Debunking a stereotype: The female medical student

The combined research of Horner (1972) and Monahan, Kuhn, and Shaver (1974) has demonstrated the existence of a stereotype of the female medical student as sex-role deviant and disinterested in sex. The present study examined the validity of this stereotype. Male and female medical students' scores on two psychometric measures were compared with the male and female college norms. The stereotype was not supported. Female medical students demonstrated no greater sex-role deviance than did their male counterparts. Furthermore, only male medical students indicated significantly less heterosexual interest than their same-sex norm.The authors wish to thank Dr. David G. Fish, who was involved in the original data collection. Support for the analyses of these data was obtained from Grant Number 607-1034-21 and from a Career Scientist Award, Number 607-1001-22, to the Junior Author.     

Young adults' perceptions of social sex roles across the life span

Fifty male and 50 female undergraduates rated 10 age-sex targets (Boy, Girl, Adolescent Boy, Adolescent Girl, Young Man, Young Woman, Middle-aged Man, Middle-Aged Woman, Old Man and Old Woman) on 12 semantic differential scales. Compared with female targets, male targets were rated higher on potency and activity scales and lower on evaluative scales. Semantic distance between male and female targets showed a curvilinear relationship with target age. Results suggested that young adult subjects perceive that sex-role differences first increase and then decrease across the life span.An earlier version of this article was presented at the convention of the Western Psychological Association in Los Angeles, California, April 1976.     

Age differences in peripheral perceptual processing: a monoptic backward masking investigation

Peripheral processes in vision were investigated in two experiments involving monoptic backward masking with random noise. For young and old subjects, peripheral processing time (represented by stimulus onset asynchrony of target and mask) was characterized as a power function of target energy. Although processing time for both age groups showed a similar rate of decline with increasing target energy, old subjects processed targets more slowly at all energy levels. Results were independent of education, sex, and criterion differences between young and old. Target duration was related to critical interstimulus interval, such that stimulus onset asynchrony between target and mask was approximately constant for a given target energy within each age group. Evidence suggests that peripheral processing begins with target onset and that processing time is best characterized by a power function relating stimulus onset asynchrony of target and mask to target energy.     

A self-contained microcomputer system for psychological testing

This paper describes a newly available microcomputer system for the on-line administration, scoring, and interpretation of psychological tests. User response to the system is reported. Results of a validity study of the system’s Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory interpretative program are presented.     

Organizational preparedness for change: Staff acceptance of an on-line computer-assisted assessment system

An on-line assessment system is briefly described. Previous positive evaluation studies are summarized. Results of studies of staff acceptance and staff preparedness for change are reported. Findings are interpreted in terms of the need for planning for change. Implications related to the acceptance of other on-line computer systems in psychology are discussed.     

A further analysis of the affective meanings associated with male and female sex-trait stereotypes

This study was concerned with the qualitative differences in the male and female sex-trait stereotypes. Previous research employing the item pool of the Adjective Check List (ACL) had indicated no relationship between the stereotype loading of the adjectives and their favorability ratings. In the present study, university students rated the ACL items for strength and activity, and these ratings were used to demonstrate that the male stereotype was appreciably stronger and more active than the female stereotype. It was found that the strength ratings were highly correlated with both activity and favorability ratings which were, themselves, unrelated. It was concluded that the principal qualitative difference between the stereotypes lay in the connotations of activity and passivity associated, respectively, with the male and female stereotype traits, and that any assertion of greater social desirability for the male stereotype was based on its greater activity and not, as is often supposed, on its greater favorability.