Wednesday, February 5, 2003
3:30 - 4:30 pm
Room PSY 154

Feelings on the Tip of the Tongue: Taste, Emotion, and the
Organization of Behavior

Presenter:
Nancy Dess, Ph.D.
Chair, Department of Psychology
Occidental College

Summary:
An intimate association between taste and affect must have begun very 
early in mammalian evolution. Substances in the mouth are poised to 
enter the body. Thus, early taste systems were under tremendous
pressure to evaluate the substances as good (nutritious) or bad (toxic) and 
to provoke, respectively, swallowing or ejection. From this humble, 
high-stakes beginning, taste was elaborated - neurally, psychologically, 
culturally - such that it now serves as a reliable marker for affect
and a potent organizer of behavior. This proposition will be illustrated 
with examples from selectively bred rats, human psychophysics,
language, and global politics.

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Wednesday, February 19, 2003
3:30 - 4:30 pm
Room PSY 154

Social Influence Tactics In the Workplace

Presenter:    
Edward Hernandez, PhD
CSU, Stanislaus

Summary: 
Using Robert Cialdini's categories of social influence, this presentation
proposes ways to test how you can influence subordinates, peers or bosses 
to behave in the way you want. Illustrates how to apply psychological
research to the real world.

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Wednesday, March 5, 2003
3:30 - 4:30 pm
Room LA5 165

Gene-Environment Processes in Human Development

Presenter:    
Kirby Deater-Deckard, PhD
University of Oregon

Summary:
Individual differences in social-emotional outcomes develop through 
complex interplay involving genes and environments. This presentation
will include an overview of quantitative genetic approaches to studying 
some of the possible gene-environment transactions linking children's
behavioral and emotional problems and their parenting environments.

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Wednesday, March 19, 2003
3:30 - 4:30 pm
Room PSY 154

The Bem Sex-Role Inventory 25 Years Later
A Reassessment and New Issues Regarding Classification Variability

Presenter:    
Rose Marie Hoffman, PhD
CSULB Educational Psychology

Summary:
Findings of this study indicated that as high as 41% of individuals who took the
BSRI had classifications (i.e., feminine, masculine, androgynous,
undifferentiated) that varied with the form of the instrument (i.e., Original or
Short Form) and the scoring method (i.e., median-split or hybrid method) used.
Bem, herself, reported in the test manual that up to 29% of her test development
sample had classifications that varied with the scoring method (i.e., median-split
or hybrid method) used. This is an issue that is not addressed in the extensive
BSRI literature. In addition to the absence of attention to classification
variability based on scoring method, neither prior critiques of the BSRI nor
research using the BSRI has addressed the issue of individuals' BSRI
classifications varying according to form of the instrument used.

A secondary purpose of this study was to assess contemporary college
undergraduates' perceptions of femininity and masculinity using the BSRI items
as a vehicle. Consistent with the findings of Ballard-Reisch and Elton (1992),
"masculine" and "feminine" were the only items on the entire inventory which
met the 75% agreement level necessary to be classified as such. Clearly, college
undergraduates in this study perceived BSRI items very differently from the
gender-stereotypical way that the 1970s college undergraduates who served as
judges in Bem's test development process viewed these descriptors. These
differences give further cause to doubt the current theoretical meaningfulness of
the fourfold classification system by which BSRI scale scores are usually
interpreted.

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Wednesday, April 2, 2003

David Lechuga's presentation has been moved to 4/23, due to a 
scheduling conflict.

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Wednesday, April 23, 2003
3:30 - 4:30 pm
Room PSY 154

Sports Neuropsychological Applications: Improving Return-to-Play 
Decisions

Presenter:    
David Lechuga, PhD
The Neurobehavioral Clinic and Counseling Center
President, Orange County Psychological Association

Summary:
Neuropsychological instruments are now being used at professional, college, 
and high school levels to assist in Return-to-Play (RTP) decision-making 
after sports-related concussions or mild traumatic brain injuries. This 
presentation will review the rationale for use of neuropsychological 
measures during this process. A specific instrument will be featured, 
called ImPACT. Case studies from high school and college-level sports will 
be used for illustration.