Is there coherence among the cognitive components of gender acquisition?

This study examined the relationships among five measures that assess various cognitive components of the child's acquisition of gender. At around 2 years of age, children were given a task assessing their ability to accurately label as a boy or a girl some head-and-shoulders pictures of boys and girls. At 4 years of age, these children were given tasks measuring (1) the degree to which they found gender a salient parameter of categorization, (2) the amount of gender-related knowledge they could display (SERLI-SRD), (3) the degree to which their preferences were gender-typed (SERLI-SRP) and (4) the accuracy of their memory for gender-typed information. There was no consistent pattern of relationship among the children's scores on these five tools for measuring gender acquisition. Our findings suggest that gender is a multidimensional construct in children's development, and thus these results challenge the undimensional manner in which gender is repeatedly addressed in developmental theory and research.This research was funded in part by a federal biomedical research grant (No. 2507RR07080) awarded to the first author from the Department of Psychology at the University of Oregon, and by Grant No. RO1HD175751 from the National Institute of Child Development awarded to the third author.We wish to thank Margo Lane, Rachel Robertson, Jacqui Oucalt, Laura Baker, Dale Roberts, and the teachers, parents, and assistants of the Child Research Laboratory at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, for their invaluable contribution to this research.     

Integration of information from multiple element displays

This experiment examined the processing of information from multiple element visual displays, using techniques derived from the theory of signal detectability. The method allows one to specify how observers integrate information from individual elements of a display. The experiment tested numerical and graphical displays having different display sizes, durations, and arrangements of elements. Observer performance increased with the number, m, of display elements, but at less than the ideal √m rate. Observer performance was consistent with a model of information integration constrained by internal noise. Linear arrays of elements resulted in better performance than did square arrays. Graphically coded elements resulted in better performance than did numerical elements. Observer decision weighting of element information from graphical displays was approximately uniform across spatial position, but the weighting of information from numerical displays was concentrated on elements near the fixation point.     

Analysis of the elements of attention: A neuropsychological approach

A model for conceptualizing the components or elements of attention is presented. The model substitutes for the diffuse and global concept of attention a group of four processes and links them to a putative system of cerebral structures. Data in support of the model are presented; they are derived from neuropsychological test scores obtained from two samples, the first consisting of 203 adult neuropsychiatric patients and normal control subjects, and the second, an epidemiologically-based sample of 435 elementary school children. Principal components analyses of test scores from these two populations yielded similar results: a set of independent elements of attention that are assayed by different tests. This work presents a heuristic for clinical research in which the measurement of attention is essential.     

A comparison of mothers' and fathers' speech to their 3-year-old sons

The language patterns of 10 mothers and 10 fathers with their firstborn 3-year-old sons were compared. Ten-minute mother-son and father-son conversations were recorded independently in the home during a free-play session with standard play mterials. The findings of this study indicate that although mothers and fathers used a similar number of utterances in conversing with their sons over a 10-minute period, their patterns of speech were different on a number of quantitative measures including MLU, MLU of five longest utterances, percent of imperatives, and percent of questions. In general, fathers' communication was viewed as more controlling and involving the child less, while mothers' communication was viewed as more child-centered and involving the child more.     

Letter naming time,digit span,and precocious reading achievement

In two 6-month longitudinal studies of intellectually advanced preschool children, letter naming time and backward digit span were moderately good predictors of concurrent reading achievement (PIAT Reading Recognition Score). None of the remaining measures in a battery of standard cognitive indices, including Stanford-Binet MA, was associated with reading achievement. The results of cross-lagged correlation analysis of data from one of the two samples suggested that individual differences in time to access name codes for visual stimuli predict, but are not a consequence of, individual differences in reading achievement. The results of the cross-lagged analysis for the second sample were inconclusive. As a whole, the results are consistent with findings from other populations indicating that both short term memory span and efficiency of retrieval from long term memory are related to reading ability. The results also indicate, however, that the relationship between retrieval efficiency and reading achievement in precocious readers cannot be described by extrapolation of threshold estimates from the performance of older, unselected groups of readers.     

Sources of organizational power for women: Overcoming structural obstacles

The ability of women (and men) to achieve success within organizational settings depends on their understanding structural and behavioral dimensions of power. However, the increased emphasis on educating women in the behavioral methods (e.g., assertiveness, aspirations, politics) of acquiring power invariably minimizes or omits the potential contribution of structural considerations. In their journey toward power acquisition, women must recognize and utilize the wide array of structural paths available to them. An analysis is undertaken of the main structural (organizational) sources of power — centrality, coping with uncertainty, and control over resources — with emphasis on their ramifications for women.The research cited in this article includes empirically based studies as well as observations, assertions, or admonitions that have not received extensive empirical validation. Nonetheless, the latter personal experiences and observations of these authorities may be valid.Management Analysis Company