2019 Publications
The Effects of Upward and Downward Social Comparison on Teacher Evaluations
Janett M. Naylor-Tincknell and Carol L. Patrick
Fort Hays State University
One potential source of bias in teaching and course evaluations may be the students’ perceptions of the personality of the instructor. Social comparison theory may help elucidate the relation between personality and teaching evaluations. The use of downward or upward social comparison may result in more negative assessment of the course depending on the favorability of the personality trait. Students (N=176) rated themselves and their instructor on five personality traits, as well as the overall quality of the course and the instructor. Results indicated that when the students viewed themselves as having more favorable traits than their instructor, they tended to rate the course, and sometimes the instructor, more harshly. Universities should consider social comparison as a possible source of bias in teaching evaluations.
Janett M. Naylor-Tincknell and Carol L. Patrick
Fort Hays State University
One potential source of bias in teaching and course evaluations may be the students’ perceptions of the personality of the instructor. Social comparison theory may help elucidate the relation between personality and teaching evaluations. The use of downward or upward social comparison may result in more negative assessment of the course depending on the favorability of the personality trait. Students (N=176) rated themselves and their instructor on five personality traits, as well as the overall quality of the course and the instructor. Results indicated that when the students viewed themselves as having more favorable traits than their instructor, they tended to rate the course, and sometimes the instructor, more harshly. Universities should consider social comparison as a possible source of bias in teaching evaluations.
| The Effects of Upward and Downward Social Comparison on Teacher Evaluations |
The Relationship between Preschoolers’ Perception of Emotion and Gender Stereotyping
Haley Seward, Leilani B. Goodmon, and Brittany Groth
Florida Southern College
The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between the gender of the perceiver, a gendered name label, and emotion identification in gender ambiguous faces. Preschoolers identified the emotion expressed in ambiguous adult and adolescent faces (cropped to exclude hairstyles). Each face displayed one of six emotions and was paired with either a stereotypical male, female, or neutral label. Our hypothesis that the participants would be accurate in identifying the emotions of “happy” and “sad” regardless of label was supported. Similarly, our hypothesis that children would be more accurate at identifying emotions in adolescent faces than in adult faces was supported. Consistent with recent research, females were not better than males at emotion identification. Our hypothesis that gender label would influence emotion identification of “disgust”, “anger” and “fear” was not supported. Nevertheless, our data suggests that the stereotypically “masculine” emotion of “anger” and the stereotypically “feminine” emotion of “fear” are easier to identify than the “feminine” emotion of “disgust.” Overall, the results suggest that old stereotypes related to gender and emotion no longer play a strong role in driving perception of emotion when the stimuli are devoid of stereotypical male or female hairstyles
| The Relationship between Preschoolers’ Perception of Emotion and Gender Stereotyping |
Ready, Set, Rotate:
The Relationship Between Working Memory Capacity and Mental Rotation Speed
Leilani B. Goodmon, Katherine Brown, Loralye Edwards, Kenzie Hurley, Kylie Hartzell, and Tabitha Powell
Florida Southern College
Higher working memory capacity has been linked to greater accuracy and speed on mental rotation tasks (Hyun & Luck, 2007; Kaufman, 2007; Pardo-Vasquez & Fernandez-Rey, 2012). In general, participants are slower to respond to mental rotation stimuli that are rotated at more extreme angles from each other or from “normal” orientation. The present study added to the research in this area by examining how this angular deviation reaction time effect varied as a function of working memory capacity (as measured by operation span [OSPAN]) across both 2D and 3D mental rotation tasks. Participants completed a computerized OSPAN task, to determine their working memory capacity, as well as computerized 2D and 3D mental rotation tasks. Inconsistent with previous research (e.g., Hyun & Luck, 2007; Pardo-Vasquez & Fernandez-Rey, 2012), higher working memory capacity participants were not faster than those with lower working memory capacity. However, only lower working memory capacity participants exhibited the typical angular deviation reaction time effect. The current results imply that working memory is utilized for mental rotation, and situations of higher processing demand do not impede the mental rotation speed of those with higher capacities to the extent of those with lower capacities. These results could imply that people with higher working memory capacity approach mental rotation tasks differently than those with lower working memory capacity.
The Relationship Between Working Memory Capacity and Mental Rotation Speed
Leilani B. Goodmon, Katherine Brown, Loralye Edwards, Kenzie Hurley, Kylie Hartzell, and Tabitha Powell
Florida Southern College
Higher working memory capacity has been linked to greater accuracy and speed on mental rotation tasks (Hyun & Luck, 2007; Kaufman, 2007; Pardo-Vasquez & Fernandez-Rey, 2012). In general, participants are slower to respond to mental rotation stimuli that are rotated at more extreme angles from each other or from “normal” orientation. The present study added to the research in this area by examining how this angular deviation reaction time effect varied as a function of working memory capacity (as measured by operation span [OSPAN]) across both 2D and 3D mental rotation tasks. Participants completed a computerized OSPAN task, to determine their working memory capacity, as well as computerized 2D and 3D mental rotation tasks. Inconsistent with previous research (e.g., Hyun & Luck, 2007; Pardo-Vasquez & Fernandez-Rey, 2012), higher working memory capacity participants were not faster than those with lower working memory capacity. However, only lower working memory capacity participants exhibited the typical angular deviation reaction time effect. The current results imply that working memory is utilized for mental rotation, and situations of higher processing demand do not impede the mental rotation speed of those with higher capacities to the extent of those with lower capacities. These results could imply that people with higher working memory capacity approach mental rotation tasks differently than those with lower working memory capacity.
| Ready, Set, Rotate: The Relationship Between Working Memory Capacity and Mental Rotation Speed |