The numbers game: Gender and attention to numerical information

Research suggests that males outperform females on standardized tests of math ability from early adolescence onward. Several explanations for this difference focus on the different experiences of females and males with numerical information. We reasoned that males have more experience with numerical information than females because typical male interests (e.g., sports) are more likely to involve numerical information than typical female interests (e.g., physical appearance). Thus, we predicted that males would attend more to numerical information than would females, at least when the information was presented in a male-related or gender-neutral context. Females were expected to attend more than males when the context was female-related. Results using White/Caucasian subjects provided some support for these predictions. Implications for future research on the relationship between the gender-linkage of math materials and gender differences in math performance are discussed.     

MOTHERS' ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION DURING PREGNANCY:

Abstract— Fourteen-year-old adolescents' behavior on a spatial-visual reasoning task was associated with self-report of their mothers' alcohol consumption during pregnancy, IS years earlier The task was arranged so that it was possible to evaluate the examinees' tendency to respond rapidly and less accurately, or slowly and more accurately The greater the mother's reported drinking, the faster and less accurately the adolescent responded The decrement in visual-spatial reasoning related to alcohol appears to be linked to a tendency toward impulsive responding     

Gender and social support: Taking the bad with the good?

In examining past research, a paradox can be found in the relationships between gender, social support, and depression. Although women report higher levels of depression than men, they also generally report more social support—a factor found to reduce depressive symptoms. In efforts to explain this seeming inconsistency, it was hypothesized that women report both more support and more depression because they are more likely than men to experience both positive and negative aspects of social relationships. Based on a community sample of predominantly Caucasian respondents, findings indicate that greater perceived support among women can be explained by more frequent contact with network members and a tendency to possess relationships characterized by greater intimacy, emotional disclosure, and empathy. However, women also report more frequent negative interactions with network members and are more adversely affected by marital conflict than are men. While negative interactions and conflict cannot account for gender differences in depression, they do help to explain how women can experience both more support and more depression. Among women, the health-enhancing effects of support on depression may be balanced by the detrimental effect of conflict.     

Token reinforcement, choice, and self-control in pigeons.

Pigeons were exposed to self-control procedures that involved illumination of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as a form of token reinforcement. In a discrete-trials arrangement, subjects chose between one and three LEDs; each LED was exchangeable for 2-s access to food during distinct posttrial exchange periods. In Experiment 1, subjects generally preferred the immediate presentation of a single LED over the delayed presentation of three LEDs, but differences in the delay to the exchange period between the two options prevented a clear assessment of the relative influence of LED delay and exchange-period delay as determinants of choice. In Experiment 2, in which delays to the exchange period from either alternative were equal in most conditions, all subjects preferred the delayed three LEDs more often than in Experiment-1. In Experiment 3, subjects preferred the option that resulted in a greater amount of food more often if the choices also produced LEDs than if they did not. In Experiment 4, preference for the delayed three LEDs was obtained when delays to the exchange period were equal, but reversed in favor of an immediate single LED when the latter choice also resulted in quicker access to exchange periods. The overall pattern of results suggests that (a) delay to the exchange period is a more critical determinant of choice than is delay to token presentation; (b) tokens may function as conditioned reinforcers, although their discriminative properties may be responsible for the self-control that occurs under token reinforcer arrangements; and (c) previously reported differences in the self-control choices of humans and pigeons may have resulted at least in part from the procedural conventions of using token reinforcers with human subjects and food reinforcers with pigeon subjects.     

Evaluating the Interaction Between Self-Leadership and Work Structure in Predicting Job Satisfaction

Recent research in organizational psychology has recognized the value of exploring the person-situation interactional perspective as a determinant of work outcomes. The present field study investigated the interaction between self-leadership and work structure (supervisory structure and job autonomy) and their relation to job satisfaction. Seventy-six employees provided measures of self-leadership, employment characteristics, and job satisfaction. Performance data for participants was also collected from the organization. Satisfaction was higher for employees with high (low) self-leadership who worked in low (high) structure environments. These results suggest that affective response to the job may be influenced by specific combinations of person and situation variables. Implications of the current results with regard to person-environment fit are discussed.     

Body type preferences and body characteristics associated with attractive and unattractive bodies by african Americans and Anglo Americans

Body type preferences, body characteristics associated with body attractiveness, and personal characteristics associated with unattractive body types (e.g., obese bodies) were examined in African American and Anglo American female and male respondents. African American males preferred larger body types for females, and associated more favorable and fewer unfavorable characteristics with obese females than did Anglo American males. Females of both races preferred a slightly thin body type for males, although African American females associated fewer unfavorable characteristics with obese males than did Anglo American females. Difference between the races in body characteristics associated with attractiveness suggest race-specific prototypes of body attractiveness that correspond to physical differences between the races. Race-specific standards of attractiveness within cultures are discussed.     

Book reviews

The Awakening of the West: the encounter of Buddhism and Western culture Stephen Batchelor (Foreword by The Dalai Lama), 1994 London, Aquarian xvi + 416 pp., £12.99, US $20.00

A Comparative Study of Early Buddhism and Kantian Philosophy S. G. M. Weerasinghe, 1993 Colombo, S. Godage and Brothers xxii+ 104 pp., pb Rs. 150.00; US$7.50

New Light on Early Buddhism Balkrishna Govind Gokhale, 1994 London, Sangam x + 208 pp., hb £22.95

Vedic Hermeneutics K. Satchidananda Murty, 1993 New Delhi, Shri Lai Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha, in association with Motilal Banarsidass xxvi + 106 pp., hb Rs.150     

Social cues, cognitive style, error magnitude, and male performance on the Felt Figure Replacement Technique.

A series of studies was undertaken to determine possible factors contributing to low predictive utility for Felt Figure Replacement Technique (FFRT) scores from normal, adult males. It was first postulated that normal adult males, compared to normal adult females, are less sensitive to social cues present in the FFRT task. Twenty-six undergraduate males and the same number of undergraduate females were asked to replace both a) department store manikins, thought to be less abstract, and then b) felt figures. While task differences were obtained, these were not dependent on gender, nor did any overall gender differences occur for three types of replacement error. The second study involved 31 college males and 33 college females replacing both felt figures and a male and female confederate. It was assumed that differential attention to social cues would be more visible in this comparison. The general results were identical to the first study.