This is a quiet rant. A request to revisit an article reprinted in this issue prompted it and I focus on context and purpose of the original article, lack of developments in the field since the article was published, and favored directions to take in the future related to the focus of the original work. [This classic article was indexed in ERIC in…

In "The Righteous Mind," Jonathan Haidt claims that liberals have a narrower moral outlook than conservatives--they are concerned with fairness and relief of suffering, which Haidt sees as individualistic values, while conservatives care about authority and loyalty too, values concerned with holding society together. I question…

Teaching literature from a psychological perspective provides a basis for the study and analysis of human motivation and behavior, as psychology and literature make mutual contributions to the study of both disciplines. Melancholia is a recurring theme in the novels of Dick Francis, and the first-person accounts of despair and depression are…

The author explores the theory of changing basic thought processes in order to improve personal performance on the job. This entails helping people identify their existing thoughts and replacing the ones that won't support performance goals with those that will. (CT)

The definition of mental disorder in the third edition of the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (DSM-III-R) explains that a disorder is harmful and represents a dysfunction, but it fails to capture the idea of dysfunction. Ideas for increasing the conceptual validity of the definition are presented. (SLD)

Although the study of thought processes is sometimes considered to be the province of psychologists, the realm of internal dialogue can legitimately be studied as intrapersonal communication. Second thoughts, also termed self-talk or dissonance, can be discovered and examined in speech drafts, monologic letters, and diaries. For example, the…

The role of language alternation, or code-switching, in the bilingual classroom can be used as a teaching and learning strategy. Code-switching is simply a recognition of the fact that more than one language can define events and persons. Not all forms of code-switching are regarded as acceptable in the bilingual classroom. Language alternation in…

Argues that maintaining a distinction between public and private spheres of behavior can obscure the inequities experienced by lesbian and gay persons in the public sphere of academia. How distorted logic supports the public/private dichotomy is demonstrated through interviews of a lesbian faculty member. (SLD)

Research on women's dental health and on differences between men's and women's dental health issues is reviewed. Factors specifically influencing women's health, including medical, economic, social, psychological, and behavioral factors, are also examined. It is argued that the clustering of risk factors for women indicates a need for more…

This report contains recommendations of a Wisconsin Task Assignment Steering Committee created to explore solutions to some significant problems facing adult chronic "revolving-detox-door" alcohol abusers (CRA's), persons with repeated admissions for detoxification services; and to examine the system that serves and funds them. This…

To shift educational research's focus from the rigorous study of individuals to whole learning environments, a systemic view of the classroom is proposed, with a list of seven generic components of the classroom environment. L. Guttman's Small Space Analysis is used, and a science teaching project illustrates the discussion. (SLD)

Compulsory attendance policies have been instituted in higher education with the expectation that academic achievement will improve, but empirical research on this relationship is equivocal. One theory of motivation posits that students' motivational beliefs, classroom context, and student behaviors are important variables in academic achievement.…

Explores the community as an important context of both legitimate and illegitimate female behavior. Based on the principle of the centrality of the structures of gender relations for behavior of males and females, the original community model is expanded to include population characteristics relevant to that structure. (SLD)

Discusses the nature of prejudice and racism, and argues that there is no generalized prejudiced person, and there are no groups in which all prejudices are exercised by all members. For individual change or group transformation, people must have their specific desires analyzed. (SLD)

Argues that the most remarkable change in the moral history of humankind has been the rise (and the occasional application) of the view that all people, not just one's own kind, are entitled to fair treatment. Ethnic conflict and the role of universal dispositions of human behavior are discussed. (SLD)