Drunk Tank Pink: And Other Unexpected Forces That Shape How We Think, Feel, and Behave
Author:  Adam Alter
ISBN-10: 0143124935
ISBN-13: 978-0143124931

APA Style Citation
Alter, A. (2013).  Drunk tank pink: And other unexpected forces that shape how we think, feel, and behave. New York, NY: Penguin Books.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/Drunk-Tank-Pink-Unexpected-Forces/dp/0143124935

​Book Description
Can the color pink calm rowdy prisoners? Yes! Drunk tank pink is the affectionate name for the bubblegum-pink shade of paint used in jail cells in San Jose, CA in the 1980s. Soon after, the use of the color pink spread like wildfire in efforts to change people’s behavior. Drunk Tank Pink investigates how context effects and hidden forces shape our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It is filled with studies that leave you wondering just how much we are impacted by the world within us, the world between us, and the world around us.
 
The World Within Us: The world within us consists of names, labels, and symbols.
 
Sometimes our names can determine our destiny. For example, Carl Jung “young” studied youth and rebirth. Freud, which means joy in German, studied the pleasure principle. Usain Bolt became the fastest man in the world. If our name is easy to pronounce, it opens doors and makes us money. People tend to prefer the letters in their name. For instance, people with a name starting with K donated more for Hurricane Katrina recovery because they associated the storm with their name. Names can be powerful.
 
Labels also make our lives easier and help us make decisions. Color labels shape how we see the world. Our reality is also influenced by the language we speak. Language impacts our perception of personal space, physical space, and time.  Sometimes even meaningless labels gain meaning and impact us. For example, north is thought of as being above. Individuals are more willing to travel five minutes south because north implies uphill and requiring more effort and gas. According to the framing effect, the wording of a statement impacts decision making. Labels can distort eyewitness memory and reshape our social interactions.
 
Symbols are also a powerful influencer. Symbolic images can be more powerful than words. For example, students were exposed to negative symbols that changed their later impressions. Company logos set off a network of associations, such as The Apple Company enhances our creativity. Money is a powerful symbol. As we watch money be destroyed, possibilities seem to disappear. Nationalism and religion are also powerful symbols. The American flag can unite or inspire aggression, depending on the association when primed. Being reminded of religion primes an individual to be honest in their future interactions. The world within us shapes a diverse range of outcomes.
 
The World Between Us: We are surrounded by others, socially motivated, and view life through a cultural lens.
 
Being surrounded by others changes our behavior. Adding a picture of eyes above an honesty box by communal coffee influences the amount of contributions. Posting ads stating “We’ve got our eyes on criminals” lowers criminal activity. We like to be surrounded by others, and social isolation has significant effects. We’ve learned this from case studies, such as Genie, a girl who was isolated for the first 13 years of her life, and individuals living underground to simulate the isolation astronauts might experience. Our behaviors change when we are forced to compare ourselves with others. A utility company reduced electricity use by showing customers how much other households use.  Noor, a Turkish soap opera, changed the Arab world by showing viewers marital benefits of gender equality. We feel connected to others when we mimic each other. While two people talk on the phone, they often synchronize their steps by following the rise and fall of their voices. Performing in front of others can be exhilarating, but it depends on the ease of the task. Students did better on the SAT with fewer competitors. Also, having too many people around can be problematic as found in the bystander effect.
 
According to Abraham Maslow, we are socially motivated. After our physiological needs are met, we seek safety. Men are more likely than women to die from accidental causes because they take greater risks. Next, we need the social support of love and belonging. A nasal spray, called Liquid Trust, applied before important social events can lead to feelings of trust. The spray contains oxytocin, which is believed to promote positive responses for in-group members. A photo of a loved one produces the same response as oxytocin by activating the same reward centers in the brain. Amazingly, imagined social support is just as effective as real support. The top of Maslow’s hierarchy is self-actualization, consisting of self-acceptance and moral clarity. Individuals donate more when asked to recall childhood memories. People are also more honest when forced to stare at their mirror image.
 
Everyone sees objects and places through a cultural lens. This is evident with the famous Muller-Lyer illusion. Bushmen from southern Africa and tribes from North Angola and Ivory Coast failed to fall for the illusion because they were raised in rounded houses that did not possess angled lines. Studies have also explored the impact of culture and focus. Chinese and American participants studied photos with a central background. Americans focused their attention on the main object and less time on the background, whereas Chinese participants focused more on both the object and background. We see people, math, art, and honor through a cultural lens. There are also culture-bound disorders. Anorexia is concentrated in the wealthiest regions of the world. While the hikikomori disorder of lacking any social contacts is a disorder almost exclusively limited to Japan. Being immersed in another culture impacts the person we become. The social world we live in shapes a diverse range of outcomes.
 
The World Around Us: We are shaped by colors, locations, and the weather.
 
Colors influence our world by shaping how we think and behave. Blue lights in Scotland have decreased criminal activity, and blue lights in Japan have stopped suicide attempts. We have learned to associate colors and objects. That blue light mimicked a police car’s flashing lights. Colors can impact us at work or school. Students have learned to fear red ink. While using a red pen, teachers found more errors. At the same time, writing in red ink students produced more mistakes. Even more confusing, depending on the intellectual task red can be beneficial. Proofreading or memorizing a list of words (tasks that both require attention to detail) presented against a red background becomes beneficial. Color impacts sports. Athletes who wear red uniforms win more often, while athletes who wear black are seen as more aggressive. Colors have even been associated with morals. We associate lightness with morality and darkness with immorality. Colors influence through association, but also biology. Red is associated with love because it signals sexual arousal. Blue halts production of melatonin.
 
Locations also influence our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Outgoing children became hostile, anxious children after minutes in an overcrowded room. Living in packed quarters hinders generosity and diminishes quality of life. Overcrowding creates noise, and the constant hum stifles creativity and learning. Children raised on lower floors, which tend to be loud, struggled more to read than their peers living on higher floors. Natural environments can bring positive effects. Patients recover faster in rooms facing a small courtyard. Children who spent time outdoors were more relaxed, focused, happier, and friendly. Even children who sat indoors with natural views were calmer. Japan and Germany have already been using natural therapy. The Japanese practice forest bathing- walking for a long time while inhaling woodsy scents. The Germans physically exercise in forest clearings. Natural environments promote calmness and well-being because they expose us to low levels of stress.
 
Even the weather influences us. Civil conflicts have been driven by changes in climate. Southern states are more prone to violent crime. On hot days, domestic violence rates increase. Long cold winters breeds love. Social isolation creates a literal chill. Students held a cup of hot coffee or iced coffee while riding an elevator and were asked to rate another person. If they held the hot coffee cup, they rated the individual as warmer and friendlier (not attractive or strong). The sensation of physical warmth alleviates the need for social contact.  The weather also influences our well-being. Rain, snow, and darkness are responsible for great unhappiness. However, a sunnier day brings on mental stupor. Individuals recalled three times as many items on rainy days as sunny days. Gloomy weather hampers mood, but it makes us think more deeply and clearly. The world around us shapes our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
 
Think about the world within us, the world between us, and the world around us.  Just how much of you has been determined by your environment? If you want to know more, this is a must read!
 
Other Related Resources

Adam Alter Webpage
http://adamalterauthor.com/drunk-tank-pink
 
Color Matters
https://www.colormatters.com/color-and-the-body/drunk-tank-pink
 
NPR: “Drunk Tank Pink” Find Clues To Behavior
https://www.npr.org/2013/04/05/176339686/drunk-tank-pink-finds-clues-to-behavior
 
Scientific American- MIND Reviews: Drunk Tank Pink
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mind-reviews-drunk-tank-pink/?redirect=1
 
Psychological Figures and Concepts 
 
Alfred Adler
Solomon Asch
Darley and Latané
Jane Elliott
Sigmund Freud
Genie
Kitty Genovese
Harry Harlow
William James
Carl Jung
Wolfgang Köhler
John Locke
Elizabeth Loftus
Abraham Maslow
Hermann Rorschach
Stanley Schachter
Normal Triplet
Benjamin Whorf
Bob Zajonc
 
Biologically predisposed
Chameleon effect
Circadian rhythm
Conformity
Context effects
Correlation
Cortisol
Critical period
Culture
Diffusion of responsibility
Discrimination
Distress vs. Eustress
DSM
Evolution theory
Experiment
Feeding and eating disorders
Flashbulb memories
Hawthorne effect
Individualism vs. collectivism
Insula
Melatonin
Müller-Lyer illusion
Necker Cube
Oxytocin
Phobias
Phonemes
Pineal gland
Placebo
Schizophrenia
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Serotonin
Sleep paralysis
Social facilitation
Social inhibition
Social norms
Stigma
Stroop task
Subliminal priming
Temporoparietal network
Testosterone
Visual cortex
Well-being

​The Culturally Inclusive Educator:  Preparing for a Multicultural World
Author:  Dena R. Samuels
ISBN: 13: 9780807755921
 
APA Style Citation
Samuels, D. R. (2014). The culturally inclusive educator: preparing for a multicultural world. New York: Teachers College Press.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/Culturally-Inclusive-Educator-Preparing-Multicultural/dp/0807755923
 

​Book Description
 
In The Culturally Inclusive Educator, Dena Samuels addresses how educators can create classrooms that welcome all students regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status or any other characteristic that may make some students feel marginalized in a classroom setting.  Samuels acknowledges that most educators want to create a welcoming and caring environment for all of their students but can unknowingly create an exclusionary classroom that favors some students over others.  This occurs when an environment caters to the dominant group.  There is currently a mismatch between teacher`s belief in their ability to create an inclusive classroom and their ability to relay that message to the students in their care.  
 
American classrooms are becoming increasingly more diverse, and by 2050 Caucasians will be a minority in the United States.  Our world is becoming more diverse and lines between genders, races and identity are no longer defined by the binary standards that have historically been used.  The challenges that instructors face are multi-faceted because the make-up of faculties often does not match that of the student population. Currently, 90% of all public-school teachers are white, and 40% of schools do not employ a single teacher of color (National Collaborative on Diversity in the Teaching Force, 2004).  Not only does the faculty often come from different backgrounds than many of their students, but students’ peers are often not welcoming of diverse populations which can create a school environment which seems to reject those it is intended to help educate.
 
Nearly 100% of students (97%) report regularly hearing homophobic comments from peers and a 53% report hearing such comments from faculty. Clearly, these types of statements regardless of the group that is targeted can have long-lasting and detrimental effects of the success on the student who is targeted or who hears such comments. Some instructors feel that it is not their place to intervene when a student in class makes an inappropriate remark, but Samuels argues that this lack of action indicates to the students that the comment is acceptable and that the teacher will not defend those who may be hurt by the comment. The common reaction from students who were not defended by the instructor is to retreat from participation and vocalization in the classroom.
 
Even when comments are not intended to be hurtful, they can emphasize the students perceived differences.  These comments or microaggressions such as asking a person of color, “Where are you from?” assuming that they or their family cannot be from the United States can lead students feeling marginalized.  These types of interactions increase the likelihood of stereotype threat impacting academic performance, increases the risk for drop out and even potential self-harm as the individual devalues their own self-worth in the wake of repeated rejection from the larger culture.
 
Individuals from previously marginalized groups (i.e., LGBTQ individuals or veterans suffering from PTSD) today can often be more open about their identities, instructors must continually recognize that the classroom is in constant change.  In order to allow all students, the opportunity to be successful, instructors must be considerate about the words they use and the ways in which they organize their classes.  If, for example there is one student of color in a teacher`s class, this person should not become the sole representative for all issues related to their race.  Instructors must be cognizant of the language they use and must be willing to intervene and correct students who may use language that is demining or hurtful to others even if it is unintentional.
 
Samuels provides a number of helpful tips to instructors but acknowledges that becoming more culturally inclusive will not happen overnight and necessitates continual effort and the willingness to learn from one`s mistakes.  Samuels suggests that instructors begin by exploring their own background in an effort to identify their own bias and internalized feelings about certain groups. Because all of us have a gender, race, sexual identity, all of us will have opinions about others whether they have been adopted from popular culture or developed through our own experiences. Samuels recounts many instructors who claim to be “color blind.”  In addition to the impossibility of such as statement, she advocates in favor of seeing and acknowledging color (gender, sexual orientation, etc.) because each of these are components that make up a part of the identity of the students in a classroom and should be acknowledged as a part of who that individual is but clearly people are complex this sole feature should not be their only defining characteristic.  
 
Once the instructor has identified and acknowledged their own biases (this can be done in part by using the Harvard Implicit Association Test; IAT), they can begin the work of inclusivity by challenging these biases. Samuels recounts an interaction with a friend who was going through gender reassignment surgery.  Samuels wanted to be supportive but accidentally referred to the friend by their former gender identity.  Instead of simply ignoring the mistake, she apologized, and her friend was quite understanding.  Without this acknowledgement, her friend may have believed that she did not support the gender change and refused to use the correct pronoun.  In another conversation with a friend of a different race, she describes her friend saying, “I want you to ignore my race, I want you to acknowledge my race, but most of all I want you to be a trustworthy and reliable friend.” 
 
Samuels argues that the acceptance of all students in a classroom is a component of each student`s identity.  By issuing a large portion of one`s grade based on participation immediately provides an advantage to the extroverts in the classroom.  Samuels indicates that teachers need to be more reflective of their practices in and outside of the classroom.  Assigning students, a homework assignment that necessitates an Internet connection at home may exclude those from low-socioeconomic backgrounds who may not have a computer or the ability to pay a monthly fee, some students may not even have a home.  
 
Physical space can also inadvertently cause students to feel like outcasts.  African American students have been found to more actively participate in groups when seas are arranged in tables rather than rows.  Transgender students often do not have a designated place in which they can use the restroom, and school cafeterias may cater their offerings to a dominant group.  While none of these practices intentionally leave out a group of individuals, teachers and administrators need to think deeply about how to create inclusive spaces and the necessity to be open for feedback and the willingness to make necessary changes. 
 
Samuels also touches upon faculty training programs intended to increase faculty awareness of culturally diverse issues.  In many cases, faculty report feeling that they have a culturally inclusive classroom until upon learning more, they realize that they are not fully prepared to facilitate an inclusive classroom.  This may indicate that after training, people actually report feeling less prepared which Samuels counts as a victory, as these faculty members realize the necessity of learning in an effort to create a more inclusive classroom.  Samuels acknowledges that there will be mistakes and setbacks, but rather than count these as failures, we should embrace the mistakes and learn from them so that we make sure that as faculty members all students have an environment where they feel supported and in which they have the best possibility to thrive regardless of their personal characteristics and differences.  She uses the words of Albert Bandura who stated that “Intention is a precursor to action.”  By becoming more cognizant of the biases we may hold, we can become active advocates to create transformative change in classrooms across the country.
 
Other Related Resources
 
Teaching Tolerance:  Speaking Up Without Tearing Down
https://www.kickboardforschools.com/blog/post/5-ways-to-promote-equity-diversity-in-the-classroom
 
5 Ways to promote Equity and Diversity in the Classroom
https://www.kickboardforschools.com/blog/post/5-ways-to-promote-equity-diversity-in-the-classroom
 
Equity Maps:  An app to promote equal class participation and track student responses
https://equitymaps.com
 
Illinois State:  Understanding Microaggressions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPRA4g-3yEk
 
Microaggressions photo project student Kiyun Kim
https://nortonism.tumblr.com/
 
 
Microaggressions in Everyday life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJL2P0JsAS4
 
If Microaggressions happened to White people
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPRA4g-3yEk
 
Love has no Labels
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnDgZuGIhHs
 
 
Psychological Figures and Concepts
Elliott Aronson
Albert Bandura 
Jane Elliott
Claude Steele
Lev Vygotsky
 
Confirmation bias
Emotional intelligence
Explicit bias
Harvard Implicit Associations Test (IAT)
Implicit bias
Microaggressions
Mindfulness
Self-awareness
Self-efficacy
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Social cognitive theory
Social identity
Prejudice
Stereotypes
Stereotype threat