Replication and Pedagogy in the History of Psychology II: Fowler & Wells’s Phrenology

Phrenologists believed that specific brain regions corresponded to certain character traits. In addition, the size of each brain region was believed to determine the strength of the respective trait. Phrenology originated in Austria with Franz Josef Gall and was popularized and commercialized in America at the end of the 19th century by Orson Squire Fowler. In this project, we conducted a replication of Fowler’s phrenology in order to better understand the specificity of the manualized methodology, the extent to which the methodology allowed for positive versus negative analyses, and the implications for the scientific rejection and public acceptance of phrenology. The results of our replication revealed that the subjective judgments and biases of the examiner strongly influence the results of phrenological analyses. This project originated as a class assignment in the Spring of 2003 (Tweney, this issue). See Tweney (2004) for general information on historical replication.

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How do parents learn about adolescents' experiences? Implications for parental knowledge and adolescent risky behavior

Cluster analysis was used to identify groups defined by the patterning of fathers' and mothers' sources of knowledge about adolescents' experiences in a sample of 179 families with adolescents (M = 16.5 years). Three clusters emerged for fathers (relational, relies on spouse, relies on others) and mothers (relational, questioners, relies on others). Cluster membership was associated with socioeconomic status, work hours, personal characteristics, and parent-child relationship quality. Longitudinal path analyses revealed that knowledge sources predicted levels of knowledge, which in turn predicted risky behavior 1 year later, indirect paths that were more consistent for fathers than for mothers. Although direct associations between sources of knowledge and subsequent risky behavior were scant, when fathers relied on spouses, youth engaged in less risky behavior.     

Teaching Research Integrity in the Field of Counseling

Little has been done in terms of teaching or writing about research integrity or research ethics in the counseling field. Because of the continual push for research in counseling to maintain evidence‐based practices, there is a need for education in the area of research integrity in order for professionals in the counseling field to conduct responsible research. The Office of Research Integrity's 9 areas of responsible conduct of research and the American Counseling Association's code of ethics on research are presented, along with a discussion of ways to teach ethics and provide resources for research integrity in counselor education.     

U.S. and Korean children's comprehension of fraction names: a reexamination of cross-national differences

Two experiments tested the claim that the transparency of Korean fraction names promotes fraction concepts (Miura, Okamoto, Vlahovic-Stetic, Kim, & Han, 1999). In Experiment 1, U.S. and Korean first and second graders made similar errors on a fraction-identification task, by treating fractions as whole numbers. Contrary to previous findings, Korean children performed at chance when a whole-number representation was included. Nonetheless, Korean children outperformed their U.S. peers overall. In Experiment 2, U.S. children's performance improved when fraction names were used that explicitly referred to part-whole relations like Korean fraction names. U.S. children's scores actually exceeded those of Korean children. Thus, although the differences in fraction names may influence children's performance, this may not account for the reported cross-national differences.     

The conceptual change approach to improving teaching and learning: An evaluation of a Hong Kong staff development programme

This paper reports a study ofthe effectiveness of an innovative approach tostaff development, the conceptual changeapproach, which attempts to change teachers'frameworks for conceptualising teaching andlearning. The evaluation investigated theprogramme at three levels: the impact on theconceptions of teaching of the participants,the resultant impact on teaching practices, andthe consequential effect on student learning.Encouraging results were obtained. Theprogramme brought about detectable conceptualchange or conceptual development in two-thirdsof the sample group. Subsequently, all the`changed' teachers received better ratings ontheir teaching practices from their students inthe following academic year while none of thosewho did not change their conceptions showedsimilar gains in student rating scores. Aresultant positive impact on their students'studying approaches was observed for half ofthe teachers who changed their conceptions.     

Inequalities in the Overlooked Associations in Urban Educational Collaborations

This study examines the relationships between families and staff from community agencies and organizations in a poverty level urban neighborhood in the Northeast. A central concern of this study is to address how the existing relationships between these groups may affect urban educational restructuring efforts that encourage collaborations of families, schools, and community institutions to support the social and academic development of children. If community agencies and organizations are to engage in successful collaborations with inner city schools, it is critical that they be able to work with the children and families affiliated with these institutions. Findings from this study suggest that though these educational collaborations may yield support for children and their families, there are reasons to proceed cautiously which stem from the existing relationships between families and staff from community agencies and organizations. The relationships between these groups often rest on inherent inequalities. These inequalities stem from inequitable structural conditions which place a large population of urban residents at an economic disadvantage and compel them to seek services. Structural conditions, accompanied by public policies embedded in assumptions regarding which family members are deserving of support, subsequently has influenced who receives services. Mothers and their children typically are recipients of services. The inequalities that are inherent to these relationships, likewise, carry through to the roles that families and staff assume with each other in their daily associations.     

Doctoral Students' Experiences with Pedagogies of the Home,Pedagogies of Love,and Mentoring in the Academy

In this article, a group of nontraditional and/or doctoral students of color and our advisor discuss how the advisor-advisee mentoring relationship has positively affected our experiences within academia. The mentoring relationship, cultivated within a group mentoring model, was integral to our acclimation of the hidden culture of our doctoral programs. We elaborate on the history and mentoring model of the group of which we are a part, and follow with a review of the literature on mentoring practices and a discussion of methodology. Finally, through autoethnographic vignettes, each author discusses his/her experience as a non-traditional and/or student of color and how our relationship with the group has provided us with the logistical, emotional, and psychological support needed to progress in and complete our programs.