bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Individual Differences In Experiment Participation: Structure, Autonomy, and the Time of the Semeste
Authors: Roman Robert J. , Moskowitz Gordon B. , Stein Morris I. , Eisenberg Ronda F.
Published: April 2006

This research investigated the association of two individual difference moderators of psychological phenomena with the time of semester students choose to participate in experiments. The Personal Need for Structure (PNS) scale and the Stein Self‐Description Questionnaire were administered to the students in an introductory psychology class at the beginning of a university semester. Students' responses on these measures were related to their chosen dates of required participation in psychological research. Higher levels of PNS predicted earlier experiment participation and quicker completion of the experiment requirement once started. Personality types distinguished by the Stein Self‐Description Questionnaire revealed that those indifferent or hostile to authority participate in experiments later in the semester than do the curious or more conforming types. Implications of these findings for external validity of social psychological research at different points in the semester are discussed
Religious Orthodoxy and the Complexity of Thought about Religious and Nonreligious Issues
Authors: Pancer S. Mark , Jackson Lynne M. , Hunsberger Bruce , Pratt Michael W. , Lea James
Published: April 2006

Two studies examined the relationship between religious orthodoxy and the complexity of thinking about religious and nonreligious issues. In both studies, participants who were high or low in religious orthodoxy wrote a paragraph outlining their thoughts about a religious issue (life after death in Study 1; existence of God in Study 2) and/or a nonreligious issue (capital punishment in Study 1; free trade between Canada and the U.S. in Study 2). The results of both studies indicated that participants who were high in religious orthodoxy were less complex in their thinking about religious issues than those low in religious orthodoxy, but did not differ in the complexity of their thinking about nonreligious issues. These results do not support the notion that orthodoxly religious individuals are dispositionally inclined to think in simpler or more rigid ways overall, but they do suggest a tendency to think less complexly about religious issues.
Ropressive Coping Style and the Experience and Recall of Emotion: A Naturalistic Study of Daily Affect
Authors: Cutler Susan E. , Larson Randy J. , Bunce Scott C.
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT Research shows that people characterized as repressors display inhibited recall for unpleasant memories. In this study, the relationship between repressive coping style and the recall of affect near the time of the experience was compared to delayed recall. An experience sampling technique was used to collect affect data twice daily for 4 weeks. Repressive coping style was found to be related to low levels of average daily unpleasant affect and lowered delayed recall of unpleasant affect. Unlike repressors, high anxious individuals overestimated unpleasant affect during delayed recall. Repressors did not exhibit isolation of the dominant unpleasant affect from nondominant unpleasant affect in daily reporting. The overall pattern of results suggests that the effect of repressive coping style is to diminish the encoding of all unpleasant affect, whereas trait anxiety appears to promote overestimation in the recall of unpleasant affect.
Exploring Nonlinear Models in Personality Assessment: Development and Preliminary Validation of a Negative Emotionality Scale
Authors: Waller Niels G. , Tellegen Auke , McDonald Roderick P. , Lykken David T.
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT In this article we discuss the applicability of several new measurement models to the construction of personality scales, and we contrast these models with more traditional approaches in common usage, such as the principal factor analysis model. Our goal is to illustrate how nonlinear item‐response models can be profitably used in personality research. We describe the development of a 30‐item Negative Emotionality scale that was constructed using nonlinear factor analysis and item‐response theory. We also show how traditional (linear) factor analysis can produce misleading results when it is applied to personality items with dichotomous response formats (e.g., true/false, agree/disagree). No formal training in modern measurement theory is assumed of the reader as we describe the nonlinear models that are used in this study in nontechnical language with a minimum of mathematics.
Heritability of the Big Five Personality Dimensions and Their Facets: A Twin Study
Authors: Jang Kerry L. , Livesley W. John , Vemon Philip A.
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT The genetic and environmental etiology of the five‐factor model of personality as measured by the revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO‐PI‐R) was assessed using 123 pairs of identical twins and 127 pairs of fraternal twins. Broad genetic influence on the five dimensions of Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness was estimated at 41%, 53%, 61%, 41%, and 44%, respectively. The facet scales also showed substantial heritability, although for several facets the genetic influence was largely nonadditive. The influence of the environment was consistent across all dimensions and facets. Shared environmental influences accounted for a negligible proportion of the variance in most scales, whereas nonshared environmental influences accounted for the majority of the environmental variance in all scales.
The Motivated Expression of Embarrassment Following a Self‐Presentational Predicament
Authors: Leary Mark R. , Landel Julie L. , Patton Katharine M.
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT Two experiments tested hypotheses derived from an interpersonal model of embarrassment. According to this model, people who have suffered a self‐presentational predicament are motivated to convey to others that they feel embarrassed as a way of repairing their social image and lowering subjective embarrassment in such situations. In Experiment 1, participants who performed an embarrassing task subsequently expressed greater embarrassment if the researcher did not already know that they were embarrassed than if she was aware of their embarrassment. Experiment 2 showed that embarrassed participants who thought that the researcher did not interpret their blushing as a sign of embarrassment subsequently engaged in alternative self‐presentational tactics to improve their damaged social image.
The Relations of Dispositional Regulation and Emotionality to Elders' Empathy‐Related Responding and Affect While Volunteering
Authors: Eisenberg Nancy , Okun Morris A.
Published: April 2006

Researchers recently have proposed that various empathy‐related reactions are differentially related to individual differences in emotional intensity and regulation. This idea was tested with a sample of elderly hospital volunteers. As predicted, dispositional sympathy was associated with high levels of both dispositional regulation and negative emotional intensity. Personal distress was linked with low regulation and high negative emotional intensity, and cognitive perspective taking was associated with high regulation. Perspective taking moderated the relation of emotional intensity to sympathy and personal distress. In addition, elders' negative affect when volunteering at a hospital was correlated with low regulation and high personal distress. In contrast, positive affect was correlated with high levels of regulation and dispositional sympathy. The results demonstrate that findings pertaining to vicarious emotional responding are generalizable to nonstudent populations engaged in planned, sustained helping behavior.
On Energy, Personality, and Health: Subjective Vitality as a Dynamic Reflection of Well‐Being
Authors: Ryan Richard M. , Frederick Christina
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT In this article, we examine subjective vitality, a positive feeling of aliveness and energy, in six studies. Subjective vitality is hypothesized to reflect organismic well‐being and thus should covary with both psychological and somatic factors that impact the energy available to the self. Associations are shown between subjective vitality and several indexes of psychological well‐being; somatic factors such as physical symptoms and perceived body functioning; and basic personality traits and affective dispositions. Subsequently, vitality is shown to be lower in people with chronic pain compared to matched controls, especially those who perceive their pain to be disabling or frightening. Subjective vitality is further associated with self‐motivation and maintained weight loss among patients treated for obesity. Finally, subjective vitality is assessed in a diary study for its covariation with physical symptoms. Discussion focuses on the phenomenological salience of personal energy and its relations to physical and psychological well‐being.
This I Have Learned from Over 40 Years of Personality Research
Authors: Epstein Seymour
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT During the over 40 years in which I have conducted personality research, I have had a number of insights about the research process that I thought would be worth sharing: an awareness of the human side of science; lessons from the person‐situation debate; lessons from comparing research on highly ego‐involving natural events, such as sport parachuting, with laboratory analogues; the realization of what is wrong with the concept of the Freudian unconscious and what should be done to replace it; and awareness of pervasive biases in the journal‐reviewing process. Perhaps the one most general lesson I have learned is that the advancement of psychology as a cumulative, integrative science is hampered not so much by its conceptual complexity as by the difficulty of humankind to view itself objectively, with honesty, courage, and a willingness to surrender illusions.
Vulnerability to Stress: Self‐Criticism and Stress‐Induced Changes In Biochemistry
Authors: Gruen Rand J. , Silva Raul , Ehrlich Joshua , Schweitzer Jack W. , Friedhoff Arnold J.
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT It has been hypothesized that individuals who are high on the attribute of self‐criticism are particularly vulnerable to failure stress. To test this hypothesis, we examined the relationship between self‐criticism and changes in plasma homovanillic acid (HVA; the metabolite of dopamine) and emotion during exposure to an induced‐failure task. Participants consisted of 21 women. Plasma HVA and emotion were assessed at three time points: baseline (T1), during stress exposure (T2), and 40 minutes after cessation of the stressor (T3). We found that self‐criticism was significantly and positively related to changes in plasma HVA during stress exposure. In addition, the personality attribute was significantly and positively related to subjective ratings of stress and changes in scores on the Confusion‐Bewilderment scale of the Profile of Mood States during the task. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report that self‐criticism is related to stress‐induced changes in biochemistry.
Personality and Mate Preferences: Five Factors In Mate Selection and Marital Satisfaction
Authors: Botwin Michael D. , Buss David M. , Shackelford Todd K.
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT Although personality characteristics figure prominently in what people want in a mate, little is known about precisely which personality characteristics are most important, whether men and women differ in their personality preferences, whether individual women or men differ in what they want, and whether individuals actually get what they want. To explore these issues, two parallel studies were conducted, one using a sample of dating couples (N= 118) and one using a sample of married couples (N= 216). The five‐factor model, operationalized in adjectival form, was used to assess personality characteristics via three data sources—self‐report, partner report, and independent interviewer reports. Participants evaluated on a parallel 40‐item instrument their preferences for the ideal personality characteristics of their mates. Results were consistent across both studies. Women expressed a greater preference than men for a wide array of socially desirable personality traits. Individuals differed in which characteristics they desired, preferring mates who were similar to themselves and actually obtaining mates who embodied what they desired. Finally, the personality characteristics of one's partner significantly predicted marital and sexual dissatisfaction, most notably when the partner was lower on Agreeableness, Emotional Stability, and Intellect‐Openness than desired.
Getting Along or Getting Your Own Way: The Development of Young Children's Use of Argument in Conflicts with Mother and Sibling
Authors: Tesla Caroline , Dunn Judy
Published: April 2006

The development of children's use of argument in conflicts with their mother and sibling during their fourth vear, a period of marked changes in their understanding of others, was studied in 49 children observed at home with their mothers and siblings at 33 and 47 months. Children's use of reasoned argument in conflict increased: however, the proportion used for conciliation and compromise decreased, and children used justifications increasingly to support their own position. Mothers, hut not siblings, changed in parallel to the children over this period. Both the initiator of a dispute and children's expression of affect were related to children's use of argument; children used less reasoned argument when they were upset. Results are discussed in relation to differences in the development of children's relationships with mother and sibling and the importance of the link between affective expression and the use of argument in family disputes.
Complex belief‐desire reasoning in children
Authors: Bennett Mark , Galpert Linda
Published: April 2006

Previous research concerned with children's belief‐desire psychology has examined the capacity to predict or interpret action on the basis of the implicit proposition that ‘when an actor desires a particular end and believes that a particular action will achieve that end, he or she will undertake that action’. The limitations of this formulation for understanding acts of omission are outlined and an elaborated version of belief‐desire psychology introduced. This version holds that ‘when an actor desires a particular end and believes that a particular action will achieve that end, and when it is believed that there are no co‐occurring outcomes of that action whose avoidance is desired more highly than is the originally conceived end, then the actor will undertake the action which will satisfy the original desire’. An experiment is reported which examines 4‐, 5, and 7‐year‐olds' ability to predict story characters' actions on the basis of either their true or false beliefs concerning undesirable outcomes associated with the pursuit of a desired end. Children of all age‐groups provided evidence of understanding the elaborated version of belief‐desire psychology. However, a significant improvement was noted between the ages of 4 and 7 years in the ability to understand circumstances involving false beliefs.
Gender and friendship: relationships within peer groups of young children
Authors: Howes Carollee , Phillipsen Leslie
Published: April 2006

We examined the influences of developing gender segregation on children's friendship maintenance in a longitudinal sample of 40 (17 girls) children who began their peer group experiences as infants. Friendships were behaviorally identified and social interaction was observed and rated six times between average age 16.3 months and average age 49.1 months. The proportion of cross‐gender friendships increased with age only when children formed friendships outside of the core group of peers with whom they had begun infant care. Girl‐girl and cross‐gender friendships were more likely to be maintained than boy‐boy friendships. Cross‐gender friends tended to be similar in gregariousness in both toddler and preschool periods, similar in hostile aggression as toddlers, and similar in withdrawn behavior as preschoolers. Same‐gender friends were not similar in social interaction style. Social skill similarity was generally more important as a basis for friendship in the toddler periods than in the preschool periods. However, cross‐gender friends tended to be similar in social skills throughout both the toddler and preschool periods.
Children's use of psychological and behavioral traits: a forced‐choice assessment
Authors: Aloise Patricia A.
Published: April 2006

Two studies were conducted to investigate differences in the types of traits used to describe familiar people. In the first study, adults were asked to make judgments about a variety of traits. This resulted in the identification of two types of traits, psychological (based on internal beliefs and abilities) and behavioral (based on behavioral characteristics). In Study 2, subjects (74 children aged 8 to 11) were asked to describe one liked and one disliked individual by circling 6 descriptors from a list of 30, including 10 psychological traits and 10 behavioral traits. Fourth and fifth graders, but not third graders, preferred psychological traits over behavioral traits. The use of behavioral traits decreased with age, while the use of psychological traits remained constant. Children preferred psychological traits when describing a liked other.
Do expressive mothers have expressive children? The role of socialization in children's affect expression
Authors: Halberstadt Amy G. , Fox Nathan A. , Jones Nancy Aaron
Published: April 2006

The effects of maternal expressiveness and children's gender on children's nonverbal expressiveness were assessed in two settings. In the laboratory, 30 boys and 30 girls of kindergarten age were unobtrusively videotaped while talking about happy, sad, and fearful experiences and while experiencing three social situations designed to elicit happy, disappointed, and apprehensive feelings. Videotapes were rated for emotion expression, using global ratings and EMFACS codes. In school, teachers rated these children's expression of four discrete emotions. In both the laboratory and school settings children were more positively expressive than negatively so, and positive and negative expressiveness were unrelated. In the laboratory children's positive expressiveness was consistent across the three social situations, but negative expressiveness varied across affective context. In both settings, children of low‐expressive mothers were more positively expressive than children of high‐expressive mothers, who tended to be more negatively expressive than children of low‐expressive mothers. The difference in negative expression appeared most striking for anger. Gender was not predictive of children's expressiveness in either setting
Children's gender‐ and age‐based categorization in similarity and induction tasks
Authors: Taylor Marianne G. , Gelman Susan A.
Published: April 2006

The present studies examined children's and adults' preferences for gender‐ or age‐based categorization using similarity and inductive inference tasks. Four‐year‐olds, 6‐year‐olds, and adults looked at pictures of people and decided which of two was more like a target (similarity condition) or which shared a novel age‐ or gender‐related property with the target (inference condition). Age or gender‐based matches were possible. The results are consistent with previous findings that gender‐based classification decreases with age. However, they also demonstrate that children use gender more for judging similarity than for making inferences about novel properties. Distinct patterns emerge from the two tasks: 6‐year‐olds and adults in both conditions categorize more by age than gender; 4‐year‐olds categorize by gender more than age in the similarity task, but by age more in the induction task. Only adults differentiated by property in the inference condition. These findings suggest that the salience of gender categories cannot entirely be attributed to their inductive potential. Gender has a salience beyond what would be predicted by its power for directing novel generalizations.
Distance‐maintaining in infants' reaction to an adult stranger
Authors: Ricard Marcelle , Décarie Thérèse Gouin
Published: April 2006

In an infant‐controlled experiment, 38 babies aged 9–10 months, while accompanied by their mothers, were confronted with a novel inanimate object and an unfamiliar person. Among them, 17 who approached both the toy and the stranger were labeled ‘bold,’ while 17 others approached the toy but not the stranger, and were classified as ‘shy.’ A comparison of the familiarization strategies displayed by these two groups in the stranger situation was performed. It showed (1) that no fear nor any clear‐cut sign of negative affect towards the stranger appeared in either group; (2) that the same process of maintaining a distance between themselves and the stranger was apparent in all infants, bold as well as shy; and (3) that a main difference between the two groups was the pace at which they performed the same kind of distal familiarization. A reinterpretation of the function of distance‐maintaining in infant reaction to strangers is proposed, whereby it is seen as a positive and appropriate social behavior, rooted in the conception of persons that infants of that age are believed to possess.
Task design as an influence on dialogue and learning: primary school group work with object flotation
Authors: Tolmie Andrew , Howe Christine , Mackenzie Mhairi , Greer Karen
Published: April 2006

Previous studies suggest that group work would yield conceptual gains in physics if tasks specifically promoted dialogue about the factors which determine observed outcomes. This might be done by constraining task items to present critical tests of the effects of individual factors; and, additionally, by requiring participants to generate or select explicit rules about those effects. In order to test this hypothesis, groups of primary school children were asked to work on one of four versions of a task concerning object flotation: Random (i.e. a control in which there were no task constraints), Critical Tests, Rule Generation, and Rule Selection. Learning was assessed via change between a pre‐test and two post‐tests. Although the effect was delayed, children from the Random and Rule Generation conditions showed an increased awareness of relevant factors which was strongly related to prior group activity. This gain was absent in the Critical Tests and Rule Selection conditions. The results indicate that group dialogue can be productively shaped by task design, but also that its effects may take time to appear, and are negated by overmuch external direction of attention.
Friendship, transactive dialogues, and the development of scientific reasoning
Authors: Azmitia Margarita , Montgomery Ryan
Published: April 2006

This study investigated the significance of friendship for scientific reasoning. We had two main goals: First, assess whether collaborations between friends fostered greater development of scientific reasoning than collaborations between acquaintances, and second, identify which features of friends' collaborative dialogues mediated their greater problem solving accuracy. Fifth graders collaborated on isolation of variables problems of varying difficulty with either a friend or an acquaintance. The results showed that adolescents paired with friends obtained higher problem solving accuracy than adolescents paired with acquaintances during both the collaborative and the posttest sessions. However, the cognitive advantages of working with a friend were only evident in the most difficult isolation of variables problems. Analyses of friends' and acquaintances' dialogues showed that friends were more likely than acquaintances to evaluate their solutions, justify their proposals spontaneously, elaborate and critique each other's reasoning, and engage in transactive discussions. Evaluating outcomes and participating in transactive conflicts were significantly associated with better problem solving, and consequently these may be the two key mechanisms through which friendship effects developmental changes in scientific reasoning. The results are discussed in terms of the need to understand developmental features of relationships and how these features mediate cognitive development and the need to take a longitudinal approach to the study of the relation between transactive dialogues and the development of scientific reasoning.
Communicative competence in 5‐ to 8‐year‐olds with mild or moderate learning difficulties and their classroom peers: referential and negotiation skills
Authors: Thomson Annette
Published: April 2006

Two studies were run to examine communicative and social aspects of the interaction between 5‐ to 8‐year‐old children with mild or moderate learning difficulties (LD) and their classroom peers for whom no such difficulties had been observed (NLD). In the first study, the children's communicative responses to a referential group task were explored, through children describing drawings to each other. In terms of the nature of information exchange, few differences were found between NLD and LD children. Differences were found in terms of the social content of language: in the listener role, LD children tended to be the recipients of more critical and directive speech. The second study, focusing on consensus forming and negotiation processes in a co‐operative group task, mirrored the patterns of social aspects found in Study 1. LD children tended to be less influential in affecting the consensus and in directing the course of the task.
Information‐seeking during acquaintanceship: Effects of level of social understanding and personal relevance
Authors: Camhy Melissa , Ruble Diane N.
Published: April 2006

Two studies examined how individual differences in social understanding influence children's information‐seeking orientations during an initial meeting with a peer, in which they do or do not anticipate future interaction. Study 1 involved a relatively controlled, laboratory setting in which 7‐9 year old children were presented a list of questions from which to choose what to ask the peer. The findings indicate that children who view a person's behavior in terms of stable dispositional characteristics (high SDC), express greater interest in gathering trait‐related information about an unfamiliar peer than children who do not perceive people in terms of stable traits (low SDC), but only when they expect to play games with that peer in a future interaction. Study 2 involved a more naturalistic observation of the actual questions 7‐9 year old children ask during an initial meeting with an unfamiliar peer. The findings showed that high SDC children asked more questions of the peer when they expected interaction than when they did not, whereas low SDC children did not differ significantly across conditions. Taken together, the two studies indicate that the future, predictability orientation of high SDC children leads to a more extensive information search about a peer when they expect interaction with that peer involving instrumental choices.
Autism and theory of mind in everyday life
Authors: Frith Uta
Published: April 2006

The theory of mind account of autism suggests that the key social, communicative and imaginative impairments which characterise this disorder result from an inability to represent mental states. While this account has been largely confirmed by experimental work, there has, as yet, been little examination of autistic children's theory of mind outside the laboratory. The present study used the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales to measure real life social adaptation, through the report of care‐givers. In particular, we were interested to find out more about the real life competence of those few autistic subjects who do pass tests of theory of mind. Autistic, mentally handicapped and normally developing children were tested with two standard theory of mind tasks. Groups of subjects who passed or failed these tasks were contrasted. We supplemented the Vineland Scales with items designed to distinguish social behaviour which necessitates theory of mind (termed Interactive) and social behaviour which could be learned (Active). We also asked about maladaptive behaviour of two sorts: Bizarre behaviour typical of autism, and Antisocial behaviour at least some of which would appear to require consideration of beliefs (e.g. deception). We found that the normally developing and mentally handicapped children showed a great deal of evidence of “mind‐reading” in their everyday lives, regardless of theory of mind task performance. By contrast, in the autistic group, only those individuals who passed the false belief tasks showed insightful Interactive and Antisocial behaviour. These passers also had better verbal and communication abilities. The autistic subjects who failed the laboratory tasks showed little or no evidence of understanding mental states in their everyday lives, but many did show a high degree of simple Active sociability. Closer analysis showed that only some of the passers showed good evidence of theory of mind in their real life behaviour, and that even these were somewhat impaired relative to their age and developmental level. Implications for the theory of mind account of autism are discussed.
Paternal participation in toddlers' pretend play
Authors: Farver Jo Ann M. , Wimbarti Supra
Published: April 2006

32 toddlers were videotaped in a laboratory setting while playing alone and with their fathers to understand how fathers contribute to children's early pretend play, to explore the extent to which their social play involves pretend, to describe father‐child pretend play, and to examine fathers' beliefs about children's play. Children exhibited more exploratory play alone and engaged in more symbolic level play with their fathers. Sex differences were found in fathers' play behaviors and in the thematic content of play episodes. Fathers used explicit guidance with sons and implicit guidance with daughters. Father–son pairs engaged in vehicle/tool play and father–daughter pairs played domestic themes. The results suggest that the early differential socialization of boys and girls is apparent in father–toddler pretend play.
The intergenerational transmission of maternal discipline and standards for behavior
Authors: Covell Katherine , Grusec Joan E. , King Gillian
Published: April 2006

Mothers and grandmothers of 3‐ to 5‐year‐olds rated their frequency of use of five disciplinary techniques – physical punishment, withdrawal of love, explanation, material reward, and praise, described how they would react in a variety of disciplinary situations, and rated how stringent they were in demanding appropriate behavior in the areas of obedience, honesty, helping, and control of aggression. Mothers were asked to respond with reference to their child, and grandmothers with reference to their daughter when she was between 3 and 5 years of age. There was a significant correlation between mothers and grandmothers in their use of physical punishment and material reward. Mothers of girls who were categorized as power assertive in their responses to disciplinary situations had mothers who were also power assertive. There was no relationship between mothers and grandmothers in the standards they set for behavior. It is argued that discipline techniques are generally learned in the privacy of the home while standards are more likely to evolve after a variety of life experiences and that it is this fact that accounts for the relationship between mothers and grandmothers in the former area and not the latter.
Interactional harmony at 7 and 10 months of age predicts security of attachment as measured by Q‐sort ratings
Authors: Scholmerich Axel , Fracasso Maria P. , Lamb Michael E. , Broberg Anders G.
Published: April 2006

Fifty‐eight infants and their mothers were observed at home for 45 minutes at seven and ten months of age using a detailed behavioral checklist. During these observations, the degree of mutual interactional engagement was also rated on a 4‐point scale every 20 seconds. The attachment security of 38 infants was assessed at 13 months using mothers' reports on the Attachment Q‐set (AQS, Waters, 1987). Composite measures of mother‐infant interaction derived from the behavioral observations were moderately stable over time. Measures of maternal interactive behaviors and ratings of mutual engagement were highly correlated. Mothers' and infants' behaviors were combined into an index of behavioral harmony that was sensitive to differences in the infants' attachment security three and six months later. Using a stepwise multiple regression, 43% of the variance in the AQS‐scores was explained by behavioral harmony at seven months, mutual engagement at 10 months, and infant fuss/cry at seven months.
Antisocial and Prosocial Correlates of Classroom Social Positions: The Social Network Centrality Perspective
Authors: Farmer Thomas W. , Rodkin Philip C.
Published: April 2006

We explore relations between social network centrality and behavioral characteristics. Elementary school students nominated classmates for aggressivity, disruptiveness, popularity, studiousness, leadership, cooperativeness, athleticism, and shyness. Students had 1 of 4 levels of network centrality (i.e., nuclear, secondary, peripheral, isolated) and were in 1 of 4 educational classifications (i.e., academically gifted, emotionally and behaviorally disordered, general education, learning disabled). Across educational classifications for both boys and girls, nuclear students were athletic, cooperative, leaders, popular, and studious relative to lower centrality students. However, antisocial characteristics were associated with lower centrality for girls only. Aggressive behavior was positively associated with nuclear centrality for general education boys. Findings are considered in relation to sociometric status research and implications of the role of social network centrality in the establishment and maintenance of antisocial behavior are discussed.
Popularity as an Affordance for Friendship: The Link Between Group and Dyadic Experience*
Authors: Bukowski William M. , Pizzamiglio M. Teresa , Newcomb Andrew F. , Hoza Betsy
Published: April 2006

The associations between measures of popularity (acceptance, rejection and preference) and friendship were examined in three independent samples of elementary and middle school children. Data were obtained by means of sociometric nomination and rating scale procedures. Results reveal that, regardless of measurement technique, acceptance is generally more strongly related to friendship than is either rejection or preference. The size of the association between popularity and friendship decreases with age. Mean comparisons show that popularity is a predictor and/or is temporally antecedent to friendship rather than vice‐versa. These results indicate that the association between popularity and friendship derives from their conceptual dependence on the construct of liking.
Children's Family Relationships Between Two and Five: Developmental Changes and Individual Differences
Authors: Dunn Judy
Published: April 2006

Developmental changes in children's relationships with their mothers and older siblings between 33 and 69 months of age were investigated in a longitudinal study of 47 families, through an examination of family conversations and affect expressed during unstructured home observations. Mother‐child interaction decreased and sibling interaction increased markedly over the period. The prominence of reflective commentary in children's discourse increased while self‐interested moves decreased with both partners; however differences in emotional expression and in patterns of change in the two relationships were marked, with more positive and negative emotion and play with siblings. Individual differences in the trajectory of these changes were correlated with early differences in social understanding, and with SES. The association between children's developing social understanding and these changes in relationships is discussed.
I'm Telling! The Content, Context, and Consequences of Children's Tattling on their Siblings
Authors: den Bak Irene M. , Ross Hildy S.
Published: April 2006

Tattling on siblings was observed in 40 families with 2‐ and 4‐year‐old children. All but 5 children reported sibling misbehaviour to parents with younger siblings tattling largely to recruit parental help in resolving conflict issues, and older siblings tattling both in the context of conflict and merely to inform parents of their siblings' misbehaviour. Parents rarely reprimanded children for tattling, but either ignored it, or responded to information in tattlers' reports regardless of context or whether older or younger children tattled. Children did not tattle equally on all sibling transgressions, but emphasized physical aggression and property damage, issues that also elicited parental discipline. Tattling is discussed in relation to children's understanding of the dynamics and moral standards of family life.
Korean and American Children's Concepts of Adult and Peer Authority
Authors: Kim Jung Min , Turiel Elliot
Published: April 2006

The primary purpose of this research was to examine Korean children's concepts of authority. Children's judgments about commands of persons with varying age, social position, and knowledge were assessed. 48 subjects from the first, third, and fifth grades were presented with portrayals of persons giving children commands regarding two types of events: fighting and a game rule dispute. Subjects evaluated the legitimacy of commands and chose between different persons giving opposing commands. With regard to a command to stop fighting, subjects accepted the legitimacy of adult and peer authorities, as well as an adult without a position of authority. Subjects rejected commands that failed to prevent harm even when given by an adult authority. With regard to a game rule dispute, subjects most heavily weighted knowledge in evaluating the authority commands. The findings show that Korean children do not have a unitary orientation to adult authority, and have implications for an understanding of individuals' conceptions in the context of a cultural ideology emphasizing reverence for authority. A second study, with a group of fifth graders from the United States, was conducted to determine how the game event task or cultural influences accounted for some differences between previous findings in the U.S. and the findings with the Korean children. The second study showed that whereas the U.S. children mainly respond in ways similar to the Korean children, the U.S. children gave more priority to pragmatic considerations; the Korean children gave more priority to the attribute of the authority's knowledge.
Relations of School Children's Comforting Behavior to Empathy‐Related Reactions and Shyness
Authors: Eisenberg Nancy , Fabes Richard A. , Karbon Mariss , Murphy Bridget C. , Carlo Gustavo , Wosinski Marek
Published: April 2006

The purpose of this study was to examine empathy‐related and personal correlates of children's comforting reactions. Quantity and quality of third to sixth graders' comforting of a crying infant were assessed and their relations with situational and dispositional empathy‐related responding, shyness, and vagal tone were examined. Quantity and quality of boys' comforting were related to reports of sympathetic/empathic responding to an empathy‐inducing film, whereas quantity of girls' comforting was associated with low facial and heart rate markers of vicarious distress in another context. Quality of comforting was associated with markers of girls' vicarious distress. Comforting was negatively related to younger children's shyness and marginally, positive correlated with girls' vagal tone. Suppression of vagal tone was associated with quantity of comforting.
The Lessons of Cross‐Cultural Studies in Child Care
Authors: Harkness Sara
Published: April 2006

Review: Child Care and Culture: Lessons from Africa, by Robert A. LeVine, Suzanne Dixon, Sarah LeVine, Amy Richman, P. Herbert Leiderman, Constance H. Keefer, and T. Berry Brazelton.
Preschoolers' Ability to Make Dispositional Predictions Within and Across Domain.
Authors: Cain Kathleen M. , Heyman Gail D. , Walker Michael E.
Published: April 2006

Although children over eight years of age appear to view others in dispositional terms, findings for children of kindergarten age are mixed. Few studies have examined dispositional thinking in children younger than kindergarteners. The present studies addressed two questions about trait conceptions in 4‐ and 5‐year‐old preschoolers'. (1). Do children of this age use past behaviors to predict future behavior si (2) Do they show evidence of global evaluative thinking, such that they generalize information about behavior in one domain to make predictions in other domains'? Three studies of 4‐ and 5‐year‐old preschoolers addressed these issues by presenting information about individuals' behavior in the target domain of sociomoral goodness, and asking subjects to predict the protagonists' future behaviors with regard to goodness, intelligence, and athletic skill. Study 1 focused on children's predictions for highly familiar fairy‐tale characters, whereas Studies 2 and 3 required children to make predictions for unfamiliar characters. Studies 1 and 2 utilized a dichotomous choice task for assessing predictions, and Study 3 employed a quantitative rating procedure. The results of the three studies converged and suggested that preschoolers can use past behaviors to predict future behaviors. Children showed some evidence of global thinking and also some evidence of differentiation across distinctive domains.
Foetal malformations and seizure control: 52 months data of the Australian Pregnancy Registry
Authors: Vajda F. J. E. , Hitchcock A. , Graham J. , Solinas C. , O'Brien T. J. , Lander C. M. , Eadie M. J.
Published: April 2006

The Australian Pregnancy Registry, affiliated European Register of Antiepileptic drugs in Pregnancy (EURAP), recruits informed consenting women with epilepsy on treatment with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), those untreated, and women on AEDs for other indications. Enrolment is considered prospective if it has occurred before presence or absence of major foetal malformations (FMs) are known, or retrospective, if they had occurred after the birth of infant or detection of major FM. Telephone Interviews are conducted to ascertain pregnancy outcome and collect data about seizures. To date 630 women have been enrolled, with 565 known pregnancy outcomes. Valproate (VPA) above 1100 mg/day was associated with a significantly higher incidence of FMs than other AEDs (P < 0.05). This was independent of other AED use or potentially confounding factors on multivariate analysis (OR = 7.3, P < 0.0001). Lamotrigine (LTG) monotherapy (n = 65), has so far been free of malformations. Although seizure control was not a primary outcome, we noted that more patients on LTG than on VPA required dose adjustments to control seizures. Data indicate an increased risk of FM in women taking VPA in doses >1100 mg/day compared with other AEDs. The choice of AED for pregnant women with epilepsy requires assessment of balance of risks between teratogenicity and seizure control.
ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF FLORAL BUDS IN TOBACCO EXPLANTS
Authors: WILMS F. H. A. , SASSEN M. M. A.
Published: April 2006

Summary

Initiation and formation of floral buds was studied on explants of Nicotiana tabacum. During the first stage of development (0 to 4 d), protrusions are formed at the basal side of the explant as a result of cell divisions in both sub‐epidermal and epidermal cell layers. The second stage (4 to 7 d) is characterized by the formation of tracheary centres inside the protrusions followed by the formation of floral primordia at the surface of the protrusions. These primordia result from both epidermal and sub‐epidermal cell divisions. In the final stage (7 to 15 d), flower primordia develop into flower buds and tracheary elements grow into the buds. Polarity present in cells of freshly cut explants is lost within a few days after the onset of the experiment. After 4 to 7 d, a new polarity axis has differentiated inside the protrusion. This axis runs from the tracheary structure inside the protrusion to the flower primordium at the periphery.
THE EFFECTS OF NITRATE, AMMONIUM AND TEMPERATURE ON NITRATE REDUCTASE ACTIVITY IN SPHAGNUM SPECIES
Authors: WOODIN S. J. , LEE J. A.
Published: April 2006

Summary

The effects of the availability of inorganic nitrogen on in vivo activity of nitrate reductase in Sphagnum capillifolium (Ehrh.) Hedw. and Sphagnum fuscum (Schimp.) Klinggr. were investigated in both field and laboratory experiments. Nitrate reductase activity per unit mass was highest in the capitulum and declined down the stem. Nitrate reductase activity was substrate‐inducible, maximum and total activities induced being correlated with the natural logarithm of nitrate concentration in the range 0 to 10 mM. Repeated treatment with 05 mM nitrate did not give rise to repeated similar patterns of nitrate reductase activity, induction decreasing with later successive applications. An initial ammonium treatment in a field experiment did not affect nitrate‐induced enzyme activity. However, repeated applications of ammonium caused marked changes in the patterns of induction and a general repression of total nitrate reduction. This repression may result from both an effect of ammonium on nitrate uptake and a direct effect of the accumulation of ammonium or ammonium assimilation products on the enzyme itself. Repression by repeated nitrate supply may also operate in a similar way. The effects of ammonium and nitrate supply on the induction of nitrate reductase were shown to interact.

The initial rate of induction of nitrate reductase activity increased with temperature, but prolonged nitrate supply resulted in highest enzyme levels at lowest temperatures. This effect may be due to greater rates of activity giving rise to greater repression by the products of nitrate assimilation at the higher temperatures. The results are discussed in relation to the use of nitrate reductase activity as a monitor of atmospheric nitrate deposition in ombrotrophic bryophyte species.
GERMINATION OF BASIDIOSPORES OF MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI IN THE RHIZOSPHERE OF PINUS RADIAT A D. DON
Authors: THEODOROU C. , BOWEN G. D.
Published: April 2006

A method was developed to inoculate the surfaces of young roots of Pinus radiata D. Don uniformly with basidiospores of mycorrhizal fungi. Germination of basidiospores in the rhizosphere was 46 to 69 % in different experiments with Rhizopogon luteolus Fr. and Nord and 34 and 31 % with Suillus luteus (L. ex Fr.) S. F. Gray and 5. granulatus (L. ex Fr.) O. Kuntze, respectively. This compared with 01 % germination usually obtained for all fungi on synthetic media. Using the method, single spore cultures of R. luteolus were obtained which formed mycorrhizas on P. radiata seedlings. Germination did not respond to roots of Eucalyptus globulus Labill, Medicago truncatula Gaertn., Trifolium subterraneum L. or Lolium perenne L., showing the germination response was specific to P. radiata, although other host tree species may produce a similar response. Specificity in such mycorrhizal associations may operate both at the germination and the infection stages. It is suggested that in vivo the necessity for a host plant to stimulate spore germination is a highly effective method of inoculum conservation in the absence of host plants. The viability of inoculum remained high during storage at freezing temperatures. High spore germination rates were also obtained when the method was used in unsterilized soil.