Social adjustment of children with and without learning disabilities in integrated classrooms.

The social adjustment of 46 children with learning disabilities (LDs) and 199 children without LDs who were integrated full-time in 3rd-grade classrooms was examined. No differences were found in the proportions of children with LDs and without LDs across accepted and unpopular sociometric groups. Two thirds of children with LDs had at least 1 reciprocal friend, and more than half had a friendship with a classmate without LDs. Girls with LDs received the highest number of negative nominations and were the least preferred. Group comparisons of socially adjusted and nonadjusted children, with and without LDs, showed that teachers perceived the socially adjusted children with LDs to be less socially and academically competent than adjusted children with LDs. Results are discussed in terms of the effects of educational setting and classroom composition on children's social adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in influenceability.

Examines the hypothesis that women are more influenceable than men in a variety of situations. For persuasion research and for conformity studies not involving group pressure, there is scant empirical support for a sex difference, and for group pressure conformity research, there is support among a substantial minority of studies. Also explored is the possibility that various sex differences in social influence studies are a product of contextual features of experimental settings. This is suggested by the fact that findings reporting greater influenceability among females were more prevalent in studies published prior to 1970 than in those published in the 1970s. Finally, sex differences in various psychological processes that may mediate persuasion and conformity are evaluated as possible explanations for those influenceability sex differences that appear to be genuine. It is suggested that a propensity to yield inherent in the female sex role appears to account for some aspects of influenceability findings, but a 2nd explanation, a tendency for women more than men to be oriented to interpersonal goals in group settings, is also plausible. (7? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in learning mathematics: A longitudinal study with item and error analyses.

In a longitudinal study we examined children's mathematics performance on assessment tests given at third and sixth grades. We contrasted successful performance on six categories of items by sex and by grade. We also evaluated unsuccessful performance by means of analyses of errors on individual problems. Two primary results of the study were that girls exhibit an advantage at third grade that disappears by sixth grade and that consistent sex-related errors are observed at both grades. We give an explanation of observed sex differences based on cognitive psychology, with particular attention to how mathematical knowledge is acquired and stored and to the role of automaticity in problem solving. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological research on race differences.

Responds to the discussion by A. H. Yee et al (see record 1994-09250-001) of A. R. Jensen's (e.g., see record 1986-18910-001) research on racial differences in abilities and states that the references to Jensen's work are dated. Jensen notes more recent research (Jensen and P. A. Whang; see PA, Vol 81:1181 and 20927) and provides an explanation for his research focus on Black–White differences in cognitive abilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in health and illness.

The literature on sex differences in illness and disease was examined. Although some biologic sex differences are thought to exist, the overlap between the sexes precluded separation of the sexes for treatment or control of problem conditions. Statistics Canada data on mental illness among males and females in Canada were also examined, and deficiencies in available information were discussed. Most notably lacking were statistics on the use of outpatient mental health services. A number of recommendations were made regarding the collection of Canadian mental health statistics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in monitoring performance.

220 male and 220 female undergraduates monitored a visual display for 1 hr. Although the results indicate females were poorer monitors, detecting 10% fewer signals and committing more false alarms, these sex differences accounted for only 4% of the variance of detection performance and less than 1% of the variance of the false alarm measure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences and adolescent depression.

This study investigates the role of certain psychosocial variables—sex, age, body image/self-esteem, self-consciousness, stressful life events, and the degree to which an individual identifies with the cultural stereotype of masculinity—as correlates and antecedents to depression in adolescents and explores possible intraindividual mediators of the stress–depression relationship in adolescents. A battery of self-report measures was administered to public high school students in Grades 9–12 in their classrooms at two different times 1 month apart. Female adolescents reported more depressive symptoms, self-consciousness, stressful recent events, feminine attributes, and negative body image and self-esteem; no age effects were obtained. Results suggest a model of adolescent depression in which body image/self-esteem and stressful recent events are significant contributors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in problem solving.

Used a 20-item set of problems (similar to those used by E. Sweeney [1953]) in 9 experiments with 558 male and 578 female undergraduates to determine which sex was superior in problem solving, the role of previous experience, whether sex differences extended throughout the domain of problem-solving tasks, whether they extended to other word problems, the role of spatial ability and verbal ability, the role of mathematics aptitude, and the relative importance of aptitude and social learning variables. Results show that the male advantage, averaging 35% across experiments, persisted at the same level as in experiments conducted in the 1950's. Sex differences extended to other word problems. The male advantage was related to similar advantages in spatial and mathematical ability. Aptitude variables dominated attitude and mathematics experience variables in accounting for the sex difference. (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in altruistic behavior.

Assessed helping and donation behavior in 35 female and 35 male White middle-class 5th graders. Results reveal (a) no significant differences between male and female donation behavior, (b) significantly more helping behavior from females, and (c) no significant correlations between donation and helping behavior. Since helping behavior was only observed in situations with same-sexed younger children, future investigations should include both opposite- and same-sexed pairs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in job satisfaction.

Measures of 5 separate aspects of job satisfaction gathered from 295 male workers and 163 female workers drawn from 4 different plants were analyzed with respect to the mean job satisfaction for the male and female workers. T2 analyses indicated that in 3 plants the female workers were significantly less satisfied than their male counterparts (p     

Sex differences and variations in body attitudes.

Tested several hypotheses about the relationship between body attitude and sex membership with 89 male and 80 female undergraduates. 3 separate body attitudes corresponding to Osgood's 3 attitudinal dimensions were measured by the semantic differential on 30 different body concepts. Results indicate that women not only like their bodies better than men but also have a more clearly differentiated notion of what they like and dislike about their bodies. Men on the other hand judge their bodies as more potent and more active than women. (25 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in empathy and related capacities.

Reviews the literature on sex differences in empathy (defined as vicarious affective responding to the emotional state of another) and related capacities (affective role taking and decoding of nonverbal cues). The literature is discussed according to method used to assess empathy and affective role taking. Where appropriate, meta-analyses were also computed. In general, sex differences in empathy were found to be a function of the methods used to assess empathy. There was a large sex difference favoring women when the measure of empathy was self-report scales; moderate differences (favoring females) were found for reflexive crying and self-report measures in laboratory situations; and no sex differences were evident when the measure of empathy was either physiological or unobtrusive observations of nonverbal reactions to another's emotional state. Moreover, few sex differences were found for children's affective role taking and decoding abilities. (156 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in verbal and play fantasy.

Investigated 2 types of fantasy productions by 45 male and female 3-6 yr olds and by 47 male and female 11-12 yr olds. At the age of entering school, it was found that boys and girls did not differ in the deprivation-enhancement pattern of their verbal fantasies. However, sex-related differences were clearly evident among preadolescents. Fantasy involving dramatic play productions, however, revealed such differences among Ss of both age groups both in the play material selected and in the spatial configurations and thematic content of the productions. Findings are discussed in terms of boys' and girls' sexual identity, as this derives from feelings about their own bodies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in empathy and related behaviors.

According to the prevailing cultural stereotype as well as various psychological theories, empathy (the vicarious affective response to another person's feelings) is more prevalent in females than in males. A review of the research indicates that females do indeed appear to be more empathic than males. They do not appear to be more adept at assessing another person's affective, cognitive, or spatial perspective, however. There is also evidence to suggest that empathy in females may be part of a prosocial affective orientation that includes the tendency to experience guilt over harming others, but it does not, at least in early childhood, appear to be part of a larger interpersonal sensitivity that includes egocentric concerns about the feelings of others toward the self. It is suggested that females may have greater tendency to imagine themelves in the other's place, whereas males have more of a set toward instrumental ameliorative action. (71 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex and anxiety differences in eyelid conditioning.

Data concerning the relationship between eyelid conditioning performance and 2 S variables, Ss' sex, and scores on the MA scale, are examined. In studies employing standard procedures, high-anxiety Ss were superior to low-anxiety Ss in 23 of 27 comparisons, and females superior to males in 18 of 19 comparisons. In contrast, the direction of the differences was split approximately equally between high- and low-anxiety Ss and between males and females in studies in which conditioning was presented within the context of masking probability-learning task. (31 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The complexity of learning disabilities.

Reviews the book, Learning about learning disabilities (2nd ed.) by B. Wong (1998). This book is a reasonably comprehensive survey of the state of the art. The book has many worthwhile chapters and will be of interest to advanced-level students, investigators, and clinicians in the field. This book is intended for advanced undergraduate or graduate students. It is a collection of chapters; the individual chapters are quite good but the authors of these individual chapters appear not to have read the other chapters. The student using this book and even the more seasoned investigator or clinician familiar with the field will find it very frustrating that there is no synthesis across chapters. Students reading this book will not have the background knowledge and sophistication of the authors of these chapters. Although it is suggested that this be used as a textbook, it is missing some very important information, and there is not much synthesis. I think that some students may become frustrated at the lack of both integration and consistency among the diverse chapters. There is a technical problem in that a significant number of bibliographic entries are incorrect. Compiling a reference list is tedious but not to have an accurate one is frustrating to the reader who may want to consult some of the references. No book is perfect. However, this book is an interesting balance of many positive and some troublesome features. It is comprehensive and provides a view of a fascinating field. The authors and editor are to be congratulated for their efforts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age and race differences in the trajectories of self-esteem.

The purpose of this research was to assess age- and race-based variation in within-persons changes in self-esteem over a 16-year period. We used hierarchical linear modeling with data from 3,617 adults 25 years of age and older who were interviewed up to 4 times. Self-esteem increased, on average, over the course of the study period. At the same time, significant age variations around this trend were observed, with younger adults experiencing increases in self-esteem and older adults experiencing decreases. In general, race differences were not evident with respect to average levels or rates of change in self-esteem. However, a significant Age × Race interaction suggested that late-life declines in self-esteem were steeper for Blacks compared with Whites. These findings suggest the presence of age- and race-based stratification with respect to self-esteem. Future work in this area should examine the health and well-being effects of declining self-esteem during old age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in learning and memory in mice: Effects of sequence of testing and cholinergic blockade.

Sexual dimorphism in spatial and cued navigation using the Morris water maze was examined in C57BL/6 mice both with and without administration of scopolamine, a cholinergic blocker. In Exp 1, female and male mice learned to perform first a spatial, then a cued, navigation task. Both performed a spatial task similarly; males, however, performed a cued task better than females. In Exp 2, the sequence of navigation testing was reversed. Both performed similarly on a cued task; however, males performed a spatial task better than females. In both experiments, females were more sensitive than males to the effects of scopolamine. No significant confounding sex differences were found in either spontaneous activity or passive avoidance retention. These data indicate that sex differences in spatial and cued tasks are dependent on the sequence of task presentation and implicate a role for the cholinergic system in these differences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Phyletic differences in learning.

It was hypothesized for many years that "the laws of learning were the same everywhere in the animal series… . It is difficult for the nonspecialist to appreciate quite how restricted has been the range of animals studied in experiments on animal learning because the restriction is so marked." Selected animal research is reviewed and a table is presented indicating behavior of a variety of animals in 4 classes of problem, (spatial reversal, spatial probability, visual reversal and visual probability) which differentiate rat and fish. Animals specified in the table are monkey, rat, pigeon, turtle, decorticated rat, fish, cockroach, and earthworm. Behavior of each kind of animal is evaluated in terms of its similarity to the behavior of 1 or the other of these 2 reference animals (rat and fish). This serves "as a summary of results already obtained" and "as a guide to further research." Systematic parametric variation is still of significance in comparative research; but "the table will save us some parametric effort in certain regions." An expanded table of this sort "will provide some useful clues to the evolution of intelligence and its relation to the evolution of the brain." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Regression, heritability, and race differences in IQ.

Suggests that there are 2 distinct sources (mean differences and regression coefficient differences) to be considered when interpreting between-race real regression differences in IQ. Although race differences in mean IQ producing differential regression effects alone are not evidence of clear genetic or environmental factors, between-race differences in real absolute regression associated with differential regression coefficients are potentially suggestive of such interpretations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)