Relations as transformations: implications for analogical reasoning

We present two experiments assessing whether the size of a transformation instantiating a relation between two states of the world (e.g., shrinks) is a performance factor affecting analogical reasoning. The first experiment finds evidence of transformation size as a significant factor in adolescent analogical problem solving while the second experiment finds a similar effect on adult analogical reasoning using a markedly different analogical completion paradigm. The results are interpreted as providing evidence for the more general framework that cognitive representations of relations are best understood as mental transformations.     

Using Noldus Observer XT for research on deaf signers learning to read: An innovative methodology

Despite years of research on the reading problems of deaf students, we still do not know how deaf signers who read well actually crack the code of print. How connections are made between sign language and written language is still an open question. In this article, we show how the Noldus Observer XT software can be used to conduct an in-depth analysis of the online behavior of deaf readers. First, we examine factors that may have an impact on reading behavior. Then, we describe how we videotaped teachers with their deaf student signers of langue des signes québécoise during a reading task, how we conducted a recall activity to better understand the students’ reading behavior, and how we used this innovative software to analyze the taped footage. Finally, we discuss the contribution this type of research can have on the future reading behavior of deaf students.     

Gaze behavior in face comparison: The roles of sex, task, and symmetry

Knowing where people look on a face provides an objective insight into the information entering the visual system and into cognitive processes involved in face perception. In the present study, we recorded eye movements of human participants while they compared two faces presented simultaneously. Observers’ viewing behavior and performance was examined in two tasks of parametrically varying difficulty, using two types of face stimuli (sex morphs and identity morphs). The frequency, duration, and temporal sequence of fixations on previously defined areas of interest in the faces were analyzed. As was expected, viewing behavior and performance varied with difficulty. Interestingly, observers compared predominantly the inner halves of the face stimuli—a result inconsistent with the general left-hemiface bias reported for single faces. Furthermore, fixation patterns and performance differed between tasks, independently of stimulus type. Moreover, we found differences in male and female participants’ viewing behaviors, but only when the sex of the face stimuli was task relevant.     

Counter-stereotypic beliefs in math do not protect school girls from stereotype threat

The threat of being negatively stereotyped in math impairs performance of highly qualified females on difficult math tests, a phenomenon known as “stereotype threat”—ST. Perhaps more alarmingly, recent studies based on unselective samples of elementary-, middle-, and high-school students show that ST also operates in girls from the general population. Here we offer first evidence that ST does operate (with large effect sizes) even in middle-school girls who deny the negative gender stereotype. Children’s beliefs about the two genders math ability, therefore, do not necessarily moderate their susceptibility to ST, an important issue that remained unclear so far. This new finding is also of great practical significance: School girls’ counter-stereotypic beliefs cannot be taken as sufficient evidence for deciding whether the struggle against ST is or is not needed. Appropriate interventions should be the default option when aiming for true gender equality in math and science achievements.     

When internalization leads to automatization: The role of self-determination in automatic stereotype suppression and implicit prejudice regulation

Recent evidence suggests that self-determined prejudice regulation is negatively related to both self-reported prejudice and automatic racial bias. However, the social-cognitive processes involved in this association have not yet been examined. Thus, the current project sought to test the ‘internalization-automatization hypothesis’, that is, to assess the extent to which prejudice regulation is automatic for those high and low in self-determined motivation to regulate prejudice. To this end, two different experimental paradigms were used. In Experiment 1 (N = 84), differences in the automatic activation and application of stereotypes were assessed for those high and low in self-determined prejudice regulation. As expected, both types of prejudice regulators showed similar stereotype activation. However, only self-determined individuals inhibited the application of stereotypes following a prime. Experiment 2 (N = 134), assessed the impact of self-regulatory depletion on the regulation of implicit prejudice. As anticipated, for the self-determined regulators, prejudice regulation did not vary between depleted and non-depleted individuals. However, when non-self-determined prejudice regulators were depleted, prejudice increased, relative to non-depleted controls. Results are discussed in terms of an increased understanding of prejudice regulation through self-determination. Evidence of the automatization of self-determined prejudice regulation offers promising implications for the reduction of prejudice.

Gender Differences in the Nature,Antecedents and Consequences of Parental Burnout

Sex Roles - Parenthood remains one of the most gender-typed social roles in adulthood. Given gender inequality in parenting, it has been very surprising to find that parental burnout affects both...     

Learning to love the older consumer

This paper examines how and why marketing has largely ignored the older consumer and concentrated on younger targets. It explores some of the myths of the older consumer and through examining recent research in the USA and the UK makes a plea for accepting the older consumer as still very much in the main stream of marketing. It also explores how society constructs age and how older people may wish to see themselves. While age related myopia is unsatisfactory for both consumers and marketing, older consumers may express a wide range of identities, making them a potentially complex target for marketing. The paper suggests that more research is needed to explore the different motives and identities of these important consumers with a view to better meeting their needs in terms of appropriate products, messages and media. Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications.