Living the Image: A Quantitative Approach to Delineating Masculinities

Authors have repeatedly argued that a nearly exclusive focus on the dominant form of masculinity limits our knowledge of masculinity. Qualitative masculinities researchers have revealed multiple masculine forms, but quantitative researchers have not yet assessed them. This study adopted a social identity approach to examine endorsement of ten typically male images (Average Joe, Businessman, Family Man, Jock, Nerd, Player, Rebel, Sensitive New-Age Guy, Stud, Tough Guy) and their connections to gender norms and traits. Data from 340 male and 348 female adults revealed that identification with each image was related to a particular pattern of norm conformity and trait endorsement. Patterns varied by sex. Findings suggested that distinctions across images may be assessed quantitatively. Implications for quantitative research on masculinities were discussed.     

Self-instructions: Effects of cognitive level and active rehearsal

This research examined the effects of a self-instruction intervention on the relationship between cognitive level and conceptual tempo. Preoperational and concrete operational children received the Matching Familiar Figures Test prior to and after serving in either a no training control group, a content only control group, or a self-instruction group. Children in the content only control group received the same set of self-guiding strategy statements as those in the self-instruction group but without overt rehearsal of the statements. Cognitive level and conceptual tempo were strongly related; preoperational children tended to be classified as impulsive, concrete operational chidlren, as reflective. Although cognitive level predicted overall performance, with concrete operational children being more successful and more reflective than preoperational children, the influence of training was similar for both groups. On posttest, children in the self-instruction groups made more correct responses and were more reflective than children in the other two training groups.     

The dimensions of stage theories

Stage theories are commonly used to represent the structure of cognitive processes in the domains of cognitive processing and cognitive development. Hierarchical unidimensional theories consisting of a single sequence of stages through which development proceeds in one direction only have predominated. However, a review of stage theories revealed that a two-dimensional, interactive (multidimensional) structure is warranted. Particularly in the area of cognitive development, results of research have supported subdivision of the stages of prominent unidimensional theories. Following this trend a small number of theorists have developed multidimensional theories, most of which consist of a sequence of stages in which each stage contains a number of subsidiary stages or levels. The emergence of a similar trend in other domains is examined, and the prospects of using an existing multidimensional framework to enable future comparisons and integration of different stage theories is explored.     

Anxiety-related bias in the classification of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions

High- and low-trait socially anxious individuals classified the emotional expressions of photographic quality continua of interpolated ("morphed") facial images that were derived from combining 6 basic prototype emotional expressions to various degrees, with the 2 adjacent emotions arranged in an emotion hexagon. When fear was 1 of the 2 component emotions, the high-trait group displayed enhanced sensitivity for fear. In a 2nd experiment where a mood manipulation was incorporated, again, the high-trait group exhibited enhanced sensitivity for fear. The low-trait group was sensitive for happiness in the control condition. The mood-manipulated group had increased sensitivity for anger expressions, and trait anxiety did not moderate these effects. Interpretations of the results related to the classification of fearful expressions are discussed.     

Sexuality and cyberporn: Towards a new agenda for research

This article presents theoretical considerations based on cultural analysis approaches to studying pornography and sexuality as a means of starting to suggest a new agenda for cyberporn research. By bringing to the forefront concepts of how subjectivity and sexuality are produced within the computer/Internet apparatus, I hope to diversify the focus in cyberporn research away from social science approaches and pre-Foucaultian assumptions of the subject which obscure understandings of new media and cyberporn use. Through a summary of visual culture studies and reception studies of pornography, I argue that cyberporn must be understood as contingent within the encoding and decoding processes and discourses of sexuality (Foucault) in which it is produced and consumed. My focus here is the home office/terminal as the site of reception/cyberporn use. While there is potential for a great variety of cultural analytic approaches to the study of cyberporn and how new media use influences sexuality, I end with specific suggestions for researching cyberporn reception in the home. The computer’s allure is more than utilitarian or aesthetic; it is erotic. Instead of a refreshing play with surfaces, as with toys or amusements, our affair with information machines announces a symbiotic relationship and ultimately a mental marriage to technology. Rightly perceived, the atmosphere of cyberspace carries the scent that once surrounded Wisdom. The world rendered as pure information not only fascinates our eyes and minds, but also captures our hearts. We feel augmented and empowered. Our hearts beat in the machines. This is Eros. (Michael Heim, The Metaphysics of Virtual Reality)     

Change in cognitive functioning associated with apoE genotype in a community sample of older adults

The influence of a genetic risk factor, apolipoprotein E (apoE) epsilon4 variant, was assessed in older adults aged 70 to 94 on 3 occasions over 7 years. The results of latent growth curve analyses are reported for individuals genotyped for apoE at the 2nd measurement occasion (n = 601) and for a subsample of individuals without probable or definite dementia during the 1st or 2nd occasion (n = 434). ApoE-epsilon4 status was a significant predictor of level and change in memory performance and change in speed performance in the full sample, and of initial level and change in memory performance in the nondemented subsample. These results support previous findings that apoE-epsilon4 is associated with accelerated memory deterioration in individuals without clinical dementia.