A number of colleges in the US are adopting conduct codes for their athletes, which set both expectations for behavior and punishments for specific infractions and give athletics directors, rather than coaches, the power to bench players who break the rules. Some athletic officials call such codes too rigid, though the proponents feel the…

One route to uncovering schooling's goals for an improved citizenry is to track certain subjects of the compulsory curriculum. In this case, health is investigated, and especially its messages on smoking and drinking. First introduced as scientific temperance instruction (in the 1880s), renamed hygiene (from about 1910), then as health (from the…

It is important for the prevention of alcohol abuse to agree on standards of responsible alcohol-related behaviors that contribute to the enhancement of health as well as the prevention of problems. (MM)

This study used psychological scaling techniques to assess ethical statements based upon the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women's code for officials and spectators, and depicts, in quantified terms, how such ethical statements were perceived and valued by university students. (MB)

Analyzes Grendel ("Beowulf"), the Green Knight ("Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"), and the Pardoner ("The Canterbury Tales"). Notes that they are all "queer" characters in that they are not typical men of the time and they all pose a challenge or threat to normative homosocial desire. Suggests that…

Articulates Kohlberg's position that moral understanding and moral reasoning provide motivation for moral action, contrasting it with traditional conceptions of motivation. (Author/BB)

Argues that suicide is an idea, having much in common with societal beliefs/norms. Discusses evidence supportive of suicide as idea, based on knowledge from study of history and culture, and about contagion/cluster phenomena, media/communication, and choice of method. Suggests that certain individuals are more vulnerable to incorporate idea/act of…

A formal model of social norms with multiple equilibria is estimated using data from the Add-Health Survey of 20,000 U.S. high school students. The results suggest that there is considerable diversity in social norm equilibria, with only some schools enforcing norms against sexual activity.

Mounting evidence concerning obsessive-compulsive disorders points to abnormal functioning of the orbitofrontal cortices. First, patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) perform poorly on tasks that rely on response suppression/motor inhibition functions mediated by the orbitofrontal cortex relative to both normal and clinical controls.…

After decades of research into formal or logical fallacies of reasoning, psychologists have only recently begun to examine the informal reasoning fallacies that are routinely present in critical discussions, debates, and other forms of argumentation. The present study considers several possible influences on an ability to identify and analyze…

Children's evaluations of what people communicate about themselves were examined in three studies with a total of 296 participants (aged four to 12). Participants heard scenarios in which characters' motivations to reveal truthful information were systematically manipulated to examine (1) children's understanding that people do not always reveal…

This study examined the relationships between metacognition, self-regulation and students' critical thinking skills and disposition in online Socratic Seminars for ninth grade World Geography and Culture students. Participants of this study came from six intact pre-AP (Pre-Advanced Placement) classes in a public high school in south central Texas…

Background: School violence can impact the social, psychological, and physical well-being of both students and teachers and disrupt the learning process. This review focuses on a new area of research, the mechanisms by which the school environment determines the likelihood of school violence. Methods: A search for peer-reviewed articles was made…

Although any new undertaking is exciting because of the opportunities it may bring, the transition to college life also brings new pressures and uncertainties. From the shelter of home, young people emerge into a new culture, with a new environment for success. Here they are their own masters, often far from the vigilance of parents and the…