Responds to comments made by Dai (see record 2004-14303-011) and Plucker et al (200414303-012) on the current authors' original article (see record 2003-06802-005) on the big-fish--little-pond effect (BFLPE). In its simplest form the BFLPE predicts that equally able students have lower academic self-concepts when attending schools where the…

This article presents comments on "Relapse Prevention for Alcohol and Drug Problems: That Was Zen, This Is Tao," by Katie Witkiewitz and G.A. Marlatt. Stanton notes that the recent reconceptualization of relapse prevention by Witkiewitz and Marlatt enhances the model by "synthesizing recent empirical findings into a unified theory", but it does…

Stereotyping effects are typically considered to be assimilative in nature: A member of a group stereotyped as having some attribute is judged to have more of that attribute than a member of some comparison group. This article highlights the fact that stereotyping effects can also occur in the direction of contrast--or even null effects--depending…

Presents some of the concepts being developed by evolutionary thinkers to explain how animals deal with varying conditions in their environments. Discusses the environmental perspective. Explains why it involves more than predetermined behavior and that evolutionary theories now include developmental and environmental variables. (Author/JS)

This article introduces tourism as a neglected topic of study for psychologists and discusses how ventures into this area provide opportunities for pioneering research and innovative applications. A coherent body of theory, drawn from experimental, social, and health psychology and synthesized by cross-cultural psychologists for the study of…

Describes the transformation of research on cognition and culture from cross-cultural comparisons of psychological tasks to theory and research on people's thinking in sociocultural activities. Recent developments in sociocultural theories and research over the past three decades are summarized, and theoretical and research commonalities that are…

Social interdependence theory is a classic example of the interaction among theory, research, and practice. The premise of the theory is that the way in which goals are structured determines how individuals interact, which in turn creates outcomes. Over 750 research studies have been conducted in the past 11 decades on the relative merits of…

Argues the importance of context to the description, theory, and understanding of human behavior because it influences children's primary group relations with family members, teachers, and peers. The article explains that, to be useful for children, social policies must inform the public on how its projected changes will influence socialization…