Any academic from an overrepresented group who advocates more "diversity" is directly contributing to the lack of "diversity" by remaining in his position. Assuming the number of jobs is relatively fixed, such an individual is effectively saying, "I want the percentage of academics who have the same demographic…

The goal of this special issue is to examine the use of self-report measures in the study of motivation and strategy use. This commentary reviews the articles contained in this special issue to address the primary objective of determining if and when self-report measures contribute to understanding these major constructs involved in self-regulated…

On the subject of identity crises which we all face from time to time, The late James Hillman, a maverick Jungian psychologist, summed up the problem this way: "Today's main paradigm for understanding a human life, the interplay of genetics and environment, omits something essential the particularity you feel to be you." In his 1996…

A course of action often suggested in an attempt to improve employment outcomes of adults with autism spectrum disorder, is to match between special interests and job opportunities. In this commentary, we propose that the match may be more complicated than it seems, possibly overseeing more pressing employment needs that should be answered such…

A major question for research on the development of creativity is whether it is interested in "creative potential" (a prospective approach that uses measures early in life to predict adult creativity) or in children's creativity for its own sake. We suggest that a focus on potential for future creativity diminishes the fascinating…

Physical activity behaviors children developed during their childhood have a long-term impact on their lifelong physical activity habits and healthy development, the increased levels of sedentary behavior and obesity call for immediate actions, especially during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (Sallis et al., 2020). The COVID-19…

This is the ninth in a series of articles entitled "The Legacy Project." The Legacy Project focuses on the lives and actions of leaders who have forged our profession into what it is today. Members of the profession owe a debt of gratitude to these leaders. One simple way to demonstrate that gratitude is to recognize these leaders and…

In this commentary, Kuhn and Ranger hypothesize that most people are aware that talent does not guarantee success in case one is lazy. This is also true for the performance in achievement tests that depends on, among other factors, achievement potential (ability) and willingness to achieve (test-taking motivation) of the test taker. They add that…

We argue that psychological and contextual factors play important roles in bringing about, facilitating, and escalating violent conflict. Yet rather than conclude that violent conflict is inevitable, we believe psychology's contributions can extend beyond understanding the origins and nature of violent conflict, to promote nonviolence and…

We cannot pretend to educate young people for citizenship and political participation without teaching them to understand and use the new media, which are essential means of expressing ideas, forming public opinions, and building institutions and movements. But the challenge of media literacy education is serious. Students need advanced and…

As pressure builds to assess students, teachers, and schools, educational practitioners and policy makers are increasingly looking toward student perception surveys as a promising means to collect high-quality, useful data. For instance, the widely cited Measures of Effective Teaching study lists student perception surveys as one of the three key…

Instead of viewing organisms and individuals as passive recipients of their biological, ecological, and cultural inheritances, the developmental niche construction theory and the biocultural co-construction framework both emphasize that the individual's agency plays a key role in regulating how environmental and sociocontextual influences may…

In response to the article, "Rethinking Giftedness and Gifted Education: A Proposed Direction Forward Based on Psychological Science," by Subotnik, Olszewski-Kubilius, and Worrell (2011), several questions arise with regard to the psychosocial needs of gifted individuals: What are the most important psychosocial variables we should take into…

The connection between humor and aesthetic experience has already been recognized by several thinkers and aesthetic educators. For instance, humor theorist John Morreall writes that "humor is best understood as itself a kind of aesthetic experience, equal in value at least to any other kind of aesthetic experience." For Morreall, both humor and…

American Association of University Professors (AAUP) members are likely to be familiar with the 1960 adaptation of Howard Fast's "Spartacus" by Stanley Kubrick and Dalton Trumbo, a rousing Kirk Douglas production widely credited with breaking the Hollywood blacklist. They are a bit less likely to be among the five or six million weekly viewers of…