Spatial Ability Mediates the Gender Difference in Middle School Students' Science Performance

Prior research has demonstrated a male advantage in spatial skills and science achievement. The present research integrated these findings by testing the potential role of spatial skills in gender differences in the science performance of eighth‐grade students (13–15 years old). In 2 (N = 113), the findings showed that mental rotation ability mediated gender differences in physical science and technology/engineering test scores. In 3 (N = 73,245), science performance was examined in a state population of eighth‐grade students. As in 2 , the results revealed larger gender differences on items that showed higher correlations with mental rotation. These findings underscore the importance of considering spatial training interventions aimed at reducing gender differences in the science performance of school‐aged children.     

Sensory processing disorder in a primate model: evidence from a longitudinal study of prenatal alcohol and prenatal stress effects

Disrupted sensory processing, characterized by over- or underresponsiveness to environmental stimuli, has been reported in children with a variety of developmental disabilities. This study examined the effects of prenatal stress and moderate-level prenatal alcohol exposure on tactile sensitivity and its relationship to striatal dopamine system function in thirty-eight 5- to 7-year-old rhesus monkeys. The monkeys were from four experimental conditions: (a) prenatal alcohol exposed, (b) prenatal stress, (c) prenatal alcohol exposed + prenatal stress, and (d) sucrose controls. Increased D(2) receptor binding in the striatum, evaluated using positron emission tomography neuroimaging, was related to increased withdrawal (aversion) responses to repetitive tactile stimuli and reduced habituation across trials. Moreover, prenatal stress significantly increased overall withdrawal responses to repetitive tactile stimulation compared to no prenatal stress.     

Demarcating Medicine's Boundaries: Constituting and Categorizing in the Journals of the American Medical Association

This article examines professional boundary work in a set of medical journal theme issues about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Whereas these journals claim as their collective goal to bridge and blur boundaries between mainstream and alternative medicine, this article identifies and describes two chief rhetorical strategies through which the journals instead bolster and even expand those boundaries. These two strategies, constituting and categorizing, appear central to the demarcation of biomedical boundaries vis-à-vis CAM.     

Unveiling their worlds: the use of dialogue as a health-promotion tool for HIV/AIDS education in a poor community in Kenya

Three decades since the onset of HIV/AIDS, 33.2 million people worldwide are infected and prevalence in Kenya is on the rise. This paper contributes to discussions about HIV/AIDS education and draws on the health promotion approach and the emancipatory theory of Paulo Freire. Freire argued that through dialogue people unveil their world. The researchers used the method of dialogue to facilitate parents' and teachers' reflections on sexuality education for the children. The dialogues seemed to facilitate some reflection and showed the attitudes of the community to matters that impact on sexuality education (e.g. gender and sexuality). This paper illustrates how dialogic processes can be useful to the process of constructing realistic and contextually relevant HIV/AIDS education. The challenges for the researcher as an outsider are also discussed.     

GERONTOLOGICAL EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS IN NURSING AND SOCIAL WORK: KNOWLEDGE,ATTITUDES, AND PERCEIVED BARRIERS

Most health care and social service providers are routinely required to work with elderly clients and clients’ aging family members. Research suggests that students entering these professions have knowledge deficits and lack positive attitudes toward older people. Few prefer to work with aging clients. Professional curricula are not providing students with adequate training to serve the current needs of this population, much less to meet projected increases in demand for services. To examine this issue, 67 master's students in nursing and social work completed questionnaires assessing (1) knowledge about aging, (2) attitudes toward old people, and (3) perceived barriers to gerontological education. Results confirmed the existence of knowledge deficits among respondents. Attitudes tended to be neutral rather than strongly positive or negative. Knowledge scores were related to attitudes, to respondents’ ages, and to their having lived in households with older relatives. Nursing students identified the greatest barriers in gerontological education as insufficient curriculum time and lack of academic role models. Social work students perceived lower status of work with the elderly and limited experience with healthy older people as the greatest barriers. The two groups agreed that fragmentation of services contributes to inadequate gerontological preparation. Findings suggest a need for didactic and experiential learning opportunities, reinforced by appropriate academic role models, for students in service professions.     

Moral Reasoning about Sexually Transmitted Diseases

The purpose of this research was to investigate moral reasoning related to sexual behavior that could lead to the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Using hypothetical dilemmas about situations in which STDs can be transmitted, respondents were asked to explain why they believed the characters should or should not engage in risky behaviors. 40 college freshmen ( M = 18.3 years) and 32 college seniors ( M = 22.3 years) participated. Using Kohlberg's moral stage theory and Gilligan's moral orientation model, the interviews were scored for moral stage and moral orientation. Results indicated that the older age group had a significantly higher stage of moral reasoning than the younger age group when responding to dilemmas about STDs. There was a significant difference in moral stage between dilemmas, reflecting the possible effect of dilemma content on moral reasoning. The overall pattern of results shows nonsignificant gender differences in stage of moral reasoning and moral orientation. Clinical and theoretical implications of these findings for understanding the role of moral reasoning in sexual risky behavior are discussed.     

An analysis of factors related to the attitudes of regular classroom teachers toward mainstreaming mildly handicapped children

A model of factors was developed in order to examine variables that might be associated with the attitudes of regular classroom teachers toward mainstreaming mildly handicapped children. Using multiple linear regression analyses, the following variables were found to be significant predictors of a positive attitude toward mainstreaming: team-teaching, years of teaching experience (negative correlation), course in diagnosing learning and behavior problems, availability of resource teacher, previous special education teaching experience, number of courses taken in special education, number of students in classroom (25–27), and inservice program experience related to exceptional children. An examination of these predictors suggests that they may be used to select those regular educators who are likely candidates for implementing mainstreaming programs and that school systems can inhance their mainstreaming efforts by arranging the integration settings to conform with these predictors of positive attitude.     

Hypothetical rape scenarios as a pedagogical device to facilitate students' learning about prosecutorial decision-making and discretion

The use of scenarios to facilitate learning about the complexities of prosecutorial decision-making is a useful pedagogical device for facilitating student learning about sensitive criminal justice issues such as rape or sexual assault. It is also useful in helping instructors gain insight concerning the premises students carry with them into the classroom. Hypothetical rape scenarios were presented to 178 students who were asked to make decisions as to whether or not to pursue prosecution. Findings suggest that race, sex, age, and education play significant roles in students' decision-making processes. Furthermore, as the rape scenario becomes more complicated, demographic factors play a heavier hand in arriving at decisions concerning the disposition of a case.