Testosterone during pregnancy and gender role behavior of preschool children: a longitudinal,population study

Levels of testosterone (T) and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) were measured in blood samples from pregnant women and related to gender role behavior in 342 male and 337 female offspring at the age of 3.5 years. Gender role behavior was assessed using the Pre-School Activities Inventory, a standardized measure on which a parent indicates the child's involvement with sex-typical toys, games, and activities. Levels of T, but not SHBG, related linearly to gender role behavior in preschool girls. Neither hormone related to gender role behavior in boys. Other factors, including the presence of older brothers or sisters in the home, parental adherence to traditional sex roles, the presence of a male partner in the home, and maternal education, did not relate to gender role behavior in this sample and did not account for the relation observed between T and behavior. Although other, unmeasured factors may explain the relation, the results suggest that normal variability in T levels prenatally may contribute to the development of individual differences in the gender role behavior of preschool girls.     

EDUCATION AND THE MIDDLE CLASSES: AGAINST REDUCTIONISM IN EDUCATIONAL THEORY AND RESEARCH

ABSTRACT:  This paper critiques what it sees as a tendency on the part of certain social researchers to engage in moralistic critiques of middle-class parents, especially in relation to the choices and actions of such parents within educational quasi-markets. It proceeds to a linked critique of the influence within education of certain aspects of the work of Pierre Bourdieu, with particular reference to the concepts of symbolic violence and the depiction of cultural meanings as arbitrary. It is argued that both these developments involve unhelpful and unjustified forms of reductionism that could have the effect of alienating middle-class support for a range of broadly progressive political endeavours within and beyond education.     

Auslaufvorgänge aus wasserbehältern-eine anwendungsorientierte einführung in die analysis

Ohne ZusammenfassungHerrn Professor Dr. E. Wittmann danke ich für wichtige Anregungen.     

Establishing an Early Warning System: Predicting Low Grades in College Students from Survey of Academic Orientations Scores

Counselors, faculty, and student personnel specialists are often unaware that college students are experiencing serious academic or adjustment difficulties until it is too late to rectify the problem. Most universities would benefit from an early warning system that detects at-risk students before performance or social problems jeopardize their college careers. This investigation demonstrated that scores from the Survey of Academic Orientations (SAO) were predictive of first-semester freshmen grades. Subsequent analysis showed that the SAO significantly improved the prediction of grade point averages, after taking the effects of Scholastic Assessment Test scores and high school percentage rank into consideration. The SAO gives educators a new early warning device, a way to identify those undergraduates most at risk of receiving poor grades. The next steps in the research process are to: (1) assess the relationship of SAO scores to other important academic indexes, such as retention and student stress, and (2) determine if furnishing counselors and other college personnel with SAO scores is of therapeutic value.