小学生言语能力及其发展倾向的性别差异研究

本研究探讨了二、四、六年级小学生言语能力的性别差异的表现特征。结果表明,在言语记忆能力和言语阅读理解能力上没有表现出性别差异,而言语表达能力表现出显着的性别差异,女生的言语优势在四年级开始明显化,其发展倾向表现为随年龄增长而增大。     

情绪加工的性别差异及神经机制

已有研究表明, 情绪加工存在显著性别差异。这主要表现为女性人群具有情绪识别优势, 更好的情绪记忆能力与更强的负性情绪易感性。此外, 情绪加工的性别差异也表现为情绪调节过程的不同：相比男性, 女性更善于抑制情绪行为, 却较难通过认知策略调节负性情绪。情绪加工的性别差异有重要生理基础, 与情绪脑结构, 荷尔蒙水平的男女差异有关。同时, 情绪加工的性别差异同女性更高的情绪障碍易感性有着密切联系：不善于调节负性情绪, 及更强的消极情绪易感性可能是女性更易患情绪障碍的重要原因。从情绪加工角度探讨情绪障碍的性别差异及其原因, 对于情绪障碍的预防和治疗具有重要意义。     

认知功能的性别差异

我们了概述认知功能的性别差异, 尤其是情节记忆功能的性别差异。已有的研究结果表明女性在言语生成、情节记忆、面孔识别任务中比男性存在明显的优势, 而男性的优势则表现在视空间任务中, 如视空间情节记忆任务。本文批判性地讨论了一个流行的假设: 类固醇激素影响认知功能的性别差异, 得出的结论是内源性睾丸激素或雌二醇均未显著影响认知功能的性别差异。     

认知特征、场独立性与飞行空间定向关系的研究

通过认知分化测验（ＣＬＢ）、团体镶嵌图形测验（ＧＥＦＴ）以及飞行定向水平的模糊评价技术,旨在检验认知特征、场独立性和飞行空间定向水平之间的关系。研究结果表明;（１）高水平的视觉空间认知能力及较强的场独立性特征不仅有助于获得一个良好的飞行定向水平,而且还构成了预测定向水平差异的有效指标;（２）场独立性特征与空间认知特征之间存在着一个很高的相关。具有较强场独立性特征的飞行员往往也具有较为典型的空间认知特征;（３）错觉水平较低的飞行员与中、重度错觉水平组飞行员在空间认知、认知分化和场独立性上的得分分别构成了显著的差异,表明轻度组飞行员在空间定向中表现出了良好的视觉空间信息组织、加工和某些元认知技能方面的优势。研究结果进一步证明了视觉空间认知加工和场独立性水平与飞行空间定向之间的紧密关系。     

儿童自我控制研究述评

儿童自我控制指的是儿童对优势反应的抑制和劣势反应的唤起的能力.文章概述了近年来国外该领域研究的一些主要成果及研究动态,包括自控涵义上的争论、早期发生的认知基础及其表现、稳定性与性别差异上的表现、注意及语言与自控的关系、父母抚养方式对自控形成的影响等.最后,对该领域未来的发展趋势作了展望.     

汉、藏、东乡族中学生智力观的跨文化比较研究

通过对甘肃汉、藏、东乡族中学生智力观的研究,发现各民族中学生对智力主要特征的理解具有跨文化的一致性;但在一些特征上表现出文化差别;汉族初二学生与藏、东乡族初二学生在“逻辑思维能力”、“想象力”、“社会适应力”等项上存在着显着差异;各民族高二组学生对智力主要特征的理解趋于一致;汉族被试在“想象力”,藏族、东乡族在“自信”这一特征上存在性别差异.     

熟练双语者负性情绪干扰下的认知优势效应:来自2-back的证据

熟练双语者在空间工作记忆中存在认知优势,但是在负性情绪干扰下熟练双语者在空间工作记忆中是否存在认知优势尚不清楚。空间工作记忆和负性情绪均以大脑右半球为优势脑区,加工效能理论认为空间工作记忆和负性情绪的加工使用同样的认知资源。研究采用情绪空间2-back任务,探究在负性情绪刺激干扰下的空间工作记忆任务中熟练双语者是否存在认知优势。结果表明,熟练双语者在该任务中表现出比非熟练双语者更高的正确率和更短的反应时。这一结果说明,尽管存在负性情绪刺激的干扰,相比非熟练双语者,熟练双语者在空间工作记忆中仍然表现出了认知优势。     

触觉时序知觉手臂交叉效应的性别差异

本研究探讨触觉时序知觉的手臂交叉效应是否存在性别差异。通过两个实验在较短和较长的SOA条件下考察男性和女性被试在基于体觉和基于外部空间的触觉时序判断任务中的表现。结果表明,男性与女性被试在基于体觉和基于外部空间的触觉时序判断任务中均存在手臂交叉效应,SOA较短时男性被试的手臂交叉效应显著小于女性被试,但在SOA较长的条件下手臂交叉效应没有明显的性别差异。触觉时序知觉手臂交叉效应的性别差异可能与空间知觉能力和生理解剖学因素有关。     

比较研究-影响中美儿童计算能力差异的认知因素

本研究要确定中美儿童基本计算技能的差异是否与他们使用的解题策略和基本加工过程的速度有关。为此,对中美两国的一年级儿童进行了书面计算能力测验,以及一组计算机呈现的加法作业。中国儿童在计算能力测验上表现出3:1的操作优势。中美儿童使用的解题策略种类一样,但是,中国儿童在策略综合运用的发展程度上超过美国儿童,检索策略的加工速度也超过美国儿童。显然,策略运用和加工速度的差异促成了中国儿童在计算能力测验上的优势.     

对恶性肿瘤性别差异的再认识

恶性肿瘤性别差异表现在发病率、预后、治疗等多方面.生理结构、生活方式、工作、性格等流行病学因素是造成恶性肿瘤性别差异的外因,性激素及其受体研究在一定程度上解释了性别差异的本质,且为恶性肿瘤的内分泌治疗提供了理论依据.随着分子生物学技术发展,基因多态、分子突变等深入研究成果揭示更深层次的原因.     

语言线索下视觉空间知觉任务的性别差异

为了探索不同方位辨别方式的男女差异,采用自编的经过心理测量学检测符合指标的空间知觉量表和三个语言线索下方位辨别任务范式实验,在测验和实验3中设计两种空间知觉加工方式,即东西南北和前后左右;在实验1中设计东西南北;在实验2中设计前后左右。测验,实验1和实验3均发现,在东西南北方位辨别上存在显著的性别差异,且男生优于女生;测验,实验2和实验3均发现,在前后左右方位辨别上不存在显著的性别差异。这表明男生更擅长于使用东西南北的方位辨别方式。     

Infant visual habituation and parental psychological distress

Research is equivocal concerning the relationship between parental psychological distress and infant cognitive functioning. Four potential limitations of the literature are addressed: reliance on mothers' but not fathers' psychological distress, use of categorical measures of psychological distress, use of standardized measures of infant cognitive functioning, and failure to take into account potential gender differences. Ninety‐nine twin pairs and both their mothers and fathers were assessed. Infants cognitive functioning was assessed using an infant‐controlled habituation–recovery–dishabituation task. Maternal and paternal psychological distress was assessed using the Symptom Check List‐90‐Revised. No gender differences were obtained for infant visual information‐processing abilities or parental psychological distress. Maternal and paternal psychological distress was related to female visual encoding abilities only. It was concluded that parental psychological distress might degrade parent–infant interactions. Characteristics of girls when faced with parents exhibiting psychiatric difficulties may exacerbate difficulties of parent–infant interactions, thereby hindering the full development of cognitive abilities involved in the process of habituation. A need exists to examine the relationship between parental psychological distress and infant visual attention separately for girls and boys. ©2001 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Task control and cognitive abilities of self and spouse in collaboration in middle-aged and older couples

Collaborative problem solving may be used by older couples to optimize cognitive functioning, with some suggestion that older couples exhibit greater collaborative expertise. The study explored age differences in 2 aspects of collaborative expertise: spouses' knowledge of their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities and the ability to fit task control to these cognitive abilities. The participants were 300 middle-aged and older couples who completed a hypothetical errand task. The interactions were coded for control asserted by husbands and wives. Fluid intelligence was assessed, and spouses rated their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities. The results revealed no age differences in couple expertise, either in the ability to predict their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities or in the ability to fit task control to abilities. However, gender differences were found. Women fit task control to their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities; men only fit task control to their spouse's cognitive abilities. For women only, the fit between control and abilities was associated with better performance. The results indicate no age differences in couple expertise but point to gender as a factor in optimal collaboration.     

Differences in Gender and Ethnicity as Measured by Ratings of Three Writing Tasks

The issue of racial/ethnic and gender differences in intelligence and academic abilities is fiercely and frequently debated, yet the examination of these differences in creativity is less studied. Our goal in this study was to use the Consensual Assessment Technique, in which experts judge a product's creativity, to examine differences in creativity among gender and ethnic groups. We conducted three separate analyses in which 13 experts rated 103 poems, 104 fictional stories, and 103 personal narratives written by Caucasian, African American, Latino/a, and Asian eighth‐grade students. There were no significant African American‐Caucasian differences on any of the writing tasks and there were no gender differences on all three tasks. The only significant differences in the creativity ratings on any of the tasks occurred in poetry, between the Latino/ a‐Caucasian groups and Latino/a‐Asian groups. Implications and future directions are discussed.     

Gender differences in remembering and inferring spatial distances

The abilities of males and females to make spatial inferences were compared. Spatial inference is concerned with the ability to work out new spatial information from memory. In two experiments, participants had to study line drawings depicting shapes linked either by straight or meandering lines. Afterwards, they had to remember the straight-line distances or to infer the straight-line distances. Several spatial abilities were also assessed: perceptual discrimination, mental rotation, and visuo-spatial working memory span. The results showed that males outperformed females in spatial inference and mental rotation. Experiment 2 extended the study to old people. The results replicated and clarified those obtained in Experiment 1. Spatial inference and mental rotation showed age-related and gender-related differences; in addition, age reduced the visuo-spatial memory span. Overall, the findings suggest that gender differences favouring males are maximised with tasks requiring active processing and strategic control of metric information.     

Gender differences in remembering and inferring spatial distances

The abilities of males and females to make spatial inferences were compared. Spatial inference is concerned with the ability to work out new spatial information from memory. In two experiments, participants had to study line drawings depicting shapes linked either by straight or meandering lines. Afterwards, they had to remember the straight-line distances or to infer the straight-line distances. Several spatial abilities were also assessed: perceptual discrimination, mental rotation, and visuo-spatial working memory span. The results showed that males outperformed females in spatial inference and mental rotation. Experiment 2 extended the study to old people. The results replicated and clarified those obtained in Experiment 1. Spatial inference and mental rotation showed age-related and gender-related differences; in addition, age reduced the visuo-spatial memory span. Overall, the findings suggest that gender differences favouring males are maximised with tasks requiring active processing and strategic control of metric information.     

The role of social‐cognitive abilities in preschoolers' aggressive behaviour

This study investigated the relationship between preschool children's social‐cognitive abilities (theory of mind and social information processing; SIP) and their observed physical and relational aggressive behaviour. Children with more advanced social‐cognitive abilities engaged in fewer acts of physical aggression; however, much of the ability of the social‐cognitive variables to predict physical aggression was shared with language ability. In addition, social‐cognitive understanding moderated the connection between language ability and physical aggression. Exploratory examination of gender differences in patterns of association between physical aggression and the social cognitive understanding variables revealed that the relationships were only true for boys. Relational aggression was not associated with social cognitive ability for either boys or girls, but this is likely due to the low frequency of relationally aggressive behaviour observed in this sample.     

Gender differences in memory processing: evidence from event-related potentials to faces

This study investigated gender differences on memory processing using event-related potentials (ERPs). Behavioral data and ERPs were recorded in 16 males and 10 females during a recognition memory task for faces. The behavioral data results showed that females performed better than males. Gender differences on ERPs were evidenced over anterior locations and involve the modulation of two spatially and temporally distinct components. These results are in general accordance with the view that males and females differ in the cognitive strategies they use to process information. Specifically, they could differ in their abilities to maintain information over interference and in the processing of the intrinsic contextual attributes of items, respectively, associated with the modulation of two anterior components. These interpretations lend support to the view that processing in females entails more detailed elaboration of information content than in males. Processing in males is more likely driven by schemas or overall information theme.     

Psychopathological and Behavior Impairments in Williams-Beuren Syndrome: The Influence of Gender,Chronological Age,and Cognition

The aim of this study was to explore psychopathological and behavior impairments in Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS) by focusing on individual differences rather than group tendencies. Parent/Guardian ratings on the Child Behavior Checklist were analyzed in order to examine the influence of gender, chronological age, and cognitive abilities on psychopathological impairment within WBS. In line with predictions, and consistent with cognitive heterogeneity in WBS, psychopathological and behavioral abnormalities were variable, with gender and specific cognitive abilities making significant and independent contributions to this variance. For gender, females were significantly more likely than males with WBS to display difficulties with externalizing problems. For specific cognitive abilities, those cognitive functions characteristic of the classic WBS cognitive profile (a strength in verbal skills and a weakness in spatial skills) related to significantly greater internalizing difficulties. Future studies should explore underlying genetic and neurological differences in individuals with WBS in order to help explain the variability in psychopathological and cognitive functions.     

The Dimensions of Human Physical Performance: Factor Analysis of Strength,Stamina, Flexibility,and Body Composition Measures

Based on a review of the literature on exercise physiology and on factor analy- sis of individual differences in physical task performance, confirmatory and principal axis factor analyses were carried out on tests selected or designed to cover a wide range of physical abilities. Tests were selected to test certain hy- potheses about the nature and definitions of abilities accounting for individ- ual differences in physical task performance. Tests were administered to 206 subjects, ages 19-36, including 102 men and 104 women. The results confirmed earlier findings of Fleishman and his associates and clarified and ex- tended these earlier results regarding the nature and definition of physical abilities. The six-factor model supported included Static Strength, Dynamic Strength, Explosive Strength, and Bunk Strength, Stamina (cardiovascular endurance), and Flexibility. A common factor structure was found for men and women. Percent of body fat was found to relate to performance in some physical abilities (Stamina and Dynamic Strength) but not to others, and the relations were found only for the male sample. The results demonstrate the need to partial out the effects of gender differences from correlations among strength tests when examining the factor structure of physical test batteries; without partialling out such gender differences, more general or highly correl- ated factors are obtained, due mainly to sex differences in performance. Partialling out those differences due to gender results in more highly differentiated factors. Guidelines for selecting those physical ability tests that are most diagnostic of the different physical abilities, for men and for women were indicated. Evidence regarding the relevance of these and other physical ability constructs for the analysis of occupational tasks, and for the prediction of performance in physically demanding jobs is presented.