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Boys' Lack of Interest in Fine Arts in a Coeducational Setting: A Review of Sex‐Related Cognitive Traits Studies
Abstract
Fine arts teachers' concerns about male underachievement in a Quebec coeducational high school, and a related survey showing boys' negative perceptions of fine arts motivated this interdisciplinary literature review. Referring to biology and cognitive science, the article explores concepts of sex-related cognitive traits to help in designing sex-adapted approaches to individual learning in art education. The nature-nurture controversy still surrounds sex-based cognitive differences studies, though science agrees that natural and socio-cultural factors are somehow closely interwoven in the complex gender identity construction process. Sex-related biological predispositions influencing cognition are proposed notably in ‘instrumentality-expressiveness' and ‘empathising-systemising (E-S)’ theories. The article suggests that in the context of art education, these sex-related cognitive models deserve study, because they could initiate sex-adapted teaching strategies with the necessary flexibility and wider scope to overcome gender-stereotyped biases and stimulate boys' interest in the arts. This suggested approach should not be confused with stereotype-based pedagogy, which merely strengthens learned gender characteristics, producing or maintaining academic underachievement.
... Traditionally, female students have displayed a higher interest and motivation in art classes within the context of conventional art education (Meece et al., 2006;Savoie, 2009;Wikberg, 2013). We used quantitative and qualitative analysis methods to see if this class would produce the same results as the traditional domain. ...
... First, incorporating generative AI into art-focused STEAM classes may reduce the gap between male and female students in their interest in art practices. Previous research reported that, within the context of conventional art education, male students showed less motivation and interest in art activities than female students (Davis, 1995); hesitation in engaging in artistic activities, especially among male students who were losing their enthusiasm (Davis, 1995;Meece et al., 2006;Savoie, 2009;Wikberg, 2013). Although no statistically significant differences in motivation and interest in producing art products were found between genders (i.e., male and female students), male students expressed enthusiasm about producing art pieces using image-generative AI models and were satisfied with the process. ...
The rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have transformed various domains, including education. Generative AI models have garnered significant attention for their potential in educational settings, but image-generative AI models need to be more utilized. This study explores the potential of integrating generative AI, specifically Stable Diffusion, into art-focused STEAM classes. To this end, we combined STEAM education with image-generative AI. We designed and implemented a learning activity in which students used image-generative AI to generate creative images and wrote imaginative diaries inspired by AI-generated pictures. Using a mixed-methods approach, we collected and analyzed data from surveys, interviews, and prompt datasets to gain insights into students' perceptions, motivations, and behaviors concerning the integration of generative AI in art education. Our study found that incorporating generative AI into art-focused STEAM classes may reduce the gap between male and female students' interest in art practices. We also found that the number of subjects in students' prompt datasets is linked to their divergent and convergent thinking. Finally, we discovered a meaningful correlation between the number of unique words in students' diaries and the image scores that researchers assessed. Our findings shed light on the relationship between students' divergent and convergent behaviors, offering valuable insights into their creative thinking processes. This study underscores the potential of integrating image-generative AI models in STEAM education.
... As stated above, Kaufman et al. (2010) surveyed people working in non-arts professions. Therefore, their findings may reveal how creativity in the art domain is perceived by laypersons, who may identify the art domain as feminine (Savoie 2009). However, our findings suggest that male and female college students who specialise in the visual arts perceive creative self-efficacy differently, with males demonstrating greater confidence in their creative ability. ...
This study investigated visual arts college students' perceptions of the gender stereotyping of creativity and the influence of this stereotyping on creative self-efficacy. The sample consisted of 1198 Chinese visual arts college students. The results showed that (a) both male and female students identified stereotypically masculine traits as more important to creativity than stereotypically feminine traits are, (b) male students demonstrated higher creative self-efficacy than their female counterparts did, and (c) students' gender significantly moderated the effect of the gender stereotyping of creativity on creative self-efficacy. Specifically, the gender stereotyping of creativity had a positive effect on male students and a negative effect on female students. These findings revealed that gender stereotypes dominate concepts of creativity in Chinese art education and may hinder female students' development of creative self-efficacy, resulting in gendered inequality in the visual arts field. The implications of these findings for visual arts education in China are discussed.
... Notons d'ailleurs que les pratiques numériques des jeunes sont de moins en moins différenciées selon le genre, que ce soit, par exemple, en ce qui concerne l'accès à l'ordinateur et son utilisation, de plus en plus égalitaires entre les filles et les garçons (Livingstone et Helsper, 2007), ou l'intérêt grandissant des filles pour les jeux vidéo (Flanagan, 2005). Dans le domaine des arts, des recherches portent entre autres sur les stéréotypes associés au genre dans les médias (Chung, 2007), l'équité entre genres (Pariser et Zimmerman, 1990 ;Keifer-Boyd, 2010) ou les distinctions l'école, bien que la motivation pour cette matière scolaire diffère peu selon le sexe de l'élève (Savoie, Grenon et St-Pierre, 2012;Savoie, 2009). Dans le domaine des langues, des études sur le genre portent surtout sur l'acquisition différenciée de compétences en littératie lors de pratiques formelles ou informelles (Jones et Myhill, 2007 ;Rowsell et Kendrick, 2013 ;Sanford et Madill, 2007 ;Penloup et Joannidès, 2014). ...
Dans cet article, nous nous intéressons à la place du genre dans les pratiques translittéraciques informelles des jeunes. Nous examinons la réception/création de productions culturelles par des adolescentes et des adolescents à l’aide de la métaphore du mixage de cultures et des concepts d’hybridation et de multimodalité. Notre objectif est de répertorier et d’analyser les pratiques de création de ces jeunes en tenant compte de l’identification ou non à un genre. Pour cela, nous avons procédé à une enquête auprès de 200 adolescents et à une étude de cas. Les résultats préliminaires démontrent que les intérêts, les pratiques et les compétences des jeunes s’insèrent et se modulent dans une série de continuums. Nous concluons sur la nécessité de penser également le genre comme une continuité sur une échelle de valeurs graduée plutôt qu’une polarité entre deux états opposés, tout en cernant le statut de création des productions culturelles des jeunes.
... On est donc en droit de se demander si davantage de femmes ne seraient pas mieux disposées envers la création et les arts que les hommes? C'est en tout cas ce qui apparaît chez les pré-adolescents et adolescents masculins de niveau secondaire, lesquels semblent en général moins intéressés que les filles par les arts plastiques Savoie, 2009) (Guariglia et al., 2015). Nous souhaitons que ce secteur de la recherche en art, en lien avec les styles cognitifs, continue à progresser et apporte une meilleure compréhension de ce qui dispose un élève à pleinement s'investir dans une activité en classe d'arts plastiques. ...
... Research on arts instruction carried out in Quebec and elsewhere in the West, suggests that boys show less personal involvement in the arts fields; in other words, they are less interested in the artistic disciplines than girls, and are generally less successful in art, except at the level of graduate studies. Few of them envisage embarking on a career in the arts, and they participate less in cultural activities (ISQ, 2007;Savoie, 2008Savoie, , 2009Savoie, Grenon, & St-Pierre, 2010;Octobre, 2004;Dumais, 2002;Blaikie, Schönau, & Steers, 2003). From this stems our hypothesis that many art-related teaching situations-starting from when pupils are youngestcould be better adapted to boys. ...
... Imms (2003) argues that school art programs have traditionally failed to provide a safe forum for exploring masculinity. In contrast with other domains of the visual arts, which are often seen as the domain of women and girls (Savoie 2009;Whitehead 1996), graffiti is a domain in which boys can explore art in the context of a potent rebel masculinity. Once involved in graffiti, crews can become comfortable points of connection and community. ...
Though academic discourse on graffiti often laments the fact that it is treated as a crime, such arguments neglect how the outlaw status of graffiti has been integrally related to its allure and how it is understood and experienced by “writers” (the preferred term of graffiti artists). Participant observation and formal and informal interviews of members of a midstatus Portland, Oregon graffiti crew reveal how graffiti reflects a particular version of masculinity and at the same time serves as a resource for constructing masculine identity and achieving status and respect among male peers. Partly because of its outlaw status, graffiti is a domain of visual art that reinforces, rather than undercuts, a version of masculinity that values daring, risk, rebelliousness, ingenuity, commitment, and sacrifice, as well as a flamboyant and edgy set of aesthetics.
... However, such a focus has to date been neglected within an ITE context (Sadker & Silber, 2007). Savoie (2009) similarly highlights the need for a gender focus in research on ITE by drawing attention to the need for gender-adapted teaching strategies that have sufficient flexibility so as not to be confused with stereotype-based pedagogy, and which can potentially strengthen learned gender characteristics. ...
The enhancement of assessment feedback is an international concern. This study is unique in its exploration of the nature of the relationship between student teachers’ assessment feedback preferences, cognitive styles and gender, with a view to informing the development of assessment feedback practices and course design within initial teacher education (ITE) contexts. The cognitive styles and assessment feedback preferences of 108 initial teacher education student teachers (41 males; 67 females) were identified. Similarities as well as differences in assessment feedback preferences between males and females were evident, along with interaction effects between cognitive styles and gender. The use of an explicit framework in the form of a Personal Learning Styles Pedagogy is offered as a way of enhancing ITE course design and assessment feedback provision.Research highlights► The focus is on student teachers’ assessment feedback preferences. ► Relationships between style, gender and feedback preferences were evident. ► Developing learner self-regulatory mechanisms to access feedback are highlighted. ► An explicit framework: a Personal Learning Styles Pedagogy is presented.
Since the 1970s, National Football League (NFL) teams have hired attractive women to dance in scantily clad uniforms as a means of entertaining their heterosexual, male fans—offering a reflection of hegemonic gender ideology in the process. In recent years, a handful of these professional cheerleaders have spoken up and taken action against gender discrimination. Yet, little has changed. This study takes a feminist critical discourse analysis perspective to examining how gender ideology is (re)produced in discourse surrounding the employment roles of NFL cheerleaders, contributing to the perpetuation of gender inequality in sport. Findings demonstrate that three distinct gender ideologies are (re)produced in the discourse, competing with each other to define meanings associated with NFL cheerleading employment roles. Additionally, analysis reveals that while NFL teams have made changes to their cheerleading programs in response to feminist critiques, discourse surrounding these changes continues to (re)produce hegemonic femininity.
This article considers 3 claims that cognitive sex differences account for the differential representation of men and women in high-level careers in mathematics and science: (a) males are more focused on objects from the beginning of life and therefore are predisposed to better learning about mechanical systems; (b) males have a profile of spatial and numerical abilities producing greater aptitude for mathematics; and (c) males are more variable in their cognitive abilities and therefore predominate at the upper reaches of mathematical talent. Research on cognitive development in human infants, preschool children, and students at all levels fails to support these claims. Instead, it provides evidence that mathematical and scientific reasoning develop from a set of biologically based cognitive capacities that males and females share. These capacities lead men and women to develop equal talent for mathematics and science.
This book reveals the scientific evidence which proves that female-type brains are better at empathizing and communicating, while male brains are stronger at understanding and building systems--not just computers and machinery, but abstract systems such as politics and music. The author dissects each brain type and presents a new theory that autism is actually an example of the extreme male brain. Understanding our essential difference, the author concludes, may help us not only make sense of our partners' foibles, but solve one of the most mysterious scientific riddles of our time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
For several decades, cognitive research on personality and individual differences has focused on psychological traits other than general intelligence. Here we present data on empathizing and systemizing cognitive traits in science and humanities students. In view of existing data on autistic traits in scientists, we hypothesized that the science students would show higher systemizing than empathizing and that the humanities students would show the opposite pattern. Our findings suggest that individuals in the sciences possess a cognitive style that is more systemizing-driven than empathizing-driven, whereas individuals in humanities possess a cognitive style that is much more empathizing-driven than systemizing-driven. Both type of major and gender independently and highly significantly contribute to this effect. Within the sciences, the systemizing pattern is especially pronounced in engineering and physics. Men and women have been found previously to differ in their systemizing–empathizing cognitive style, with men being stronger in systemizing and women being stronger in empathizing. We find the same gender differences within each type of major.
The benefits of incorporating findings from cognitive neuroscience into the field of educational psychology are considered. The first section begins with arguments against the idea that one can ignore the brain when positing a model of student learning or motivation. The second section describes limitations in the methods used to reveal brain-cognition relations. In the third section, properties of the brain and brain development are described. The fourth section summarizes the cognitive neuroscientific research on attention, memory, reading, and math. Finally, areas of future research in cognitive neuroscience are suggested that would help answer important questions about individual and developmental differences in student learning.
Three-year-old children were observed in two free-play sessions and participated in a toy-retrieval task, in which only one
of six tools could be used to retrieve an out-of-reach toy. Boys engaged in more object-oriented play than girls and were
more likely to use tools to retrieve the toy during the baseline tool-use task. All children who did not retrieve the toy
during the baseline trials did so after being given a hint, and performance on a transfer-of-training tool-use task approached
ceiling levels. This suggests that the sex difference in tool use observed during the baseline phase does not reflect a difference
in competency, but rather a sex difference in motivation to interact with objects. Amount of time boys, but not girls, spent
in object-oriented play during the free-play sessions predicted performance on the tool-use task. The findings are interpreted
in terms of evolutionary theory, consistent with the idea that boys’ and girls’ play styles evolved to prepare them for adult
life in traditional environments.
According to the prevailing cultural stereotype as well as various psychological theories, empathy (the vicarious affective response to another person's feelings) is more prevalent in females than in males. A review of the research indicates that females do indeed appear to be more empathic than males. They do not appear to be more adept at assessing another person's affective, cognitive, or spatial perspective, however. There is also evidence to suggest that empathy in females may be part of a prosocial affective orientation that includes the tendency to experience guilt over harming others, but it does not, at least in early childhood, appear to be part of a larger interpersonal sensitivity that includes egocentric concerns about the feelings of others toward the self. It is suggested that females may have greater tendency to imagine themelves in the other's place, whereas males have more of a set toward instrumental ameliorative action. (71 ref)
Describes the development of a new sex-role inventory that treats masculinity and femininity as 2 independent dimensions, thereby making it possible to characterize a person as masculine, feminine, or "androgynous" as a function of the difference between his or her endorsement of masculine and feminine personality characteristics. Normative data, provided by 561 male and 356 female college and junior college students, are presented, as well as the results of various psychometric analyses. Findings indicate that: (a) The dimensions of masculinity and femininity are empirically and logically independent. (b) The concept of psychological androgyny is a reliable one. (c) Highly sex-typed scores do not reflect a general tendency to respond in a socially desirable direction, but rather a specific tendency to describe oneself in accordance with sex-typed standards of desirable behavior for men and women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In recent years, the magnitude, consistency, and stability across time of cognitive sex differences have been questioned. The present study examined these issues in the context of spatial abilities. A meta-analysis of 286 effect sizes from a variety of spatial ability measures was conducted. Effect sizes were partitioned by the specific test used and by a number of variables related to the experimental procedure in order to achieve homogeneity. Results showed that sex differences are significant in several tests but that some intertest differences exist. Partial support was found for the notion that the magnitude of sex differences has decreased in recent years. Finally, it was found that the age of emergence of sex differences depends on the test used. Results are discussed with regard to their implications for the study of sex differences in spatial abilities.
Biological and social-experiential factors appear to play a role in the male advantage in spatial abilities. In the present study, relations among prenatal testosterone levels, spatial play experiences, and mental rotation task performance were explored in 7-year-old boys and girls. A positive correlation was observed between prenatal testosterone levels and rate of rotation in girls. The findings were less clear for boys, but suggested the opposite pattern of results. Relations between spatial play preferences and mental rotation task performance were not observed in children of either sex. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that testosterone acts on the fetal brain to influence the development of spatial ability.
Numerous studies have shown that sex differences in visuospatial tasks vary in size and direction depending on the nature of the task, with large differences favoring males on tasks that require transformations in visuospatial working memory. The cognitive processes underlying these differences were investigated using laboratory tasks developed by Dror and Kosslyn (1994). Four cognitive components of visuospatial working memory were assessed--image generation, maintenance, scanning, and transformation--in an attempt to identify the components that would show differential effects for females and males. The image generation task required retrieval of shape information from long-term memory, generation of a visual image in working memory, and utilization of the information about the shape in a decision task. The image maintenance task required only the latter two processes. The information processing demands required by scanning and rotation tasks came from the need to transform the visual image so that it could be used in decision making. Males responded more quickly on all four tasks (ds between .63 and .77), with no between-sex differences in accuracy. We concluded that speed of processing is central to understanding sex differences in visuospatial working memory. We discuss implications of these findings for performance on real-world visuospatial tasks.
An experiment was devised to test the empathising-systemising (E-S) theory of autism. Three groups of participants took part in the study: males with Asperger Syndrome (AS) (n = 18), males without AS, (n = 44) and females from the general population (n = 45). Each participant completed two tasks: one that involved empathising and another that involved systemising. On the empathising task, females scored significantly higher than control males who in turn scored higher than males with AS. Conversely, females scored significantly lower than both male groups on the systemising task, who did not differ significantly from each other. These results are in line with both the E-S theory of autism and the 'extreme male brain' theory of autism. Alternative explanations of the results are also explored, including an interpretation through the idea of open and closed systems.
Empathizing is the capacity to predict and to respond to the behavior of agents (usually people) by inferring their mental
states and responding to these with an appropriate emotion. Systemizing is the capacity to predict and to respond to the behavior
of nonagentive deterministic systems by analyzing input-operation-output relations and inferring the rules that govern such
systems. At a population level, females are stronger empathizers and males are stronger systemizers. The “extreme male brain”
theory posits that autism represents an extreme of the male pattern (impaired empathizing and enhanced systemizing). Here
we suggest that specific aspects of autistic neuroanatomy may also be extremes of typical male neuroanatomy.
How did the human brain evolve so that consciousness of art could develop? In The Psychology of Art and the Evolution of the Conscious Brain, Robert Solso describes how a consciousness that evolved for other purposes perceives and creates art. Drawing on his earlier book Cognition and the Visual Arts and ten years of new findings in cognitive research (as well as new ideas in anthropology and art history), Solso shows that consciousness developed gradually, with distinct components that evolved over time. One of these components is an adaptive consciousness that includes the ability to imagine objects that are not present—an ability that allows us to create (and perceive) visual art. Solso describes the neurological, perceptual, and cognitive sequence that occurs when we view art, and the often inexpressible effect that a work of art has on us. He shows that there are two aspects to viewing art: nativistic perception—the synchronicity of eye and brain that transforms electromagnetic energy into neuro-chemical codes—which is "hard-wired" into the sensory-cognitive system; and directed perception, which incorporates personal history and knowledge—the entire set of our expectations and past experiences. Both forms of perception are part of the appreciation of art, and both are products of the evolution of the conscious brain over hundreds of thousands of years.
Solso also investigates the related issues of neurological and artistic perception of the human face, the effects of visual illusions, and the use of perspective. The many works of art used as examples are drawn from a wide range of artistic traditions, from ancient Egypt to Africa and India and the European Renaissance.
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This engaging text presents the latest scientific findings on gender differences, similarities, and variations--in sexuality, cognitive abilities, occupational preferences, personality, and social behaviors. The impact of nature and nurture on gender is examined from the perspectives of genetics, molecular biology, evolutionary theory, neuroanatomy, sociology, and psychology. The result is a balanced, fair-minded synthesis of diverse points of view. Dr. Lippa’s text sympathetically summarizes each side of the nature-nurture debate, and in a witty imagined conversation between a personified “nature” and “nurture,” he identifies weaknesses in the arguments offered by both sides. His review defines gender, summarizes research on gender differences, examines the nature of masculinity and femininity, describes theories of gender, and presents a “cascade model,” which argues that nature and nurture weave together to form the complex tapestry known as gender. Gender, Nature, and Nurture, Second Edition features: *new research on sex differences in personality, moral thought, coping styles, sexual and antisocial behavior, and psychological adjustment; *the results of a new meta-analysis of sex differences in real-life measures of aggression; *new sections on non-hormonal direct genetic effects on sexual differentiation; hormones and maternal behavior; and on gender, work, and pay; and *expanded accounts of sex differences in children's play and activity levels; social learning theories of gender, and social constructionist views of gender. This lively “primer” is an ideal book for courses on gender studies, the psychology of women, or of men, and gender roles. Its wealth of updated information will stimulate the professional reader, and its accessible style will captivate the student and general reader.
This drawing study examines the relationship between children's preferences for subject content, their use of formal characteristics, and their gender. Elementary students were read a narrative designed to highlight stereotypical gender interests and attitudes. They were then asked to create a titled illustration based on an episode of the story. Two hundred and fifty drawings were scored with reference to 20 conceptual content domains related to gender-based subject preferences and 22 formal characteristics of art. Findings revealed gendered art preferences influence the formation of gendered styles in children's drawing. Female drawings incorporated more humanistic and social content than male drawings, and feminine content domains employed greater variety of color, harmonious color, organic qualities of shape, and more detailed features. Male drawings communicated aggression and adventure in their content, and masculine content domains employed more expressive and symptomatic lines and fewer colors. Recommendations are made to guard against gender stereotyping in the practice of art education.
The purpose of this study was to examine preference for relative degree of realism or abstraction in a work of art as a function of gender and grade level. Three hundred and thirty nine elementary school students, divided into grades one and two and grades five and six, participated in the study. Each participant was administered the Salkind Picture Preference Scale (Salkind & Salkind, 1973) to measure their preference for degrees of realism in a work of art. A two-way analysis of variance revealed that preference scores for boys remain constant across grades, while scores for girls decrease significantly. At the fifth and sixth grade, preference scores become more realistic. Additional analysis revealed distinct patterns of preference across all items. Results are discussed in light of implications for understanding age and gender differences in preference and the application of such findings to art education.
This study examines sex differences and gender-role differences with respect to levels of theme realism, aggression, expressiveness, and artistic skill shown in children's drawings. A sample of 114 third, fourth, and fifth graders produced a figure-action drawing and completed the Children's Personal Attributes Questionnaire (CPAQ). With respect to sex differences, adult judges rated drawings by boys as more unrealistic and aggressive than drawings by girls. Judges also rated fifth graders' drawings as showing more artistic skill than third or fourth graders' products. However, there were no sex differences for artistic skill. With respect to gender-role differences, male-typed children produced more violent drawings than did female-typed children, irrespective of their actual sex. The authors wish to thank Michael Mortimer, Rachel Silverman, and Erika Swanson for assistance in completing the study, and the staff and children of the Mayflower Elementary School and the Henry B. Burkland Middle School, Middleboro, MA, for their cooperation.
Doreen Kimura provides an intelligible overview of what is known about the neural and hormonal bases of sex differences in behavior, particularly differences in cognitive ability.
In this fact-driven book, Doreen Kimura provides an intelligible overview of what is known about the neural and hormonal bases of sex differences in behavior, particularly differences in cognitive ability. Kimura argues that women and men differ not only in physical attributes and reproductive function, but also in how they solve common problems. She offers evidence that the effects of sex hormones on brain organization occur so early in life that, from the start, the environment is acting on differently wired brains in girls and boys. She presents various behavioral, neurological, and endocrinological studies that shed light on the processes giving rise to these sex differences in the brain.
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Chapter 4 (p 109-115) Intensity and Curiosity Gifted boys seem to perceive the world differently from other children and have nontraditional ways of behaving (Webb, et al., 1982). Their perception of the world leads to curiosity, and this in turn creates their higher intensity. Their high general intelligence provides the gifts of efficient perception, exceptional memory, and advanced reasoning ability. What this means is that, while the gifted little boy can astound people with his insights, he can also annoy them with his constant observations of their flaws and inconsistencies. He can also use his indelible memory to make schoolwork seem easy, or he can use it to agitate for a toy he wants, recalling exactly where he saw it, its outstanding characteristic, and how much it costs. One such boy insisted on knowing how much his mother, a teacher, earned per day, and then showed his mom what a tiny fraction of her salary would go toward the purchase of the action figure toy he wanted. The thoughts and images in the mind of the gifted boy may be more important and interesting to him than what is going on around him. With his imagination, intense curiosity, and desire for complexity, he may create entire worlds of imaginary beings and places where he can escape to when things get too boring. Since they have always been gifted, these boys naturally expect that the world appears to others as it appears to them and that other children are just like them (Webb, et al., 1982). It usually comes as a surprise to them that others do not share their perspectives, their curiosity, or their intensity. It also surprises them that others see them differently than they see themselves.
The present study examined the association of gender-role orientation to creative accomplishments and cognitive styles. One hundred and twenty-seven college students completed the Artistic and Scientific Activities Survey (Guastello, 1991), the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (Spence, Helmreich, & Stapp, 1974), and the Bem Sex Role Inventory (Bem, 1974). Three different gender-role orientations were examined: instrumentality (agenic, stereotypically masculine), expressiveness (communal, stereotypically feminine), and androgynous (high levels of instrumental and expressive characteristics). Results indicated that instrumentality was positively associated with creative accomplishments in the business venture domain and that androgynous, versus nonandrogynous, individuals were more creatively productive in the domains of literature, theater, and video-photography. Instrumentality was also positively associated with the six hats cognitive style, which is a measure of cognitive flexibility, and the six hats style was marginally significantly associated with androgyny. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed and recommendations for future research are considered.
This study combines findings in the literature with a small-scale survey of male and female students' gendered experiences of high school assessment in art in Canada, England, and the Netherlands. The main research question was: "Are high school experiences of portfolio assessment in art different based on gender?" As well, we raise a related question asked by Nochlin, "Why have there been no great women artists?" (Collins and Sandell, 1996). The survey data reveal that students' experiences of high school portfolio assessment in art differs according to gender. Males are less likely than females to know and understand the qualities a teacher is looking for in their work; males consider it less important than females do to know and understand the criteria for assessment; it is less important to males than females to discuss their art with their teacher; and males find group critiques less valuable than females do. The findings from the literature concur: In high school art education, girls are more numerous and successful. We posit that biological differences and socio-cultural influences are factors. As well, in spite of gender inclusive strategies for teaching art in which classroom power relations are 'flatter,' a modernist paradigm persists in which patriarchal control of curriculum and education prevails. At the tertiary level, females outnumber males, but are less successful. They are pathologized as disturbed or depressed by patronizing male instructors and are much less visible as practicing artists and designers. In light of Nochlin's question, it continues to be difficult for women to be visible artists and designers because in spite of the short-lived success of females in high school portfolio art assessment, the fundamental inner structures of patriarchal western society have not changed significantly.
This paper reports a study of drawings of men and dogs by 80 British children aged 3-7 years, which are analysed for their degree of differentiation in relation to the graphic features and tools used, and also for the sequencing of the different features incorporated. In common with previous research, the degree and sophistication of differentiation is shown to generally increase with age. However, the production of different sequences of features within the two drawings is shown to be more closely and directly related to their degree of differentiation. It is argued that introducing young children to the use of different sequences in their drawings may facilitate their development in solving a range of graphic problems.
Functional Magnetic Reso-nance Imaging (fMRI) scans of a skilled portrait artist and of a non-artist were made as each drew a series of faces. There was a dis-cernible increase in blood flow in the right-posterior parietal region of the brain for both the artist and non-artist during the task, a site normally associated with facial per-ception and processing. However, the level of activation appeared lower in the expert than in the nov-ice, suggesting that a skilled artist may process facial information more efficiently. In addition, the skilled artist showed greater acti-vation in the right frontal area of the brain than did the novice, which the author posits indicates that such an artist uses higher-or-der cognitive functions, such as the formation of associations and planning motor movements, when viewing and drawing a face.
Biological differences between the sexes in motor, sensory, and some intellectual abilities are reviewed. The skills that lead to early success in school draw on female talents; as a result, boys are often labeled hyperactive. Journal availability: Human Nature, Inc., Subscriptions Department, P.O. Box 10702, Des Moines, Iowa 50340; single copy $1.75. (Author/MLF)
Provides a comprehensive introduction to theories, research, and issues in gender studies. The text is structured around 3 themes: differences and similarities between females and males; the methodology and assumptions that have guided this knowledge; and how cultural perceptions of femininity and masculinity shape the questions surrounding gender research.
This edition contains new information in areas such as stereotyping and prejudice; hostile and benevolent sexism; qualitative methods, such as discourse analysis; transgender issues; the perception of women leaders; perceptions of affirmative action; and women and men in prison. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This paper examines the similarities and differences in the art of boys and girls aged six, seven, and eight. It is primarily concerned with the ways in which the subject matter of the children's art reflects sex differences in interests, introspective thought, and symbolic organization of the world. The methodology, based on the spontaneous art experience, seeks to establish that artistic activity is a viable medium through which information on the non-discursive aspects of children's thought can be obtained.
Over 1800 drawings, done by 26 children, were collected. The content of the drawings was examined for its range of subject matter and for thematic trends over time. It was found that girls and boys consistently portray very different subjects. The children's art did not present stereotypic images of sex roles nor could the contrasts be specifically attributed to genetic, social, or psychological differences between the sexes, although there was some correlation with the research findings in those areas. It was concluded that girls and boys have very different expressive interests and needs which are not fully incorporated into their educational environment and which affect all areas of school adjustment.
The discipline of neuroscience draws from the fields of neurology, psychology, physiology and biology, but is best understood in the wider world as ‘brain science’. Of particular interest for education is the development of techniques for ‘imaging’ the brain as it performs different cognitive functions. Cognitive neuroimaging has already led to advances in understanding some of the basic functions involved in learning and raised implications for education and special education in particular. For example, neuroimaging has enabled scientists to study the very complex processes underpinning speech and language, thinking and reasoning, reading and mathematics. In this article, Professor Usha Goswami of the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education first reviews basic information on brain development. She provides a brief introduction to the tools used in neuroimaging then considers recent findings from neuroscience that seem relevant to educational questions. Professor Goswami uses this review to suggest particular ways in which neuroscience research could inform special education. In its closing sections, this article provides authoritative perspectives on some of the ‘neuromyths’ that seem to have taken root in the popular imagination and argues for increased dialogue, in the future, between the disciplines of neuroscience and education.
It is often questioned as to why fewer women enter science. This study assesses whether a cognitive style characterized by systemizing being at a higher level than empathizing (S > E) is better than sex in predicating entry into the physical sciences compared to humanities. 415 students in both types of discipline (203 males, 212 females) were given questionnaire and performance measures of systemizing and empathy. 59.1% of the science students were male and 70.1% of the humanities students were female. There were significant sex differences on the Empathy Quotient (EQ) (females on average scoring higher) and on the Systemizing Quotient (SQ) (males on average scoring higher), confirming earlier studies. Scientists also scored higher on the SQ, and scored lower on the EQ, compared to those in the humanities. Thus, independent of sex, SQ was a significant predictor of entry into the physical sciences. Results from questionnaire data and performance data indicate an S > E profile for physical science students as a group, and an E > S profile for humanities students as a group, regardless of sex. We interpret this as evidence that whilst on average males show stronger systemizing and females show stronger empathizing, individuals with a strong systemizing drive are more likely to enter the physical sciences, irrespective of their sex.
Sexual dimorphism in sociability has been documented in humans. The present study aimed to ascertain whether the sexual dimorphism is a result of biological or socio-cultural differences between the two sexes. 102 human neonates, who by definition have not yet been influenced by social and cultural factors, were tested to see if there was a difference in looking time at a face (social object) and a mobile (physical-mechanical object). Results showed that the male infants showed a stronger interest in the physical-mechanical mobile while the female infants showed a stronger interest in the face. The results of this research clearly demonstrate that sex differences are in part biological in origin.
In this commentary, the first section will present some of the patterns which seem to be emerging from across the articles in the special issues of Learning and Individual Differences on gender and cognition. Then in the second section I will consider these findings from a biological/ environmental interactionist perspective.
The key mental domains in which sex differences have traditionally been studied are verbal and spatial abilities. In this article I suggest that two neglected dimensions for understanding human sex differences are 'empathising' and 'systemising'. The male brain is a defined psychometrically as those individuals in whom systemising is significantly better than empathising, and the female brain is defined as the opposite cognitive profile. Using these definitions, autism can be considered as an extreme of the normal male profile. There is increasing psychological evidence for the extreme male brain theory of autism.
Neuroscience is a relatively new discipline encompassing neurology, psychology and biology. It has made great strides in the last 100 years, during which many aspects of the physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology and structure of the vertebrate brain have been understood. Understanding of some of the basic perceptual, cognitive, attentional, emotional and mnemonic functions is also making progress, particularly since the advent of the cognitive neurosciences, which focus specifically on understanding higher level processes of cognition via imaging technology. Neuroimaging has enabled scientists to study the human brain at work in vivo, deepening our understanding of the very complex processes underpinning speech and language, thinking and reasoning, reading and mathematics. It seems timely, therefore, to consider how we might implement our increased understanding of brain development and brain function to explore educational questions.
From the viewpoint of biology, learning and education can be defined as the processes of forming neuronal connections in response to external environmental stimuli, and of controlling or adding appropriate stimuli, respectively. Learning and education can thus be studied as a new field of natural sciences with the entire human life span as its subject, thus including various problems such as fetal environment, childcare, language acquisition, general/special education, and rehabilitation. Non-invasive imaging of higher-order brain functions in humans will clarify the brain's developmental processes, and will provide various evidence for learning sciences. This new approach is called 'developing the brain' or 'brain science and education'. The origin of the concept and its present state are described and its future prospects are briefly analyzed.
In animals, fetal testosterone (fT) plays a central role in organizing the brain and in later social behavior. In humans, exposure to atypical levels of prenatal androgens may result in masculine behavior and ability patterns. Normal inter-individual variation in fT levels has also been correlated with later sex-typed behavior.
In the current study, 38 children (24 male, 14 female), whose fT was analyzed in amniotic fluid, were followed up at age 4. They were asked to describe cartoons with 2 moving triangles whose interactions with each other suggested social relationships and psychological motivations.
Females used more mental and affective state terms to describe the cartoons than males. fT was not associated with the frequency of mental or affective state terms. Females also used more intentional propositions than males. fT was negatively correlated with the frequency of intentional propositions, taking sex differences into account. fT was also negatively correlated with the frequency of intentional propositions when males were examined separately. Males used more neutral propositions than females. fT was directly correlated with the frequency of neutral propositions, taking sex differences into account. This relationship was not seen when males and females were examined separately.
These findings implicate fT in human social development. The relevance of our findings to the 'extreme male brain' theory of autism is also discussed.
