Reducing the Racial Achievement Gap: A Social-Psychological Intervention

Cohen, Geoffrey L.; García, J.; Apfel, Nancy H.; Master, Allison

doi:10.1126/science.1128317

Cited by 857 publications

(1,042 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Self-affirmation has also been found to reduce negative emotions and relatively increase need satisfaction, flow, and meaning in life , as well as buffer physiological responses to stressful situations (Creswell et al, 2005;Sherman, Bunyan, Creswell, & Jaremka, 2009), and boost academic outcomes (Cohen, Garcia, Apfel, & Master, 2006;Cohen, Garcia, Purdie-Vaughns, Apfel, & Brzustoski, 2009). Taken together, these benefits of one simple positive activity can intervene at multiple points of the risk-factor-to-disorder trajectory.…”

Section: Positive Activities Can Interrupt Ruminationmentioning

confidence: 98%

Positive activities as protective factors against mental health conditions.

Layous¹,

Chancellor²,

Lyubomirsky³

2014

Journal of Abnormal Psychology

138

100

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Applying Nolen-Hoeksema and Watkins's (2011) transdiagnostic risk factor heuristic to our work on positive activities (i.e., practices that characterize naturally happy people, like expressing gratitude and practicing generosity), we propose that such activities may serve as protective factors that mitigate proximal risk factors both directly and by intervening with the mechanisms that give rise to them. First, we discuss theoretical and empirical support for the importance of well-being and the mechanisms that explain how positive activities promote well-being (by boosting positive emotions, positive thoughts, positive behaviors, and need satisfaction; Lyubomirsky & Layous, 2013). Second, we outline examples of how positive activities can mitigate two particular proximal risk factors (rumination and loneliness) and counteract environmental triggers (i.e., moderators) that might amplify them (e.g., through adaptive coping). Third, we argue that positive activities can be taught to youth to instill positive patterns of emotions, thoughts, and behaviors that may serve as protective factors over the course of their lifetimes. Lastly, we propose that certain positive activities might be particularly well-suited to certain individuals and to specific risk factors.

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Section: Positive Activities Can Interrupt Ruminationmentioning

confidence: 98%

Positive activities as protective factors against mental health conditions.

Layous¹,

Chancellor²,

Lyubomirsky³

2014

Journal of Abnormal Psychology

138

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Both classroom and laboratory research should also continue investigating whether educational practices such as taking comprehensive notes, quizzing (Jing et al, 2016;Szpunar et al, 2013), priming students' core values (Cohen, Garcia, Apfel, & Master, 2006;Miyake et al, 2010) Table 4 (for mind wandering) and Table 6 (for posttest scores and situational interest) but include research site (Site) as an additional fixed-effect variable and cross it fully with the note-taking condition (Condition) and seven individual-differences measures, including the three-way interactions involving both Site and Condition. In all of the regression models summarized in this table, the Site variable was coded in the following way: Site B was coded as -0.5 and Site A was coded as + 0.5.…”

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A combined experimental and individual-differences investigation into mind wandering during a video lecture.

Kane

Smeekens

Bastian

et al. 2017

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

121

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A combined experimental-correlational study with a diverse sample (N = 182) from two research sites tested a set of five a priori hypotheses about mind wandering and learning, using a realistic video lecture on introductory statistics. Specifically, the study examined whether students' vulnerability to mind wandering during the lecture would predict learning from, and situational interest in, the video, and also whether longhand note-taking would help reduce mind wandering, at least for some students. Half the subjects took notes during the video, and all were subsequently tested on lecture content without notes. Regression and mediation analyses indicated that: (a) several individual-differences variables (e.g., pretest score, prior math interest, classroom media multitasking habits) uniquely predicted in-lecture mind wandering frequency; (b) although the note-taking manipulation did not reduce mind wandering at the group level, note-taking still reduced mind wandering for some individuals (i.e., those with lower prior knowledge and those who took notes of high quality and quantity); (c) mind wandering uniquely predicted both learning (posttest) and situational interest outcomes above and beyond all other individual-differences variables; (d) moreover, mind wandering significantly mediated the effects of several individual differences; and, finally, (e) not all types of mind wandering were problematic-in fact, off-task reflections about lecture-related topics positively predicted learning. These results, which were generally robust across the two sites, suggest that educationally focused cognitive research may benefit from considering attentional processes during learning as well as cognitive and noncognitive individual differences that affect attention and learning.Keywords: mind wandering, note-taking, learning, education, situational interest, media multitasking Mind Wandering, Lecture Learning, and Situational Interest 3 A Combined Experimental and Individual-Differences Investigation into Mind Wandering During a Video LectureHow can teachers and students optimize learning? Cognitive psychologists are increasingly applying laboratory findings to this educational problem. Principles from the memory literature, such as the benefits of spaced practice, testing, and metacognitive selfevaluations, have been most successfully employed and broadly disseminated (for reviews, see Benassi, Overson, & Hakala, 2014;Brown, Roediger, & McDaniel, 2014;Dunlosky, Rawson, Marsh, Nathan, & Willingham, 2013). We suggest that this education-focused research should also embrace two additional domains: (a) individual differences in cognitive abilities and domain experience (e.g., interest and knowledge) and (b) the functions-and dysfunctions-of attention in learning contexts.Stable cognitive-ability differences, such as those in working memory capacity (WMC), predict many indices of academic achievement (e.g., Alloway & Alloway, 2010;Cowan et al., 2005). Educational psychology has further identified personality and experi...

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“…Furthermore, research has also explored the potential for self-affirmation manipulations to reduce social identity threat and stereotype treat (Cohen, Garcia, Apfel & Master, 2006;Cohen, Garcia, Purdie-Vaughns, Apfel & Brzustoski, 2009;Sherman, Hartson, Binning, Purdie-Vaughns, Garcia, Taborsky-Barba, Tomassetti et al, 2013;Sherman & Kim, 2005).…”

Section: Applications Of Satmentioning

confidence: 99%

The moderating impact of self‐esteem on self‐affirmation effects

Düring

Jessop

2014

British J Health Psychol

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Objectives This study explored whether self‐esteem would moderate the effectiveness of a self‐affirmation manipulation at increasing openness to personally relevant health‐risk information. Design The study employed a prospective experimental design. Method Participants (N = 328) completed either a self‐affirmation manipulation or a control task, prior to reading information detailing the health‐related consequences of taking insufficient exercise. They then completed a series of measures assessing their cognitions towards exercise and their derogation of the information. Exercise behaviour was assessed at 1‐week follow‐up. Results Self‐esteem moderated the impact of self‐affirmation on the majority of outcomes. For participants with low self‐esteem, the self‐affirmation manipulation resulted in more positive attitudes and intentions towards exercise, together with lower levels of derogation of the health‐risk information. By contrast, there was no effect of the self‐affirmation manipulation on outcomes for participants with high self‐esteem. Conclusion Findings suggest that self‐affirmation manipulations might be of particular benefit for those with low self‐esteem in terms of promoting openness towards health‐risk information. This is promising from a health promotion perspective, as individuals with low self‐esteem often represent those most in need of intervention. What is already known on this subject? Self‐affirmation has been shown to result in more open processing of personally relevant health‐risk information. Individuals low in self‐esteem tend to process such information more defensively than those high in self‐esteem. What does this study add? It explores whether self‐esteem moderates the impact of self‐affirmation on responses to health‐risk information. Findings suggest that individuals with low self‐esteem benefit most from the self‐affirmation manipulation. This has important applied implications, as individuals with low self‐esteem may be most in need of intervention.

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Reducing the Racial Achievement Gap: A Social-Psychological Intervention

Cited by 857 publications

References 9 publications

Positive activities as protective factors against mental health conditions.

Positive activities as protective factors against mental health conditions.

A combined experimental and individual-differences investigation into mind wandering during a video lecture.

The moderating impact of self‐esteem on self‐affirmation effects

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