Academic literature on the topic 'Scientific ability – Sex differences'

There is an increasing number of studies claiming that the sex differences in general intelligence are “real.” The empirical evidence is based on the summation of the standardized sex differences in several cognitive batteries. However, the scientific construct of general ability rests on the correlations among test scores, rather than on their summation. The latter (ability in general) is an arbitrary variable, not a scientific construct. General ability is not a function of any particular cognitive test, but a source of variance evidenced by the correlation between several diverse tests, each of which reflects general ability (g) to some extent, but also group factors and test specificity. Because there are important educational, economic, and social consequences of a group difference in general ability, it is especially germane to evaluate the possibility of an average sex difference in its proxy measures, such as IQ. The Spanish standardization of the WAIS-III is analyzed in the present study. The sample was made up of 703 females and 666 males, aged 15-94, drawn as a representative sample of the population in terms of educational level and geographical location. Although a male advantage of 3.6 IQ points is observed, the difference is in “ability in general,” not in “general ability” (g). Given that the main ingredient of the strong association between IQ and a broad range of social correlates is g, and given that there is no sex difference in g, then the average IQ sex-difference favoring males must be attributed to specific group factors and test specificity.

Amid ongoing public speculation about the reasons for sex differences in careers in science and mathematics, we present a consensus statement that is based on the best available scientific evidence. Sex differences in science and math achievement and ability are smaller for the mid-range of the abilities distribution than they are for those with the highest levels of achievement and ability. Males are more variable on most measures of quantitative and visuospatial ability, which necessarily results in more males at both high- and low-ability extremes; the reasons why males are often more variable remain elusive. Successful careers in math and science require many types of cognitive abilities. Females tend to excel in verbal abilities, with large differences between females and males found when assessments include writing samples. High-level achievement in science and math requires the ability to communicate effectively and comprehend abstract ideas, so the female advantage in writing should be helpful in all academic domains. Males outperform females on most measures of visuospatial abilities, which have been implicated as contributing to sex differences on standardized exams in mathematics and science. An evolutionary account of sex differences in mathematics and science supports the conclusion that, although sex differences in math and science performance have not directly evolved, they could be indirectly related to differences in interests and specific brain and cognitive systems. We review the brain basis for sex differences in science and mathematics, describe consistent effects, and identify numerous possible correlates. Experience alters brain structures and functioning, so causal statements about brain differences and success in math and science are circular. A wide range of sociocultural forces contribute to sex differences in mathematics and science achievement and ability—including the effects of family, neighborhood, peer, and school influences; training and experience; and cultural practices. We conclude that early experience, biological factors, educational policy, and cultural context affect the number of women and men who pursue advanced study in science and math and that these effects add and interact in complex ways. There are no single or simple answers to the complex questions about sex differences in science and mathematics.

Analysis of elite performances is important to elucidate the characteristics of effective weightlifting technique contributing to the highest level of achievement. The general technique of the weightlifting movements is well established. However, it is also apparent that weightlifting technique can differ based on athlete characteristics. Thus, existing technical models may not accurately reflect current technique of top performers or be applied generically to athletes of different skill, size, sex, or ability. Therefore, the purpose of this descriptive study was to update the scientific knowledge of snatch technique of top international weightlifters. This study used video analysis to determine barbell trajectory and kinematics of 319 successful snatch attempts from two major international competitions. Relative frequencies of barbell trajectory types differed based on competition, sex, category, and ranking. No statistical differences were observed among the top-three performers for either sex for most kinematic variables, and there were no overall discernible patterns of effect size differences for individual or clusters of kinematic variables. The results of this study indicate that weightlifting success can be achieved with a variety of technique profiles.

This study was aimed to determine the differences: (1) the difference of critical thinking skills of students' that using Inquiry Training and Direct Instruction. (2) The difference of critical thinking skills among students who at high scientific attitude and students who at low scientific attitude. (3) To see if there is interaction between inquiry learning model of the scientific attitude students' to increase the ability to critical thinking. This is a quasi experimental research. Which students of private junior high school Two Raya Kahean District Simalungun. Population choose random sample of each class. Instrument used consisted of: (1) test the scientific attitude of students through a questionnaire with 25 statements questionnaire number (2) test the critical thinking skills in the form of descriptions by 9 questions. The data were analyzed according to ANAVA. It showed that: (1) There are differences in students' critical thinking of skills achievement Inquiry Training model and Direct Instruction model, (2) there was a difference of students' critical thinking in scientific attitude at high is better than who thought there is a difference of students' critical thinking in scientific attitude at low. (3) There was no interaction between Inquiry Training model and Direct Instruction with the scientific attitude students' to increase student’s critical thinking of skills.

Under certain circumstances, the law treats juvenile consent the same as it treats adult decisions, even though a growing body of scientific research demonstrates that children make decisions using less developed cognitive processes. This Article highlights the gaps and deficiencies of legal treatment of juvenile decisions in the context of sex with an adult, as well as integrates new scientific information regarding the decision making of minors in risky situations. Part I examines recent pediatric brain imaging findings during a risky decision-making task. Specifically, a new study demonstrates that brain scan results differed between juveniles at high risk for potentially harmful or criminal conduct and healthy children. These differences within juvenile populations support the notion that particular biological and environmental traits in children may further distinguish juvenile decision making from adult decision making. Part II explores the potential impact of these novel neurobiological findings on the legal treatment of juvenile “consent” to sexual activity. A discussion and summary of the juvenile sex crime statutes of all fifty states demonstrates how the law attributes legal capacity and ability to make legally binding decisions to even very young teenagers. Part II also highlights where state civil and criminal law treat juvenile “consent” inconsistently. Criminal and civil laws’ treatment of juvenile capacity, in the context of sexual activity with an adult, is not congruent with recent neurobiological discoveries regarding juvenile risk taking and decision making. Therefore, society should reconsider designations regarding legal capacity in light of novel neurobiological findings regarding decision making in juveniles.

Objective - In this research, gender differences of Latvian males and females in the stage of adulthood are determined and distinguished on the grounds of a theoretical analysis of socio-psychological, scientific and methodological literature and legislative documents as well as empirical findings. Methodology/Technique - A survey by Bem (1974) has been adapted in this study for measuring how an adult individual sees him-/herself from the gender perspective. This was done with an aim of determining the place of gender in the cultural context rather than in the personality of a separate individual. 109 women and men from different regions of Latvia aged 20 to 64 took part in the study. The data were processed with the 23.0 version of SPSS, the data processing program. Findings – The obtained results indicate that the gender patterns on male and female behavior are similar. No differences in male or female behaviour were established. The behavioral peculiarities of male and female gender are determined not by age, but by sex. It can also be concluded that research of Latvian male and female gender behavior led to Bem's androgyny theory, which argues for the ability of men and women to execute both – male and female behavioral patterns in ontogenesis. Novelty - The understanding of gender as a discursive construction caused a confusion between these notions. This study contributes in literature of gender psychology with its original data. Type of Paper - Empirical Keywords: Identity; Gender; Stage of Adulthood; Gender Differences, Latvian Males, Latvian Females. JEL Classification: J16, J21.

Much has been written in the past two decades about women in academic science careers, but this literature is contradictory. Many analyses have revealed a level playing field, with men and women faring equally, whereas other analyses have suggested numerous areas in which the playing field is not level. The only widely-agreed-upon conclusion is that women are underrepresented in college majors, graduate school programs, and the professoriate in those fields that are the most mathematically intensive, such as geoscience, engineering, economics, mathematics/computer science, and the physical sciences. In other scientific fields (psychology, life science, social science), women are found in much higher percentages. In this monograph, we undertake extensive life-course analyses comparing the trajectories of women and men in math-intensive fields with those of their counterparts in non-math-intensive fields in which women are close to parity with or even exceed the number of men. We begin by examining early-childhood differences in spatial processing and follow this through quantitative performance in middle childhood and adolescence, including high school coursework. We then focus on the transition of the sexes from high school to college major, then to graduate school, and, finally, to careers in academic science. The results of our myriad analyses reveal that early sex differences in spatial and mathematical reasoning need not stem from biological bases, that the gap between average female and male math ability is narrowing (suggesting strong environmental influences), and that sex differences in math ability at the right tail show variation over time and across nationalities, ethnicities, and other factors, indicating that the ratio of males to females at the right tail can and does change. We find that gender differences in attitudes toward and expectations about math careers and ability (controlling for actual ability) are evident by kindergarten and increase thereafter, leading to lower female propensities to major in math-intensive subjects in college but higher female propensities to major in non-math-intensive sciences, with overall science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors at 50% female for more than a decade. Post-college, although men with majors in math-intensive subjects have historically chosen and completed PhDs in these fields more often than women, the gap has recently narrowed by two thirds; among non-math-intensive STEM majors, women are more likely than men to go into health and other people-related occupations instead of pursuing PhDs. Importantly, of those who obtain doctorates in math-intensive fields, men and women entering the professoriate have equivalent access to tenure-track academic jobs in science, and they persist and are remunerated at comparable rates—with some caveats that we discuss. The transition from graduate programs to assistant professorships shows more pipeline leakage in the fields in which women are already very prevalent (psychology, life science, social science) than in the math-intensive fields in which they are underrepresented but in which the number of females holding assistant professorships is at least commensurate with (if not greater than) that of males. That is, invitations to interview for tenure-track positions in math-intensive fields—as well as actual employment offers—reveal that female PhD applicants fare at least as well as their male counterparts in math-intensive fields. Along these same lines, our analyses reveal that manuscript reviewing and grant funding are gender neutral: Male and female authors and principal investigators are equally likely to have their manuscripts accepted by journal editors and their grants funded, with only very occasional exceptions. There are no compelling sex differences in hours worked or average citations per publication, but there is an overall male advantage in productivity. We attempt to reconcile these results amid the disparate claims made regarding their causes, examining sex differences in citations, hours worked, and interests. We conclude by suggesting that although in the past, gender discrimination was an important cause of women’s underrepresentation in scientific academic careers, this claim has continued to be invoked after it has ceased being a valid cause of women’s underrepresentation in math-intensive fields. Consequently, current barriers to women’s full participation in mathematically intensive academic science fields are rooted in pre-college factors and the subsequent likelihood of majoring in these fields, and future research should focus on these barriers rather than misdirecting attention toward historical barriers that no longer account for women’s underrepresentation in academic science.

Abstract For EU member states to meet the requirements of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the reformed Common Fisheries Policy, it will be necessary to improve data collection related to many fisheries that are at present subject to relatively little monitoring or scientific research. This study evaluated the use of on-board camera systems to collect data from Cancer pagurus and Homarus gammarus fisheries. We evaluated the reliability of the hardware and its ability to collect images of sufficient accuracy and precision compared with using on-board observers. Fishers and on-board observers passed animals removed from traps across a defined area. The relationship between the in situ and predicted measurements of carapace length of lobsters or carapace width (CW) of crabs was investigated. The mean difference between the predicted and real crab measurements was −0.853 mm with a standard error of 0.378 mm. Suggesting that the model tends to underestimate the real CW slightly. The mean difference between predicted and real data for lobsters was 0.085 mm with a standard error of 0.208 mm. Sex allocation for crabs based on video images was 100% accurate. All male lobsters were correctly assigned. For lobsters >86 mm in length, the correct female sex allocation was 100% accurate. For smaller lobsters, the accuracy of sex allocation decreased to a low of 51% in lobsters <70 mm. Camera systems were found to be a suitable method for collecting data on the size and sex of crabs and lobsters. The error attributable to using video data rather than manual measurement was less than 3 mm, which is sufficient to detect growth increments in these species. The requirements to collect basic species data are increasing and the ability to do so without on-board observers will reduce the cost implications of these requirements. Future computer automation of image extraction and measurements will increase the application of video systems for data collection.

This article contends that knowing and doing have become artificially separated in Western intellectual culture. The emphasis on scientific knowing has led to an overconfidence in our ability to predict the future and a neglect of the need to control complex and often unforeseen, unintended consequences of our practical actions. My purpose here to explore the relationship between economics and engineering not in analogy but in actuality. The strategy is, first, to set the context for this discussion; second, to look at the nature of science and mathematics in relation to engineering; and third, to explore some of what I see as the main similarities and differences between engineering and economics.

The purpose of the study lies in highlighting and analyzing the basic principles of understanding and legal support of gender identity as a special legal phenomenon.
 Methodologically, this work is based on the system of methods, scientific approaches, techniques and principles with the help of which the realization of the research aim is carried out. There have been applied universal, general scientific and special legal methods.
 The article reveals that one of the main characteristics of gender identity in the scientific literature is considered to be a person’s acquisition of gender roles (that is, ways of behavior depending on people’s positions in gender differentiation) and the development of gender self-awareness (id est, awareness of their similarities and differences with representatives of their gender, in contrast to the opposite). Exercising the right to gender identity, we can talk about both the possibility of changing the biological sex and (or) social gender, which is expressed in changing not only physical data, but also a person’s consciousness, his or her worldview, social (in some cases – and legal) role in society, family ... social manners of gender (name, appearance, behavior model, etcetera). In addition, based on the international documents, one can single out general principles related to human rights and gender identity: universality; non-discrimination; personal autonomy; respect for human dignity, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identification.
 Based on the conducted scientific research the author has come to certain conclusions. 1. Gender identity presupposes certain models of social behavior of a person in view of gender, which is determined by nature. Consequently, we are talking, first of all, about accepting or not accepting this fact. Thus, gender identity demonstrates the behavior of an individual in society, which is based on self-identification according to this individual’s gender. 2. The right to gender identity implies the ability of an individual to perform lawful actions that will serve for this person’s self-identification on the basis of gender. In accordance with this, we talk about actions of a legal (the enforcement of the right and duties based on self-identification) and of a medical nature (the possibility of changing (correcting) gender). In other words, the right to gender identity means an individual’s ability to freely act in society based on the social role with respect to which this individual identifies herself / himself on the basis of gender. 3. Despite the recommendatory nature of international legal acts in the field of ensuring the human right to gender identity, the international community is increasingly calling on states to take appropriate measures to properly comply with the principles of equality, non-discrimination, individual autonomy and respect for this individual dignity in realizing the right to gender identity and to ensure its proper legal regulation.