In Journal Club, students and professors talk together about exciting new psychology research. By reading and discussing a short, current article, students learn necessary skills about understanding and interpreting psychological research.
Schedule for Fall 2024
Tuesday, October 1st, 4:30-5:30pm, Centenary Square 210
Discussion led by Dr. Jessica Alexander (PSY304 Statistics for the Behavior Sciences)
Simone, P. M., Whitfield, L. C., Bell, M. C., Kher, P., & Tamashiro, T. (2023). Shifting students toward testing: Impact of instruction and context on self-regulated learning. Cognitive Research: Principles & Implications, 8, 14 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-023-00470-5
Much of the learning that college students engage in today occurs in unsupervised settings, making effective self-regulated learning techniques of particular importance. We examined the impact of task difficulty and supervision on whether participants would follow written instructions to use repeated testing over restudying. In Study 1, we found that when supervised, instructions to test resulted in changes in the self-regulated learning behaviors such that participants tested more often than they studied, relative to participants who were unsupervised during learning. This was true regardless of the task difficulty. In Study 2, we showed that failure to shift study strategies in unsupervised learning was likely due to participants avoidance of testing rather than failure to read the instructions at all. Participants who tested more frequently remembered more words later regardless of supervision or whether or not they received instructions to test, replicating the well-established testing effect (e.g., Dunlosky et al. in Psychol Sci Public Interest 14:4–58, 2013. http://doi.org/10.1177/1529100612453266). In sum, there was a benefit to testing, but instructing participants to test only increased their choice to test when they were supervised. We conclude that supervision has an impact on whether participants follow instructions to test.
Thursday, October 24th , 4:30-5:30pm, Centenary Square 210
Discussion led by Dr. Adam Blancher (PSY362 Foundations of Psychopathology)
Effects of Diagnostic Labels on Perceptions of Marginal Cases of Mental Ill-Health
Brooke Altmann, Kylo Fleischer, Jesse Tse, & Nick Haslam
Two experimental studies (Ns = 261, 684) investigated how diagnostic labels affect perceptions of people experiencing marginal levels of mental ill-health. These effects offer insight into the consequences of diagnostic “concept creep”, in which concepts of mental illness broaden to include less severe phenomena. The studies found consistent evidence that diagnostic labeling increases the perception that people experiencing marginal problems require professional treatment, and some evidence that it increases empathy towards them and support for affording them special allowances at work, school, and home. The studies also indicated that labels may reduce the control people are perceived to have over their problems and their likelihood of recovering from them. These findings point to the potential mixed blessings of broad diagnostic concepts and the cultural trends responsible for them. Expansive concepts may promote help-seeking, empathy, and support, but also undermine perceived agency and expectations that problems can be overcome.
Wednesday, November 13th, 4:30-5:30pm, Centenary Square 210
Discussion led by Dr. Mae MacIntire (PSY393 Sport Psychology)
“It Was the Worst Time in My Life”: The Effects of Emotionally Abusive Coaching on Female Canadian National Team Athletes
Gretchen Kerr, Erin Willson, & Ashley Stirling
This study sought to explore the long-term effects of emotionally abusive coaching on female athletes. Although the long-term effects of childhood emotional abuse are well-documented in the child abuse literature, this question has not been explored empirically in the domain of sport, an environment in which emotionally abusive coaching practices are known to be common. In various prevalence studies of athlete maltreatment in sport internationally, emotional abuse is the most frequently experienced form and yet the long-term implications of these experiences are not well-understood. This study involved interviews of eight retired, elite, female Canadian National Team members. The findings revealed that athletes reportedly experienced different effects depending on whether they were in their competitive careers, in the retirement transition, or in post-transition life. All of the athletes required professional psychological assistance to help them recover from their emotionally abusive experiences; for some, this process continued for six years post-retirement. The effects described by the athletes resembled the symptoms associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder suggesting an important line of future research. Until coaching practices become abuse-free, these findings also indicate a clear need for the provision of psychological supports and resources for athletes during and post-athletic career.
If you have questions, please contact Dr. Amy Hammond in the Psychology Department.