A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PIIILOSOPHY in the SCHOOL OF SCiENCE EDUCATION (MATHEMATICS) UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND / Cognitive gender differences in mathematics, which were noted in past research have latterly been found to be declining. but are still observed at secondary school level in the field of spatial skills and geometry. However, due to divergent geometry curricula and the multidimensional nature of spatial skills, results from gender studies have led to broad conclusions being drawn from investigations which were affected by random elements. Research results have been influenced by imbalanced representation of the two gender groups in samples and also by differential gender exposure to previous mathematical experience. Both these limitations in research have produced outcomes reflecting negatively On females. Internationally divergent geometry curricula are a result of the traditional synthetic approach to the teaching of Euclidean geometry falling Into disfavour in western countries. Thus, Euclidean geometry has been largely overlooked in current educational research and the cognitive processes such as deductive reasoning, proof writing and hypothesis testing, have received scant attention within geometry teaching over the past decade. The standardized system in most South African secondary schools coupled with a uniform core curriculum for mathematics lends itself to an advantageous environment for empirical studies in mathematics performance. The present gender investigation involved almost an equal number of males and females from 5' selected secondary schools near Johannesburg in South Africa. Performance in Euclidean geometry was evaluated for possible gender differences by means of multiple choice and open ended questions. In keeping with most existing research, mean differences were compared. No statistically significant gender difference in mean performance on Euclidean geometry was found. Further analysis at item level was undertaken for the multiple choice component of the test instrument by means of the one dimensional three parameter logistic model in Item Response Theory, This model, is considered to be very sensitive in identifying differences at different ability levels -a shortcoming in existing research. Four out of a total of twenty Euclidean geometry items, were identified as producing differential gender performance. Similar gender tendencies were observed for all four items. The performance was in favour of most males for each of these items. Females of lower ability (as measured by the item) did not perform as well as males of similar ability level. In all four Cases females of higher ability surpassed males of a corresponding ability level. Perceptual difficulties in females were more pronounced than in males for some of the items. / AC 2018

published_or_final_version / English Studies / Master / Master of Arts

Human adolescents exhibit higher levels of sensation seeking behaviour than younger or older individuals, and sensation seeking is higher in males than females from adolescence onwards. Data suggest that changes in gonadal hormone levels during adolescence and differences in the dopamine neurotransmitter system are the bases for why some people exhibit sensation seeking behaviour while others do not. However, causal relationships between physiology and behaviour have been difficult to establish in humans. In order to explore the physiological influences on novelty-seeking behaviour, we looked at response to novelty in a laboratory rodent. This research examined responses to novelty in the conditioned place preference (CPP) task and the novel object recognition (NOR) task in Lister-hooded rats, and assessed the benefits and limitations of each methodology. While the CPP task was not found to provide a reliable measure of response to novelty, the NOR task was more successful. In order to understand the ontogeny of sex differences in novelty responses, both males and females were tested from adolescence through to adulthood. While no sex difference was found in adults in the NOR test, mid-adolescent males exhibited higher novelty preference behaviour than either younger or older males, or females at each stage of development. Since gonadal hormones levels rise during adolescence, a pharmacological agent (a gonadotrophin-releasing hormone antagonist) was used to suppress gonadal hormone levels from early adolescence before again examining responses on the NOR test at mid-adolescence. Gonadal hormone suppression from early adolescence onwards eliminated the sex difference in the NOR test at mid-adolescence by reducing the male response to novelty, while no difference was measured in the female animals. These findings suggest that gonadal hormones play a significant role in the development of response to novelty, especially in males, and the implications for our understanding of human sensation-seeking behaviour are discussed.

<p>Keywords: Immanuel Kant (</p><p>narratives in European naturalism and political anatomy. Yet the concept surfaces in gender historical research on the period in foot notes and cursory remarks. This paper interrogates why epigenesis has been eradicated from the historical consciousness of today’s scholarship on gender politics. By honing in on the weirdness, a term borrowed from Lorraine Daston, in and of Immanuel Kant’s (1724-1804) theory on animal generation I show how an alertness it requires a re-evaluation of views on "political anatomy" taken-for-granted in scholarship, but also of Kant’s philosophy itself. The endeavour is divided into three main sections.</p><p>In the first, I situate the failure of Kant-scholars to, in the words of John H. Zammito, "stabilize" epigenesis by exploring the hitherto unacknowledged peculiarity of Kant’s use racial hybridity to ‘prove’ the theory. In the second, the analysis departs from the notion ‘modern sex difference’ and show that a reading of epigenesis requires a re-thinking of sexed bodily identity in terms of conflict and contradiction. The third section reads this strife in light of Kant’s experience of "astonishment", a cognitive mode, I argue, designed to resolve both physiological and ideological inconsistencies. The antinomy of sex differentiation is in a concluding section juxtaposed with Kant’s phrase "eloquent speechlessness" in which the gender practice activated in the writing of, about, and on epigenesis is compared to the structure informing moral philosophy’s definition of lies.</p>

Keywords: Immanuel Kant ( narratives in European naturalism and political anatomy. Yet the concept surfaces in gender historical research on the period in foot notes and cursory remarks. This paper interrogates why epigenesis has been eradicated from the historical consciousness of today’s scholarship on gender politics. By honing in on the weirdness, a term borrowed from Lorraine Daston, in and of Immanuel Kant’s (1724-1804) theory on animal generation I show how an alertness it requires a re-evaluation of views on "political anatomy" taken-for-granted in scholarship, but also of Kant’s philosophy itself. The endeavour is divided into three main sections. In the first, I situate the failure of Kant-scholars to, in the words of John H. Zammito, "stabilize" epigenesis by exploring the hitherto unacknowledged peculiarity of Kant’s use racial hybridity to ‘prove’ the theory. In the second, the analysis departs from the notion ‘modern sex difference’ and show that a reading of epigenesis requires a re-thinking of sexed bodily identity in terms of conflict and contradiction. The third section reads this strife in light of Kant’s experience of "astonishment", a cognitive mode, I argue, designed to resolve both physiological and ideological inconsistencies. The antinomy of sex differentiation is in a concluding section juxtaposed with Kant’s phrase "eloquent speechlessness" in which the gender practice activated in the writing of, about, and on epigenesis is compared to the structure informing moral philosophy’s definition of lies.

Alcohol, recently named the most dangerous drug in the world, contributes to nearly 40% of violent crimes and fatal traffic accidents, increases risk of roughly 60 different diseases and injuries, and is responsible for 2.5 million deaths each year worldwide. Despite these staggering figures, treatments remain ineffective and riddled with adverse side effects, making successful use of even the most effective treatments unlikely. Moreover, many of the treatments, and the supporting research, have focused only on male subjects, despite sex differences in various alcohol-related behaviors. Human alcohol use is frequently accompanied by nicotine use, and vice versa, suggesting a common mechanism of the two drugs. In fact, alcohol may act through the same family of receptors as nicotine, the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), eliciting similar activation of the reward pathway as nicotine and other drugs of abuse. Studies have shown that nAChRs containing the α4 and/or α6 subunits are involved in nicotine-induced activation of the reward pathway, leading to the hypothesis that these same receptor subtypes may be important for alcohol effects in the brain as well. Using male and female genetic mouse models and various behavioral assays, we have shown not only that these α4 and/or α6-containing nAChRs are involved in alcohol- related behaviors and activation of the reward pathway, but also show sex differences in this involvement. Uncovering the mechanism of alcohol in the brain, in males as well as in females, is an important step in developing targeted treatments for alcohol abuse.

<p>Multiple reference frames are used to interact with our surroundings. When these reference frames are in conflict, processing errors can occur. For tactile stimuli, this conflict is highlighted when the hands are crossed over the midline of the body. In this posture, vibrotactile temporal order judgments (TOJs) presented to the hands are impaired compared to an uncrossed posture. This decrease in temporal processing is known as the crossed-hands deficit. The deficit was explored in depth throughout this thesis. In Chapters 2, 3 and 4 different elements of the crossed-hands deficit were evaluated including its connections to the rod and frame test, individual and sex differences within the TOJ task, as well as the influence of vision and body position. These elements were framed with underlying goal of investigating the root cause of the deficit. The data presented here provided evidence for a conflict model of crossed hands processing. A conflict between the internal and external reference frames produced the deficit in temporal processing when the hands were crossed. The role of the body’s midline in understanding multisensory integration was further considered in Chapter 5 through the rubber hand illusion, which is a visuotactile phenomenon whereby an unseen real hand is mislocalized towards a seen rubber hand. When the real hand, rubber hand, or both were crossed over the midline the illusion did not occur. It was hypothesized that a failure to integrate the tactile information presented to the real hand with the visual rubber hand was responsible for the absence of the illusion. Taken together, the data presented in this thesis contribute to the greater understanding of how reference frame conflicts are resolved, particularly when the conflict occurs across the body’s midline.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Understanding what constitutes typical adult processing of infant cues and the potential individual variations associated with it is an important early step in comprehending how caregiving practices arise. By adopting a multi-method approach, the present work aimed to enrich the knowledge on adults’ cognitive and electrophysiological responses to infant cues, by focusing on the role of the adults’ sex, the perceived quality of early care from caregivers, and the actual involvement in childcare. Four studies were presented to cover different perspectives on adults’ responses to infant cues, from cognition to electrophysiology and parental behaviors. Methodologies encompassed cognitive experimental tasks, EEG, standardized observations, and self-reported measures. Samples included non-parents, different-sex parents, and same-sex parents. Overall, the present work responded to the recent interest in understanding adults’ responses to infant cues going beyond a heteronormative perspective. Our findings reinforced the argument that differences between males and females, if present in the response to infant stimuli, might not always be biologically determined, but reinforced by societal norms. In addition, we supported the relevance of accounting for both past and current experiences of care when investigating the adults’ cognitive and electrophysiological responses to infant cues. Eventually, we started to gain some knowledge on the neurophysiological correlates of sensitive caregiving in different family contexts. On the whole, considering the complexity of plural family models, we hopefully contributed to socializing the idea that there are different ways of conceiving and understanding parenting nowadays.

La present tesi avalua les diferències entre homes i dones quant a les característiques sociodemogràfiques i clínicopatològiques, procés diagnòstic, tractament i pronòstic en una sèrie de casos diagnosticats de novo de càncer de bufeta en 18 hospitals de 5 regions espanyoles (estudi EPICURO). També s'estudia l'associació entre tabac i risc de càncer de bufeta segons el sexe en un estudi agregat d'estudis cas-control europeus i nord-americans de càncer de bufeta.Es trobaren diferències entre sexes quant a la incidència de la malaltia, en algunes característiques anatomopatològiques dels tumors i quant a tractament. No es varen observar diferències entre sexes davant d'un mateix nivell d'exposició al tabac. També s'observaren diferències entre homes i dones quant al risc de recidivar i de progressar dels tumors vesicals superficials, però no en el risc de morir dels pacients amb tumors invasius. / The thesis evaluates differences related to sociodemographic and clinic-pathological characteristics, diagnostic tests, treatment and prognosis of bladder cancer patients newly diagnosed in 18 hospitals from 5 Spanish areas according to sex. The work also assess the association between tobacco and bladder cancer risk according to sex in a pooled analysis of case-control studies of bladder cancer from Europe and North America.Differences between sex concerning disease incidence, pathological characteristics and treatment were observed. The relative risk of bladder cancer associated with tobacco was similar in both sex. Differences between men and women were observed regarding risk of recurrence and progression of their superficial tumors but not regarding risk of death because of an invasive tumor.

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