Interview with Dr. Peter Rutter,author ofSex in the Forbidden Zone,July 27, 1990

Articles

Interview with Dr. Peter Rutter, author ofSex in the Forbidden Zone, July 27, 1990     

Sex-typing of play and psychological adjustment in young children: An empirical investigation

Traditional assumptions that sex-role conformity is positively related to psychological adjustment in young children have not, to date, been examined empirically. Seventy-four preschool children, 37 boys and 37 girls aged 3 to 5, were observed over a 3-month period to determine their frequency of play in male and female sex-typed activities during the free-play period in their classrooms. Teacher ratings on the Kohn and Rosman Symptom Checklist and Social Competence Scale were correlated with individuals' rates of play in male and female preferred activities (M and F scales, respectively). Results indicated that boys' play with male-preferred toys was related to high scores on the aggression/defiance dimension of the Symptom Checklist, while boys who scored highly on play in female-preferred activities received high scores on the Social Competence dimension labeled conforming to classroom rules. For girls, play with malepreferred toys was negatively related to the apathy/withdrawal dimension of the Symptom Checklist. These results do not confirm the hypothesis that sex-typed behavior is positively related to adjustment, and they suggest that for both sexes, play in opposite sex-typed activities may contribute positively to children's social and academic functioning in the classroom.This research was supported in part by Grant No. MH25751-06 from the National Institute of Mental Health, and by a grant from the Programme de Formation de Chercheurs et d'Action Concertée, Ministére de l'Education, Gouvernement du Québec. Portions of this paper were presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Boston, April 1981.     

Long-term predictive validity of the WPPSI: An 11-year follow-up study

As part of a longitudinal study, a control group of 85 children were tested on the WPPSI at 5$\text{1}\text{2}$ years and the WISC-R at 16$\text{1}\text{2}$ years. Educational attainment was also assessed in adolescence. Data are presented illustrating the long-term predictive validity of the WPPSI. The Full Scale IQs on the two tests intercorrelated +0.86.     

Men's and women's evaluations of menstrual-related excuses

Based on an attributional analysis of menstrual distress, the present study examined how a woman is evaluated when she attributes an instance of negative social behavior to the approach or onset of menstruation. College men and women were asked to imagine an interaction in which a woman behaves very irritably and then gives one of several excuses for her negative behavior, two of which were menstrual related. Subjects evaluated each excuse in terms of (1) degree of annoyance, (2) blameworthiness, and (3) internality versus externality. The results showed consistent relationships between these evaluations and both sex of subject and general attitudes about menstruation. Males tended to see menstrual-related excuses as less blameworthy and more external than did females. In addition, general attitudes regarding the debilitating effects of menstruation predicted greater tolerance toward the use of menstrual excuses. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for the socialization and continuing reinforcement of menstrual distress.The research reported in this article was supported by grants SOC-7602137 and SOC-7602179 from the National Science Foundation. The authors wish to thank Russ Fazio for his help in collecting the data and Al Rogers and Terry Balaban for their help in analyzing the data. Diane N. Ruble is now at New York University. Ann K. Boggiano is now at the University of Colorado.     

Assertion modeling and stimuli effects on assertive behavior and self-efficacy in adolescents

The present investigation examined variations of modeling and stimuli with 61 adolescents selected for unassertive or aggressive behavior toward teachers. A 3 × 2 × 2 factorial design evaluated the effects of type of assertion modeling (three sessions of overt vs covert vs no-modeling), type of training stimuli (single involving teachers only vs multiple involving teachers, parents and peers) and type of initial behavior (unassertive vs aggressive) on behavioral role-play and self-efficacy. Modeling, particularly overt modeling, improved assertive behavior in teacher situations, peer situations and total teacher, parent, and peer situations. The use of single type stimuli improved self-efficacy in total teacher, parent and peer situations, and in novel situations involving others. Behavior but not self-efficacy was differentially affected by initial unassertive or aggressive behavior of participants. Self-efficacy and behavior were only moderately correlated. Results suggest effectiveness of short-term modeling with adolescents and different specificity properties of self-efficacy and assertive behavior.     

Metalinguistic awareness and language development

Thirty-six 3- and 4-year-old children were given a battery of six metalinguistic tasks and two measures of language development: the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and a sentence comprehension test. The results clearly showed that the majority of preschoolers were able to make at least some metalinguistic judgments, and that metalinguistic performance improved with age. Furthermore, overall performance on the metalinguistic tasks was significantly correlated with each language measure when the effects of age were partialed out. In contrast, the correlation between age and metalinguistic performance was not significant once the effects of both language measures were partialed out. These data demonstrate that preschoolers' metalinguistic abilities are more extensive than has been previously acknowledged, and that they are closely tied to other aspects of language development at this time.