Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science
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Perspect Psychol Sci · Nov 2015
Leveraging Mindsets to Promote Academic Achievement: Policy Recommendations.
The United States must improve its students' educational achievement. Race, gender, and social class gaps persist, and, overall, U. S. students rank poorly among peers globally. ⋯ Extensive research shows that fostering these mindsets can improve students' motivation; raise grades; and reduce racial, gender, and social class gaps. Of course, mindsets are not a panacea, but with proper implementation they can be an excellent point of entry. We show how policy at all levels (federal, state, and local) can leverage mindsets to lift the nation's educational outcomes.
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Perspect Psychol Sci · Jan 2011
Rebooting Psychotherapy Research and Practice to Reduce the Burden of Mental Illness.
Psychological interventions to treat mental health issues have developed remarkably in the past few decades. Yet this progress often neglects a central goal-namely, to reduce the burden of mental illness and related conditions. The need for psychological services is enormous, and only a small proportion of individuals in need actually receive treatment. ⋯ We illustrate various models of delivery to convey opportunities provided by technology, special settings and nontraditional service providers, self-help interventions, and the media. Decreasing the burden of mental illness also will depend on integrating prevention and treatment, developing assessment and a national database for monitoring mental illness and its burdens, considering contextual issues that influence delivery of treatment, and addressing potential tensions within the mental health professions. Finally, opportunities for multidisciplinary collaborations are discussed as key considerations for reducing the burden of mental illness.
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Perspect Psychol Sci · Sep 2010
ReviewCausal Inference and Observational Research: The Utility of Twins.
Valid causal inference is central to progress in theoretical and applied psychology. Although the randomized experiment is widely considered the gold standard for determining whether a given exposure increases the likelihood of some specified outcome, experiments are not always feasible and in some cases can result in biased estimates of causal effects. Alternatively, standard observational approaches are limited by the possibility of confounding, reverse causation, and the nonrandom distribution of exposure (i.e., selection). ⋯ A review of discordant-twin studies in aging reveals that they are consistent with, but do not unambiguously establish, a causal effect of lifestyle factors on important late-life outcomes. Nonetheless, the existing studies are few in number and have clear limitations that have not always been considered in interpreting their results. It is concluded that twin researchers could make greater use of the discordant-twin design as one approach to strengthen causal inferences in observational research.
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The resurgence of motivation in social psychology has been a welcome addition to the cognitive revolution, though a theory-based approach to motivational content has remained conspicuously absent. Kenrick, Griskevicius, Neuberg, and Schaller (2010, this issue) dust off Maslow's hierarchy of needs and find this content in the form of evolutionarily inspired, fundamental motives. ⋯ We also suggest one main tweak to the theoretical foundation presented here that may bear greater empirical fruit. In sum, Kenrick and colleagues have reinvigorated a classic theory by integrating it with a modern understanding of human behavior's evolutionary roots.
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Perspect Psychol Sci · May 2010
What Happened to Self-Actualization? Commentary on Kenrick et al. (2010).
Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs is one of psychology's genuinely good ideas and has had a sustained impact in and out of psychology. The revision of the hierarchy by Kenrick, Griskevicius, Neuberg, and Schaller (2010, this issue) is overdue and makes an important contribution by grounding the hierarchy in modern evolutionary thought. However, we suggest that it may be premature to remove self-actualization from the hierarchy by reducing it to other needs associated with status and reproduction.