Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper will explore past and contemporary ethnic, religious, and cultural relationships between coastal Aboriginals in Baja and Alta California. The discussion will initiate by phenomenologicaly positioning the Aboriginal expression on the west coast of Alta and Baja California, within a Pacific Rim political dynamic. Examining the pre-colonial genealogical and ideological flow, the discussion will comparatively ebb out colonizing disruptions in cultural production during the contemporary period.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: I take African Americans as a starting point for explaining how minority groups evaluate prominent citizens in public life. Indeed, the political beliefs of blacks often differ remarkably from their counterparts in the general population and require a more nuanced understanding by public opinion scholars. Many of these differences are often over looked in past research on Americans’ evaluations of political leaders. Thus, I develop and test a theoretical model of political evaluations for African Americans. I build upon the existing candidate evaluation literature by specifying the relevant judgment criteria, cultural, social, political, religious, and group-based determinants of blacks’ assessments of public figures. An innovation of my approach is the use of cultural-based considerations for understanding the appeal or discomfort that blacks feel toward notable persons. My framework is also novel in its application to a range of individuals (white and black) including political leaders, businesspersons, civil rights advocates, judges, popular clergy, well-known women, and influential black nationalist leaders. Using a battery of items from the 1993-94 National Black Politics Study that ask about respondents' views toward people in the news, I employ a series of regression models to explain how citizens rate prominent individuals. I also discuss how this framework might be fruitfully applied to Latinos and Asian Americans.

Publication Type: Research Report
Abstract: This is a case study of students attempting to generalize a linear pattern. The task, presented in a pre- post-interview, followed algebra units from the Mathematics in Context curriculum. We discuss characteristics of students who are predominantly numerical or figural in strategies, and claim that both figural ability and variable fluency are essential for success in developing and justifying generalizations.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study explored whether male and female body figures were judged differently when described as fat, overweight, or obese. Participants were 193 female and 43 male college students (97% white). Obese figures were judged as largest. Additionally, Female figures were rated as fat, overweight, and obese at smaller sizes than male figures.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Previous research in communications and psychology confirms that literal trait (e.g., “hostile”) and stereotype (e.g., “African-American”) expectancies can influence a perceiver’s interpretation of ambiguous information about a target person. In some cases, however, perceivers may possess a metaphorical expectancy regarding a target person (e.g., “My boss is a baby”). The present research demonstrates that metaphorical language of this nature can produce analogous effects on the interpretation of ambiguous information about a person. Participants received a behavioral passage about a person named Donald that was ambiguous with regard to hostility. The passage also included a metaphor which described Donald. The metaphor either implied hostility (“Donald is a pit-bull”, “Donald is a Nazi”) or was neutral (“Donald is a bird”). The serial position of the metaphor was also manipulated, with the metaphor either coming at the beginning or at the end of the passage. Participants then rated Donald and his behaviors along a series of trait dimensions. Results showed that participants rated Donald’s behaviors to be significantly more hostile when the metaphor implied hostility and when it came before the ambiguous paragraph rather than after (B = -0.570, p = 0.04), suggesting that metaphors act as an expectancy or frame that guides the processing and interpretation of subsequently presented information.