Major sex differences in occupational and educational attainment are summarized and a rationale and supporting evidence presented for reducing such sex differences by strengthening across-sex task interaction and reward interdependence in school classrooms, thus strengthening across-sex peer influence. An experimental design is suggested, though…

Used observations and interview of mothers and children to test a mediational model in which committed compliance and opposition influence the child's emerging view of self on moral dimensions and this "moral self" regulates moral conduct. Found that the model, involving committed compliance and opposition in the "don't" demand…

Examined ability of individuals biologically predisposed to poor spatial skills to capitalize on opportunities to develop these skills. Found that for girls with brothers, those from all right-handed families had lower mental-rotation scores than did others. Among children participating in mental-rotation-type activities with their brothers,…

Interviewed adolescents in grades 9 through 12 to examine family closeness as either mediator or moderator of relationships between intense work and academic engagement. Found that for boys, the family closeness mediational model provided best fit for data; for girls, the moderator model fit best. Found girls were especially vulnerable to negative…

Describes a study of electronic support of face-to-face group meetings that was conducted with undergraduate and graduate students. Strategies used by groups to distribute control, determinants of which members took control, and the consequences of control strategies were examined. (Contains 38 references.) (LRW)

Assessed fourth, seventh, and tenth graders' social reasoning about exclusion in three social contexts: friendship, peer, and school. Found that there were significant patterns of reasoning about exclusion for the context, the target of exclusion, and the degree to which social influence, authority expectations, and cultural norms explained…

An extensive body of research indicates that men on the average achieve higher scores in mathematics than women. Despite this extensive research, conclusions about sex differences in mathematics achievement have suffered from various inadequacies in the use of measures of association among coursework experiences, sex, and other correlates of…

The Conceptual Learning and Development (CLD) Model specifies four levels of concept attainment (concrete, identity, classificatory, and formal) and three uses of concepts (problem solving, subordinate-supraordinate, and principles). Longitudinal and cross-sectional studies of concept attainment may be conducted. The results of this study of 300…

This chapter discusses the development of achievement motivation during adolescence from the perspective of expectancy-value theory, and explains how adolescents' expectancies for success and achievement values change during adolescence, particularly during educational transitions such as that from elementary to middle school and from middle to…

The engagement of young Australians with school and individual and school-level influences on student engagement (defined as participation in extracurricular activities) were examined by analyzing data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth. Being female, being from a higher socioeconomic background, and having professional parents were…