28th International Congress of Psychology August 8 ... - U-netSURF

1014.6 Collaborative learning support with real time group status, Y. Tamura, Sophia
University, Tokyo, Japan
A learning support system for Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) is proposed,
which provides a real time visualization function of learners` group status. In a CSCL activity,
some learners are engaged in cooperative work and discussion via PCs and connecting network.
The proposed system is basically a text chat, and has a function to visualize the group status
(“working progress” or “cognitive progress”). Learners read a text chat, type remarks, and reflect
on which remarks contribute to the progress of the group. This chart is thought to be effective to
develop metacognitive skills to monitor and control the status of a group of learners engaged in
text-based discussion.
1015 INVITED SYMPOSIUM
The origins of sex differences in human behavior
Convener and Chair: A.H. Eagly, USA
Co-convener: J. Archer, UK
1015.1 Evolution and the modulation of visuospatial abilities by estrogen in women, E.
Hampson, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
It is increasingly clear that reproductive hormones modulate brain function. Among the cognitive
functions influenced by circulating estrogen levels in women and by androgens in men are spatial
abilities that may have evolved for purposes of navigation. Sexual selection for increased range
size in males has been proposed as the evolutionary basis for the effects of testosterone on spatial
ability. The reasons for a modulatory influence of estrogen in women are unclear. We propose that
estrogen's effects, too, are based in evolution and that hormonal regulation of sexually dimorphic
spatial abilities may have evolved to optimize reproductive success. Fertility and Parental Care
Theory will be discussed.
1015.2 An evolutionary perspective on sex differences in aggression, J. Archer, University of
Central Lancashire, Preston, UK
Darwin observed that intermale aggression was more common than interfemale aggression across
the animal kingdom. It was attributed to sexual selection by Darwin, and this principle was
elaborated by Trivers. Meta-analytic and archival data are presented to show that sex differences
in human aggression fit this pattern, and that it is the greater willingness by males to escalate to
more damaging forms of aggression that is involved. How such a decision process is affected by
developmental history and by changes in environmental contingencies can account for variability
in the sex differences, and for within-sex variations.
1015.3 Social cognitive theory of the origins of gender differentiation, K. Bussey, Macquarie
University, Sydney, Australia
This presentation focuses on the origins of gender differentiation from the social cognitive theory
perspective (Bussey & Bandura, 1999). It specifies how proximal influences contribute to the
emergence of such differentiation within the biological potentialities and cognitive capabilities of
the developing child. The interplay of diverse factors within the larger social context and how
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