"Just as the problem of action at a distance created conceptual difficulties in philosophical analyses of causation, action delayed over time remains with us to create conceptual difficulties. . . In other modalities, such as vision, the question of whether behavior mediates simple discriminations such as the discrimination of intensity does not arise. It is not felt that such sensory processes must have the same dimensions as behavior. In temporal discriminations, however, the temporal gap is there to be bridged, and the analysis of mediating or timing behavior may be regarded as a kind of search for the temporal receptor". (Catania, 1970, p.36). The research reported in this thesis arose from a review of the literature on timing behaviours in organisms. This revealed that while many experimenters have described behaviour, produced by both animals and humans, where responses have been spaced accurately in time, the empirical results are open to equivocal explanations. One aspect of timing behaviour which has received little experimental attention is the function, if any, of the stereotyped behaviours which often occur collaterally with accurately spaced responding in time. These stereotyped collateral behaviours have sometimes been termed mediating behaviours because several researchers claim that they mediate accurately spaced responding in time (Kramer and Rilling, 1970, p.234 ff.). A detailed functional analysis of these "mediating'' behaviours has not appeared in the literature. This is possibly because the initial appearance of such behaviours is outwith the experimenter's control and, furthermore, these behaviours are normally peculiar to the individual and therefore difficult to measure quantitatively. The present investigation used a technique which made it likely that a certain behaviour would occur as the stereotyped collateral behaviour, and allowed a degree of quantitative measurement of this behaviour. It was hoped that investigation of stereotyped collateral behaviours would throw some light on the wider question of how organsisms space responses accurately in time.

This paper investigates the literature on stereotype threat theory. Looking for an explanation for achievement gaps in standardized testing and mathematics, Claude Steele and Elliot Aronson conducted a study in 1995 which introduced the term “stereotype threat” to the psychological community. It was hypothesized by Steele and Aronson that stereotype threat is cause by the anxiety that results from a fear of conforming to a negative stereotype that directly affects an individual in a domain with which they identify. Stereotype threat can have extremely detrimental effects on individuals. Since the original study in 1995, numerous studies have been conducted to further address gender and racial achievement gaps. Some of the studies have yielded results in support of Steele’s theory, and some have called into questions certain aspects of Steele’s theory. This paper specifically analyses Steele’s theory and its ability to stand up against specific criticisms.

This thesis is focused on gender stereotypes commonly displayed in television commercials. It examines, in what typical ways are male and female roles presented and to what kind of commercials is usually assigned to. Whole thesis is divided in two parts. First, theoretical part, explains basic terminology and discusses gender aspects present in media and advertisment. Second, practical part is composed of two main experimental methods. First one, quantitative content analysis is focused on gender stereotypes in 160 television commercials. Second one, consists of evaluation of 60 questionnaires also focused on gender stereotypes.

Most stereotypes of youth depict them as problematic. Yet, the effects of those representations on behaviour are not understood. The nine studies conducted for this thesis investigated stereotypic beliefs about youth. This thesis aimed to specify the range of stereotypic beliefs about youth, the sources of those beliefs, and the consequences of those beliefs for adults' and young people's behaviour. Chapter 1 reviews the stereotype literature and provides information about our current understanding of stereotypic beliefs about youth. It also highlights the limitations of existing research and presents the rationale for this program of research. Chapter 2 presents studies 1 to 4, which explored the breadth in the content of four sets of stereotypic beliefs about youth. Study 1 investigated adults' knowledge of the cultural stereotype of youth and Study 2A specified adults' personal beliefs about youth. Adults' knowledge of the cultural stereotype was shown to consist of very negative content, although their personal beliefs were both positive and negative in content. Study 3A compared young people's perceptions of adults' beliefs about youth with their personal beliefs about youth. Young people's perceptions of adults' beliefs were found to be extremely negative, and to be comparable with that identified as adults??? knowledge of the cultural stereotype of youth in Study 1. In contrast, young people???s personal beliefs about youth were found to be more positive. Study 4 investigated the extent to which adults and young people hold multiple stereotypes of youth. Adults and young people formed six conceptually similar subtypes of youth. They were labelled as ???yuppies???, ???lives for today and forget the consequences???, ???depressed???, ???problem kids???, ???active???, and ???conventional???. The ???problem kids??? subtype was the most salient; it had the greatest number of descriptors assigned to it and the greatest agreement across groups regarding the constellation of traits and behaviours comprising it. Studies 2B and 3B, also presented in Chapter 2, were carried out to develop two valid and reliable measures of stereotypic beliefs about youth. In Study 2B, the 20-item Beliefs about Adolescence Scale was developed to assess adults' personal beliefs about youth. Study 3B developed the 26-item Adolescents??? Perceptions of Adults??? Beliefs Scale to assess young people???s perceptions of adults??? beliefs about them. Both measures were shown to be internally consistent and to have good test-retest reliability. The Beliefs about Adolescence Scale also demonstrated good convergent validity. Chapter 3 presents studies 5 and 6, which examined the media as a possible source of stereotypic beliefs about youth. Study 5 investigated media representations of youth as they appear in newspaper reports. Study 6 aimed to establish an empirical association between those representations and stereotypic beliefs about youth. In Study 5, newspaper reports of young people were found to be largely negative; the 'problem kids' stereotype was afforded the most news space. In Study 6, newspaper readership was shown to be predictive of stereotypic beliefs about youth. Further, stereotypic beliefs were found to discriminate between readers of broadsheet and tabloid newspapers. Chapter 4 presents Studies 7 and 8, which focused on the consequences of stereotypic beliefs about youth for evaluations and behaviour. Study 7 investigated the extent to which beliefs that young people are problematic affect adults' evaluations of young people. Subjects who were presented with sentences that described irresponsible and disrespectful behaviours later judged a youth target as more irresponsible and disrespectful than subjects who were presented with sentences that described neutral behaviours. Study 8 investigated whether beliefs that young people are problematic can result in self-fulfilling prophecies. Subjects were exposed to faces of male teenagers or adults and were then paired with partners who had been exposed to faces of male adults. Each pair of subjects played a word-guessing game and their interaction was recorded. Judges who were blind to the experimental hypotheses listened to the recordings and rated each participant for the degree of rudeness that was displayed. Subjects who had been exposed to the teenage faces were rated as ruder than those who had been exposed to adult faces. Moreover, those who interacted with subjects who had been exposed to teenage faces were rated as ruder than those who interacted with subjects who had been exposed to adult faces. In that way, stereotypic beliefs about youth were shown to produce self-fulfilling prophecies. Chapter 5 presents Study 9. Its focus was on young people's perceptions of adults' beliefs about them. It examined the way those beliefs influence young people's engagement in problem behaviour, in interaction with established correlates of problem behaviour. This was explored via the testing of a structural model of problem behaviour. The findings provided partial support for the model, and the model accounted for a substantial proportion of the variance in problem behaviour. Young people's perceptions of adults' beliefs about them made an important contribution to the explanation of problem behaviour involvement. Subsidiary analyses determined that young people's perceptions that adults believe them to engage in problem behaviour was the 'active ingredient' of that construct. Chapter 6 presents the general discussion of the findings from this program of research. It also outlines their theoretical and practical implications, and points to specific research that is needed to add to the findings of this thesis. The findings emphasise the important influences of stereotypic beliefs about youth on adults' and young people's behaviour. Recommendations are made for improving adult-youth relations and preventing adolescent problem behaviour. In particular, the media and adult members of the community need to recognise the role that they play in the causation of adolescent problem behaviour. The media have a responsibility to disseminate accurate and balanced information about young people and youth-related issues. In addition, interventions aimed at reducing adolescent problem behaviour need to incorporate a community-based component that seeks to promote positive adult-youth relations within the wider community.

Stereotype threat is defined as a sociopsychological threat evoked by an evaluative situation in which a negative stereotype about one's group could be confirmed (Steele, 1997). While the deleterious effects of stereotype threat have been demonstrated numerous times in laboratory settings (McKay, Doverspike, Bowen-Hilton, & Martin, 2002; Ngyuen & Ryan, 2008; Spencer, Steele & Quinn, 1999; Steele & Aronson, 1995), generalization to actual testing situations has been limited (Stricker & Ward, 2004). The current study sought to increase ecological validity by examining stereotype threat among racial/ethnic minority students undergoing assessment using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV (WAIS-IV) without explicit priming. Another aim was to reduce stereotype threat by emphasizing the malleability of intelligence, as recommended by previous researchers (Aronson, Fried, & Good, 2002; Good, Aronson, & Inzlicht, 2003). Additionally, the relationship of ethnic identity to stereotype threat and test performance and the role of anxiety, a proposed mechanism of stereotype threat, were examined. Participants were also interviewed about their experiences of stereotype threat using a phenomenological approach. A 2(condition) x 3(race/ethnicity) experimental design was used, and 138 college students were randomized to the control or malleability conditions. Due to manipulation failure, the hypothesis that African and Latino American students would experience less stereotype threat and perform better on the WAIS-IV in the malleability condition could not be tested. Qualitative findings suggested that while participants endorsed perceptions of stereotype threat in general societal settings, they did not report stereotype threat while undergoing the WAIS-IV. The hypothesis that ethnic identity moderates the relationship between stereotype threat and performance received mixed support: ethnic identity-affirmation interacted with perceived stereotype threat on Digit Span, but all other interactions were nonsignificant. Lastly, the hypothesis that anxiety mediates the relationship between perceived stereotype threat and WAIS-IV performance was not supported. However, post-hoc analyses suggested that perceived stereotype threat mediates the relationship of anxiety and WAIS-IV performance. Correlational results revealed that perceived stereotype threat and stereotype vulnerability were related to WAIS-IV scores. In addition, students of color reported greater test and state anxiety than their European American counterparts. Implications for researchers, test administrators, and admissions officers are discussed. / text

The objective of this study was to investigate differences in the portrayal of Western European citizens and non Western European citizens in Hergé’s graphic novels about the young journalist Tintin. We wanted to see if the globalization during the mid 1900’s had an effect on Hergé’s way of portraying the world. We started off by selecting nine novels from three different periods of time, though we read all of the novels in The Adventures of Tintin. The periods were: the years in between the world wars (three novels), the post war years (four novels), and the beginning of the new age – late 60’s and 70’s (two novels). In each novel, we analyzed three different situations, in three different boxes from the novel. The situations we chose to analyze were: a portraying of one or more non Western European citizens, a communication between two Western European citizens about a non Western European citizen or its culture, and a communication between a Western European citizen and a person from outside Western Europe. We also made an analysis on every album which we based on our impressions of the novel as a whole. The analysis revealed a certain difference in the way Hergé depicted people from Western Europe as compared to people from other parts of the world. People outside of the culture of Western Europe are portrayed as uncivilized (Native Americans), revolutionary (white South Americans) or evil (the Japanese). At the same time Western Europeans are portrayed as smarter and more civilized. However the study also shows that over time there is as significant change in the way that non Western Europeans are portrayed, ranging from the first album to the last. As Hergé gets older, the novels become more sophisticated and the characterizations of people from other cultures than the Western European evolve.

Kön och etnicitet är två centrala variabler vid diskriminering på arbetsplatsen. Dock finns en dubbelsidighet i attityder till ledare där å ena sidan forskning visar på att den västerländska mannen ses som den självklara ledaren samtidigt som det pekar mot att det inte finns någon skillnad i ledarskap i avseende på kön och etnicitet. Studien undersökte attityder till ledarskap beroende på kön och etnicitet utifrån tre hypoteser. I studien deltog 158 högskolestudenter, varav 59 män och 99 kvinnor med en medelålder på 22.28 år. Deltagarna besvarade en enkät som bestod av frågor från the Empowering Leadersip Questionnaire (ELQ) och Motivation To Controll Prejudice-scale (MTCP). Materialet analyserades med en korrelationsanalys och sex envägs variansanalyser för beroende mätningar. Resultatet visade på att den svenska kvinnan skattades bäst utifrån ELQ skalan. Slutsatsen drogs att kvinnor skattades bäst men att det inte råder någon statistisk skillnad i avseende på etnicitet.

Most stereotypes of youth depict them as problematic. Yet, the effects of those representations on behaviour are not understood. The nine studies conducted for this thesis investigated stereotypic beliefs about youth. This thesis aimed to specify the range of stereotypic beliefs about youth, the sources of those beliefs, and the consequences of those beliefs for adults' and young people's behaviour. Chapter 1 reviews the stereotype literature and provides information about our current understanding of stereotypic beliefs about youth. It also highlights the limitations of existing research and presents the rationale for this program of research. Chapter 2 presents studies 1 to 4, which explored the breadth in the content of four sets of stereotypic beliefs about youth. Study 1 investigated adults' knowledge of the cultural stereotype of youth and Study 2A specified adults' personal beliefs about youth. Adults' knowledge of the cultural stereotype was shown to consist of very negative content, although their personal beliefs were both positive and negative in content. Study 3A compared young people's perceptions of adults' beliefs about youth with their personal beliefs about youth. Young people's perceptions of adults' beliefs were found to be extremely negative, and to be comparable with that identified as adults??? knowledge of the cultural stereotype of youth in Study 1. In contrast, young people???s personal beliefs about youth were found to be more positive. Study 4 investigated the extent to which adults and young people hold multiple stereotypes of youth. Adults and young people formed six conceptually similar subtypes of youth. They were labelled as ???yuppies???, ???lives for today and forget the consequences???, ???depressed???, ???problem kids???, ???active???, and ???conventional???. The ???problem kids??? subtype was the most salient; it had the greatest number of descriptors assigned to it and the greatest agreement across groups regarding the constellation of traits and behaviours comprising it. Studies 2B and 3B, also presented in Chapter 2, were carried out to develop two valid and reliable measures of stereotypic beliefs about youth. In Study 2B, the 20-item Beliefs about Adolescence Scale was developed to assess adults' personal beliefs about youth. Study 3B developed the 26-item Adolescents??? Perceptions of Adults??? Beliefs Scale to assess young people???s perceptions of adults??? beliefs about them. Both measures were shown to be internally consistent and to have good test-retest reliability. The Beliefs about Adolescence Scale also demonstrated good convergent validity. Chapter 3 presents studies 5 and 6, which examined the media as a possible source of stereotypic beliefs about youth. Study 5 investigated media representations of youth as they appear in newspaper reports. Study 6 aimed to establish an empirical association between those representations and stereotypic beliefs about youth. In Study 5, newspaper reports of young people were found to be largely negative; the 'problem kids' stereotype was afforded the most news space. In Study 6, newspaper readership was shown to be predictive of stereotypic beliefs about youth. Further, stereotypic beliefs were found to discriminate between readers of broadsheet and tabloid newspapers. Chapter 4 presents Studies 7 and 8, which focused on the consequences of stereotypic beliefs about youth for evaluations and behaviour. Study 7 investigated the extent to which beliefs that young people are problematic affect adults' evaluations of young people. Subjects who were presented with sentences that described irresponsible and disrespectful behaviours later judged a youth target as more irresponsible and disrespectful than subjects who were presented with sentences that described neutral behaviours. Study 8 investigated whether beliefs that young people are problematic can result in self-fulfilling prophecies. Subjects were exposed to faces of male teenagers or adults and were then paired with partners who had been exposed to faces of male adults. Each pair of subjects played a word-guessing game and their interaction was recorded. Judges who were blind to the experimental hypotheses listened to the recordings and rated each participant for the degree of rudeness that was displayed. Subjects who had been exposed to the teenage faces were rated as ruder than those who had been exposed to adult faces. Moreover, those who interacted with subjects who had been exposed to teenage faces were rated as ruder than those who interacted with subjects who had been exposed to adult faces. In that way, stereotypic beliefs about youth were shown to produce self-fulfilling prophecies. Chapter 5 presents Study 9. Its focus was on young people's perceptions of adults' beliefs about them. It examined the way those beliefs influence young people's engagement in problem behaviour, in interaction with established correlates of problem behaviour. This was explored via the testing of a structural model of problem behaviour. The findings provided partial support for the model, and the model accounted for a substantial proportion of the variance in problem behaviour. Young people's perceptions of adults' beliefs about them made an important contribution to the explanation of problem behaviour involvement. Subsidiary analyses determined that young people's perceptions that adults believe them to engage in problem behaviour was the 'active ingredient' of that construct. Chapter 6 presents the general discussion of the findings from this program of research. It also outlines their theoretical and practical implications, and points to specific research that is needed to add to the findings of this thesis. The findings emphasise the important influences of stereotypic beliefs about youth on adults' and young people's behaviour. Recommendations are made for improving adult-youth relations and preventing adolescent problem behaviour. In particular, the media and adult members of the community need to recognise the role that they play in the causation of adolescent problem behaviour. The media have a responsibility to disseminate accurate and balanced information about young people and youth-related issues. In addition, interventions aimed at reducing adolescent problem behaviour need to incorporate a community-based component that seeks to promote positive adult-youth relations within the wider community.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of New South Wales, 2000. / Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-105). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.