Primary influencers of initial vocational choices for college women

This study of 597 entering college women investigated the characteristics of people they named as the primary influencers for their initial choices of major. College major was considered analogous to vocational field since the sample of students overwhelmingly gave career goals as reasons for choosing a particular major. Characteristics of these primary influencers were compared with those of a sample of individuals influencing male choices. In addition, characteristics of influencers were compared between those influencing females choosing traditional and nontraditional majors. The results indicate that most students, regardless of gender, were influenced by males, particularly fathers. However, a notable percentage of female students, especially those in traditional fields, were influenced by females. Students whose primary influencers were in fields closely related to their own vocational choices reported being more certain of their choices than students citing influencers in unrelated fields. These findings have implications for model-observer similarity, and may necessitate distinguishing between influential people who provide reinforcement for a choice of major and those who provide specific vocational modeling as well as reinforcement for that choice.     

Sex-typing in infancy: The role of the father

Recent research on mother-infant interaction has provided little empirical support for the role of environmental factors in early sex-role development. In this paper, considerable support for the father's role is presented. Specifically, the research on mother- and father-infant interaction patterns is reviewed in order to describe developmental changes in the nature of differential treatment of the sexes during the first two years of life. Together, the studies reviewed highlight the importance of the father in early sex-role socialization, delineate a developmental model of the early differential treatment of the sexes, and provide clues as to the origins of later childhood sex differences in verbal and visual-spatial abilities.     

Selling & Sales Management in Action: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF INCENTIVES IN A SALES FORCE CONTEST

The sales job of the early twenty-first century has evolved due to myriad rapidly changing environmental factors. Customer relationship focus, technology, global competition, shifting customer preferences and demands, forced downsizing, increased competitive pressure, and other factors have contributed to altering the salesperson role—what salespeople do. Yet outdated taxonomies are referenced when researching and writing about sales jobs. This paper develops an empirically generated sales position taxonomy based on changing selling activities and strategies. First, a set of 105 activities are factor analyzed to create 12 dimensions of selling. Second, the factor scores are entered into a cluster analysis. The resulting factor score centroids allow for interpretation of a taxonomy of six categories of contemporary sales jobs.     

The Communication of Naïve Theories of the Social World in Parent–Child Conversation

Three studies examined the communication of naïve theories of social groups in conversations between parents and their 4-year-old children (N = 48). Parent–child dyads read and discussed a storybook in which they either explained why past social interactions had occurred (Study 1) or evaluated whether future social interactions should occur (Studies 2 and 3). In all 3 studies, the content of parents’ and children's explanations reflected an intuitive theory of social groups as markers of intrinsic obligations, whereby individuals are obligated to avoid harm to and direct positive actions toward their in-group members. Furthermore, Studies 2 and 3 suggested that when discussing the normative obligations that guide behavior, parents covertly reinforce their children's developing beliefs about social categories. Implications for the development of social cognition are discussed.     

The role of within-category variability in category-based induction: a developmental study

The present studies tested the hypothesis that strong assumptions about within-category homogeneity impede children's recognition of the inductive value of diverse samples of evidence. In Study 1a, children (7-year-olds) and adults were randomly assigned to receive a prime emphasizing within-category variability, a prime emphasizing within-category similarities, or to not receive a prime. Only following the variability prime, children demonstrated a reliable preference for evaluating diverse over nondiverse samples to determine whether there is support for a category-wide generalization. Adults demonstrated a robust preference for diverse samples in all conditions. These effects extended beyond the specific categories included in the prime, as well as to multiple types of test questions. Study 1b demonstrated that priming variability leads children to select diverse samples only when doing so is informative for induction. Implications for conceptual development are discussed.     

Neuromuscular Control of Posture in the Infant and Child

This study explored the effects of vision and maturation on the characteristics of neuromuscular responses underlying balance control in both seated and standing children of five age groups (3½–5 months, 8–14 months, 2–3 years, 4–6 years, and 7–10 years). A platform was used to unexpectedly disturb the child’s balance in the anterior or posterior direction. Responses of the leg, trunk, and neck muscles were recorded using surface electromyograms.

Vision was not required for the activation of these responses in any of the age groups tested. However, comparison of muscle response latencies of standing children to posterior platform translation in the two visual conditions showed a significant reduction in latency for neck flexors in the 2- to 3-year-olds with vision removed and an increase in the total number of monosynaptic reflexes. No reduction in latency was found in the older age groups. The hypothesis of a shift from an early long latency visual dominance to a shorter latency proprioceptive one during childhood is discussed.

Postural control showed a cephalo-caudal developmental gradient with postural responses appearing first in the neck, then trunk, and finally, legs, as children developed from 3 to 14 months of age. A wide variety of response patterns was seen in the 3- to 5-month-olds, indicating that postural responses are not functional prior to experience with stabilizing the center of mass.