Gender differences in preschool children’s recall of competitive and noncompetitive computer mathematics games

This study investigated whether competitive and noncompetitive educational mathematics computer games influence four‐ to seven‐year‐old boys’ and girls’ recall of game‐playing experience. A qualitative analysis was performed to investigate what preschool children may have learned through their selective recall of game‐playing experience. A difference emerged in six‐ to seven‐year‐old boys’ and girls’ recall after playing a competitive computer mathematics game, such that boys tended to first recall the consequence of ‘winning and losing’ whereas girls of the same age focused on ‘friendship among animated characters’ in the game. Thus, the qualitative results suggest the possibility that selective attention or selective recall might be partially influenced by gender schemas. Based on the recall sequences, educational noncompetitive computer mathematics games may lead to a better learning outcome for older boys.     

Increasing Steps in Recall of Events: Factors Facilitating Immediate and Long-Term Memory in 13.5- and 16.5-Month-Old Children

Children late in the second year of life show patterns of event recall similar to those of older children: (a) well-ordered immediate and delayed recall, and (b) facilitation of recall by familiarity and by enabling relations. We used elicited imitation to test whether the patterns extend to children early in the second year. In Experiment 1, 13.5- and 16.5-month-olds accurately recalled familiar and novel 2-act sequences immediately and after a 1-week delay. For 16.5-month-olds, recall was facilitated by familiarity and by enabling relations; for 13.5-month-olds, only enabling relations facilitated recall. In Experiment 2, verbal cues were used to test immediate and 1-week delayed recall of 3-act sequences. For both ages, recall was facilitated by familiarity and by enabling relations. Experiment 3 verified that the verbal information served to cue recall of previously experienced events, not to "suggest" sequences that could be performed. Together the results demonstrate that children as young as 13 months can recall specific events after a delay. They also suggest development in sensitivity to factors that facilitate recall.     

Students' Gender Stereotypes about Running in Schools

Two hundred forty-six students (132 boys, 114 girls) were tracked from fifth to eighth grades, and changes in gender stereotypes about running as a male sport, running performance, interest in running, and intention for future running participation were assessed. Results revealed that neither sex held gender stereotypes about running as a male sport and students were less likely to hold such stereotypes as they progressed through school. Compared to girls, boys were more likely to perceive running to be more appropriate for boys. Girls with higher gender stereotyping mean scores reported lower interest in running and intentions for future running participation, while boys recording increases in running stereotyping were more likely to retain interest in running and future running participation. This study provides empirical documentation of running as a gender-neutral activity over time in a physical education/athletic setting. From the expectancy-value lens, including gender-neutral activities such as running may encourage interest and participation levels among boys and girls alike.     

The Language Experience of Deaf Children: Its Relation to Spontaneous Rehearsal in a Memory Task

This study was an investigation of whether the language history of deaf children is related to their delayed emergence of spontaneous memory strategy use. Use of rehearsal on a serial recall task was compared for 41 deaf (age 5 to 15 years) and 45 hearing (age 5 to 8 years) children. A lag of several years was noted in the emergence of spontaneous rehearsal for the deaf. Hierarchical discriminant function analysis showed language history to be a nearly perfect mediator of the relation between age and rehearsal use, effectively eliminating the lag in the emergence of rehearsal use. Increased language experience was hypothesized to be associated with automatization of language skills, and thus with decreased processing demands when language-based strategies are used.     

Parameters of remembering and forgetting in the transition from infancy to early childhood

The ability to recall is something that most intact adults take for granted. For much of the last century, this feature of mental life was not considered to extend to very young children. There now is evidence that 1- to 2-year-olds are able to recall specific events after delays of several months. Over the short term, 1- to 2-year-olds' recall is affected by the same factors that affect older children's recall; it is not clear whether similar effects are apparent over the long term. Moreover, although age-related increases in long-term recall are assumed, there have been few empirical tests of the question. We examined recall by 14- to 32-month-olds for events experienced at 13 to 20 months. Using elicited imitation of novel multistep event sequences we examined effects of (a) delay length, (b) age at the time of experience, (c) temporal structure of events, (d) mode of experience of events, and (e) availability of verbal reminders, on long-term recall. Participants were 360 children enrolled at 13 (n = 90), 16 (n = 180), and 20 (n = 90) months. All of the 13-month-olds and half of the 16-month-olds were tested on 3-step event sequences; all of the 20-month-olds and half of the 16-month-olds were tested on 4-step event sequences. Within each age and step-length group, equal numbers of children were tested after intervals of 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months (n = 18 per cell). Children were tested on a variety of sequence types. For half of the events, imitation was permitted prior to the delay; for the other half, children were not permitted imitation. At delayed testing, children experienced a recall period during which they were cued by the event-related props alone, followed by a period in which recall was cued both by the event-related props and by verbal labels for the event sequences. Within step-length groups, the length of time for which older and younger children showed evidence of memory did not differ. Nevertheless, when the children were prompted by the event-related props alone, there were age-related differences in the robustness of children's memories (as indexed by higher levels of recall for older children relative to younger children). When the children were prompted by the props and by verbal labels for the event sequences, at the longer retention intervals, there were age-related differences in the robustness of children's memories and in the reliability with which recall was evidenced (as indexed by the larger numbers of older children evincing recall). Age-related effects were particularly apparent on children's ordered recall. Across the entire age range, the children were similarly affected by the variables of sequence type, opportunity for imitation, and verbal reminding.     

Children's Gender-Based Reasoning about Toys

The goal of these studies was to investigate how preschool children use gender-based reasoning in making judgments about toy preferences for themselves and for others. In Studies 1 and 2, children ( n = 22, n = 71) were shown unfamiliar, non-sex-typed toys and asked to rate how much they, other girls, and other boys would like each toy. As expected, children made gender-based inferences: "What I like, children of my sex will also like, and children of the other sex will not like." Study 3 was designed to assess how children use gender-based reasoning to make decisions about attractive and unattractive toys when they are given gender labels. Children ( n = 91) were shown unfamiliar toys varying in attractiveness that were given explicit gender labels (e.g., "this is a toy girls really like") or no label. With a different experimenter (to avoid demand characteristics), children rated their own and others' liking of the toys. Children used gender labels to guide their own preferences and their expectations for others. Even with very attractive toys, children liked toys less if they were labeled as being for the other sex, and expected other girls and boys to do the same. The role of gender-based reasoning in cognitive theories of gender and on children's play preferences is discussed.     

Expressing social gender identities in the first year of school

Tests and spot observations were undertaken in first year classes in four primary schools to study children’s knowledge of and employment of social representations of gender. The use of these resources in children’s expression of social gender identities was re-assessed at the end of the first year in two classes. Analysis of spot observations identified distinct masculine and feminine styles in patterns of association, the masculine style emphasising gender exclusivity. Children also used group size to express social gender identities. Analyses showed that at the beginning of the school year girls interact in smaller groups, but by the end of the year they associate in groups as large as those of boys. Despite differences in group behaviour test data revealed that girls and boys share a similar knowledge of the interrelationship between the gender marking of social category membership and material culture.     

Gender Differences in Arithmetic Strategy Use: A Function of Skill and Preference

This study was designed to examine whether first-grade boys' use of retrieval and first-grade girls' use of manipulatives reflected gender differences in their abilities to use these strategies or gender differences in preferences for strategy use. Eighty-four first-grade students, 42 boys and 42 girls, from two suburban elementary schools participated in this study. The children solved basic arithmetic problems under two conditions: a free-choice condition in which they were allowed to solve the problems any way they preferred and a game condition in which the children's strategy use was constrained so that all children used the same strategies on the same arithmetic problems. Strategy use during the free-choice session replicated the findings of earlier research indicating that girls tend to use strategies utilizing manipulatives and boys tend to use retrieval. During the game condition, when we controlled the types of strategies children used on different problems we found that boys were as able as girls to calculate solutions using manipulatives. Girls, however, were not as capable as boys in their retrieval of answers to arithmetic problems from memory. No differences were found in error rates or speed of retrieval. Gender differences were found in the variability of correct retrieval, with boys being significantly more variable than girls.     

Gender equity in mathematical achievement: the case of China

Gender differences in achievement in mathematics, a traditionally male-stereotyped subject, have long been a concern for many educators around the world. Gender differences in mathematical achievement have decreased in recent decades, especially in Western countries, and become small or insignificant in large-scale tests, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The situation in China has not yet been studied. The recent PISA report lists China B-S-J-G (representing Beijing–Shanghai–Jiangsu–Guangdong) as an educational system with no significant gender difference in mathematical achievement. Based on a secondary analysis of PISA 2015 mathematics data from China B-S-J-G, this study more deeply scrutinized gender differences in Chinese students’ mathematical performance, emphasizing societal factors, namely students’ socioeconomic status, school level, school type, school location, and socioeconomic status at school level. This analysis revealed important differences within the overall picture. Most importantly, significantly more boys than girls scored in the top tier of mathematics achievement. At the lower- and upper-secondary school levels, boys performed significantly better than girls, with the achievement difference increasing at the upper-secondary level. Furthermore, this study found that, on average, Chinese (B-S-J-G) girls achieved significantly lower average scores on the PISA 2015 mathematics test than boys in the same school. Overall, students’ individual characteristics and school characteristics need to be separated and both taken into account to examine the role of gender in mathematical achievement, which has not been thoroughly investigated in the past.     

Anxious girls and laid-back boys: teachers’ and study counsellors’ gendered perceptions of students

ABSTRACT

Efforts to reach gender equality in education in Finland have been extensive. Both teacher education and policy documents for schools have focused on gender equality and gender-neutral treatment of students. The aim of this study is to explore if and how these efforts are manifested in upper secondary school teachers’ and study counsellors’ perceptions of students’ self-belief, academic emotions, study habits and behaviour at school. Twenty-three interviews were conducted and analysed qualitatively through inductive content analysis. The results revealed that teachers and study counsellors perceive that girls’ low self-belief and high achievement expectations affected their academic performance, while boys’ insecurity or need for support was rarely mentioned. The teachers ascribed the students several gender-stereotypical attributes: girls were perceived as diligent and hard-working while boys were perceived as being indifferent towards school and achievements. The implications of these results for students’ self-belief and for teacher education are discussed.     

Effects of Self-Concept on Learning with Gifted Children

Abstract

The present study examined die influence self-concept played in a verbal free recall and non-verbal paired associate learning task with gifted children. Twenty-four male and 24 female pre-adolescents were divided into high and low self-concept groups for each sex, forming four groups with 12 subjects in each group. A 20-item free recall task and a five-trial, six-item non-verbal paired associate learning task were administered. High self-esteem boys and girls showed significantly greater mastery of all learning tasks than lower self-concept counterparts. Analysis of organization scores supported the use of more sophisticated learning strategies by children with higher self-perceptions.     

Accelerating the development of formal thinking in middle and high school students

In an attempt to accelerate the development of formal operations in average young adolescents, intervention lessons relating to all formal schemata were designed in the context of school science courses. Over a period of two years, up to 30 intervention lessons were given by science teachers to their classes in eight schools. Boys who started the program aged 12+ showed a pre-posttest effect size on Piagetian tests of 0.89 SD compared with control classes. In terms of British norms for the development of operational thinking this was a mean change from the 51st to the 74th percentile. Neither the middle school students nor the 12+ girls showed greater gain than the controls. Gains were shown by girls in one 11+ class and in the two 11+ laboratory classes. In the laboratory school students given intervention lessons by the researchers maintained their gains over controls in formal operations at a delayed posttest one year after cessation of the program. There was no effect on tests of science achievement during the intervention. It was argued that the interventions needed to be accompanied by in-service training designed to enable teachers to change their teaching style in line with their students' increased operational thinking capacity.     

Children’s Drawings: A mirror to their minds

Children’s drawings are thought to be a mirror of a child’s representational development. Research suggests that with age children develop more complex and symbolic representational strategies and reference points become more differentiated by gender. We collected two drawings from 109 5–13‐year‐old children (three age groups). Each child drew their family and their school and participated in an independent recall task. The results indicated significant gender and age differences in the number of details depicted in the family drawings. There were also significant differences between boys’ and girls’ stereotyped drawings, usage of proportionality, and clothing. With age, children tended to draw more aerial views of their school. The results are discussed in terms of the contribution children’s drawings can make to the study of cognitive development and vice versa, as well as their importance for education.     

The Roots of Stereotype Threat: When Automatic Associations Disrupt Girls' Math Performance

Although stereotype awareness is a prerequisite for stereotype threat effects (Steele & Aronson, 1995), research showed girls' deficit under stereotype threat before the emergence of math–gender stereotype awareness, and in the absence of stereotype endorsement. In a study including 240 six‐year‐old children, this paradox was addressed by testing whether automatic associations trigger stereotype threat in young girls. Whereas no indicators were found that children endorsed the math–gender stereotype, girls, but not boys, showed automatic associations consistent with the stereotype. Moreover, results showed that girls' automatic associations varied as a function of a manipulation regarding the stereotype content. Importantly, girls' math performance decreased in a stereotype‐consistent, relative to a stereotype‐inconsistent, condition and automatic associations mediated the relation between stereotype threat and performance.     

An Investigation into Gender Bias in Educational Software Used in English Primary Schools

There is continuing evidence of gender bias in the use of computers in schools. Boys' greater access and confidence is multidetermined; however, one factor is the nature of the packages themselves and the imagery they deploy. Unlike the computer games sector where images remain crudely sexist, educational software providers have developed software which use 'androgynous' humanoid figures where gender-stereotypical features are absent. There is, however, no social or cultural warrant for human representations which are non-gendered. We hypothesised that children would have no notion of genderless persons and would assign gender to the figures, reverting to male as norm, but that girls would be more likely than boys to identify androgynous computer characters as female. In our study we asked primary school children to talk about the images, making up names and describing them. Content analysis of the data was used and a gender constancy test was included as a check for validity. A small pilot study supported our hypothesis and the results from a larger scale study confirm that children identify neutral characters as male, but that girls are more willing to see them as female. We conclude that more research should be undertaken into the ways teachers can influence the child's perception of gender.     

Fundamental motor skills,nutritional status,perceived competence,and school performance of Brazilian children in social vulnerability: Gender comparison

Being at risk or in social vulnerability situations can affect important aspects of child development. The aim of this study was to investigate fundamental motor skills (locomotor and object control) and school (writing, arithmetic, reading) performances, the perceived competence and the nutritional status of girls and boys living in social vulnerability in the poorest regions of Brazil. Two hundred eleven (211) children (87 girls, 41%), 7–10-year-old (M = 8.3, SD = 0.9), from public schools in Ceará (Brazil), living in social vulnerability, participated in the study. Children were assessed using the Test of Gross Motor Development – 2, the Body Mass Index (BMI), the Self-Perception Profile for Children, and the School Performance Test. Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), adjusted for age, did not show any significant effect for locomotion. There was an effect of gender on the object control. Boys showed higher scores in striking, kicking, throwing, and rolling a ball. Quade's nonparametric analysis showed no difference in BMI between the genders. Most children presented healthy weight. The MANCOVA showed no effect of gender on children’s scores on perceived competence on the subscales; moderate scores were found for most children. There were no gender effects on school performance; both boys and girls demonstrated inferior performance. Boys and girls in social vulnerability showed inferior performance in most motor skills, moderate perceived competence and inferior school performance. These results reveal that the appropriate development of these children is at risk and that intervention strategies should be implemented to compensate the difficulties presented.     

Mediated activity in the primary classroom: girls,boys and computers

Seven and 9-year-old children (n=120) worked in same or mixed gender pairs on a language-based computer and non-computer task, and their styles of social interaction were compared. At both ages, mixed gender pairs showed more assertive and less transactive (collaborative) interaction than same gender pairs on both tasks. When collaboration broke down, boys on the computer task and girls on the non-computer task dominated assertive interaction in mixed gender pairs, whereas in same gender pairs both children were equally assertive. The mediational role of the computer and the social dynamics that frame its use are discussed.