Guy Boysen

• Doctor of Philosophy
• McKendree University

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a highly influential source of educational policy. CAST, a nonprofit educational organization, created UDL guidelines that they claim have a basis in research on learning, cognitive psychology, and the brain. The purpose of the current research was to evaluate the empirical studies cited on CAST’s UDL website...

Dissociative identity disorder (DID) has historically been one of the most controversial topics in the study of psychopathology. Building on a previous review of empirical research on DID from 2000 to 2010, the present review examined DID research from 2011 to 2021. The research output included 56 case studies and 104 empirical studies. Within the...

Background Both multiple-choice and short-answer tests can be beneficial to learning in the classroom. However, fact-based multiple-choice questions, because they include the correct answer as a response option, could lead to inflated estimates of learning and higher evaluations of teaching effectiveness. Objective The objective of this study was...

Difficult students are a major topic in the pedagogical literature, and teachers will find ample advice for managing undesirable student behaviors. However, additional guidance is needed for teachers who want to engage their best students. To explore how teachers work with their best students, psychology faculty (N = 205) from 4-year colleges and u...

Sweeping changes occurred in higher education during the Spring 2020 academic term. Spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) led colleges and universities to close their campuses and shift in-person classes to online instruction. The change was followed by predictions that student evaluations of teaching would be negatively affected by the pand...

Schizophrenia is among the most stigmatized of all mental disorders. According to affordance management theory, this stigmatization is explained by the stereotype that people with schizophrenia threaten the fundamental goal to maintain physical safety. The current research examined if stereotypes about sex and age affect perceptions of the physical...

According to evolutionary theory, the exploitation of others is an adaptive strategy for obtaining resources. Previous studies demonstrated that people perceive mental illness as a generalized cue of exploitability. The current research expanded on those studies by examining perceptions of a range of mental illness traits and by examining perceptio...

The American Psychological Association’s introductory psychology initiative (APA IPI) recently concluded a 4-year endeavor to strengthen the introductory psychology course. The first set of empirical data on a national study of the course provided important faculty perceptions of student learning outcomes (SLOs), course models and designs, student...

About half of college teachers have intensely disliked a student. Teachers report that the primary causes of intense dislike are students’ difficult personalities and behaviors. However, differences in teachers’ perceptions of students may also be a factor. To investigate this possibility, the current research compared psychology teachers (N = 150)...

Two recent publications examined the perceived exploitability of people with mental illness (Boysen et al., 2022; Boysen & Isaacs, 2022). Across 9 individual studies, multiple experimental designs, and almost 2,500 participants, clear evidence emerged to suggest that people perceive mental illness as a generalized cue of exploitability. In their co...

Humans have fundamental needs, and they evaluate social groups based on their stereotypical impact on goals related to those needs. According to affordance management theory, when people perceive members of social groups as a threat to fundamental goals, prejudicial emotions, and discriminatory behaviors emerge. The purpose of the current research...

The current research examined the interaction of race and mental illness stereotypes to determine if there is a racial stereotype about mental illness. Study 1 (N = 144) showed that participants predominantly imagined White people when thinking about mental disorders and rated mental disorders as most typical of Whites. Participants in Study 2 (N =...

In higher education, student evaluation surveys are an important tool for the assessment and improvement of teaching. Despite decades of investigation, research has yet to resolve disagreement about gender bias in student evaluations. One cause of disagreement may be motivated interpretation of research based on preexisting beliefs about gender bia...

Exploitation of others is one method that humans use to acquire resources. People use cues to identify targets for exploitation, and evolutionary psychology predicts that the cues correspond to specific domains of exploitability. Previous research suggests that people perceive mental illness as a cue indicating sexual exploitability, but it is not...

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a major trend in education. The goal of UDL is to design educational experiences that allow all students to match their unique ways of learning to varied modes of engagement, information representation, and expression of learning. Although UDL originated from disability accommodations in K-12 settings, its pro...

Nearly all undergraduate psychology programs in the United States (99%) offer an Introductory Psychology (IP) course (Norcross et al., 2016). Yet, there is a surprising dearth of information relating to the learning outcomes and course designs employed in IP, nor is information readily available regarding the training and support of those who teach...

The current research explored the gender stereotype about psychology and its effect on perceptions of people’s fit in the field. Across six studies (N = 1,516), results showed that participants believed that women represent the majority of people in both the major and profession of psychology. Also, participants associated psychology more strongly...

Nearly all undergraduate psychology programs in the United States (99%) offer an Introductory Psychology (IP) course (Norcross et al., 2016). Yet, there is a surprising dearth of information relating to the learning outcomes and course designs employed in IP, nor is information readily available regarding the training and support of those who teach...

The pedagogical literature offers advice for effective management of difficult student behaviors, but there is little acknowledgement of the negative feelings teachers may develop toward the students who need managing. The current research examined college teachers’ (N = 364) intense dislike of students. Intense dislike occurred among 47% of teache...

Evolutionary psychology predicts that people with mental illness should have reduced value as mates. Nonetheless, people with mental illness successfully find mates and pass on their genes. The current research explored people’s evaluations of real-world dating and romantic partners who they perceive as having mental illness to better understand th...

The scholarship of teaching literature contains recommendations for how to manage difficult student behaviors such as incivility, cheating, and underperformance. However, there is little information about how college teachers should manage the negative emotions that can emerge in reaction to student behaviors. The current research investigated the...

The Model Teaching Criteria provide a multidimensional definition of good college teaching that is made up of 6 fundamental teaching competencies. The current research explored the stability of the Model Teaching Criteria over time, as well as correlations among the 6 criteria and other teaching-related variables. Faculty (N = 54) at a small, priva...

This article discusses how assessment tools can be used to improve student learning in undergraduate bachelors (BA/BS) in psychology programs. The article first reviews particular advantages associated with using curricular and cocurricular maps for performing systematic program assessment. After identifying various assessment tools created by the...

Standards for the evaluation of candidates for faculty positions in psychology differ by institution and applicants' career level, but no research has attempted to quantify these variations. This study asked faculty (N ¼ 267) to describe the minimal research and teaching qualifications needed by job candidates at baccalaureate, master's, and doctor...

Student engagement in research is a principle of quality undergraduate psychology education. Research experiences can take many forms, but they all should ideally lead students to achieve APA undergraduate major goals and prepare them for the workforce and graduate study. Therefore, research mentors should ensure high-quality research experiences t...

People with mental illness face stigma that leads others to view them as less than fully human. The stereotype content model posits that people dehumanize social groups that are stereotyped as lacking both warmth and competence, but researchers have not tested this prediction with mental illness. Across five studies, the current research examined b...

Exploitation of others is a method for acquiring the resources necessary for survival and reproduction. Both men and women agree upon a variety of specific cues that suggest women’s vulnerability to sexual exploitation. The current research documented mental illness as an additional cue of sexual exploitability. Study 1 (N = 189) demonstrated that...

American Psychological Association (APA)-style writing is an essential part of the undergraduate psychology curriculum. However, little is known about the effectiveness of specific techniques for instructing students on how to format APA-style citations and references. The current research compared the effectiveness of having students ( N = 76) pro...

People with mental illness face stigma, and due to their low social status, they may also face blatant dehumanization that denies their status as fully evolved human beings. In the current research, three studies documented the existence of blatant dehumanization of mental illness. Study 1 (N = 112) showed that participants rated people with mental...

The current study asked faculty (N = 267) to describe the minimal research and teaching qualifications needed by job candidates at baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral institutions.

The purpose of trigger warnings is to prevent distress by giving prior notice about sensitive topics, but there is little empirical evidence to support their effectiveness in psychology education. The current research examined the effects of trigger warnings on affect, learning, and attitudes. Study 1 (N = 353) presented an online sample of adults...

Competition for full-time psychology faculty positions is intense, and some behaviors and types of information could lead to the rejection of even highly qualified candidates; the current research explored these so-called kisses of death in the hiring process. Qualitative analysis of faculty reports of kisses of death in Study 1 (N ¼ 155) produced...

Research suggests that stigma toward mental illness extends to evaluations of people with mental disorders as potential romantic partners. However, it is not clear if mental illness functions as a relationship dealbreaker that leads to the rejection of potential mates. The current research consisted of 3 studies that examined mental illness as a re...

Sensitive topics are an inherent part of psychology education, but some college students have begun to demand prior notification before the coverage of potentially disturbing content. This call from students for “trigger warnings” has been controversial among faculty, and no research has documented psychology students’ perspectives on the topic. In...

Interviews for faculty positions in psychology often include a teaching demonstration or research talk, but there is little empirical data about what makes these job talks successful. Psychology faculty (N = 303) described the job talks required at 4-year institutions and the attributes of a successful job talk. For both teaching demonstrations and...

The stigma toward mental illness includes a strong desire for social distance. However, there has been little research on how people’s desire for social distance applies to perceptions of people with mental illness as romantic partners. The current research used evolutionary psychology as a theoretical framework to investigate perceptions of people...

The content of psychology courses can include topics that may be sensitive to some students, especially those with personal histories of trauma. Increasingly, the news media has reported student requests for teachers to provide trigger warnings before covering sensitive topics in college classrooms. However, little empirical data has been published...

The general desire for social distance from people with mental illness is one common expression of stigma. Evolutionary theory predicts that mental illness should reduce the desirability of potential mates, but social distancing in the context of sexual and romantic relationships remains to be systematically explored. In order to test this and othe...

According to the popular press, students have been increasingly demanding warnings before being exposed to potentially distressing classroom material. The validity of these types of trigger warnings has been a topic of vigorous debate. Based on a review of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) research and closely related topics, this article answer...

Student evaluations of teaching are an important tool for assessing the quality of college instruction. They can also be used for the improvement of teaching, and this review briefly summarizes research on how student evaluations should be administered, analyzed, and utilized so that they can lead to better pedagogy. Teachers should begin by select...

Research shows that teachers interpret small differences in student evaluations of teaching as meaningful even when available statistical information indicates that the differences are not reliable. The current research explored the effect of statistical training on college teachers’ tendency to over-interpret student evaluation differences. A samp...

College students have been increasingly demanding warnings and accommodations in relation to course topics they believe will elicit strong, negative emotions. These “trigger warnings” are highly relevant to Abnormal Psychology because of the sensitive topics covered in the course (e.g., suicide, trauma, sex). A survey of Abnormal Psychology instruc...

Research indicates that stereotypically masculine disorders are highly stigmatized, but research also suggests that stigma is reduced when people exhibit disorders atypical of their gender. Thus, it is unclear if a woman with a highly stigmatized masculine disorder should have increased or decreased stigma. The current research addresses this appar...

Stereotypes interact such that people perceive some disorders as masculine and others as feminine. Masculine disorders tend to be highly stigmatized, and 3 studies explored potential causes of this effect. Study 1 (N = 186) showed that masculine disorders elicited more stigma then feminine disorders independent of the sex of the person with the dis...

The current research explored the association of masculinity and stigma toward mental illness using theoretical predictions stemming from the stereotype content model and BIAS map. Two correlational studies (Ns = 245, 163) measured stereotypes, emotions, and behavioral intentions in relation to masculine, feminine, and gender-neutral disorders. Par...

"The book identifies excellent teachers in terms of their impact on students, shows how to use various methods to see one’s impact, focuses on how students go about successful learning, highlights how to construct assessment to provide feedback to teachers about their impact, and demonstrates how to become an excellent teacher. The rare beauty of t...

Student evaluations of teaching play an important role in higher education, but they can be compromised by overinterpretation of small, nonsignificant differences in means. Three studies explored the effectiveness of warnings in the prevention of overinterpretation. Study 1 (N = 166) provided evidence that specific wordings and immediate attention...

Student evaluations of teaching are among the most accepted and important indicators of college teachers’ performance. However, faculty and administrators can overinterpret small variations in mean teaching evaluations. The current research examined the effect of including statistical information on the interpretation of teaching evaluations. Study...

The Society for the Teaching of Psychology has produced a broad definition of teaching quality called Model Teaching Criteria, but the model has not yet been studied empirically. To fill this gap, college teachers (n 208) from across the United States self-reported their ability to document the practices represented in the criteria. Teachers , on a...

Student evaluations are a critical measure of teaching quality used for evaluation and scholarship of teaching. However, teachers and administrators tend to overinterpret small differences in student evaluation means. The current research consisted of 2 studies demonstrating that explicit warnings do not reduce overinterpretation. Study 1 showed th...

Research indicates that stereotypes can intersect. For example, the intersection of stereotypes about gender and mental disorders could result in perceptions of gendered mental disorders. In the current research, Studies 1 and 2 showed that people view specific disorders as being masculine or feminine. The masculine stereotype included antisocial p...

In 2011, the Society for the Teaching of Psychology commissioned a presidential task force to document teaching criteria for model psychology teachers in undergraduate education. The resulting list of criteria reflects activities related to face-to-face course interaction and online teaching, training, and education; course design; implementation o...

Student evaluations of teaching are ubiquitous and impactful on the careers of college teachers. However, there is limited empirical research documenting the accuracy of people’s efforts in interpreting teaching evaluations. The current research consisted of three studies documenting the effect of small mean differences in teaching evaluations on j...

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) revision process has been systematically biased toward expanding diagnostic criteria to become more inclusive, but research has yet to determine if the DSM-5 shows signs of the same bias. In this study, 83 disorders revised between the DSM-IV-TR and DSM-5 received codes based on whethe...

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) has long been surrounded by controversy due to disagreement about its etiology and the validity of its associated phenomena. Researchers have conducted studies comparing people diagnosed with DID and people simulating DID in order to better understand the disorder. The current research presents a systematic revi...

Women often face sexism and stereotypes about their academic ability, and this makes it important to examine the effects of confronting sexism in the college classroom. The current research consisted of 2 studies of how witnessing a confrontation of a sexist stereotype in the classroom affects female students’ perceptions of the confronters and sel...

The purpose of this study was to assess the scientific and etiological status of dissociative identity disorder (DID) by examining cases published from 2000 to 2010. In terms of scientific status, DID is a small but ongoing field of study. The review yielded 21 case studies and 80 empirical studies, presenting data on 1171 new cases of DID. A mean...

Incivility occurs frequently in college classrooms. However, recommendations to teachers for handling student incivility are based on anecdotal evidence. To address this gap in knowledge, students (N = 150) in the current study evaluated the effectiveness of several teacher responses to classroom incivility. Incidents of incivility, described in vi...

A large body of research exists examining the associations between etiological beliefs and attitudes about mental illness. However, relatively little research has investigated the effects of portraying mental illness as a product of combined biological and psychosocial factors. Two experimental studies exposed participants to either biological, env...

Subtle forms of prejudice called microaggressions occur in college classrooms, but the effective methods of managing such prejudice are not clear. This study explored teachers’ (N = 222) and students’ (N = 166) perceptions of vignettes describing classroom microaggressions and the effectiveness of various teacher responses to the microaggressions....

No abstract available.

College students frequently encounter prejudice, discrimination, and stereotypes, but there is no research on effective teacher responses to classroom bias. Three studies examined students' perceptions of teacher responses to bias in the classroom. Study 1 experimentally manipulated the level of bias expressed and the teacher's response. Students p...

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) contains the official diagnostic criteria for recognized mental illnesses. Some have asserted that DSM revisions have caused the boundaries of specific disorders to expand to include more behaviors, but no previous research has examined if such expansion is isolated or endemic. The cur...

Dissociative identity disorder (DID) remains a controversial diagnosis due to conflicting views on its etiology. Some attribute DID to childhood trauma and others attribute it to iatrogenesis. The purpose of this article is to review the published cases of childhood DID in order to evaluate its scientific status, and to answer research questions re...

The theory of essentialism suggests that biological explanations of stigmatized behavior may not be effective at decreasing stigmatizing attitudes. The effects of biological explanations on stigmatizing attitudes were the topic of two experiments. In the first experiment, participants (N = 243) perceived a biological explanation as a less effective...

implicit inversion theory suggests that stereotypes about gay men include beliefs that they possess certain mental health traits more characteristic of women than men. however, no research has explored gay men's stereotype about their own mental health or how their self-stereotype relates to stereotypes of women (i.e., heterosexual women and lesbia...

Teaching of psychology courses trains graduate students in pedagogy, but little is known about how diversity is addressed in these courses. A survey of instructors in teaching of psychology courses assessed their coverage of diversity and classroom bias, as well as the instructional methods used to cover them. Results indicated that 87% of instruct...

Graduate students in psychology frequently receive training to prepare them for teaching responsibilities. However, little is known about the different types of teaching courses that exist or what leads graduate programs to offer such courses. This study explores archival data to determine the prevalence and predictors of formal teaching coursework...

Theories and research related to the unconscious can be found in every area of psychology, but there is no course devoted to the topic in the undergraduate curriculum. A capstone course on the unconscious is described. The course integrates topics across the major fields of psychology. Themes in the course include the existence of mental processes...

The author reviews the empirical and theoretical literature on implicit bias as it relates to counselor education. Counselor educators can integrate implicit bias into the concepts of multicultural knowledge, awareness, and skill. Knowledge about implicit bias includes its theoretical explanation, measurement, and impact on counseling. Awareness of...

Little is known about incidents of bias specific to college classrooms or how they are handled by instructors. To learn more about this subject, professors, graduate instructors, and undergraduates ( N = 2,523) completed surveys assessing perceptions of classroom bias. Results indicated that about a quarter of instructors and half of students perce...

Bias is a central concept in multicultural competency, but counseling research has largely ignored implicit bias. A review of bias research in counseling indicates that increased focus on implicit bias is warranted because counselors tend not to report explicit bias and have implicit bias that diverges from their self-reported attitudes. El sesgo e...

Little is known about the relation between religiosity and illness stigma. This study examined the relationship between religiosity and stigmatizing attitudes toward the mental illness of addiction and the physical illness of cancer. Participants (N = 120) completed a measure of religiosity and evaluated a vignette describing either a person with a...

Incidents of bias still occur in college classrooms, but no research has specifically explored this topic. To address this gap in the literature, professors (N = 333) completed anonymous surveys assessing types of bias they perceived in their classroom, their responses to the bias, and the perceived success of their responses. Results indicated tha...