https://autismtruths.org/pdf/SimonBaronCohen_The%20extreme-male-brain%20theory%20of%20autism.pdf

The extreme male brain theory of autism

Play is essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth. Play also offers an ideal opportunity for parents to engage fully with their children. Despite the benefits derived from play for both children and parents, time for free play has been markedly reduced for some children. This report addresses a variety of factors that have reduced play, including a hurried lifestyle, changes in family structure, and increased attention to academics and enrichment activities at the expense of recess or free child-centered play. This report offers guidelines on how pediatricians can advocate for children by helping families, school systems, and communities consider how best to ensure that play is protected as they seek the balance in children's lives to create the optimal developmental milieu.

/pdf/the-importance-of-play-in-promoting-healthy-child-3r84szpzd4.pdf

The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bonds

Two studies examined achievement goals as predictors of self-reported cognitive/ metacognitive and motivational study strategies and tested these study strategies as mediators of the relationship between achievement goals and exam performance in the normatively graded college classroom. The results support hypotheses generated from the trichotomous achievement goal framework. Mastery goals are positive predictors of deep processing, persistence, and effort; performance-approach goals are positive predictors of surface processing, persistence, effort, and exam performance; and performance-avoidance goals are positive predictors of surface processing and disorganization and negative predictors of deep processing and exam performance. Persistence and effort mediate the relationship between performance-approach goals and exam performance, whereas disorganization mediates the relationship between performance-avoidance goals and exam performance.

Achievement goals, study strategies, and exam performance: A mediational analysis.

SUMMARY—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 andmalesfound whenassessmentsincludewriting 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 examsin 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,andschoolinfluences;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.

/pdf/the-science-of-sex-differences-in-science-and-mathematics-z189hy1b2o.pdf

The Science of Sex Differences in Science and Mathematics

In this article, we use meta-analysis to analyze gender differences in recent studies of mathematics performance. First, we meta-analyzed data from 242 studies published between 1990 and 2007, representing the testing of 1,286,350 people. Overall, d = 0.05, indicating no gender difference, and variance ratio = 1.08, indicating nearly equal male and female variances. Second, we analyzed data from large data sets based on probability sampling of U.S. adolescents over the past 20 years: the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth, the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, the Longitudinal Study of American Youth, and the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Effect sizes for the gender difference ranged between -0.15 and +0.22. Variance ratios ranged from 0.88 to 1.34. Taken together, these findings support the view that males and females perform similarly in mathematics.

/pdf/new-trends-in-gender-and-mathematics-performance-a-meta-28dqi2a5q0.pdf

New Trends in Gender and Mathematics Performance: A Meta-Analysis

The relation between achievement and self-regulated learning (SRL) is more complex than originally believed. In this study, 222 seventh-grade students (53% boys) descnbed their use of SRL strategies and rated their achievement goals (mastery and performance). Students were high achievers, performing at or above the 97th percentile on an achievement test. However, they ranged widely in their use of SRL strategies, suggesting that SRL strategies are not necessary for high achievement. Reasons for variation in SRL were examined. Advanced reasoning was not related to SRL. Performance goal orientation was related to SRL only in conjunction with mastery goal orientation. Mastery goal orientation and gender were significantly related to SRL. As mastery goals increased, so did the use of SRL strategies. Girls reported greater use of SRL strategies (a) involving personal regulation or optimizing the environment and (b) when completing difficult homework or engaged in reading and writing.

Self-regulated learning in high-achieving students: Relations to advanced reasoning, achievement goals, and gender.

Parents of academically talented students have been accused of pushing their children to attain high levels of achievement, as well as fostering performance anxiety and perfectionism in their children. Parents' achievement goals for their children, in terms of the focus on high performance or learning for understanding, were examined in relation to children's perfectionism. Parents (127 sets) and their sixth-grade academically talented children (56% boys) completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale and parents reported their achievement goals for their children. Most parents reported learning goals, suggesting that emphasis on meeting external standards is not predominant among parents of talented students. Children of performance goal parents were significantly more likely to exhibit dysfunctional perfectionism than children of learning goal parents, reporting a combination of high concern about mistakes, doubts about actions, parental expectations, and parental criticism. Parents' achievement goals can help predict which students might be at risk for adjustment problems and future underachievement.

Parents' Achievement Goals and Perfectionism in Their Academically Talented Children.

When a sample of academically talented students in Grades 2-6 was given a test of mathematical reasoning ability, boys performed better overall than girls. The gender differences for mathematical ability appeared as early as 2nd grade in samples tested over a 7-year period but varied somewhat according to mathematical subskills. There were no substantial gender-related differences on tasks requiring students to identify whether enough information was provided to solve a task; however, boys performed better than girls on tasks requiring application of algebraic rules or algorithms, as well as on tasks in which the understanding of mathematical concepts and number relationships was required

Gender differences in academically talented young students' mathematical reasoning: Patterns across age and subskills.

Negative self‐perceptions and feelings that one is different make academically talented students at risk for social problems and underachievement. One‐hundred seventy‐four academically talented eighth grade students (47% males) completed the Multidimensional Self‐Concept Scale and the Adjective Check List. Relative to a normative group of adolescents, these students had significantly higher academic self‐concepts but similar social self‐concepts. Academically talented females had stronger needs for achievement, dominance, and endurance, but weaker needs for succorance and abasement than a normative group of females. Students were grouped by their SAT Math and Verbal scores: Moderate Math/ Moderate Verbal, Moderate Math/ High Verbal, High Math/Moderate Verbal, and High Math/ High Verbal. High verbal students had weaker needs to be nurturant and had less interest in relationships with opposite‐gender persons than students moderate in math and verbal areas. High verbal students may be at greater risk for soc...

Self‐perceptions and needs as a function of type of academic ability and gender

Beliefs about intelligence can vary from the view that it is stable to the view that it is unstable. Third through eleventh grade academically talented students (n =153) rated their beliefs on the stability of intelligence using a 6-point Likert scale. They also rated themselves on similar scales for how “smart” and “hardworking” they thought they were, and how much they “liked hard tasks.” Students' views of the stability of intelligence paralleled a normal distribution, with almost one-half having borderline views that can be easily modified to match environmental demands. Approximately 9% of these talented students were at risk for underachievement based on their self-perceptions of relatively low ability and the belief that intelligence is stable. High school students believed intelligence was more stable than elementary students and females described themselves as being harder workers than males. Findings may account for the differing academic experiences and performance of academically talented students over time.

Karen E. Ablard

Papers

Self-regulated learning in high-achieving students: Relations to advanced reasoning, achievement goals, and gender.

Parents' Achievement Goals and Perfectionism in Their Academically Talented Children.

Gender differences in academically talented young students' mathematical reasoning: Patterns across age and subskills.

Self‐perceptions and needs as a function of type of academic ability and gender

Implicit theories of intelligence and self-perceptions of academically talented adolescents and children.