The impact of informant gender on children’s endorsement of scientific and non-scientific information

By roughly 6 years of age, children acquire the stereotype that men are more competent than women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), potentially leading to greater trust in scientific information provided by men. This study tested whether 3- to 8-year-old children differentially endorsed conflicting information about science and toys presented by male and female informants depicted as a ‘man’ and ‘woman’ (Exp1) or ‘scientists’ (Exp2). Children were expected to endorse toy testimony from gender-matched informants; thus, the key question concerned endorsement of science testimony. In Exp1 (N = 149), boys and girls showed a same-gender informant preference for toy testimony; however, girls endorsed the male informant's testimony more for science than for toys – but only when tested by a male experimenter. In Exp2 (N = 264), boys and girls showed a same-gender preference, irrespective of content. Findings suggest that STEM-related gender stereotypes might lead girls to trust scientific information presented by men over women in certain contexts.     

Information and the memory span

Messages differing in number of symbols and symbol information load were presented tachistoscopically to 4 adult Ss. The messages were constructed by random drawing with replacement from an alphabet of 8 black form symbols and an alphabet of 32 colored form symbols. The number of symbols recalled varied as a function of alphabet; however, the information in recall was constant for all conditions. The number of symbols recalled and the information in recall was independent of message length.     

Memorabeatlia: A naturalistic study of long-term memory

Seventy-six undergraduates were given the titles and first lines of Beatles' songs and asked to recall the songs. Seven hundred and four different undergraduates were cued with one line from each of 25 Beatles' songs and asked to recall the title. The probability of recalling a line was best predicted by the number of times a line was repeated in the song and how early the line first appeared in the song. The probability of cuing to the title was best predicted by whether the line shared words with the title. Although the subjects recalled only 21% of the lines, there were very few errors in recall, and the errors rarely violated the rhythmic, poetic, or thematic constraints of the songs. Acting together, these constraints can account for the near verbatim recall observed. Fourteen subjects, who transcribed one song, made fewer and different errors than the subjects who had recalled the song, indicating that the errors in recall were not primarily the result of errors in encoding.     

False memories of childhood experiences

We conducted two experiments to investigate if college students would create false memories of childhood experiences in response to misleading information and repeated interviews. In both experiments we contacted parents to obtain information about events that happened to the students during childhood. In a series of interviews we asked the students to recall the parent-reported events and one experimenter-created false event. In the second experiment we varied the age at which we claimed the false event occurred. In both experiments we found that some individuals created false memories in these circumstances and in the second experiment we found no effect of age of attempted incorporation. In the second experiment we also found that those who discussed related background knowledge during the early interviews were more likely to create a false recall. Generalizations to therapy contexts are discussed.     

Stress and strain in blue-collar and white-collar management staff

Previous research has demonstrated the relationship of work stress to indices of job strain, as well as underscoring the importance of moderating variables. In the present study of a mining organization it was hypothesized that personnel associated with actual mining operations would demonstrate stress-strain relationships different from those associated with administrative and staff work. Measures of stress and strain were obtained from management staff of blue-collar and white-collar groups to assess the moderating influence of collar color. Results strongly support collar color as a moderator variable. In particular, the two groups differ significantly with respect to how role conflict, job security, quantitative work load, variation in work load, and utilization of skills impact various strains. The effect of job function on stress and strain and possible practical implications of these results are discussed.     

Haloperidol and the treatment of stuttering

Reports of the use of haloperidol in the treatment of stuttering show that it does reduce the severity of the disorder in some subjects. Two trials of the drug in adult stutterers confirmed this effect in 17% of the 52 subjects tested. Side effects —principally drowsiness—caused many subjects to discontinue taking the drug and only one subject voluntarily continued on haloperidol after the trial concluded. It is concluded that haloperidol, a potentially simple remedy, is not the treatment of choice in adults who stutter.