Gotowa bibliografia na temat „Sex differences in preschool behaviour”

This paper is concerned with the extent to which "traditionality" of parents' attitudes towards the other sex are related to sex-bias in expectations regarding children and to involvement in sex-typical household tasks. We also examine each of these in relation to how parents see themselves along dimensions of "masculinity" (instrumental traits) and "femininity" (expressive traits). To obtain a wide spectrum of cultural values, comparable data were collected on parents of preschool-aged children (n = 161) in Cambridge (England) and Budapest (Hungary). Parents' personalities, attitudes, and behaviour were assessed by self-report questionnaires. Parents with more traditional views on male-female adult relations had more sex-biased expectations of their children. Furthermore, with the exception of Budapest mothers, parents who had more traditional attitudes and expectations were more gender-stereotyped in their behaviour. Mothers' sex-role behaviour in Budapest was related to their husbands' attitudes. Comparing parents according to sex and location the following results emerge: fathers were more sex-biased in parenting expectations and more traditional in their attitudes to adult relations than mothers. Sex-typical household and child-care duties were more likely to be performed by the parent of the traditionally "appropriate" sex. Budapest parents were more sex-biased in their attitudes than Cambridge parents, but less gender-typed in their role-sharing behaviour. This difference in role-sharing was related to maternal employment. These results further support the contention that the various gender-related phenomena-traits, attitudes, values, interests, preferences, and behaviour- are multifactorial. As a considerable variation has been found in parents' gender-related personality, behaviour, and attitudes, it remains to be seen whether this variation is reflected in any way in the behaviour of their preschool daughters and sons.

In Germany and Italy 16 children (8 in each country) were observed during their first year in preschool. An average of 50 five-minutes samples in Germany and 38 in Italy were analysed with regard to certain play and behaviour categories. The comparison revealed differences in 'looking around' and 'body contact' (both more in Italy), 'talking to somebody', 'automanipulation' (both more in Germany), and 'the number of children playing together' (German children preferred to play with more than one child, while Italian children played more often in dyads or alone). In both cultures children preferred the same age children for social play and the same sex children for parallel play and showed a decline of 'interactions with the teacher' and 'looking around' over the year. Sex differences were found in both cultures for 'object conffict'.

There is a small, but growing, body of research investigating peer-victimisation between preschoolers, an age which has been identified as being important both theoretically and practically for the development of interventions. This study compares aggressive and defending behaviour and victim status of preschoolers in three European countries; England, Spain and Italy. The results provide further confirmation that some children behave aggressively towards their peers during preschool in each of the countries studied. There are similarities between preschool children involved in peer-victimisation in the three countries in terms of the roles taken, sex differences and the types of aggressive behaviours used and experienced by the children. There were differences in the profiles of children identified as taking the roles by teachers and peers. Overall, it was found that those children identified by peers or teachers as being aggressive were more likely to be male, rated as physically strong and more likely to be rejected by classmates. Also, in general, the targets of peer-victimisation differed depending on the reporter. Peer-nominated victims were not identifiable in terms of gender, popularity or physical strength. Teacher-nominated victims were more likely to be socially rejected and physically weak. There are several subtle differences between the countries which deserve further investigation. The findings are discussed in relation to furthering our understanding of the development of peer-victimisation in preschools and the need for interventions which address this phenomenon.

<p>The article represents the research, analysed the reviewing of defensive mechanisms and coping strategies in the context of the mental health of pre-school children of different gender. The results obtained through study point to differentiation of psychological defence and coping strategies mechanisms based on gender and the condition of mental health. It is revealed that mentally healthy pre-school age children prefer to use effective and socially upheld coping-strategies, which reduce the pressure through socially upheld behaviour patterns (e.g., through the decent “children’s activity” – play, walk and etc.). Mentally healthy girls more often focus on overcome the difficulties within themselves. Boys, who have emotional symptoms, as usual prefer the destructive emotional expression strategy, that lets to ease the tension. Boys with the low level of anxiety are oriented to the passive distraction, while girls focus on the social contacts. Received results can be used for development of psychological prevention of mental health offences programmes</p>

Sex differences in restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have been explored with mixed findings. We aimed to investigate sex differences in RRBs through a specific measure—i.e., the Repetitive Behavior Scale Revised (RBS-R)—in a sample of preschool-age and school-age children with ASD. Additionally, we evaluated if RRBs were differently related to adaptive functioning within the male and the female age groups. A sample of 210 ASD individuals (3–18 years; 145 males, 65 females) underwent an in-depth assessment including a cognitive, adaptive functioning evaluation (i.e., the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System, Second Edition (ABAS-II)) and RRBs assessment (i.e., RBS-R). No significant sex differences on the RBS-R total score or any RBS-R subscale emerged. Within the group of older participants, RRBs were negatively associated with all adaptive skill domains independently from sex and age. Our results suggest a lack of sex differences in RRBs in our sample. Additionally, our findings highlight the possible negative impact of RRBs on adaptive skills in older individuals with autism, emphasizing the need for autistic individuals of both sexes to undergo an early intervention targeting RRBs, in order to improve their adaptive skills.

In this paper we present the results of research on a sample of 101 children. All children attending kindergarten "Sunčica" that exists within the Public Institution for pre-school education "Our child" Tuzla. Our goal was to investigate and determine which behavior, prosocial or aggressive, is more manifested by pre-school children. Also, we wanted to determine whether there is a significant difference in the expression of aggressive and prosocial behavior of children in relation to their age and gender. The results we obtained showed that preschool children manifested more prosocial than aggressive behavior, that there are significant differences in the expression of prosocial and aggressive behavior of children in relation to sex, and that there are significant differences between certain age groups of children in the context of prosocial behavior while among some age groups in the context of prosocial behavior and among all age groups in context of aggressive behavior there were no statistically significant differences.

Sex differences in activities of preschoolers were assessed during free-play time from observation of the behavior of 31 children (23 girls, 8 boys; M = 5 yr.). These differences were noted for the time girls and boys spent in the activities considered, boys spending more time in rough-and-tumble play and in agonistic activities and girls in organised games such as games with rules and role-play in addition to affiliative activities. Sex differences could be detected also in the distribution of time among various activities of the children during free-play in the three terms of the school year under consideration. From a developmental perspective, gender plays a fundamental role in the formation of play-networks in the first peer encounters. These peer groups, sexually segregated, are structuring and organizing during the academic year so “distinctive cultures” for boys and girls, besides consolidating this segregation facilitate the acquisition of advantageous social skill for later life.

Links between both temperament and parenting, and children's sociable and aggressive behaviour with peers (physical and relational), were examined. The research was undertaken in two Western cultures (the United States and Australia) assumed to be similar in socialisation practices and emphases. The moderating effects of parent sex and child sex were also examined. Parents completed questionnaires on parenting styles and child temperament. Preschool teachers rated children's aggressive and sociable behaviour. US children were rated higher on both types of aggression by teachers and on sociability, activity, and emotionally by parents. Girls were rated as more relationally aggressive and more prosocial than boys, with boys higher on physical aggression. Mothers were more authoritative, with fathers more authoritarian, although the latter was mainly a result obtained from US parents. In both the United States and Australia, temperament consistently predicted child sociable and aggressive behaviours, with some evidence of fathers' authoritarian parenting also contributing. The results show the relevance for parenting and child development of gender, and the importance of culture differences even between two Western and individualist countries.

In this study, researchers wished to ascertain whether there were age (three- and four-year old), sibling (with or without older siblings), and sex (male and female) differences in the use of relational aggression in preschool students as rated by peers and teachers. In order to answer this research question, two 2 × 2 × 2 factorial ANOVA procedures with the relational aggression composite score as the dependent variable on the PSBS-P and PSBS-T were used for peer and teacher assessment, respectively, of relational aggression. Results revealed that in the peer ratings of preschool students' relationally aggressive behavior, there was an disordinal age by sibling interaction, in which four-year-old children with siblings were significantly more likely to be rated by their peers as using relational aggression than three-year-old children without siblings. In the teacher ratings of preschool students' relationally aggressive behavior, a main effect for age was observed. Teachers rated four-year old children as evidencing significantly higher levels of relational aggression as compared to three-year-olds. No sex differences were observed in the use of relational aggression either at age three or age four in this sample. Implications for these findings are presented.

The aim of this study is to categorize the differential diagnostic criteria of communication skills for preschool children with shy behaviour and children with autism within the speech therapy intervention process. For the current study during the speech therapy intervention process 23 preschool children from 3-5 years old were studied who had communication problems and no speech. To establish the differential diagnostic criteria of communication skills for preschool children with shy behaviour and children with autism observation and complex speech therapy methods were used while combining practical and verbal/non-verbal approaches. The quantitative research methodology was used to generalize and conduct a comparative analysis of the results, in order to emphasize the behavioural characteristics and to outline the existing differences between the means of communication of these children. The analysis of the research results made it possible to compile a comparative description of communication features and indicators of the quality of communication of children with shy behaviour and children with autism. Communication and behavioural problems which are typical for children with shy behaviour and children with autism were clarified and differentiated, as well as the criteria for differential diagnosis of speech and communication features of children with shy behaviour has been established, and speech therapy intervention rules have been developed to overcome those problems.

A consistent finding in the literature is that children who demonstrate lower levels of social functioning (i.e., exhibit high levels of externalising and internalising problems and low levels of socially competent behaviour) have problems interpreting social cues and enacting appropriate behavioural responses in social situations (that is, they have poor social information processing (SIP) skills). Another consistent finding is that children who demonstrate lower levels of social functioning have problems regulating behaviour and/or emotions (that is, they have poor self-regulation skills). The research questions in this study explore two related issues: whether these associations can explain sex differences in social functioning (with girls consistently exhibiting higher levels of social competence and lower levels of externalising problems than boys) and whether an intervention targeting SIP and self-regulation skills can lead to improvements in social functioning. The study forms one component of a larger developmental prevention project (the Pathways to Prevention Project) which involves the provision of an integrated set of intervention strategies to children attending preschools in a highly disadvantaged Brisbane suburb. It also involves programs with their families, their schools and relevant ethnic communities. This study relates to a sub-sample of 308 children who participated solely in the social skills program. Children from two preschools received the program (N=174) and were compared with children from two other preschools who did not receive the program (N=134). The research questions were addressed using a repeated measures design, with data being collected from all intervention and comparison children pre- and post-intervention (that is, at the beginning and end of the school year) and at a one year follow-up at the end of Grade 1. The study is unique as it involves Australian children from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds, many of whom who are non-English speaking. Few studies have involved such diverse samples and none have been implemented in an Australian context. The first two research questions seek to confirm findings from prior studies, examining whether females exhibit higher levels of social functioning than males and whether there is a significant relationship between social functioning and SIP and self-regulation skills. The third research question significantly extends prior findings by examining whether there are sex differences in SIP and self-regulation skills and whether these can account for sex differences in social functioning. This issue has been largely overlooked in the literature. The fourth research question examines whether a social skills intervention designed to improve preschool children's SIP and self-regulatory skills can lead to improvements in these skills and increase levels of social functioning. The fifth research question examines the relative effect of the intervention for boys and girls. Using pre-intervention data, the study confirmed prior research, finding significant sex differences in social functioning with girls exhibiting higher levels of social competence and lower levels of externalising problems. A significant relationship was also found between measures of SIP, self-regulation skills and social functioning. A significant sex difference was found in SIP and self-regulation skills, with girls performing better than boys on these measures. After adjusting for children's scores on the SIP measure, sex differences in social competence were no longer significant. Sex differences in externalising problems remained significant but were markedly reduced. A similar pattern of findings was observed when adjusting for self-regulation skills. These findings represent a major contribution to the understanding of sex differences in social functioning. In comparison to non-participants, participants in the social skills program demonstrated significant improvements in SIP, self-regulation skills and social competence which were sustained 12 months after the completion of the intervention. In general, program participation was not found to be associated with changes in children's levels of externalising and internalising behaviour problems, although there were strong and significant reductions in externalising behaviour problems for disruptive children who were consistently engaged with the program. Program effects were greatest where it was consistently reinforced by teachers. No significant sex differences in program effects were found. Implications for future policy are that child-focused programs designed to increase school readiness and levels of social competence should include SIP and self-regulation components. More intensive programs may be required for long term improvements in behaviour problems. In terms of future practice, it is concluded that the implementation and evaluation of programs for young disadvantaged children from a range of multi-cultural backgrounds must limit English language requirements to increase program engagement, and encourage parental involvement using strategies such as parent training groups that do not demand high levels of parental literacy. Teacher involvement also needs to be maximised either through the provision of teacher training or through intensive mentoring.

A consistent finding in the literature is that children who demonstrate lower levels of social functioning (i.e., exhibit high levels of externalising and internalising problems and low levels of socially competent behaviour) have problems interpreting social cues and enacting appropriate behavioural responses in social situations (that is, they have poor social information processing (SIP) skills). Another consistent finding is that children who demonstrate lower levels of social functioning have problems regulating behaviour and/or emotions (that is, they have poor self-regulation skills). The research questions in this study explore two related issues: whether these associations can explain sex differences in social functioning (with girls consistently exhibiting higher levels of social competence and lower levels of externalising problems than boys) and whether an intervention targeting SIP and self-regulation skills can lead to improvements in social functioning. The study forms one component of a larger developmental prevention project (the Pathways to Prevention Project) which involves the provision of an integrated set of intervention strategies to children attending preschools in a highly disadvantaged Brisbane suburb. It also involves programs with their families, their schools and relevant ethnic communities. This study relates to a sub-sample of 308 children who participated solely in the social skills program. Children from two preschools received the program (N=174) and were compared with children from two other preschools who did not receive the program (N=134). The research questions were addressed using a repeated measures design, with data being collected from all intervention and comparison children pre- and post-intervention (that is, at the beginning and end of the school year) and at a one year follow-up at the end of Grade 1. The study is unique as it involves Australian children from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds, many of whom who are non-English speaking. Few studies have involved such diverse samples and none have been implemented in an Australian context. The first two research questions seek to confirm findings from prior studies, examining whether females exhibit higher levels of social functioning than males and whether there is a significant relationship between social functioning and SIP and self-regulation skills. The third research question significantly extends prior findings by examining whether there are sex differences in SIP and self-regulation skills and whether these can account for sex differences in social functioning. This issue has been largely overlooked in the literature. The fourth research question examines whether a social skills intervention designed to improve preschool children's SIP and self-regulatory skills can lead to improvements in these skills and increase levels of social functioning. The fifth research question examines the relative effect of the intervention for boys and girls. Using pre-intervention data, the study confirmed prior research, finding significant sex differences in social functioning with girls exhibiting higher levels of social competence and lower levels of externalising problems. A significant relationship was also found between measures of SIP, self-regulation skills and social functioning. A significant sex difference was found in SIP and self-regulation skills, with girls performing better than boys on these measures. After adjusting for children's scores on the SIP measure, sex differences in social competence were no longer significant. Sex differences in externalising problems remained significant but were markedly reduced. A similar pattern of findings was observed when adjusting for self-regulation skills. These findings represent a major contribution to the understanding of sex differences in social functioning. In comparison to non-participants, participants in the social skills program demonstrated significant improvements in SIP, self-regulation skills and social competence which were sustained 12 months after the completion of the intervention. In general, program participation was not found to be associated with changes in children's levels of externalising and internalising behaviour problems, although there were strong and significant reductions in externalising behaviour problems for disruptive children who were consistently engaged with the program. Program effects were greatest where it was consistently reinforced by teachers. No significant sex differences in program effects were found. Implications for future policy are that child-focused programs designed to increase school readiness and levels of social competence should include SIP and self-regulation components. More intensive programs may be required for long term improvements in behaviour problems. In terms of future practice, it is concluded that the implementation and evaluation of programs for young disadvantaged children from a range of multi-cultural backgrounds must limit English language requirements to increase program engagement, and encourage parental involvement using strategies such as parent training groups that do not demand high levels of parental literacy. Teacher involvement also needs to be maximised either through the provision of teacher training or through intensive mentoring.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Psychology
Full Text

Sex-role socialisation begins from the day a child is born, and permeates all aspects of his or her life. As the child develops s/he gradually comes to acquire the behaviours and attitudes deemed appropriate for his or her gender. These behaviours begin to appear as early as three years, when a child's choice of play items becomes sex-typed. This development is the product of changes effected in child's behaviour via reinforcement (positive or negative) by the modelling and influence of significant others (especially parents, peers and the mass media). Such behavioural change is accompanied by cognitive development in regard to the child's concepts or schema regarding sex-roles and the child's personal identification with these roles. Of particular importance to the preschool child is storybooks; these act as mirrors to the outside world for the developing child. However, the messages are often stereotyped. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the extent to which children's adoption of sex-roles was amenable to change as a result of direct intervention, in terms of the effect of non-sexist stories on children's sex-typed toy-play behaviour. Eight sex-typed preschool children (four boys, four girls), from a Day Care Centre were selected to participate in the study. The experimental design used was single-case, where each child served as his or her own control. Specifically, the baseline phase involved the individual reading of a gender neutral story, followed by an observation of the child's toyplay behaviour, when presented with a set of sex-typed girl and boy toys. The intervention phase followed the same fonnat, however two non-sexist stories were used: a "girl" story and a "boy" story, with each displaying non-traditional behaviours for the relevant gender. The design was counter-balanced in regard to the order of presentation of the non-traditional stories, both for each child, and across the eight children. Thus four of the subjects' received the stories in the order ABC ACB and for the remaining four it was ACB ABC (A=Neutral, B=boy and C=girl). The 220 observations were conducted over a five month period, with data being plotted on a daily basis. The videotapes of the sessions were coded for any changes in levels of sex-typed play, thus the percentage of total time each child played with either the "girl" toys or "boy" toys was calculated. On completion of the observations the experimenter individually asked the children questions about the story and administered a number of tasks aimed primarily at ascertaining the children's recall and understanding of the stories. The subjects results are discussed on an individual basis, and then this is followed by an analysis of the three distinct trends that emerged. The first trend was that for some of the children the stories appeared to have an effect on their toy-play behaviour by increasing their levels of non-sex-typed play. For the second group, there appeared to be a temporary effect on toy-play behaviour and for the last there appeared to be no effect at all, that is there was no change from baseline. This is followed by an analysis of sex differences in the results, in that girls appeared to be influenced more by the girl stories than the boys were, by the boy stories. The findings are discussed from a number of theoretical perspectives on sex-role development, namely Social Learning, Social Cognitive and Gender Schema theories. The implications of the present research in an educational context are discussed, with particular reference to the importance of future research into the introduction of a more egalitarian curriculum being introduced into the preschool setting to help alleviate the restrictions stereotyping places on the human personality.

The apparent relationship between rejection from the peer group and future maladjustment, combined with the fact that peer rejection appears to be a relatively stable phenomenon (Coie & Dodge, 1983), has led to increasing concern about children who are experiencing peer relationship problems or who are socially rejected by their peers. Therefore, the social status of children deserves investigation to identify children at risk. Three factors that have emerged as important predictors of social status for children in middle childhood are individual differences in social information processing, temperament and social behaviour. However, although early childhood may be a optimum period for implementation of intervention programs, little is known about the correlates of social status in early childhood. Additionally, relatively little research has addressed the issue of sex differences in the factors that are associated with peer social status. The studies in this thesis were derived from a program of research focused on peer social status in early childhood. Specifically, the studies constitute an examination of sex and social status differences in social information processing, temperament and social behaviour in a sample of preschool-aged children. The first study used peer informants to identify children's social status as a basis for subject classification for the subsequent research studies. One hundred and eighty-seven preschool children (94 boys and 93 girls, mean age 62.4 months, SD = 4.22) were assigned to social status groups through a sociometric procedure involving a combination of limited choice positive nominations and a three-point rating scale (Asher & Dodge, 1986). From this procedure five social status groups were constituted: popular (12 boys, 14 girls), rejected (13 boys, 11 girls), neglected (13 boys, 12 girls), controversial (7 boys, 4 girls) and average (13 boys, 22 girls) and an unclassified group of "others" (36 boys, 30 girls). These social status groups were subsequently used for analysis of social status differences. In the second study, sex and social status differences in social information processing were examined. Children took part in individual interviews in which they were asked to respond to hypothetical problematic social situations involving same and opposite sex target peers. The situations consisted of intentional and ambiguous provocation situations, peer group entry and a situation that violated social expectations, such as sharing or taking turns. There were few social status differences in the competency of children's responses to the problematic social situations however, sex differences were evident both in the overall competency of children's responses and in the ways in which they responded to same and opposite sex target peers. Overall, girls were more likely than boys to suggest prosocial responses while boys were more likely than girls to suggest aggressive or retaliatory responses. In response to provocation situations, boys responded less competently to provocation by a boy target than they did to a girl target while girls responded similarly to same and opposite sex target figures. In contrast, while boys responded similarly across target figures in social expectation and peer group entry situations, girls responded less competently to a girl target child than to a boy target child in social expectation situations and less competently to a target group of boys than to a target group of girls in peer group entry situations. The third study assessed sex and social status differences in temperament. Teachers were asked to complete a 23 item Teacher Temperament Questionnaire (Keogh, Pullis & Cadwell, 1982) and data were analysed along the dimensions of Task Distractibility, Personal-Social Inflexibility, Reactivity and Threshold of Response. There were significant sex differences in temperament. Specifically, teachers rated boys as more likely than girls to display Task Distractibility in terms of high distractibility, high activity and low persistence. Temperament also emerged as an important discriminator between social status groups in that rejected children were rated by their teachers as displaying a more "difficult" temperamental style than popular children in terms of high Task Distractibility and high Personal-Social Inflexibility. The relationship between temperamental characteristics and social status also differed for boys and girls. Specifically, while Task Distractibility, Personal-Social Inflexibility and Reactivity were important predictors of rejected social status for girls, temperament did not predict rejected social status for boys. However, low Task Distractibility predicted popular social status for boys while temperament did not predict popular social status for girls. The fourth and fifth studies assessed children's social behaviour through teacher report and naturalistic observation. In the fourth study, teachers completed a 30 item questionnaire developed for this program of research which assessed aspects of prosocial behaviour, aggression, peer group entry and peer conflict. With respect to sex differences, teachers rated boys as more likely than girls to engage in aggressive behaviour, use aggressive and disruptive peer group entry strategies and use aggressive strategies when dealing with conflict. Results with respect to status differences indicated that the most powerful discriminator between children in the rejected and neglected groups and popular children was a lack of prosocial behaviour. The demonstration of cooperative play behaviour also emerged as the strongest predictor of popular social status for boys while low rates of cooperative play and prosocial behaviour predicted rejected social status for girls. In the fifth study, rejected, neglected and popular children were observed for a total of 25 minutes over a three month period engaging in free play within their preschool centres. Popular children were observed to engage in cooperative play, ongoing connected conversation and display positive affect while rejected and neglected children spent more time alone, engaged in conversation less often and were more likely to display neutral or negative affect. The final study investigated the stability of social status over a six month period. Group differences in temperament and social behaviour between children with stable rejected, neglected and popular social status and children whose social status was less stable were examined and profiles of children with stable rejected social status were described. The results indicated that preschool-aged children's social status classifications showed a moderate to high rate of stability for those children classified as popular, rejected and neglected. Specifically, half the boys and over half the girls identified as rejected on the basis of peer nominations and a rating scale at the beginning of the year retained this classification six months later. Children who were stably rejected and neglected were rated by their teachers as displaying higher Personal-Social Inflexibility and less prosocial behaviour than those children who were more transiently rejected or neglected. Children who retained popular social status over the six months of the study period were rated by their teachers as displaying lower Task Distractibility and more prosocial behaviour than children who were popular for a shorter period of time. Finally, four stably rejected children were selected and profiled in terms of their social problem solving strategies, teacher-rated temperament, teacher-rated social behaviour and observed social behaviour. The profiles illustrate both typical and atypical rejected children in order to demonstrate the need for intervention programs to be informed by observation of individual children and specifically tailored to the needs of each child. Overall, the results from the studies in this thesis suggest that although a lack of positive prosocial behaviours predicts a lack of peer acceptance in early childhood, the relationship between temperament, social behaviour and social status differs for boys and girls. Specifically, with respect to teacher-rated temperament, Task Distractibility, Personal-Social Inflexibility and Reactivity appeared to be important predictors of rejected social status for girls but not for boys. Similarly, with respect to teacher-rated social behaviour, low rates of prosocial, cooperative behaviour, high rates of aggression, use of aggressive or disruptive group entry strategies and infrequent use of direct group entry strategies predicted rejected social status for girls but not for boys. These differences appear to be related to gender specific styles of social functioning in that girls spend more time in small group activities, in cooperative and tum-taking games and are more sensitive to the requirements of collaboration than boys (Dorsch & Keane, 1994; Jones & Glenn, 1991; Maccoby, 1988). The results of these studies are discussed in tenns of the implications for intervention programs and research into the peer relationships of young children.

The problem of this study was to discover the relationship between field-independent and field-dependent cognitive styles and social behaviors during free-play of preschool children in a school setting. This study also compared the field-independent and field-dependent cognitive styles and social behaviors during free-play between age-groups and sex-groups. Thirty-six children from a university child development laboratory were subjects. They were selected from a 3-year-old classroom and a 4-year-old classroom. The research instrument, the Preschool Embedded Figures Test, was utilized to measure field-independent and field-dependent cognitive styles. The children's social behaviors were observed during free-play for four consecutive weeks. The nine categories of social behavior were solitary, parallel, and group play; .unoccupied, onlooker, transitional, and aggressive behaviors; and conversations with teachers and conversations with peers. Correlations between field-independent and field-dependent cognitive styles and social behaviors indicated that field-independence/field-dependence was related to social orientations in preschool children and also related to the choice of play activity. Field-dependent children tended to engage in conversations with teachers more often than field-independent children. Four-year-old children who were field-independent tended to spend more time in solitary play than 4-year-old children who were field-dependent. Four-year-old boys who were field-independent tended to play more often in the manipulative learning center than 4-year-old boys who were field-dependent. There were significant differences between age-groups but not significant differences between sex-groups in field-independence/field-dependence. Some social behaviors were significantly different between age-groups and sex-groups. Three-year-old children participated significantly more in physically aggressive behavior and less in conversations with peers than 4-year-old children. Boys engaged significantly more in aggressive behavior than girls.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether sex differences could be observed in computer use among preschool disadvantaged children. Each of the twenty-two three- and four-year-old children were administered the Bardwell- Sietsema Sex Stereotype Scale to obtain a measure of sex role identification. Subject's choice of a pre-programming or academic-oriented software program as well as actual time at the computer were also carefully recorded over a five week period. Data supports the following: there does not appear to be a relationship between sex role stereotyping and computer use among three and four year old disadvantaged children, stereotypical sex role identification exists between three and four year old disadvantaged children, the amount of time spent at the computer during free choice periods does not differ between boys and girls, and there is no difference between boys and girls in terms of choice of academic or pre-programming software.

Empathy is a multidimensional phenomenon that consists of both emotional and cognitive components. This paper gives an overview of behavioural and neuroscientific sex differences in empathy, as well as potential explanations to those results. Research indicates existence of sex differences in both emotional and cognitive empathy, although inconsistent findings suggest both female superiority as well as male superiority. Gender roles, social desirability, as well deficiencies in measurement and imprecise conceptualizations of empathy is argued as contributors to found sex differences. With a restricted amount of research on sex differences in empathy, inconsistent findings as well as a great proportion of critique towards both the research field of empathy as well as towards focus on sex differences; the authors argue that presented sex differences in empathy must be interpreted with a great caution. Keywords: empathy, sex, gender difference, behaviour, neuroscience

The importance of sex differences in the brain and behaviour is indisputable. It forms the basis for differences in risk across a range of neurological and psychiatric disorders, as well as gender roles within society. The classical approach to investigating sex differences primarily involves comparisons between males and females. While informative for characterizing the wide array of sexually dimorphic traits, straight comparisons are insufficient to elucidate specific molecular contributions due to the multiplicity of confounding factors. Discrete genetic polymorphisms can be used to investigate variance in these traits due to sex-related molecular factors independent of confounds of sex. This thesis applies candidate genetics to understand the specific contributions of molecular components of the sex hormone pathways to sexual dimorphism in brain structure, personality and cognition. A cohort of 384 individuals were recruited to undergo MRI brain scans, cognitive and personality testing. They also provided blood samples for candidate genotyping in polymorphisms in genes for the androgen receptor, oestrogen receptors, progesterone receptor and aromatase enzyme that converts testosterone to oestrogen. Voxel-based morphometry was used to characterise regional differences in brain volume accounted for by these polymorphisms and the relationship to sex differences in brain volume. Diffusion tensor imaging was then used to determine variation in white matter integrity and structural connectivity due to these polymorphisms. Sex differences in personality and cognition are further investigated in terms of correlations with the polymorphisms and brain structure. Finally an endophenotype approach was used to investigate differential risk for conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and depression between sexes through related brain and personality-based traits. The neural and molecular genetic mechanisms underlying this risk are inferred from correlations with brain-based measures and genotype. The strengths and weaknesses of this approach and the scientific implications of this work to gender research are discussed.

This PhD thesis contributes to a synthesis of the bibliographic material reviewed from original sources written in various languages (and thus sometimes unknown in the scientific community at international level, since they were not published in English) and to scientific research by findings and results from experimental work carried out at the Mira y López Laboratory of the University of Barcelona on topics related to individual differences in proprioception based on fine motor behaviour. The main aim of this work is to show the importance of proprioceptive sense, as a basis of individual differences, for human health and life quality. Most of the experimental work is related to sex and age-dependent differences in human fine behaviour, thus allowing analysis and understanding of those differences. When self-correction of behaviour is not possible (the person does not see the feedback of his/her movements), the expression reflects the intrinsic qualities of each person based both on biological or endogenous factors or ones specific to the nervous system and adaptive behaviour learnt during his/her own experience with environmental interactions. Experimental work was carried out with use of the latest proprioceptive diagnostics which was a result of many years of work within the Mira y Lopez myokinetic psychodiagnosis (MKP) tradition, Proprioceptive Diagnostics of Temperament and Character or DP-TC in Spanish abbreviation (Tous, Muiños, Tous, O. i Tous, R., 2012). DP-TC was a result of digitization and statistical validation of MKP lineograms’ and parallels` parts. Thus, due to this special software, graphomotor fine behaviour (precision and speed) can be registered and measured and converted to the metric system: from pixels to millimetres. For the study of individual differences, various movement types were used: frontal, transversal and sagittal, both hands and two sensory conditions: proprioceptive-visual (PV), where the integration function of both sensory conditions can be observed, and proprioceptive-only (P). The experimental studies were cross-sectional and analysed for sex- and age-dependent individual differences mainly, although a brief résumé of other studies was included, showing the relationship between proprioceptive information feedback and both emotion and cognition, at the end of this thesis. The major contributions of this work are the following: - synthetic bibliographical work on the topic of proprioception and individual differences and importance for human health and quality of life, which is conducted for the first time and can be used for wider understanding in order to carry out future research and application (more effective therapeutic and educational work), and can be used and adapted to form part of a program, especially for psychological, pedagogical and neurological faculties; - brief description of fine motor behaviour in different cultures: Arabic (in which the custom is to write in a different direction to Western people); and Belarus (for the latter some results are given, together with relationships to verbal and other physical parameters) is represented in the initial part of the thesis; - an age-dependent proprioceptive differences study based on fine motor behaviour in 196 participants from 12 to 95 years old, in which the polynomial function was of the best fit for size (line length tracings) in frontal and transversal movements; - it was shown that proprioception function was the first to deteriorate in precision with increasing age value if compared to the integrative function of both sensory inputs (proprioceptive and visual); - the crucial ages for age-dependent changes were shown for the first time; these results give the first experimental support for the age of the mid-life crisis (approx. 40 years); - sex-dependent differences and sex*age-dependent differences were analysed and discussed also; - a correlational analysis was performed between precision and fine motor speed in two sensory conditions of the test; - practical applications of study results together with the future potential research interests in the area of proprioception and individual differences are given in the final part of the work.
Aquesta tesi doctoral contribueix tant a la sinterització del material bibliogràfic, revisat de fonts originals, escrit en diferents idiomes (a vegades desconegudes en la comunitat científica a nivell internacional, ja que no van ser publicades en anglès) com a la investigació científica amb els resultats de les investigacions experimentals, dutes a terme al Laboratori Mira i López de la Universitat de Barcelona, en l'estudi empíric de les diferències individuals en la propiocepció, basades en el comportament motor fi. L'objectiu principal teòric d'aquest treball és mostrar la importància de la propiocepció, com a base de les diferències individuals, per a la salut humana i la qualitat de vida. La major part del treball experimental es basa en la constatació de les diferències individuals en la motricitat fina propioceptiva relacionades amb l'edat i el sexe que permet analitzar i entendre aquestes diferències en el comportament humà. Quan la autocorrecció de la conducta no és possible (la persona no veu els traços dels seus moviments en la part propioceptiva del test), l'expressió grafomotora reflecteix les qualitats intrínseques de cada persona, basades en factors biològics, o endògens, específiques del sistema nerviós i la conducta adaptativa, apreses en les seves pròpies experiències amb les interaccions ambientals. Els treballs experimentals s'han realitzat amb l'ús del Diagnòstic Propioceptiu de Temperament i el Caràcter o DP-TC, en abreviatura espanyola (Tous, Muiños, Tous, O. i Tous, R., 2012), que és el resultat més recent de molts anys de treball dins la línia de la tradició del Psicodiagnòstic Miokinético (PMK) de Mira i López. El DP-TC és el resultat de la digitalització i validació estadística dels subtests corresponents als lineogramas i les paral • leles del PMK. Mitjançant aquest programa especial, el comportament grafomotor fi (precisió i velocitat) pot ser registrat i mesurat, ja que permet transformar les mesures en mil•límetres, del sistema mètric, a píxels. Per a l'estudi de les diferències individuals es van utilitzar diferents tipus de moviment: frontal, transversal i sagital, amb les dues mans per separat i dues condicions sensorials: propioceptiva-visual (PV), on es pot observar la funció d'integració de les dues condicions sensorials i només propioceptiva (P) on es pot observar la informació propioceptiva en la conducta motora fina. Els estudis experimentals van ser sobre les diferències individuals en el sexe i l'edat, encara que es dóna també, al final d'aquesta tesi, un breu resum d'altres estudis -alguns transculturals- que mostren la relació de la informació propioceptiva amb l'emoció i la cognició. Les principals contribucions d'aquest treball són els següents: - Treball bibliogràfic comentat sobre el tema de la propiocepció i les diferències individuals i la importància per a la salut humana i la qualitat de vida que es realitza per primera vegada i es pot utilitzar per a una comprensió més àmplia a l'hora de realitzar futures investigacions i aplicacions (treballs terapèutics i educatius més eficaços). La informació recollida es pot utilitzar i adaptar per formar part del programa formatiu, especialment en les facultats de psicologia, pedagogia i neurologia. - S'ha realitzat una breu descripció de la conducta motora fina en diferents cultures: Àrab, (que té l'hàbit d'escriure en una altra direcció que a Occident) i Bielorussa (per a aquests últims, alguns resultats es donen amb relació als paràmetres físics i verbals) que es representa a la part inicial del tesis. - L'estudi de les diferències propioceptives dependents de l'edat, basades en la conducta motora fina, en 196 participants 12-95 anys d'edat, que va permetre constatar que la funció polinòmica era la millor opció per a la descripció de l'evolució de la reproducció de la longitud de línia de traços en els moviments frontals i transversals. - Es va constatar que la funció de propiocepció era la primera que empitjorava en la precisió amb l'augment de l'edat abans de l'empitjorament de la funció integradora realitzada per les dues entrades sensorials (propioceptiva i visual); - Es posen de manifest les edats crucials per als canvis propioceptius dependents de l'edat; els resultats per primera vegada donen el suport experimental de l’edat de la crisi de l’edat mitjana (aprox. 40 anys). - S'han analitzat i discutit les diferències de sexe i la interacció sexe per edat; - S’ha fet anàlisi correlacional entre precisió motora fina i la velocitat en dues condicions sensorials del test. - Es dona en la part final de la tesi la descripció de les aplicacions dels resultats de la tesi i els interessos potencials de la investigació futura en l'àrea de la propiocepció i les diferències individuals.
Esta tesis doctoral contribuye tanto a la sintonización del material bibliográfico, revisado de fuentes originales, escrito en diferentes idiomas (a veces desconocidos en la comunidad científica a nivel internacional, ya que no fueron publicadas en inglés) como a la investigación científica con los resultados de las investigaciones experimentales, llevadas a cabo en el Laboratorio Mira y López de la Universidad de Barcelona, en el estudio empírico de las diferencias individuales en la propiocepción, basadas en el comportamiento motor fino. El objetivo principal teórico de este trabajo es mostrar la importancia de la propiocepción, como base de las diferencias individuales, para la salud humana y la calidad de vida. La mayor parte del trabajo experimental se basa en la constatación de las diferencias individuales en la motricidad fina propioceptiva relacionadas con el sexo y la edad que permite analizar y entender esas diferencias en el comportamiento humano. Cuando la autocorrección de la conducta no es posible (la persona no ve los trazos de sus movimientos en la parte propioceptiva del test), la expresión grafomotora refleja las cualidades intrínsecas de cada persona, basadas en factores biológicos, o endógenos, específicos del sistema nervioso y la conducta adaptativa, aprendidas en sus propias experiencias con las interacciones ambientales. Los trabajos experimentales se han realizado con el uso del Diagnóstico Propioceptivo de Temperamento y el Carácter o DP-TC, en abreviatura española (Tous, Muiños, Tous, O. y Tous, R., 2012), que es el resultado más reciente de muchos años de trabajo dentro de la línea de la tradición del Psicodiagnóstico Miokinético (PMK) de Mira y López. El DP-TC es el resultado de la digitalización y validación estadística de los subtests correspondientes a los lineogramas y las paralelas del PMK. Mediante este software especial, el comportamiento grafomotor fino (precisión y velocidad) puede ser registrado y medido; ya que permite transformar las medidas en milímetros, del sistema métrico, a píxeles. Para el estudio de las diferencias individuales se utilizaron diferentes tipos de movimiento: frontal, transversal y sagital, con ambas manos por separado y dos condiciones sensoriales: propioceptiva-visual (PV), donde se puede observar la función de integración de ambas condiciones sensoriales y solamente propioceptiva (P) donde se puede observar la información propioceptiva en la conducta motora fina. Los estudios experimentales fueron sobre las diferencias individuales en el sexo y la edad, aunque se da también, al final de esta tesis, un breve resumen de otros estudios -algunos transculturales- que muestran la relación de la información propioceptiva con la emoción y la cognición. Las principales contribuciones de este trabajo son los siguientes: - Trabajo bibliográfico comentado sobre el tema de la propiocepción y las diferencias individuales y la importancia para la salud humana y la calidad de vida de estos estudios que se realiza por primera vez y se puede utilizar para una comprensión más amplia a la hora de realizar futuras investigaciones y aplicaciones (trabajos terapéuticos y educativos más eficaces) que se puede utilizar y adaptar para formar de un parte programa formativo, especialmente en las facultades de psicología, pedagogía y neurología. - Se ha realizado una breve descripción de la conducta motora fina en diferentes culturas: Árabe, (que tiene el hábito de escribir en otra dirección que en Occidente) y Bielorrusa (para estos últimos, algunos resultados se dan con relación a los parámetros físicos y verbales) que se representa en la parte inicial de la tesis. - El estudio de las diferencias propioceptivas dependientes de la edad, basadas en la conducta motora fina, en 196 participantes 12 a 95 años de edad, que permitió constatar que la función polinómica era la mejor opción para la descripción de la evolución de la reproducción del tamaño (longitud de línea de trazos) en los movimientos frontales y transversales. - Se constató que la función de propiocepción la primera que empeora en la precisión con el aumento de la edad antes del empeoramiento de la función integradora realizada por las dos entradas sensoriales (propioceptiva y visual); - Se ponen de manifiesto las edades cruciales para los cambios propioceptivos dependientes de la edad; por la primera vez experimentalmente se justifican las fases de desarrollo y de la crisis de edad media en la base de propiocepción. - Se han analizado y discutido las diferencias de sexo y la interacción sexo por edad. - Las aplicaciones prácticas de los resultados derivados de la tesis y los intereses potenciales de la investigación futura en el área de la propiocepción y las diferencias individuales están representados en la parte final del manuscrito.
Кандидатская диссертация на тему «Возрастные и половые различия в проприоцепции на основе исследования тонкой моторики» даёт детальный анализ библиографического материала, собранного из первоисточников, написанных на различных языках (иногда неизвестных в научном международном сообществе, так как не были опубликованы на английском языке); а также научных исследований, выводов и результатов экспериментальных работ, выполненныхв Лаборатории Мира Лопес Барселонского Университета Барселоны на темы, связанные с индивидуальными различиями в проприоцепции на основе проявлений тонкой моторики. Основной целью данной работы является показать важность изучения проприоцептивного чувства в исследовании индивидуальных различий, так и в связи с исследованием здоровья человека и качества жизни. Большинство экспериментальных работ, представленных в диссертации, связаны с половыми и возрастными индивидуальными различиями в проявлении тонкой моторики; таким образом, результаты этих работ позволяют проанализировать и понять эти индивидуальные различия. В проприоцептивной части теста самостоятельная коррекция моторного акта на основе зрительного контроля невозможна. В связи с этим характеристика этих движений отражает индивидуальные качества каждого человека, формирующихся как на основе биологических (эндогенных факторов или специфических свойств нервной системы), так и на базе адаптивно усвоенного поведения (его собственного опыта, полученного в результате взаимодействия с окружающей средой). Экспериментальная работа проводилась с использованием новейшей проприоцептивной диагностики, которая является результатом многих лет работы в традициях миокинетической психодиагностики (MKP) Мира и Лопеса, Проприоцептивная Диагностика Темперамента и Характера или DP-TC в испанской аббревиатуре (Tous, Muiños, Tous, О.,Tous, R., 2012). DP-TC возник как результат применения новейших технологий (компьютеров и тактильных экранов), а также статистической проверки MKP, линеограмм и параллелей. Таким образом, с помощью специального программного обеспечения, мелкое графомоторное поведение (точность и скорость) может быть зарегистрировано, измерено и преобразовано в метрическую систему: с пикселей в миллиметры. Для изучения индивидуальных различий были использованы различные типы движения: фронтальный, трансверсальный и сагиттальной, обе руки и два сенсорных условия: проприоцептивно-визуальное (PV), с интегральной опорой на проприоцептивную и сенсорную афферентацию, и с опорой только на проприоцептивную афферентацию (P). Экспериментальные исследования были трансверсального типа и анализировали главным образом половые и возрастные индивидуальные различия. Также в диссертации приводится обзор данных других исследований, показывающих взаимосвязь показателей проприоцепции с эмоциями и познавательной сферой (памятью). Основные результаты этой работы: - анализ литературы по теме «Проприоцепция и индивидуальные различия, и ее значение для здоровья человека и качества жизни», который характеризуется теоретической новизной и большой практической значимостью (для более эффективных терапевтической и воспитательной работы), данный анализ литературы может быть с успехом использован при разработке образовательных программ, особенно для психологических, педагогических и неврологических факультетов; - краткое описание проявлений тонкой моторики в разных культурах: арабской (где практикуется письмо справа налево, в отличие от письма в западной культуре) и Беларуси (для последних некоторые результаты приведены вместе с корреляционным анализом взаимосвязи проприоцептивного метода с вербальными методиками и другими физическими параметрами) представлено в начальной части диссертации; - исследование возрастных различий в проприоцептивной функции на основе проявлений тонкой моторики, в котором приняли участие 196 испытуемых в возрасте от 12 до 95 лет, результаты которого показали, что полиномиальная функция наилучшим образом подходила для длины линий (трассировки длины линии) во фронтальных и трансверсальных движениях; - было показано, что проприоцептивная функция начинала ухудшаться первой с увеличением возраста по сравнению с интегративной функцией (проприоцептивно-визуальной); - критические точки (точки перегиба) возраста для возрастных изменений были показаны впервые экспериментально, что также в некоторой степени соответствует обозначенному возрасту кризиса середины жизни (около 40 лет) и другим фазам развития; - обсуждены и проанализированы половые и поло-возрастные различия тонкой моторики; - предоставлен корреляционный анализ зависимости точности тонкой моторики и скорости выполнения задания в двух сенсорных условиях теста; - практические применения результатов и перспективы дальнейших исследований в области проприоцепции и индивидуальных различий рассмотрены в заключительной части диссертации.

This thesis investigated the generalist or specialist theories of offending by examining the overlap of, sex differences in, and predictors of intimate partner violence (IPV), general violence and nonviolent offending. IPV is typically studied separately from other types of crime as it is perceived to be a specialist type of crime warranting its own research and theories (e.g. Dobash & Dobash, 1992; Hotaling, Straus & Lincoln, 1990; Giles-Sims, 1983). However, generalist theories (e.g. Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990; Felson, 2002) suggest that crimes stem from the same etiology and share some commonalities: therefore perpetrators are likely to be generalists who perpetrate a variety of crimes rather than specialising solely in one type of crime. Investigating all three offences in one population will inform whether (or not) IPV is a specialist type of crime distinct from other violent and nonviolent crime. Study 1 assessed women’s violent and nonviolent offending, using data from two online student samples (men and women: n = 344), reporting on being (1) a perpetrator and witness (women), or (2) being a victim and witness (men). A comprehensive measure of general violence, IPV and nonviolent offending was developed. The results provided broad support for the generalist perspective of crime as women were found to be involved in a variety of offences. A similar pattern of offending was supported across data sources. Study 2 developed the Nonviolent and Violent Offending Behaviour Scale (NVOBS): a psychometrically sound measure of violent and nonviolent offending suitable for use with both male and female participants (using the combined sample from studies 3 and 4). Results suggested five separate subscales (general violence, IPV, drug-related offences, criminal damage, and theft). The results provided support for previous research into sex differences as men were found to perpetrate higher levels of general violence and nonviolent offences than women (supporting evolutionary theories of crime), and women perpetrated significantly more IPV than men (supporting the family conflict theory and not the feminist theory). The interrelatedness of the offence categories in men and women provided broad support for generalist theories of offending. Studies 3 (116 men; 181 women) and 4 (184 men; 171 women) explored potential predictors of offending behaviour using the NVOBS to examine whether the different forms of offending shared the same underlying correlates. Measures included: personality traits and disorder traits, attachment, anger, self-control and psychopathic traits. The same pattern of results was observed across both studies. Despite the sex differences in general violence and nonviolent offending (Study 2), there were similarities in the predictors of general violence and nonviolent offending for men and women. This supports Campbell’s (1995) theory that women’s offending may just be a muted version of men’s offending and also suggests that there are commonalities between different types of offending: supporting the generalist perspective of crime. The main difference was for IPV, where the predictors for men’s IPV were different to other types of crime and to the predictors for women’s IPV. This indicates that men’s and women’s risk factors for IPV may be different (providing some support for men’s IPV being specialist). In summary, three key themes can be taken from the research findings: (1) sex differences in offending, and mutuality of IPV, (2) the overlap between offences, and (3) the pattern of correlates and predictors of offending. Conclusions from the thesis are that men and women offenders perpetrate a variety of offences, which is consistent with the theory that criminals tend not to specialise. Limitations, ideas for future research, and original contributions to knowledge are discussed.

Several platelet products indicating platelet activation have been detected in blood and urine of patients (PTS) with angina pectoris (AP) at rest. Platelet activation mainly depends on local changes in the morphology or biochemical behaviour of the vessels. Whether platelet hyperaggregability is of additional importance in the pathogenesis of unstable AP is up to now unclear. In a prospective trial we therefore evaluated 32 patients (PTS) with coronary heart disease, 16 with AP at rest during the last 8 hours before blood collection and 16 age and sex matched controls with stable exertional AP. Platelet aggregation was measured upon stimulation with ADP (0.5, 1 and 10 μmol/l) and collagen (1and 5μg/ml), and c-AMP was determined in platelet rich plasma before, and, as an estimate of platelet adenylate cyclase activity, after stimulation of this enzyme with PGE 1 (10 μmol/l for 30 s). For all concentrations of both ADP and collagen no significant differences in the rates and extents of aggregation could be found between the groups. Correspondingly, the mean (±. 2 SEM) concentrations of c-AMP were similar, basally (4.1 ±.1.4 pmol/ml for PTS withunstable AP and 5.3 t 1.3 pmol/ml for PTS with stable AP)and after stimulation of platelet adenylate cyclase with PGE 1 (14.8 ± 4.1 vs. 17.2 ± 2.8 pmol/ml).Conclusion: No generalized platelet hyperaggregability could be detected in our PTS with unstable AP when compared to controls with stable exertional AP.