Sex differences in childhood socialization patterns in African societies

Data on sex-role socialization patterns of 29 African and 79 non-African societies were analyzed to test a set of hypotheses about the extent of sex-typing displayed in the child-training processes of African societies. Findings suggest that clear sex differences in socialization emphases and behavioral outcomes exist within African societies; moreover, such differentials resemble those reported among societies from other world cultural regions. In addition, three interesting secondary findings suggest that (1) males experience greater overall levels of socialization anxiety than females; (2) greater overall normative pressure is exerted on males than females in the course of child training; (3) in the aggregate, male children tend to be more compliant in reproducing ideal role-related behavior patterns than female children.     

Generalizing the problem definition step in the computer simulation of factorial experiments

A simulation system (KUSIM) used at the University of Kansas is described and examples provided. The system permits instructors and students without computer skills to bring computer simulation of psychological experiments into the classroom.     

Book Reviews

C. G. J ung : The spirit in man, art and literature
E lizabeth R. Z etzel : The capacity for emotional growth
C harles H anly and M orris L azerowitz (Eds.), Psychoanalysis and philosophy
A niela J affé : The myth of meaning
J une K. S inger , The unholy Bible: a psychological interpretation of William Blake
J anet M attinson . Marriage and mental handicap
A lfred F riedman . Therapy with families of sexually acting out girls
W illiam M. E asson . The severely disturbed adolescent     

Discriminative conditioning of prism adaptation

Two experiments were used to demonstrate that adaptation to ll-deg prism displacement can be conditioned to the stimuli associated with the goggles in which the prisms are housed. In Experiment 1 it was found that repeated alternation between a series of target-pointing responses while wearing prism goggles and a series of responses without prism goggles led to larger adaptive shift when S was tested with nondisplacing goggles than when tested without goggles. The results of Experiment 2 indicated that the adaptation revealed in the first experiment was primarily proprioceptive, rather than visual. Surprisingly, most Ss reported greater difficulty during the exposure period in overcoming the negative aftereffect than they did the prism-induced error.     

CONTINGENCY CONTRACTING WITH DELINQUENTS: EFFECTS OF A BRIEF TRAINING MANUAL ON STAFF CONTRACT NEGOTIATION AND WRITING SKILLS

A brief training manual was developed for the purpose of teaching child-care workers to contingency contract with delinquent youths living in residential care facilities. The manual was designed to require minimal supplementary training by a professional. In Experiment 1 a multiple baseline design was used to assess the effect of the manual on 4 child-care workers' contract negotiation and writing behaviors. Experiment 2 consisted of four A-B systematic replications. Behaviors were assessed within the context of analogue training simulations and generalization tests with delinquent youths. Results from the analogue simulations indicated that the manual was successful in increasing both types of behaviors to a level of proficiency that equaled or surpassed that of behaviorally trained graduate students, and results from the generalization tests indicated that the child-care workers were able to apply their newly acquired contracting skills with delinquent youths. Procedural reliability varied across child-care workers, but was usually high.     

GENERALIZATION OF NAMING RESPONSES TO OBJECTS IN THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AS A FUNCTION OF TRAINING STIMULUS MODALITY WITH RETARDED CHILDREN

Picture-cards, photographs, and real objects were compared as training stimuli in order to determine which best facilitated the generalization of naming responses learned in a special training room to real objects in the natural environments of four retarded children. The amount of transfer of naming behavior between the three stimulus modes and the average amount of training time required per stimulus mode were also assessed. Three of the four children displayed considerably more generalization to the real objects in the natural environment when they were trained with real objects. The fourth child displayed substantial generalization regardless of the training stimulus mode. No particular training stimulus mode clearly facilitated the transfer of naming responses to other modes or greatly reduced training time. The results of two supplementary procedures conducted with one child showed that: (1) training in several environments facilitated generalization to real objects in the natural environment when real objects were used as training stimuli but not when picture-cards were used, and (2) transfer from picture-cards to real objects was facilitated by training other picture-cards and the real objects portrayed by them at the same time.