The ability of three-year-old children to deceive was examined in order to determine whether they were able to hide their emotional expression intentionally. Results indicated that very young children have begun the process of learning how to mask their emotional expressions and support the role of socialization in this process. (RH)

Although the belief that women are not socialized to be competitive is widely held, research findings in this area are not conclusive. To compare the behaviors and the perceptions of behavior in men and women in a realistic setting, 180 students participated in a 2-hour, two-part simulated job interview that required either competitive or neutral…

Interviews with parents of 30 school-age girls with fragile X syndrome (fraX) and 31 age- and IQ-matched controls concerning autistic behaviors found that girls with fraX had significantly more autistic behaviors than controls, but incidence of autistic behaviors was not correlated with IQ. Anxiety and posterior cerebellar area measures were also…

Research has shown that females gaze more than males while speaking and listening regardless of the sex of their partner. To determine if these differences are due to biological sex or sex role, 24 dyads, in which subjects were matched on sex and sex role, conversed for 10 minutes while patterns of speech and gaze were recorded by two judges.…

Much of the sex role research published in the late seventies was concerned with measuring masculinity and femininity, based on stereotyped trait ratings using tests like the Bem Sex Role Inventory or the Personal Attributes Questionnaire. In response to the need for a wider variety of measures, the Activities Inventory (AI), a checklist of…

Investigates 57 three- to five-year-old children's sharing of preferred and nonpreferred food with same-sex peers as a function of (1) whether or not the children had previous experience as recipients and (2) whether or not the child was shared with during the experience as a recipient. (HOD)

There is a need for systematic comparisons and replications of research on questions concerning students' sexual behaviors and attitudes. To examine whether or not students' attitudes and behaviors toward sex and sex-related issues changed over a decade, 435 incoming freshmen in 1973 and 460 freshmen in 1983 were administered an anonymous…

A concept of seductive mother-toddler relationships was initially validated. Subsequent research showed "seductiveness" was stable, though transformed, from 24 to 42 months; the same mothers were not found to be seductive with male or female siblings; mothers seductive with boys were derisively hostile toward daughters. (Author/RH)

A survey of eight motor habits, including body-rocking, was administered to two large samples (N=861, N=766) of college students. A surprisingly high proportion of respondents (over 40% of males and over 50% of females) reported they engaged in body rocking when either bored or overstimulated The similar incidence in people with mental retardation…

Studies examining the influence of peer pressure on the drinking behaviors of college students have focused primarily on undergraduates. Very little is known about the drinking patterns of graduate students. To compare drinking patterns of undergraduate and graduate students, 57 college freshmen, 20 sophomores, 24 juniors, 26 seniors, 46 graduate…

Compulsivity and obsessiveness are vaguely defined terms which include a broad range of behaviors and cognitions that have been elusive to quantify. To introduce the 22-item Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (OCS) and to perform preliminary validation studies, 114 (46 male, 68 female) college students and 57 counseling clients completed the OCS on two…

Although many studies have documented age-linked shifts in values, few studies have demonstrated the relationship between values and psychological adjustment. To explore the relationship between values, daily stressful experiences, positive experiences, and coping strategies, 100 white, middle-aged adults (ages 45-64 years) completed the Ways of…

Studies examining college students' drug use behavior have found that drug use has increased over the periods studied. To examine the attitudes and behaviors towards drugs of University of Maryland freshmen over a decade, 410 freshmen in 1973 and 491 freshmen in l983 were administered an anonymous questionnaire. An analysis of the results showed…

Eight German and eight Italian children were observed during their first year in preschool. Cultural differences and similarities in play and behavior and sex differences are reported. Findings suggest that strategies that children use to enter kindergarten or a new group exist universally. (Author/RH)

Tests the ability of 43 children, ranging in age from 20 months to 40 months, to discriminate between pictures of boys and girls and male and female adults. Compares children who passed this gender-task with those who failed it on three behaviors most often categorized as sex-typed: toy choice, aggression, and peer playmate selection. (HOD)