Percentage of pupillary dilation as a measure of item difficulty

The purpose of this study was to compare four measures of difficulty of mental multiplication items: percentage of pupillary dilation, latency of solution, number of correct responses, and judgment of item difficulty. Sixteen multiplication problems, classified into four levels of difficulty, were presented visually to 13 Ss, who verbalized their solutions to the problems. Analyses of variance and correlation coefficients were computed. It was concluded that all four measures of difficulty were useful but that judgment of difficulty and latency of solution were better measures of item difficulty than were the other two. A discussion of pupillary dilation and information processing is included.     

Misunderstanding metaphor: What's the problem?

In order to investigate the potential difficulties posed by task demands and by surface features of metaphorical sentences, children aged 6, 7, and 9 years were presented with metaphorical grounds encoded in five alternative linguistic forms: predicative metaphors, topicless metaphors, similes, analogies, and riddles. The task demands posed by comprehension of predicative metaphors proved greater than those posed by topicless metaphors, suggesting that it is more difficult to specify the similarity between two given terms than it is to generate a missing term. When topicless metaphors were rewritten either in an explicit analogic form or in the form of a riddle, comprehension was increased; however, when predicative metaphors were rewritten as similies, the addition of the term “like” to make clear the similarity relationship between the two terms failed to elevate understanding.     

IQ and social class

A brief overview is given of the nature-nurture debate elicited on the basis of Arthur Jensen's article concerning group differences in IQ test results published in 1969.Sandra Scarr-Salapatek found that the contribution of genetic variance in IQ test results tended to be larger in a more stimulating environment and proportionately smaller in a disadvantaged environment. This finding has been tested on data from a Swedish twin study. A comparison of within-pair similarity for MZ and DZ twins with varying social background has been made. Genetic variance seems to account for a greater proportion of the variance in IQ test scores in social group I and II compared to social group III. This is in accordance with the conclusions drawn by Scarr-Salapatek and thus tend to support the above-mentioned hypothesis. It therefore seems as though the potentially restricting effects of working class conditions for the development of the kind of abilities measured by conventional IQ tests would tend to reduce the degree to which genetic differences are expressed. More stimulating environmental opportunities, on the other hand, tend to allow a greater range of such differences in the middle and higher social classes.     

Lateralness in women's work: New views on success

Data from a longitudinal study of postbaccalaureate nursing careers are discussed in the context of the motive-to-avoid-success controversy. Two groups of nurses with continuous work histories were intensively studied. While most had experienced upward professional mobility, a significant minority had lateral careers, which, though not characterized by advancement, typically provide rewards of intensification. Further, lateral careers only occurred in specialties allowing a high degree of professional autonomy. Thus, upward mobility and advancement should not be the sole criteria of women's occupational progress. Alternative conceptions of success may be significant in many occupations, although such beliefs may not serve as viable substitutes for professional autonomy and the opportunity for personal development. Lateral movement may also characterize most men's work lives more aptly than descent or ascent; hence the findings underscore the necessity to rethink the image of movement in both male and female work spheres.The research upon which this paper is based was supported by a grant from the Nursing Resources Division, USPHS (Grant NU-004-94-03) for the study of Post-Baccalaureate Careers in Nursing, Fred Davis and Virginia Olesen, Principal Investigators, Ellen Lewin, Assistant Project Director. This article was originally presented as a paper at the Pacific Sociological Association meetings, Sacramento, California, April 1977, where the panel commentator, Sheryl Ruzek, provided useful comments on the essay. Jane Tabata Usami provided a very helpful bibliographic search and other technical assistance.     

What you don't know can hurt you: The effects of performance criteria ambiguity on sex differences in self-confidence1

Previous investigators have suggested that women display lower self-confidence than men across almost all achievement situations. The empirical validity of this suggestion is assessed in an experiment testing the hypothesis that performance evaluation guidelines moderate sex difference in self-confidence. Undergraduates read the guidelines by which their performance on an impending test would be evaluated. Guidelines were: ambiguous (A); clear—specifying the dimensions of performance to be examined, but not providing any examples of others' performance against which subjects' work would be compared (C); or clear with performance examples (CE). Subjects then completed the test and estimated how will they had done. Results showed the predicted pattern in conditions A and C: While women underestimated their actual performan?e much more than men when guidelines were ambiguous, they did not do so when guidelines were clear. Further, the rise in self-confidence for women from conditions A to C was greater than that for men. Also as predicted, both sexes' self-confidence and performance were higher in condition C than in condition A. Finally, although condition CE was expected to depress only women's self-confidence and performance, both sexes showed this effect. It is concluded that sex differences in self-confidence are moderated by situation variables and that programs designed to reduce such differences might be improved by a greater focus upon women's response to clearly specifiable factors in achievement settings.     

Role relevant sex typing and opportunity in agentic and communal domains1

The hypothesis associating psychological androgyny with greater personal adjustment has recently been contradicted in several studies in which masculine individuals, regardless of gender, generally appeared to be better adjusted than either androgynous or feminine persons. In the present research, five studies involving 363 subjects tested the hypothesis that such data may reflect a culture that values and differentially rewards agentic (masculine) characteristics and competencies in both men and women while taking communal (feminine) characteristics somewhat for granted. Subjects evaluating candidates for agentic roles preferred masculine candidates (regardless of gender). Masculine and androgynous persons were preferred for a communal role, while feminine persons were almost never chosen for either agentic or communal roles.     

Medial septal lesions: disruptions of microregulatory patterns and circadian rhythmicity in rats

The microregulatory patterns of food and water intake were examined in male and female rats bearing medical septal lesions and in sham-operated controls. Medial septal ablation, although not affecting the total amount of food or water ingested, resulted in a profound disruption of the pattern of intake. Circadian rhythmicity was disrupted for a period, returning to normal by 25 days postlesion. Permanent disruptions occurred in feeding patterns in the rats with septal lesions ingested more frequent but smaller meals. There was also a marked increase in food-intake-associated drinking and a decrease in non-food-intake-associated drinking. The results are interpreted to reflect two separate independent effects, a general circadian disruption and an alteration in requlatory behavior produced by a chronic depletion of body fluid.     

College-bound girls and science careers: Perceptions of barriers and facilitating factors

Student perceptions of barriers, facilitating factors, and information needs related to the consideration of careers in science and technology were investigated with a nationwide sample of talented high school senior women (N = 1017). Data were collected through a mailed questionnaire as part of a broader National Science Foundation project. Results of the study suggest that relatively few girls choose careers in science and technology because: They have doubts about combining family life with a science career; they lack information about steps in preparing for a science career; they believe influential adults; and they see few examples of the important role women can play in science. The data describing the students' perceptions of facilitating factors and information needs suggest that encouragement from family, access to role models, extra help and encouragement from science teachers, and information about careers in science, including the steps involved in preparation, might be influential in helping change perceptions of barriers to careers in science and technology.     

Application of the verbal transformation effect with learning-disabled children

Verbal Transformations (VTs) are an illusory effect which results from hearing a tape recording consisting of one word repeated twice per second. VTs have been employed to ascertain auditory perceptual differences in normal subjects relative to chronological age. This research tested two groups of 10 male children (normal and learning disabled). Results showed a significant difference (p < .01) between the reported number of VTs per group, with normal subjects verbalizing more different words. LD results are compared to VT studies with geriatrics. A theory is presented to explain our findings based upon a defect in short-term memory.