Stereotypical Portrayals of Emotionality in News Photos

This research content analyzed the news photographs of a major U.S. daily newspaper to examine the emotional portrayals of individuals in different gender, age, and ethnic subgroups. A multidimensional measure of emotion (pleasure, arousal, dominance) was used. A total of 1,595 individuals were coded. The results demonstrate that emotionality was stereotyped to some degree, particularly in relation to women, ethnic minorities, and senior citizens. Specifically, African Americans were depicted as excited whereas Asian Americans were seen as calm. Women were portrayed as happy and teens were shown as sad. The results support the social construction of emotion and suggest that the news media play a role in framing and constructing emotional meaning with regard to different subgroups in American society.     

A study of emotional labor in librarianship

Librarianship, like many occupations, requires emotional labor, which is an awareness of job requirements for emotional expression and the strategies used to express those emotions. Research on emotional labor suggests that performing emotional labor results in both positive and negative effects on individual outcomes, such as job satisfaction and job burnout. Since affective events are prevalent in library work and evidence suggests positive outcomes from emotional labor can be fostered, the ways emotional labor is performed in libraries should be studied. This research explores the key components of emotional labor: perceptions of display rules and the emotion regulation strategies of surface and deep acting. Data were collected from a sample of American librarians in 46 states from public, academic, special, and K–12 libraries who completed a survey. Bi-variate and multi-variate correlations, as well as ANOVAs, were used to test relationships among emotional labor constructs, job satisfaction, and job burnout. Results show evidence of significant associations with emotional labor among library employees in both the perception of display rules, as well as in surface and deep acting. Perception of display rules showed mixed results with job burnout and job satisfaction. Surface acting was found to be associated consistently with job burnout and decreased job satisfaction, while deep acting strategies were less strongly associated with negative outcomes. Findings suggest that library managers should clearly communicate display rule expectations to employees and work to build staff support to help meet those expectations. Library employees should be aware of occasions when they use surface acting and work to develop stronger deep acting techniques. The study contributes to an understanding of the influence of emotion management in the library workplace.     

The roles of value predispositions,communication, and third person perception on public support for censorship of films with homosexual content

This study aims to examine the roles of value predispositions, communication, and third person perception on public support for censorship of films with homosexual content in Singapore. Findings from a nationally representative telephone survey of adults showed that the majority of Singaporeans supported stricter censorship of films with homosexual characters. Conformity to norms, intrinsic religiosity, and Asian orientation were positively associated with public support for censorship. Media exposure and perceived negative media effects on self were negatively associated with public support for censorship. Our results supported the perceptual component but not the behavioral component of the third person effect.     

Early changes in Achilles tendon behaviour in vivo following downhill backwards walking

Downhill backwards walking causes repeated, cyclical loading of the muscle–tendon unit. The effect this type of repeated loading has on the mechanical behaviour of the Achilles tendon is presently unknown. This study aimed to investigate the biomechanical response of the Achilles tendon aponeurosis complex following a downhill backwards walking protocol. Twenty active males (age: 22.3 ± 3.0 years; mass: 74.7 ± 5.6 kg; height: 1.8 ± 0.7 m) performed 60 min of downhill (8.5°), backwards walking on a treadmill at ?0.67 m · s^?1. Data were collected before, immediately post, and 24-, 48- and 168-h post-downhill backwards walking. Achilles tendon aponeurosis elongation, strain and stiffness were measured using ultrasonography. Muscle force decreased immediately post-downhill backward walking (P = 0.019). There were increases in Achilles tendon aponeurosis stiffness at 24-h post-downhill backward walking (307 ± 179.6 N · mm^?1, P = 0.004), and decreases in Achilles tendon aponeurosis strain during maximum voluntary contraction at 24 (3.8 ± 1.7%, P = 0.008) and 48 h (3.9 ± 1.8%, P = 0.002) post. Repeated cyclical loading of downhill backwards walking affects the behaviour of the muscle–tendon unit, most likely by altering muscle compliance, and these changes result in tendon stiffness increases.     

Use of Exam Wrappers to Enhance Students’ Metacognitive Skills in a Large Introductory Food Science and Human Nutrition Course

Research shows that students struggle to develop higher order thinking skills and effective study strategies during the transition from high school to college. Therefore, in addition to teaching course content, effective instructors should assist students in developing metacognitive skills, that is, the practice of thinking about their thinking. An effective assignment that assists students in thinking about their exam performance is the exam wrapper. The objectives of this study were to examine students’ metacognitive skills, evaluate the correlation between study behaviors and student performance, and assess student perception of exam wrappers. Exam wrapper assignments were offered as extra credit after the first 3 exams in a large introductory Food Science and Human Nutrition course, and student responses and exam performance were analyzed. Many students with poor exam performance overestimated their exam scores, indicating students’ self‐assessment skills could be sharpened. However, students demonstrated the ability to make and implement goals to improve study strategies throughout the semester. A modest relationship between use of study strategies and improved exam performance was observed, particularly for students with a B exam average, suggesting that students in the middle of the grade distribution may benefit most from this type of intervention. Finally, most students expressed a belief that exam wrappers helped them improve their study habits and exam scores, and that they planned to use the exam wrapper process in future classes. In summary, this study shows that the exam wrapper is a valued and effective postexam reflection tool for improving students’ self‐reported study habits.     

Experiencing action evaluation’s cyclic process: partnering conflict,reflection, and action

In this article, the authors describe experiences in and offer suggestions from a course entitled ‘Educational Innovation for Excellence Through Action Research, Conflict Resolution, and Organizational Learning’ – an action evaluation (AE). The class was taught using the principles of action research and AE. The authors explore the impact that the course had on the their personal perceptions and classmates’ perceptions of AE, grapple with the criteria for what constituted a shared definition of ‘success’ in the course, and offer a critical lens for viewing educational evaluation as a means to continued self-reflection or reflexivity. The theoretical framework utilized is symbolic interactionism and critical pedagogy. The process of AE, including resonance, positive disruptions, reflexivity, and conflict resolution, is discussed within the authors’ narratives. Action evaluation is revealed as the complex process of joining sometimes apparently disjointed participants as unlikely partners to create change. This study helps to fill a gap of enriching action research with narratives, by exploring AE through reflection, and by creating discussion regarding critical pedagogy and social change. Implications for a wide audience include suggested conflict resolution strategies and examples of evaluation uses for instructors in numerous classes. Recommendations for AE implementation and strategies to promote social change – including core values of democratic participation, community empowerment, and social justice – are also presented.     

School-wide Positive Behavior Support: Addressing Behavior Problems that Impede Student Learning

The school-wide application of positive behavior support (PBS) is a prevention-oriented approach to student discipline that is characterized by its focus on defining and teaching behavioral expectations, rewarding appropriate behaviors, continual evaluation of its effectiveness, and the integration of supports for individuals, groups, the school as a whole, and school/family/community partnerships. Although school-wide PBS has been implemented in hundreds of schools thus far, many professionals in education and psychology remain, for the most part, unfamiliar with this proactive alternative for increasing positive student behavior. This article reviews the foundations and core components of school-wide PBS, provides a case example of the implementation and preliminary evaluation of school-wide PBS in an urban middle school, and summarizes critical issues and future research directions in this area of considerable importance to professionals in educational psychology and related fields.     

USING LISTENING JOURNALS IN MATH METHODS

The purpose of this teacher action research was twofold: to learn more about preservice teachers' preconceived notions related to listening and to investigate how a listening journal assignment impacted preservice teachers' views of listening as an important aspect of discourse. The participants were enrolled in a mathematics methods course for PreK–3 (early childhood) majors during their last semester of coursework prior to student teaching. Data in the form of final reflections from participants' listening journals and researchers' field notes were analyzed. Findings suggest that the preservice teachers entered the course without truly considering listening as an important component of teaching methods related to facilitating classroom discourse. The listening journal assignment helped them begin to think more deeply about listening and the different definitions and modes of listening; however, at the end of the semester, many still wrote about their own personal journeys with listening and not about the role of listening as a key element in promoting classroom discourse and learning.