astronomy

Lisa M. Diamond

Lisa M. Diamond is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lisa M. Diamond rather than just read about it. In short: Lisa M. Diamond is an American psychologist and feminist.

Key takeaways

Lisa M. Diamond belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lisa M. Diamond to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lisa M. Diamond from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lisa M. Diamond is an American psychologist and feminist. She is a professor of developmental psychology, health psychology and gender studies at the University of Utah. Her research focuses on sexual orientation development, sexual identity, and bonding. She is best known for her 2008 book, Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women's Love and Desire. In this book, she discusses the fluidity of female sexuality, based on her study of 100 nonheterosexual women over a period of 10 years.

Early life Diamond became interested in feminism after Betty Friedan gave a talk at her high school. She studied feminist theory at the University of Chicago and joined the board of the Chicago National Organization for Women. During this time, she came out as gay and decided to pursue research into homosexuality instead of activism. In 1993, she received her B.A. in psychology from the University of Chicago. She then started graduate work with Ritch Savin-Williams at Cornell University, where she earned her M.A. in 1996, and her Ph.D. in 1999, both in human developmental psychology.

Work At the University of Utah, Diamond was an assistant professor from 1999 to 2005, and an associate professor from 2005 to 2012. She became a professor of psychology and gender studies in 2012. She serves on the editorial boards of Developmental Psychology, Archives of Sexual Behavior, and various other journals. Her research focuses on homosexuality, adolescent females and human bonding. In her studies of sexual fluidity, she has found that some women report variability in their sexual orientation identity. Diamond is clear that sexual orientation is not chosen, but that identity can shift involuntarily for some women. The sexually fluid women she studied did not "experience those changes as willful", and some even resist them. Diamond says that conversion therapy cannot remove same-sex attraction. Describing herself as a feminist scientist, Diamond says "there are a lot of scientists who just cling to the scientific method and believe they are totally objective and I think they are full of bunk. But, I have met a lot of feminists who say there is not a way to collect data without being oppressive, that data has no meaning, the world is socially constructed and I think that is bunk too." Diamond has also researched attachment theory as the basis for love and sexual orientation, and the association between relationships and psychobiological health. Diamond was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award by the APA Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns in 2011; the Distinguished Book Award by the International Association of Relationship Research (IARR) in 2010; and the Distinguished Book Award for her book Sexual Fluidity by the American Psychological Association, Division 44 in 2009. Sexual Fluidity was also a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Literature.

References

External links Diamond at University of Utah (scientific articles to download) Interview (hour-long) on Radio West focusing on Diamond's research on sexual fluidity, 2014 List of Diamond's publications, The University of Utah

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lisa M. Diamond

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lisa M. Diamond claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lisa M. Diamond before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lisa M. Diamond ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lisa M. Diamond

In research: Lisa M. Diamond appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lisa M. Diamond in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lisa M. Diamond is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 21st-century American psychologists, 21st-century American women writers, American LGBTQ scientists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lisa M. Diamond outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lisa M. Diamond in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lisa M. Diamond means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lisa M. Diamond out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lisa M. Diamond in simple terms?

Lisa M. Diamond is an American psychologist and feminist.

Why does Lisa M. Diamond matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lisa M. Diamond?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lisa M. Diamond.