A Meta-Analysis on Gender Differences in Mental Rotation Ability Measured by the Purdue Spatial Visualization Tests: Visualization of Rotations (PSVT:R)

This meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the magnitude of gender difference in three-dimensional (3-D) mental rotation ability and to investigate how factors related to test administration conditions play a role in varying gender difference effect sizes and threatening validity. Individuals’ 3-D mental rotation ability was measured by the Purdue Spatial Visualization Tests: Visualization of Rotations (PSVT:R). We integrated 70 effect sizes of gender differences in mental rotation ability measured by the PSVT:R which were obtained from 40 primary studies. The results indicated that male participants outperformed females on the test (Hedges’ g?=?0.57). The I ² statistic indicated 41.7 % of variation in effect sizes reflects real heterogeneity. The moderator analysis indicated that male superiority on spatial ability tasks measured by the PSVT:R is related to the implementation of time limits. The gender difference became larger when stringent time limits (equal or less than 30 s per item) were implemented.     

Faces Do Not Capture Special Attention in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Change Blindness Study

Two experiments investigated attention of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to faces and objects. In both experiments, children (7- to 15-year-olds) detected the difference between 2 visual scenes. Results in Experiment 1 revealed that typically developing children ( n  = 16) detected the change in faces faster than in objects, whereas children with ASD ( n  = 16) were equally fast in detecting changes in faces and objects. These results were replicated in Experiment 2 ( n  = 16 in children with ASD and 22 in typically developing children), which does not require face recognition skill. Results suggest that children with ASD lack an attentional bias toward others' faces, which could contribute to their atypical social orienting.     

The relative impact of violation type and lie severity on judgments of message deceitfulness

This paper is part of a larger program of research assessing variables that underlie quantitative deceptiveness ratings. Several recent theoretical approaches, including Information Manipulation Theory (IMT), propose that deceptive messages are best understood as varying along two or more dimensions. At the same time, researchers have increasingly moved from dichotomous deception judgments to continuous deception ratings. This paper questions the validity of scaling degrees of deceptiveness along a single dimension, and argues that gradations in perceived deceptiveness reflect both the type of information manipulated and the severity of the consequences of the deception. This reasoning was tested with alxl experiment (N = 236) in which both the type of information manipulated and the severity of the consequences were systematically varied. As predicted, the results suggest that false messages (i.e., quality violations) are rated as more deceptive than lies of omission (i.e., quantity violations) when lie severity is low, but this difference diminishes as lie severity increases. In other words, false messages were rated as deceptive regardless of severity, but messages omitting information were rated as deceptive as false messages only when the consequences were serious. The implications for measuring deception are discussed.     

An Analysis of Children's Web Pages in Public Library Web Sites in Japan

A progenitor article for this work can be found in Public Library Quarterly 27, no. 4. This study is the first to report on the types of contents in children's web pages and the characteristics of Web-OPACs for children in public library websites in Japan. This study reveals that children's web pages, in general, place more emphasis on providing guidance on library services and on the use of information resources for reference services, rather than on helping children with regular learning or providing research assistance to adults on children's services. Other findings are reported as well.     

The Surprisingly Modest Relationship Between SES and Educational Achievement

Measures of socioeconomic status (SES) are routinely used in analyses of achievement data to increase statistical power, statistically control for the effects of SES, and enhance causality arguments under the premise that the SES-achievement relationship is moderate to strong. Empirical evidence characterizing the strength of the SES-achievement relationship and its moderators suggests that this relationship is surprisingly modest, with an average SES-achievement correlation of .22, although it appears to have strengthened in the past 3 decades. The modest SES-achievement relationship has important implications for using SES measures in educational data analyses. We provide evidence of this relationship and of the need to use theoretical models to guide the construction and selection of SES measures in analyses of achievement data.     

Student ability in identifying reasons for different points of view: A learning activity conducted with a group of Japanese High School Students

Problem solving as a skill is emphasized within the revised Japanese Course of Study for schools. This experimental study, conducted among Japanese high school students, evaluates an effort to develop student ability to identify reasons fordifferent points of view, not just personally favored views. First, the ability of all students was tested using a reading literacy question from the 2000 PISA test, which measures the reading skills of evaluation and reflection. The experimental group then participated in a developmental learning activity. After the activity, all students were retested using the same PISA question. Nothing conclusive was found regarding the general effectiveness of the lesson activity, but two insights were gained. It was found that student self-awareness of the importance of the learning task and interactive learning are important to consider.