bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Proper Name and Appearance Changes on Children's Reasoning about Gender Constancy
Authors: Beal Carole R. , Lockhart Maria E.
Published: March 2013

Two studies were conducted to assess how changes in sex-typed names and in appearance affect children's performance on the gender constancy task. In the first study, pre-schoolers and second-graders participated in a gender constancy task in which proper names, pronouns, or sex-neutral terms were used to refer to a picture of a child whose appearance was transformed to look like the other gender. The results showed that children of both ages were more likely to respond correctly when the same proper name was used to refer to the picture throughout the task. In the second study, preschoolers, second-graders and fourth-graders were asked whether a change in proper name would change a person's gender, both by itself and with an accompanying appearance change. The results showed that younger children thought that gender would be changed by a proper name even when appearance remained constant. The results suggest that children who lack a solid understanding of gender constancy can be misled by changes in both appearance and proper name cues.
A Cross-National Study of the Influence of Culture on Conflict Between Parents and Adolescents
Authors: Rosenthal D. A. , Demetriou A. , Efklides A.
Published: March 2013

Cultural differences in the dynamics of conflict between parents and adolescents were studied in 40 working-class Australian resident families, 20 of whom were of Anglo-Celtic descent and 20 Greek-born, and 40 Greekresident families, 20 of whom were working-class and 20 professional class. Levels and seriousness of conflict were investigated as well as three aspects of conflict dynamics: behaviour during conflict, styles of resolving conflict, and beliefs about the consequences of conflict. Mothers and adolescents were more aware than fathers of conflict and its effect on family life, they had a more differentiated set of conflict behaviours and were able to accept conflict as part of life which need not have long-term serious consequences. The results suggested that although cultural variation in response to conflict was not extensive, the immigrant Greek parents responded in ways which reflected both their Greek origin and their country of residence while their adolescents appeared to have moved towards an Anglo-Australian mode of responding. Implications for a culture conflict model, a cultural differences model and an assimilation model of intergenerational conflict in immigrant families are discussed.
Age-graded Judgements of Children's Drawings by Children and Adults
Authors: Trautner Hanns M. , Lohaus Arnold , Sahm Winfried B. , Helbing Nicole
Published: March 2013

A study was conducted to explore the development of drawing abilities in children. One hundred and eighty-five children aged 5-10 years and 27 adults had to rank intra-individual series of man and woman drawings according to the age sequence in which they had been drawn. Of interest was whether the accuracy of the children's judgements would vary with the age level of the drawings to be judged. A further aim was to yield information on the cues children use in the ranking of drawings on an age-graded scale. The results showed that even the youngest children were able to judge the correct age sequence at above chance levels. However, their rankings were more erroneous than those of older children and of adults, across all age levels of the drawings. Contrary to older children and adults, judgements of the youngest children relied partly on invalid criteria, or they underrated the importance of valid criteria. It was concluded that deficiencies in children's drawings have to be attributed to insufficient performance knowledge and/or performance capacities rather than to an inappropriate representation of the cultural standards.
Disagreement Between Friends
Authors: Aboud Frances E.
Published: March 2013

This study examined two social factors thought to mediate the beneficial consequences of peer conflict. One was the social relationship between the peers, namely best friend or lukewarm friend. The second was the evaluation of self and partner after performing on the task. Children performed on two tasks: one was an ethnic preference task and the second was a measure of their understanding of multiple emotions. After each, they were given fictitious information about their partner's discrepant judgements, and asked to evaluate the two performances, and then retested for changes to their judgement. The first hypothesis was that a best friend's performance would be evaluated more highly than a lukewarm friend's. The second hypothesis was that evaluation of own judgements would be lower after disagreement with a best friend than a lukewarm friend. The third hypothesis was that judgement changes would be correlated with evaluations. The three hypotheses were confirmed differentially, depending on the task. Results were discussed in terms of the link between interpersonal and intrapersonal conflict.
Behavioural Development in Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) and Human Newborns Across the First Month of Life
Authors: Hallock Martha B. , Worobey John , Self Patricia A.
Published: March 2013

Comparisons among the behaviours of chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) and human newborns on a standardised human neonatal assessment scale are reported for the infants at both 3 days and 1 month of age. Human infants scored significantly higher on the orientation cluster at both ages, and relative to the chimpanzee infants were lower in motoric maturity. With respect to the human standards employed, the two chimpanzee infants who were human-reared scored as optimally as did the human infants at 1 month, suggesting a differential impact of the care-giving environment on developing chimpanzee social behaviours.
Early Environmental Experiences and School Achievement in the Second Grade: An Israeli Study
Authors: Ninio Anat
Published: March 2013

This study was an attempt to replicate, in an Israeli sample, findings from American studies regarding the relationship of demographic variables, the quality of the early environment, and sociocognitive growth in children. In the first part of the study, the environment of 178 2-year-old Israeli children was assessed. Families with higher social status (SES) and fewer children were significantly more likely to provide enriching environmental experiences to their 2-year-old. In the second phase of the study, 149 of the sample were located and their school achievement assessed at the end of Grade 2. Path analysis revealed that the family's SES and number of children had both a direct and an environmentally mediated effect on children's achievement in school, and that differences in the quality of the environment at 2 years accounted for a large part of the variability in achievement both between and within social classes. As in the American studies, free exploration of developmentally challenging objects, and in particular fine-coordination toys and picture-books, was an important feature of a good rearing environment. In addition, contact with peers and extrafamilial care in the 3rd year were found also to have some unique predictive power of sociocognitive performance. The results are congruent with a model that SES and family configuration have a decisive effect on child-rearing practices and the latter, in turn, determine the course of children's cognitive and social development. The possibility was entertained that class-related differences in parental concepts of age-appropriateness contribute to the SES differences in the type of environmental experiences accorded to young children.
Parents' Ideas About the Development and Education of Their Children. Answers to Some Questions
Authors: Palacios Jesús
Published: March 2013

The ideas of parents concerning the development, upbringing, and education of their children have become a subject that has produced a lot of work in developmental research in recent years. However, there still remain grey areas and contradictions which need to be further clarified. While trying to steer clear of the fragmentary nature of research done in this area, this paper analyses a wide-ranging set of ideas of differing content. An attempt is then made to find elements that help characterise the overall pattern of these ideas. The study also tries to clarify the amount of weight that should be given to each of the determining variables that go to make up parents' ideas (educational background, professional status, rural or urban residence, previous experience as parents), while at the same time analysing the degree of concurrence, or lack of it, existing within the married couple. Three classes of parents are seen to exist (traditional, modern, and paradoxical) and the educational background is seen to be the variable that contributes most to determining their ideas. The impact of the several background variables depends on the type of parent being considered.
What Causes Success and Failure in School and Friendship? Developmental Differentiation of Children's Beliefs across Middle Childhood
Authors: Skinner Ellen A.
Published: March 2013

A study was conducted to examine the development of domain-specific perceived control during middle childhood. Four hundred and twenty children, ages 7-12 years, reported the perceived effectiveness of five causes (effort, attributes, powerful others, luck, and unknown factors) in producing outcomes in two life domains, namely, school performance and friendship. Analyses of mean level differences between domains revealed that effort was perceived as a more effective cause in the academic domain and that attributes, powerful others, and luck were viewed as more important to friendship outcomes. Furthermore, for effort and powerful others, these domain differences increased with age. In contrast, the perceived effectiveness of attribute causes became more similar across domains as children became older. The potential of these findings is discussed with respect to explaining developmental change in the relations between domain-specific perceived control and corresponding aspects of behaviour.
Developmental Differences in the Accuracy of Reporting the Causal Determinants of Behaviour
Authors: Schrans Tracy , Werker Janet F. , Brown Richard E.
Published: March 2013

Previous research has indicated that adults often show little accuracy in reporting the causal determinants of their behaviour, and instead rely on a priori causal theories or schemes for explaining their actions. Although this has been interpreted as indicating a deficit in introspective awareness, alternative interpretations have also been suggested. The present research was designed to assess the adequacy of this and alternative interpretations by exploring whether there are developmental changes in the accuracy of reporting. To explore this question, children aged 3, 5, and 7 years were tested on two liking-judgement tasks, one of which assessed accuracy of reporting the variables influencing liking judgements. Results indicated that younger children do not make the same types of errors as older children and adults, and that younger children can more accurately report the actual variables determining their judgements. These results are discussed with reference to the meaning of the observed developmental change, and to the validity of the various possible explanations for causal attribution errors.
Mother and Infant Activity and Interaction in Japan and in the United States: I. A Comparative Macroanalysis of Naturalistic Exchanges
Authors: Bornstein Marc H. , Azuma Hiroshi , Tamis-LeMonda Catherine , Ogino Misako
Published: March 2013

It is widely held that Japanese and U.S. Americans differ in prominent aspects of their psychological make-ups, and that experiences of early life may be responsible for certain social and intellectual distinctions between members of these two cultures. To compare and contrast activities and interactions of Japanese and American mothers and their 5-month-old infants, 48 mother-infant dyads, half in Tokyo and half in New York City, were observed in the natural setting of their homes. This report examines mothers visual and verbal stimulation of infants and infants visual and tactual exploration and vocalisation from a macroanalytic viewpoint. First, similarities and differences among Japanese and American infants and mothers on these activities are assessed. Next, covariation among infants activities and among mothers activities within each culture is evaluated, and resultant patterns of covariation between the two cultures are compared. Finally, correspondence between mothers and infants activities in each culture is analysed, and patterns of interactions between the two cultures are compared. Two issues are discussed. First considered are the identification and description of activities, interactions, and developmental processes that are similar and different in these two cultures, and second considered are cross-cultural tests of developmental issues related to covariation and correspondence of activity in mother-infant dyads.
The Effects of Reasoning and Choice on Children's Prosocial Behaviour
Authors: McGrath Marianne P. , Power Thomas G.
Published: March 2013

The present study examined the effects of reasoning and choice on children's prosocial behaviour. Forty-eight secondand third-grade children were randomly assigned to a 3 X 2 design (Adult-oriented Reasoning, Beneficiaryoriented Reasoning, or No Reasoning x Choice or No Choice) where they were asked or instructed to donate one of two prizes to sick children who could not be in the study. All children donated one prize. Subjects were then given the opportunity to help "other children who were having trouble with school" and to play with toys. It was predicted that beneficiary-oriented reasoning in the first situation would lead to the most prosocial behaviour in the second, and that the least amount of prosocial behaviour would occur when children had been given no reasoning and no choice. As predicted, children were more helpful in the choice than in the no-choice condition. However, prosocial behaviour was most likely when no reasoning had been used. Results are interpreted in light of the types of reasoning used, the experience of reactance, and Lepper's (1981, 1983) minimal sufficiency principle.
Process versus Product Task Interpretation and Parental Teaching Practice
Authors: Renshaw Peter D. , Gardner Ruth
Published: March 2013

Research on parental teaching strategies indicates that task interpretation mediates the amount and type of assistance provided by parents for their children. Leont'ev's (1981) three-tiered analytical framework has been employed to examine the relationship between task interpretation and teaching strategies, but task interpretation has been inferred rather than probed directly. Twenty-three preschoolers and their parents (10 mothers and 13 fathers) participated in the present study, the purpose of which was to assess directly parents' task interpretation of a teaching context, and to establish the pattern of relationships between task interpretation and teaching strategies. Task interpretation was coded using the process (learning goals) vs. product (performance goals) distinction suggested in the achievement motivation literature, and teaching strategies were coded in response to children's errors as either direct or indirect. The hypothesis, that process-oriented parents employ indirect error correction strategies and product-oriented parents employ direct error correction strategies, was confirmed. These findings suggest that parents may approach teaching tasks with quite different interpretations, and these interpretations are revealed by, and are consistent with, the teaching strategies they employ.
Historical Perspectives on South African Childhood
Authors: Liddell Christine , Kvalsvig Jane , Shababala Agnes , Masilela Pauline
Published: March 2013

Historical perspectives are discussed in terms of their relevance to contemporary developmental psychology in South Africa. It is argued that historical viewpoints shed new light on the image of black children in South African society, and on the current status of developmental psychology as it is practised and researched in South Africa.
Does Out-of-home Care Affect Compliance in Preschoolers?
Authors: Sternberg Kathleen J. , Lamb Michael E. , Hwang Carl-Philip , Broberg Anders , Ketterlinus Robert D. , Bookstein Fred L.
Published: March 2013

When they averaged 28 and 40 months of age, 140 Swedish children were observed with their mothers in two situations (a problem-solving task and a clean-up session) designed to allow the assessment of their compliance with maternal demands. Individual differences in their behaviour were then related to measures of the quality of care received by them both at home and in alternative care settings when they averaged 16, 28, and 40 months of age, the amount of social support reportedly received by the mothers, the children's ages, and the amount of early out-of-home care received. Analyses using partial least squares (PLS) analyses showed that children were more compliant in the task situation at 40 months when they had experienced high quality care at home, when they were older, and when they had experienced less out-of-home care prior to 24 months of age. Variations in maternal behaviour in these settings were predicted by the same set of variables, suggesting that parent-child harmony, rather than compliance, was being studied. No consistent dimension of compliance was evident at 28 months.
Influence of Self-Efficacy on Self-Regulation and Performance among Junior and Senior High-School Age Students
Authors: Bouffard-Bouchard Therese , Parent Sophie , Larivee Serge
Published: March 2013

The aim of the present study was to examine the influence of self-efficacy on actual self-regulation during a verbal concept formation task of students, already known to be of average or above average cognitive ability, at two grade levels. Following the assessment of self-efficacy, students were observed while they attempted to solve four problems of varying difficulty. The major findings were that irrespective of differences in school grade and in cognitive ability, self-efficacy exerted significant influence on various aspects of self-regulation, such as monitoring of working time, task persistence, and rejection of correct hypotheses, as well as on performance. These results provided support for the construct validity of self-efficacy as different from cognitive competence.
Maternal Descriptions of 2 and 3-year-old Children: A Comparison of Attachment Q-sorts in Two Socio-Cultural Communities
Authors: Vaughn Brian E. , Strayer F. F. , Jacques Marie , Trudel Marcel , Seifer Ronald
Published: March 2013

A total of 101 mothers from two socio-cultural groups (55 French-speaking from Montreal and 46 English-speaking from Chicago) described their 2-or 3-year-old children using the Attachment Q-sort. The Q-sort descriptions from the two sites were compared at the level of criterion scores, at the level of derived scores for nine empirical scales, and at the level of individual Q-sort items. These analyses indicated only chance level differences between groups for analyses individual items. However, for the derived scales and for criterion scores, significant multivariate effects across samples were obtained. Additional analyses, covarying maternal age, education level, and social desirability response bias scores, indicated that only the criterion score for Attachment Security differed across the two socio-cultural groups. Subsequent correlational analyses relating empirical scale scores to the criterion scores for both samples yielded similar results. Only 3 of 27 separate pairs of correlations differed significantly across the two samples. The results suggest that the Attachment Q-sort is useful for evaluating differences among young children with respect to attachment security and related constructs in both sociocultural groups. However, the results also indicate that the scores derived from maternal Q-sort descriptions may be associated with demographic characteristics and culturally specific response biases that should be evaluated and controlled before interpreting the Q-sort scores with reference to universal, or species-specific, concepts of attachment security.
Young Children's Conceptions of Transgressions with Friends and Nonfriends
Authors: Slomkowski Cheryl L. , Killen Melanie
Published: March 2013

The aim of this study was to investigate young children's conceptions of friendship and transgressions. A total of 48 preschool children were asked, in an interview, to cite reasons for their friendships and nonfriendships, to provide judgements and evaluations of transgressions involving friends and nonfriends, and to indicate preferences for conflict resolving strategies for friends and nonfriends. Results of interviews indicated that young children do make conceptual distinctions between friends and nonfriends in terms of judgements and justifications concerning transgressions. The overall pattern of results suggests that children are forming and utilising conceptions of friendship that are invoked when evaluating social transgressions in the preschool years.
Correlates of Peer Acceptance in a Chinese Sample of Six-Year-Olds
Authors: Chen Xinyin , Rubin Kenneth H.
Published: March 2013

The relations between children's peer acceptance and social problem solving skills, school performance and family-ecological conditions in Chinese culture were examined. The participants included 61 kindergarten children in Shanghai, China. A sociometric rating scale and a measure of social problem solving skills were administered to each child to assess peer acceptance and social competence. Data concerning the child's school performance and family background were also collected. The results showed that, compared to a Canadian sample, the Chinese children were less accepting of each other, less prosocial, and more agonistic and authority-oriented in social problem solving. However, they used more relevant strategies in social problem solving. Nevertheless, the pattern of correlations between peer acceptance and both the quantitative features of social problem solving repertoires, such as the total number of alternatives suggested in solving social problems, and the qualitative features of social problem solving repertoires, such as the prosocial and agonistic strategies suggested, was in agreement with the results found in the Canadian sample. The study also showed that there existed meaningful relations between children's peer acceptance and school achievement and family factors, such as parent's occupational level and the quality of parental relationship.
Children's, Adolescents', and Young Adults' Heart Rate Reactivity to, and Recovery from, a Brief Psychological Stressor
Authors: Sharpley Christopher F.
Published: March 2013

Heart rate reactivity to a 2 minute mental arithmetic stressor delivered under timed and competitive conditions and graded for age-related difficulty was collected on 148 males and 153 females grouped into five age cohorts ranging from 7 to 20 years. Data on resting heart rate, heart rate during the stressor period, and post-stressor recovery showed significant sex (females had higher heart rates) and age effects (there was a general decrease in heart rate with age). There were no significant interactions between age and sex. Mean heart rate reactivity also showed significant variation with age, but no significant differences between males and females, nor any significant interaction between age and sex. The age effect for heart rate reactivity appeared to be a result of the oldest age group having significantly greater increases in heart rate than all other age groups.
The Development of Diachronic Thinking in Children: Children's Ideas about Changes in Drawing Skills
Authors: Tryphon Anastasia , Montangero Jacques
Published: March 2013

Classical work on the development of time concepts has focused on children's representation of time and reasoning involved in time measures. However, little is known about children's use of time concepts in their explanations of reality. The experiment presented here is concerned with the development of children's diachronic thinking, i.e. the ability to situate an object of knowledge (event, physical object, phenomenon, etc.) within a temporal dimension and to conceive of the changes of this object with time. The experimental situation explores children's understanding and reconstruction of the changes in their drawing abilities with age. A total of 70 children aged 6 to 12 years were asked to draw a human figure and then to produce as many drawings of a human figure as necessary to show how the drawings have changed over the years. They were then asked to sernate 12 human figure drawings produced by other children. The results indicate a progressive construction of diachronic thinking with age. Although children as young as 6 years are able to reason about changes in their drawing abilities, it is only at about 10 years that their reasoning reveals explicit use of diachrony.
Cognitive Invariants and Cultural Variation in Mathematical Concepts
Authors: Nunes Terezinha
Published: March 2013

Vygotsky and Luria suggested that the higher forms of conscious activity are accomplished with the support of culturally elaborated systems of signs. These systems of signs are viewed as symbolic tools, by analogy with technical tools, and like the latter shape human activity. The aim of this paper is to explore two alternative hypotheses about the nature of the effect of symbolic systems on psychological functions. The first hypothesis maintains that culturally elaborated systems of signs affect psychological functioning in a general way. It leads, for example, to the prediction of a "great divide" between literates and nonliterates. The second hypothesis holds that systems of signs have specific effects on the organisation of human activity when these systems are used to support skilled action but no generalised effect is predicted. This second hypothesis leads to the prediction of withinindividual differences as a function of the use of different symbolic systems, a prediction inconsistent with the first hypothesis. Some examples of research carried out to investigate these hypotheses are described in this paper. Empirical support for the second but not the first hypothesis is found in the research reviewed here.
The Development of Visuo-spatial Memory: How to Remember Location
Authors: Schumann-Hengsteler Ruth
Published: March 2013

Recent studies on developmental differences in spatial memory have reported equivocal results. Some found an age-dependent improvement of memory performance whereas others did not. The two studies reported here investigate age differences in memory for visual-spatial information. A picture reconstruction task with simultaneous presentation of scene-like visual-spatial arrangements was used. Subjects had to recognise objects and to reconstruct the initial spatial arrangement. The first study with 5to 10year-olds produced the typical age-dependent improvement in recognising visual material as well as in remembering the locations of specific objects. No effect for age was obtained in memory for the critical loci themselves. The second study with 4to 6-year-olds revealed similar results. Error analyses indicated that in younger children the association between object identity and object location is weaker than in older children. The results are considered as evidence for the assumption that spatial information is not necessarily represented as a feature of an item. Alternative types of representations of spatial information in the picture reconstruction task are discussed.
Object Characteristics and Recall in Young Children
Authors: Saarnio David A.
Published: March 2013

The purpose of this research was to investigate the hypothesis that preschool children are "perceptually bound" in their encoding of objects. This hypothesis implies that preschool children tend to encode perceptual attributes of objects in recall tasks, but not conceptual attributes. In Experiment 1, encoding of conceptual attributes of objects was examined by presenting children with pictures of objects that varied in typicality. Preschool children were more likely to remember typical objects than less typical objects. In Experiment 2, objects were orthogonally varied in size and typicality to examine the influence of both perceptual and conceptual attributes. Both types of attributes of objects were found to influence recall independently. In the context of variations in size and typicality, the probability of recall for both large and typical objects was greater than for small and less typical objects. The results show that children are influenced by both conceptual and perceptual stimulus characteristics, and, contrary to the hypothesis, preschool children are not "perceptually bound".
Patterns of Boys' Social Adjustment in Two Cultures and at Different Ages: A Longitudinal Perspective
Authors: Pulkkinen Lea , Tremblay Richard E.
Published: March 2013

In the comparison of two longitudinal studies, patterns of boys' social adjustment were identified by using aggression, hyperactivity, inattentiveness, anxiety, and lack of prosocial behaviour as clustering variables. Eight comparable clusters were obtained across two cultures, French Canada and Finland; three age groups, 6, 8, and 10 years; and two decades, the 1960s and 1980s. The clusters confirmed three frequently used categories of behaviour: (1) normal (for no adjustment problems); (2) anxious; and (3) inattentive; two infrequently used categories: (1) passive; and (2) nervous; and the importance of subcategorising aggressive-hyperactive boys into three categories: (1) bully; (2) uncontrolled; and (3) multiproblem. The stability of the behaviour patterns for individuals from one age to another (6 to 10 years of age) was significant. It was not high for a specific cluster, but the subjects tended to remain in either one of the aggressive or nonaggressive clusters. The predictive value of the behaviour patterns for later outcomes was analysed using data collected at the age of 10 to 11 (in Montreal) and at the ages of 14, 20, and 26 (in Jyvaskyla). The clusters were meaningful from a developmental perspective. The outcomes were most negative for the multiproblem boys: high disruptive and antisocial behaviour, low school success, and unstable working career, and most positive for the normals.
Adaptive Resources of the Aging Self: Outlines of an Emergent Perspective
Authors: Brandtstadter Jochen , Wentura Dirk , Greve Werner
Published: March 2013

The transition to old age has often been related to loss of control, depression, and lowered self-esteem. A different picture, however, begins to emerge from recent age-comparative studies. Cross-sectional and longitudinal findings from two larger studies in the age range from middle to late adulthood are presented which indicate that elderly people, while being perceptive of age-related developmental losses, are quite effective in maintaining a sense of control and a positive view of self and personal development. It is argued that the apparent resiliency of the aging self hinges on the interplay between two basic processes: (1) instrumental activities that aim at preventing or alleviating developmental losses in domains that are relevant to the individual's self-esteem and identity; (2) accommodative processes by which personal goals and frames of self-evaluation are adjusted to changes in action resources and functional capacities. Evidence is presented in support of the assumption that with advancing age, accommodative processes become increasingly important aspects of coping and life-management.
Fostering Independence in Mother-Child Interactions: Longitudinal Changes in Contingency Patterns as Children Grow Competent in Developmental Tasks
Authors: Kindermann Thomas A.
Published: March 2013

The study attempted to reconstruct changes in naturalistic interactions between mother and child while children gained competence in three basic developmental tasks, namely, while they were learning to walk, eat, and dress themselves alone. Cross-sequentially organised observations focused on independent and dependent child behaviours and corresponding supportive mother reactions. At four measurement points across a period of 100 days, six children, two each at the age of 9, 12, and 21 months, were videotaped at home interacting with their mothers; at each point, mothers were interviewed about children's competencies. Changes in behaviour frequencies and interaction patterns were consistent with hypotheses that mothers adjust their socialising interactions to children's growing competencies in developmental tasks. Before tasks were begun, interactions could be characterised as nurturant (contingent maternal support for dependent behaviour only); when children were actively learning in a task, interactions evolved into complementary patterns (maternal support for both dependent and independent behaviours); and when competence was firmly established, mothers rarely showed contingent support for either dependent or independent task-related behaviours. The discussion contrasts processes of developmental change in socialising contexts with assumptions about the stability of childrearing practices.
Proffles of Emotional Development: Individual Differences in Facial and Vocal Expression of Emotion during the Second and Third Years of Life
Authors: Malatesta-Magai Carol , Leak Sharon , Tesman Johanna , Shepard Beth , Culver Clayton , Smaggia Beatrice
Published: March 2013

This study is a third-year (34 months) follow-up investigation of the socioemotional behaviours of preterm and fullterm children previously seen at four points in time during the first two years of life. A total of 42 mother/ child pairs were seen for videotaped mother/child and child/peer play sessions. The tapes were coded on a second-to-second basis using Izard's MAX facial affect coding system and a vocal affect coding system. Data analysis focused on the contribution of the individual difference variables of gender, birth status, attachment classification, and maternal contingency behaviour, to children's expressive development. Expressive patterns in the third year were also compared with those obtained during the children's second year. Results indicated that contrary to developmental theory, facial expressivity does not decrease, at least during this developmental period, and moreover, that vocal affective expression increases. It is suggested that what children learn in development, is greater flexibility in the use of different systems to communicate affect, and greater facility in modulating expressivity according to context. Birth status was found to continue to affect the nature of affective development into the third year; preterm children were less vocally expressive than their fullterm counterparts, and preterm females showed greater facial negativity. Few other gender differences in expressivity were apparent, although mothers treated their children differentially. Moderate maternal contingency in infancy was related to greater vocal affectivity in children. Insecure attachment was associated with a degree of apparent tension and affective disharmony.
The Formation of Independent Behaviour in Preschoolers: An Experimental Analysis of Conformity and Independence
Authors: Subbotsky E. V.
Published: March 2013

This research tested the motivational structure of conformity and independent behaviour in children aged from 3 to 7 years of age. The experimental group consisted of the child, an adult confederate, and the experimenter. The child and the partner sat facing each other at a table, with the experimenter to one side. The child and his or her partner were asked to fulfil a certain programme that was known to them, but the confederate partner alternated correct actions with incorrect actions in random order. Variations of the experimental conditions ("screening" vs. "no-screening") of the partner indicated that imitation of the adult's incorrect actions by the child (conformity) was caused by the child's belief in the infallibility of the adult rather than by fear of the adult's disapproval (Experiment 1). Children who did not imitate the adult's incorrect actions (independence) in the presence of the experimenter, continued to behave in the same manner even after the experimenter had been isolated behind a cardboard screen (Experiment 2). Therefore, the child's independent behaviour in this situation is not a "reversed imitation" of the experimenter's signals, but rather is based on the child's self-esteem. Finally, independent behaviour could be substantially increased if during lessons in a preschool class one adult occupied a position of "child" while another behaved in traditional teacher-like ways (Experiment 3). Moreover, the independent behaviour the children exhibited toward the first adult was transferred to the second. The study showed that independent behaviour in preschool children can be enhanced in a classroom if children's traditional submissive position in their interaction with adults is replaced by a position of equal partners.
Portuguese Children's Judgements of Moral, Prosocial, and Academic Norms: Duty or Aspiration?
Authors: Lourengo Orlando M.
Published: March 2013

Borrowing from Fuller's distinction between duty and aspiration, we examined Portuguese children's attributions of credit and blame for good and bad deeds in moral, prosocial, and academic norms. In addition, we made crosscultural comparisons with US and Japanese children, and suggested that the frequently reported tendency for children to give more weight to negative outcomes than positive ones may be due to a common belief (i.e. "fundamental-education error") that states that people should not have to be praised for doing what they should do, but should always be blamed or punished for misbehaviour. A total of 81 children aged from 5 to 10 were presented with moral, prosocial, and academic scenarios representing either adherences to, or violations of, norms. Children's own judgements of credit and blame, and children's predictions of what their teachers would do if forced to choose between sanctioning a positive and a negative act were assessed. The results showed that: (1) Portuguese children's attributions of credit and blame for moral and academic norms were similar to those observed for US and Japanese children with regard to a rank order of domains, but not in absolute terms; (2) at an early age, Portuguese children commit the "fundamental-education error"; and (3) the duty-aspiration asymmetry is not as pervasive as has been claimed.
Narrative and Logical Strategies in Socio-cognitive Interaction between Children
Authors: Fonzi Ada , Smorti Andrea
Published: March 2013

This study is an analysis of the "meaning giving" process in children when they have to classify empirical objects. There are three stages to the experiment: (1) the children performed a classification task individually; (2) they performed it with a companion; (3) in the individual control situation they performed it again but alone.

The aim of this research project was to establish: (1) how children change the meanings they give to objects when they move from an individual situation to a social one; and (2) the role of the two children's different classification strategies in the negotiation of shared meanings. The sample consisted of 72 6-year-old children. Three different classification criteria were distinguished: category; function; and narrative.

The results showed that children who used narrative criteria in the first phase ("narrative children") modified them during the second phase in favour of more categorial criteria. Analysis of the interactional process revealed that narrative children were significantly more willing than "logical children" (who had used categorial criteria in the first phase) to come to terms with their companion's point of view. In the third phase both types of children changed their classification strategies, in part absorbing their companion's classification approach. We conclude that: (1) the personal approach to giving a meaning to objects influences the individual child's interaction strategies; and (2) the experience of comparison and social conflict modifies attribution of meaning in narrative and logical children.
Community Violence and Young South African Children's Involvement in Aggression
Authors: Liddell Christine , Kvalsvig Jane , Qotyana Pumla , Shabalala Agnes
Published: March 2013

Five-year-old children from four different communities in South Africa were observed during their everyday patterns of play and social participation. The communities differed in terms of the levels of community violence that researchers encountered during two years of data collection. The results indicated that children from more violent communities were significantly more likely to be involved in aggressive episodes, and that this was particularly so in cases where children had more contact with older boys and men. The predictive model for involvement in aggression, as developed in this study, illustrates the importance of combining demographic variables with variables pertaining to children's actual behaviour. The results are also discussed in terms of their implications for young South African children; although growing up in violent communities is associated with greater involvement in aggressive behaviour, the degree to which this can be considered seriously pathological is called into question by some of the results.
Encounters with Aggressive Peers in Early Childhood: Frequency, Age Differences, and Correlates of Risk for Behaviour Problems
Authors: Sinclair Jamie J. , Pettit Gregory S. , Harrist Amanda W. , Dodge Kenneth A. , Bates John E.
Published: March 2013

The primary goal of the present study was to describe the range, types, and quality (in terms of exposure to aggressive peers) of social activity settings in which young children typically have contact with peers. We also examined whether participation in these settings varied as a function of child sex and age, and family demographic characteristics. Subjects were 277 preschoolaged children. On the basis of detailed accounts of their mothers, activity setting measures were derived separately for ages 2-4 years (era 1) and ages 4-5 years (era 2). Each of seven activity settings (e.g. neighbourhood, day care, organised playgroups) was rated for frequency of participation and frequency of exposure to aggressive peers. Children had the greatest amount of peer contact and were exposed to aggressive peers most often in the neighbourhood setting. In contrast, children participated least frequently in structured playgroup settings, and these settings were least likely to contain aggressive peers. Children from lower SES and single-parent families were more likely to be involved in settings (especially neighbourhoods) containing aggressive peers. These findings suggest that one mechanism through which risk for behaviour problems among children in lower SES and single-parent families may operate is increased exposure to activity settings in which aggression occurs regularly.
A Longitudinal Study of Childhood Behaviour Problems, Maternal Employment, and Day Care in a Rural Norwegian Community
Authors: Borge Anne I. H. , Melhuish Edward C.
Published: March 2013

A longitudinal study followed 120 children and their families of a rural cohort from the preschool period until 10 years of age. The prevalence of behaviour problems was similar to that found in other studies in different countries, except at the age of 10, when a modification of the cutoff point was indicated for the parental report measure. The prevalence of behaviour problems was initially influenced by gender and intelligence test scores. Day care centre experience at a later age was associated with lower levels of behaviour problems, as perceived by parents. At age 10, teachers' perceptions indicated that early maternal employment was associated with higher levels of behaviour problems.
Comprehension of Rules and Structures in MotherInfant Games: A Longitudinal Study of the First Two Years of Life
Authors: Rome-Flanders Tibie , Cossette Louise , Ricard Marcelle , Décarie Thérèse Gouin
Published: March 2013

This study explored the increasing abilities of infants to play and comprehend the rules and structures of mother-infant games. A total of 25 infants were videotaped as they played peek-a-boo and ball with their mothers at 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, and 24 months of age. Behaviours related to the mood of the infants and to their game-relevant gestures were analysed. Crucial game gestures and mood behaviours changed significantly with age. However, the pattern of change differed for the two games. Moreover, at each age level, each game was associated with a distinct pattern of behaviours. These results are described as indices of the infants' mastery of the rules and structures of the game.
Young Children's Communication Skills in Triads
Authors: Tremblay-Leveau Hélène , Nadel Jacqueline
Published: March 2013

The purpose of this study was to investigate children's nonverbal intrusions into an ongoing interaction. The subjects were 60 children, divided into groups of 11, 16, and 23 months of age. Two same-aged peers were observed together with an adult experimenter. Both children and adult behaviours were recorded with two cameras. Coding of behaviours proceeded in four steps in order to sort object oriented and socially directed behaviours specifying their social aim and their temporal organisation. The results show that as early as 11 months, children produce acts directed to one as opposed to two partners. These single and double oriented behaviours are used for initiations as well as for responses. As opposed to dyadic interactions, the temporal contiguity of double oriented behaviours enhancing triadic interactions increased during the second year, and at 23 months children were more likely to select a new referent to introduce a triadic interaction than a dyadic interaction.
Using the HOME Inventory with Infants in Costa Rica
Authors: Lozoff Betsy , Park Angela M. , Radan Angela E. , Wolf Abraham W.
Published: March 2013

This study determined the psychometric properties of the HOME (Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment) Inventory in a Latin American sample. HOME data for 183 healthy Costa Rican infants were compared to the original HOME standardisation sample from Little Rock. The Costa Rican total HOME average of 29.8 ± 6.7 was similar to the scores of families in Little Rock (mean = 31.2 ± 7.3). Measures or internal consistency and factor structure were similar in US and Costa Rican samples. In contrast to these similarities, Costa Rican HOME scores showed no significant correlation with developmental test scores in infancy (Bayley MDI), and the correlation with Full Scale IQ (WPPSI) at five years was modest, albeit statistically significant (r = 0.28, P < 0.05). These relationships were similar to those of Mexican-American children in a recent collaborative study by Bradley et al., 1989 and not as strong as for US white and black populations. However, when the concept of outcome was broadened beyond IQ scores to include child health and development in general, the HOME seemed sensitive to important environmental differences in this Costa Rican group. Lower HOME scores related to a shorter duration of breastfeeding and differentiated children with iron deficiency anaemia in infancy, a condition associated with long-lasting developmental disadvantage. Thus, the HOME was helpful in identifying children at risk for delayed development in this Latin American sample.