Effects of Pronoun Type and Gender Role Consistency on Children's Recall and Interpretation of Stories

The pronouns he, she, and they were compared with he and she alternating, to examine recall and gender interpretation of stories. Participants, who were ethnically diverse, were 48 girls and boys aged 6 and 9 from working-class and middle-class areas of San Antonio. Children read stories about imaginary characters of ambiguous gender referred to by varying pronouns and enjoying either stereotypically masculine, feminine, or neutral activities. Recall was higher for girls, older children, and children who heard stories containing she instead of he. Six-year-olds, but not 9-year-olds, recalled more information from stories containing gender-consistent activities. Interpretation of character gender for he, she, and he/she alternating was based largely on pronoun; for stories using they, it was based both on pronoun and activity. The results underscore the nongeneric nature of generic pronouns and the gender differences in recall and interpretation evoked by contact with gender specific reading material.     

Emerging quality improvement measures in genetic counseling

The need to establish guidelines for total quality management in genetic counseling is now recognized as new genetic technologies are being introduced into genetics services and primary care. Genetic counselors have an important role in developing methods for assuring quality in the genetic counseling process. Emerging quality improvement measures as well as selected examples from the Quality Assurance Program in the Genetics Services Division at the Foundation for Blood Research are presented as examples of direct genetic counselor involvement. Suggestions for future directions of quality improvement activities for genetic counselors are discussed.     

Book reviews

Animal Behaviour. By R. A. Hinde. New York: McGraw-Hill. 1970. Pp. xviii + 876. 149s.

Experimental Psychology: Methodology, Psychophysics and Learning. By M. R. D'Amato. New York: McGraw-Hill. 1970. Pp. xxiv + 727. 101s.

Principles of Perceptual Learning and Development. By Eleanor J. Gibson. New York Appleton-Century-Crofts, Meredith Corporation. Pp. 537. $9.35.

Perception through Experience. By M. D. Vernon. London: Methuen. 1970. Pp. 306. 55s. (£2.75)

Contingencies of Reinforcement. By B. F. Skinner. New York: Appleton Century Crofts. 1969. Pp. xv + 319. Cloth: £3. $6. Paper: £18s.

Annual Reciew of Psychology. Edited by P. Mussen and M. Rosenzweig. Palo Alto: Annual Reviews Inc. 1970. Pp. 674. $10.50.

Brain, Beharioicr and Evolution. Basel and New York: S. Karger AG. 6 issues per year $18.60.

Physiology and Behaviour: an International Journal. Oxford and New York Pergamon Press Ltd. 6 issues p.a. £20. (£3 10s. to individuals).     

Nursing and genetic health care

Advances in DNA technology are leading to major developments in nursing practice in clinical genetics, including the creation of new roles for nurses who care for people with genetic conditions. Application of genetic information and testing is moving genetics into the mainstream of health care. Therefore, it is anticipated that nurses in all areas of practice will become involved in the provision of information about genetic testing and assisting individuals and families in decision making and adjustment to new genetic information. This article provides an overview of the profession of nursing which may be useful to genetic counselors in the development of collaborative relationships between the two professions.     

Motion as a natural category for pigeons: Generalization and a feature-positive effect

Three groups of pigeons were trained with a modified discriminative autoshaping procedure to discriminate video images of other pigeons on the basis of movement. Birds of all groups were shown the same video images of other pigeons, which were either moving or still. The group to whom food was presented only after moving images learned the discrimination very quickly. A second group, to whom food was given only after still images, and a pseudocategory group, to whom food was presented after arbitrarily chosen stimuli, showed no evidence of discrimination during acquisition training. Extinction conditions led to clear differences in peck rates to moving and still images in the second group but not in the pseudocategory group. The result is related to the feature-positive effect. Generalization tests showed that the discrimination performance was based on visual features of the stimuli but was invariant against changes of size, perspective, brightness, and color. Furthermore, discrimination was maintained when novel images of pigeons under different viewing angles and seven other types of motion categories were presented. It is argued that the discrimination is based not on a common motion feature but on motion concepts or high-order generalization across motion categories.     

A 32-society investigation of the influence of perceived economic inequality on social class stereotyping

There is a growing body of work suggesting that social class stereotypes are amplified when people perceive higher levels of economic inequality—that is, the wealthy are perceived as more competent and assertive and the poor as more incompetent and unassertive. The present study tested this prediction in 32 societies and also examines the role of wealth-based categorization in explaining this relationship. We found that people who perceived higher economic inequality were indeed more likely to consider wealth as a meaningful basis for categorization. Unexpectedly, however, higher levels of perceived inequality were associated with perceiving the wealthy as less competent and assertive and the poor as more competent and assertive. Unpacking this further, exploratory analyses showed that the observed tendency to stereotype the wealthy negatively only emerged in societies with lower social mobility and democracy and higher corruption. This points to the importance of understanding how socio-structural features that co-occur with economic inequality may shape perceptions of the wealthy and the poor.     

Distinguishing Between Self-Classified Religious and Spiritual Groups of Emerging Adult Males: Conceptual and Psychometric Challenges

This study sought to determine whether measures of religion and spirituality could discriminate between emerging adult males who self-identified as both religious and spiritual (B), religious only (R), spiritual only (S), or neither (N). Two religion measures and three spirituality measures were employed to assess the constructs. It was predicted that those who self-identify as religious only would score significantly higher on the religion measures than those who identified as spiritual only, and those that identified as spiritual only would score significantly higher on the spirituality measures than those who identified as religious only. Results supported the first hypothesis, but not the second. The relationship between spirituality and religion measures indicated substantial overlap and the possibility of differential relationships between emerging male and female adults.     

Turning Points in Adults' Lives: The Effects of Gender and the Amount of Choice

The study sought to discover what women and men in their 30s regard as the most important turning points in their lives, and whether the amount of choice they have in relation to these events influences the way in which turning points are evaluated. The study was part of the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, started in 1968. Data for the present study was collected by means of interviews conducted when the participants (n = 283) were 36 years old. Turning points were most often related to family, education, work, and social transitions. Women regarded parenthood, the health problems of people close to them, and moving to another community as turning points more often than men; whereas men regarded occupational events, military service, and changes in their lifestyle as turning points more often than women. Individuals tended to mention turning points over which they had a large amount of choice. The more personal choice the participants had enjoyed at the time of a turning point, the more positively they evaluated it at the time, and also later on.     

“Everybody is an Artist”: Arts‐based Education and Formerly Incarcerated Young Black Men's Academic and Social–Emotional Development in an Alternative School

Although arts‐based programming is shown to positively influence the development of youth exposed to adversity, little is known about the influence these programs have on formerly incarcerated emerging adult Black men enrolled in an alternative school. With educational resilience as a guiding framework, this qualitative case study explored the ways in which an arts‐based program in the context of an alternative school designed for formerly incarcerated young people facilitates emerging adult Black men's academic and social–emotional development. Data collection consisted of observations and interviews with school personnel and formerly incarcerated Black male students. Analysis and interpretation included a range of inductive techniques (coding, constant comparisons, and memoing). Results indicate that offering arts‐based activities fostered an environment where students could build caring and supportive relationships with peers and school personnel. Instructional practices that integrated music and poetry provided meaningful opportunities for the young men to participate, which appeared to enhance their motivation and attitudes (self, others, learning, and school) and academic self‐efficacy, and lessen their psychological and emotional distress. Study findings provide insights into how an arts‐based program in an alternative school can improve healthy development and academic achievement among formerly incarcerated young Black men transitioning into adulthood.