Materials Consulted

The kinds of materials/resources used may vary across units but include chapters from existing books or empirical research written for undergraduate audiences. Experiential activities may include small data collection projects, debates, or discussion of film and website resources. The resources described below are materials that provide background for the development of diversity infusion units and thinking about more effectively incorporating diversity into the Introduction to Psychology course.

Resource 1

Price, W. F. & Crapo, R. H. (2002). Cross-cultural perspectives in introductory psychology. (4th ed). Pacific Grove, CA: Wadsworth.

This book has very short chapters written at a level that introductory students would like. The chapters also have discussion questions and further reading suggestions. It covers an array of topics that we would cover in our course. I would likely use this as a reading resource for the students – I would ask them to read a chapter before class and would then incorporate the reading into an informal discussion of a psychology topic. For example, one could discuss the high rates of depression in the US, then bring in the chapter on depression across cultures (is depression as common elsewhere?).

Below is the table of contents with brief notes on some of the chapters.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part I: Psychological Research and Theory.
1. Culture, Values, and Social Thought – easy read, gives example of very different culture where magic and mistrust are common
2. The Use of Projective Tests in Non-Western Cultures – focuses on the Rorschach. I’m not sure of the use of the word “Eskimo” for the native peoples in Greenland. I believe in Canada and Greenland the preferred term is “Inuit”.
3. How Universal Are Psychological Theories? Freud and Erickson in Global Perspective.

Part II: Sensation.
4. How Much Is Too Much Kayaking? A Case of Kayak-Angst – discusses sensory deprivation that can occur while kayaking (typically alone with no reference points). Similar to panic disorder

Part III: Perception.
5. Depth Perception and Visual Illusions: Why Do Cultural Differences Exist? – interpreting 2-D pictures as 3-D, Muller-Lyer illusion and cross-cultural differences

Part IV: States of Consciousness.
6. Dreams from Culture to Culture.
7. Alcohol, Drugs, and Religion.

Part V: Conditioning and Learning.
8. The Ifaluk Ghosts of Micronesia.

Part VI: Memory and Information Processing.
9. How Children Think: An Issue of Content and Measurement – cognition and childhood – focuses on conservation tasks
10. Who's Afraid of a Test? – test anxiety in US versus Chile

Part VII: Cognition and Language.
11. A World of Colors: Culture Influencing Linguistic Needs  - English has 3000 words for colors, Alaskan Eskimos have different words for types of ice

Part VIII: Motivation.
12. Was Hunger the Motivation for Aztec Cannibalism?
13. Aggression: The Nonviolent Semai – a non aggressive group
14. Individualism vs. Collectivism: Differences Between Chinese and American Value Orientations – discusses social loafing among other things

Part IX: Emotion.
15. A Frown Is a Frown Is a Frown: Facial Expressions around the World.
16. Witch-Fear among the Aivilik Eskimo.

Part X: Development Through the Lifespan.
17. The Elderly in Native American Culture.
18. Female Initiation Rites –Islam, female genital mutilation, age of adulthood across cultures

Part XI: Intelligence and Individual Differences.
19. Race, Culture, and IQ.

Part XII: Personality.
20. Leadership Characteristics: The Case of Moral Reasoning in a Rural African Community.
21. Age Differences in Personality Traits Among the Highland Maya.

Part XIII: Health Psychology.
22. Witchcraft! – witchcraft to alleviate stress
23. Coping Styles among German and Israeli Adolescents.

Part XIV: Abnormal Psychology.
24. The AIDS Pandemic: Addressing Perceptions and Behaviors for a Solution.
25. "Call me Crazy!" Psychiatric Labeling among the Eskimos and the Yoruba – labeling and stigmatization of “mental disorder”
26. Depression and Culture – rates of depression across cultures (is high in western cultures)
27. Koro-A Culture-Bound Depersonalization Syndrome -  can a cultural belief/expectation bring on a psychiatric disorder?

Part XV: Social Psychology.
28. Gimme a Break! Patterns of Cooperation Among Mexican-Americans, African-Americans, and Anglo-Americans.
29. Polyandry-Multiple Spouses in Tibet and Pahari, India – multiple husbands
30. Gender Stereotyping in Global Perspective – occupational choices

Part XVI: Sexuality.
31. The Berdache: Gender-Mixing Among Northern Native Americans.
32. Cross-Cultural Differences in Sexual Jealousy.

Resource 2

Freisem, K., Messemer, C., & Jacobson, W. H. (2005). Aligning in math, science, and engineering courses. In D. H. Wulff (Ed.), Aligning for Learning: Strategies for Teaching Effectiveness (pp. 120 -133). Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing Company, Inc.

This specific chapter addresses issues concerning effective transmission of course content in science disciplines faced by both instructor and students. More specifically, this work focuses on three types of courses (all of which are being considered for this diversity infusion program):

(1) gateway courses that are prerequisites for entry into a wide range of disciplines,

(2) elective courses designed to introduce students to an academic discipline, and

(3) advanced problem-oriented courses in students’ major field of study.

(Freisem et al, 2005)

The authors selected these courses because of two common struggles with teacher-student alignment, “ instructors and students often differ in the degree to which they perceive the real-world relevance of course content…purpose for learning… second… understandings may differ [on] what it means to know and learn the content of the disciplines.”

Many students see conversations about diversity or differences as a hindrance to understanding the individual. Students have been taught that “color-blind” or “context-blind” approaches are the only fair way to view scientific theory/research. Our argument is the opposite and this chapter will help us frame the discussion/presentation of culture without alienating students.

Resource 3

Ouellett, M.L. (Ed.). (2005). Teaching Inclusively: Resources for Course, Department & Institutional Change in Higher Education. Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press, Inc.

This general reference will help us situate our group’s goals/initiatives into the larger department and university goals towards diversity. The resource has several chapters directed towards each of the major organizational structures that form the larger context for our redeveloped course. There is also a specific chapter that focuses on how to transform a pre-existing course into one that has a more multicultural approach. In addition to the various perspectives discussed in the book regarding transforming courses, climate, and strategies, the book also offers a comprehensive reference list for each chapter and section.

Resource 4

Trimble, J.E., Stevenson, M.R., & Worell, J.P. (2003). Toward an Inclusive Psychology: Infusing the Introductory Psychology Textbook with Diversity Content. The APA Commission on Ethnic Minority Recruitment, Retention, and Training Task Force (CEMRRAT2 TF) Textbook Initiative Work Group. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

This is another general yet informative reference and companion to any introductory psychology textbook. The benefit of this resource is it’s relevancy to the instructor’s choice of textbook as well as selected chapters covered. This is not an activity book but merely a guide for each type of chapter found in all textbooks for an introductory course.

For example, the authors list the topic area (usually first chapter), “Introduction to Psychology/History of Psychology,” and give helpful suggestions on how to infuse the presentation with diverse topics on: aging; culture, ethnicity, and race; disability; gender; and sexual orientation. More specifically, the authors suggest that time could be spent discussing the contributions of Kenneth and Mamie Clark and their classic doll studies and the link to the Supreme Court’s ruling on integration.

This would still be a historical content topic but would showcase the contribution of non-majority psychologists. This inclusion could be further enhanced by including the short film, “A Girl Like Me,” that replicates the Clark doll studies and frames the still shocking results in a discussion of self-esteem for young Black/African American adolescent girls. Another example of a guiding suggestion was in the section for chapters on health psychology; the authors highlight the importance of moving away from discussing sexual orientation in the context of HIV/AIDS, instead  try discussing “the implications of having an identity that is stigmatized but is largely invisible and the influence this could have on a person’s health and behavior.”

Resource 5

American Psychiatric Association (APA). (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4TH ED., Text Revision). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

The DSM-IV-TR (APA, 2000) which was originally published in 1952, is currently in its fourth revision, and provides the characteristics of over 450 psychological disorders and the symptom criteria necessary to diagnose them. From an ethnic and cultural perspective, this last revision made several efforts to incorporate cultural awareness into diagnostic criteria throughout the volume in discussing cultural variations in symptom presentation, as well as including an entire section on “culture –bound syndromes”  (Appendix 1) which had not previously been included. 

In addition, Appendix 1 also includes important information on cultural formulation to assist practitioners in their evaluation of individuals from ethnic and minority populations. Appendix 1  includes guidelines for consideration in  cultural case formulation (cultural identity of the individual, cultural explanations of the individual’s illness, cultural factors related to psychosocial environment and levels of functioning, cultural elements of the relationship between the individual and the clinician, and overall cultural assessment for diagnosis and care).

The appendix also includes a glossary of 24 culture-bound syndromes which describe specific patterns of atypical behavior related to specific locations/ cultural heritage. For example, “brain fag,” is a condition that is indigenous to West Africa and refers to conditions experienced by high school or university students in response to academic challenges, resulting in symptoms of “difficulties concentrating, remembering, and thinking”, while “amok”  originated from Malaysia and refers to  a dissociative behavior pattern  of brooding following but violent outbursts (DSM-IV-TR; APA, 2000, pp. 899-902).  

Resource 6

Eshun, S., & Gurung, R. A. R. (Eds). (2009).  Culture and Mental Health: Sociocultural Influence, Theory and Practice. Pondicherry, India: Wiley-Blackwell.

Written by psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health practitioners from a wide range of international settings, this book addresses issues of culture and ethnic diversity in the field of mental health.  The book stresses that the vast majority of concepts and theories about mental illness have been developed based on research from western industrialized nations despite the fact that 70% of the world’s population live in non-western nations.

The book is divided into two major sections, with the first part addressing general areas of mental health & culture (psychopathology, mental health assessment, stress, chronic pain, international perspectives) and the second part focusing on specific areas of psychopathology(mood disorders and suicide, anxiety disorders, traumatic stress, psychotic disorders and eating disorders).

Since clinical and counseling psychology represent two of the most popular fields for psychology majors, it is important to understand how culture influences the nature of how symptoms manifest; how emotions are expressed and communicated; and attitudes and beliefs regarding mental health and seeking psychotherapeutic  assistance.  Since culture shapes mental health, the culture of the clinician and the patient/client will also determine the diagnosis, treatment and nature of service delivery.  Some cultures are more likely to see mental illness, such as depression ,as a personal weakness  (African Americans) or character weakness, causing family shame (Chinese culture), and be less likely to seek support for the disorder.

Resource 7

Sue, S. (2006). Cultural competency: From philosophy to research and practice. Journal of Community Psychology, 34 (2), 237-245.

Sue (2006) suggests that cultural competence is more than just an understanding of a different cultural perspective; it is a process of understanding another culture through the development of knowledge and specific skills. One of the key factors in the acquisition process is dynamic sizing which is the ability to determine where a cultural characteristic begins and where a stereotype ends.  This ability requires an appreciation of the culture and the flexibility to see how individuality is reflected within that culture in order to understand the uniqueness of the individual’s responses to his or her particular life situation.

Culture-specific expertise includes knowledge of the culture, its history, and effective treatments for this group as part of the process of gaining cultural competency. In the article, Sue suggests 10 steps to increasing the effectiveness of therapy with minority populations, including: becoming self aware of any prejudices, biases or stereotypes; determining the level of acculturation; pretherapy intervention (informing clients of the nature of the intervention); hypothesizing and verification; addressing issues of credibility and outcomes from therapy; understanding the nature of discomfort and resistance; understanding the client’s perspective; having a strategy or plan for intervention; on-going evaluation of client’s level of comfort and understanding of the treatment plan; and an understanding of the limits of cultural competency and a  willingness to seek outside resources to supplement and support the therapeutic process.

Resource 8

United States Department of Health and Human Services  (USDHSS, 2001). Mental Health: Culture, Race and Ethnicity—A supplement to Mental Health.  A Report to the Surgeon General. Retrieved from http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/mentalhealth/cre/sma-01-3613.pdf

This 217 page report is a supplement to the Surgeon General’ s Report on mental health that focuses on the four most recognized racial and ethnic minority groups in the United States:  African Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and Hispanic Americans (Latino). The report recognizes that each group  is profoundly diverse with significant subgroups.  Each ethnic subgroup shares a common heritage, values, rituals, and traditions.

Although the data presented in the supplement are in the form of group averages, or sample means, the report stresses that each racial or ethnic group contains the full range of variation and that readers will appreciate the intrinsic diversity within each of the recognized racial or ethnic groups and the implications of that diversity for mental health. 

After laying the foundations for understanding the relationships between culture, mental health, mental illness and mental health services (Chapter 2), the report focuses on each of the above four racial and ethnic minority groups (Chapters 3 through 6), providing a detailed record of the group’s history and demographic patterns, including: family structure, income, education and physical health status. 

The need for mental health care is discussed concerning the most common mental disorders experienced by adults, youth and the elderly for each group, symptom presentations and culture-bound syndromes.  Finally, the availability and utilization of mental health services are discussed as well as an evaluation of treatment outcomes. 

Resource 9

Ang, S., Van Dyne, L., Ng, K.Y., Templer, K.J.,  Tay, C., & Chandrasekar, N. A. (2007). Cultural Intelligence: Its Measurement and Effects on Cultural Judgment and Decision Making, Cultural Adaptation and Task Performance. Management and Organization Review, 3, 335-371.

Until recently, the major debate regarding intelligence and culture, has primarily focused on the concept of intelligence and its etiological origins. Does intelligence relate to the innate ability to problem solve and reason using abstract concepts which can be related to heritability and schooling, or is intelligence one’s ability to successfully adapt to one’s environment which is derived experientially through  contextual learning and is often related more to one’s culture. 

More recently, the concept of cultural intelligence (CQ) has emerged which relates more to practical, emotional or social intelligence and an individual’s ability to function and adapt within culturally diverse settings. In this article, the authors discuss CQ relative to Sternberg’s multiple intelligences and how reasoning is applied to adaptation within a cultural context. The authors describe their research which involved the development of a  20-item cultural intelligence scale (CQS) which has demonstrated predictive validity for cultural effectiveness  across a number of different dimensions.

Resource 10

Kaplan, R.M. & Saccuzzo, D.P. (2009). Test Bias. In R. M. Kaplan & D.P. Saccuzzo (Eds.) Psychological Testing: Principles, applications and issues (pp. 511-544). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. 

In this chapter, the authors discuss the most difficult problem associated with intellectual assessments; the fact that some ethnic groups tend to obtain lower IQ scores than other groups. Research has consistently noted that African Americans score, on average, 15 points lower for IQ scores than white Americans (equivalent to one standard deviation;, however, the fact is that there is also considerable overlap (some African Americans score as high as white Americans while some white Americans score as low as some African Americans).

According to the authors, the issue is not whether differences exist, but why they do and they point out that the debate has centered on two possible suggestions: biological and environmental factors. Studies have also shown that the performance gap is not narrowing between ethnic minorities on SAT scores; however, it has been shown that African American students perform worse when they do report their race on the SATs.

In one study, when African American and white American students were told they were taking an intelligence test , white Americans scored significantly higher than their African American peers. However, when they were given the test under conditions of no threat, African American students  scored as well as their white American peers, leading the researchers to conclude that stereotyping can have a negative effect on test performance. 

The authors discuss various forms of test bias that could affect performance for minorities, and suggest other approaches to testing minority group member, as well as, a number of ethical and legal concerns.

Resource 11

Puente, A.E., & Salazar, G. D. (1997). Assessment of minority and culturally diverse children. In A. Prifitera & D. Saklofske  (Eds., ). WISC-III: Clinical Use and Interpretation (227-248). NY: Academic Press.

In this chapter, the authors discuss the measurement of intelligence and cognition as it relates to culturally diverse children and how an individual’s pattern of problem solving can be significantly influenced by the culture in which one was raised.

For example, individuals who are raised in Western cultures tend to be very focused on time, however, those from northern climates with European ancestry consider time to be crucial to everyday functioning, while ethnic groups living closer to the Equator see time as secondary to engaging in the task itself.

As a result, on an intelligence test, especially when speed is of the essence, response patterns can be very different between these two groups and yield very different intelligence scores. 

Although research has made a strong claim for intelligence being primarily inherited, more contemporary research has focused on disparities in intellectual scores between cultures being influenced more by socioeconomic and related cultural factors.

Resource 12

Sternberg, R.J. (2004). Culture and Intelligence: APA Presidential Address. American Psychologist, 59, pp. 325-338.

According to Sternberg “intelligence cannot be fully or even meaningfully understood outside [of] cultural context” (p. 325). Because intelligence is often defined as one’s ability to adapt to one’s environment, the two are” inextricably interlinked”.  As an example, Sternberg discusses how different populations process information in ways that are qualitatively and quantitatively different from North Americans, such as the Kpelle in Africa who sort information based on function (robin/ flying) rather  than by category (robin/bird). 

Since people from diverse cultures are faced with unique tasks to perform, their skill sets will also develop accordingly, such as tendencies to excel in visuospatial displays rather than verbal linguistic responses. When intelligence is considered as adaptation to one’s environment, Brazilian street children who have a keen sense of conducting mathematical operations needed to run their businesses as street vendors indeed do survive and thrive in this context. 

In fact, according to Sternberg, in many cultures, learning these  “contextually” important skills, such as learning in the form of apprenticeships, often replace skills that Western children develop through schooling which prepares Western children to take intelligence tests that measure these types of abilities and skills.   Studies comparing conventional measures of academic and fluid intelligence (e.g., Cattell Culture Failr Test of g and crystallized intelligence (Mill Hill Vocabulary Scale) with measures  of practical intelligence (tacit knowledge of skills (hunting, fishing, dealing with weather conditions) revealed that although semiurban  Alaskan children significantly outperformed their rural peers on measures of crystallized intelligence, the rural children performed significantly better on measures of practical intelligence.

Resource 13

Gurung, R.A.R. & Prieto, L.R. (2009). Getting Culture: Incorporating Diversity Across the Curriculum. (1st  ed). Sterling, VA: Stylus.

This book was edited by several psychologists. It is organized into six sections: general issues in teaching diversity, feminism and diversity education, the inclusive classroom, diversity in online environments, methods and techniques for faculty and diversity trainers, and diversity across educational settings. The first section has the most information applicable to our project in Introduction to Psychology, although several chapters in other sections can also serve as resources.

Chapters 1 and 2 begin with discussions about teaching about culture. In the first chapter, written by David Matsumoto, reflects on how we might define culture and addresses the complexities in teaching about behavioral variances across cultures. The second chapter, written by Regan Gurung, proposes more detailed definitions of culture, addressing aspects such as gender, socioeconomic status, and race/ethnicity. Of key importance in this chapter is the list of guidelines to incorporating culture into the curriculum.

In chapter 3 Loreto Prieto speaks to issues in teaching diversity, such as who should be responsible for teaching about diversity and whether the goal of such teaching should be to appreciate diversity or educate about oppression.

Chapter 7 reviews psychological concepts that contribute to stereotyping and prejudice; many of these concepts are included in Introduction to Psychology. This chapter further suggests techniques that can be used to reduce prejudice and stereotyping in the classroom.

Chapter 9 builds on the psychological factors reviewed further with applications of social psychological concepts to the experience of disabled individuals.

Both chapters in section 2 can serve as resources in our project. Specifically, chapter 11 reviews techniques to teach about gender from diversity perspective, whereas chapter 12 addresses the intersections of gender, race, and identity. Chapter 16, in section 3, can serve as a resource for our department as a whole, as it describes ways in which to internationalize the psychology curriculum. Two chapters in section 4 (chapters 21 and 22) address specific ways in which we can use online technology to build materials and assignments relating to diversity and cross-cultural applications.

The final two chapters in the text, chapter 30 and 31, further provide information on developing curriculum, including assignment and experiential activities relating to diversity. Several example assignments include portfolios, media analysis, and interviews.

Resource 14

Guthrie, R. V. (2004). Even the Rat was White: A Historical View of Psychology. (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.

In this book, Guthrie reviews the history of psychology’s disciplinary-specific perspectives on race and ethnicity. The book is organized in three parts. Part One discusses new and historical information relating to the psychology of racial differences, beginning with examination of the relationship between psychology and anthropology.

Many of the chapters in Part One would be appropriate for the research methods area of Introduction to Psychology, as they review historical approaches to studying racial differences and provide ample discussion opportunities for the examination of biases in early research. This section of the book further examines areas that may be of interest in the intelligence section of Introduction to Psychology; Chapter 3 describes the early focus on documenting racial differences in intelligence.

Part Two of the book describes the work of psychologists of color.

The contributions of many of these individuals have been largely ignored by the field and are not discussed in textbooks. The biographical sketches found in Chapter 7 can be used to supplement information taught in Introduction to Psychology. Chapter 8 provides a more detailed description of the work of Dr. Francis Cecil Sumner, the first African-American to be awarded a doctorate in Psychology.

Part Three presents conclusions as well as discusses implications of recent publications relating to race/ethnicity and intelligence (e.g., The Bell Curve).

Resource 15

Boysen, G. A. (2011). Diversity topics covered in teaching of psychology courses. Teaching of Psychology, 38, 89-93.

Boysen (2011) surveyed instructors of graduate “teaching of psychology” courses on whether they included diversity topics in the course. His results suggest a rise in coverage since previous research by Buskist, Tears, Davis, and Rodrigue (2002), from 73% to 87% of courses including some diversity coverage. However, less than 50% of graduate programs in psychology include a pedagogy course, so this increase still represents a small portion of the psychology professoriate-in-training. Diversity regarding race was covered most frequently, followed by disability, gender, and sexual orientation. (Other diversity forms such as socioeconomic status, age, nationality, and religion, were covered comparatively less.) Issues of bias in the classroom, Boysen found, are still largely neglected, and when they are addressed, tend to focus on student to student bias.

Covering form or bias information in such courses mostly took the form of discussion, according to the instructors (vs. readings, papers, lectures, guests). Overall, diversity issues are not given much time in any of the teaching of psychology courses—on average, instructors reported devoting only about 2-3 hours on diversity topics and 1-2 hours on bias topics, or a total of 3-5 hours in the entire course. Despite little formal training in issues and topics of diversity, teachers in psychology are still expected to be multiculturally competent in knowledge, awareness, and skills. Providing a system of resources for our department may help close the gap.

Resource 16

Battle, C. L. (2004). Promoting increased understanding of sexual diversity through experiential learning. Teaching of Psychology, 31, 118-120.

Battle (2004) describes a very simple yet powerful assignment for students that offers a simulation of sorts of dealing with coming out and heterosexism. In a nutshell, students are provided a pin or other wearable item that indicates LGBT support and asked to wear that pin in all situations for 3 days.

Students write reflections on their own thoughts and feelings, including discomforts, as well as any reactions or encounters they have with others during the 3-day period. It is suggested that it be set up as an optional assignment (with an alternative addressing some of the same concepts) and that students can remove the pins (if they are participating) if they become too uncomfortable. Battle also offers suggestions for variations on this assignment to make it less risky. This seems like a good activity that some instructors may want to use or adapt for their course.

Resource 17

Boysen, G. A., & Vogel, D. L. (2009). Bias in the classroom: Types, frequencies, and responses. Teaching of Psychology, 36, 12-17.

Boysen and Vogel (2009) argue that increased attention to diversity issues in courses also creates more potential for incidents of bias in the classroom. As such, instructors should not only have resources regarding multicultural knowledge but also knowledge, awareness, and skills related to classroom bias. In their sample (N = 333 professors, 2 universities), the found 38% of respondents indicated at least one incident of perceived bias in the classroom in the past year.

Explicit and implicit forms of bias were roughly equally reported, 27% and 30%, respectively. Using stereotypes was the most common type of explicit bias by students, followed by offensive humor. Sexual orientation and race were the most frequent targets. Implicit bias was reported most frequently as microassaults, specifically primarily verbal derogations of a particular group and avoidance or exclusion of members of a group. Professors’ most commonly reported responses to the incidents were facilitating discussion around the incident, direct confrontation, and providing rebuttals with counterevidence, etc.

The researchers also asked professors how successful their responses were. Although ‘success’ was not well-defined here, it is noteworthy that around 40% of the time, professors reported they could not adequately assess success of their response. Providing resources for identifying, managing, and following-up with issues of bias in the classroom may be of particular value.

Resource 18

Case, K. A. (2007). Raising white privilege awareness and reducing racial prejudice: Assessing diversity course effectiveness. Teaching of Psychology, 34, 231-235.

Case (2007) conducted pre and post surveys regarding White privilege, racism, affirmative action support, fear of other races, prejudice, and guilt in her psychology-of-race-and-gender course. Her results indicated that concentrated effort (in this course) on teaching issues about race and White privilege did increase awareness of

White privilege and support for affirmative action. However, fear of other races (in particular, Latino/a) and White guilt increased. Teachers should be aware of the multiple variables and emotions that may be affected in students when studying race issues, in particular, as part of diversity studies.

Resource 19

Elicker, J. D., Snell, A. F., & O’Malley, A. L. (2010). Do student perceptions of diversity emphasis relate to perceived learning of psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 37, 36-40.

Using two brief surveys, Elicker et al. (2010) found that students’ perceived understanding of course concepts and their perception of the relevance of those concepts to their own lives were partially predicted by their perceptions of the degree of diversity issues emphasized or included in the course. That is, the more they perceived diversity issues to be included in the course, the more they reported they understood the concepts (a small—r2=.06—statistically significant effect) and thought concepts were relevant to their own lives (a slightly larger—r2=.11—statistically significant effect). The authors acknowledge their findings are based solely on self-reported perceptions and, as such, call for more research to be done on direct learning outcomes.

Resource 20

Kernahan, C., & Davis, T. (2010). What the long-term effects of learning about racism? Teaching of Psychology, 37, 41-45.

Kernahan and Davis (2010) surveyed students in a psychology-of-racism-and-prejudice course and students in a behavioral statistics course on measures of racial awareness, understanding, action, and comfort.

They surveyed students in both classes at the beginning of the semester and again at the end. Compared to the statistics students, students in the racism course indicated greater awareness and understanding (to general, institutional, and blatant racism, and to racial privilege as well), and increased action and responsibility by the end of the semester. However, their reported feelings of comfort and interaction did not increase over the semester, yet were higher a year after the course. The other measures remained largely the same or decreased slightly a year later.

Resource 21

Kowalski, R. M. (2000). Including gender, race, and ethnicity in psychology content courses. Teaching of Psychology, 27, 18-24.

Most people readily agree that issues of diversity are important and should be included in courses, yet finding ways to do so judiciously and seamlessly is difficult. Kowalski (2000) reviews several reasons to make multiculturalism part of content courses, such as providing a framework for understanding individual differences and behavioral variability, conveying information about psychological processes, demonstrating scientific biases, and elucidating practical behavioral implications. She also addresses some of the challenges that arise when trying to decide how and when to include diversity issues in course content, such as avoiding superficiality of attention and/or unidimensional representations, over-focusing on between-group differences rather than within-group variance, remaining at the descriptive level but implying it is explanatory, student resistance, and professor resistance.

Resource 22

Moradi, B. (2004). Teaching about diversities: The shadow/role-play exercise. Teaching of Psychology, 31, 188-191.

Moradi (2004) describes an exercise designed for use in psychology-of-women, social psychology, or other courses in which sufficient coverage of relevant content (e.g., stereotyping, prejudice, stigma, group identity) is granted. The exercise requires students to choose a female identity that differs from themselves (i.e., on religion, motherhood, pregnancy, sexual orientation, etc.) and either commit to role-playing that identity for a number of weeks, or finding someone that fits that identity to shadow for the same amount of time. Students write an in-depth paper about their experiences in the exercise and connections to course material. Although the exercise seems powerful and interesting, its scope is likely beyond an introductory course. However, the exercise might be modified to be more appropriate to an introductory class (e.g., perhaps an interview scenario).

Resource 23

Ocampo, C., Prieto, L. R., Whittlesey, V., Connor, J., Janco-Gidley, J., Mannix, S., & Sare, K. (2003). Diversity research in Teaching of Psychology: Summary and recommendations. Teaching of Psychology, 30, 5-18.

Ocampo and colleagues (2003) reviewed articles related to diversity published in Teaching of Psychology from 1974 to 2002. They found the number diversity-related articles certainly increased in the more recent years, but also that the vast majority of articles were nonempirical, conceptual, and/or exploratory in nature. About a third of the articles also centered around gender issues; the next most frequent area was international diversity. One area the authors noted was not addressed at all was socioeconomic status. The authors call for increased empirical research and research focused on assessing differential impact of diversity-centered curricula, methods, and materials.

Resource 24

Organista, P. B., Chun, K. M., & Marin, G. (2000). Teaching an undergraduate course on ethnic diversity. Teaching of Psychology, 27, 12-17.

Orgnista et al. (2000) described elements of a psychology-of-ethnic-groups course. They describe the purpose of the course and outline class activities and strategies that they perceive increase effectiveness of the course. They provide examples of course-opening discussions to help students become initially comfortable with diversity issues in a psychological context. The authors go on to describe some of the information emphasized in the course, such as understanding research in the area, basic concepts related to ethnic psychology, socio-psychological concepts. Students also complete a class project incorporating an interview with a person of one of the four ethnic groups explicitly covered in the course (African American, American Indian, Asian American, Hispanic-Latino) and a systematic analysis of that interview.

Resource 25

Prieto, L. R., Whittlesey, V., Herbert, D. Ocampo, C. Schomburg, A., & So, D. (2009). Dealing with diversity issues in the classroom: A survey of the STP membership. Teaching of Psychology, 36, 77-83.

Prieto and colleagues (2009) surveyed nearly 650 STP members about their perspectives on the importance of diversity issues and their attention to it in their own teaching. Respondents reported mostly teaching content courses (not introductory psychology) and most had primarily White students, with female majority.

Respondents generally agreed that diversity issues were important in psychology, but 21% reported they were not necessarily relevant to their courses. Of those who did report spending course time on diversity issues, they indicated an average of 13% of course time devoted to such issues. It was also found that as the percentage of White students decreased, the degree to which instructors found diversity issues to be important and the degree to which they covered such issues increased; the degree to which they thought students would place importance on such coverage also increased in relation to fewer White students. Instructors reported the biggest barriers to addressing diversity issues in their courses to be lack of time and lack of resources or institutional support.

Resource 26

Amoroso, L.M., Loyd, D.L., & Hoobler, J.M. (2010). The diversity education dilemma: Exposing status hierarchies without reinforcing them. Journal of Management Education, 34(6), 795-822.

This article highlights strategies for avoiding potential negative outcomes when introducing diversity topics in the classroom. If not handled appropriately, stereotypes can be reinforced and people can become aware of “otherness” and status differences that they did not know they had. The authors give suggested pedagogical interventions to increase the potential for positive outcomes. This can be used to help us ensure that we design resources that help, and avoid harm. This issue of the journal is dedicated to diversity issues so other articles may also be relevant.

Resource 27

Adams, M., Bell, L.A., & Griffin, P. (Eds.). (2007). Teaching for diversity and social justice. (2nd ed). New York, NY: Routledge.

This book covers a broad spectrum of diversity, such as sexuality, age, religion, gender, race, physical disability, and presents theory, pedagogy, and classroom activities as well as other resources (it includes a CD-ROM). I read a lot of it online and the exercises look good and can be modified or used as examples in designing our topic resources. The diversity/social justice framework is excellent and can help us incorporate the meaning behind this project when we design curricular resources, especially since students often question why they have to learn things or participate in exercises. It helps us demonstrate why this is an important topic. It also reminded me that I wasn’t thinking broadly enough about diversity. For instance, I forgot ageism until I read this (ironic, I know).

Resource 28

Center for Working Class Studies at Youngstown State University (n.d.). Teaching about Class. Retrieved from http://cwcs.ysu.edu/teaching/teaching-class

The person who runs this center, Sherry Linkon, was a speaker at the CATL Teaching and Learning Conference in 2009. This page has many resources for teaching about class. Some are more for courses that are mainly about class and classism, but a couple of the resources at the bottom of the page fit nicely with our Intro Psych project.

For example, one that is relevant for the social psychology section was an exercise in which students use a marketing website and see how certain zip codes are viewed by marketers and then talk about their own zip code area, that of their parents (if they grew up in a different one than them), and others and address stereotypes about certain areas of the US. That was submitted by a professor at St. Mary’s College. Another resource describes how to use lesson plans from the NY Times “Class Matters” site. All the resources have detailed instructions for use written by the submitters.

Resource 29

Lewis, L. (2009). Incorporating multicultural and diversity topics into skills-based courses. Retrieved from: http://www.duq.edu/cte/teaching/incorporating-multicultural-topics.cfm

This is a brief webpage from Duquense University that gives an example of how to incorporate diversity into research methods topics. It will be useful primarily for the research methods unit but having students analyze data related to diversity issues could incorporated into any topic. Relatedly, we can think about incorporating diverse case studies and examples into every topic, and in exam questions.

Resource 30

Penny, N.H. (2002). Longitudinal study of student attitudes toward people with mental illness. Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, 17(2), 49-80.

This article describes attitudes toward people with physical disabilities and people with psychological disorders. The participants were undergraduates training in physical therapy. Academic work was effective in improving attitudes toward those groups for the student whose initial attitude was least favorable. This gives support for the potential effectiveness of our project overall (academic work resulted in some positive change in attitude), and I also viewed it as resource for the abnormal and biological units.

Additional Resources

Berry, J. W., Poortinga, Y. H, Breugelmans, S. M., Chasiotis, A., & Sam, D. L. (2011). Cross-Cultural Psychology Research and Applications (3rd ed). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Bronstein, P. & Quina, K. (2002).Teaching Gender and Multicultural Awareness Resources for the Psychology Classroom. Washington, DC: APA.

Goldstein, S. (2008). Cross-Cultural Explorations: Activities in Culture and Psychology (2nd ed). New York, NY: Pearson.