Deck 6: Ability and Achievement

Question 1

A dangerous assumption that results from investigating gender differences in mental abilities is that such differences, if they exist, are presumed to be:

A) Social in origin, controllable, and likely to change
B) Biological in origin, immutable, and socially significant
C) Unimportant, since we all know how to deal with them
D) Important in determining the complex relationship between ability and career choices

Answer 1

Biological in origin, immutable, and socially significant

Question 2

Catell studied the lives of eminent individuals and noted that few were women. This led him to conclude that this is due to "an innate sexual disqualification." What did Catell fail to acknowledge?

A) There were much larger account of eminent women
B) All eminent men are the product of eminent women
C) Prejudice against women in science
D) Women defined success differently

Answer 2

Prejudice against women in science

Question 3

______________ concluded that it made little sense to squander educational resources to bring women into the ranks of the intellectual elite.

A) Thorndike
B) Catell
C) Hall
D) All of the above

Answer 3

All of the above

Question 4

The variability hypothesis

A) Represents women as more ordinary and limited than men
B) Represents women as more variable than men on a number of characteristics
C) Represents men as more stable, therefore more intelligent
D) Represents clear biological and social reasons for the main differences between women and men

Question 5

"If brain size was the key to intelligence, then elephants and whales should rule the world." This statement was made in response to:

A) Men's assumed superiority to women in intelligence
B) Women's assumed sophisticated brain systems
C) Men's assumed highly specialized brain regions
D) All of the above

Question 6

Studies that suggest that there is more hemispheric specialization in males than females are criticized for:

A) Inconsistent findings
B) Size of the gender difference appears to be small
C) Most differences are indistinguishable between females and males
D) All of the above

Question 7

Research on brain cauterization

A) Shows no differences in patterns of brain lateralization between women and men
B) Shows differences in patterns of brain lateralization between women and men
C) Shows that the left hemisphere appears to specialize in language analysis, computation and sequential tasks
D) Shows that there is more lateralization in women than men

Question 8

Research findings could be statistically significant, yet they could be meaningless. A better statistical measure is:

A) The effect size
B) The F test
C) Meta analysis
D) All of the above

Question 9

In most areas of verbal ability, research showed gender differences as:

A) Small and maybe disappearing over time
B) Women are superior to men
C) Men are superior to women
D) None of the above

Question 10

The largest remaining differences in verbal ability are in the area of:

A) Vocabulary
B) Spelling
C) Reading comprehension
D) Verbal fluency

Question 11

Standardized test are biased against women because they:

A) Under predict later course grades for females
B) Predict males' course grades, but not females' course grades
C) Contain a test format that favors men
D) All of the above

Question 12

An example of sexism in the classroom is supported by research on:

A) Teacher expectations
B) Student expectations
C) Parents expectations
D) Peers expectations

Question 13

An example of a behavior that harms women in the college classroom is:

A) Seductive behavior toward women
B) Asking more questions to women than men in the classroom
C) Parent expectation
D) Calling more on male than female students

Question 14

Teachers showed tendencies to attribute girl's success to_____________ , and boy's success to_______________ in the classroom

A) Ability; hard work
B) Ability; ability
C) Hard work; hard work
D) Hard work; ability

Question 15

Research on "fear of success"

A) Is found mostly among women
B) Is found mostly among unattractive women
C) Is not evident in men
D) Has not supported the notion that there are large gender differences

Question 16

Which of the following describes the difference between women and men in mathematical abilities?

A) Women score higher on standardized tests throughout elementary school, and they score better in math classes throughout college
B) Men score higher on standardized tests throughout elementary school, and they score better in math classes throughout college
C) Men score higher on standardized tests, and women score better in math classes
D) Women score higher on standardized tests, and men score better in math classes

Question 17

Research on attributions concludes that women tend to attribute their successes to_____________and men to_____________

A) External factors; internal factors
B) Internal factors; external factors
C) Effort; luck
D) Luck; task difficulty

Question 18

Repeatedly, observers note that females and males use computers differently.Females view computers as______________ ; and males as_________________

A) Tools for solving problems; toys
B) Toys; tools for solving problems
C) A means to perform tasks; tools for solving problems
D) Toys; a place to play games

Question 19

Lee, Marks, & Byrd (1994) investigated how gender socialization operates in three types of independent high schools: boys' schools, girls' schools, and coeducational schools. Sexism was found to be most salient in

A) Coeducational schools
B) Boys' schools
C) Girls' schools
D) There were no differences in sexism in the three types of schools

Question 20

College women predict they will

A) Receive lower grades than men
B) Receive higher grades than men
C) Receive the same grades as men
D) None of the above

Question 21

Discuss the extent of gender differences in verbal, mathematical, and visual- spatial abilities.

Question 22

Discuss the implications of attributing gender differences in ability and achievement to biological, innate causes. Include how that might influence future career choices.

Question 23

Discuss gender differences in attribution.

Question 24

Do teachers' expectations and behaviors influence ability and achievement? Provide support from research findings.

Question 25

Your friend is concerned about her eight-yea- old daughter's education, and knows you are an expert in gender education issues, so she asks for your advice. Articulate three important issues relevant to understanding the relationship between gender and education.