bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The role of psychopathology in stalking by adult strangers and acquaintances
Authors: McEwan Troy E , Strand Susanne
Published: March 2013

Objective:

Individuals who stalk strangers and acquaintances are under-studied, although there is some evidence suggesting a greater prevalence of psychopathology than is present in those who stalk former partners. This study investigated the nature and prevalence of psychopathology in a sample of stranger and acquaintance stalkers and whether psychopathology was associated with increased duration or serial stalking in this group. It was hypothesised that mental illness, and specifically psychosis, would be more prevalent among strangers and acquaintances than among ex-intimate stalkers.

Method:

Two hundred and eleven stalkers (10% female; mean age = 35, SD = 10.8; 71 ex-intimates) were recruited between 2002 and 2007 from a specialist service in Melbourne, Australia. Each underwent psychiatric and psychological assessment and disorders were diagnosed according to DMS-IV-TR criteria. Non-parametric independent sample tests were used to examine associations between relationship type and psychopathology, and to identify individual and stalking-related characteristics associated with increased duration and serial stalking.

Results:

Axis I disorders were significantly more prevalent among strangers and acquaintances than ex-intimates (71% vs 48%, OR = 2.6, 95% CI = 1.4 to 4.7), as were psychotic disorders (29% vs 9%, OR = 4.4, 95% CI = 1.8 to 10.9). Psychosis was significantly associated with increased duration of stalking behaviour ( U = 3043, p < 0.001). Those with a personality disorder were twice as likely to have stalked multiple times (OR = 2.4, 95% CI = 1.2 to 5.0).

Conclusions:

Those who stalk strangers and acquaintances are often mentally ill and psychopathology is associated with more persistent and recurrent stalking behaviour. Although limited by the use of clinical interview rather than structured assessment, these findings strongly support the argument for routine mental health assessment of stranger and acquaintance stalkers who become involved with the criminal justice system.
Postmastoidectomy Effusion Measurement Using a Delay-Line Ultrasound Transducer
Authors: Chen Chin-Kuo , Wan Yung-Liang , Fang Jui , Lin Chien-Huang , Chiu Wen-Ta , Tsui Po-Hsiang
Published: March 2013

Mastoidectomy is a surgical procedure for removing mastoid air cells and has been used widely to establish drainage and cleaning infections from the mastoid bone. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are the primary instruments used to clinically detect mastoid effusion following surgery. This study examines the feasibility of ultrasonography to detect postsurgical mastoid effusion. In vitro ultrasound measurements were conducted on 10 cadavers. For each sample, mastoidectomy was performed, and saline and whole blood samples were injected into the surgical mastoid cavity to simulate different effusion properties. A 2.25-MHz delay-line ultrasound transducer was used to obtain ultrasound backscattered data from the mastoid. The data were used to analyze echo intensity and the backscattered statistics by estimating the scaling and Nakagami parameters of the Nakagami distribution model. The results show that the scaling and Nakagami parameters can successfully detect mastoid effusion. Specifically, the Nakagami parameter is capable of characterizing the mastoid effusion properties. This indicates that ultrasound measurement based on a combination of delay-line transducer and Nakagami parameter estimation is a potential real-time diagnostic tool for evaluating mastoid effusion following mastoidectomy without radiation exposure.
Interdisciplinary Parallels in Studies of Early Human Behavior: From Physical to Cognitive Needs, from Attachment to Dyadic Education
Authors: Papousek Hanug , Papousek Mechthild
Published: March 2013

Different approaches taken over the past two decades to early behavioral development in humans are discussed with reference to the authors' studies on early learning and social interaction. Regarding infants, the gradual discovery of cognitive competence in infants has also revealed certain conditions necessary for the development of this competence, e.g. appropriate form of stimulation during the infant's optimal behavioral state. Regarding adult caretakers, adaptive behaviors related to timing and kind of stimulation are described and discussed in terms of their role in infant-adult interaction. The set of such adaptive behaviors is viewed as a biological model for the first postnatal childrearing. Some of the potential social consequences of this view are presented briefly.
Sequential Analysis of Exploration and Play
Authors: Hughes Miranda
Published: March 2013

The uncertainty (measured in 'bits') of behavioural sequences during exploration and play was analysed; indices of stereotypy were calculated which enabled the relative constraints of these two behavioural categories to be compared. A novel toy was presented individually to sixteen pre-school children thus eliciting initial exploratory behaviour, followed by play on subsequent days. It is argued that evolutionary pressures have resulted in exploratory behaviour becoming highly constrained; play, on the other hand, being of little direct consequence for survival, is characterised by heterogeneity of sequences.
Current Trends in Italian Preschool Policy
Authors: Mantovani Susanna
Published: March 2013

The interrelation of political and educational issues in Italian preschool policy is outlined and the national legislation regulating Italian nursery schools, their programmes, and their guiding principles are compared with the regulations and experiments going on in some nursery schools established by local administrations. In particular, the gestione sociale, i.e. the kind of community participation which has been attempted in the past few years in local nursery schools and creches, is discussed. Some features and problems of the new creches are sketched.
Heredity-Environment Interaction in the Development of Twins
Authors: Fischbein Siv
Published: March 2013

As an alternative to the commonly used additive model for interpreting twin data, interactional aspects on a longitudinal twin study are presented.

While experiencing the same environment MZ twins will tend to react to it similarly, while DZ twins will react differently. Interaction between genetic and environmental factors will therefore increase the difference among DZ, thus lowering the intra-class correlation with increasing age. Such lowering is not expected when interaction is absent or when genetically identical MZ's are observed. Depending on the characteristic studied and the variation allowed, interactional effects can be expected to be more or less pronounced.

Examples are taken from the height and weight growth of a number of MZ and DZ twin pairs during puberty. Height seems to be a strongly genetically regulated variable showing no lowering of the intra-class correlations for the two twin categories with increasing age.

Weight, on the other hand, shows an interesting sex difference. The correlation for DZ twin girls drops markedly during puberty, while this is much less pronounced for the boys. A plausible explanation for this trend would be that there are stronger interactional effects for girls than for boys as regards weight during puberty.

It is difficult to explain why intra-class correlations for height for MZ and DZ twins during puberty would show a different trend than for weight without taking interactional effects into consideration. Likewise, it is hard to find a plausible interpretation of the sex difference found for weight during puberty simply on the basis of an additive model.
Psychological and Biological Perspectives on Altruism
Authors: Hoffman Martin L.
Published: March 2013

This paper presents the case for viewing altruism as an inherent part of human nature. The argument is first made that 'inclusive fitness', the key concept in modern evolutionary biology, dictates that (a) humans are programmed not only to be egoistic but also, under certain conditions, to help another at cost to themselves; and (b) what was selected was not altruistic action but mediators of action, because this provided the necessary flexibility. Psychological evidence is then presented that complements this view. Thus (a) there appears to a general human tendency to help others in distress, which has properties analagous to egoistic motivation and yet comes into play independently of egoistic motivation; and (b) the evolutionary requirements for a mediating mechanism appear to be met by empathy, e.g., it is reliably aroused in humans in response to misfortune in others, it predisposes the individual toward helping action and yet is amenable to perceptual and cognitive control, and its physiological basis may have been present in early humans. The social implications of a biological basis for human altruism are discussed.
Cognitive Developmental Stages Emerging from Levels of Learning
Authors: Halford Graeme S.
Published: March 2013

It is proposed that the environment can be cognized at four different levels: Level 0, without symbolic representation; Level 1, in which symbols are related to external objects and events, and to other symbols, in one-to-one fashion; Level 2, in which symbols are related to one another so as to form systems, and are related to external objects and events as systems; Level 3, in which symbols are related to sets of environment elements at the level of compositions of systems. Recognition of inconsistency requires more information for higher level systems than for lower level systems. Therefore, the highest attainable level of cognitive functioning will depend on information-processing capacity in a predictable way. Two experiments are reported in which level of system and age of children were found to interact in the predicted fashion. It is proposed that cognitive development stages can be accounted for in terms of information-processing factors which limit the highest level of cognitive system with children can attain at any given age.
Effect of Viewing Distance on Looking Behavior in Neonates
Authors: Schoetzau Angela
Published: March 2013

Two studies were conducted to investigate the relationship between the distance of an adult's face from a human newborn and the infant's looking behavior. Study 1 was concerned with how mothers regulate distance while interacting with their babies. 20 mother-infant pairs were filmed in profile and the eye-to-eye distance measured every six sec. The median distance was 22.5 cm, with 80% of the values lying between 16.0 and 27.3 cm. No significant differences in distance were found related to whether the babies had their eyes open or closed or whether they were on their mother's lap or on a diaper-changing table. There were large individual differences in the range of distances the mothers maintained and the frequency of alteration of distance. In Study 2, the visual orientation of 44 newborns was observed under two conditions: (A) 20 cm between faces of experimenter and baby; (B) 40 cm distance. The experimenter was talking to the baby under both conditions. Distance, at least in the range tested, does not appear to have any major influence on the baby's looking behavior, probably because of the immaturity of the newborn's visual system.
Group Processes in Early Childhood: A Dimension of Human Development
Authors: Lakin Martin , Lakin Musia G. , Costanzo Philip R.
Published: March 2013

A family-centered view of socialization has dominated child development research literature. Particularly lacking is knowledge of the influences of group participation where it is available and encouraged. The investigators carried out an observational field study in group optimizing settings in Israel. Variables were age and setting and the study included 32 groups of children aged 11-31 divided among four age categories in two types of communal settlement with differing amounts of group exposure. Differences in group behaviors were primarily related to developmental level but setting effects were apparent. The implications of such early appearances of group behaviors are considered.
Exploration and Play Re-Visited: A Hierarchical Analysis
Authors: Hughes Miranda M.
Published: March 2013

It has been demonstrated (Hughes 1978) that exploration is a constrained behaviour category relative to play. A hierarchical cluster analysis of behavioural events during exploration and play reveals the within-element organisation of these categories. It is argued that the hierarchical structures support the conclusions of the earlier paper and provide an economic illustration of the juxtaposition of behavioural elements during exploration and play.
Children's Conceptions and Use of Rules of Distributive Justice
Authors: Simons Robertjan , Klaassen Marianne
Published: March 2013

Two different approaches to the subject are distinguished: the equity approach and the cognitive developmental approach. In these approaches five kinds of data are used: hypothetical reward-divisions, real-life divisions, arguments used to defend hypothetical reward-divisions, arguments to defend real-life reward-divisions and real-life supervisor-divisions. In the reward-divisions few age trends have appeared in previous studies, while in respect to the arguments six developmental stages have been found. In the theoretical part of this article, it is argued that the lack of age trends in the reward-divisions may be caused by the use of suggestive instructions in many of the studies. Furthermore it is argued that when studies with suggestive instructions are excluded, the remaining studies agree in the following way: 4 and 5 year-old children argued and divided in a self-serving way, while many 6 and 7 year-old children argued and divided according to an equality rule. Most of the older children divided rewards according to equality, while their arguments were more differentiated. In the empirical part of the article a study is described about relations between hypothetical arguments, real-life arguments and real-life division behavior. High relations between the age trends in the three measures were found. The relation between reward-division trends and argument trends in 7 to 11 year-old children has not been found before. In the discussion this result is attributed to a difference in the ease with which equal solutions were obtainable in this study and previous ones.
Developmental Trends in Reaction to Social Pressure from Adults Versus Peers
Authors: Andersson Bengt-Erik
Published: March 2013

The Moral Dilemmas Test was administered to Swedish boys and girls in four grades (approx. mean ages 11 to 14). Data were analysed for age trends and sex differences and compared with previously published data from 13 countries. A strong, almost linear age trend was found with decreasing conformity to adult values and increasing conformity to peer authority with increasing age. Girls conformed more to adult norms than boys, except for the highest grade. The general response level for Swedish children was of the same magnitude as in other Western countries but the reaction to adult and peer pressure differed from most other countries. Swedish children reacted very little to anticipated exposure of their answers to parents but quite substantially to the threat of peer exposure, showing a sensitiveness among Swedish children to peer norms. Boys in the highest grade showed another response pattern typical for children in 7 of the 13 countries from which data are available. The results, especially the found age trends, and their implications in cross-cultural comparisons, are discussed.
Maternal Emotionality During Pregnancy and Reproductive Outcome: A Review of the Literature
Authors: Carlson Dimity B. , Labarba Richard C.
Published: March 2013

Empirical studies dealing with the relationship between maternal emotionality during pregnancy and reproductive outcome are critically reviewed. In general, the results of the studies reviewed support the notion of a relationship between maternal emotionality and reproductive outcome. The most methodologically acceptable studies were those linking the emotional state of the expectant mother to habitual abortion, hyperemesis gravidarum, toxemia, deviant infant behavior, and a variety of pregnancy and birth complications. Anxiety is the emotional condition most often studied and implicated in reproductive complications. However, the available data do not permit any conclusions regarding the nature of the relationship between maternal emotionality and obstetric and reproductive outcome. Mediating factors and methodological difficulties are briefly discussed.
Habituation and Cognitive Performance: Relationships Between Measures at Four Years of Age and Earlier Assessments
Authors: Miller Dolores J. , Spiridigliozzi Gail , Ryan Ellen B. , Callan Mary P. , Mclaughlin Joan E.
Published: March 2013

Relationships between measures of visual habituation and performance on cognitive tasks at 51 months of age and between these and previous assessments (at 39, 27, 15 months and early infancy) were examined in 24 children. Results suggest that youngsters currently characterized as faster habituators, in terms of first fixation data, may be somewhat advanced cognitively compared to slower habituators. The indexing of a group of fast and of slow habituators, through median split of ranked first fixation ratios, proved effective in predicting performance across the four cognitive tasks at 51 months according to a discriminant analysis. Correlations between these ratios and both current and previous cognitive scores showed some stability of individual differences from 15 through 51 months.
Behavioral Dimensions in One-Year-Olds and Dimensional Stability in Infancy
Authors: Hagekull Berit , Lindhagen Karin , Bohlin Gunilla
Published: March 2013

The purpose of the study was to establish dimensions of functioning that account for interindividual variation in behavior in the middle infancy period and to investigate the stability of the dimensional structure during a large part of the infancy period. Factor analyses were performed on parent questionnaire data for 357 infants, aged 11 to 15 months. An orthogonal 8-factor solution was preferred and cross-validated on subsamples. Comparisons with factor solutions previously obtained for 3 to 6 and 6 to 10 month-old infants revealed similarity for seven of the factors, both in terms of general dimensional content and item loading patterns. Thus, the dimensional structure of infants' behavioral repertoire was shown to be highly stable over the 3 to 15 months age period. The seven factors were named Intensity/Activity, Regularity, Approach-With drawal, Sensory Sensitivity, Attentiveness, Manageability, and Sensitivity to New Food. The additional eighth factor, appearing only in the oldest sample, was named Adaptability.
A Learning Set Approach to Multiple Classification: Evidence for a Theory of Cognitive Levels
Authors: Halford Graeme S.
Published: March 2013

Eighty children aged 3 to 6 years were given learning set training in classification under one of two conditions: a one attribute condition in which the cells of the matrix could be filled by taking account of only one dimension, or a two attribute condition in which the cells of the same matrix had to be filled by considering both dimensions. All age groups learned the one attribute task, but the majority of 3-year-olds failed the two attribute condition and there was a significant interaction between age and experimental condition. The results are discussed in terms of cognitive developmental stage theory, and while it is concluded that unmodified Piagetian theory is inconsistent with the results, they can be accommodated by a reformulated theory.
Continuity and Change in Play Styles as a Function of Sex of Child
Authors: Fagot Beverly I.
Published: March 2013

To look at continuity and change in play, children were observed in a natural setting using an observation schedule which allowed for coding the children's behavior and reactions to that behavior by others in the environment. The behavior scores were factor analyzed with six factors (play styles) resulting. The present paper discusses a group of sixty-seven boys and girls who entered the play groups between eighteen and twenty-four months of age and who remained with the groups for the period of at least one year. Children who were high and low on each factor upon entry to the groups are examined in detail. Changes in play styles over the period of a year were predictable from peer and teacher reactions. In particular, the male peer group was extremely effective in shaping male sex-typical behavior even when the boys entered the play group with other styles of play.
Parents' Attitudes and Children's Deprivation: Child-Rearing Attitudes of Parents as a Key to the Advantaged-Disadvantaged Distinction in Pre-School Children
Authors: Sheintuch G. , Lewin G.
Published: March 2013

Nine groups of kindergarten children in Israel were ranked on the advantaged-disadvantaged scale. The ranking was correlated with their parents' child-rearing attitudes. A strong positive relation was found between rigid parental directiveness and the ranking of a kindergarten group as disadvantaged. The parental attitudes were found to correlate to some degree with certain socio-cultural factors, such as educational level and national origin.

It is suggested that the parents' attitudes should serve as an early predictive factor for identifying disadvantaged children for purposes of establishing intervention programs to work with children, parents, and educators.
German Children's Behavior Towards Their Mothers at 12 Months and Their Fathers at 18 Months in Ainsworth's Strange Situation
Authors: Grossmann Klaus E. , Grossmann Karin , Huber Franz , Wartner Ulrike
Published: March 2013

Fourty-nine 12 months old children and their mothers were videotaped in Ainsworth's Strange Situation. Fourty-six of them were videotaped again in the same situation at 18 months with their fathers. Quality of attachment was determined by using Ainsworth's criteria. Fewer children had 'secure' relationships to their parents than in comparable U.S. samples. There was no correlation between infant-mother and infant-father quality of attachment relationship. The results are discussed in terms of parental attempts to cope with cultural demands imposed on them. These specific cultural demands may frequently interfere with the establishment of a securely attached relationship. On the other hand, they may be only transitory and appropriate from an adaptation to culture-specific expectancies point of view.
Interpretation of the Spatial Prepositions 'in front of' and 'behind'
Authors: Cox M. V.
Published: March 2013

Children aged 4 to 9 years and adults were asked to place a cube or a ball 'in front of or 'behind' a featuredor a nonfeatured-object. Although most children and adults responded on the basis of the inherent features of the object, a significant number of adults responded to the observer orientation cue. As expected, the nonfeatured-object task was difficult for the children, but they did not respond randomly; like the adults, most of them used the observer orientation cue. The results were discussed with reference to an analogy with over-extensions resulting from a child's unfamiliarity with linguistic alternatives, Piaget's theory of the development of spatial concepts, and the preferred explanation of responses determined by a prominent cue masking competing cues.
Adequate Control Procedures in Experimental Studies of Developmental Disabilities
Authors: James Angela L. , Barry Robert J.
Published: March 2013

The problems of establishing both quantitative and qualitative deficits in the behavioural profiles of various diagnostic subcategories of developmentally-disabled children are discussed in a developmental context. Examples of clinical experimental studies from the literature concerned with the syndrome of early-onset psychosis are used to illustrate the importance of methodologically controlling for maturational variables. Methods of appropriate matching of control groups are suggested which should facilitate the delineation of specific and general deficits in subgroups of developmentally-delayed children.
The Development of Three Spatial Concepts: In, on, under
Authors: Corrigan Roberta , Halpern Esther , Aviezer Ora , Goldblatt Allan
Published: March 2013

Two cognitive tasks were developed in order to test the emergence of three spatial concepts, "in", "on", and "under". Previous researchers had inferred the prior development of the cognitive concepts from work on language comprehension, but had never directly tested the sequence without using the language terms in their instructions to the children. The present research provides cognitive tasks that traced the development of the three types of space with use of instructions that did not make direct verbal reference to the spatial locative terms. Subjects were 60 Israeli children between 18 and 30 months of age. In "construction of space" tasks, children actively manipulated blocks in three different procedures: (1) in free play, (2) with blocks presented in a fixed order that was designed to elicit one of the three types of space, and (3) through imitation of a model construction. In "recognition of space" tasks, children chose a picture depicting one of the spatial concepts. For both construction and recognition tasks, scalogram analyses and an analysis of variance confirmed that "in" concepts developed earlier than "on" concepts, which developed before "under" concepts.
A Comparison of the Effects of Fantasy Play Tutoring and Skills Tutoring in Nursery Classes
Authors: Smith Peter K. , Dalgleish Mary , Herzmark Guy
Published: March 2013

A number of studies have suggested that encouraging fantasy and sociodramatic play in disadvantaged preschool children can have important benefits for social, linguistic and cognitive development. These results can be ascribed either to the fantasy play increase, or to the tutoring stimulation involved. Poor control for tutoring in most previous studies means that these two possibilities were not discriminated. In this study fantasy play tutoring and skills tutoring were compared for their effects on nursery school children. Observations of the tutoring sessions confirmed that there was adequate control for the amount of tutoring stimulation. Pre, post and follow-up assessments showed that the two tutoring programmes had equal impact as regards many aspects of cognitive and linguistic development, for which general tutoring effects common to both programmes may be responsible. However, fantasy play tutoring did show a greater potential for maintaining or increasing social participation scores. These results were found independently in two nursery schools. The theoretical and practical implications of this and of previous studies are considered.
Some Recent Trends in the Study of Language Development
Authors: Sinclair Anne
Published: March 2013

This paper begins with a short sketch of the history of the study of language development, from 600 B.C. to the 1970's. Recently, developmental psycholinguistics has branched out to study a number of new topics, some of which (such as the development of dialogue or the nature of the caretaker's speech) stray far from the traditional study of the development of children's grammars. Two of these sub-areas of study, namely meta-linguistic thinking and the development of literacy, are described and discussed in more detail. Some recent research results are reported: links between the two sub-areas seem to emerge.
Creativity in Early and Middle School Years
Authors: Smith Gudmund J. W. , Carlsson Ingegerd
Published: March 2013

The purpose of the study was to follow the development of creativity defined as the inclination to transgress the confines of an established perceptual context in children aged 7 to 11 years, after having studied 4-6-year-olds previously. One group of 55 7-8-year-olds, divided in a younger and/or more cognitively immature subgroup (I) and an older and/or more mature one (II), and one group of 31 10-1 1-year-olds (III), were tested with a special percept-genetic creativity test (PG) which significantly correlated with a creativity-fantasy scale. While creativity decreased in group I as compared with younger children, it increased drastically in group III, as did anxiety signs in a percept-genetic personality test (MCT) applied in all groups. While thus creativity seemed to benefit from a certain amount of anxiety, it was obviously blocked by excessive amounts or by low anxiety tolerance. The low creativity tide in 7-year-olds could perhaps be associated with the beginning of regular school in Sweden, but the high tide at the age of 10-11 years would perhaps point to an autonomous developmental rhythm.
An Attitudinal Assessment of Perceived Intergenerational Affinities Linking Adolescence and Old Age
Authors: Luszcz Mary A.
Published: March 2013

Attitudes toward the elderly were considered in a life-span context relative to adolescents and the middle-aged. These groups were chosen based on theorized commonalities linking adolescents and the elderly in contrast to the middle-aged. Undergraduate students used a semantic differential to rate the extent to which adjectives corresponded to their conceptions of ideal, real, and typical adolescents, middle-aged, and elderly people. Four subscales of Autonomy, Instrumentality, Acceptability, and Integration were assessed. When students considered their ideal conceptions of each age group, no age-related differences were evidenced on any dimensions. Further, across age, typical individuals were considered to be less acceptable and less well-integrated than people known by students. However, autonomy and instrumentality varied with age as well as the type of individuals being rated. Typical old people as well as old people known to students were viewed to be less instrumental than adolescents. These elderly people were also viewed as less instrumental than real but not typical middle-aged people. Adolescents and the elderly alike were seen as less autonomous than real or typical middle-aged people. Results were discussed in terms of Chellam's notion of symmetry that suggests that balance, likeness, and oppositeness each characterize relations among adolescents, the middle-aged, and the elderly.
The Development of Thinking in Young Children: The Problem of Analysis
Authors: Woodward W. Mary
Published: March 2013

The action-patterns of young children, shown in problem-solving and spontaneous play, are considered on the basis of a levels of organisation approach, by means of a task-analysis. The main problem of such analysis arises from interleaving with the action components inferred cognitive constituents which may be incorrectly inferred. In the analysis, other end-results than solution and less than optimum strategies are regarded as equally important as success and the use of the most efficient means. Cognitive activity is analysed in terms of the successive co-ordination of existing patterns and the incorporation of new mental components to form a series of levels. The approach is discussed in the context of the development of thinking in children of one and a half to five years.
Exploring a Novel Object by Preschool Children: A Sequential Analysis of Perceptual, Manipulating and Verbal Exploration
Authors: Schneider Klaus , Moch Matthias , Sandfort Rita , Auerswald Monika , Walther-Weckman Karin
Published: March 2013

Two studies of the exploratory behaviour of preschool children and first grade elementary school children using Hutt's novel object are reported. The novel object was a box with a movable level. Manipulating the lever released sound and light effects from the box. The task was such that manipulatory behaviour dominated other forms of exploration, like perceptual investigation and asking questions. Children were observed in one encounter with the novel object in which the box was offered together with three familiar toys in a familiar surrounding. Observation time was 10 minutes in the first and 15 minutes in the second study. For the observation of the behaviour a checklist was used with 12 categories.

The results confirmed the assumption of a typical sequence of exploratory behaviour and play behaviour with the new object, suggested by Hutt, and Nunnally and Lemond. In addition, boys manipulated the object more than girls (study 2) and children generally dealt more with the new object the older they were however, the oldest group of first grade elementary school children in study 2 again showed less interest in the novel object. The younger girls also asked more social-emotional but not information questions than boys of the same age.

In contrast to a strong sequential hypothesis, however, subjects shifted back and forth between neighbouring categories of exploratory behaviour and also between exploratory behaviour and playing with the new object. Thus, there is no clear sequential order between exploration and play.
Time and Distance in Spatial Cognition Development
Authors: Herman James F. , Roth Stephen F. , Norton Laura M.
Published: March 2013

In two experiments 17- (mean age=17;10), II- (mean age=11;7), 9- (mean age=9;7), and 7-year-olds (mean age = 7;7) walked along a straight line between two locations in a large-scale environment. They were then asked to estimate: (a) the distance from the beginning of the walk to the occurrence of a critical event that had occurred along the walk, and (b) the time taken to traverse various parts of the walk. In experiment 1 each half of the walked distance was traversed in varying amounts of time, with the critical event occurring halfway between the two locations. In experiment 2 the time taken to traverse each part of the walk was held constant but the distance to the occurrence of the critical event was varied. The results indicated that only younger children's estimates of the distance traversed in an environment may be influenced by the time taken to traverse that distance.
Recognition of Pictorial Material as a Function of Experiential Deprivation and Age
Authors: Misra Girishwar , Shukla Aradhana
Published: March 2013

The relative effects of chronological age and experiential deprivation upon pictorial recognition were investigated. Following a 4 x 2 factorial design four age levels (4-5, 5-6, 6-7 and 7-8 years) and two levels of deprivation (low/high) were manipulated. There were 50 subjects in each cell i.e., a total of 400 subjects. All subjects performed on pictorial recognition task individually. The results revealed significant main effects of age and deprivation. The interaction between age and deprivation was also significant. Longitudinal analysis of part of the data also supported these results. It appears that recognition memory increases with age and experiential deprivation interfers with the growth of recognition capacity in children.
The Influence of the Kindergarten Teacher on Sex Differences in Behavior
Authors: Oettingen Gabriele
Published: March 2013

The effect of the teacher on choice of activities of boys and girls in a German kindergarten is examined and her differential attraction for boys and girls is considered. The results indicate that the presence of the kindergarten teacher has a marked impact on boys' and girls' activity choices, thereby reducing the differences in boys' and girls' preferences for certain activities. The data also suggest that the teacher has a stronger attraction for girls than for boys. Possible influencing factors are discussed. The presence of the teacher is suggested to be a variable worth considering in kindergarten studies to give us further insights into children's behavior.
The Role of Spatial and Classification Operations in Young Children's Memory for an Organized Environment
Authors: Golbeck Susan L.
Published: March 2013

Memory for a room-sized spatial arrangement was examined in relation to spatial operations and classification operations. Sixty first grade children were asked to remember the location of eight cardboard houses clustered by physical characteristics (i.e., color and texture) into four groups on the floor of a room. Euclidean spatial operations as assessed with two Piagetian spatial tasks, the representation of an invariant vertical (i.e., a tree on the side of a hill) and a two-dimensional point duplication problem, were expected to predict memory for exact spatial location of individual items on the floor of the room. Since items were clustered according to a logical system, it was also hypothesized that classification operations would predict memory for the more general location in which individual items belonged. Results of a multiple regression showed that Euclidean knowledge, as measured by verticality, along with age in months, predicted memory for exact spatial location. While classification knowledge was unrelated to memory for general room area, the absence of this predicted relationship may be attributed to the number of objects in the arrangement as well as the size of the room. These findings, taken along with earlier work, demonstrate the need to examine the joint impact of operative knowledge, other cognitive factors, and the physical context itself in studying children's developing ability to remember real-world environments.
Transactional Influences of Infants' Orienting Ability and Maternal Cooperation on Competition in Three-Year-Old Children
Authors: Lutkenhaus Paul , Grossmann Klaus E. , Grossmann Karin
Published: March 2013

The aims of this study were (1) to describe how three-year-olds regulate their effort during competition, (2) to compare their facial expressions after failure and success, and to demonstrate the operation of a display rule in competition, (3) to explore the cross-situational stability of individual patterns in the regulation of behavior, (4) to explore the relationship between factors influencing the mother-child interaction and individual patterns in the regulation of behavior. The Brazelton Neonatal Assessment scale was administered to 44 newborns. At three years, maternal cooperation was assessed from videotapes of mothers and children playing a pattern-matching game. Individual patterns in children's regulation of behavior were assessed by frequency counts of self-evaluations and withdrawal during the game. Competitiveness was assessed during a tower building task. The greatest number of glances at the tester's tower occurred when either of the competitors finished his/her tower first. Building speed was reduced when the tester finished his tower first. In the absence of eye contact with the opponent, success was followed by smiling and failure by a sad face; during eye contact, children mostly smiled. Patterns of building speed during a failure trial and a success trial were related to positive self-evaluations during mother-child play, to orienting scores at newborn age, and to maternal cooperation at the age of three.
Japanese Cooperative and Competitive A ltitudes: Age and Gender Effects
Authors: Shwalb David W. , Shwalb Barbara J.
Published: March 2013

Japanese fifth through twelfth graders (N = 927) rated and ranked 24 cooperative and competitive activities (teacher-generated) in terms of personal importance. Factor analyses revealed one consistent cooperative factor across school levels, and different competitive factor structures for elementary, middle and high school pupils. Analyses of variance on individual items and on composite measures suggested that (1) while females were significantly more cooperative and males more competitive than one another, both sexes responded much more positively towards cooperative than competitive items, and (2) cooperative and competitive orientation depends on the specific activity. Age, gender and situational factors were related to pupils' cultural socialization at school.
Perceptions of Personal Agency and Infant Attachment: Toward a Life-Span Perspective on Competence Development
Authors: Ford Martin E. , Thompson Ross A.
Published: March 2013

Because perceptions of personal agency are important contributors to behavioral regulation, they play a significant role in promoting and maintaining competent functioning. Yet, thus far, these processes have been studied almost exlusively in older children and adults. Our discussion sketches the outlines of a life-span approach to the study of competence development by considering the emergence of personal agency beliefs in the infancy and toddler years and their importance to early developmental achievements. After presenting a general framework for conceptualizing personal agency beliefs and an overview of the research with older groups relevant to this framework, studies of the origins of perceived effectance and their motivational consequences in infancy are reviewed. Next we propose that individual differences in the security of attachment and their sequelae can be viewed as reflecting, in part, variations in perceptions of personal agency among infants and toddlers, a view which also suggests important new directions in attachment theory and research. Finally, we outline research issues concerning the generality and stability of personal agency beliefs, their behavioral correlates at different ages, and their overall role in a general life-span theory of competence development.
Individual Problems of Self-Definition an Overview, and a View
Authors: van der Werff Jacobus J.
Published: March 2013

This article presents a global overview of psychological approaches to the individual problem of self-definition. Self-reflection and the experienced presence of others are discussed as the two 'pillars' of that problem. A developmental sketch is given, and two main forms of the problem are distinguished: self-concept contradictions and identity-problems, respectively. Resolutions of the two types of the problem, and their relationship to mental health are discussed.
Children's Understanding of Class Inclusion and their Ability to Reason with Implication
Authors: Haars Venant J.E. , Mason Emanuel J.
Published: March 2013

Fifty-six Dutch school children (aged 6-0 and 14-4 years) participated in a study designed to investigate the relationship between class inclusion and reasoning with logical implication. Subjects each answered a total of 32 syllogisms containing conditional implication premises. Before or after each question they were asked a class inclusion question. Results suggested a high degree of correspondence between class inclusion responses and reasoning with logical implication. The child's understanding of the subordinate and superordinate characteristics of the premises appeared to contribute to evaluation of the arguments, although many correct responses appeared to be based on incorrect understanding of premises. Further, there appeared to be a developmental pattern of understanding of implication with exclusion being the first level of understanding, then equivalence, and finally inclusion appearing most consistently in eighth graders. It was concluded that when children fail to respond correctly to questions about the validity of syllogisms, they may do so because they lack sufficient understanding of the premises.
Children's Recognition of Unfamiliar Faces: Developments and Determinants
Authors: Soppe H. J.G.
Published: March 2013

Eight-to 12-year-old primary school children and 13-year-old secondary school children were given a live and a photographed face recognition task and several other figural tasks, all representing factors from Guilford's 'Structure of Intellect' model. While the scores on most tasks showed a more or less regular increase with age, the face recognition scores showed a different pattern. In the live face recognition task they did not change between ages 8 and 11, decreased at age 12 and returned to their former level at age 13. In the photographed face recognition task the scores did not change between 8 and 12 but significantly increased at age 13. There was no correlation between the recognition scores for live and photographed faces. The main conclusions drawn were: (1) between ages 8 and 11 there are, in face recognition tasks, no changes in the tendency to configurationally encode unfamiliar faces; (2) psychological concomitants of puberty onset are responsible for decreases in face recognition at age 12; (3) the transition to secondary school and the accompanying confrontation with many new faces has a positive effect on the capacity to recognize faces.
A Cross-Cultural Perspective on Developmental Psychology
Authors: Jahoda Gustav
Published: March 2013

The burden of the argument put forward in this paper is that in spite of a considerable expansion of cross-cultural development studies over the past two decades, developmental psychology as a whole remains unduly parochial. Since most of its theories originate in the first world, one of the main functions of cross-cultural work is to assess the range of their applicability across the globe. After briefly illustrating this theme in relation to infant behaviour, research and theories dealing with cognitive development in childhood and adolescence are reviewed in more detail. Piagetians focusing on supposedly universal processes appeared at one time sharply opposed to followers of Vygotsky concentrating on specific context-bound learning. Cross-cultural work has resulted in a convergence such that what divides them now is mainly a difference of emphasis, both sides accepting forms of 'local constructivism'.

Important contributions from workers outside these major traditions are outlined and a shift away from exclusive concern with learning to understand the physical, and towards the social world is noted. In conclusion, some evidence is mentioned indicating that cultural factors powerfully affect emotional as well as cognitive development and it is suggested that there is a need to devote more effort in that direction.
Acquiring Cultural Forms: Cognitive Aspects of Socialization Illustrated by Children's Drawings and Judgments of Drawings
Authors: Goodnow Jacqueline J. , Wilkins Paula , Dawes Leslie
Published: March 2013

To explore how children come to adopt cultural forms of representation, three studies are presented. Study 1 asks about children's ability to discriminate between 'younger' and 'older' pieces of work, with 'younger and 'older' distinguished on the basis of Developmental Drawing Status (Harris 1963). Study 2 asks about children's preferences and the extent to which they match those of teachers. Study 3 asks about the differences between drawings children produce for themselves and those they produce when asked by an adult for a 'good' drawing. The underlying assumption is that one condition influencing developmental change is children's exposure to work by adults or by older children. The results point to ways of combining cross-cultural comparisons of performances with monocultural work on processes underlying children's productions. They also raise questions about patterns of exposure in any cultural context and about factors involved in the development of discriminations, preferences, and audience expectations.
Constructing Favourable Conditions for Measuring the Young Child's Understanding of the Terms in, on and under
Authors: Bremner J. Gavin , Idowu Tinu C.
Published: March 2013

Recent research has indicated that young children's responses to requests containing the prepositions in, on and under are strongly influenced by the context in which they are made, but that they probably understand the terms in and on before the term under. However, these studies employed contextual manipulations that bias the child towards one particular placement. In this study, the contextual manipulation involved a pre-test activity aimed at equating the likelihood of all three placements. Children from 1 year 6 months to 3 years old showed markedly better comprehension of the terms than children who were not exposed to such pre-test activity. This superiority cannot be put down to contextual bias towards a particular placement, and hence performance under these conditions may give a better measure of actual comprehension. It is suggested that the conditions in real life that force a clear distinction between spatial prepositions are those similar to the present experimental manipulation, in which one object commonly enters into more than one relationship with another.