Desarrollo académico infantil: donde la evolución se encuentra con la cultura

Schools are the interface between evolution and culture. They are the contexts in which children’s evolved learning and motivational biases intersect with the need to learn the vast array of evolutionarily-novel skills (e.g., reading) and knowledge (e.g., geometric concepts) needed to function as adults in modern societies. The rapid cross-generational accumulation of knowledge during the past several millennia has created a gap between children’s evolved learning and motivational biases and the types of learning needed to master evolutionarily-novel skills and knowledge. I provide a brief overview of these evolved learning and motivational biases, and place them in the context of children’s learning and motivation to learn in modern-day schools. Key words: evolution, development, cognitive development, academic learning.Las escuelas constituyen el punto de encuentro entre la evolución y la cultura. Son los contextos donde los aprendizajes y motivaciones infantiles predispuestos durante la evolución se entrecruzan con la necesidad de aprender una gran cantidad de habilidades (e.g., leer) y conocimientos (e.g., conceptos geométricos) evolutivamente nuevos, precisos para el funcionamiento adulto en las sociedades modernas. La rápida acumulación de conocimientos durante los pasados milenios ha producido un vacío entre estas predisposiciones de aprendizaje y motivación infantiles generadas durante la evolución, y los tipos de aprendizaje requeridos para dominar las habilidades y conocimientos evolutivamente nuevos. Aquí se realiza una breve descripción de estas predisposiciones de aprendizaje y motivación evolutivas, y se las sitúa en el contexto de los aprendizajes y la motivación para aprender de los niños en las escuelas modernas. Palabras clave: evolución, desarrollo, desarrollo cognitivo, aprendizaje académico

Sexual Selection and the Evolution of Human Sex Differences

Darwin’s (1871) theory of sexual selection and the associated mechanisms of intrasexual competition (e.g., male-male competition) and intersexual choice (e.g., female choice of mates) have guided the scientific study of sex differences in hundreds of non-human species. These mechanisms and several recent advances in our understanding of the evolution and expression of sex differences in non-human species are described. The usefulness of this theory for approaching the study human sex differences is illustrated with discussion of patterns of women’s mate preferences and choices and with discussion of men’s one-on-one and coalitional competition. A comparison of these aspects of intersexual choice and intrasexual competition in humans and non-human species is provided, as is discussion of cultural variation in the expression of these behaviors. cultural influences (Maccoby & Jacklin, 1974)

Gender differences in the pathways to higher education

It is well known that far fewer men than women enroll in tertiary education in the United States and other Western nations. Developed nations vary in the degree to which men are underrepresented, but the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average lies around 45% male students. We use data from the OECD Education at a Glance statistical reports, the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), and the World Values Survey to explain the degree to which men are underrepresented. Using a multiple regression model, we show that the combination of both the national reading proficiency levels of 15-y-old boys and girls and the social attitudes toward girls attending university can predict the enrollment in tertiary education 5 y later. The model also shows that parity in some countries is a result of boys’ poor reading proficiency and negative social attitudes toward girls’ education, which suppresses college enrollment in both sexes, but for different reasons. True equity will at the very least require improvement in boys’ reading competencies and the liberalization of attitudes regarding women’s pursuit of higher education. At this time, there is little reason to expect that the enrollment gap will decrease, given the stagnating reading competencies in most countries

Sexual Selection and the Evolution of Human Sex Differences

Darwin’s (1871) theory of sexual selection and the associated mechanisms of intrasexual competition (e.g., male-male competition) and intersexual choice (e.g., female choice of mates) have guided the scientific study of sex differences in hundreds of non-human species. These mechanisms and several recent advances in our understanding of the evolution and expression of sex differences in non-human species are described. The usefulness of this theory for approaching the study human sex differences is illustrated with discussion of patterns of women’s mate preferences and choices and with discussion of men’s one-on-one and coalitional competition. A comparison of these aspects of intersexual choice and intrasexual competition in humans and non-human species is provided, as is discussion of cultural variation in the expression of these behaviors. cultural influences (Maccoby & Jacklin, 1974)

Quantitative Deficits of Preschool Children at Risk for Mathematical Learning Disability

The study tested the hypothesis that acuity of the potentially inherent approximate number system (ANS) contributes to risk of mathematical learning disability (MLD). Sixty-eight (35 boys) preschoolers at risk for school failure were assessed on a battery of quantitative tasks, and on intelligence, executive control, preliteracy skills, and parental education. Mathematics achievement scores at the end of 1 year of preschool indicated that 34 of these children were at high risk for MLD. Relative to the 34 typically achieving children, the at risk children were less accurate on the ANS task, and a one standard deviation deficit on this task resulted in a 2.4-fold increase in the odds of MLD status. The at risk children also had a poor understanding of ordinal relations, and had slower learning of Arabic numerals, number words, and their cardinal values. Poor performance on these tasks resulted in 3.6- to 4.5-fold increases in the odds of MLD status. The results provide some support for the ANS hypothesis but also suggest these deficits are not the primary source of poor mathematics learning

A simplified approach to measuring national gender inequality.

The Global Gender Gap Index is one of the best-known measures of national gender inequality, used by both academics and policy makers. We argue that that this measure has a number of problems and introduce a simpler measure of national levels of gender inequality. Our proposed measure is based on sex differences in the opportunity to lead a long healthy and satisfied life that is grounded on educational opportunities. The measure better captures variation in gender inequality than other measures, with inclusion of outcomes that can be favorable or unfavorable to either sex, not simply unfavorable to women. We focus on some of the most basic measures available for 134 countries from 2012-2016 (i.e., disadvantages in children's basic education, life satisfaction, and healthy life span) and we relate these to various measures, including the United Nations' Human Development Index. We found that low levels of human development are typically associated with disadvantages for girls and women, while medium and high levels of development are typically associated with disadvantages for boys and men. Countries with the highest levels of human development are closest to gender parity, albeit typically with a slight advantage for women. We argue that the disparities, when they are found, are related to the sexual division of labor (i.e., traditional gender roles) in poorly developed countries as well as the underinvestment in preventative health care in more developed nations

Sex differences in adolescents' occupational aspirations: Variations across time and place.

We investigated sex differences in 473,260 adolescents' aspirations to work in things-oriented (e.g., mechanic), people-oriented (e.g., nurse), and STEM (e.g., mathematician) careers across 80 countries and economic regions using the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). We analyzed student career aspirations in combination with student achievement in mathematics, reading, and science, as well as parental occupations and family wealth. In each country and region, more boys than girls aspired to a things-oriented or STEM occupation and more girls than boys to a people-oriented occupation. These sex differences were larger in countries with a higher level of women's empowerment. We explain this counter-intuitive finding through the indirect effect of wealth. Women's empowerment is associated with relatively high levels of national wealth and this wealth allows more students to aspire to occupations they are intrinsically interested in. Implications for better understanding the sources of sex differences in career aspirations and associated policy are discussed

Sex-specific academic ability and attitude patterns in students across developed countries

The extent of sex differences in psychological traits is vigorously debated. We show that the overall sex difference in the pattern of adolescents' achievement and academic attitudes is relatively large and similar across countries. We used a binomial regression modeling approach to predict the sex of 15 and 16 year olds based on sets of academic ability and attitude variables in three cycles of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data (N = 969,673 across 55 to 71 countries and regions). We found that the sex of students in any country can be reliably predicted based on regression models created from the data of all other countries, indicating a common (universal) sex-specific component. Averaged over three different PISA cycles (2009, 2012, 2015), the sex of 69% of students can be correctly classified using this approach, corresponding to a large effect. Moreover, the universal component of these sex differences is stronger in countries with relative income equality and women's participation in the labor force and politics. We conclude that patterns in academic sex differences are larger than hitherto thought and appear to become stronger when societies have more socioeconomic equality. We explore reasons why this may be the case and possible implications