Improving Students’ Study Habits and Course Performance With a “Learning How to Learn” Assignment

How can instructors help students adopt effective learning strategies? In this study, students in a large introductory psychology class completed a “learning how to learn” assignment in which they read one of four randomly assigned empirical articles about the utility of a learning strategy (i.e., distributed practice, rereading, practice testing, or forming mental images) and wrote a paper summarizing, analyzing, and applying the article’s findings. Students relied significantly less on low-utility strategies and significantly more on moderate and high-utility strategies at the end of the semester than at the beginning. Furthermore, students who completed this assignment outperformed their peers in a control semester of the same course, improving by about one-third of a letter grade. Suggestions for effective implementation of a similar assignment are presented.

Effects of Higher and Lower Level Writing-to-Learn Assignments on Higher and Lower Level Examination Questions

Our study examined whether brief writing-to-learn assignments linked to lower and higher levels in Bloom’s taxonomy affected performance differentially on examination performance in assessing these skill levels. Using a quasi-random design, 91 undergraduate students in an introductory psychology class completed eight lower level and eight higher level writing assignments. We based both higher and lower level writing assignments on the same concepts drawn from chapters of the accompanying textbook but which differed in level of cognitive complexity. The results favored a top-down approach by showing that higher level writing assignments produced significantly better performance on both lower and higher level exam questions derived from concepts students had written about.

Introductory Psychology

Many students who declare a psychology major are unaware that they are studying a scientific discipline, precipitating a need for exercises and experiences that help students understand the scientific nature of the discipline. The present study explores aspects of an introductory psychology class that may contribute to students’ understanding of psychological science. Surveys were distributed to 168 students, asking how each of several in-class (e.g., attending lecture) and out-of-class (e.g., participating in research studies) research experiences contributed to their knowledge of psychology as a science and understanding of psychological research. Students reported that in-class experiences contributed more to their understanding of psychological research than out-of-class experiences.

Students’ Study Abroad Plans: the Influence of Motivational and Personality Factors

Study abroad is becoming an increasingly important part of a college education. The present study investigated the psychological factors predicting college students’ study abroad intentions, including students’ achievement motivation, neophilia, migrant personality and desire to help, by comparing students with high to those with low study abroad intentions. These personality factors related to themes found in mission statements of programs taking students to other countries for brief trips or longer studies. The relative importance of these factors was investigated with a sample of 431 largely first-year undergraduates enrolled in a large introductory psychology class. Results showed that students with high intentions to study abroad had higher scores on all the factors being studied, as hypothesized. These findings might be applied in promoting study abroad in institutions and in developing programs to better fit student interests.

Bullies, Victims, and Animal Abusers: Do They Exhibit Similar Behavioral Difficulties?

Two hundred forty-four male undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory psychology class completed surveys assessing animal abuse tendencies, bullying behaviors, and victimization by bullying during their K-12 school experience. Participants also completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, which evaluated their behavioral difficulties. Results revealed a significant relationship between animal abuse and bullying and victimization experiences. Moreover, animal abusers, bullies, and victims of bullying displayed significantly more behavioral problems when compared to nonabusers, nonbullies, and nonvictims. Multivariate analysis revealed a complex pattern of main effects for animal abuse, bullying, and victimization on the SDQ subscales. In addition, a three-way interaction between animal abuse, bullying, and victimization was identified for the SDQ Conduct Problems subscale. These results can be utilized to help identify areas of psychological functioning that may be of concern for this population.

Hyperfemininity, HIV Risk Behavior, and Victimization Among College Aged Females / Hiperfeminidad, conductas de riesgo de VIH y victimización en población universitaria

Este estudio investiga la hiper-feminidad, la discriminación, y las conductas de riesgo VIH entre mujeres de una edad de universitaria. La escala de la hiper-feminidad se utiliza para medir los papeles roles) tradicionales de los sexos. Los sujetos eran 372 mujeres con una edad media de 19 años, que se habían ofrecido voluntariamente para participar en el estudio con el fin de obtener un crédito de investigación como parte de su clase de Introducción a la Sicología en una universidad de tamaño medio en el Sureste. Se examinaron dos grupos que incluían participantes que alcanzaron una desviación estándar por encima de la media en la escala de la hiper-feminidad (hiper-feminidad alta, n=62) y las que alcanzaron una desviación estándar por debajo de la media (hiperfeminidad baja, n=54). Los resultados demostraron que las mujeres de hiper-feminidad alta tenían significativamente más propensión a haber mantenido relaciones sexuales en los tres meses anteriores, significativamente más propensión a haber consumido drogas y alcohol antes y durante las relaciones sexuales, y tenían peor puntuación en auto-eficacia en el uso de preservativos que las mujeres hiper-femeninas. Las mujeres de hiper-femininidad alta también pre s e n t a ron más experiencias de abuso verbal y más experiencias sexuales coercitivas, pero no experiencias sexuales forzadas que las mujeres de baja hiperfeminidad. Los resultados también indican que las mujeres de alta hiperfeminidad eran más impulsivas y tenían actitudes más favorables hacia el alcohol que las mujeres de baja hiper-feminidad. Además lasmujeres de alta hiper-feminidad pre s e n t a ron mayor consumo de alcohol que las mujeres de baja hiper-feminidad. En general las diferencias entre las mujeres de alta y baja hiper-feminidad indican que una evaluación adicional de este constructo podría proporcionar más información para las intervenciones preventivas en áreas de VIH y posiblemente en la prevención de la discriminación. AbstractThis study examines hyperfemininity, victimization and HIV risk behavior among college aged females. The hyperfemininity scale is used to measure traditional gender roles. Study participants were 372 females with an average age of 19, who volunteered to participate for the study for re s e a rch credit as part of their Introductory Psychology class at a medium sized southeastern university. Two groups were examined which included respondents who scored one standard deviation above the mean on the hyperfemininity scale (high hyperfemininity, n=62) and those who scored one standard deviation below the mean (low hyperfemininity, n=54). Results were that high hyperfeminine women were significantly more likely to have engaged in sexual intercourse in the previous 3 months, significantly more likely to have used drugs or alcohol before and during sex, and had lower condom self - efficacy scores than low hyperfeminine women. Also, high hyperfeminine women had more verbal victimization experiences and sexual coercion experiences, but not forced sexual experiences, than low hyperfeminine women. Results also suggest that high hyperfeminine women were more impulsive and had more favorable attitudes toward alcohol than low hyperfeminine women. Further, high hyperfeminine women reported more alcohol use than low hyperfeminine women. Overall, diff e rences between high and low hyperfeminine women indicate that a further examination of this construct could be informative for HIV prevention interventions and potentially for preventing victimization.