Champika K. Soysa

Teaching Prevention on Sensitive Topics: Key Elements and Pedagogical Techniques

This paper presents a set of topical and pedagogical considerations for instructors teaching material on sensitive topics with either the primary or secondary aim of addressing prevention. Prevention can be approached as an effort to create changes in an individual’s attitudes/beliefs, knowledge, and behavior. Following this framework, classroom content that challenges students’ perceptions, preconceived notions, and attitudes can be seen as preventive in nature. Preparing students to work through the same layers of complexity that thoroughly trained and experienced researchers and practitioners struggle with requires particular attention to the classroom environment.

Orchestrating Authorship Teaching Writing Across the Psychology Curriculum

This article describes the kinds of writing that could be introduced at the beginner, intermediate, and advanced course levels in the psychology major. We present exemplars of writing assignments across three institutions, including textual analysis, integrating intratext and intertext writing, and a capstone thesis project, where the skills learned in each assignment could inform those that follow in later years. Furthermore, this article addresses potential developmental progressions within each assignment as well. We present preliminary assessments of individual assignments and suggestions for evaluating developmental gains across the curriculum. To conclude, we discuss the value of teaching writing of increasing complexity across the psychology curriculum, and the importance of evaluating the effectiveness of such a program in the future.

Great Expectations: Perfectionism and Residence Status Predict College Adjustment

COPYRIGHT 2014 BY PSI CHI, THE INTERNATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY IN PSYCHOLOGY (VOL. 19, NO. 3/ISSN 2164-8204) *Faculty mentor Full-time college students are subject to all the rigors of higher education while they assimilate into a new community. The pressure is overwhelming to many students. More than 50% of cases of attrition in higher education included poor adjustment as at least a partial cause (Kerr, Johnson, Gans, & Krumrine, 2004), contributing to a graduation rate of less than 60% (U.S. Dept. of Education, 2011). In a metaanalytic review, Credé and Niehorster (2012) demonstrated the strength of college adjustment in predicting college retention. They stated that institutional attachment, a core construct of Baker and Syrik’s (1989) model of college adjustment, was the strongest available predictor of retention, accounting for 7.6% of the variance. Researchers have shown that academic adjustment, another component of Baker and Syrik’s model, was associated with grade point average (Hezlett et al., 2001), which in turn was related to attrition (Martinez, Sher, Krull, & Wood, 2009). In addition, poor overall adjustment heightened the risk of alcohol-related negative consequences among college students (LaBrie, Ehret, Hummer, & Prenovost, 2012). College adjustment is comprised of a complex array of thoughts, actions, and feelings that may have antecedents in the developmental history of college students. To this end, we examined perfectionism and residence status as potential social-cognitive predictors of college adjustment.

Ethnopolitical Conflict in Sri Lanka: Trajectories and Transformations

De Mel, Samuel, and Soysa explore the causes, consequences, and significant factors associated with the ongoing ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka between the Sinhalese, Tamil, and Muslim populations. Delineation of peace negotiations provides impetus for the implementation of suggested inclusions in policy.

War and Tsunami PTSD Responses in Sri Lankan Children: Primacy of Reexperiencing and Arousal Compared to Avoidance-Numbing

This article addresses post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in Sri Lankan children in response to war and the 2004 tsunami. Exposure to war and the tsunami each predicted severity of posttraumatic symptomatology. In both studies, reexperiencing and arousal symptoms were reported more than avoidance-numbing. Furthermore, symptom severity was greater in groups reporting many symptoms compared to those reporting fewer symptoms, and there was no difference in symptom severity when the DSM–IV set of six symptoms was compared to a different set of 6 symptoms (with just one avoidance-numbing symptom). The relative primacy of reexperiencing and arousal symptoms are highlighted in this understudied South Asian population, informing cultural variation in diagnostic criteria and clinical interventions for post-traumatic stress symptoms.

Social Capital, Self-Esteem, Popularity, Need for Accessibility to Friends, and Stress Predict Cyber Technology Use

The authors examined social capital, self-esteem, popularity, need for accessibility to friends, and stress as gendered predictors of cyber technology use in 149 undergraduates. The authors investigated four kinds of cyber technology use: social networking, texting, internet surfing, and MP3 player listening. Stress was the most consistent predictor of cyber technology use in men social networking, texting, and MP3 player listening, while popularity was the most consistent for women social networking, texting, and MP3 player listening. Furthermore, self-esteem inversely predicted use of internet surfing in men and MP3 player listening in women. On the other hand, the social capital dimension of bridging online which is establishing weak social ties, predicted the use of both internet surfing and MP3 player listening in men and women. The authors extended the literature by establishing gendered social-cognitive dimensions of cyber technology use among undergraduates in the United States.