Report on My Interviews

After conducting one interview (one more pending after scheduling difficulties), I have learned a lot about writing in psychology. Here, I explain the knowledge I gained from this interview.

1. What are the most significant or interesting genres that you learned about from your interviewees? Please identify at least THREE specific genres from your discipline/field of study that your interview subjects discussed writing within.

Journal Articles, Public Writing, and Books are the three genres identified by cecile McKee.

2. How do these genres differ from one another? Think about things like genre convention, content, purpose, audience, message, and context as you describe these differences.

Their differences focus mainly on their purpose. Books and journal articles are not ultimately intended for the general public, they focus on peer audiences. The context, purpose, and audience for journal articles are relatively consistent whereas they are much more malleable with public writing.

Public writing is designed to be accessible to more people. It is simpler, shorter, and more available. The context could change but the purpose is to inform and the audience is anyone interested in psychology.

3. Based on the information you gathered in your interviews, what is challenging and/or difficult about writing within these genres (from a professional's point of view)?

Books take so long to write that the information is essentially irrelevant by the time that  they are published. Journal articles are not very accessible to anyone not already involved in psychology. Public writing tends to be simpler and more generalized as the detail included in journal articles in books simply cannot fit into an online article.

4. Based on the information you gathered in your interviews, what is exciting and/or rewarding about writing within these genres (from a professional's point of view)?

A book allows the author to explore different ideas in depth and express all of his or her ideas. A journal article gives him or her similar freedom while still assuring some degree of relevance. Public writing allows the author to access a large number of people as express his or her ideas more simple and potentially more frequently.

5. Where in mass media - popular, academic, and/or social - can examples of this genre be found? If genre examples cannot be found within mass media easily, where can genre examples be found/located?

Many magazines, Twitter accounts, Instagram accounts, and Facebook accounts are dedicated to the dissemination of ideas about psychology. While these ideas are simplified for mass understanding and distribution, they come from these books and journal articles that psychologists put so much time and thought into. Psychology today, for example, has an account on all three of these social media sites as well as a magazine subscription.

From Academia to Social Media

1. Now, focusing in on one author published in the annual review of Psychology, I describe her presence in academia and social media. Ruth M.J. Byrne is an Ireland-based psychologist.

   
   

   1. What is the name of the author (from the academic journal) that you selected and which social media networks were you able to find her/him on?

   
   

   I was only able to find Ruth M.J. Byrne, author of “Counterfactual Thought”, on WordPress and LinkedIn. However she has been posted about on Twitter and YouTube.

   
   

   2. How would you describe the author's social media presence? What kinds of things are they talking about or sharing on social media? Write a brief description of what you learned about them through the listed social media feeds.

   
   

   She has a limited social media presence but her influence extends to many psychology related presences. Her idea of the “Rational Imagination” is widely discussed. The presence she does hold is demonstrated through the articles she publishes.

   
   

   3. Now return to the piece that this author published in the academic journal (from Blog Posts 6.5 & 6.6). How does their persona on social media differ from their persona in the pages of the academic journal? Be specific and cite details from both the journal and the social media posts you discovered.

   
   

   The persona reflected in the Annual Review of Psychology is similar to that reflected by social media: academic. She mainly presents herself in her field of study.

   
   

   In her article she describes the irregularities that “affect the role of semantic and pragmatic knowledge in modulating the representation of the facts upon which a counterfactual is based” (Annual Review of Psychology). The formality of her language, the organization of her article, and the presentation of her persona are similar to that represented on social media.

Academic Discourse and Genre

Because I do not know the specific genres used in psychology, I have invented some new genres. They are based on the differences within different journal articles published in the Annual Review of Psychology.

1. How many different kinds of genres seem to be published in this particular issue of the journal you selected?

There appear to be about three. These are mostly differentiated by their form. The technique and purpose of each are pretty similar.

2. If you don't know the 'official' names for these different genres, come up with names for the yourself. Identify at least three different genres within the journal issue and describe the significant formal differences between the three genres. If you made up your own name, explain why you chose the name you invented.

Headings and Sub Sects

This begins with a description of the topic at hand. It goes on to delineate different headings under which there are numerous sub headings. Finally, the conclusion states what overall point is bing made.

Overview and Implications

This begins with an overview of what is going to be explained. Questions and headings further the exploration of the topic until the significance is explained under a heading titled, “Theoretical Implications and Conclusions”.

Introduction and Innovations

This begins with an introduction to the topic discussed. It alternates between headings without subheadings and headings with subheadings. This proposes a new practice rather than analyzing something preexisting or discussing something commonly accepted like the other two. It concludes by proposing something instead of summing up what has been presented.

3. Now come up with your own definition for each genre (using the name you coined, if you weren't sure what the 'official' name is for the genre). Be sure to explain what you perceive to be the purpose of each genre and how each genre might meet the needs and expectations of a target audience.

Heading and Sub Sects: utilizes a description of an idea as a topic. It proceeds to elaborate on that description using headings and subheadings and ends in a conclusion. This is not used for a proposal but rather for a discussion.

Overview and Implications: implements an overview of a topic, a statement of points, and then an argument about what this means for psychology. This is used to make an argument about the significance of an iea.

Introduction and Innovations: introduces an issue, explains the reasoning behind a new method, and finally proposes changes to be made to a current system or an entirely new system to replace an old system. This is used to propose a new theory rather than discuss something preexisting.

My Discipline

After the completion of my investigation into my interviewees, I will now talk about what drew me to them in the first place: psychology. Here, I describe the gist of psychology and what it means to study and then practice psychology.

1. What do students in your program or department learn how to do?

Students in the psychology department learn how to understand the way that people or groups think and feel. This allows them to learn how to work with people, understand people, and help people understand themselves.

2. What do people who get degrees in this field usually go on to do for work?

Depending on the degree level of the student. It can range from teaching to to monitoring hospital patients to to owning a private practice.

3. What drew you to this field?

My mom has a lot of degrees. One of these degrees is in psychology. She is also a certified mediator. She has used this knowledge as she has raised me. Even though I have not taken a psychology class, I have been exposed to it a lot.

Of everything I have learned about throughout my education, I have felt the most passion for psychology. There is endless discovery and it is endlessly interesting.

4. Name three of the leaders/most exciting people involved in this field right now in 2016. Why are they interesting or exciting to you? These could be individual people or specific companies, organizations, businesses or nonprofits. Hyperlink us to a homepage professional website for each person, if possible.

Hans-Werner Gessmann is a German psychologist based in Russia. He founded the Psychotherapeutic Institute Bergerhausen - an organization that is currently training over 1,500 psychotherapists.

He also founded the humanistic psychodrama which uses role reversal as a method of therapy. This is an interesting form of therapy to me because the successfulness of it is bizarre to me. It does not seem like it would be effective.

Brenda Milner is a Canada based neuropsychologist who is continuing to make meaningful contributions to the world of psychology as well as teaching classes at the age of ninety five.

She is interesting to me particularly because she is one of few renowned psychologists as well as being very old yet continuing to participate extensively in academia. Her research focuses on how the different hemispheres of the brain interact.

Vilayanur Subramanian Ramachandran studies phantom limbs, synesthesia, and body integrity identity disorder. Additionally, he developed the “mirror box” which is a method of studying the pain felt on a phantom limb.

These topics are all very fascinating. The complexities of each and room for exploration within each are intriguing. I like the room for subjectivity or interpretation in psychology. I think the concepts researched by Ramachandran demonstrate that room to discover.

5. What are the names of three leading academic/scholarly journals in your field? Where are they published? Give us the names and locations of at least 3. Make the titles of each journal into a working hyperlink to the website for that publication.

The Annual Review of Psychology, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, and Perspectives on Psychological Science are the top three academic journals in the field of psychology. These are all available online.

My Interviewees on Social Media

The cyber-stalking gets more serious here. By looking for my interviewees on social media I can learn a bit more about the context of their writing. Here are my findings:

I was able to find David Sbarra on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and WordPress.

On Facebook, his profile is profile is moderately private. It appears to be personal and family oriented.

His presence on Twitter, WordPress, and Youtube are much more professional. He posts on Twitter are related to research in clinical psychology. On WordPress and Youtube, others have posted videos of talks he has given. Mostly on divorce and other family related topics.

His presence on Facebook seems to present the most different presence. He keeps it private and posts mostly personal things. On Twitter, YouTube, and WordPress he has a similarly professional but more accessible than his research articles.

I was able to find Cecile McKee on Twitter, and WordPress. They are both very professional presences but, like Sbarra, are much more accessible than her research articles.

She has a very limited social media presence. On Twitter, she has four tweets. They are all psychology related.

On Word Press she is a source used by the Linguistics for Everyone page. She does not have her own source.

My Interviewees as Professional Writers

Here, I continue to learn about my interviewees without actually talking to them. My focus is on their stance as professional writers. How do they present themselves to their peers through their writing?

Cecile McKee mainly writes journal articles in collaboration with Merrill Garrett, Sam Supalla, Dana McDaniel, Sigridur Sigurjonsdottir, and Maider Huarte. It appears as though most of her publications are particularly professional because it costs money to view most of them.

Her work includes editorials, journal articles, book chapters, reviews, conference presentations, invited presentations, and other outreach-related writing.

In “A Comparison of Pronouns and Anaphors in Italian and English Acquisition”, a research article, McKee examines how children develop binding skills (the ability to associate pronouns with their antecedents) in Italian and English language development.

In “Articulation rate: effects of age, fluency, and syntactic structure”, another research article, Mckee reports on the findings of research regarding fluency and syntactic structure as compared between people of different ages and of different native languages.

Because her work is quite expensive to read, the context surrounding each piece is difficult to find. From the abstract I can glean the general idea but the specific research that went into each article is not available to me.

All of her articles are demonstrations of the information she acquires through research. Her purpose is to inform the reader of her findings.

David Sbarra has written numerous peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, journal editorials, and special issues. Similarly, Sbarra’s work is of the same caliber in that it costs money to view. His writing focuses on the findings of research he does in the field of clinical psychology.

in “Emotional Acceptance, Inflammation, and Sickness Symptoms Across the First Two Years Following Breast Cancer Diagnosis” Sbarra examines the relationship between emotional acceptance of the diagnoses and inflammatory activity.

In “Relational savoring in long-distance romantic relationships” Sbarra examines the effect of losing physical contact while attempting to maintain relationship satisfaction.

He concluded that there may be benefit in targeting emotion regulation to reduce inflammation and the resulting sickness. However, the specifics of the article are not available to me.

His articles, like McKee’s, inform the reader of the findings of his research.

My Interview Subjects

Preparing to interview someone presents you with the important task of courtesy cyber-stalking. Here, I begin my quest to learn as much as I can about my subjects without actually talking to them.

• I will be interviewing David Sbarra and Cecile McKee.

David A. Sbarra

Cecile McKee

• David Sbarra is an associate professor at the University of Arizona as well as the director of clinical training.

• Cecile McKee is a professor in the Linguistics Department of the U of A and the associate dean for research in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

• David Sbarra graduated from Cornell University in 1996 with a B.S. in Human Development and Family Studies. He then went on to receive a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology as well as a MEd. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Virginia.

• Cecile McKee not only has three different  profiles on the U of A website, but also has a profile on the Huffington Post, Wikipedia, the Women’s Foundation of Southern Arizona, and ResearchGate. However, I was only able to find that she graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1988.

• David Sbarra has been a Professor/Researched since 2004.

• Cecile McKee began her graduate research in 1990 and has been working in the field since then.

• I will be meeting with David Sbarra at 9 AM on Friday, March 4th in Psychology 210C.

• I will be meeting with Cecile McKee at 1 PM on Friday, March 4th in Communications 316.

• Interview Questions for David Sbarra
• How would you describe your position/job/professional work?
• How long have you been in this field?
• What changes have you seen in the writing standards throughout this time? Is there a shift towards digital?
• What genres do you work in?
• What kinds of audiences do you write for? Do you write mainly for your students or peers?
• In what way did your life or current events influence your writing?
• How often do you have to write?
• What’s the process of publication like?
• What piece of writing are you most proud of?
• How do you balance work with the rest of your life?

• Interview Questions for Cecile McKee
• How would you describe your position/job/professional work?
• How long have you been in this field?
• What changes have you seen in the writing standards throughout this time? Is there a shift towards digital?
• What genres do you work in?
• What kinds of audiences do you write for? Do you write mainly for your students or peers?
• In what way did your life or current events influence your writing?
• How often do you have to write?
• What’s the process of publication like?
• What piece of writing are you most proud of?
• How do you balance work with the rest of your life?

• I want to keep the questions the same to see what differences each interviewee perceives.

Local Revision: Variety

1. How much variation is there in your sentence structures in the current draft? Can you spot any repetitive or redundant sentence patterns in your writing? Provide a cogent analysis of what the Rules for Writers reading tells you about your sentences.

Although I tried to be aware of intentionally varying my sentence lengths, they tend to be longer sentences. There are a good number of short sentences but still, many long sentences. However, the beginnings of sentences and overall structure vary frequently but most are complex sentences.

I have a variety of inverted sentences as well as many that follow normal structural guidelines. I have tightened a lot of wordy sentences. I have a variety of complex and compound sentences.

2. What about paragraph structures, including transitions between different paragraphs (or, for video/audio projects, different sections of the project)?

My QRG goes in chronological order. Because of this, it was not difficult to transition between paragraphs. They flow as a story would except that they are separated by headlines.

3. What about vocabulary? Is there variety and flavor in your use of vocabulary? What are the main strengths and weaknesses of the draft's approach to vocabulary?

I have not gone through the verbs quite yet. Once that is done, there will be more strength in flavor. Right now, the verbs are a little dull. I think the specific words that I used were strong. Working that strength into the rest of my QRG is my next goal. There are some good snazzy descriptive words.

Local Revision: Pronoun Usage

1. Based on your analysis, how effective is your pronoun usage in Project 1? What does actively examining your pronoun usage tell you about your writing style?

The majority of the pronouns refer to Adria Richards. In each paragraph, I use her name once and then use pronouns as needed. The rest all correspond to the correct subject. I do not see any immediate revisions that need to be made from my pronoun usage.

2. Are there any instances in your project where you speak to or refer directly to the audience? If so, how effective are these moments at creating a bond or connection between audience and author? If not, why not? Explain why you're choosing to leave your audience out of your writing. There's nothing wrong with that, per se, but you should be able to give a sophisticated explanation of your choices.

I do not refer directly to the audience. This piece is not necessarily targeted at people in the tech field. I want it to be more of an awareness raiser for people not directly involved. Because of this, there is not much that can be done by the reader. It is just a presentation of information.

My Pronouns

Her (Adria Richards)

Her (Adria Richards)

She (Adria Richards)

She (Adria Richards)

She (Adria Richards)

Her (Adria Richards)

They (PyCon)

Their (Adria Richards and Men)

Her (Adria Richards)

She (Adria Richards)

Their (SendGrid)

Their (SendGrid)

Her (Adria Richards)

Her (Adria Richards)

His (mr-hank)

Their (Tim Cook, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg)

They (Big Companies)

Local Revision: Passive and Active Voice

Active (Specific)	Active (General)	Passive
Sitting Found Listening Felt Snapped Tweeted Tracked Allege Speaking Looked Launched Caught	Left Ensued Happened Call Returned Posting Issued Working Described Affect Remains Issued Taking Gave Completed Hit Increases Have Persists Discourages Going Incorporate Combat Pushing	“Found herself distracted by” “Looked upon lightly by”

1. Looking at the breakdown of your verb choices here, what do you notice about your current draft? Are the actions in your piece mostly general, vague or non-specific? Are the actions mostly vivid and specific? Are there instances of passive voice? Summarize what you learned by analyzing your verb usage in this way.

The actions are mostly general. There is one instance of passive voice that are easily fixable. However, I think the instance in which I use “found herself distracted by” works well in the piece. This has helped me see the importance of using colorful, specific verbs. Everything is more interesting if you can form a picture of it in your mind. 

I was also unaware of my use of passive voice so now I will be able to change it.

2. Based on this analysis, how could your use of verbs be improved overall in the project? Be specific and precise in explaining this.

I need to use more colorful verbs. I don’t think the general verbs are quite boring but they could be more intentional and effective. Using the tone set by the specific verbs, I can find more verbs that match that creation of imagery.