bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Optimisation by Selection and Compensation: Balancing Primary and Secondary Control in Life Span Development
Authors: Heckhausen Jutta , Schulz Richard
Published: March 2013

Individuals as producers of their own life span development are discussed with regard to the major challenges, opportunities, and constraints encountered over the life course. Major challenges of life span development and human behaviour include the need to be selective in choosing life course paths, and the failure proneness of human behaviour. Management mechanisms directed at these challenges can be identified on the societal and the individual level. Socio-structural regulations of life course selectivity and failure are viewed as constraining but also supporting individual life course management. Individual life course management is conceptualised in terms of the model of optimisation by selection and compensation, which is elaborated by applying the life span model of primary and secondary control developed by Heckhausen and Schulz. The integrated model conceptualises optimisation as a higher-order process regulating selection and compensation, so that the long-term potential for primary control is promoted. Primary and secondary control strategies are identified for both selection and compensation, thus yielding four types of life-management strategies. Finally, it is argued that selection and compensation are not adaptive in and of themselves and may become dysfunctional when impairing the long-term potential for primary control.
Parenting in Two Generations of Mexican American Families
Authors: Delgado-Gaitan Concha
Published: March 2013

Parenting in Mexican American families is a complex activity, given the heterogeneity of adaptation among the generations of Mexicans. Through ethnographic research methodology and a case study approach, I show that childrearing is affected by generational status and participation in a grass roots community group, organised around educational issues. Collectivism characterises the childrearing of the immigrant generation. It is maintained as a conscious value by the first generation parents, although socialisation practices and child behaviour actually shift in an individualistic direction, particularly in the area of critical thinking. Nonetheless, in both cohorts, the observable practices in the home between the parent and child indicate a strong orientation toward respect and family ties. At the same time, the Spanish language is lost rapidly in the first generation families, due largely to English-only laws that affected that generation. For the immigrant group, on the other hand, bilingualism is more acceptable as a result of the changing political climate. Both groups of families have experienced isolation from the schools because they have been excluded from full participation in the educational system. However, as the immigrant cohort of parents organised and became involved in a support group, cultural knowledge about dealing with schools was learned as a sense of community was built.
Important Variables in Reasoning about Social Rules
Authors: Barbieri Maria Silvia
Published: March 2013

In everyday life people produce and accept behaviours that deviate to some extent from a rule, but are nevertheless recognised as examples of the rule. This study analyses the effects of three variables, i.e. type of substitution, centrality of the element involved in the transgression, and linguistic formulation of rules, on judgements of acceptability and seriousness of such deviations.

Three groups of 60 subjects each (4-year-olds, 9-year-olds, and adults) were randomly assigned to receive one of three linguistic formulations of a prudential rule. In the first, the rule was stated without justification; in the second, the goal of the rule was stated; in the third, a description of the actions and the items necessary to obey the rule was given. All subjects had to judge a variety of rule transgressions based on elimination, unsuitable substitution or suitable substitution of a central or a peripheral element of the rule.

Linguistic formulation had, at best, a modest effect on judgements. However, there were strong effects of type of substitution and centrality. Moreover, the effects of these variables differed with age and the subjects showed an increasing capacity to take into account all the elements involved.
Developmental Aspects of Phonemic and Visual Similarity Effects: Further Evidence in Italian Children
Authors: Longoni Anna M. , Scalisi T. G.
Published: March 2013

Phonemic and visual similarity effects were investigated in Italian children of different ages. In Experiment 1, two groups of children (mean age 5;1 and 10;3 years) were asked to recall either pictures of common objects with phonemically similar or dissimilar names, or the spoken names of the pictures. Although a similarity effect was present in older children for both words and drawings, in younger children only a tendency in the expected direction occurred. The lack of a phonemic similarity effect for spoken words was attributed to the presence of a ceiling effect. In addition, results showed a significant superior recall for words in younger children and for drawings in older ones. An additional group of 5-year-old children was tested, increasing the list length to four items. Results indicated a significant similarity effect for words but not for drawings, together with a superior recall for words. These findings, in agreement with previous results, suggest that phonological memory traces contribute to performance of younger children only when material to be recalled is in the auditory modality, whereas in older children phonological coding is independent in the input modality. In Experiment 2 the performance of 5-and 10-year-old children was compared for immediate recall of two different sets of visually similar and dissimilar drawings. Results showed a significant effect of visual similarity in younger children only, for both sets of drawings, extending previously obtained results (e.g. Hitch, Halliday, Schaaftal, & Scrhaagen, 1988) to different materials and to Italian subjects. In Experiment 3, the visual similarity effect was investigated with a delayed recall procedure in a 5-year-old group. Four delay intervals (0, 5, 10, 15 seconds) and two activities during delay (articulatory suppression and a tapping task) were considered. Results obtained indicated that the visual similarity effect is present at all delay intervals for both activities during delay; and are discussed in terms of alternative interpretations of the visual similarity effect.
Measuring the Size of Working Memory in Very Young Children: The Imitation Sorting Task
Authors: Alp I. Ercan
Published: March 2013

Development of working memory in the transitional period from infancy to preschool years was investigated from a neo-Piagetian perspective. A new task, the Imitation Sorting Task, was specifically designed for this purpose. The task involves a game of imitation. An increasing number of disparate objects are sorted into two containers and the child is asked to reproduce each demonstrated sorting. The number of objects in the largest set that the child can successfully sort in imitation determines the child's score on the task. The task was administered three times to children from 12 to 36 months of age. Scores increased in a linear fashion with age in all three administrations. Upon retesting within a few weeks after the original administration, children's score and rank remained very similar. Their score increased at the follow-up after 6 months, but their rank still remained similar to their original rank. The age-related increase in the scores appears to be about one unit every six months in this age range.
Developmental Measurement of Mental Attention
Authors: Pascual-Leone Juan , Baillargeon Raymond
Published: March 2013

A dialectical constructivist model of mental attention ("effort") and of working memory is briefly presented, and used to explicate subjects' processing in misleading test items. We illustrate with task analyses of the Figural Intersections Test (FIT). We semantically derive a set of 10 Theoretical Structural Predictions (TSP) that stipulate relations between mental attentional resources (mental-power: Mp) and the systematically varied mental demand of items (mental-demand: Md), as they jointly codetermine probable performance (conditional probabilities of passing and failing). These predictions are evaluated on first approximation using a known family of ordered Latent Class models, all probabilistic versions of Guttman's unidimensional scale. Parameters of these models were estimated using the Categorical Data Analysis System of Eliason (1990). Main results are: (1) Data fit Lazarsfeld's latent-distance model, providing initial support for our 10 predictions; (2) The M-power of children (latent Mp-classes) when assessed behaviourally may increase with age in a discrete manner, and have the potential to generate interval scales of measurement; (3) In the light of our results what statisticians often consider "error of measurement" appears (in part) to be signal, not noise: The organismic signal of misleading (Y-) processes that in their dialectical (trade-off) interaction with success-producing (X-) processes generate performance.
Tanzanian and United States Mothers' Beliefs about Parents' and Teachers' Roles in Children's Knowledge Acquisition
Authors: Lisi Ann V. McGillicuddy-De , Subramanian Subha
Published: March 2013

Mothers' beliefs about the role of parents and of teachers in the child's acquisition of knowledge in five domains were investigated in a sample of families from Tanzania and from the United States. Tanzanian and US mothers differed in their views of the importance of parents and teachers in the child's acquisition of language, sociopolitical, and historical knowledge, but not in the domains of science or mathematics knowledge. These differences were linked in predictable ways to the cultural traditions of the two countries. Teacher ratings of children's classroom behaviours were also examined across cultures and in relation to mothers' beliefs. Tanzanian children were rated as more dependent than the US children were, and as less independent, creative, and intelligent. United States and Tanzanian mothers' beliefs about the teachers' role in children's historical knowledge showed the most consistent relationship to children's classroom behaviours. For Tanzanian children's classroom behaviour, several other maternal beliefs were related to classroom ratings in addition to beliefs relative to the acquisition of historical knowledge.
Biomedical and Social-Environmental Influences on Cognitive and Verbal Abilities in Children 1 to 3 Years of Age
Authors: Molfese Victoria J. , Holcomb Linda , Helwig Susan
Published: March 2013

The study had two purposes. The first was to study the effects of biomedical and environmental conditions on cognitive and language development in a longitudinal sample of 96 children studied from birth to three years of age. The sample was characterised by mostly healthy, full-term infants, with few preterm and very low birthweight infants. It was hypothesised that biomedical factors would be more strongly related to cognitive and language development in the first two years and that environmental factors would more strongly influence outcomes at age three years. The second purpose of this study was to use an analysis approach that permits the estimation of variables assumed to underlie the measurement data. This approach was compared with the results of more traditional analyses (e.g. correlation and regression analyses). The results supported the hypothesis, and also supported the results of some other research utilising subject samples which were characterised by more severe perinatal and neonatal complications than characterised the sample of the present study.
Movement and Children's Attributions of Life Properties
Authors: Poulin-Dubois Diane , Heroux Gisele
Published: March 2013

Although it is well established that movement plays an important role in determining children's judgements about life properties, there has been little research addressing the issue of whether some types of movement are more likely to be associated with living objects. A total of 150 subjects aged 3, 5, 7, and 9 years, as well as adults, were asked to judge whether properties characteristic of animates should be attributed to an artificial stimulus presented either stationary or in movement. Two types of movement were manipulated: animate-type movement (e.g. spontaneous); and inanimatetype movement (e.g. elicited). Three-year-olds failed to correctly attribute most properties to familiar objects. In 5 to 9-year-old children, and adults, the attribution of animistic characteristics was greater in both movement conditions relative to the stationary condition, although animate-type movement induced more property attributions. Furthermore, children at all ages showed a high level of consistency in their judgements about different life properties. These findings suggest that although knowledge about life properties develops during the preschool period, over-attribution of mental states is also characteristic of that developmental period.
Comparisons of Children's Cognitive Representation of Number: China, France, Japan, Korea, Sweden, and the United States
Authors: Miura Irene T. , Okamoto Yukari , Kim Chungsoon C. , Chang Chih-Mei , Steere Marcia , Fayol Michel
Published: March 2013

Cross-national comparisons of mathematics achievement have shown differences in favour of Asian students. This study examined the idea that the superior mathematics performance of students from Japan, Korea, and China may be due, in part, to differences in cognitive representation of number that is affected by numerical language characteristics differentiating Asian and non-Asian language groups. First-graders from the People's Republic of China, Japan, Korea, France, Sweden, and the United States were asked to construct various numbers using Base 10 blocks. Chinese, Japanese, and Korean children showed a preference for using a construction of tens and ones to show numbers; place value appeared to be clearly represented in those constructions. French, Swedish, and US children, in contrast, showed a preference for using a collection of units, suggesting that they represent number as a grouping of counted objects. More Asianlanguage speakers than non-Asian-language speakers were also able to make two correct constructions for each number, which suggests greater flexibility of mental number manipulation. Thus, the unique characteristics of the Asian number language system may facilitate the teaching and learning of mathematics, especially computation, for speakers of those languages.
Female Underachievement and Overachievement: Parental Contributions and Long-term Consequences
Authors: Gustafson Sigrid B.
Published: March 2013

The present study, part of the Swedish longitudinal project, Individual Development and Adjustment (IDA; female N = 557), concerned two groups of girls designated "Underachievers" and "Overachievers". At age 16 the Underachievers exhibited higher intelligence but lower achievement, self-perceived ability, and school adaptation than did the Overachievers. To a significant extent, the Underachievers came from homes in which, three years earlier when the girls were 13, the parents had reported a low evaluation of their daughters' capacity for academic work; moreover, the parents had no aspiration for their daughters to continue their educations past compulsory school. In contrast, at age 16 the Overachievers did not come from families reporting the non-academically oriented parental evaluations and aspirations that characterised the parents of the Underachievers. In adolescence, the Underachievers' relations with their parents were more conflicted than were the relationships of the Overachievers. In adulthood, the young women who had been Underachievers exhibited significantly lower levels of education and occupation than did the Overachievers. Also, compared to the other women in the IDA sample, significantly more of the Underachievers had borne children by age 26, whereas significantly fewer of the Overachievers had given birth. It was concluded that the values parents espoused concerning educational attainment played a role in inhibiting or promoting their daughters' optimal adaptation-both in and beyond the academic environment.
The Rough Play of Adolescent Boys of Differing Sociometric Status
Authors: Pellegrini A. D.
Published: March 2013

Two forms of rough-and-tumble play (R&T/Chase and R&T/Rough) were observed in a group of young adolescent boys while they were on the playground during their school recess period. Although little variation was observed for the R&T/Chase category, sociometrically defined average and rejected boys, compared to popular boys, spent a significant portion of their time in R&T/Rough. This latter form of R&T was, in turn, related to aggression and perspective-taking status for rejected boys; it was related to dominance status for all boys. Additionally, rejected and average boys chose to engage in R&T/Rough with children who were less dominant than they. R&T/Chase was not reliably correlated with other measures. These findings are interpreted as supporting the claim that some children exploit play bouts for their own dominance-exhibition ends.
Children of "the Troubles" in Northern Ireland: Perspectives and Intervention
Authors: Toner Ignatius J.
Published: March 2013

The chronology of investigations focusing on the effects of "the Troubles" on the children of Northern Ireland is presented. Studies by Belfast psychiatrists, visitors from the United States, and Scottish and English psychologists dominated the first decade of the 25-year-old conflict and were marked by a distinctly pessimistic appraisal of the impact of the troubled situation on the children. Developmental psychologists from within Northern Ireland have been very active studying the children of their own country for the second decade of the crisis. The view from the "inside" is more complicated and, in some ways, more optimistic than the view from the "outside". In addition, results are reported from preliminary investigations involving children participating in a widely practised intervention scheme developed to ameliorate the detrimental effects of the troubled situation. The intervention programme may foster improvement in an individual child's self-perception but not necessarily in that child's perception of other and multiple stressors interact to determine the influence of such intervention schemes.
Children and Political Violence: An Overview
Authors: Cairns Ed
Published: March 2013

The papers presented in this special section provide an introduction to the area of research on the effects of political violence on children. The articles cover a wide range of topics from the well-researched question of stress and coping to the less often investigated questions of the development of aggression, the long-term effects of political violence, and the evaluation of attempts at reconciliation. In addition, they represent those geographical areas which at present dominate work in this area the Middle East, Northern Ireland, and South Africa. They also illustrate emerging debates concerning resilience versus vulnerability and the effectiveness of outsiders versus insiders as investigators. The research reported here also points to the need for more cross-cultural work. Finally, it is argued that there is a need to understand the collective nature of political violence. This has implications not only for future research methods but, more importantly, for the development of a theoretical basis that is needed for work in this area.
Some High-risk Adolescents do not Develop Conduct Problems: A Study of Protective Factors
Authors: Losel Friedrich , Bliesener Thomas
Published: March 2013

Research on the origins of conduct problems such as disruptive, aggressive, and delinquent behaviour has focused mainly on deficits and risk factors. Protective factors have received more attention only recently in the context of resilience research. In the present study cross-sectional and longitudinal (2-year interval) comparisons were made of two groups of 14 to 17-year-olds from residential homes. Both groups have grown up under accumulated stressful life events and circumstances (multiproblem milieu). One group (N=66) has so far shown no serious behavioral and emotional problems (Resilients); the other (N= 80) has developed manifest disorders, particularly in the externalising syndrome. Potential protective factors (intelligence, temperament, self-related cognitions, coping styles, experience with reference persons, social support, social climate, etc.) were recorded with tests, questionnaires, and interviews. Protective factors functioned additively, subtypes could not be differentiated. Findings from the longitudinal survey showed somewhat lower effects in personal resources and were only partially consistent with the cross-sectional comparison. Possible reasons for these discrepancies are discussed, and it is suggested that the construct of resiliency in multi-problem milieus requires a dynamic, development and context-related interpretation.
The Early Use and Development of Graphic Formulas: Two Case Study Reports of Graphic Formula Production by 2- to 3-year-old Children
Authors: Stiles Joan
Published: March 2013

Graphic formulas are an important denotational device in the drawing repertoires of adults and school-age children. They provide a stable basis for working out, modifying, and elaborating various aspects of graphicrepresentation. As such, they might also serve as useful graphic devices for very young children who are just beginning to use drawing as a representational medium. However, there are very few studies which have examined graphic formula production in the earliest phases of drawing. The case study reports presented here focus on the use and elaboration of graphic formulas by two 2to 3-year-old children. They provide strong evidence, first, that graphic formulas are indeed available to even very young children. Secondly, they provide insight into the developmental processes by which the elaboration and reorganisation of graphic formulas occurs.
Physical Maturation and Phonological Skills in Children
Authors: Eaton Warren O. , Speed Mark E.
Published: March 2013

It was hypothesised that physically mature children would exceed their less mature classmates on two standardised tests of phonological ability, one measuring the repetition of aurally presented pseudowords and the other, the reading of pseudowords. Phonological skills were assessed for 94 5to 11-year-old children, and physical maturities were estimated from relative stature (RS), the percentage of estimated adult height each had attained. After the effects of chronological age had been removed, individual differences in physical maturity positively predicted pseudoword repetition, although this effect was largely limited to males. The results provide partial support for the hypothesis and suggest that individual differences in physical maturation are associated with phonological skills, but such linkage is likely mediated by gender and task characteristics.
Mood Congruity in Children: Effects of Age, Imagery Capability, and Demand Characteristics
Authors: Stegge Hedy , Terwogt Mark Meerum , Koops Willem
Published: March 2013

The present study was designed to determine: (1) whether mood congruity shows up the same way in children of different ages; (2) whether experimental mood induction by a mental imagery procedure is more effective in subjects with high mental imagery capabilities; and (3) whether "acting as if one is happy or sad" results in the same biases as the real mood induction procedure. Five different groups were assembled, which received either a happy or a sad mood induction, a happy or a sad simulation instruction or a neutral instruction (control group). Instruction effects were measured on a task in which all subjects had to judge drawings of ambiguous facial expressions.

Mood effects could be demonstrated for younger (n= 152, mean age 6; 11) as well as older children (n = 151, mean age 10;9), but only for good imagers, not for bad ones. Judgements of happy and sad children were biased in a direction congruent to the induced mood state. This mood congruity effect was not the result of demand characteristics as it did not show up in both simulation groups (i.e. children who were simply "acting as if they were happy or sad").
Nutritional Intake and Context as Predictors of Cognition and Adaptive Behaviour of Egyptian School-age Children
Authors: Wachs Theodore D. , Bishry Zeinab , Moussa Wafaa , Yunis Feisel , McCabe George , Harrison Gail , Sweifi Emtisel , Kirksey Avanelle , Galal Osman , Jerome Norge , Shaheen Farouk
Published: March 2013

Relations between nutrition, cognition, and adaptive behaviour measures were assessed for 110 Egyptian pre-adolescents (47% male), ranging in age from 7 to 10 years. Using a combination of oral recall and weighing of food portions, the level of dietary intake was obtained for 19 specific nutrients, including measures of energy (kilocalories), macronutrients (protein, fat, carbohydrates), and micronutrients (vitamins, trace minerals). Children were tested on six subscales from the Egyptian version of the WISC-R plus the Raven's coloured matrices. Based on repeated naturalistic observations we also obtained measures of the children's behaviour in the school classroom, social interactions with peers and adults, activity level, and affect. Teacher ratings of the children's classroom behaviour were also obtained. The results indicated that specific nutritional indices were significantly related to male classroom behaviour and activity level, and to female verbal ability and classroom involvement. Although a diverse group of nutrients predicted developmental outcomes, common to many of these nutrients was the fact that they were derived from intake of animal source foods. The results further indicated that relations between nutrition and children's cognition and behaviour were mediated by contextual factors, such as social class and cultural expectations about the appropriateness of given behaviours.
Scaffolding Young Children's Prosocial Responsiveness: Preschoolers' Responses to Adult Sadness, Anger, and Pain
Authors: Denham Susanne A. , Mason Teresa , Couchoud Elizabeth A.
Published: March 2013

Children's responsiveness to a female adult's negative emotions was investigated in two studies. During individual play sessions with preschoolers (mean age = 44 and 50 months in each study), experimenters enacted two vignettes involving each of three emotions: anger, sadness, and pain. The children's reactions to negative emotion, as well as their reactions after it was explained, and after prosocial behaviour was requested, were rated for level of prosocial response. Overall, prosocial behaviour increased after such supportive scaffolding from the adult. Children responded most prosocially to anger, and least prosocially to pain. Requesting help affected prosocial responsiveness only for sadness and anger. The slightly older subjects in Study Two may have needed less adult scaffolding of the situation because of their more proficient understanding of emotion. The results are discussed with reference to the information young children need regarding adult emotional displays, and their need to feel competent to perform prosocial actions.
Is Understanding the Experimenter's Intentions the Clue to Conservation Ability?
Authors: Galpert Linda , Dockrell Julie
Published: March 2013

The role of children's conceptions of conservation tasks was examined in this study. Specifically, this experiment assessed whether children's failure to conserve could be explained in terms of their inability to understand the experimenter's intentions, i.e. to test their knowledge. The children were tested using either the standard conservation of number task or an alternative version of the task. The tasks were presented in a context that provided the child with a reason to give a description of the task and to explain the experimenter's actions. Following the child's own description, specific questions were asked about their understanding of the task. For the analysis of the results, children were diagnosed as either conservers or nonconservers. Only a third of the conservers showed that they understood the experimenter's intentions. Moreover, the alternative version of the task significantly altered the children's conceptions of the task. The results indicate that understanding the experimenter's intentions is not a necessary prerequisite for successful performance on conservation tasks.
Context and the Measurement of Moral Judgement
Authors: Basinger Karen S. , Gibbs John C. , Fuller Dick
Published: March 2013

This study explored the role of context in moral judgement measurement by addressing a recent contention that moral dilemmas are not essential for the successful assessment of moral judgement. We evaluated a new instrument, the Sociomoral Reflection Measure-Short Form (SRM-SF), that uses contextually open-ended stimuli instead of moral dilemmas. SRM-SF data were collected from 509 male and female subjects, 8 to 81 years of age, including 94 delinquent males. The SRM-SF evidenced acceptable levels of reliability (inter-rater, test-retest, internal consistency) and validity (criterion-related and construct-related). For example, the SRM-SF demonstrated acceptable concurrent validity with the Moral Judgement Interview and discriminated delinquents as developmentally delayed in moral judgement. The SRM-SF was found to be procedurally efficient in terms of group administrability, completion time, self-training for scoring, and scoring. The factor structure of moral judgement as elicited by the SRM-SF was found to be unidimensional. Also, females were found to be more advanced in moral judgement than males in early adolescence, but the difference disappeared in late adolescence and adulthood.
Co-operation as a Conditional Strategy among Peers: Influence of Social Ecology and Kin Relations
Authors: LaFreniere Peter J.
Published: March 2013

The goal of this study is to analyse sources of variation, residing within the individual or within the relationship, in the ability to balance co-operative and competitive behaviours in a dyadic context. The ability to balance these two tendencies can be considered fundamental to successful adaptation within a social unit because co-operation may be essential in raising offspring, competing with other groups or in generating resources, whereas egoistic behaviour may protect the individual from exploitation or otherwise enhance reproductive success. Research is reviewed on the influence of social structures and relationships on co-operation in peer groups, and the origin and developmental significance of individual differences in co-operative abilities. Finally, a research programme investigating the conjunction of kin and peer relations is described, emphasising the role of affective synchrony, behavioural contingency, and reciprocity in shaping and sustaining co-operative behaviour as a conditional strategy.
Personality and Demographic Characteristics of Mothers and their Ratings of Child Difficultness
Authors: Mednick Birgitte R. , Hocevar Dennis , Baker Robert L. , Schulsinger Charlotte
Published: March 2013

The relationships between an indicator of child difficultness and a set of maternal and familial factors were examined in three samples: ages 3-12 months; 12-24 months; and 24-36 months. After initial attempts at using a traditional psychometric approach to measuring difficultness had resulted in a methodologically questionable indicator, factor analytical techniques were employed to develop an alternative indicator of difficultness for each sample.

Maternal anxiety was significantly correlated with child difficultness in all three samples. Mother's effectiveness, nervousness, extroversion, and contentment showed the strongest correlations in the age group 12-24 months, and particularly in the male subsample. Familial and demographic factors showed no associations with difficultness in any of the samples.

The similarity between these findings based on a Danish sample and those reported in previous studies involving other nationalities confirms the notion of a reliable, relatively culture-independent influence of personality characteristics of the rater on measures of infant and child difficultness.
An Observational Study of Antecedents of Locus of Control of Reinforcement
Authors: Carton John S. , Nowicki Stephen , Balser Ginger M.
Published: March 2013

Locus of control of reinforcement refers to a generalised problem-solving expectancy reflecting the degree to which individuals perceive reinforcements as contingent on their own behaviour (internal control) or on some external force such as luck, chance, or fate (external control). The present study tested predictions based on Rotter's social learning theory that mothers of children with internal control expectancies would provide more contingent reinforcement, support, and encouragement of independence than mothers of children with external control expectancies. The interaction of 51 children and their mothers was video-taped while they attempted puzzle-solving tasks of two difficulty levels. No analyses were significant for the easy level task. In contrast, the difficult task produced several significant findings. Mothers of boys with internal control expectancies provided more contingent support in response to their sons' difficulties and were less likely to respond to their son's difficulties by performing the task for their sons or by watching them struggle. Surprisingly, mothers of girls with internal control expectancies were more likely than mothers of girls with external control expectancies to ignore their daughters' accomplishments and difficulties. Thus, the results provided partial support for predictions derived from Rotter's social learning theory for the development of generalised control expectancies.
War as a Institution, but what about Peace? Developmental Perspectives
Authors: Oppenheimer Louis
Published: March 2013

The development of the comprehension and verbal articulation of the concept of war precedes the development of the concept of peace by several years. The implications of these findings for the norms, values, and attitudes towards peaceful and non-peaceful behaviour are discussed. It is argued that a "state of peace" is not necessarily the baseline or "normal situation" and that war and a "state of war" are not merely social inventions or the result of cultural deviations, but that war is institutionalised in our culture. Peaceful and non-peaceful behaviours are products of the interaction between human propensities (i.e. predispositions) and the contents of the sociocultural structure, and the sociocultural structure itself is the historical product of the interaction between the same propensities and the environment. In any attempt to undermine the institution of war and to permit the emergence of the institution of peace, these mutual interactions will need to be considered.
The International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development after 25 Years: Retrospect and Prospect
Authors: Hartup Willard W.
Published: March 2013

The International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development observed its 25th anniversary in 1994. Circumstances leading to the establishment of the Society in 1969 are recounted in this article, along with the aims and objectives of the founding members. A complete history of Society activities, including meetings, workshops, publications, and special events, is provided along with both retrospective and prospective comment.
Universals and Specificities in the Structure and Development of Quantitative-relational Thought: A Cross-cultural Study in Greece and India
Authors: Demetriou Andreas , Pachaury Avinash , Metallidou Yiota , Kazi Smaragda
Published: March 2013

This study investigates the structure and development of quantitative thought in Greece and India. A total of 297 Indian subjects and 269 Greek subjects, aged from 10 to 16 years, were examined by a battery addressing their ability to execute arithmetic operations, a battery addressing their proportional reasoning, and a battery addressing algebraic reasoning. The items in each battery addressed four developmental levels. Confirmatory factor analysis showed, as predicted, that the same model is able to account for the performance of both cultures. Some differences were observed in the relative strength of the various abilities. However, the developmental inter-patterning of abilities was generally the same in the two cultures. There were no differences in capacity-dependent sequences but there were some differences in strategy-dependent sequences. These findings are discussed in the context of our theory of cognitive development.
The Relation of Maternal Directiveness and Child Attachment Security to Social Competence in Preschoolers
Authors: Rose-Krasnor Linda , Rubin Kenneth H. , Booth Cathryn L. , Coplan Robert
Published: March 2013

The primary focus of this study was the assessment of children's social competence in relation to two aspects of the mother-child relationshipattachment security and maternal directiveness. Specifically, we expected concurrent child-mother attachment security to be positively correlated with children's positive social engagement and social problem-solving skills and negatively related to aggression, whereas maternal directiveness was predicted to show the opposite pattern of correlations. Subjects were 111 mothers and their 4-year-old target children, each paired with a same-sex, same-age unfamiliar control child. Maternal directiveness was assessed in co-operative task and free-play sessions involving the target child, target mother, and control child. The target child's social engagement and social problem-solving skills were measured during dyadic free play with the control child. Multiple regression analyses assessed relative contributions of maternal directiveness and attachment security to the prediction of child behaviour with the peer. Attachment security predicted positive social engagement. Maternal directiveness was associated only with aspects of the children's social problem-solving. These results support previous research linking child-mother attachment security, maternal control patterns and children's social competence, although our findings showed the importance of separating the influences of attachment quality and the socialisation aspects of parenting.
Using the Five Field Map to Describe the Social Network of Children: A Methodological Study
Authors: Samuelsson Margareta , Thernlund Gunilla , Ringström Jerker
Published: March 2013

There is a persistent need to find usable ways of measuring social network and support for children. Up to now virtually nothing is known about the social network from the child's viewpoint. In order to evaluate whether drawing a structured social network map (the Five Field Map) could serve as a way of elucidating important aspects of the social world of children, the maps of different samples of children were studied. In a school class of 27 children, aged 11 years, a test-retest study was undertaken. The essential aspects of the map showed good stability over time. The map was compared with other instruments of social interaction in different samples. Predicted associations were found in the nonclinical samples. Aspects of the map measuring dissatisfaction, negative contacts, and conflicts were found to be associated with behaviour problems. The closeness factor of the map and reported dissatisfaction and conflicts differentiated a normal group of children living in single-parent families from a similar group of children with psychiatric problems. The Five Field Map contributes important knowledge about how children perceive their social world. It can thus be considered a suitable instrument to describe the social network from the child's point of view.
Historical Developmental Psychology: The Sample Case of Paintings
Authors: Koops Willem
Published: March 2013

Since the publication of Aries's ground-breaking book in 1960, an exponentially increasing number of studies on the history of childhood and the family has been published. A critical review of this historical research however, shows that there are many serious theoretical and methodological weaknesses. It is argued that the empirical analytical research tradition of developmental psychology could be applied fruitfully to solve at least some of the problems. This is demonstrated by the analysis of paintings in which children are depicted. Based on Lorenz's theory of the "Kindchenschema" (child schema), ethological research demonstrated which anatomical proportions trigger the innate releasing mechanisms for affection and nurturing in humans. These proportions were used to devise an instrument for assessing historical change in the depiction of "childishness". This instrument was then used in a first study of 100 Dutch and Flemish paintings from the 15th to the 20th centuries. A correlation coefficient of 0.60 between recency of the paintings and childishness scores was found. These data support Aries's hypothesis that, since the end of the Middle Ages, there is a continuous increase in childishness in the cultural representation of children, such as paintings. This study discusses how this empirical approach to paintings could be generalised to other historical sources. The paper concludes with a general discussion of the desirability of developing a "historical developmental psychology", i.e. of framing an empirical developmental psychology in a cultural-historical context.
Historical Context of Father Absence: Some Consequences for the Family Formation of German Men
Authors: Grundmann Matthias
Published: March 2013

This study uses retrospective life history data to investigate the developmental implications of the socio-cultural meaning of father absence, as expressed in the family formation of German men who are members of two birth cohorts, 1929-31 and 1939-41. Mass mobilisation for military service during World War II exposed large numbers of these men to father absence for an extended time span, but it did so at different ages in their lives. The developmental consequences are specified by the life stage principle: Social change has different effects for people of different ages. However, the normative character of father absence during the war may have diminished this difference and assigned greater risk to the lives of men who experienced father absence before or after World War II. The data analyses consistently support the historical hypothesis. Only men who encounter father absence before or after World War II show a pronounced delay in the transition to parenthood. Father absences that were war-related actually accelerated the transition of men to fatherhood according to event history analyses.
Attachment Security and Maternal Concepts of Ideal Children in Northern and Southern Germany
Authors: Schölmerich Axel , van Aken Marcel A. G.
Published: March 2013

The degree of attachment security and the concept of an "ideal child" were investigated by asking 83 mothers to describe the secure-base behaviour of either their own children or of an imagined "ideal child" using a German translation of Waters' (1987) Attachment Q-Set. Additionally, 11 German experts generated a "maximally secure" criterion sort, which was virtually identical with the established US criterion sort. Attachment security is highly desirable, as shown by the similarity between the profiles of the ideal descriptions and the security criterion sort. Two subsamples from Northern and Southern Germany showed similar intercorrelations of Attachment Q-Set subscales. We identified small differences in Northern and Southern mothers' perceptions of an "ideal" child in items relating to activity and independence. However, Northern and Southern mothers' descriptions of their toddlers did not differ in attachment security or dependence.
Blind and Sighted Children's Spatial Knowledge of Their Home Environments
Authors: Bigelow Ann E.
Published: March 2013

The development of spatial knowledge of the home environment was longitudinally studied in three groups of school-age children who varied in their visual ability: totally blind, visually impaired, and normally sighted. The children were asked to judge which of three locations in their homes was the closest to a designated position: (1) judging by the routes necessary to get to the locations; and (2) judging by straight-line distances to the locations. Locations were either on the same floor as the designed position, on a different floor, or in the yard. Totally blind children were delayed in mastery of the tasks compared to the other children, particularly in judging straight-line distances between familiar locations. Their mistakes suggest that their spatial understanding of their home environments is based on their knowledge of routes between places rather than on their knowledge of the overall layout of the familiar space.
National and Gender Differences in Adolescents' War Attitudes
Authors: Covell Katherine
Published: March 2013

Attitudes toward warfare were compared between samples of Canadian and US adolescents. Political attitudes in general have been attributed variously to influences of sociopolitical context, nationhood, media, and gender. Adolescents' responses to open-ended questions, and statements presented with a Likert-type rating scale suggested that whereas gender and sociopolitical context, for example contemporary attitudes toward political leaders, do influence attitudes toward war, there is a powerful effect of nationhood. The interventionist approaches of the United States and the peacekeeping emphasis of Canada are reflected in the attitudes of their youth.
The Expression of Activin Receptor–Like Kinase 1 among Patients with Head and Neck Cancer
Authors: Chien Chih‐Yen , Chuang Hui‐Ching , Chen Chang‐Han , Fang Fu‐Min , Chen Wei‐Chih , Huang Chao‐Cheng , Huang Hsuan‐Ying
Published: March 2013

Objectives

We investigated the expression and clinical significance of activin receptor–like kinase 1 (ACVRL1) in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

Study Design

Case series with chart review.

Setting

Academic Institute of Otolaryngology, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Subjects and Methods

Patients diagnosed with HNSCC (n = 169) underwent surgical resection followed by radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy for aggressive tumors between November 2000 and March 2004. ACVRL1 expression was assessed using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR) and immunohistochemistry approaches.

Results

High levels of ACVRL1 expression were significantly correlated with advanced T classification (P <. 001), positive N classification (P =. 002), advanced TNM stage (P <. 001), lymphovascular invasion (P <. 001), and extracapsular spread of lymph node metastasis (P =. 021). A poor 5‐year overall survival rate was correlated with high ACVRL1 expression (P =. 0048), advanced T classification (P =. 0075), positive N classification (P =. 0024), advanced TNM stage (P =. 0077), and extracapsular spread of lymph node (P =. 0002), but a multivariate analysis using the Cox regression model revealed that the only independent prognostic factors for survival were ACVRL1 expression (P =. 043; odds ratio [OR], 1.635; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.017‐2.629) and extracapsular spread of lymph node metastasis (P =. 003; OR, 2.052; 95% CI, 1.270‐3.315).

Conclusion

A high level of ACVRL1 expression in tumor tissue is significantly correlated with advanced T classification, positive N classification, advanced TNM stage, and poorer prognosis.