bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Curves formed by colonies of micro-organisms growing on a plane surface
Authors: Waddell Agnes H.
Published: October 2008

In many cases, when a colony of micro-organisms such as moulds, yeasts or bacteria grows on the plane surface of a solid medium (e.g.agar), starting from a single cell, the colony tends to grow as an ever expanding circle. The reason for this is that every cell, if free from competition, can multiply at roughly a constant rate in all directions in a plane, limited by the fact that territory occupied by one cell cannot be occupied by another. For the purposes of the present discussion, we can assume, as a first approximation, that the whole process is two-dimensional.
A note on rectifiable curves
Authors: Newns W. F.
Published: October 2008

Let f be a continuous complex-valued function of a real parameter whose real and imaginary parts are of bounded variation in the range (a, b) of the parameter, so that the range of f is a rectifiable plane curve. The main results connecting the arc-length s with the parametrization are as follows:

Theorem 1 (Tonelli). For any rectifiable curve,

equality holding for all α, β (a ≤ α < β ≤ b) if and only if f is absolutely continuous in (a, b).
A remark about canonical forms
Authors: Perfect Hazel
Published: October 2008

A comparison of the rational and classical canonical forms of a square matrix reveals that for a nilpotent matrix the two are identical. In this note I describe how we may utilise this fact in solving the problem of reducing a given matrix to classical canonical form. I believe that the point which I try to make in what follows is one which is not always explicitly remarked upon in the literature, and it has therefore seemed to me to be worth while to stress it here.
A further note on differentials
Authors: Phillips E. G.
Published: October 2008

Since the publication of my article on “The advantage of differentials in the technique of differentiation” both Dr H. A. Hayden and Prof. A. Oppenheim have kindly pointed out to me that there is a much shorter solution of the problem by partial derivatives than the one which I gave as Solution 2. The solution is as follows:—

If y and z are the independent variables we have, since

which gives the result required.
On pedal tetrahedra
Authors: Robinson R. T.
Published: October 2008

1. In a tetrahedron ABCD with its opposite edges perpendicular there are two tetrahedra which can be described as pedal tetrahedra. (1) the tetrahedron A0B0C0D0 where these points are the feet of the perpendiculars from ABCD on to the faces BCD.
Some properties of the paraboloid z = x2 + y2
Authors: Pedoe D.
Published: October 2008

In a recent paper, I showed how the properties of algebraic systems of circles in the (x, y) plane could be investigated by means of a representation in which to the circle x2 + y2 − 2px − 2qy + r = 0 there corresponds the point (p, q, r) in space of three dimensions. The plane of (x, y) may be considered to lie in the space (x, y, z), so that the centre of the mapped circle is the orthogonal projection of the representative point.
Some properties of the line of striction of a ruled surface
Authors: Behari Ram
Published: October 2008

1. It is known that

(i) the line of striction of a ruled surface is the locus of points at which the geodesic curvatures of the orthogonal trajectories of the generators vanish,

(ii) if at each point of a curve C on a surface, a tangent to the surface is drawn, and these tangents generate a ruled surface of which C is the line of striction, then, if each tangent is turned through a constant angle α about its point of contact in the tangent plane, the new set of tangents also form a ruled surface with C as a line of striction.
Notes on polnomials in schoolwork
Authors: Lawson G.
Published: October 2008

1. Teachers tell me that in the final proof of the Remainder Theorem, where lurks the possible fallacy of dividing by x – h which cannot be zero, and then putting x equal to h, they adopt Hyslop's (Math. Notes 25, 1930) redefinition. I here suggest an approach and treatment which I do not find in the textbooks.
A note on some networks of polygons
Authors: Barrett W.
Published: October 2008

Given an infinity of polygons which form the boundary of a finite number of polyhedra, we shall consider the complex K consisting of the polyhedra, and of the faces, edges and vertices of the polygons. We consider only those cases in which the Eulerian Characteristic N of K is finite. Then if the mean number of sides meeting at a vertex is p, and the mean number of sides of a polygon is q, then
Some problems of non-associative combinations (2)
Authors: Erdelyi A. , Etherington I. M. H.
Published: October 2008

§ 1. The preceding Note has shown the connection between the partition of a convex polygon by non-crossing diagonals and the insertion of brackets in a product, the latter being more commonly represented by the construction of a tree. It was shown that the enumeration of these entities leads to a generating function y = f(x) which satisfies an algebraic equation of the type

In simple cases, the solution of the equation was found as a power series in x, the coefficient An of xn giving the required number of partitions of an (n + 1)-gon.
Measure and Integral
Authors: Rogosinski W. W.
Published: October 2008

1. It is now nearly half a century since H. Lebesgue, whose obituary the reader may have seen in Nature not so long ago, created his theory of the integral which since then has superseded in modern analysis the classical conception due to B. Riemann. It is, I think, regrettable that knowledge of the Lebesgue integral seems to be still largely confined to the research worker. There is nothing unduly abstract or unnatural in this theory, nor anything in the proofs which would be too difficult for a good honours student to grasp. If the aim of university education be the teaching of general ideas and methods rather than that of technicalities, then the modern notion of the integral should not be omitted from the mathematical syllabus. It is the purpose of this purely expository note to sketch the build up of both the Riemann and the Lebesgue integral on the common geometrical basis of “measure” and thus to make evident to the uninitiated reader the striking advantages of the new integral.
Finite protective geometry
Authors: Walker A. G.
Published: October 2008

1. The following description of the projective geometry of a finite number of points in 2-space is almost certainly known to those acquainted with projective geometry or with modern algebra. The object of this brief account is to show how certain finite systems can be presented in a form easily understood by students, and how they provide simple but instructive examples of fundamental ideas and “constructions.” The fact that these examples belong to a geometry which is essentially non-Euclidean has great teaching value to those students who are apt to confuse projective geometry with the “method of projection” in Euclidean geometry. The underlying algebra is described briefly in § 4, but an understanding of this is not essential to the geometry. This algebraic work may, however, be of interest to those to whom Galois fields are fairly new.
On isoptic families of curves
Authors: Richmond H. W.
Published: October 2008

1. Imagine that a number of straight lines, coplanar and concurrent, are united so as to form as it were a rigid frame. Imagine that this frame is moved (continuously) in the plane in such a way that two selected lines always touch two cycloids traced in the plane. Then it will be found that

Every line of the frame will move so as to envelope a cycloid.
Colin Maclaurin
Authors: Schlapp Robert
Published: October 2008

ColinMaclaurin, of West Highland ancestry, a son of the manse, was born at Kilmodan, between the Kyles of Bute and upper Loch Fyne, in February 1698. His father, who was minister there, died soon after, and his mother died when he was 9; the care of Colin and his brothers devolved on their uncle Daniel, who was minister of the neighbouring parish of Kilfinnan. At the age of 11 Colin, already proficient in Latin and Greek, entered Glasgow University, and graduated M.A. in his fifteenth year. It was here that he discovered his mathematical bent, and he is said to have mastered the first six books of Euclid in a few days after finding them accidentally in a friend's rooms.
A note on an identity of Jacobi's
Authors: Walls Nancy
Published: October 2008

That the determinant

where hr is the rth complete homogeneous symmetric function in a set of n arguments, is equal to the quotient of a particular pair of alternants was shown essentially by Jacobi in 1841 and by Trudi in 1864. The present note exhinits this well-know relation, (3), as the immediate consequence of a simple matrix equality.
Some series for π
Authors: Walsh C. E.
Published: October 2008

Consider three sequences αn, Dn, kn (n = 1, 2, 3,…), such that Dnan→0 and, for n > 1,

Then Hence, writing Σ for ,

if either series converges. This will be applied to derive various series for π from the two known results1

,

where Nn = 3. 5. ….(2n + 1).
Euler's limit for ex and the exponential series
Authors: Macintyre A. J.
Published: October 2008

1948 is the bicentenary of Euler's discovery that

This note gives a brief account of the subsequent work on these relations and a proof of the equivalence of limit and series which appears to involve new features.
A note on the logarithmic derivative of the gamma function
Authors: Guinand A. P.
Published: October 2008

The object of this note is to give simpler proof* of two formulae involving the function ψ (z) which I have proved elsewhere by more complicated methods.
A property of quartic curves with two cusps and one node
Authors: Primrose E. J. F.
Published: October 2008

1. A method of characterising plane curves was given by Plücker, who showed that the degree (n), the class (m), and the numbers of nodes (δ), bitangents (τ), cusps (κ), and inflexional tangents (ι) are connected by three independent relations. He showed also that n and m, δ and τ, κ and ι are dual pairs.
A theorem on cardinal numbers
Authors: Newns W. F.
Published: October 2008

A classical theorem of Cantor states that the class of all sub-classes of a given class has a cardinal greater than that of the given class. This theorem is here established in a sharpened form, which was suggested to me by a question set by Professor J. M. Whittaker, F.R.S, in the 1950 examination for the Honours B.Sc. Degree at Liverpool.
Mechanical devices for solving quadratic and cubic equations
Authors: Stokes G. D. C.
Published: October 2008

Quadratic Equations. The device is designed to give the numerical value of the numerically smaller root of the equation x2 – px + q = 0, the other root and the signs of the roots α, β being found thereafter from the relations α + β = p, α β = q.
The characteristic polynomials of AB and BA
Authors: Williamson J. H.
Published: October 2008

Let A and B be square matrices of the same order, with elements in any field F; it is well known that the characteristic polynomials of AB and BA are the same (see, e.g. C. C. Macduffee, Theory of Matrices, p. 23). The proof of this is easy when one at least of the matrices is non-singular; the object of the following remarks (which are not claimed as original) is to point out that the case | A | = | B | = 0 is just as easy. If one attempts to deduce the result in this case from the result in the non-singular case, unnecessary restrictions on the field F are apt to appear (see e.g., W. V. Parker, American Mathematical Monthly, vol. 60 (1953) p. 316). If one proceeds directly to the general case, no difficulties are encountered.
Expression of calcium-binding proteins in pathways from the nucleus of the basal optic root to the cerebellum in pigeons
Authors: WYLIE DOUGLAS R.W. , PAKAN JANELLE M.P. , GUTIÉRREZ-IBÁÑEZ CRISTIÁN , IWANIUK ANDREW N.
Published: October 2008

Calcium-binding protein expression has proven useful in delineating neural pathways. For example, in birds, calbindin is strongly expressed in the tectofugal pathway, whereas parvalbumin (PV) is strongly expressed in the thalamofugal pathway. Whether neurons within other visual regions also differentially express calcium-binding proteins, however, has not been extensively studied. The nucleus of the basal optic root (nBOR) is a retinal-recipient nucleus that is critical for the generation of the optokinetic response. The nBOR projects to the cerebellum both directly and indirectlyviathe inferior olive (IO). The cerebellar and IO projections originate from different neurons within the nBOR, but whether they can also be differentiated based on calcium-binding protein expression is unknown. In this study, we combined retrograde neuronal tracing from the cerebellum and IO with fluorescent immunohistochemistry for PV and calretinin (CR) in the nBOR of pigeons. We found that about half (52.3%) of the cerebellar-projecting neurons were CR+ve, and about one-third (33.6%) were PV+ve. Most (90%) of these PV+ve cells were also labeled for CR. In contrast, very few of the IO-projecting neurons expressed CR or PV (≤2%). Thus, the direct nBOR–cerebellar and indirect nBOR–olivocerebellar pathways to the cerebellum can be distinguished based on the differential expression of CR and PV.
Nature, nurture, and psychopathology: A new look at an old topic
Authors: Rutter Michael
Published: October 2008

The important implications for developmental psychopathology that derive from advances in psychiatric and behavioral genetics are discussed in relation to a series of mistaken stereotypes: that strong effects mean that environmental influences must be unimportant; that genes provide a limit to potential; that genetic strategies are of no value for studying environmental influences; that nature and nurture are separate; that genes for serious diseases are necessarily bad; that diseases have nothing to do with normal variation; that genetic findings will not help identify diseases; that genetic influences diminish with age; that disorders that run in families must be genetic; that disorders that seem not to run in families cannot be genetic; and that single major genes lead only to specific rare diseases that follow a Mendelian pattern. The reasons why these stereotypes are mistaken are considered in relation to genetic concepts and findings.
Autistic children understand seeing and wanting
Authors: Tan Jacinta , Harris Paul L.
Published: October 2008

Autistic children were assessed for their understanding of seeing and wanting. In Experiment 1, they judged whether a target was visible to each of two observers (a Level 1 task of visual perspective-taking) and which of two targets each observer would identify as “in front” (a Level 2 task). The autistic children performed as well as normal children of the same verbal mental age on both tasks. In Experiment 2, autistic children identified the emotion that familiar situations would elicit, expressed a selective preference or desire, and reidentified that desire despite an outcome that thwarted it. Their performance was similar to that of normal and retarded children equated for verbal mental age. An explanation is offered for autistic children's difficulty on some psychological tasks and their relative success on others.
Noncompliant behavior, overactivity, and family stress as predictors of negative maternal control with preschool children
Authors: Campbell Susan B. , Pierce Elizabeth W. , March Cynthia L. , Ewing Linda J.
Published: October 2008

The independent contributions of preschool children's noncompliance and overactivity/inattention and measures of family stress to the prediction of negative maternal control were examined in two cohorts of children. In Cohort 1, children's noncompliant and hyperactive behavior each predicted more negative maternal control, whereas in Cohort 2, the interaction between noncompliance and overactivity was predictive of particularly high levels of negative control. In Cohort 2, stressful life events, maternal depression, and marital distress were also associated with negative maternal control. Stressful life events interacted with noncompliance indicating that the combination of a difficult child and a high level of family stress exacerbated the tendency of mothers of preschool children to exert negative control to gain compliance. Results indicate that factors external to the mother-child relationship exert an independent influence on maternal behavior.
Intelligence and social competence among high-risk adolescents
Authors: Luthar Suniya S. , Zigler Edward
Published: October 2008

Interactions between intelligence and psychosocial factors were examined in terms of influences on social competence among 144 inner-city ninth-grade students. Psychosocial variables examined included ego development, locus of control, and positive and negative life events. Definitions of social competence were based on peer ratings, teacher ratings, and school grades. Results indicated that, unlike their less intelligent peers, intelligent youngsters showed higher competence levels at high versus low levels of both ego development and internal locus of control. Findings were interpreted in the context of sociocultural influences on academic achievement among disadvantaged adolescents.
Functional deficits in the self and depression in widows
Authors: Gentile Jill , Cicchetti Dante , O'Brien Ruth A. , Rogosch Fred A.
Published: October 2008

This study addressed the role of deficits in the organization of the self, or narcissistic pathology, among widows who evidenced depressive outcomes following the loss of their husbands. The significance of object representations and self-regulatory capacities (introjects) within the self-representation in predicting psychiatric status in a sample of 77 widows 1 year after spousal loss was examined. In addition, the link between functional deficits within the self and observable state markers of such deficits as they related to depression was investigated. A combination of projective and self-report measures were used to assess self and object representation. The General Health Questionnaire (Goldberg & Hillier, 1979) and the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed.) (Spitzer & Williams, 1985) were employed as measures of psychiatric disorder. Analyses revealed that functional aspects of self representations, or introjects, differentiated clinically depressed widows from those experiencing “normal” mourning. However, object representations were relatively weak predictors of depression following bereavement and evidenced little association with self representation. Observable markers of self-pathology were strongly related to functional impairments in the self but did not operate causally to predict depressive outcome. Theoretical and clinical implications of the linkage between functional deficits in the self and depression are discussed.
Bridging the gap between interpersonal thought and action in early adolescence: The role of psychodynamic processes
Authors: Schultz Lynn Hickey , Selman Robert L.
Published: October 2008

This study examines the relations among style and development level of four interpersonal and intrapsychic processes: interpersonal thought, self-reported interpersonal action, mechanisms of defense, and object representation. Subjects were 25 girls and 25 boys from the eighth grade of an urban public school System. All four constructs were measured along developmental and stylistic dimensions. Both interpersonal thought and self-reported action processes were measured with the hypothetical and real-life interpersonal negotiation strategies interviews of Selman and colleagues. Defensive process was measured with a questionnaire revised to include Vaillant's developmental analysis of defense mechanisms as well as assessment of style of defense (internalizing vs. externalizing). Object representation style and level were measured with constructs and instruments of Blatt and colleagues. The results supported the main hypothesis: Levels of defense mechanisms and object representation independently predicted level of self-reported interpersonal action, even when controlling for level of interpersonal thought (which also predicted action). This suggests that if there are gaps between interpersonal thought and action levels, the relative level of maturity of psychodynamic processes helps explain action level. In contrast, there were few relationships among the stylistic components of the four constructs, although each style construct was related to its associated level construct. Contrary to hypotheses, no gender differences were found on any of the composited level or style variables. The study suggests operational links between structural-developmental and psychodynamic aspects of personality.
Developmental antecedents of sexual aggression
Authors: Prentky R. A. , Knight R. A. , Sims-Knight J. E. , Straus H. , Rokous F. , Cerce D.
Published: October 2008

In this study, 82 sex offenders incarcerated at the Massachusetts Treatment Center were administered a brief structured clinical interview focusing on caregiver and institutional history up to age 18. Interview data were examined along with archival information coded from the clinical files. Four factors were derived from principal components analysis and were entered into a series of multiple regression analyses. There were two noteworthy results. First, sexual and nonsexual aggression in adulthood each were related to distinct aspects of developmental history. Whereas caregiver inconstancy and sexual deviation in the family wére related to the severity of sexual aggression, childhood and juvenile institutional history and physical abuse and neglect were associated with severity of nonsexual aggression. Second, contrary to previous studies of other criminal populations, the severity of aggression rather than frequency of crimes was predicted by developmental history. The results of the study suggest that childhood experiences with and disruption of caregiver relationships may be important to understanding sexual aggression in adulthood.
On sharing experiences
Authors: Hobson R. Peter
Published: October 2008

Mundy and Sigman (1989) note that a problem arises in reconciling the existence of joint-attention deficits in autism with Leslie's (1987) theory that autistic children lack an innate, late-appearingmetarepresentational capacity. Such a theory fails to encompass earlier rooted and perhaps more basic manifestations of autistic children's impairments in interpersonal coordination and intersubjective communication. The account provided by Mundy and Sigman, while promising, fails to address a critical question: How is it that autistic children have limited understanding that other people are subjects of experience with whom things can be shared? 1 suggest that an answer emerges only when we pay due regard to the nature of normal and autistic interpersonal relations. Here the authors' cognitive-behavioral analysis of affective exchanges between people leaves out the heart (and much of the mind) of the matter.
Family deviance and family disruption in childhood: Associations with maternal behavior and infant maltreatment during the first two years of life
Authors: Lyons-Ruth Karlen , Zoll David , Connell David , Grunebaum Henry U.
Published: October 2008

A structured childhood history interview was administered to 50 low-income mothers of infants. Three levels of risk for infant maltreatment were represented in the sample, including 10 maltreatment cases. Maternal behavior at home was rated and factor analyzed when the infants were 12 months and 18 months old, yielding separate factors labelled maternal involvement and hostile-intrusiveness. Risk for maltreatment was strongly correlated with the overall adversity of the mother's childhood history. Maternal hostile-intrusive behavior was best accounted for by psychiatric disorder in the mother's own mother and poor peer relationships in childhood. Maternal involvement was negatively associated with a separate cluster of variables indexing family disruption and lack of supervision. The emergence of two separate clusters of associations — positive affective involvement and negative affective involvement — is related to similar two-dimensional results in studies of self-reported mood, infant attachment relationships, and peer relationships. Implications of a two-dimensional affective construct for future theorizing in developmental psychopathology are discussed.
Stability of internalizing symptoms from kindergarten to first grade and factors related to instability
Authors: Pianta Robert C. , Castaldi Joanna
Published: October 2008

This research examines the frequency and stability of internalizing symptoms in a sample of 325 5-year-olds. Parent and teacher ratings, teacher nominations, parent-child interaction, and child measures were obtained. Of the sample, 4% were nominated as depressed by teachers. With the use of cutoff scores on teacher ratings, an average of 17% of the children were rated as having moderate problems on the internalizing scale in November and April of kindergarten, and in February of first grade. Parent-teacher stability correlations ranged from .24 to .27, while teacher ratings from November and April correlated at .60. Instability in internalizing symptoms from kindergarten to first grade was related to a number of concurrent and previously assessed factors, most notably, attention problems, reliance on mother, and child intelligence. These factors combined to account for an additional 8% of the variance in first grade internalizing symptoms after controlling for internalizing symptoms in kindergarten.
Partial least squares analysis in developmental psychopathology
Authors: Ketterlinus Robert D. , Bookstein Fred L. , Sampson Paul D. , Lamb Michael E.
Published: October 2008

Despite extensive theoretical and empirical advances in the last two decades, little attention has been paid to the development of statistical techniques suited for the analysis of data gathered in studies of developmental psychopathology. As in most other studies of developmental processes, research in this area often involves complex constructs, such as intelligence and antisocial behavior, measured indirectly using multiple observed indicators. Relations between pairs of such constructs are sometimes reported in terms of latent variables (LVs): linear combinations of the indicators of each construct. We introduce the assumptions and procedures associated with one method for exploring these relations: partial least squares (PLS) analysis, which maximizes covariances between predictor and outcome LVs; its coefficients are correlations between observed variables and LVs, and its LVs are sums of observable variables weighted by these correlations. In the least squares logic of PLS, familiar notions about simple regressions and principal component analyses may be reinterpreted as rules for including or excluding particular blocks in a model and for “splitting” blocks into multiple dimensions. Guidelines for conducting PLS analyses and interpreting their results are provided using data from the Goteborg Daycare Study and the Seattle Longitudinal Prospective Study on Alcohol and Pregnancy. The major advantages of PLS analysis are that it (1) concisely summarizes the intercorrelations among a large number of variables regardless of sample size, (2) yields coefficients that are readily interpretable, and (3) provides straightforward decision rules about modeling. The advantages make PLS a highly desirable technique for use in longitudinal research on developmental psychopathology. The primer is written primarily for the nonstatistician, although formal mathematical details are provided in Appendix 1.
Prediction of behavior problems in 4-year-olds born prematurely
Authors: Goldberg Susan , Corter Carl , Lojkasek Mirek , Minde Klaus
Published: October 2008

Longitudinal follow-up data for 69 very low birthweight preterm infants were used to assess the influence of four factors (neonatal medical complications, infant temperament, mother-child relationships, and family environment) on mother and teacher reports of behavior problems at 4 years. The proposed model of such influences being tested assumed that (1) the effects of neonatal medical factors would be indirect, and (2) each of the other three factors would show high stability from 1 to 4 years and would have a direct influence on behavior problem outcomes. Neither neonatal medical data nor infant-mother attachment were good predictors of behavior problems at age 4. With these exceptions, teacher report of behavior problems was predicted in a fashion consistent with the preliminary model. However, mother reports of behavior problems was predicted only by prior mother reports of child temperament. Discussion focuses on reasons for discrepancies in these pathways of influence.
Attachment in preschoolers with disruptive behavior: A comparison of clinic-referred and nonproblem children
Authors: Speltz Matthew L. , Greenberg Mark T. , Deklyen Michelle
Published: October 2008

This study tested the hypothesis that preschool-aged children with significant externalizing behavior problems are more likely to have insecure attachment relationships than nonproblem peers, as measured by separation/ reunion behavior at the time of clinic referral. Fifty children (ages 3–6) and their mothers participated: 25 referred to a child psychiatry clinic for one of the DSM-III-R Disruptive Behavior Disorders, and 25 matched comparison children without behavior problems. Using two new attachment coding systems for children of this age, we found that 84% of the children in the clinic group were classified as insecure, whereas only 28% of the comparison group were so classified (p <.001). Clinic children were also found more frequently to protest their mother's departure and to search for her more often during the separation. The implications of these results for the validity of separation/reunion behavior as an index of attachment at this age are discussed, as well as the methodological and conceptual problems that complicate our study of the link between attachment and behavior disorder.
Attachment organization and treatment use for adults with serious psychopathological disorders
Authors: Dozier Mary
Published: October 2008

Individual differences in attachment organization among adults with serious psychopathological disorders were related to strategies of treatment use. Forty young adults with serious psychopathological disorders were administered the Adult Attachment Interview (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1984), and their clinicians completed ratings of treatment use. Attachment organization was assessed using the Attachment Q-set (Kobak, 1989), yielding ratings of security/anxiety and avoidance/preoccupation. In preliminary analyses, diagnosis was found to be related to security, with greater security associated with affective rather than thought disorders. Gender was related to avoidance/preoccupation, with males having stronger avoidant tendencies than females. The effects of diagnosis and gender were partialled out of subsequent analyses. As predicted, greater security was associated with more compliance with treatment, as rated by clinicians. Stronger avoidant tendencies were associated with greater rejection of treatment providers, less self-disclosure, and poorer use of treatment. These findings suggest that attachment organization may be an important determinant of how individuals with serious psychopathological disorders approach attachment figures.
The relationship between maternal attributes in the early life of the child and the child's future criminal behavior
Authors: Stattin Håkan , Klackenberg-Larsson Ingrid
Published: October 2008

The relationship of various personality and behavior describing characteristics of the mother in earliest childhood (ages 1–3) and in later childhood (ages 6–8) to the child's registered criminality up to the age of 30 was investigated for a sample of 122 males. Maternal attributes were rated by psychologists and nurses. Canonical correlations, measuring the relationship between the set of maternal attributes in young age of the child and the future registered criminality of the subjects, were in the magnitudes of .40 to .50. Both in early and in later childhood, mother's mood and her perceived maturity were attributes that, controlled for socioeconomic status of the home and mother's age, were significantly related to the child's future criminal behavior. In addition, mother's affective attitude in later childhood was significantly related to registered crime among the subjects. The change in prognostic power of maternal attributes from early to later childhood was discussed.
Environmental influences on early language development: The context of social risk
Authors: Morisset Colleen E. , Barnard Kathryn E. , Greenberg Mark T. , Booth Cathryn L. , Spieker Susan J.
Published: October 2008

The impact of environmental risk on toddlers' cognitive and linguistic development was investigated in a longitudinal study of 78 high-risk families. The risk factors examined were family social status, mother's psychosocial functioning, and quality of dyadic involvement at 1 year of age (including measures of mother-infant interaction and infant-mother attachment security). Child outcome measures included the Bayley MDI (at 24 months) and the Preschool Language Scale (at 36 months). The data indicate that dyadic involvement was an important mediator in the relation between environmental risk and subsequent child competence. Specific relations among early interactive experiences, infant attachment security, and subsequent cognitive and linguistic gain were examined within a framework of risk and protective factors. The results suggest that secure attachment may operate as a protective factor, but only among the more extreme cases in this exclusively high-risk sample.
Conservation and formal thought disorder in schizophrenic and schizotypal children
Authors: Caplan Rochelle , Foy Judith G. , Sigman Marian , Perdue Sondra
Published: October 2008

We studied the conservation scores of 21 schizophrenic and schizotypal children (aged 6;7–12;5 years) and 21 yoked normal mental age matches and their relationship to the Kiddie Formal Thought Disorder Scale measures. Like the normal children, the schizophrenic/schizotypal subjects were able to recognize the invariance of two dimensional space, number, and substance, but not of weight. Unlike the normal children, the schizophrenic/schizotypal children were poor conservers of continuous and discontinuous matter, and this was related to their illogical thinking scores. Age and IQ accounted for the conservation competence of the normal children. The conservation skills of the patients, however, were associated with the severity of their formal thought disorder scores, not with their age or IQ. The developmental approach employed in this study enabled further clarification of the cognitive parameters of formal thought disorder in middle childhood. We discuss the developmental, clinical, and possible information processing implications of these findings.
The Rochester Child Resilience Project: Overview and summary of first year findings
Authors: Cowen Emory L. , Wyman Peter A. , Work William C. , Parker Gayle R.
Published: October 2008

This article describes the Rochester Child Resilience Project (RCRP) and summarizes findings based on its initial year of operation. Among 4th-6th-grade urban children who had experienced significant life stress, convergent sources of evidence about current adjustment identified demographically matched samples of 37 stress-affected (SA) and 40 stress-resilient (SR) children. These two groups were compared on 11 test measures designed to expand the nomological definitional net for the concept of childhood resilience. Additionally, separate in-depth individual interviews were conducted with children and primary caregivers. Both test and interview responses significantly differentiated the groups in the predicted directions. Children's group status (SR vs. SA) was predictable on the basis of discriminant function analysis involving five test measures, blind ratings done both for the parent and child interviews, and hierarchical regression analyses reflecting major domains of the parent interview.
Stability of externalizing symptoms from kindergarten to first grade and factors related to instability
Authors: Pianta Robert C. , Caldwell Constance B.
Published: October 2008

This article examines the frequency and stability of externalizing symptoms in a sample of 325 5-year-olds. Parent and teacher ratings, teacher nominations, parent-child interaction, and child measures were obtained. Using cutoff scores on teacher ratings, an average of 20% of the children were rated as having moderate externalizing problems in kindergarten and first grade. For both boys and girls, parent-teacher stability correlations ranged from .34–.45, and kindergarten teacher ratings from November and April correlated at .76. Instability in externalizing symptoms from kindergarten to first grade was related to a number of concurrent and previously assessed factors. For girls these included learning problems, shy-anxious behavior, mother-child interaction measures, and cognitive ability. Factors related to instability for boys included learning problems, social skills, cognitive ability, and self-control. These variables accounted for an additional 40% of the variance for boys (50% for girls) in first grade externalizing symptoms after controlling for externalizing symptoms in kindergarten.
Depressed mothers' behavioral competence with their infants: Demographic and psychosocial correlates
Authors: Teti Douglas M. , Gelfand Donna M. , Pompa Janiece
Published: October 2008

A multidimensional study examined individual differences in observed behavior of 59 depressed mothers interacting with their 3–13-month-old infants in relation to selected demographic and psychosocial variables. Maternal competence–defined as sensitive, affectively appropriate maternal behavior, was positively related to maternal education, family income, and the number of hours mothers worked outside the home. Maternal competence was inversely related to life stress, marital discord, poor social support, and infant difficulty; all of these relations appeared to be mediated by the women's feelings of self-efficacy in the maternal role. A “risk index,” composed of noncorrelated variables (family income, hours per week mother worked outside the home, and maternal self-efficacy), was strongly related to maternal parenting competence. These results suggest that the quality of depressed mothers' behavior with their babies is related to self-evaluations and contextual risk or protective factors. The findings also highlight the heterogeneity in life circumstances and functioning of depressed women and the probable resulting variability in the level of functioning of their children.
The relationship between biased maternal and filial attributions and the aggressiveness of their interactions
Authors: Mackinnon-Lewis Carol , Lamb Michael E. , Arbuckle Barry , Baradaran Laila P. , Volling Brenda L.
Published: October 2008

This study examined the relation between maternal and filial attributions and the aggressiveness of their interactions. We also examined whether or not certain setting conditions (e.g., maternal and child depression, maternal and child negative life events, maritalconflict, socioeconomic status) predispose some mothers and children to make negative attributions and interact coercively. One hundred four mothers and sons (age 7–9 years) from married and divorced families participated. They completed questionnaire and interview data and were observed while participating in two gamelike tasks (e.g., Trouble, Etch-a-Sketch). Both maternal and child attributions were significantly related to their coercive interactions. The most aggressive dyads were those in which both mothers and sons perceived hostile intent in the other. The relations between attributions and coercive interactions were found to be moderated by marital conflict, and maternal education, such that the association between attributions and coercive behavior, was stronger when marital conflict was low and the mothers were better educated.
Determinants of parenting attitudes in mothers with severe psychopathology
Authors: Rogosch Fred A. , Mowbray Carol T. , Bogat G. Anne
Published: October 2008

Determinants of individual differences in the sensitivity of parenting attitudes were investigated in mothers with schizophrenic or major mood disorders. Constructs from the major domains of the mother's childhood relational experiences, personality, social context, and child characteristics were evaluated in a developmental model to predict differences in parenting attitudes. Two pathways were identified. An index of the severity and chronicity of the mother's disorder was shown to predict less-adaptive parenting attitudes. A second pathway revealed that emotional support from network members influenced self-esteem, which predicted more adaptive parenting attitudes. However, perceptions of childhood relational experiences, particularly maternal uninvolvement, predicted parenting attitudes as well as accounted for relationships among emotional support, self-esteem, and parenting. The results were discussed from an attachment theory perspective. The implications of individual differences in maternal functioning for both the mother and the child's adaptation were discussed, and treatment issues were addressed.
Gender and the development of conduct disorder
Authors: Zoccolillo Mark
Published: October 2008

A discussion of gender and conduct disorder must first answer the basic questions of whether or not there are any differences in prevalence, symptoms, and correlates of conduct disorder by sex. Several epidemiologic studies have found no difference in the prevalence of conduct disorder in adolescence by sex. Correlates of conduct disorder in girls are similar to those in boys (including aggression and internalizing disorders), once base rates of the correlates are accounted for. A major problem in studying conduct disorder in girls is the lack of appropriate criteria; theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual(3rd ed., rev.) criteria are not appropriate for girls. A case is made for sex-specific criteria for conduct disorder that take into account known differences in male and female childhood cultures and base-rate differences in aggression and criminality. Until basic issues of diagnosis and prevalence are resolved, other issues such as risk factors and developmental pathways cannot be successfully addressed.
Toward a developmental epidemiology of the disruptive behavior disorders
Authors: Costello E. Jane , Angold Adrian
Published: October 2008

Epidemiology, the study of patterns of disease distribution in time and space, offers a powerful set of theories and methods for understanding and preventing illness. The disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) can be studied from the point of view of whether or not epidemiological methods could help to understand and prevent them. We suggest that the best approach to the DBDs is one that takes into account both the development of the child and the development of the disorder. Developmental epidemiology is the attempt to use recent advances in developmental psychopathology to help answer questions about how developmental processes increase or decrease vulnerability to DBDs, how risk factors change across childhood, and how the development of the disorder is reflected in rates of onset and patterns of symptomatology. Using examples of primary and secondary prevention studies, we discuss the importance of appropriate sampling strategies and a clearly articulated theoretical background, if intervention trials are to achieve their full utility as tests of a developmental theory of the DBDs.
Main effects or transactions in the neuropsychology of conduct disorder? Commentary on “The neuropsychology of conduct disorder”
Authors: Pennington Bruce F. , Bennetto Loisa
Published: October 2008

In this commentary, we (a) discuss logical and empirical limits on the transactional model in accounting for the etiology of any developmental psychopathology, including conduct disorder (CD), and (b) review evidence bearing on whether or not frontal lobe lesions can directly produce CD behavior. Logically, transactions can both decrease and increase phenotypic variance; moreover, there is a mathematical limit (50%) to the amount of variance for which they can account. Empirically, documenting a transactional effect requires (a) that we have unconfounded measures of a child's biotype and social environment, (b) that the biotype and social environment are correlated, and (c) that we have a design (such as an adoption design) that is capable of separating the contribution of this correlation to outcome variance from the main effects of either biotype or social environment considered separately. Given these limits, we should also look for main effects in the etiology of CD. We argue that early damage or dysfunction in the frontal lobes may be one such plausible main effect on CD.
The role of attachment in the early development of disruptive behavior problems
Authors: Greenberg Mark T. , Speltz Matthew L. , Deklyen Michelle
Published: October 2008

This paper presents information pertaining to attachment processes as risk factors in the development of disruptive behavior in young children. In recognition of the fact that attachment is not the only or necessarily most important risk factor in the prediction of behavior problems, attachment is considered in the context of other domains of variables, including child biologic factors, family ecology, and parental management and socialization practices. Within the attachment domain, we describe three complementary processes that may lead to disruptive behavior: the information-processing aspects of affective-cognitive structures, the function of observable attachment patterns, and the motivational consequences of attachment security. The indirect effects ofmaternalrepresentations of attachment on child disruptive behavior are also considered. Examples of protypical risk factor combinations involving attachment and other domains are provided. The implications of the attachment perspective for research and clinical work with young disruptive children are discussed.
Conduct disorder and antisocial behavior: Some thoughts about processes
Authors: McCord Joan
Published: October 2008

“Whether we form habits of one kind or of another from our very youth…makes a very great difference, or rather all the difference,” claimed Aristotle, wrestling with notions of conduct disorder (CD) and antisocial behavior two thousand years ago (Bk. II, chap. 1). As I respond to the invitation of John Richters and Dante Cicchetti to reflect on “where research on antisocial behavior has been, is now, and is going,” I think about the implications of Aristotle's claim. On the one hand, Aristotle points to the training received during childhood as key to understanding subsequent misbehavior. On the other, he believed that individuals must be responsible for their behavior and that, therefore, they must be able to make choices regarding how to act.
Maternal intrusiveness in infancy and child maladaptation in early school years
Authors: Egeland Byron , Pianta Robert , O'brien Maureen A.
Published: October 2008

Using longitudinal data, a subsample of 37 high-risk children whose mothers were observed to be intrusive in their interactions with their 6-month-old infants in feeding and play situations were compared to 145 children from the same environmental risk sample. The children of mothers judged to be intrusive were doing poorly academically, socially, emotionally, and behaviorally in first and second grades. The findings were robust even after covarying out the effects of a maternal social/affective interaction factor, IQ, and stressful life events experienced by the family. The relation between an intrusive style of caretaking in infancy and child maladaptation in the early school years is viewed as support for a mutual regulation model of social engagement.