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.     

The Effects of Religiosity on Psychopathology in Emerging Adults: Intrinsic Versus Extrinsic Religiosity

Recent research has suggested that religion may play an important role in determining mental health. Although research has examined the effects of religiosity on specific types of psychopathology, less research has examined psychopathology broadly in the context of particular aspects of religion. Thus, the current study examined intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity and a range of psychopathology in 486 emerging adult college students. Results of a MANOVA indicated a main effect for intrinsic religiosity on a range of psychopathology and an interaction effect between intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity on antisocial personality problems. Implications and limitations of the current study are discussed.     

Spatial gating effects on judged motion of gratings in apertures.

Wallach has described in qualitative terms the movement of lines behind apertures. We related the data he obtained to the aperture problem, constructed a model of movement perception, and carried out tests of the model. Experiment 1 was a parametric study, and showed the conditions under which a reliable illusion (the barber pole illusion) of diagonal movement of lines along an aperture could be obtained, and when fluctuating judgements or veridical percepts were obtained. On the basis of this study a dipole model was constructed. The model was further developed and tested. In experiment 2 the effects of total area of stimulation were examined: diagonal gratings were viewed behind multiple apertures. In experiment 3 the effects of local signs were examined: diagonal gratings were viewed in an aperture which had edges cut in small steps and stairs, with the risers parallel to the grating, and the treads parallel to the direction of motion of the grating. Experiment 4 was designed to test a prediction about the motion aftereffect of dots near and far from the point of fixation, and the results confirmed the model. It was concluded that the model accounts for the barber pole illusion and, generally, for the movement of gratings in apertures.     

Book reviews

Patterson, K., Marshall, J, C. and Coltheart, M. (Eds.). Surface dyslexia : Neuropsychological and cognitive studies of phonological reading. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 1985. Pp. 544. ISBN 0-86377-026-6. £29.95.

Donovan, B. T. Hormones and human behaviour. Cambridge : Cambridge Unversity Press. 1985. Pp. 223. ISBN 0-521-25881-2. £25.00.

Harris, M. D. Introduction to Natural Language Processing. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall International. 1985. Pp. 366. ISBN 0-8539-3253-2. £25.00.

Daniloff, N. (Ed.). Speech science—Recent advances. London: Taylor and Francis. 1982. Pp. 326. ISBN 0-85066-501-9. £30.00.

Haugeland, J. Artificial Intelligence-The very Idea. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press. 1985. Pp. 287. ISBN 0-262-08153-9. £14.95.

Sampson, G. Writing systems. London: Hunthcinson. 1985. Pp. 234. ISBN 0-091-56980-X. £19.65.

Pavlidis, G. Th. and Fisher, D. f. (Eds.). Dyslexia: Its neuropsychology and treatment 1986. Chichester: John Wiley. £29.50.