Baby X

1
Baby X

• A Fabulous Childs Story
• The Baby X Study
• Described as A study of Infant Responses
• Infant Gender Information
• Toy interaction (football, doll, plastic ring)
• Results

2
Keeping the World Simple (Cognitive Miser Model)
The Complex Information Rich Social World
Limited Human Attentional Capacity
Goal of Mental Economy
Cognitive Short-Cuts
3
Cognitive Heuristics

• Representative Heuristic a mental short-cut
  which people classify something as belonging to a
  certain category to the extent that it is similar
  to a typical case from the category. (similar to
  a schema!)
• Availability Heuristic a mental short-cut
  through which one estimates that likelihood of an
  event by the east with which instances of that
  event comes to mind.

4
A, B, Cs

• Stereotype an overgeneralized belief about a
  person based on their group membership
  (Cognitive)
• Discrimination a selectively unjustified
  negative behavior toward members of a group
  (Behavior)
• Prejudice a generalized negative attitude toward
  members of a group (Affective)

5
ISM

• Old-fashioned ism (e.g., racism) Overt Bigotry
• Modern ism the indirect and symbolic
  expression of (racism/sexism, etc) that results
  from the displacement of negative feelings onto
  more abstract social issues (e.g., affirmative
  action). Uses a values interpretation.

6
Whats so special about gender?(Fiske Stevens,
1993)

• 1.Gender stereotypes are heavily prescriptive
• 2.Gender stereotypes are based in power
  differences
• 3.Gender stereotypes are based on complex
  relations
• 4.Gender stereotypes are based on biological fact
• 5.Gender stereotypes are historically situated.
• Gender Stereotypes Lead to the Creation of
  Gender Roles!

7
Gender Differences in Academic Performance

• Standardized Tests
• Grades
• Classroom Placement
• Test Specifics
• VERBAL Anagrams, Speech Fluency, Analogies
• MATH Spatial perception, Mental Rotation,
  Problem Solving, Computation

8
Explanations for Achievement Differences Eccles
Work

• Expectancy Value Theory
• Beliefs of Success
• Effort vs Ability Attributions
• Parental Expectations for success
• Confidence!
• Value of the Domain
• emphasis of the the material

9
Explanations for Achievement DifferencesKimballs
Work

• Math is perceived as Masculine
• The Male Perspective
• The Female Perspective
• Self-reports vs Performance
• The Culture Perspective Male Math is Better
  than Female Math
• Teacher Perceptions Reflect This
• Who is gifted?
• Advice to female students

10
Explanations for Achievement Differences Teacher
Interactions

• Who receives more attention?
• Types of attention

11
What can we do?

• Political Responses
• 1964 Civil Rights Act amended to include sex,
  along with race, religion, nationality as illegal
  for discrimination in the workplace
• 1966 NOW (National Organization for Women)
  founded
• 1972 Title IX of the Education Amendments
• No person in the United States shall, on the
  basis of sex, be excluded from participation in,
  be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to
  discrimination under any education program or
  activity receiving federal financial
  assistance.''
• Gender stereotypes lead to the creation of gender
  roles