Paul Klaczynski
Assistant Professor
- Ph.D. 1989 West Virginia University, Life-Span Developmental Psychology
- M.A. 1987 West Virginia University, Life-Span Developmental Psychology
- B.A. 1985 St. Bonaventure University, Psychology
MY AREA OF INTEREST
My research addresses several broad questions: How can we better understand the relationships between social and cognitive development? How and to what extent do aspects of different social and cultural environments affect developments in the conscious and preconscious processes underlying judgments, decisions, stereotypes, and social reasoning biases? And, to what extent do stereotypes and beliefs affect children’s perceptions of and behaviors toward one another? Much of my previous research was concerned with detailing developmental trajectories, and individual differences in those trajectories, in decision making, social reasoning biases, and stereotype maintenance. Even as I plan to continue research along in each of these areas and, I also intend to integrate and extend my previous research with a program I recently initiated on age and cultural differences in psychosocial “atmosphere” in which obese children develop. In the following paragraphs, I first provide an overview of the theoretical perspective that has guided much of my research. This introduction is followed by a paragraph that highlights some of the findings I consider most intriguing from my research on decision making, social reasoning biases, and stereotypes. In the concluding paragraphs, I discuss three inter-related lines of work I have begun on psychosocial and cultural beliefs about and reactions to obese children. Although at times I have not made the relations between these new directions entirely explicit, I hope this discussion allows readers to see some of the bridges I believe can be built from my research to other areas of and disciplines concerned with the scientific study of child and adolescent development.
Teaching Philosophy
The core of my teaching philosophy is straightforward: Regardless of whether it is geared toward memorization, improvements critical thinking, or both, learning is an active process that evolves in, and interacts with, the subcultures of a university and its classrooms. I rely on an apprenticeship metaphor of teaching and see students are “novices” at various levels of preparedness for acquiring the “tools” of my trade. Through appropriate scaffolding, active guidance, encouragement to engage in self-initiated learning activities, and individualized feedback, I hope to assist learners construct increasingly higher-order understandings of topical material. An essential goal of facilitating the construction of these understandings is that their use is not tightly tied to the classroom; rather, students’ knowledge constructions should be sufficiently abstract that they transfer to other arenas (e.g., other classes, interactions with children, etc.).
The effective teacher should therefore engage the intellectual curiosity of students by creating an atmosphere of dialogue in which students are guided toward increasingly accurate understandings of the "trade" and toward applying those understandings beyond the walls of the classroom. Active participation on both the teacher's and the student's part is essential as knowledge and understanding are created. Teaching thus represents the nexus of teacher, student, context, and course material.
Over the course of multiple interactions, students are challenged by the teacher and guided in their thinking through appropriate feedback and a willingness to openly contemplate issues. In the ideal, the emergent outcome of this dialog is an active, independent learner—a student who is interested in the pursuit of knowledge, who understands the constructive nature of knowledge and knowing, and who strive toward achieving these goals without direct tuition.
MY LATEST PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY
- Klaczynski, P. A. (2007). Education: Theory, practice, and the road less followed. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 28, 80-83.
- Klaczynski, P. A. (2006). Learning, Belief Biases, and Metacognition. Journal of Cognition and Development, 7, 295-300.
- Klaczynski, P. A., & Daniel, D. (2005). Individual differences in conditional reasoning: A dual- process account. Thinking & Reasoning, 11, 305-325.
- Klaczynski, P. A., & Lavallee, K. L. (2005). Reasoning biases as mediators of the relationship between cognition and identity: A dual-process perspective. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 92, 1-24.
- Jacobs, J. E., & Klaczynski, P. A. (Eds.) (2005). The development of decision making in children and adolescents. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
- Klaczynski, P. A. (2005). Metacognition and cognitive variability: A two-process model of decision making and its development. In J. E. Jacobs & P. A. Klaczynski (Eds.), The development of decision making in children and adolescents (pp. 39-76). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.