Gender, academic achievement, and preferences for cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning among African-American adolescents.

In this study, we investigated the relationships among gender, academic achievement, and student preferences for cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning in a sample of 136 African-American adolescents enrolled in sixth and seventh grades in a school in Georgia. We used the Learning Preference Scale for Students (LPSS; Barnes, Owens, & Straton, 1978) to measure cooperative, competitive, and individualistic preferences. Three two-way ANOVAs (Gender x Academic Achievement) were conducted, in which the three learning preferences were the dependent variables. Gender had a significant effect on the preference for cooperative learning, with girls reporting a higher preference for this method than boys did. For the other two learning preferences, no significant gender differences were found. Academic achievement did not correlate significantly with any of the three learning preferences. A two-way interaction between gender and academic achievement was observed for competitive learning preferences. Girls' preferences for competition increased as academic achievement increased; boys' preferences for competition decreased as academic achievement increased.     

Temperament and self‐based correlates of cooperative,competitive and individualistic learning preferences

People vary in the extent to which they prefer cooperative, competitive or individualistic achievement tasks. In this research, we conducted two studies designed to investigate correlates and possible roots of these social interdependence orientations, namely approach and avoidance temperament, general self‐efficacy, implicit theories of intelligence, and contingencies of self‐worth based in others' approval, competition and academic competence. The results indicated that approach temperament, general self‐efficacy and incremental theory were positively related, and entity theory was negatively related to cooperative preferences (|r| range from .11 to .41); approach temperament, general self‐efficacy, competition contingencies and academic competence contingencies were positively related to competitive preferences (|r| range from .16 to .46); and avoidance temperament, entity theory, competitive contingencies and academic competence contingencies were positively related, and incremental theory was negatively related to individualistic preferences (|r| range from .09 to .15). The findings are discussed with regard to the meaning of each of the three social interdependence orientations, cultural differences among the observed relations and implications for practitioners.     

The Impact of Constructive Controversy on Moral Development

We examined the effects of a constructive controversy compared with individualistic learning on 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th‐grade students' (N = 56) moral development, ethical skills, academic achievement, and attitudes toward social interdependence. The results indicated that participating in constructive controversy (compared with individualistic learning) resulted in greater moral development (i.e., moral reasoning, moral motivation, moral character), greater ethical skills (i.e., perspective taking, perception of self as a moral person, rule orientation), higher academic achievement, and more positive attitudes toward competition. These results extend constructive controversy theory, as well as Piagetian and social interdependent theories. They also provide guidance as to how discussions of moral dilemmas and conflicts among students should be structured and conducted.     

Relationships Among Cooperative Learning Experiences,Social Interdependence,Children's Aggression,Victimization, and Prosocial Behaviors

This study examined the relationships among cooperative experiences, social interdependence predispositions, harm‐intended aggression, victimization, and prosocial behaviors with 217 elementary school children from 3^rd to 5^th grade. Path analysis using LISREL indicates that cooperative experiences predicted cooperative predispositions, the absence of individualistic predispositions, and prosocial behaviors. Cooperative predisposition predicted prosocial behaviors and the absence of harm‐intended aggression. Competitive predisposition predicted harm‐intended aggression. These findings validate social interdependence theory and partially support theories related to social dominance. Providing frequent cooperative learning experiences may be an important tool to increase students' cooperativeness and thereby reduce the frequency of harm‐intended aggression, increase the frequency of prosocial behaviors, and reduce students' individualistic predispositions.     

Promoting early adolescents' achievement and peer relationships: the effects of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic goal structures

Emphasizing the developmental need for positive peer relationships, in this study the authors tested a social-contextual view of the mechanisms and processes by which early adolescents' achievement and peer relationships may be promoted simultaneously. Meta-analysis was used to review 148 independent studies comparing the relative effectiveness of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic goal structures in promoting early adolescents' achievement and positive peer relationships. These studies represented over 8 decades of research on over 17,000 early adolescents from 11 countries and 4 multinational samples. As predicted by social interdependence theory, results indicate that higher achievement and more positive peer relationships were associated with cooperative rather than competitive or individualistic goal structures. Also as predicted, results show that cooperative goal structures were associated with a positive relation between achievement and positive peer relationships. Implications for theory and application are discussed.     

Influence of gender constancy and social power on sex-linked modeling

Competing predictions derived from cognitive-developmental theory and social learning theory concerning sex-linked modeling were tested. In cognitive-developmental theory, gender constancy is considered a necessary prerequisite for the emulation of same-sex models, whereas according to social learning theory, sex-role development is promoted through a vast system of social influences with modeling serving as a major conveyor of sex role information. In accord with social learning theory, even children at a lower level of gender conception emulated same-sex models in preference to opposite-sex ones. Level of gender constancy was associated with higher emulation of both male and female models rather than operating as a selective determinant of modeling. This finding corroborates modeling as a basic mechanism in the sex-typing process. In a second experiment we explored the limits of same-sex modeling by pitting social power against the force of collective modeling of different patterns of behavior by male and female models. Social power over activities and rewarding resources produced cross-sex modeling in boys, but not in girls. This unexpected pattern of cross-sex modeling is explained by the differential sex-typing pressures that exist for boys and girls and socialization experiences that heighten the attractiveness of social power for boys.     

The effects of task and resource interdependence on achievement and social support: an exploratory study of Italian children

The relative efficacy of positive task interdependence, positive resource interdependence, and individualistic learning were compared with achievement and academic and personal social support. The authors randomly assigned to conditions 66 7th-grade Italian students with no previous experience in cooperative learning. They participated in 6 90-min instructional sessions dealing with the dangers of smoking, alcohol, and drugs. The results indicated that students assigned to the task-interdependence and resource-interdependence conditions achieved higher and perceived greater peer academic support than did students working individually. Students in the resource-interdependence condition showed a higher perception of peer personal support than students assigned to the other conditions.     

Egocentrism and classroom adjustment

This study examined the relationship between persistent egocentrism and adjustment status in normal school children. Fifty-three fourth-graders (33 males, 20 females) were administered measures of egocentrism and peer sociometric status, and indices of classroom adjustment were obtained from teachers. Degree of egocentrism was shown to correlate with classroom adjustment for both boys and girls and with peer group status for boys. The pattern of correlations suggested that the negative consequences of persistent egocentrism were different for the two sexes, with high egocentrism associated with shy, anxious behavior for girls and acting-out and learning difficulties for boys.The authors wish to thank Michael Chandler for his invaluable assistance. Gratitude is also expressed to Jeffrey Frost, Rana Gordan, Joyce Kramer, Peter Moshbach, Katie Pelz, Robert Rosen, Jane Scheibel, and Harley Sobin for their help in the collection of the data, and to the administration, staff, and pupils of the Paddy Hill Elementary School, Greece, New York.     

Sex differences and the own-gender bias in face recognition: A meta-analytic review

We review the literature on sex differences and the own-gender bias in face recognition. By means of a meta-analysis, we found that girls and women remember more faces than boys and men do (g=0.36), and more female faces (g=0.55), but not more male faces (g=0.08); however, when only male faces are presented, girls and women outperform boys and men (g=0.22). In addition, there is female own-gender bias (g=0.57), but not a male own-gender bias (g= ? 0.03), showing that girls and women remember more female than male faces. It is argued that girls and women have an advantage in face processing and episodic memory, resulting in sex differences for faces, and that the female own-gender bias may stem from an early perceptual expertise for female faces, which may be strengthened by reciprocal interactions and psychological processes directing girls' and women's interest to other females.     

Teachers' and pupils' definitions of bullying

Background. Comparison of teachers' and pupils' definitions of bullying is important for considering the implications for reports of its incidence in schools, for the study of developmental trends in children's and adolescents' perceptions of the phenomenon and for evaluating the effectiveness of interventions designed to combat bullying. Aims. To investigate the effects of gender, teacher/pupil status and, for pupils, bullied/non‐bullied (target/non‐target) status and age on the definition of bullying. Samples. Teachers (N = 225: 158 women, 67 men) and pupils (N = 1,820: 466 boys, 460 girls were 11–12 years old, year 7, and 415 boys, 479 girls were 13–14 years, year 9) in 51 UK secondary schools participated in a questionnaire survey. A total of 557 of the pupils (117 girls and 117 boys aged 11–12 years, and 197 girls and 126 boys aged 13–14 years) reported that they had been bullied at some time in their present school. Methods. Written questionnaire responses to the question, ‘Say what you think bullying is’ have been content analysed to derive two sets of categories, one of bullying behaviour and the other of effects of bullying on the target. Results. Regarding both bullying behaviour and the effects of bullying on the target, teachers – by comparison with pupils – have been found to express more comprehensive ideas in their definitions. Specifically, pupils compared with teachers are more likely to restrict their definitions to direct bullying (verbal and/or physical abuse) and are less likely to refer to social exclusion, a power imbalance in the bully's favour and the bully's intention to cause the target hurt or harm and to feel threatened. Analysis of definitions on the bases of sex, pupil age and target/non‐target status show that: targets are more likely than non‐targets are to refer to the bully's physically and verbally abusive behaviour, and for Year 7 compared with Year 9 pupils, to suggest that bullies socially exclude targets; girls are more likely than boys are to mention verbal abuse and the effects on the target of ‘Feels hurt/harm’, but boys are more likely than girls are to construe bullying as involving repetition; older pupils are more likely than younger ones are to refer to a power imbalance in the bully's favour but, for bully targets, younger ones compared with older ones are more likely to invoke the idea of social exclusion in their definitions. Conclusions. The most important implication of the findings of this study that there are important differences between teachers' and pupils' definitions of bullying is that teachers need to listen carefully to what pupils have to say about bullying and work with and help them to develop their conceptions of the phenomenon. Some teachers, too, need to develop their conceptions of bullying.     

Sex differences in educational outcomes: A cross-national study

Through their organization and curricula, schools either promote separate roles for males and females or operate to minimize differences. This study describes sex differences in science and reading achievement and attitudes for nationwide samples of 14-year-old children in the United States, Sweden, and England. There are largely the same sex differences in all three countries: Male and female pupils have similar reading skills, while girls have more positive reading habits; males outperform females in science, with the smallest difference observed for biology; males have more positive attitudes toward science, except that females believe science to be at least as important a topic as boys do. There is no noteworthy increase in sex distinctions with one more year of schooling, from grade 8 to grade 9. However, in English coeducational schools, girls show a deceleration in science and vocabulary achievement relative to their male peers. Girls in English one-sex schools exceed their male counterparts in reading and several science subjects. It is hypothesized that the role of successful female teachers and peers, and the absence of social pressure from boys, may facilitate girls' learning in these areas. A study is proposed of specific school practices and the ways in which they determine sex discrepancies.An earlier version of this article was presented to the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, April 1976. The author is grateful to Heidi Wolfstetter-Kausch for assistance in researching background material for the article.     

The effects of father absence on children's achievement motivation,ego-strength,and locus-of-control orientation: A five-year longitudinal assessment

Predictions of reductions in children's achievement motivation, educational aspirations and interpersonal orientation due to early and prolonged father absence were investigated. To test these predictions, 120 father-present and 120 father-absent male and female children (aged 10 years) were assessed on measures of achievement motivation and related interpersonal orientation scales. A five-year longitudinal follow-up of 85 father-absent and 85 father-present subjects was carried out to assess subjects' later development. A multivariate analysis using a repeated measures design showed that father-absent subjects, compared to father-present subjects, declined in achievement motivation dimensions of competitiveness, desire for mastery, perseverance and willingness to endure negative consequences. They showed a corresponding increase in negative ego-strength dimensions of social alienation and self-centredness. The results indicated that father-absent boys and girls changed differently in psychosocial dimensions over time and father absence had more adverse effects on boys than girls. Educational and developmental implications of the longitudinal analysis are discussed.     

Family and ability correlates of academic achievement

Relationships were examined among family social status, family learning environments, intellectual ability, and the mathematics and word achievement of boys and girls. Data were collected from 516 (250 boys, 266 girls) 11-yr.-old Australian children and their parents. Analysis indicated that the relationships between the predictor and achievement variables varied for boys and girls and differed depending on the achievement measure being examined. Generally, the family and ability measures combined to have large associations with word scores, while intellectual ability was the only significant predictor of mathematics achievement.     

Career Aspirations of Adolescent Girls: Effects of Achievement Level,Grade, and Single-Sex School Environment

The career aspirations of high-achieving adolescent girls were explored by comparing them to the aspirations of adolescent boys as well as by looking at the influence of grade in school, achievement level, and an all-girls school environment. The participants' ideal and real career aspirations, scored in terms of prestige, were investigated via 2 sets of analyses , with coed (n = 704) and single-sex female (n = 494) adolescent samples. Results showed that high-achieving girls exceeded the aspirations of average-achieving girls and boys, and were the same as those of high-achieving boys. Gender and grade differences in ideal and real career choices over all achievement levels are also reported and discussed. Girls at single-sex schools had higher real career aspirations than did girls and boys at coed schools.     

Self-handicapping strategies in physical education classes: the influence of implicit theories of the nature of ability and achievement goal orientations

Aim: To investigate the role of implicit theories of ability and achievement goals on self-handicapping strategies in physical education classes.Hypotheses: It was expected that incremental theories of ability would be negatively associated with self-handicapping strategies, whereas fixed theories of ability would enhance pupils’ self-reported use of such strategies. It was also hypothesised that low perceived competence would reinforce self-handicapping among pupils holding fixed theories of ability and an ego goal orientation.Method: A cross-sectional study of 9th graders in Norway (N=343; 166 boys and 177 girls) was conducted in which pupils responded to a questionnaire measuring sub-dimensions of fixed and incremental theories of ability, achievement goal orientations, perceived competence and self-handicapping in physical education.Results: Regression-based path analyses revealed that a fixed theory of ability had a direct positive effect on self-handicapping. The effects of an incremental implicit theory of ability on self-handicapping were negative and mediated by a task orientation. High perceived competence was found to buffer the aversive affect of holding a stable theory of ability on self-handicapping.Conclusion: The findings illustrate the importance of studying implicit motivational beliefs in physical education classes in order to provide an understanding of self-handicapping strategies among pupils.     

The Impact of Size of Cooperative Group on Achievement,Social Support,and Self-Esteem

The effect of cooperative learning in pairs and groups of 4 and in individualistic learning were compared on achievement, social support, and self-esteem. Sixty-two Italian 7th-grade students with no previous experience with cooperative learning were assigned to conditions on a stratified random basis controlling for ability, gender, and self-esteem. Students participated in 1 instructional unit for 90 min for 6 instructional days during a period of about 6 weeks. The results indicate that cooperative learning in pairs and 4s promoted higher achievement and greater academic support from peers than did individualistic learning. Students working in pairs developed a higher level of social self-esteem than did students learning in the other conditions.     

Impact of Goal and Resource Interdependence on Problem-Solving Success

Abstract

Despite the considerable evidence that cooperation promotes higher individual achievement and greater group productivity than do competitive or individualistic situations, there are conditions under which the opposite may be true. The relative impact of positive goal interdependence and positive resource interdependence on individual achievement and group productivity in a computer-assisted problem-solving task was investigated. Forty-four Black American high school seniors and college freshmen, stratified for ability, sex, and urban or rural background, were randomly assigned to conditions. Positive goal interdependence promoted higher individual achievement and group productivity than did no goal interdependence. The combination of positive goal and resource interdependence promoted higher individual achievement and group productivity than did any of the other conditions, indicating that two sources of positive interdependence are more powerful than one. When used in isolation from positive goal interdependence, positive resource interdependence produced the lowest individual achievement and problem-solving success.     

Time use of Hellene 3rd and 4th graders during a school day

Using data from the time diaries of 164 Hellene 3rd and 4th graders interviewed in their homes in March 2007, individual differences in time-use patterns were investigated. The participants rested for 9 hours 10 minutes, and spent 57.0%, 21.7%, and 5.0% of their waking time on school-related activities (attending school, learning languages, doing homework), leisure activities (such as playing and watching TV), and other activities, respectively. Pupils from rural areas rested longer; more boys engaged in play and sports; more girls and more pupils from higher SES families engaged in dance. Overall, the time spent on school-related activities is higher than the times spent on other activities. Regarding leisure, girls spent the most time watching TV, while boys spent the most time watching TV and playing. In line with previous literature, the time schedule of Hellene pupils is directed towards knowledge acquisition, rather than cognitive or socio-emotional development.     

Locus of Control and Cooperative Behavior in 10-Year-Old Children

Abstract

A game-like task was used to evaluate the cooperative behavior of 10-year-old same-sex dyads that were paired homogeneously or heterogeneously on a premeasure of locus of control. Pairs of girls were relatively more cooperative than were boys, and dyads of internal locus of control boys who displayed relatively little cooperation on initial trials became more cooperative as the game progressed. In addition, male dyads heterogeneous in terms of locus of control (an internal and an external), who also displayed little cooperation initially, became even less cooperative over trials.