UC Santa Cruz Tip Sheet April 1997
News and feature ideas in the social sciences, issued periodically by the UCSC Public Information Office. For more information, contact Jennifer McNulty at (408) 459-2495 or mcnulty@ua.ucsc.edu
Psychology
He said, she said: Psychologist Campbell Leaper studies language and gender
Developmental psychologist Campbell Leaper offers a first step for those who are concerned about gender inequality: Encourage girls and boys to play together. "If girls and boys don't play together as children, how can we expect men and women to get along in the workplace or in love relationships?" asks Leaper.
Leaper studies the role of language in the construction of gender, and his subjects range from toddlers to college students. Yes, he said, mothers and fathers do talk differently to their children. And yes, women gossip more than men, but they are also better listeners. The biggest problem, he asserted, is that boys and girls don't share enough activities.
Leaper has found that different activities elicit different styles of interaction. For example, playing with toy cars tends to elicit what psychologists call "task-oriented" talk as participants discuss laying out track and how to "get the job done." Playing with toy dishes, however, involves storytelling and generates more "collaborative" communication, says Leaper.
To the extent that boys and girls choose different activities as children, they develop different communication styles. "By the time we're adults, everyone is reaching for the latest pop psychology book about why women and men can't talk to each other," Leaper said.
Contact: Campbell Leaper--(408) 459-4496 or cam@cats.ucsc.edu
Remember this: Psychologist Mary Sue Weldon studies memory
Imagine if remembering how to walk was as hard as remembering your great uncle's birthday. If you're like most people, you'd be tripping all over yourself.
Indeed, walking is such a natural activity that it's not something people typically associate with memory. That's because it draws on what memory researchers call implicit memory, which takes no conscious effort and governs activities like walking, talking, and perceiving.
By contrast, explicit memory helps us recall things that we're deliberately trying to remember, like the birth dates of distant relatives and where we parked our car.
"We're always using memory," said associate professor of psychology Mary Sue Weldon, who has spent most of her career investigating the differences between implicit and explicit memory. The differences have implications for learning how the brain is "wired" and for understanding what happens in the brain physiologically when we remember.
One of the areas of hottest debate today is whether unique brain structures are dedicated to different memory functions and the degree to which different memory functions are interdependent. Contributing to the debate is the use of neuroimaging, specifically functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which builds on the static images used by doctors to diagnose spinal problems, knee injuries, and the like. With functional MRIs, however, brain researchers track cerebral blood flow as an indicator of brain activity. Ultimately, some researchers expect to isolate different areas of the brain that are used in implicit and explicit memory functions.
"It's a sexy idea that is getting a lot of attention right now, but it's really a problematic approach," said Weldon.
Contact: Mary Sue Weldon--(408) 459-4516 or weldon@cats.ucsc.edu
Economics
Does free trade cause job loss in the United States?
For years, union organizers and labor activists have urged consumers to "buy American" as a show of support for American workers. But does buying a Volvo really put U.S. autoworkers out of work? Does increasing foreign competition actually depress U.S. wages?
Economists disagree. At UCSC, labor economist Lori Kletzer is embarking on a 12-month research project designed to improve our understanding of the impact of free trade on American jobs.
Kletzer will weigh in on this debate at a prestigious conference sponsored by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The conference, titled "Trade and Wages," will take place in February 1998, but Kletzer was scheduled to outline her research at a preconference planning session April 5.
Kletzer is approaching the question by focusing on manufacturing job loss and job displacement rather than wages. "Companies can close their plants--or greatly reduce employment--as an alternative to lowering wages," said Kletzer. "So, as a labor economist, I think that looking at job loss is a better measure of impact."
Kletzer's work will provide an economy-wide picture of the impact of trade on U.S. jobs, and she also wants to follow the trail of displaced workers. She suspects there is little retraining or crossover from one industry to another. In the long run, federal and state retraining programs don't appear to help much, said Kletzer.
A better understanding of the impact of trade on jobs is key to the development of policies that will help those who suffer in this era of free trade, said Kletzer.
Contact: Lori Kletzer--(408) 459-3596 or lkletzer@cats.ucsc.edu
Sociology
Sociologist testifies about how to overcome racial bias in jury selection
Sociologist Hiroshi Fukurai testified twice in superior court recently about the underrepresentation of racial minorities on California juries. Such underrepresentation contributes to a criminal justice system that is not seen as legitimate by racial minorities and the poor, said Fukurai, who proposed modifications to increase jury diversity.
Among the techniques described by Fukurai to increase minority representation on juries are:
-- Jury de medietate linguae, or "split jury"--In cases where the defendant is a racial minority, half of the members of the jury are from the majority group and half are from the minority. England uses the split jury system, and it was used in the United States until about 100 years ago.
-- Hennepin Model--Based on a method used in Hennepin County, Minnesota, the racial composition of grand juries must reflect the racial composition of the community.
-- Social Science Model--Based on studies of the group dynamics of jury deliberation, this model holds that to resist the opinions of the majority group, at least three of 12 jurors must be minorities.
-- Cluster sampling with a probability proportionate to size, or PPS cluster sampling--To counter the effects of residential segregation by race and socioeconomic status, Fukurai developed this method of using U.S. census tracts to identify groups of potential jurors, who are then selected at random within chosen tracts. PPS cluster sampling mandates that an equal number of potential jurors be selected from each census tract to ensure that residents from minority-dominant areas are in the pool from which jurors are selected.
Contact: Hiroshi Fukurai--(408) 459-2971 or hiroshi@cats.ucsc.edu
Education
UCSC's Social Sciences Media Lab provides unique learning opportunity
Tucked away in an editing suite in the Social Sciences Media Lab, anthropology major Glen Williams put the finishing touches on a videotape about the intersection of culture and tourism in Nepal. A critique of the costs and benefits of ecotourism, the video features tourists and Nepalis discussing appropriate behavior in one of the poorest countries on earth.
Like hundreds of students a year, Williams used the lab's facilities and staff expertise to expand his educational horizons. The lab offers training in photography, video, audio recording, and multimedia production for students in the Division of Social Sciences. Faculty turn to the lab for help preparing classroom presentations and putting together lab facilities, and an increasing number are offering two-credit media production labs in conjunction with courses.
Lab manager Jon Kersey said the lab offers students an opportunity to express their ideas in a different medium. "Video and photography can allow people to see things that are very hard to describe in a paper or a book," said Kersey.
Contact: Jon Kersey--(408) 459-4010 or kersey@zzyx.ucsc.edu
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