Kindergarten self-control mediates the gender reading achievement gap: A population-based cohort study

Could superior self-control explain the gender difference in reading achievement favoring girls? To test this idea, we drew on a unique population-based sample (N = 11,336) where self-control was measured in kindergarten using a multimethod battery of assessments. Girls showed substantially higher levels of self-control in kindergarten (β = 0.47) and outperformed boys on standardized tests of reading achievement in third/fourth grade (β = 0.20). Further, kindergarten self-control prospectively predicted reading achievement throughout elementary school (β = 0.37). Connecting these findings, our mediation analyses revealed that the female self-control advantage in kindergarten could account for subsequent gender differences in reading achievement. Our results suggest that early gender differences in self-control may represent a key pathway through which gender disparities in reading skills, vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension occur.     

Larger reported impact of stuttering in teenage females,compared to males – A comparison of teenagers’ result on Overall Assessment of the Speaker’s Experience of Stuttering (OASES)

PurposeThe aim of this cross-sectional study was to explore the impact and experience of stuttering, and attitude to communication for female and male teenagers who stutter (TWS) in comparison with teenagers with no stutter (TWNS).MethodsThe Swedish version of the Overall Assessment of the Speaker’s Experience of Stuttering (OASES-T-S), was administered to 56 TWS, 13–17 years old (26 females, 30 males). An adapted version of OASES, Attitude to Speech and Communication (ASC), was administered to 233 TWNS. The impact scores were analyzed in relation to sex in TWS and TWNS.ResultsFemale TWS reported that stuttering had a greater impact on their life than it did on male TWS (on average 0.5 higher impact scores; Hedges’ g = 0.87). The differences did not seem to be caused by differences in severity of overt stuttering symptoms. Female and male TWS particularly differed on items related to difficulties in day-to-day communication and affective/behavioral reactions to stuttering. Such sex differences were not as pronounced among TWNS, suggesting that teenage women may be more vulnerable to the negative impact of stuttering than men the same age.ConclusionFemale teenagers report more negative experiences and a greater tendency to use avoidance strategies than male teenagers.     

Female and male soccer players recruited different cognitive processes when generating creative soccer moves

Previous research has indicated that in several domains, women and men may use different cognitive processes along with different neurophysiological activation to achieve similar behavioral performance. The present study extended this line of research to the novel field of soccer playing. In female and male active soccer players, we investigated patterns of brain activation and functional connectivity of brain networks during imagination of creative soccer moves, using EEG methods that are well established in creativity research. Participants were presented with scenarios taken from real soccer games. Female and male soccer players showed comparable creative performance in their imagined moves to score a goal, which was rated by top qualified experts (UEFA A licensed soccer coaches). Notwithstanding, they differed with respect to their brain activation and functional connectivity of brain networks. While men exhibited relatively higher parietal/occipital task-related EEG alpha power, women showed significantly higher within-hemisphere functional coupling in the upper alpha band. The findings add important new evidence to the field of cognitive gender research in an applied, sports-related domain of creative cognition.     

恐惧记忆习得与消退的性别差异及其神经机制

大多数人在其一生中都会经历创伤事件,但只有少数人会发展成为创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）。焦虑障碍的易感性和保护因素成为一个重要议题。基于恐惧记忆习得与消退模型的研究发现女性个体表现出“易习得、难消退”的特点。在恐惧相关脑区的脑生理结构、功能/结构连接性、以及大脑可塑性的性别差异可能是该特征的根本原因。性激素作为一种焦虑障碍的保护因素,可以调节这种性别差异,这种调节效应可能是通过影响大脑结构形态（如神经细胞的形态和数量）、调控与记忆相关基因的表达（如HDAC4）而实现的。雌性激素水平的不稳定性可能是女性易感焦虑障碍的重要原因。未来对性别差异的深入研究将有助于推进个性化医疗。     

青少年性发展的差异及其对人格发展的影响

研究青少年性发育现状及其对性心理与人格发展的影响。方法：采用统一编制的《中学生性现状调查问卷》及16PF人格问卷,采用分层抽样方法,对江西4所中学的1000名学生进行问卷调查。结果：(1)青少年手淫行为发生率、与异性交往愿望及性冲动等方面均存在性别差异和年级差异;(2)性成熟的青少年的多种人格特征与未成熟的存在显著性差异。结论：青少年性生理发育正常,但在性心理方面很不成熟,对手淫、性冲动和异性交往等方面问题较多,性发展影响青少年人格发展。     

It is not all about the Benjamins: Understanding preferences for mates with resources

We contend that preferences for mates with resources or money might be calibrated on where a potential mate gets her/his money. In three studies (N = 668) we examined the nature of individuals’ preferences for mates who have resources or money. Both sexes preferred a long-term mate who has earned her/his money over other sources. In particular, women preferred mates who earned their money over other potential means of getting resources (i.e., inheritance, embezzlement, and windfall). Women maintained a high level of interest in mates who earned their money regardless of duration of the mateship whereas men became less interested in a mate who earned her money in the context of short-term relationships. Overall, the sexes preferred a mate who earned their money more strongly in the long-term than the short-term context. Results are discussed from evolutionary and sociocultural models of mate preferences.     

Birth order, sex of child, and perceptions of parental favoritism

Many studies have examined factors that influence discriminative parental solicitude. Sex, birth order, and age of the mother are a few factors demonstrated to influence levels of parental investment (especially as measured by offspring self-report). One indicator of a high level of parental investment is being a parental favorite. Using self-reports from a sample of several hundred young adults, we secured support for two hypotheses related to the influence of birth order and sex on parental favoritism. Fathers are not perceived as having a favorite child more often than are mothers, but are more likely to favor female children than are mothers. Mothers are perceived to be more likely to favor female children in blended sibships. Both mothers and fathers are perceived as favoring genetically-related children. The results also suggest that the birth order of the parental favorite varies with the birth order of the participant. Firstborns and lastborns report a pattern of favoritism that suggests parents favor firstborn and lastborn children. The discussion addresses limitations of the methodology and presents directions for future research.     

Measuring anxious responses to predictable and unpredictable threat in children and adolescents

Research has highlighted the need for new methods to assess emotions in children on multiple levels to gain better insight into the complex processes of emotional development. The startle reflex is a unique translational tool that has been used to study physiological processes during fear and anxiety in rodents and in human participants. However, it has been challenging to implement developmentally appropriate startle experiments in children. This article describes a procedure that uses predictable and unpredictable aversive events to distinguish between phasic fear and sustained anxiety in children and adolescents. We investigated anxious responses, as measured with the startle reflex, in youths (N = 36, mean age = 12.63 years, range = 7-17) across three conditions: no aversive events (N), predictable aversive events (P), and unpredictable aversive events (U). Short-duration cues were presented several times in each condition. Aversive events were signaled by the cues in the P condition but were presented randomly in the U condition. Participants showed fear-potentiated startle to the threat cue in the P condition. Startle responses were also elevated between cues in the U condition compared with the N condition, suggesting that unpredictable aversive events can evoke a sustained state of anxiety in youths. This latter effect was influenced by sex, being greater in girls than in boys. These findings indicate the feasibility of this experimental induction of the startle reflex in response to predictable and unpredictable events in children and adolescents, enabling future research on interindividual differences in fear and anxiety and their development in youths.     

Sex differences in latent cognitive abilities ages 5 to 17: Evidence from the Differential Ability Scales—Second Edition

Sex differences in the latent general and broad cognitive abilities underlying the Differential Ability Scales, Second Edition were investigated for children and youth ages 5 through 17. Multi-group mean and covariance structural equation modeling was used to investigate sex differences in latent cognitive abilities as well as changes in these differences across age. Most broad abilities showed mean differences across the sexes, and all such differences varied across ages. Girls showed an advantage on the processing speed (Gs) first-order residual factor. Girls also showed advantages at some ages on free-recall memory, a narrow ability of long term retrieval (Glr). Boys showed a developmentally-related advantage on a visual-spatial ability (Gv) first-order residual factor, depending on age. Younger girls showed an advantage on short-term memory (Gsm). No statistically significant sex differences were shown on the latent comprehension-knowledge (Gc) factor, or on a second-order, latent g factor. Boys showed larger variances for several broad abilities, some substantial, but those differences were not statistically significant.