A framework for conceptualizing the development of individual differences in reading ability is presented that synthesizes a great deal of the research literature. The framework places special emph...

Matthew effects in reading: Some consequences of individual differences in the acquisition of literacy.

Ulric Neisser (Chair) Gwyneth Boodoo Thomas J. Bouchard, Jr. A. Wade Boykin Nathan Brody Stephen J. Ceci Diane E Halpern John C. Loehlin Robert Perloff Robert J. Sternberg Susana Urbina Emory University Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey University of Minnesota, Minneapolis Howard University Wesleyan University Cornell University California State University, San Bernardino University of Texas, Austin University of Pittsburgh Yale University University of North Florida

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Intelligence: Knowns and unknowns.

The authors argue that attribution patterns reflect implicit theories acquired from induction and socialization and hence differentially distributed across human cultures. In particular, the authors tested the hypothesis that dispositionalism in attribution for behavior reflects a theory of social behavior more widespread in individualist than collectivist cultures

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Culture and Cause: American and Chinese Attributions for Social and Physical Events

A cognitive developmental approach to morality: investigating the psychopath

Why do girls tend to earn better grades in school than boys? Why are men still far more likely than women to earn degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics? And why are men on average more likely to be injured in accidents and fights than women? These and many other questions are the subject of both informal investigation in the media and formal investigation in academic and scientific circles. In his landmark book "Male, Female: The Evolution of Human Sex Differences", author David Geary provided the first comprehensive evolutionary model to explain human sex differences. Using the principles of sexual selection such as female choice and male-male competition, the author systematically reviewed and discussed the evolution of sex differences and their expression throughout the animal kingdom, as a means of not just describing but explaining the same process in Homo sapiens. Now, over ten years since the first edition, Geary has completed a massive update, expansion and theoretical revision of his classic text. New findings in brain and genetic research inform a wealth of new material, including a new chapter on sex differences in patterns of life history development; expanded coverage of genetic research (e.g. DNA finger printing to determine paternity as related to male-male competition in primates); fatherhood in humans; cross-cultural patterns of sex differences in choosing and competing for mates; and, genetic, hormonal, and socio-cultural influences on the expression of sex differences. Finally, through his motivation to control framework (introduction in the first edition and expanded in "The Origin of Mind", 2005), Geary presents a theoretical bridge linking parenting, mate choices, and competition, with children's development and sex differences in brain and cognition. The result is an even better book than the original - a lively and nuanced application of Darwin's insight to help explain our heritage and our place in the natural world.

Male, Female: The Evolution of Human Sex Differences

Chinese, Japanese, and American children at grades 1 and 5 were given a battery of 10 cognitive tasks and tests of achievement in reading and mathematics. Samples consisted of 240 children in each grade in each culture. 2 major purposes of the study were to determine possible differences in cognitive abilities of Japanese, Chinese, and American children and to investigate the possible differential relation of scores on cognitive tasks to reading by children of the 3 cultures. Similarity was found among children of the 3 cultures in level, variability, and structure of cognitive abilities. Chinese children surpassed Japanese and American children in reading scores; both Chinese and Japanese children obtained higher scores in mathematics than the American children. Prediction of achievement scores from the cognitive tasks showed few differential effects among children of the 3 cultures. The results suggest that the high achievement of Chinese and Japanese children cannot be attributed to higher intellectual abilities, but must be related to their experiences at home and at school.

Cognitive performance and academic achievement of Japanese, Chinese, and American children.

Psychological maladjustment and its relation to academic achievement, parental expectations, and parental satisfaction were studied in a cross-national sample of 1,386 American, 1,633 Chinese, and 1,247 Japanese eleventh-grade students. 5 indices of maladjustment included measures of stress, depressed mood, academic anxiety, aggression, and somatic complaints. Asian students reported higher levels of parental expectation and lower levels of parental satisfaction concerning academic achievement than their American peers. Nevertheless, Japanese students reported less stress, depressed mood, aggression, academic anxiety, and fewer somatic complaints than did American students. Chinese students reported less stress, academic anxiety, and aggressive feelings than their American counterparts, but did report higher frequencies of depressed mood and somatic complaints. High academic achievement as assessed by a test of mathematics was generally not associated with psychological maladjustment. The only exception was in the United States, where high achievers indicated more frequent feelings of stress than did low achievers.

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Psychological maladjustment and academic achievement: a cross-cultural study of Japanese, Chinese, and American high school students.

A common hypothesis has considered apparent differences in the incidence of reading disability in Asian and Western languages to be related to orthographic factors A reading test was constructed in English, Japanese, and Chinese to assess the validity of this proposal Large samples of fifth-grade children in Japan, Taiwan, and the United States were given the test and a battery of 10 cognitive tasks Strong evidence was found that reading disabilities exist among Chinese and Japanese as well as among American children In discriminating between groups of poor and average readers by means of the cognitive tasks, the combined effects of general information and verbal memory proved to be the most powerful predictors in Japan and Taiwan General information and coding emerged as the most effective predictors for American children The results cast doubt upon the crucial significance of orthography as the major factor determining the incidence of reading disabilities across cultures

Reading disabilities: the case of Chinese, Japanese, and English.

This paper investigates the usefulness of Carey's Revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire in the Chinese culture and uses the questionnaire to assess the temperamental characteristics of Chinese babies. The revised questionnaire was administered to the mothers of 349 4--8-year-old infants in Taipei, Taiwan. The face validity of the questionnaire was supported within the different context: the distribution of scores was normal, and the mothers had no trouble in answering the questions. While the general pattern of results was similar to those found in Carey's American sample, differences were found, which may be interpreted in terms of response biases, racial differences, or a combination of these 2 factors. The data are analyzed for possible effects of sex and socioeconomic status, and these findings are in turn compared to results of American studies. Observational studies are seen as necessary in the future to understand the nature of cultural differences in temperament. Follow-up studies will examine the different ways a given temperamental characteristic may be responded to by different cultural environments.

The temperamental characteristics of Chinese babies

others of poor and average readers in Japan, Taiwan and the United States were iterviewed about their child-rearing practices, attitudes, and beliefs, and their children's current and earlier experiences. Poor readers represented the lowest fifth percentile in reading scores; they were matched by classroom, sex, and age with average readers; i.e., children who obtained reading scores within one standard deviation from the mean. The groups seldom differed significantly according to environmental variables and parent-child interactions. Maternal ratings of cognitive and achievement variables differentiated both the children in the two groups and the mothers themselves. Maternal beliefs and descriptions of how children use time also differed between the two groups. Notable was the absence of significant interactions between country and reading level.

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Chen-chin Hsu

Papers

Cognitive performance and academic achievement of Japanese, Chinese, and American children.

Psychological maladjustment and academic achievement: a cross-cultural study of Japanese, Chinese, and American high school students.

Reading disabilities: the case of Chinese, Japanese, and English.

The temperamental characteristics of Chinese babies

Family Variables and Reading A Study of Mothers of Poor and Average Readers in Japan, Taiwan, and the United States