An fMRI investigation of the impact of interracial contact on executive function.Nat.

; namely, resource depletion. This theory is based on the proposition that executive attention is a limited, renewable resource that can be depleted temporarily Given the focus of the proposed resource depletion model on the mediating role of executive control, we based the present investigation on emerging literature in cognitive neuroscience that has identified a complex circuit of brain structures-consisting, in part, of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) 22), whereas the ACC monitors for the presence of conditions in which control may be necessary, as in the conflict between intentional and pre-potent responses Because it is not yet feasible to measure brain activity during actual face-to-face interracial interactions, we used fMRI to assess neural activity in response to photographs of unfamiliar, black faces as a proxy. That is, neural activity during the display of photographs was expected to reflect meaningful aspects of the cognitive processes engaged during an interracial interaction. Specifically, we investigated individual differences in the activity of both left and right lateral PFC, as well as ACC, in response to photographs of black faces, compared to photographs of white faces. In accordance with the proposed mechanism, we found that activity in lateral PFC and ACC varied sys- We investigated whether individual differences in racial bias among white participants predict the recruitment, and potential depletion, of executive attentional resources during contact with black individuals. White individuals completed an unobtrusive measure of racial bias, then interacted with a black individual, and finally completed an ostensibly unrelated Stroop colornaming test. In a separate functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) session, subjects were presented with unfamiliar black male faces, and the activity of brain regions thought to be critical to executive control was assessed. We found that racial bias predicted activity in right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in response to black faces. Furthermore, activity in this region predicted Stroop interference after an actual interracial interaction, and it statistically mediated the relation between racial bias and Stroop interference. These results are consistent with a resource depletion account of the temporary executive dysfunction seen in racially biased individuals after interracial contact

Men not included? A critical psychology analysis of lesbian families and male influence in child rearing

This paper explores debates about male presence and influence in lesbian families from a critical psychology standpoint. Critical psychology encompasses a variety of radical approaches to psychological research that reject traditional psychological assumptions, concepts and methods and that seek to challenge and resist normative values. To explore aspects of the discursive terrain of male influence and to demonstrate the merits of a critical psychology of lesbian families, excerpts from an interview with a lesbian couple who are members of a planned lesbian/ gay family (two mummies and a daddy) are analysed. These excerpts show that debates about male influence create live dilemmas and tensions for the lesbian couple and have important consequences for how lesbian parents negotiate and do family. © 2007 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved