Mary Brabeck

Exceptions to the male advantage on a spatial task: Family handedness and college major as factors identifying women who excel ☆

Two factors, family handedness and college major, were investigated in order to identify the characteristics of women likely to excel on a mental rotation task. It was found that those likely to have the necessary combination of genetic potential and spatial experiences were right-handed women with nonright-handed relatives, majoring in math-science fields. Across three samples, this subgroup significantly outperformed all other groups of undergraduate women and did as well as undergraduate men on the Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test. This study provides new information on possible genetic and environmental factors influencing mental rotation ability in women.

Contributions of Parental Attachments to View of Self and Depressive Symptoms among Early Adolescents

Three causal models, examining the relationship of parental attachment to view of self and level of depressive symptoms, were examined for a sample of eighth-grade girls (n = 92) and boys (n = 115). Consistent with the Bowlby construct of the internal working model of self structural equation modeling provided tentative support for the mediating role of view of self in influencing depressive symptoms. Gender differences were found for levels of depressive symptoms and global self-worth. Longitudinal studies with additional variables and multiple informants are needed to further assess the validity of the proposed model

Integrating Care and Justice Issues in Professional Moral Education: A Gender Perspective.

Abstract This study examines gender differences in professional school students’ ethical sensitivity and moral reasoning, two aspects of Rests four‐component model of moral development. Results indicate that men and women dental students differ in general sensitivity to ethical issues, but not in recognition of issues of care or justice, nor in moral reasoning. Our results contribute to a re‐interpretation of Gilligans gender‐difference arguments, and suggest new directions for research in moral development.

Practicing feminist ethics in psychology.

This text examines how feminist values and principles illuminate ethical dilemmas commonly faced by psychologists. From a broad base of psychological practice, the authors challenge psychologists their gender and ethnic indentity, value systems and their conception of power.

Longitudinal Pathways Linking Adolescent Reports of Maternal and Paternal Attachments to Psychological Well-Being

Examined in this study were the relations between adolescent ratings of parental attachment (affective quality of parental relationship and parental fostering of autonomy)and self-reported psychological well-being over the 1-year period from the eighth to the ninth grade. Through structural equation modeling, relations between adolescent perceptions of parental attachments and psychological well-being (positive view of self and low levels of depressive symptoms) at Grades 8 and 9 were tested separately for girls and for boys. Adolescent ratings of maternal and paternal attachment at Grade 8 contributed to changes in well-being I year later for boys only. Adolescent boys `ratings of well-being at Grade 8 were associated with changes in ratings of attachment to father from the eighth to the ninth grade.

Increasing Ethical Sensitivity to Racial and Gender Intolerance in Schools: Development of the Racial Ethical Sensitivity Test

This article is an attempt to develop a measure of ethical sensitivity to racial and gender intolerance that occurs in schools. Acts of intolerance that indicate ethically insensitive behaviors in American schools were identified and tied to existing professional ethical codes developed by school-based professional organizations. The Racial Ethical Sensitivity Test (REST) consists of 5 scenarios that portray acts of racial intolerance and ethical insensitivity. Participants viewed 2 videotaped scenarios and then responded to a semistructured interview protocol adapted from Bebeau and Rest (1982). After a 2-week interval, this procedure was repeated. Stability of the REST across time was determined by using the overall test-retest coefficient. Internal as well as interrater consistency was also calculated for each scenario. Overall findings indicate promise for the REST as a reliable measure to assess racial and ethnic sensitivity.

Interprofessional Collaboration for Children and Families: Opportunities for Counseling Psychology in the 21st Century

As societal forces affect the well-being of children, youth, and families, professionals are changing the ways they practice and the settings in which they work In this article, the authors point toward interprofessional collaborations and integrated service systems as promising reform efforts that present opportunities and challenges for counseling psychologists. The authors describe the history and commitments of counseling psychology that position the profession to meet these challenges and the changes in focus and roles necessary to do so. Finally, efforts underway at Boston College are described as one exanlple of counseling psychologists engaged in interprofessional collaboration within schools.

Human Rights Education through the "Facing History and Ourselves" Program.

Abstract This study examined the effects of the Facing History and Ourselves (FHAO) human rights program on moral development and psychological functioning. The FHAO curriculum significantly increased 8th grade students’ moral reasoning (Rests 1979 Defining Issues Test) without adversely impacting on their psychological well‐being (scores on depression, hopelessness or self‐worth inventories). Girls were more empathic and had higher levels of social interest; boys had higher global self‐worth scores; there were no differences between boys and girls in their moral reasoning scores and no gender differences in the psychological impact of the course. This study adds to the literature which suggests that human rights education positively affects students’ moral development.

Familial handedness and its relation to spatial ability following strategy instructions

Abstract This study compared subjects from right-handed families with subjects from nonrighthanded families in their ability to solve a mental-rotation task when instructed to use one of two different spatial strategies. All subjects completed a pretest Vandenberg. Next, one of the following procedures was presented prior to administering the Vandenberg posttest: Group 1 was given mental-rotation instructions, Group 2 was given spatial-orientation instructions, and Group 3 (control group) was given no special directions. For familial right-handers, no condition effects were found. In contrast, familial nonright-handers benefited significantly from mental-rotation instructions when compared both to their own control group and to familial right-handed subjects given the same instructions. However, with orientation instructions, the familial nonright-handers showed significantly less posttest improventnt than their control group. These results suggests familial non-rright-handers may be stronger in ability to use one spatial strategy, transformation of mental images, and weaker on a second, reorientation in relation to left-right cues. The educational and research implications of these findings are discussed.

Human Rights as a Moral Issue: Lessons for moral educators from human rights work

Recent history has seen an increasing trend toward “crossing over” between contexts and cultures. As individuals and groups learn more about each other, opportunities arise to create stronger resources for respecting and protecting human rights. One such possible “crossing over” is between the field of moral education and the ideals and techniques of human rights work. While moral education and human rights work share many ideas and methods, areas of difference provide points to strengthen moral education. The foundation of human rights work is the international documents and laws of human rights that aim to protect rights that are considered universal across contexts. Human rights work, however, also attempts to recognise personal histories and how the application of rights may differ across contexts. Human rights activities in Latin America provide examples of how human rights work can create contexts that respect the universals of human rights. A discussion of violations against women and children in the United States provides two contexts for considering how the lessons of human rights work in Latin America can be applied in the US. Suggestions as to how to include lessons from human rights work in moral education programmes are provided.