Gender stereotypes in the expression and perception of vocal affect

This study examined the perception and expression of vocal affect for behavioral evidence of gender stereotypes. Subjects were 97% Caucasian and were asked to either identify or rate the effectiveness of vocal affect portrayals for 5 emotions (fear, anger, happiness, sadness, and neutral) as portrayed by 3 female and 3 male actors reading 2 stories with nonemotional word content. The results revealed that female judges identified fear, happiness, and sadness better than males. Male actors' portrayals were identified better than female actors' portrayals of anger and fear. Female actors received higher identification rates than male actors for portrayals of happiness. Partial support for the general hypothesis that there is behavioral evidence of stereotypic gender differences for vocal affect was obtained.A previous version of this article was presented at the 65th annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association in Chicago, IL, during April 1993.     

Femininity, Mental Weakness, and Difference: Male Students Account for Anorexia Nervosa in Men

The purpose of this study was to examine how men account for the diagnosis in men of anorexia nervosa (AN), a condition commonly associated with women. Male students participated in focus group discussions of topics related to AN. Discussions were tape-recorded with participants' consent, transcribed, and then analyzed using discourse analysis. The participants spontaneously constructed AN as a female-specific condition. When asked to account for AN in men, they distanced AN from hegemonic masculinities in ways that sustained both dominant masculine identities and gender-specific constructions of AN. These findings show how issues of health and gender are interlinked in everyday understandings of AN. Future researchers might usefully consider how the construction of gender-specific illness implicates wider notions of both feminine and masculine gender identities.     

Assessment of Body Image in Younger and Older Women

Body image was compared in younger versus older women using questionnaires and women's responses to fatter and thinner images of their own bodies versus responses to line drawings of bodies in the Figure Ratings Scale. We found that younger and older women have similar body dissatisfaction but that younger women have a higher drive for thinness and experience more societal influence on their body image. Using images of one's own body versus line drawings did not result in different body dissatisfaction in younger versus older women. These data suggest that age affects some facets of body image but not others and that ratings of body image do not differ in normal, healthy younger and older women when personalized measures are used.     

Turner Syndrome: A Review of Genetic and Hormonal Influences on Neuropsychological Functioning

Turner syndrome (TS) is a genetic disorder in females that arises from the loss of X chromosome material. Affected individuals demonstrate a characteristic neuropsychological profile of strengths in verbal processing and weaknesses in visuospatial processing, consistent with the Nonverbal Learning Disabilities syndrome. Previous research has described a wide range of visuospatial deficits in TS; however, their verbal abilities are less extensively studied. The present paper describes the processing difficulties of a 9-year-old girl with TS who demonstrated problems in integrating details of a complex visual display and using organizational terms to describe visual scenes or events. Her specific cognitive disabilities were thought to underlie some of the social and behavioral problems she was currently experiencing. Her pattern of results is consonant with the neuropsychological pattern that others have attributed to right hemisphere dysfunction and/or white matter abnormality.     

The costs and benefits of testing text materials

Tests have been shown to improve the later recall of tested information, a result known as the testing effect. Tests, however, can also impair the later recall of related information, an effect known as retrieval-induced forgetting. Although retrieval-induced forgetting has been demonstrated using a wide variety of materials, recent work suggests that learning information in the context of a coherent text passage may afford protection from retrieval-induced forgetting. In four experiments we explored the conditions under which retrieval-induced forgetting does and does not occur with such materials. We found that two factors-the coherence of the to-be-learned material and the competitiveness of retrieval practice-are important in determining whether retrieval-induced forgetting does or does not occur. Furthermore, even if retrieval-induced forgetting does occur, having the opportunity to restudy the forgotten information can prevent that forgetting from persisting. Taken together, these findings provide greater understanding of the costs and benefits of testing text materials, with possible implications for the optimisation of testing as a tool for learning in educational contexts.     

The discrimination of differences in duration of a thermal reinforcement

The sides of a contour square appear successively when context lines are presented one before and one after the square. As the interstimulus interval (ISI) between lines and square is increased to 140 msec, reports of succession increase. If the sides of the square are presented successively and interpart interval (IPI) varied by a single staircase method in order to determine a succession threshold, the average magnitude of this threshold varies as a function of ISI, decreasing up to 140 msec lSI. Each S, however, shows a maximum decrease in threshold between 80 and 120 msec. Reports of this illusion are not dependent on beta movement of either context lines or square.     

Effects of parent enhancement therapy on the treatment outcome and generalization of a parent training program

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of parent enhancement training in facilitating treatment and maintenance effects of a parent training program. Seventeen mothers and their clinic-referred noncompliant children were assigned to either a parent training alone group or a parent training plus parent enhancement therapy group. Fifteen mothers and their nonclinic children served as a quasi-control group. All clinic-referred mother-child dyads were treated individually by teaching the mother to reward compliance and other prosocial behavior and to use time-out for noncompliance. In addition, mothers in the parent training plus parent enhancement group also received treatment related to the following areas: parent's perception of their child's behavior, parent's personal adjustment, parent's marital adjustment, and parent's extrafamilial relationships. Assessment consisted of four home observations by independent observers prior to treatment, after treatment, and at a 2-month follow-up. The data indicated that the parent training plus parent enhancement therapy was more effective than parent training alone in changing child deviant behavior at posttreatment and in maintaining child compliance, child deviant behavior, parental rewards and parent contingent attention at follow-up. The control group did not change over the three assessment periods.     

A comparison of female and male adolescents' social behaviors and cognitions: A challenge to the assertiveness literature

Sex differences were investigated in the thoughts and behaviors of adolescents in simulated social situations. The pattern of sex differences indicated females to be more appropriately assertive in their overt behaviors than males. Males were more aggressive. In their cognitions females were more likely to deny their impact on others, while males were more likely to deny the impact of others on themselves. Potency training was suggested for females, assertiveness training for males. Cluster analyses of correlations among behaviors and thoughts revealed four clusters for females: external locus of control, internal locus of control, active expressiveness, and social isolation or denial. The three male clusters were a negative impotent one, a positive active cluster, and an aggressive hostile cluster.The research reported is based on a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Ph.D., University of Toronto (OISE). The research was partially funded by OISE Research and Development Grant No. 3478, awarded to the second author.     

The impact of environmental noise on mealtime social interactions in a residential facility for persons with mental retardation

Four levels of environmental noise were experimentally manipulated during lunch and dinner in a residential living unit for 10 behaviorally disordered persons with mental retardation. During the highest noise conditions, there appeared to be some suppression of social interaction between these people, while interaction rates were uniformly higher during softer noise conditions. This effect was evident at both lunch and dinner. Staff members were less affected by the fluctuation in noise levels, although lunchtime staff engaged in more interactions with clients when both the radio and TV were played softly.