Girls believe they're better than boys by the age of four

Girls believe they are cleverer, better-behaved and try harder than boys at school from a very young age, claims new research.
A study by researchers at Kent University reveals that these perceptions are present from at least the time that girls are in their reception year and persist throughout primary school.
By the age of eight, boys appear to agree with their classmates in believing that girls are more likely to have what might be deemed the right qualities to do well at school.
Children of both sexes also think that, in general, adults believe girls do better at school than boys.
The research - based on detailed questioning of 238 children in two Kent primary schools - is to be presented at the British Educational Research Association conference tomorrow.
It flags up the difficulties teachers face in trying to improve the performance of boys, who lag behind girls on average in most subjects throughout school.
Previous research has suggested that children's beliefs about what is expected of them can create a 'self-fulfilling prophecy', because girls are perceived to be more likely to do well, so, in turn they do perform better and therefore perpetuate the expectations of girls' performances in the future.
Bonny Hartley, from Kent University, said: ''By seven or eight years old, children of both genders believe that boys are less focused, able and successful than girls - and think that adults endorse this stereotype.
''There are signs that these expectations have the potential to become self-fulfilling in influencing children's actual conduct and achievement.''
The study involved presenting children, between the ages of four and 10, with a series of statements or scenarios such as 'this child is really clever', 'this child always finishes their work' and 'the teacher is taking the register in class and this child sits very quietly, waiting for their name to be called out'.
The children were then asked to point to a picture, in silhouette, of a boy or girl to say whether they thought the questioner was talking about a boy or girl.
On average, girls of reception age right through to year 5 said girls were cleverer, performed better, had better self control and focus and were better behaved and respectful.  Boys in reception, year 1 and year 2 gave answers which were equally split between favouring boys and girls, but by year 3 their beliefs were in line with those of the girls.
Children were assigned to two groups, with one told that boys do not perform as well as girls, and the other not told this.  They were then tested in maths, reading and writing.  Boys in the first group performed significantly worse than those in the second, while girls' overall performance was similar in both groups.
Ms Hartley said the research supported claims that boys' relatively poor performance nationally could be explained in part by lower expectations.
She called for changes for what goes on in schools to help break the cycle of lower expectations of boys.
''Adults should think carefully before using phrases such as 'silly boys', 'school boy pranks' and 'why can't you sit nicely like the girls?','' she said. ''Schools should also address the policy of seating pupils in ability groups, which would tend to see more girls sitting on 'higher achieving' tables.''