and non-participativehousehold partnering.

Trauma StrainThe concept of trauma-strain has been applied

to certain groups of men whose experiences with gen-der role strain are thought to be particularly harsh.This includes professional athletes (Messner, 1992),war veterans (Brooks, 1990), and survivors of childabuse, including sexual abuse (Lisak, 1995). It is alsobeing recognized that gay and bisexual men are trau-matized by male gender role strain by virtue of grow-ing up in a heterosexist society (Harrison, 1995). Butabove and beyond the recognition that certain classesof men may experience trauma strain, a perspectiveon the male role socialization process has emergedwhich views socialization under traditional masculin-ity ideology as inherently traumatic (Levant &Kopecky, 1996; Levant & Pollack, 1995).

ConclusionThis article introduced the new psychology of

men, reviewing the gender role strain paradigm, masculinity ideology, and the three varieties of malegender role strain. It is the author's hope that this newwork will open up new areas for assessment, interven-tion, and applied research, in order to provide improved psychological services to men that mightcontribute to the solution of both the contemporarymasculinity crisis and the crisis of connection betweenmen and women.

ReferencesAvailable upon request to Psychology Teacher Network.

Note: This article was adapted from Levant, R.F.(1996).The new psychology of men. Professional Psychology:Research and Practice, 27, Washington, DC: AmericanPsychological Association, 259-265.


Nearly one hundred years ago George Stratton, apsychologist at the University of California, had amost unusual idea. What would happen, he won-dered, if we suddenly found ourselves in an upside-down, wrong-way-around visual world? Would welearn to adjust to this novel visual world, or would itremain forever strange and distressing? Stratton designed special glasses with lenses that both invertedthe visual field and reversed it, so that objects per-ceived on the left were actually on the right and objects perceived at the top were actually on the bottom. To test his idea he needed someone to wearthese glasses for an extended period of time. He wasunable to find a volunteer for the experiment, soStratton wore them himself (Stratton, 1897).

At first, he found this new upside-down, sidesreversed, visual world strange and disturbing. Objectsseemed to sweep and swing before his eyes; hebumped into things as he moved around and couldnot perform such simple tasks as eating a meal orwashing his face. As the days went by, however, Strat-ton adjusted to his distorted vision sensations. Finally,he could move around with ease, eat his meals, andwash his face without difficulty. But, when he tookthe glasses off, the visual world again seemed strangeand he had difficulty readjusting to normal visualsensations.

In 1928 Theodor Erismann of the University ofInnsbruck had subjects wear prism goggles similar tothose designed by Stratton. His subjects, too, had toadjust to their distorted visual world. After severalweeks, one of them became so at ease wearing thegoggles that he rode a motorcycle through Innsbruck.Erismann also found that subjects were able to adjustto an even more elaborate device that allowed themto see only directly to the rear as if they had eyes atthe back of their heads. In one of a series of later ex-periments, Ivan Kohler had subjects wear goggles inwhich each lens was divided vertically into blue andyellow halves. When the wearer looked to the left hesaw a blue-tinted world, and to the right a yellow-tinted world. After several weeks Kohler's subjectsadapted to them and the color distortions disap-peared (Kohler, 1962).

For each of our major senses-vision, hearing,tasting, and smell, there is a relationship between thephysical properties of sensation and the interpretationof these physical properties. This intimate relationshipbetween the sensation and the perception of what wesee, of what we hear, of what we taste, and of whatwe smell is important for students to understand and

appreciate. For example, the sense of vision is com-posed of the sensations we receive and the interpreta-tions of these sensations.

Transduction is the process by which sensorysystems transform physical energy into nerve im-pulses. At the most basic level, the eye works in thefollowing way: 1) light first enters the cornea; 2) behind the cornea is the iris, which opens andcloses and regulates the amount of light entering theeye; 3) this light enters the pupil which is the hole inthe iris; 4) the light then passes through the lens; 5) the cilary muscle controls the thickness of the lens,which allows for focusing on objects; 6) and then thelight goes to the retina, at the back of the eye. Thetransduction occurs in the retina. It is here that thesensation of light is converted into impulses that canbe interpreted by the brain. The retina has two kindsof photoreceptor cells. They are called rods and conesbecause of their shape. The rods and cones are sensi-tive to light and color. Because of the retina's roundshape, the image is received upside-down at the backof the eye. The photoreceptor cells (rods and cones)receive the light and send the signal via the opticnerve to the brain. The information of what we see issent to the part of the brain called the visual cortex.The visual cortex receives an upside-down picture ofwhat we see.

The next step in the process of vision is perception.This area of psychology is concerned with how peopleorganize and comprehend these neural impulses.Through parallel processing the brain breaks down theimage into different parts such as color and form. Thisinformation is sent to other areas of the brain to furtherinterpret and make sense of what we see.

What would happen if we try to trick our eyes bywearing special goggles? I've developed special gog-gles for my students to wear that demonstrate theseprinciples. The first pair of goggles I use is a glassprism. This prism is designed to invert the image ofwhat we see before it enters the eye. These are called"inverted-image goggles." The image is inverted be-fore it travels to the retina. The brain is tricked byseeing an image that is upside-down! The brain turnsthis picture upside-down (as it would with any ob-ject), and thus we see the world in an upside downfashion! We see the floor as the ceiling and the ceilingas the floor! The first steps a person takes with thesegoggles seem very strange and disorienting. I havestudents wear the goggles and try to walk a crookedline made of masking tape which is on the classroom

See Goggles, page 7

What Works: Vision Distorting GogglesBy Jim Matiya, Lockport, IL


The beginning of the fall 1997 semester has been ahay day for anyone who teaches the introductory psy-chology course and/or a developmental psychologycourse. The mass media has provided diverse infor-mation in both print and television regarding the na-ture vs. nurture controversy. Beginning with JohnStossel's program on happiness, the issue of geneticsand environment was brought to the attention of thepublic by focusing on a specific emotion that moststudents are seeking to attain. In this program, Stos-sel showed various research techniques and inter-viewed Richard Davidson regarding his MRI studies,David Myers regarding his happiness research, andThomas Bouchard, Jr. regarding his twin studies.

At the same time, the New York Academy of Sci-ences devoted the September/October issue of TheSciences to the promise and peril of cloning. In thisissue, Thomas Bouchard, Jr. interprets his twin stud-ies. The article, Whenever the Twain Shall Meet, in-cludes the history and methodology of the studies atthe University of Minnesota. Bouchard summarizes,on average, personality traits of identical twins have a50 percent correlation, while fraternal twins have a 25percent correlation, and non-twin siblings an 11 per-cent correlation (p. 54). He reports that EEGs (usu-ally as distinct as fingerprints) of identical twins areabout as similar as two EEGs of the same personplotted at different times (p. 54). Bouchard explainsthat almost three quarters of a person's 100,000 genesare identical in all humans with the remaining onequarter defining the individual. He goes on to discussthe study of intelligence as it relates to genetics in-cluding much of the information that most psychol-ogy teachers share with their students. The strengthof this article rests in Bouchard's discussion of theweaknesses of his research and the application of theresearch. With respect to the weakness, Bouchardstates "for all their striking findings, twin studies donot explain how genes influence personality, intelli-gence, or social attitudes" (p. 56). He purports thatgenes make a personality more likely to respond toits environment in certain ways. Most psychologicalvariability is probably shaped by experiences, how-ever, those experiences are largely self-selected andthat selection is guided by the pressure of thegenome (p. 56). Bouchard gives examples of apply-ing this viewpoint to both education and to thecloning issue. As he articulates, the twin studies

underscore their subjects' individuality because de-spite having identical genomes and even being raisedtogether, identical twins still respond differently tomany of the items on his questionnaires. Bouchardconcludes by saying the twin studies refute both bio-logical and environmental determinism. His results,he believes, account for the uniqueness of the indi-vidual and "remind us that we are an integral part ofa complex biological world" (p. 57).

Lastly, the October issue of Discover hit thenewsstands about two weeks later with a special issueon genetics. Robert Sapolsky's article, A Gene forNothing, provides an excellent overview of geneticsand the nature-nurture issue. As Sapolsky informallystates: "You've got nature-neurons, brain chemicals...And then there's nurture, all those environmentalbreezes...Again and again, behavior biologists insistthat you can't talk meaningfully about nature or nur-ture, only about their interaction" (p. 42). By explaining genes, DNA, neurotransmitters, and chro-mosomes, Sapolsky delineates why there is more to behavior than just genes. Examples about anxiety anddepression are given with the interaction between en-vironment and genetic tendencies clearly discussed.He concludes "genes modulate how one responds tothe environment" (p. 46). The writing style andhumor throughout the article provides readability forstudents in high school and college.

With this influx of information from the massmedia, what's a psychology teacher to do!?!? Have awonderful time. By showing the first 15 minutes of theStossel program on happiness, students see and hearabout current research in a variety of settings. The ar-ticle by Bouchard is a wonderful read because the au-thor writes in the first person which provides a person-able, interview feeling for students. The Bouchard andSapolsky articles are short and easily understandablefor high school and freshmen college students. Al-though these are not journal articles, they have a depthnot usually contained in the popular press.

This fall I combined all three of the above. Onthe first day of class we did the usual "agree or dis-agree" opinion statements regarding severalnature/nurture questions. The next class period Ishowed the first part of the Stossel program, we dis-cussed research methodology, and I handed out theBouchard article. Students wrote a reaction paper tothe article discussing (1) what they learned, (2) their

Nature vs. Nurture: The Invasion of the Mass MediaBy Martha Ellis, Ph.D., Collin County Community College, Plano, TX

This update is providedcourtesy of APA's CommunityCollege Working Group.


Undergrads, from page 1Conswelia Livingston, Boston University; BrianLoendorf, Oklahoma State University; Mildred Maldonado-Molina, University of Puerto Rico; JasonC. Oraker, Williams College; Matthew Presley, AustinCollege; Michael Puma, Fordham University; ScottRitter, University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire; KathrynRuddy, Harvard University; Aaron Sackett, St. OlafCollege; Emily Sadigh, Harvard University; AmandaSaw, University of California, Los Angeles; AndrewShannon, Kenyon College; Ruth Shim, College of William and Mary; Robyn Siperstein, Yale Univer-sity; Deborah Small, University of Pennsylvania;Stacey Storch, Duke University; and Amir Zarrinpar,Harvard University.

By all accounts, SSI was a great success. Thestudents left with a greater appreciation and under-standing of the science of psychology, and the faculty

left the Institute encouraged that these students maybe among the future leaders in the field.

The next Summer Science Institute will be heldat the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Mary-land from Sunday, June 14 through Monday, June 22,1998. Eligible students for this program are limited tothose students who will have college sophomore or ju-nior status following the end of the 1997-98 academicyear. This program has proven to be quite competi-tive. We can accommodate 32 students, and we ex-pect to receive approximately 400-500 applications.The criteria for selection include high school and col-lege GPAs, college entrance exam scores, coursestaken, letters of reference, and responses to the shortessay questions. Applications are available on the Webat http://www.apa.org/science/ssi98.html. For more information, contact the Science Directorate at (202)336-6000; (202) 336-6132 (TDD); [email protected].

Goggles, from page 5floor, try to catch a ball thrown tothem, try to juggle a nerf ball, andtry to pour Styrofoam packingfrom one container into anotherone.

The second pair of gogglesare designed with a special flatprism that changes the location ofobjects. These are called “dis-placement” goggles because thelocation of objects has been dis-placed or relocated. In this partic-ular case, objects are displaced 40degrees. The prism can be movedaround so that the forty degreedisplacement relocate objects tothe left, to the right, and either upor down! In this way, studentsnever know which way the dis-placement will occur! They canonly find objects if they see for

themselves! Each person has toadapt to a new field of vision! Itry to have students move objectson a table, play a board game,and play solitaire in order to givethem some experience with thesegoggles. When they reach for ob-jects they realize that the objectsare not where they think they"should be!"

Both of these goggles chal-lenge the students to know aboutthe structure of the eye, perceptionof objects, and the ability to adaptto changes in the environment.Most students are unaware of theway the eyes work. They seem un-aware of the complexity of how wesee. What we see is a product oforganization, learning, and physi-cal sensations. We rarely questionwhat we see, believing that our vi-

sion is accurate and truthful. Wesee people who have eye problemseveryday. Some people have towear glasses to help them see. Yet,we never think about how weadapt to wearing glasses. Theabove vignette is very challengingand thought-provoking. Whatwould happen if we only saw theworld upside-down?

For more information youmay contact the author or TOPSSc/o APA’s Education Directorate.

References:Kohler, I. (1962, May). Experiments with

goggles. Scientific American, 206, 62-72. Cited in Hothersall, D. (1985). Psychology. Columbus, Ohio: Charles Merrill Publishing.

Sratton, G. (1897). Vision without inversion of the retinal image. Psychological Review, 4, 463-481. Cited in Hothersall, D. (1985). Psychology. Columbus, Ohio: Charles Merrill Publishing.

opinion of the research processes including weak-nesses and biases, and (3) any questions they hadthat the article did not answer. The next class periodthey broke into small groups and discussed their reac-tions. During the next week we discussed geneticsand the chapter on the brain and I gave them the ar-ticle from Discover. This time they were to write a re-action paper discussing the nature/nurture issuebased upon what they had learned thus far in thecourse. The process took about ten minutes in eachclass session. The response I received from the stu-dents included an increased depth of understanding

on genetics, nature/nurture issue, and researchmethodology. Also, the relevance of the topic was illu-minated because it was in the mass media, not just intheir textbook. They found the information fascinat-ing and continue to apply what they learned as weapproach new topics in the course.

ReferencesBouchard, T.J., Jr. (1997). Whenever the twain shall

meet. The Sciences, 37, 5, 52-57.Sapolsky, R. (1997). A gene for nothing. Discover, 18,

10, 40-46.Stossel, J. (September, 1997). The mystery of happi-

ness, ABC News.

There are some exciting changes in the TOPSSEssay Contest for this year. Dr. Martin E. P. Selig-man and TOPSS, in conjunction with the AmericanPsychological Foundation (APF), has designed acompetition to identify the brightest and best highschool psychology students in America. There will be three student winners. These winners, each withone parent/guardian and one sponsoring teacher, will receive funding to attend the APA Convention inSan Francisco in August 1998. Transportation, lodg-ing, and convention expenses for these winners, par-ents/guardians, and teachers will be covered by APAfor up to $1,000 per person.

Dr. Seligman’s presidential theme for 1998,“maximizing psychological strength, resilience, andgenius,” is reflected in the competition question described below.

A variety of groups are working toward havingthe first week of March identified as PsychologyAwareness Week. It is our intent to have the winnersannounced on approximately March 4, 1998 to coincide with that week’s festivities. Entries for the contest must be postmarked by January26, 1998.

To compete in the APF Presidential Scholarscompetition a student must answer BOTH PARTSof the stimulus item below. Winners will be selectedon the basis of a demonstrated ability to (1) com-plete a critical analysis and synthesis of empirical re-search and (2) generate a quality research proposalthat is a logical outgrowth of the review of the re-search literature.

Deadline: All essays must be postmarked absolutely no later than January 26, 1998.

IMPORTANT NOTE: There should beNO identification pertaining to the studenton any page of the paper. Violation of thisrule will result in disqualification. Number-ing pages is permitted.

THE QUESTION (complete both parts)Part I:Conduct and report a critical analysis of the litera-ture on the following topic: Parental/caretaker be-haviors can lead to the development and mainte-nance of optimism in children. Describe how psy-chologists measure optimism in children and thepositive outcomes of optimism from social and edu-cational perspectives. Your report should include:

A. An operational definition of what psychologistsmean by optimism

B. An application of relevant psychological findings from a minimum of three sources

C. An explanation of how psychologists know thatthese parental/caretaker behaviors lead to optimism

D. A resource list in APA style

Part II:Based on your literature review, generate a research design that addresses issues regarding early life experiences. Your research proposal should reflectthe topic studied in Part I and should include:

A. A statement of the problemB. An operationally defined hypothesisC. A description of the methodology

1. Identification of proposed method (experiment, survey, etc.)

2. Identification of population and subject pool3. Identification of important variables (IV, DV,

confounding)4. An explanation of efforts to control potential

confounding variables 5. An explanation of how data will be collected6. An explanation of how data will be analyzed

D. A discussion of potential ethical issuesE. A prediction of results

RULESEligibility:

• Entrants must be high school students.• Entrants must have been enrolled or be presently

See Competition, following page


NEWS FROM TOPSS

TOPSS Annual Essay Contest: The APF Presidential ScholarsCompetitionBy Carol Dean, TOPSS Essay Chair


ArizonaJean Schroeder-McClure,

Cibola HS, Yuma

CaliforniaAnthony Carsaro, Palmdale Emmanuel Deligiannis, OrangeVerconica Perez-Marchese, DowneyCat Rickets, Elk GroveMarsha Robinson, Boulder Creek Jennifer Tuck, San Francisco

District of ColumbiaJohn Crane, International School

of Prague, US Embassy Prague Olen Kalkus, International School

of Prague, US Embassy Prague

FloridaMaricel Castillo, MiamiStefanie Scher, Boca Raton Todd Sparger, Spruce Creek HS,

Port Orange Jodie Weinstein, Miami

Northwestern HS, Miami

GeorgiaJames Watts, Smyrna

IdahoAngela Bergman, BurleyNikki Sayer, Moore

IllinoisBarbara Bonnet, East DubuqueMatt Niehaus, LaSalle

IndianaKathy Lehe, Frontier HS, Chamlers

IowaCarolyn Clefisch, Guttenberg

KansasTimothy Adams, Hesston

MarylandChris Kinworthey, College Park Claudia Mowen, Annapolis

MassachusettsJack Merrill, W. Newton Thomas Miller,

David Prouty HS, SpencerDennis Tavares, Kingston

MichiganPatricia Burnside, SiginawJ. Gary Cockman,

Davison HS, DavisonCherilyn Ross, Novi

MinnesotaDan Elhard, Grand Rapids Brett Joyce, LeCener

MontanaJoann DeBeaumont, Glendive

NebraskaJan Beeson, East HS, Lincoln Rose Kastl, SE HS, Lincoln Tim Shipman, Omaha

New JerseyJennifer Potschantek, OaklandMark Schweizer, ClementonJack Wilson, Towaco

New YorkCheryl Jordan, E NorthportBeth Pollatz, Brookville Laura Sposato, GreenlawnDouglas Weisman,

Eastchester HS, Eastchester

North DakotaDeborah S. Medlar, Dickinson

OhioSteven Boone, CovingtonParran Curry-Guy, Columbus

OregonLaura Dale, Eugene

PennsylvaniaPaul Cech, California David Zimmerman,

Conestaga HS, Berwyn

South DakotaDarcy Randle, Piedmont

TexasAmy LeClair, Sugarland Mary J. O'Brien, Katy

VirginiaJean Ferguson, Centreville

WashingtonJeffrey Beha,

Franklin Pierce HS, Tacoma

InternationalHolly Drover, Ontario, CanadaFrederick Scott Galt,

The American Community School, Cobham Surrey, England

Joelle Myszkowki, Colegio Americano de Quito, Quito, Eucador

Gunter Schweiger, Univ. of Economics-Vienna, Austria

New TOPSS Members

Competition, from previous pageenrolled in a high school psychology course.

• Entrants must be sponsored by a TOPSS member.

The Paper:• Papers must be typed or word-processed.• Papers must be no more than 3,000 words in

length. Papers exceeding this length will be disqualified.

• Papers MUST use APA style.• Papers must be submitted in triplicate.• Papers that are word-processed should be

submitted with a computer disk. The word-processing program used must be identified.

The Procedure:• No more than ONE paper per school may

be submitted.• All entries must include a cover sheet with the

following information:A. The student's name B. The student's year in school (e.g., junior, senior)C. The name, address, and phone number of

the TOPSS sponsorD. The student's school name, address and

phone number.E. Send the paper to:

Seligman Presidential Scholar Competitionc/o Peter PetrossianEducation DirectorateAmerican Psychological Association750 First Street, NEWashington, DC, 20002

ACTIVITY


Inquiries, Demonstrations, Experiments and Activities

Concept:

Materials:

Instructions:

An Exercise in Signal Detection TheoryBy Alan Feldman, Perth Amboy High School, Perth Amboy, NJ

Signal detection theory can illustrate distortions in the measurement of perceptual detection by taking into ac-count receiver operator characteristics such as mood, context and personal expectations. (This activity shouldbe used after absolute threshold theory has been discussed and after the section on signal detection has beenassigned to be read).

Overhead transparency of Chart ACopy of Questions 1-3 for each student

Discuss the following four outcomes in a game of poker.A. Opponent has good hand - you think they do. (hit) You fold.B. Opponent has good hand - you think they do. (miss) You fold.C. Opponent has bad hand - you think its actually good. (false alarm) You've been bluffed.D. Opponent has bad hand - you think it's bad. (correct rejection) Raise them.

Then show students Chart A on overhead and have them apply categories - hit, miss, false alarm, correct re-jection to above situation.

Have students work individually or in small groups on questions 1 - 3.I. Which outcome is exemplified by each of the following scenarios:

A. A stream has just been stocked with fish. A fisherman who has been unsuccessful at this location in the past only tries for five minutes and then gives up.

B. He then travels to a nearby pond that has no fish in it. A minute after throwing his line in he snags what he thinks is a big fish. It is actually a boot.

2. A. A babysitter detects frightening noises after watching a scary movie. The noise is the trees rustling in the wind.

B. The next day the same babysitter is at soccer practice. She does not detect the trees nearby making the same noise.

3. A young male college student goes to a sorority dance hoping to meet a young woman. Discuss the 4 pos-sible outcomes that could occur according to signal detection theory (e.g. A very attractive, unattached young woman smiles at him and makes eye contact. He does not perceive she is interested in him. This would be a miss - the signal is present but he does not respond to it.)

See Activity, page 13

Psychology Teacher Network is looking for good ideas, activities and experiments to share with our readers. Please submit any activities to Psychology Teacher Network, Education Directorate.

RESPONSE

SIGNAL YES NO

PRESENT HIT MISS

ABSENT FALSE ALARM CORRECT REJECTION

Chart A


Division Two 1998 Teaching Awards Nominations

The Society for the Teaching of Psychology (DivisionTwo) of the American Psychological Association announces its 1998 program of awards for outstand-ing teachers of psychology. Teaching awards of $500and a plaque are bestowed for outstanding perfor-mance in each of four environments:

1.Four-year Colleges or Universities (Robert S. Daniel Award)

2.Two-year Colleges 3.High Schools

(Moffett Memorial Teaching Award)4.Graduate Student

(McKeachie Early Career Teaching Award)

CriteriaNominations will be judged on the following criteria, although nominees will not be expected to haveachieved recognition in all areas:

1. Demonstrated influence in interesting students inthe field of psychology. Documentation could include papers or projects completed by stu-dents; evidence of students presenting papers at professional meetings or of students subsequentlypublishing their work done with this teacher; actions by the teacher, both curricular and co-curricular, intended to increase student interestand involvement in psychology.

2. Development of effective teaching methods,courses, and/or teaching materials. Documenta-tion could include description and sample ofmethods, materials, course syllabi, and evidenceof their successful utilization.

3. Outstanding performance as a classroom teacher.Documentation could include student evalua-tions, enrollment figures, evaluative observationsby colleagues, teaching awards, and other formsof prior recognition.

4. Concerns with professional identity as a teacherof psychology. This might be seen as professional activity on or away from campus, including pub-lication of articles on teaching, stimulation ofstudent research, attendance at professionalmeetings or workshops relevant to the teachingof psychology, or memberships in organizationsindicating such an identification.

Winners will be notified in advance. Awards will be presented at a special Society for the Teaching of Psychology program at the 1998 meeting of the

American Psychological Association in San Francisco.If a winner cannot attend, the Society for the Teach-ing of Psychology will appoint a representative tomake the presentation at the winner's home campusat a time convenient to the winner.

The nominator and nominee must compile all documentation in support of the nomination. Respon-sibility for accumulating supporting documentation cannot be assumed by the Awards Committee. Nomi-nations are to be sent to the Chairperson of theAwards Committee and must be received by January5, 1998. Materials will not ordinarily be returned.

Persons nominated need not be members of TheSociety for the Teaching of Psychology and renomina-tions and self-nominations are acceptable. The Soci-ety for the Teaching of Psychology reserves the rightto not make an award in a particular category if theAwards Committee believes no nominee is qualified ina particular year.

Nomination FormatCover SheetA cover sheet should accompany the nominator’s doc-umentation. This sheet should include:

1. Nominee's name, address, and telephone number.2. Category of award for which this person is

nominated.3. Nominator's name, address, and telephone

number.4. The name and address of who (Department

Head, Dean, President, etc.) and/or what officerand organization (local, state, or regional psychological association, etc.) should be in-formed if the nominee wins the Society for theTeaching of Psychology Teaching Award.

Materials to be Submitted5. Educational history of the nominee: degrees,

granting institutions, year(s) granted, major andminor fields.

6. Nominee's professional work history.7. Professional and honorary organizations in which

the nominee holds membership.8. Letters of recommendation from at least three

(but not more than five) persons, each of whomcan speak to the qualifications of the nominee inlight of the criteria.

9. Narrative: A maximum of two pages (double-spaced) of documentation per criterion high

See Nominations, page 12

*

**

* These items may simply behighlighted on the nominee's cur-riculum vitae if one is available.


DEAR DOCTOR

Perhaps it will help if I relate theillusion to which you refer to an-other illusion that may be morefamiliar to you. You probablyhave seen in a textbook a figure(perhaps a medium gray rectan-gle) surrounded either by a lightgray ground or a dark grayground. Figure A (the one sur-rounded by light gray) will ap-pear darker than Figure B (theone surrounded by dark gray)even though Figures A and B arephysically identical. It helps little,if any, to know that they areidentical; they still are perceivedas different. This is because per-ception of the figure is affected bythe figure-ground relationship,not just by the figure itself. Weperceive in terms of relationships.In a sense, Figure A is darker thanFigure B: Figure A is darker in re-lationship to its ground than Fig-ure B is to its ground, and this isthe way we perceive it.

The same idea pertains tothe illusion you ask about,which is known as the size-weight illusion. In this case wecan think of weight as the figureand size (or volume) as theground. We can take two cans ofidentical weight but differentheight as our example, in whichcase Can A (the smaller can ofhigher density) will appear

heavier in weight when liftedthan Can B (the larger can oflower density). As before, even ifwe are told that the cans areequal in weight they still don'tappear to be. Again, there is asense in which Can A is heavierthan Can B: Can A is heavier inrelationship to its size than CanB is to its size. To test the effectof size on perception of weightyou can have one group of stu-dents compare the perceivedweights with their eyes closed sothey cannot at any time see thesize of the cans and the othergroup compare the cans withtheir eyes open. You will findthat the group that judges theweights with their eyes closedwill on average be more accu-rate.

The illusory effect of thesize-weight illusion is not as uni-versal as that of the brightnessillusion discussed earlier. This isbecause in the brightness illusionit is virtually impossible to sepa-rate the ground from the figurewhereas in the size-weight illu-sion it can be done by closingone's eyes or simply by not look-ing at the cans as they are beingjudged for weight. But evenhere, if the participant initiallylooks at the cans and thusknows their relative size, the size

will continue to have some ef-fect, although not as much. Mostparticipants, however, look atthe cans as they judge them forweight, in which case the size islikely to have a major influenceon the perception of weight.

In my own demonstration Ipresent my students with a set ofsmall (film) canisters of equalsize but ranging in weight from25 grams to 175 grams, in incre-ments of 25 grams, and onemuch larger can that weighs 150grams. (I vary the weights of thecanisters by placing varyingamounts of metals in them.) I askthe participant to pick out thecanister which weighs exactlythe same as the larger can.Rarely does a student select thecanister that weighs 150 grams.Most students will choose onethat weighs 75 grams (half theweight of the larger can). Asmaller number will select eitherthe 100-gram canister or the 50-gram canister as equal in weightto the larger can of 150 grams. Afew will even pick the 25-gramcanister as equal to it! Clearly theparticipants are responding todensity, which is a relationship(weight in relation to volume),rather than to weight alone.

Answered by: Clifford Fawl,Ph.D., Nebraska WesleyanUniversity

A panel of noted clinical, ex-perimental and academicpsychologists has graciouslyagreed to reply in this col-umn to questions submittedby teachers and students.We invite you to send yourquestions to:

DEAR DOCTOR, PTN,Education Directorate, 750First Street, NE, Washing-ton, DC 20002-4242

Clifford Fawl, Ph.D

Question: I saw a demonstration where a pound of feathers was perceived as lighter than a pound of lead. Thetwo should feel the same, but they did not. Can you explain this?Submitted by: David Powers, Omaha, NE

PHOTO BFPO

Nominations, from page 11lighting the nominee's achievements with respectto one or more of the criteria listed above.

10. Optional: Items 1-9 are the primary pieces of information to be examined by the Awards committee. However, nominators may submitadditional materials in support of the narrativeportion of the nomination. Optional items mightinclude teacher ratings, teaching devices, syllabi,student papers, or newspaper articles.

Send materials to:Mary Kite, Ph.D., Chair, The Society for the Teaching of Psychology Teaching Awards Committee, Department of Psychological ScienceBall State University, Muncie, IN 47306-0520. Dr. Kite can also be reached at (765) 285-1702or via email at [email protected].

Don’t Forget...Time to renew your TOPSS membership!


Discussion: A. Lead students in a discussion of how signal detection theory can measure both sensitivity (sensory impressions) and response bias (decision processes). Discuss how the receiver's attitudes, moods and momentary emotional states could affect their outcome distribution.

B. Review type 1 and type 2 errors. Which outcome best typifies a type 1 error? A type 2 error?

C. Describe the advantage of signal detection theory as compared to thresh-old analyses in evaluating a hypothetical experiment in which an experi-menter is asked to listen for a weak tone. (List the four possible outcomes that can occur on each trial of the experiment according to signal detection theory.)

For more information concerning signal detection theory, see the textbookSensation and Perception, 3rd edition, by Matlin and Foley, published by Allynand Bacon and Experimental Psychology: Understanding PsychologicalResearch, by Kantowitz, Roedigger and Elmes published by West.

Activity, from page 10

REVIEW

“Laughing Matters”Edited by: Rebecca HantinPublisher: Baxley Media Group, 110 West Main,

Urbana IL 61801-2700, (217) 384-4838

Date of Publication: 1995Length: 32 minutesReviewed by: Kristin Whitlock, Bountiful, UT

The mentally ill in our societyseem to carry with them a badgeof dishonor. This stigma can affectmany aspects of their lives. Rela-tionships with family, friends, andco-workers may be strained. Inaddition, the ability to obtain andmaintain employment is difficult.How does an individual facingsuch private and public reprisalsdeal with such stigma?

For one group, laughter hasbeen found to be the best weaponin destroying stigma. "The ProjectReturn Players" are an ensembleof actors struggling with mentalillness and the resulting labels.The video, Laughing Matters pro-vides a stage allowing them todemonstrate, through humor,what the mentally ill must face.

Performance clips include a"Psychiatric Fashion Show" whereone member of the troupe "mod-els" the "31-Flavor Electric ShockMouthpiece" featuring "tutti-fruttiand strawberry...all your fa-vorites." Actors also portray theexperiences of "Kelly", a teen ex-periencing auditory hallucina-

tions. This is effectively done. AsKelly tries to talk on the phone,the "voices”, which are the rest ofthe ensemble, speak nonsense,drown out and take over herthoughts, and render her immo-bile. Her "parents" emotional re-sponse to their daughter's psy-chotic episode rings true.

In addition to performanceclips, viewers are introduced tothe players through interviews.The actors discuss their illnessesand personal experiences withprejudice and discrimination. Ifound it interesting that manyactors reported negative experi-ences, not only with society, butalso among mental health profes-sionals. As one actor states, "Thesystem wants to keep remindingyou that you are [mentally ill]."

Through humor andglimpses into their personal expe-riences, the message the ensem-ble attempts to leave with its au-diences, both live and in video, isthat despite their problems, "Weare children of the Universe" andthey encourage all of us to "take

a moment to remember thosehurting out there."

Overall, I found LaughingMatters to be insightful. I en-joyed the performances andfound that the interviews pro-vided an interesting glimpse intothe lives of these mentally ill actors. However, the sound qual-ity is poor and at some points itis difficult to understand what isbeing said.

I believe Laughing Matterscould be a teaching resource atthe high school level. My mainconcern, however, is time. Withso much to discuss and do in ayear or semester, I believe thereare other sources I would preferto use to touch on these issues. Ina class focusing on the issue of la-beling, this video may be appro-priate. For example, in discussingRosenhan's research on labeling("On Being Sane in InsanePlaces," SCIENCE, Jan. 19,1973, vol. 179, p. 250-58) thiswould provide some additionaldiscussion as to how societyviews those who are mentally ill.

ANNOUNCEMENTS


Midwest Regional OfficeAPP, 1800 Sherman Avenue #401Evanston, IL 60201(847) 866-1700

November 18, 1997University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN

March 10, 1998Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI

March 19, 1998Triton Community College, River Grove, IL

March 20, 1998Triton Community College, River Grove, IL

March 26, 1998University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE

April 27, 1998Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL

April 29, 1998University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

Middle States Regional OfficeSuite 410, 3440 Market StreetPhiladelphia, PA 19104-3338(215) 387-7600

December 12, 1997Pace University, New York, NY

January 16, 1998New York University, New York, NY

January 17, 1998Upper Perkiomen High School, Pennsburg, PA

April 25, 1998Montclair College, Montclair, NJ

Western Regional OfficeSuite 480, 2099 Gateway PlaceSan Jose, CA 95110-1017(408) 452-1400

February 7, 1998Aragaon High School, San Mateo, CA

January 21, 1998Alhambra High School, Alhambra, CA

March 28, 1998UC Irvine, Irvine, CA

November 8, 1997Cherry Creek High School, Englewood, CO

February 14, 1998Roosevelt High School, Portland, OR

Southern Regional Office2970 Clairmont Road, Suite 250Atlanta, GA 30329-1639(770) 908-9737

November 17, 1997Holiday Inn, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

January 8, 1998Oglethorpe University, Atlanta, GA

Southwestern Regional Office98 San Jacinto Boulevard, Suite 1050Austin, TX 78701-4039(512) 472-0231

January 16, 1998Edward H. White Senior High School, Jacksonville, FL

Advanced Placement Workshops

The College Board, via its regional offices, is sponsoring one-day conferences on the psychology Advanced Place-ment course. For more information or to register, call or write your local College Board office. All workshops aresubject to cancellation due to inadequate registration.

Next Issue: • Briefing on Pediatric Psychology • TOPSS Election Results


ANNOUNCEMENTS

Please help us to make sure

that you continue receiving

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and other APA materials. If

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are planning a move, don't

forget to notify PTN of the

change of address so that

delivery will not be inter-

rupted. The address for PTN

can be found on the back

cover of the newsletter.

All conferences are designed to encourage academiclinkages between psychology faculty at the graduate,four-year, two-year, and high school levels. Theseconferences provide participants with an opportunity to discuss issues and to share ideas relating to their profession. The format consists of invited addresses,concurrent sessions, and participant poster sessions.

Twentieth Annual National Instituteon the Teaching of Psychology Contact: Doug Bernstein, Ph.D.

(217) 333-4731Tradewinds HotelSt. Petersburg Beach, FLJanuary 3-6, 1998

Tenth Annual Southeastern Conferenceon the Teaching of PsychologyContact: William Hill, Ph.D.

(770) 423-6225fax (770) 423-6432email: [email protected]

Department of PsychologyKennesaw State UniversityMarietta, GeorgiaFebruary 20-22, 1998

The registration fee for the conference is$110.00 for the first participant from an institution

and $100.00 for each additional participant fromthat institution; graduate students and high schoolteachers $65.00. Deadline for registration isFebruary 6, 1998.

Fifth Annual Midwest Institute forTeachers of PsychologyContacts: David Shavalia, Ph.D.

or Patricia Puccio, Ph.D.(630) 942-2187 or (630) 942-2325fax (630) 858-5424Department of PsychologyCollege of DuPageGlen Ellyn, IL 60137February 27-28, 1998

Fee: $95 covers conference registration andmeals for both days; hotel accommodations availableat a reduced rate.

Eleventh Annual Conference on Under-graduate Teaching of PsychologyContact: Dr. Gene Indenbaum

(516) 420-2725fax: (516) 420-2452email: [email protected]

Nevele HotelEllenville, New YorkMarch 18-20, 1998

Conferences for Teachers of Psychology

Nebraska Wesleyan UniversityPsychology Teachers InstituteFree Graduate Credit, Room and Board! Outstanding National Speakers!

Dates: June 21 - July 3, 1998For application materials contact:

Ken KeithDepartment of PsychologyNebraska Wesleyan University5000 Saint Paul AvenueLincoln, NE 68504-2796email: [email protected]

Documents

Psychology Teacher Networ is published by the Educatiok n ... · above, this paradigm springs from the same phil- o sophical roots as social constructionism—the perspe-c tive that