bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Positive Illusions and Coping with Adversity
Authors: Taylor Shelley E. , Armor David A.
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT
We review the literature showing that positive illusions (i.e., self‐aggrandizement, unrealistic optimism, and exaggerated perceptions of control) are common and associated with successful adjustment to stressful events, including conditions of extreme adversity. Using theory and recent data, we offer a basis for integrating positive illusions with the constraints of reality. We explicitly contrast the social psychological model of positive illusions with a personality viewpoint that addresses the question “Do higher levels of positive illusions predict higher levels of adjustment?” These issues are explored in the context of people coping with an array of normal stressful events, as well as those coping with more extreme stressful events, including cancer, heart disease, and HIV infection. Life is seldom as unendurable as, to judge by the facts, it ought to be. —Brooks Atkinson

Life is seldom as unendurable as, to judge by the facts, it ought to be.

Brooks Atkinson
The Mismeasure of Coping by Checklist
Authors: Coyne James C. , Gottlieb Benjamin H.
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT
Hundreds of studies have now used standardized checklists to assess respondents' self reports of coping with naturally occurring stress. This article presents a critical review of the conceptual and methodological issues involved in the use of these checklists. As they are currently employed, conventional checklists render an incomplete and distorted portrait of coping. Specifically, these checklists are grounded in too narrow a conception of coping; the application and interpretation of checklists in the typical study are not faithful to a transactional model of stress and coping; statistical controls cannot eliminate the effects of key person and situation variables on coping; and no consistent interpretation can be assigned to coping scale scores. Researchers are encouraged to consider a broader range of methods for assessing coping, including semistructured interviews, customized checklists tailored to their specific hypotheses and objectives, daily diaries, and traditional trait measures.
Genetic and Environmental Influences on Personality: A Study of Twins Reared Together Using the Self‐ and Peer Report NEO‐FFI Scales
Authors: Riemann Rainer , Angleitner Alois , Strelau Jan
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT Previous behavior‐genetic research on personality has been almost exclusively based on self‐report questionnaire measures. The purpose of this research was to measure personality constructs via self‐ and peer reports on the items of the NEO Five‐Factor Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1989). The sample included 660 monozygotic and 200 same sex and 104 opposite sex dizygotic twin pairs. We collected self‐ and two independent peer reports for each of the twins. Our analysis of self‐report data replicates earlier findings of a substantial genetic influence on the Big Five (h2= .42 to .56). We also found this influence for peer reports. Our results validate findings based solely on self‐reports. However, estimates of genetic contributions to phenotypic variance were substantially higher when based on peer reports (h2= .51 to .81) or self‐ and peer reports (h2= .66 to .79) because these data allowed us to separate error variance from variance due to nonshared environmental in‐fluences. Correlations between self‐ and peer reports reflected the same genetic influences to a much higher extent than identical environmental effects.
Further Evidence for the Cross‐Cultural Generality of the Big Seven Factor Model: Indigenous and Imported Spanish Personality Constructs
Authors: Benet‐Martínez Verónica , Waller Niels G.
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT Recent research has established the structural robustness of the Big Seven across samples and targets. In this study we analyze a diverse pool of Spanish personality terms to assess the cross‐cultural and cross‐language robustness of the Big Seven model. Trait terms were culled from an unabridged Spanish dictionary following the nonrestrictive selection criteria previously used by Tellegen and Waller. Self‐ratings on 299 descriptors by 894 Spanish university students yielded a seven‐factor solution that was clearly recognizable—with important cultural‐specific differences—as the Big Seven. These indigenous dimensions were compared with factors from Spanish‐translated Big Seven and Big Five questionnaires. Our results demonstrate that the Big Seven are cross‐culturally and cross‐linguistically robust personality dimensions that are not subsumable by the Big Five.
Predicting Self‐Esteem, Well‐Being, and Distress in a Cohort of Gay Men: The Importance of Cultural Stigma, Personal Visibility, Community Networks, and Positive Identity
Authors: Frable Deborrah E. S. , Wortman Camilla , Joseph Jill
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT Homosexual and bisexual men (N= 825) enrolled in the Multi‐center AIDS Cohort Study in Chicago completed a 90‐minute self‐administered questionnaire that included the Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale, a Well‐Being Index, and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist. Participants indicated their experiences with gay stigma, their visihility as gay men, their involvement in the gay community, and their commitment to a positive gay identity. Data from this predominantly white, young, educated, and tniddle‐class cohort are consistent with a structural model in which cultural stigma is negatively asso‐ciated with positive self‐perceptions. This within‐group result contrasts sharply with between group results that indicate our gay cohort was neither particularly low in global self‐esteetn nor high in psychological distress when compared to nonstigmatized samples.
Personology and the Narrative Interpretation of Lives
Authors: Barresi John , Juckes Tim J.
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT Personology is the science of persons. In this article we show that the concept of person presupposes the continuity of experience and that the storylike structure of lives makes narrative the most promising methodology. Researchers use first‐person narratives as source material and third‐person narratives in describing and interpreting lives because the temporal nature of experience makes it difficult for human beings not to attribute order, direction, and purpose to experience. It is because lives are structured through experience in a storylike manner that their study takes the narrative form. Psychologists' attempts to understand the person are traced from James and Freud, through Murray and Erikson, to Tompkins, McAdams, and Hermans and Kempen. We outline each psychologist's concept of person and show how their case studies illustrate their use of narrative methodology.
Allport's Life and Allport's Psychology
Authors: Winter David G.
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT This article addresses some of the relations between Gordon Allport's life and his psychological theories, focusing on two themes: (a) Allport's junior‐year prize‐winning recounting of Harvard's “Rinehart” legend–the changes and distortions he introduced in his version of the core legend suggest altruistic sublimation of motives for power and prestige; and (b) Allport's relationship with “Jenny,” the mother of “Ross,” his college roommate (he twice published her letters to him as Letters from Jenny.). I suggest that the need to differentiate himself from Ross was one contributing factor to such Allportian theoretical notions as the functional autonomy of motives and the sharp differentiation between “normal” and “abnormal.”
The Case(s) of Gordon Allport
Authors: Barenbaum Nicole B.
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT Gordon Allport has frequently been criticized for advocating the use of idiographic studies but undertaking only one such study himself. This article describes Allport's work on the case of Marion Taylor, an unpublished study that clearly contributed to his later work on the case method. The unfinished Taylor case materials suggest that Ada Allport was an important collaborator in Allport's work with individual cases. The case of Taylor is compared with the later case of Jenny Masterson using Allport's rules for the preparation of case studies in order to shed light on Allport's ambivalence regarding case studies.
2. Models Presented
Authors: Nasby Wiliam , Read Nancy W.
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT This chapter introduces the two theoretical models to be applied to qualitative and quantitative data in the case study of Dodge Morgan. We present the five‐factor model (FFM) and the life‐story model (LSM) separately, with attention to their differing origins, assumptions, and utilities. We briefly trace the development and resurgence of the factor‐analytic FFM and delineate the extent of its current influence in the field of personality. We discuss individual factors and consider the ways in which the model can be expected to be useful as well as limited in application to the individual. We next present the genealogy of the narrative, constructivist LSM and describe its components; we also discuss its contrasting strengths and limitations.
5. Quantitative Analyses
Authors: Nasby William , Read Nancy W.
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT Chapter 5 presents quantitative analyses that examine Morgan longitudinally over the course of the circumnavigation. Variables include cognitive function, daily progress, affective dimensions (Valence and Activation), motives (Achievement, Power, Affiliation‐Intimacy, and Intimacy), as well as broader concerns or psychodevelopmental stages (Identity, Intimacy, and Generativity). The analyses test a variety of hypotheses that derive from the theoretical perspectives of the five‐factor model (FFM) and the life‐story model (LSM). Most broadly, the FFM predicts consistency and stability of functioning whereas the LSM broaches the possibility of change and distinguishes between two levels of the voyage–the external quest and the internal journey. We tested specific hypotheses, which concerned long‐term trends of and cross‐correlations between variables, through concomitant time series analysis. Collectively, the quantitative results not only inform but also constrain the qualitative analyses of subsequent chapters.
6. The Life Voyage
Authors: Nasby William , Read Nancy W.
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT Chapter 6 applies the five‐factor model and the life‐story model as complementary perspectives to the multiple data sources collected for the case study of Dodge Morgan. We integrate the two models to create a new level of analysis that captures differing aspects of experience. We develop a holistic personality analysis of Morgan, interpreting his childhood, young manhood, adventures in Alaska and on the boat Coaster, his return to the mainland and embrace of business and entrepreneurship, and his solo circumnavigation. We address questions of voyage outcomes with reference to the quantitative analyses of his voyage log; we consider not only the external journey but also his internal psychological issues and developmental tasks.
Circumnavigating the Personality as a Whole: The Challenges of Integrative Methodological Pluralism
Authors: Craik Kenneth H.
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT Beyond Nasby and Read's analysis in this special issue, this article identifies four domains of potential knowledge about Dodge Morgan: environmental dispositions, conduct qua sailor, orientation toward privacy, and personality and life story as represented within his lifelong community. Five formulations of dispositions are reviewed, as (a) categorical summaries, (b) hypothetical conditional propositions, (c) physical causes, (d) purposive‐cognitive causes, and (e) a hybrid of physical and purposive‐cognitive causes. Their implications are examined for three forms of life accounts: personal life stories, community‐generated life stories, and life‐history analyses. The progress in understanding persons and their lives represented by Nasby and Read's analysis of Morgan is gauged by comparing it with Murray and White's (1938) case analysis of Earnst.
Personality, Self‐Concept, Interests, and Intelligence: Which Construct Doesn't Fit?
Authors: Ackerman Phillip L.
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT
Evaluation of overlap among correlational construct families provides a basis for cross‐fertilization in each of the four separate individual‐differences domains. This article provides some new insights on Thorndike's claim that superiority in one trait implies superiority in other traits. Definitions and methodological differences among correlational domains of inquiry are reviewed from modern investigations of personality, self‐concept, interests, and intelligence. Sources of overlap between personality and other trait families are discussed and four trait complexes are reviewed: social, clerical/ conventional, science/math, and intellectual/cultural. Implications of the trait‐complex approach and challenges to integrative research approaches to applied problems are presented.
Plaster or Plasticity: Are Adult Work Experiences Associated with Personality Change in Women?
Authors: Roberts Brent W.
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT
The present study tested whether work experiences were associated with personality change across two periods of adulthood (age 21 to 27 and 27 to 43) in a longitudinal sample of women (N= 81). Two competing theoretical perspectives were tested: the plaster theory, which claims that personality does not change after age 30, and the plasticity theory, which claims that personality can change at any time in adulthood. Evidence was found for both correlational consistency of personality in adulthood and for the socialization effect of work on personality change. Work experiences were not associated with personality change in young adulthood but were associated with changes between young adulthood and midlife. In the period from age 27 to age 43 women who worked more became more agentic, and women who were more successful in their work became both more agentic and more normadhering. This pattern of associations between personality change and work experience provided support for the plasticity model of personality change.
Evidence for Change in Children's Use of Defense Mechanisms
Authors: Cramer Phebe
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT
Using a cohort‐longitudinal design, children's use of the defeneses of denial. projection, and identification was assessed at four points over a 2‐year time span, covering the age period from 6 years, 6 months to 9 years, 5 months. The results showed a clear decrease in the use of denial from early to middle childhood, a sharp increase in the use of projection, and an increase in the use of identification. These findings, predicted by a theory of defense mechanism development, are consistent with cross‐sectional results reported previously.
Relationships and alliances in the social interaction of kibbutz toddlers
Authors: Ross HILDY S. , Conant CHERYL L. , Cheyne J. ALLAN , Alevizos EPHIE
Published: April 2006

Two groups of five 20‐month‐old Kibbutz toddlers were studied in order to examine relationships and alliances. The toddlers were observed during free‐play periods over a two‐month period. Evidence of relationships is found when children make special adjustments in their interactions with specific partners that would not be predicted based on the individual characteristics that these children display with others, and were found for both conflict and positive interactions. Qualitative analyses revealed a variety of types of relationships, although reciprocal relationships that combined either high or low levels of both positive and conflict interactions predominated. Alliances occur when third parties intervene in conflicts they witness in the group and were present, though relatively rarely, at this age. Alliances were based not on the established relationships in the group, but rather on who had been wronged in the initial conflict. Results are discussed in terms of the links between relationships, cultural standards of fairness, and alliances.
The conversational skills of school‐aged children
Authors: Sehley Sara , Snow Catherine
Published: April 2006

Differences associated with age and with language background were assessed in performance on a task thin taps conversational skill, a ‘TV talk show’ interview task administered to 98 second through fifth graders, including many nonnative speakers of English. Surprisingly, holistic ratings of the childrenapos;s skills as conversationalists were not related at all to gender, and only moderately to age or status as a native speaker of English. A set of 29 specific interactive and language behaviors were analyzed, to determine which of these were related to holistic ratings of conversational skill. Variables reflected strategies for eliciting information and for maintaining topic, indicators of disfluency, ami indicators of how the adult was contributing to the conversation. Children who had received higher ratings on conversational skill produced more topic continuations, a higher proportion of more sophisticated noncontingent responses, and fewer simple yes/no topic initiations and continuations. Age, gender, and language status related only minimally to the specific interactive or language behaviors associated with success as a conversationalist, although children from homes where English was spoken did tend to receive higher holistic ratings of conversational skill.
Ethnic preferences and perceptions among Asian and White British middle school children
Authors: Boulton Michael J. , Smith Peter K.
Published: April 2006

Asian and White middle school children were shown photographs of unknown Afro‐Caribbean, Asian, and White individuals of approximately the same age as themselves, and asked which one wax most like them, which one they would prefer to be, which ones they would prefer to engage in various activities with, and finally, to allocate positive and negative traits to the three groups or to nobody. A similar majority of both Asian and While children selected an own‐race photograph as being most like them, but only about a half selected the own‐race photograph as the one they would most like to he. For sharing activities, children showed a strong own‐tender preference, followed by an own‐race preference. White children stated a greater preference for sharing activities with White children, then with Afro‐Caribbean children, and least with Asian children. Asian children preferred Asian and White children the most, Afro‐Caribbean the least. On a stereotypes test, similar trends were obtained; White children evaluated While children highest and Asian lowest; Asian children tended to evaluate Asian children highest but to a nonsignificant extent. The relative proportion of Asian/White children in school appeared to have little systematic influence on the results, thus arguing against the contact hypothesis of prejudice reduction in its simple form.
Short‐term and long‐term processes linking job stressors to father–child interaction
Authors: Repetti Rena L.
Published: April 2006

This study explores short‐term and long‐term processes through which daily job stressors may affect a father's relationship with his school‐aged child. Fifteen male air traffic controllers (ATCs) described job stressors and parent–child interaction on three consecutive days. Objective measures of daily workload were also obtained. After a demanding day at work, fathers tended to be more behaviorally and emotionally withdrawn during interactions with their children at home. The emotional withdrawal finding was confirmed with both subjective and objective measures of high workload. There was also evidence of a direct spillover of negative feelings associated with distressing social experiences at work to expressions of anger and greater use of discipline during interactions with a child later in the day. The long‐term impact of a chronically stressful work environment was also examined in a separate set of between‐subjects analyses. A generally negative social climate at work was associated with a father's tendency to describe his interactions with a child as having a less positive and a more negative emotional tone. Coworkers' independent ratings of the social climate at work confirmed the finding of a long‐term negative spillover effect.
Marital conflict and children's functioning
Authors: Cummings E. Mark
Published: April 2006

Marital conflict is a key factor in adjustment problems in children. Research is reviewed indicating that conflicts are stressful for children, and increase their aggression and enmeshment in parental disputes. Field studies, supported by recent experimental tests, indicate that sensitization to destructive conflict occurs, resulting in greater reactivity. Marital conflict can disrupt parenting and attachments, increase aggression between siblings, and even impact extended family members such as grandparents. Intense, aggressive conflicts and those centering on the child are particularly destructive. By contrast, resolution much reduces negative reactions and can be detected through a variety of channels of information.
Self and emotions
Authors: Hart Daniel , Johnson Kenneth
Published: April 2006

A Review of Shame: The Exposed Self, by Michael Lewis.
The development of gender identity: Making sense of the world
Authors: Liss Marsha B. , Calvert Sandra L.
Published: April 2006

A Review of Gender Identities and Education: The Impact of Starting School, by Barbara Lloyd and Gerald Duveen.
Predicting social adjustment in middle childhood: the role of preschool attachment security and maternal style
Authors: Booth Cathryn L.
Published: April 2006

Children's social and emotional adjustment at age 8 were examined in relation to attachment security, parenting style, setting conditions, and social and emotional adjustment at age 4. Seventy‐nine children participated in videotaped interaction sessions with their mothers and with unfamiliar peers at the two ages. Data were derived from videotape coding, mother questionnaires, and child sociometric ratings. Results indicted that internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and social engagement were related at the two ages. After removing the variance due to the relationship between child behaviors at the two ages, a comparison of mother‐child relationship predictors indicated that attachment security at age 4 was the strongest predictor of internalizing problems and social engagement/acceptance at age 8, while maternal style was the strongest predictor of externalizing difficulties. Results point to the importance of both aspects of the mother‐child relationship, and indicate that the nature of family and peer links may vary depending upon the specific social domain assessed.
Do mothers' perceptions and concerns about preschoolers' peer competence predict their peer‐management practices?
Authors: Profilet Susan M. , Ladd Gary W.
Published: April 2006

Although parents' management behaviors have been associated with children's competence with peers, relatively little is known about factors that may determine parents' management practices. In this study, measures of mothers' perceptions and concerns, mother' peer‐related management practices, and children's social competence were obtained with 62 preschool children and their mothers. Results indicated that mothers differentiated between prosocial behavior and peer sociability when assessing children's progress relative to peers. Girls received higher progress ratings from their mothers than did boys, and mothers tended to view their children's prosocial skills as less well developed than their sociability toward peers. Mothers who reported lower estimates of their children's sociability tended to have higher levels of concern and were less involved in the management of their children's informal peer relations. Conversely, mothers who managed children's social lives by facilitating informal peer activities and promoting children's social autonomy tended to see their children as more sociable with peers.
Relating mothers' social framing to their children's entry competence with peers
Authors: Putallaz Martha , Klein Tovah P. , Costanzo Philip R. , Hedges Lea A.
Published: April 2006

The purpose of this study was to examine how mothers view and construct meaning their children's social interactions, and to understand the interpretive frames they bring to filtering the social world and conveying meaning to their children. Maternal narrations to their children' videotaped entry behavior revealed narration patterns related to their children' entry behavior and the group's response. Generally, when their children were behaving competently, mothers appeared to have a broad based, context embedded view of the interaction, but focused more specifially when difficulties arose, These narration patterns were influenced ny the mothers' own remembered childhood social competence and recollections of positive and anxious peer experiences. Implications of these results for the socialization process were discussed.
Family conditions, parental acceptance, and social competence and aggression in Chinese children
Authors: Chen Xinyin
Published: April 2006

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relations among family ecological factors including parental educational and occupational status, family income and housing conditions, the quality of the marital relationship and social support, parental acceptance and rejection, and social competence in a sample of Chinese children. Four hundred and seventy‐six primary school children in Shanghai, P.R. China, and their parents participated in the study. Children were administered a peer assessment measure of social behavior and a measure of their perceptions of parental behavior. Parents completed questionnaires concerning family background, parental acceptance and rejection, perceived social support, and marital conflict and satisfaction. Teachers completed a rating scale concerning children's behaviors in school. Information on children's leadership was collected from the school administrative records. Results indicated that parental educational and occupational status was associated with family psychological conditions which, in turn, were predictive of parental acceptance. Family capital resources were negatively related to parental acceptance. Results also indicated that parental acceptance was associated positively with prosocial‐competent behavior in children and negatively with aggressive behavior in children. Parental educational and occupational status was directly associated with children's competent behavior. Finally, it was found that family psychological resources were positively related to competent behavior and negatively related to aggression in children, through the mediation of parental acceptance and rejection. Family capital resources were indirectly and positively associated with child aggression through the mediation of parental acceptance and rejection.
Children's awareness of which peers like them and which peers dislike them
Authors: MacDonald Christine D. , Cohen Robert
Published: April 2006

The present research examined children's awareness of the specific same‐sex peers who like or dislike them. Awareness was evaluated in relation to children's peer sociometric status. All children in grades one through six provided same‐sex peer sociometric nominations and same‐sex peer sociometric ratings to determine their sociometric status. In addition, each child indicated the nominations and ratings they believed they received from same‐sex peers. Children's sociometric status was associated with their awareness of liking and disliking from peers. Rejected status children were the least accurate in their judgments of who like them and popular status children were the least accurate in their judgments of who disliked them. These findings support and extend prior research documenting that rejected status children a) demonstrate a lack of awareness of their social competence, yet b) report more loneliness than children in other status groups.
Genetic Contributions to Adolescents' Extrafamilial Social Interactions: Teachers, Best Friends, and Peers
Authors: Manke Beth , McGuire Shirley , Reiss David , Hetherington E. Mavis , Plomin Robert
Published: April 2006

The purpose of the present study was to investigate genetic and environmental contributions to individual differences in adolescents' social interactions outside the family. We investigated sibling resemblance for adolescents' reports of interactions with best friends and teachers, and parents' perceptions of adolescents' peer groups in 701 same‐sex adolescent sibling pairs aged 10‐18, using a twin, full sibling, and step sibling design. Our goals were to assess the magnitude of sibling resemblance, and to disentangle resemblance due to shared genetic heritage from that due to shared environmental experiences. Substantial genetic influence was found for parents' perceptions of adolescents' peer groups. Adolescents' reports of positive interactions with teachers and best friends also showed significant genetic influence. In contrast, individual differences in adolescents' reports of negative interactions with teachers and best friends showed no significant genetic influence. In addition, most environmental influences for social interactions with teachers, best friends, and peers were largely of the nonshared variety, suggesting that growing up in the same family does not make adolescents similar in their extrafamilial social interactions.
Patterns of Bully/Victim Problems in Mixed Race Groups of Children
Authors: Boulton Michael J.
Published: April 2006

This study investigated the extent of bullying within and between British Asian and White girls and boys (n = 156) and some of the reasons why it occurs. There was no significant difference in the percentage of peers that nominated Asian and White children as either bullies or victims. Contrary to our prediction (derived from Tajfel's social judgement theory), both Asian children and White children were significantly more likely to be named as bullies of same‐race classmates than to be named as bullies of other‐race classmates. Again contrary to our prediction, for Asian boys and White boys there were no significant correlations between general racial preferences/attitudes on the one hand, and the extent to which they were named by classmates as bullies of other‐race children on the other hand. In order to investigate the types of bullying directed at own‐race and other‐race pupils, a subset of the sample of children (n = 60) were also asked about the specific types of bullying they had experienced, and who was responsible. Some significant racial differences emerged, most notably that proportionally more Asian children than White children reported that they had been teased about their colour or race by children of the other‐race, and the opposite was the case for non‐racial types of teasing. The implications of these results for children's social development, and for school's attempts to remove bully/victim problems, are discussed. One recommendation was that teasing, and especially racial teasing by racial majority pupils, should be a focus for intervention.
A Review of Adult Attachment Measures: Implications for Theory and Research
Authors: Crowell Judith A. , Treboux Dominique
Published: April 2006

There has been increasing interest in adult attachment from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. Because the test of a theory is based on our ability to assess theoretical constructs, the review is organized around assessment techniques. Delineating the content, focus, assumptions, and correlates of different attachment measures highlights central issues and problems in conducting research in adult attachment. In this review, we present theoretical issues related to adult attachment, in particular, individual differences, working models, and the role of attachment in adult life. A summary of the measures commonly used in the study of adult attachment follows. The literature review is organized by measure, examining topics such as relations between childhood experiences and adult attachment status, and adult attachment and adult personality and functioning, parenting and partnership behavior. Studies which explore relations between measures are discussed before concluding with thoughts about future directions.
Carving behavioral nature at its joints
Authors: Izard Carroll E.
Published: April 2006

A review of Galen's Prophecy: Temperament in Human Nature, by Jerome Kaga.
Low‐Income Mothers' Conversations About Emotions and Their Children's Emotional Competence
Authors: Garner Pamela W. , Jones Diane Carlson , Gaddy Gaylyn , Rennie Kimberly M.
Published: April 2006

This study examined the linkage between low‐income mothers' conversations about emotions and their children's understanding of emotion. Forty‐five low‐income preschoolers and their mothers were videotaped while viewing a wordless picture book designed to elicit talk about emotions. Three maternal and child emotional language behaviors were coded from the videotapes: (a) unelaborated comments about emotions; (b) explanations about the causes and consequences of emotions; and (c) empathy‐related statements. The children's questions about emotions were also coded. In a separate interview, the preschoolers were administered tasks that assessed emotional expression knowledge, emotional situation knowledge, and emotional role‐taking. The results revealed that emotional situation knowledge was positively predicted by mothers' empathy‐related statements. Mothers' explanations about the causes and consequences of emotions were uniquely related to emotional role‐taking ability. There were very few correlations between the mothers' and children's talk about emotions. Results are discussed in terms of the functional significance of mothers' emotional language for young children's emotional competence.
Adolescent Females' Security with Parents Predicts the Quality of Peer Interaction.
Authors: Black Katherine A. , McCartney Kathleen
Published: April 2006

This study examined the association between security with parents and the quality of interactions between adolescent best friends. Thirty‐six girls and their best friends, between the ages of 15 and 18 years, were recruited to participate in the study. They were videotaped while discussing unresolved problems each adolescent had experienced in her life. Security with parents and peers, self‐esteem, and locus of control were assessed with questionnaires. There were three main findings. Girls high in security with respect to their parents had higher positive interaction scores in the videotaped task, higher self‐esteem, higher internality scores, and less feelings of unknown or powerful others control than those low in security. Dyads in which both girls were high in security with respect to their parents had higher total positive interaction scores than those dyads in which at least one girl was low in security. Best friends were significantly concordant with respect to security with parents and peers as well as their positive interaction scores during their own task and their friend's task. Findings are discussed with respect to attachment theory.
The Social Ecology of Early Childhood: Preschool Social Support Networks and Social Acceptance
Authors: Franco Nathalie , Levitt Mary J.
Published: April 2006

The focus of this study was on the social networks of preschool children and on the interface between network characteristics and the child's acceptance by peers and teachers. Fifty‐six children and their mothers were interviewed about the child's social support network. Social acceptance measures included peer sociometric ratings and teacher ratings of child preference and relationship quality. Frequency of contact with mother‐nominated child network members was a determining factors in the concordance of mother and child reports. From the child's perspective, social acceptance was related to the presence and supportiveness of siblings and extended kin. Mother reports were less predictive, with only one significant association between parental support and teacher preference. In general, the children's perceptions regarding the structure and function of their social networks were found to be reliable and to relate meaningfully to social acceptance in the preschool domain.
Contingency Effects of People and Objects on Subsequent Cognitive Functioning in Three‐month‐old Infants
Authors: Legerstee Maria
Published: April 2006

Three month‐old infants' responses to persons and objects who interacted with the infant at two levels of contingency were contrasted in two experiments. In experiment 1, contingent responding of people and objects was controlled. In experiment 2, the faciallvocal dynamics were controlled as well as contingent responding. In both experiments, contingent interaction had different effects on infants depending on whether the “actor” was a person or an object. In addition, the contingency and personlobject variables influenced infants' states of attention to a nonsocial stimulus on subsequent transfer tasks. Specifically, infants who experienced contingent interactions with people exhibited positive affect and exposed themselves to subsequent higher levels of stimulation than infants who experienced noncontingent interactions with people. These infants exhibited negative affective states and exposed themselves to very low levels of subsequent stimulation. In contrast, infants who experienced contingent and noncontingent interactions with objects did not show such variation in emotional expressions. Instead they produced primarily neutral facial expressions in all conditions and did not show very high nor very low levels of interest for the multi‐modal stimulus on the subsequent transfer tasks. The discussion centers on the mechanism that allow infants to discriminate between contingencies provided by people and objects and that drive the results obtained on the transfer tasks.
Race and Sex as Factors in Children's Sociometric Ratings and Friendship Choices
Authors: Graham James A. , Cohen Robert
Published: April 2006

This research provides a comprehensive analysis of the association of race and sex to children's peer relationships by assessing: a) the association of both race and sex; b) multiple measures of peer relationships (sociometric ratings and friendships); and c) an entire elementary school (Grades 1 to 6) with nearly an even number of African‐American to European‐American children in each class. Regardless of age, race, or sex, and for both relationship measures, children showed a greater bias favoring same‐sex peers than same‐race peers. Although older African‐American children had more same‐race than cross‐race mutual friends, African‐American children were more accepting of European‐American children than the reverse. Despite some same‐race preferences, cross‐race evaluations were generally quite positive on both measures. The differential impact of sex and race as considerations for peer evaluations is discussed.
Marital Satisfaction and Maternal Emotional Expressiveness: Links with Children's Sibling Relationships
Authors: Stocker Clare , Ahmed Kauser , Stall Mary
Published: April 2006

Associations between marital quality, maternal emotional expressiveness and children's sibling relationships were examined in a sample of 64 seven‐year‐olds and their mothers. Mothers reported on the quality of their marital relationships, and children rated the quality of their sibling relationships. Mothers and children provided data on maternal emotional expressiveness. Results indicated that marital dissatisfaction was associated with hostile and rivalrous sibling relationships and with maternal negative emotional expressiveness. Mothers' negative emotional expressiveness was correlated with hostile and rivalrous sibling relationships, and maternal positive emotional expressiveness was associated with affectionate sibling relationships. Maternal emotional expressiveness mediated the links between the marital relationship and sibling hostility and rivalry.
The association between apolipoprotein E and multiple sclerosis
Authors: Pinholt M. , Frederiksen J. L. , Christiansen M.
Published: April 2006

The article is a complete literature study that investigates the association between apolipoprotein E (Apo E) and multiple sclerosis (MS). Apo E is an important factor in transport, uptake, and redistribution of cholesterol, which is significant to remodelling and repair of nerve tissue. Apo E is involved in neurodegenerative diseases and the most well known association is between Apo ɛ4 and Alzheimer's disease. Only one study found that homozygosity for Apo ɛ4 does cause an increased risk of developing MS. No results indicate that heterozygosity for Apo ɛ4 causes a greater risk of developing MS. No association between the Apo ɛ4 allele and MS subgroups, age of onset, and gender has been found. The association between Apo ɛ4 and relapse rate is contradictory. Most results confirm the hypothesis about an association between the Apo ɛ4 allele and increased disease progression. Two longitudinal studies found an association between Apo ɛ4 and increased disease progression. Half of the cross‐sectional studies found the same association. Four of seven published studies examining the association between Apo ɛ4 and increased disease progression using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) found a significant association. Apo ɛ4 appears to be a predisposing factor to a faster disease progression in MS.
Rapidly induced changes in neuromagnetic fields following repetitive hand movements
Authors: Woldag H. , Waldmann G. , Knösche T. R. , Maess B. , Friederici A. D. , Hummelsheim H.
Published: April 2006

Sensory feedback plays a major role in movement execution and motor learning, particularly in motor rehabilitation. Whilst elaborating therapeutic strategies, it is of interest to visualize the effect of a therapeutic intervention at the moment of its application. We analyzed the effect of repeated execution of a simple extension and flexion movement of the wrist on the sensorimotor cortex of seven healthy subjects using magnetoencephalography. Spatial filtering based on current dipoles was used to quantify the strength of cortical activation. Our results showed an increase of cortical activation reflecting activity of efferent neurons, whereas the activity of proprioceptive afferent neurons was not affected. Since only efferent activity increased, it is suggested that this reflects phenomena of long‐term potentiation.
FACTORS INFLUENCING RESPIRATORY MEASUREMENTS USING OXYGEN ELECTRODES AND CARTESIAN‐DIVER MICRORESPIROMETRY
Authors: OWEN J. H. , LAYBOURN‐PARRY J.
Published: April 2006

Summary

The dark respiration rates of primary leaf mesophyll protoplasts of barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Patty) were measured by a Clark‐type oxygen electrode and Cartesian‐diver microrespirometry, in order to compare the two techniques. Factors found to be important in determinations of respiratory rates of protoplasts were the numbers of protoplasts per unit volume of suspension, the age of protoplast preparations and the stirring speed of the magnetic follower when using the oxygen electrode. Increases in numbers of protoplasts per unit volume caused a marked decrease in respiration using both techniques. Below 2000 protoplasts μl−1 both techniques provided rates of dark respiration within the same range until 1000 protoplasts μl−1, below which a marked increase in respiration occurred. Respiratory rates of protoplasts declined by 32 % from initial values over a 30 h period after isolation in the dark. In addition, an increase in the stirring rate in the reaction vessel of the oxygen electrode had the effect of reducing both the viability of protoplasts and their rates of oxygen uptake. It is suggested that consistent standardization of procedures, especially in terms of numbers of protoplasts per unit volume, is necessary for assay techniques for respiration in protoplasts. The advantages and disadvantages of using Cartesian‐diver microrespirometry compared to oxygen electrodes are also discussed.
SALT LOADING DOES NOT CONTROL CO2 EXCHANGE IN RAMALINA MENZIESII TAYL.
Authors: MATTHES‐SEARS UTA , NASH THOMAS H. , LARSON DOUGLAS W.
Published: April 2006

Summary

The effect of intrathallus salt content (measured as [Na+]) on photosynthetic and dark respiratory rates in the coastal lichen Ratnalina menziesii Tayl. was investigated in three independent experiments. The first experiment demonstrated no relationship between rates of CO2 exchange in samples from a given site and distance inland, even though samples from inland sites had consistently lower salt concentrations. The second experiment showed that gas exchange rates and salt concentrations were not correlated when individual trees within one coastal and one inland site were compared. In the third experiment, thallus [Na+] was directly modified, but rates of CO2 exchange remained the same over a 27 d period. These results imply that the large variability in photosynthetic rates that is present in R. menziesii must be due to factors other than salinity.
CHLORINE REQUIREMENT OF KIWIFRUIT (ACTINIDIA DELICIOSA)
Authors: SMITH G. S. , CLARK C. J. , HOLLAND P. T.
Published: April 2006

Summary

Kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa var. deliciosa) grown in solution culture have an abnormally high requirement for chlorine. A deficiency of chlorine severely restricted the growth of the shoots and roots and resulted in the development of distinctive leaf symptoms as well as unusual swellings of the tissues near the root apex.

A comparatively high concentration of chloride (700 μM) was required in the nutrient solution to achieve maximum growth. The associated chloride concentration in the youngest fully expanded leaves of these plants was in excess of 60 μmol g−1 dry matter. Thus, compared to most other non‐halophytic plants, kiwifruit require over 10 times the concentration of chloride usually needed for healthy growth. The major exceptions are members of the Palmae which require similar concentrations of chloride to that of kiwifruit. Increasing the potassium status of kiwifruit plants resulted in lower chloride concentrations in the leaves. This result was not considered to be a specific physiological effect but rather the consequence of chloride along with other non‐limiting nutrients accumulating in the tissues of the severely potassium‐deficient plants.

An analysis of the cation‐anion balance of the leaves suggested that the beneficial effect of chlorine on growth was unlikely to have resulted from chloride acting simply as a balancing anion. Increasing the concentration of chloride in the leaves merely led to an equivalent decrease in the concentration of nitrate‐nitrogen. Thus, the sum of the chloride plus nitrate‐nitrogen concentrations in the leaves remained relatively constant over all treatments.

The results are discussed in relation to the chlorine requirements of other non‐halophytic plants.