Purpose: To investigate the effects of vocabulary, working memory, age, semantic context, and signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) on speech recognition in adverse conditions (multitalker babble) in normal-hearing listeners aged 18-35. First, a general hypothesis was tested that listeners with larger receptive vocabularies would be more accurate at recognising speech in noise than listeners with more limited receptive vocabularies, even when target stimuli are words with high lexical frequency. A second more specific hypothesis was that the vocabulary would be predictive of speech recognition accuracy when the signal was moderately degraded, but not mildly or severely degraded. Method: 80 sentences with a high (HP) or low (LP) degree of semantic predictability (40 HP and 40 LP) were recorded from a male speaker of NZ English. These sentences were used as experimental target stimuli, and presented in multitalker babble at four SNRs: -8, -4, 0 and 4 dB SNR. Thirty-five participants (11 males and 24 females, aged 18 to 35), with puretone hearing thresholds of 15 dB HL or better, completed the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) vocabulary subtest, the WAIS working memory subtests, and the experimental listening task in which they were required to repeat back the target sentences. Results: There was considerable variability between listeners in speech recognition performance, in terms of percent words accurately recognised overall (M = 45.8%; SD = 7.4) and for both HP (M = 54.4%; SD = 9.8) and LP (M = 35%; SD = 8.9) conditions. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that receptive (PPVT) and productive (WAIS) vocabulary knowledge, but not working memory, contributed 8 significant variance to listeners’ speech recognition scores overall and in both the HP and LP conditions. Further regression analyses at individual SNR levels showed that receptive vocabulary contributed significant variance to listening recognition scores in all predictability and SNR conditions except the most favourable (HP stimuli at 4 dB SNR) and least favourable (LP stimuli at -8 dB SNR) listening conditions. Working memory and age were not significantly related to overall listening score, HP listening score, or LP listening score, but age did contribute significant variance in the - 4dB SNR LP condition. Conclusion: The results provide further evidence that greater vocabulary knowledge is associated with improved speech recognition in adverse conditions. This effect was salient in mid-range adverse listening conditions, but was not apparent in highly favourable and extremely poor listening conditions. The results were interpreted to suggest that in moderately adverse listening conditions listeners with larger lexicons may be better able to exploit redundancies and/or intelligible ‘glimpses’ in the speech signal.

The Ideal Standards Model (Simpson, Fletcher and Campbell, 2001) suggests that individuals regulate themselves and their partners based on how closely their perceptions match their ideal standards. Overall, Fletcher and Simpson (2006) provided empirical support for the regulatory function of the Ideal Standards Model and concluded that standards which may initiate regulation reflect three pivotal domains; warmth/trustworthiness, attractiveness/vitality and status/resources. In Study 1, 150 individuals (in heterosexual relationships or had been in the previous six months) spontaneously reported prior regulatory attempts that had focused on changing themselves, their partner or their relationship. Participants then described their most salient regulatory attempt in detail and rated the success of this attempt. In Study 2, 96 individuals (in heterosexual relationships) self-rated various personality and relationship characteristics. Participants also indicated how they would likely respond (using a set of likert scales) to partner initiated regulation attempts which were provided via vignette descriptions. As predicted, results indicated (a) that regulatory attempts reflect the pivotal domains of the Ideal Standards Model, (b) predicted gender differences in the use of regulation, (c) increased regulatory success with the use of interpersonal strategies and (d) increased relationship quality with less negative reactions to regulatory attempts. Results also indicated that women were more likely to respond negatively than men, particularly when the regulation attempt focused on their attractiveness. Implication and explanations are discussed.

The Positive Predictive Value (PPV) of the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT), a parent report autism screening tool, is higher for males than for females (Ludwig et al., IMFAR 2011). Given the long waitlists and high costs for ASD evaluations, there is a need to reduce the number of false positive females on the M-CHAT. The current study examined the sex specific clinical profiles of toddlers who received an ASD evaluation based on M-CHAT screen positive status in order to explore potential differences that may contribute to the differential PPV of the M-CHAT in boys and girls. The sample included 250 males and 106 females (mean age=25.3 months, SD=4.6) who were evaluated based on screen positive status on the M-CHAT. Although children with ASD demonstrated greater ASD symptoms, lower IQ and weaker language and motor skills, minimal sex differences were discovered.

Perceptual defense has been described as a process in which the perceptual recognition of threatening or unacceptable stimuli is inhibited as a function of the emotionality of the stimulus input. In the present study 15 male and 15 female undergraduate students were exposed tachistoscopically to neutral stimulus words and critical stimulus words related to, or associated with, aggression. A 2 x 2 analysis of variance revealed that all subjects required a significantly greater number of trials to correctly identify critical stimulus words as compared to neutral stimulus words. In addition, male subjects demonstrated significantly higher perceptual recognition thresholds than did female subjects. The results support the perceptual defense hypothesis that delayed perceptual recognition will occur as a function of exposure to threatening stimuli. The results do not support, and are antithetical to, the hypothesis that female subjects will demonstrate higher recognition thresholds, upon exposure to stimuli associated with aggression, than will male subjects. In interpreting this result, the effects of sex differences in visual-perceptual abilities, a decrease in socialization pressures towards females, and a convergence of sex based differences in child rearing patterns are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which elementary school students label physical activities according to gender. Participants for this study were 202 students grades one through six from a Muncie Community School in Muncie, Indiana. Participants were divided by age and gender for the statistical analysis. The students were asked to respond to the Physical Activity Stereotyping Index (PASI), a Lickert-type instrument designed to assess the degree to which individuals label selected physical activities according to gender.Results of the study suggested that children's perceptions about the gender appropriateness of physical activities may be a function of age as evidenced by higher scores for the older children. It appeared also that boys gender-label physical activities to a greater extent than do girls. Those findings suggested that as children widen their experiences with social interactions, they adopt clearly-defined and gender-specific play patterns. / School of Physical Education

The aim of this study is to explore what cultural differences Swedish business negotiators perceive and how they adapt and/or manage the differences.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the combined effects of level of success and sex-typing on the attributional behavior of women. While several studies had previously investigated the effect of success level on attributional behavior, none had considered sex-type as a possible determinant. Subjects, whose sex typing was measured through use of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (Bem, 1974), were assigned to a success or failure condition manipulated through utilization of anagrams of various difficulty. In a second analysis, the possible effects of locus of control on attributional behavior was also investigated. Canonical and multiple regression analyses demonstrated that women in the success condition made stronger attributions to ability than did women who failed. This finding was partially supportive of the hypotheses being tested, and was contrary to generally held models of female attributional behavior.

This study explores for gender-based differences in the determinants of employee acceptance of organizational change among employees at the University of Botswana. Utilising a sample of 360 respondents drawn from academic and managerial staff the study sought to test for male-female differences in the acceptance of change, explore for male-female differences in the major factors that affect acceptance of change, and to test for male-female differences in the effects of the major determinants of acceptance of organizational change. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect the data required for the study. The bulk of the data were analysed using SPSS statistical package with the t-test and regression (beta) coefficients ~s the key test statistics. The study showed that the overall acceptance of organizational change among employees was moderate with male and female employees being equally likely to accept the changes taking place at the workplace. However, the sexes differed significantly in the levels of 10 of the 20 determinants of acceptance of change analysed with women, relative to men, being substantially lower in promotional opportunity, work overload, job-skill match, participative management, trust in leadership, receptivity, and in job satisfaction and higher in routinization, enthusiasm, and desire to leave. Results for regression analyses showed that eight (8) of 19 substantive variables were significant determinants of acceptance of change for all employees. However, separate regression models for men and women revealed that 11 of 19 substantive factors were significant determinants of acceptance of change for males compared to two factors for females. Although the level of acceptance of change does not differ by the sex, male and female employees have different orientations to the change processes taking place in the organization and warrant separate treatment by management if organizational change is to be successful and yield the desired results. / Thesis (M.Admin (Public admin)) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2003

No description available.

Females exhibit lower sudomotor response than males, which has been attributed to physiological differences between sexes. It is well accepted that non-thermal factors (i.e. baroreceptors and osmoreceptors) can influence thermoeffector responses. Even though there are sex-related differences in baroreceptor modulation of thermoeffector responses, it remains unknown if differences in osmoreceptor modulation could explain the lower sudomotor response in females. Therefore, we examined if there are sex-related differences in osmoreceptor modulation of sweating and cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC). A group of nine males and nine females were passively heated while in an isosmotic and hyperosmotic state. The onset and thermosensitivity of sweating and CVC were calculated and compared between groups and conditions. We show that the delay in onset of sweating and CVC is similar between sexes. However, thermosensitivity of sweating was lower in females than males. We conclude that hyperosmolality does not modulate the decreased sudomotor activity in females.