bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Influence of Gender and Ethnicity on Children's Inferences About Toy Choice
Authors: Lam Virginia L. , Leman Patrick J.
Published: August 2003

By 4–5 years of age children can make gender‐congruent inferences about toys. Not only do they respond differentially to gender labels attached to toys, even without such labels they make inferences about toy choice that reflect an awareness of and identification with their gender in‐group. However it is unclear how far inferences about toy choice extend to other aspects of a child's social identity. The present study explored the influence of both gender and ethnicity on children's judgements on toy choice for themselves and others. Eighty‐four children in three age groups (5, 6–7, 8–9 yrs) were shown photographs of unfamiliar toys and unfamiliar children from three ethnic groups (white, black, Asian) and were asked to rate how much they and these children would like each toy. Boys consistently predicted that Asian children would like the toys less than other ethnic groups. Ethnicity influenced inferences from 6–7 years old where children predicted that white, black and Asian peers would like the toys differently from each other. Children at 8–9 years old predicted that Asian peers would like the toys less than both white and black peers. Analysis of differences between children's own liking and predictions for same‐ and opposite‐sex others revealed that they were gendercentric. That is, children predicted that a same‐sex child would like a toy more similarly to themselves compared to an opposite‐sex child. Analysis between white and Asian children's own liking and predictions for same‐ and other‐ethnic others found that only 6–7‐year‐olds made ethnocentric inferences. That is, same‐ethnic peers’ liking was rated more similar to children's own compared to that of other‐ethnic peers. Findings are discussed in light of cognitive developmental theories and previous work on the development of perspective‐taking skills.
Risk Factors for Ethnic Prejudice During Early Adolescence
Authors: Kiesner Jeff , Maass Anne , Cadinu Mara , Vallese Isi
Published: August 2003

This study examines risk factors for ethnic prejudice during early adolescence in a sample of Italian middle school students (N=187). It was predicted that low peer status would be associated with negative ratings of ethnic out‐groups, but that this relation would be moderated by self‐esteem. It was further hypothesized that individuals and their self‐nominated groups would be similar with regard to ethnic prejudice, and that antisocial behavior would be positively related to ethnic prejudice. Consistent with our prediction, results revealed that when self‐esteem was low, low peer status was associated with high prejudice against out‐groups. On the contrary, when self‐esteem was high, this relation was non‐existent. Moreover, individuals and their self‐nominated groups were similar with regard to ethnic prejudice, but only for stigmatized out‐groups. A relation was found between antisocial behavior and ethnic prejudice, but only for non‐stigmatized out‐groups. The present study emphasizes the importance (1) of studying individual differences in risk factors and levels of prejudice and (2) of investigating the influence that peers may have on the development of ethnic prejudice.
The nothing that is, the zero that isn't
Authors: McGregor William
Published: August 2003

The need for zero in linguistic description is widely agreed upon, and few linguists would want to eliminate the concept entirely: grammatical descriptions would become too complicated and run the risk of losing important generalisations. Nevertheless, one needs to exercise caution in postulating zeros, in presuming that some element of linguistic form is actually present when there is no manifest substance. This article has three main aims. One is to examine the notion of zero in linguistics, and discuss circumstances under which it is reasonable to postulate its presence in the face of nothing in the expression‐substance. A second is to argue that in certain circumstances it is useful to identify not zeros of grammatical form, but rather nothings—thus the nothing that is! Third, the need for a reappraisal of the notion of zero in linguistics is suggested: this mathematical metaphor is misleading, and should be replaced by a less dangerous one.
Conditional Clauses: External and Internal Syntax
Authors: Haegeman Liliane
Published: August 2003

Abstract: The paper focuses on the difference between event‐conditionals and premise‐conditionals. An event‐conditional contributes to event structure: it modifies the main clause event; a premise‐conditional structures the discourse: it makes manifest a proposition that is the privileged context for the processing of the associated clause. The two types of conditional clauses will be shown to differ both in terms of their ‘external syntax’ and in terms of their ‘internal syntax’. The peripheral structure of event conditionals will be shown to lack the functional head Force, which encodes illocutionary force. Event conditionals are merged inside the IP of the matrix clause. Premise‐conditionals contain the head Force and they are merged outside the associated CP.
The Probability of Conditionals: The Psychological Evidence
Authors: Over David E. , Evans Jonathan St B.T.
Published: August 2003

Abstract:  The two main psychological theories of the ordinary conditional were designed to account for inferences made from assumptions, but few premises in everyday life can be simply assumed true. Useful premises usually have a probability that is less than certainty. But what is the probability of the ordinary conditional and how is it determined? We argue that people use a two stage Ramsey test that we specify to make probability judgements about indicative conditionals in natural language, and we describe experiments that support this conclusion. Our account can explain why most people give the conditional probability as the probability of the conditional, but also why some give the conjunctive probability. We discuss how our psychological work is related to the analysis of ordinary indicative conditionals in philosophical logic.
Conditional Probability and the Cognitive Science of Conditional Reasoning
Authors: Oaksford Mike , Chater Nick
Published: August 2003

Abstract: This paper addresses the apparent mismatch between the normative and descriptive literatures in the cognitive science of conditional reasoning. Descriptive psychological theories still regard material implication as the normative theory of the conditional. However, over the last 20 years in the philosophy of language and logic the idea that material implication can account for everyday indicative conditionals has been subject to severe criticism. The majority view is now apparently in favour of a subjective conditional probability interpretation. A comparative model fitting exercise is presented that shows that a conditional probability model can explain as much of the data on abstract indicative conditional reasoning tasks as psychological theories that supplement material implication with various rationally unjustified processing assumptions. Consequently, when people are asked to solve laboratory reasoning tasks, they can be seen as simply generalising their everyday probabilistic reasoning strategies to this novel context.
What if ? Questions About Conditionals
Authors: Edgington Dorothy
Published: August 2003

Abstract:  Section 1 briefly examines three theories of indicative conditionals. The Suppositional Theory is defended, and shown to be incompatible with understanding conditionals in terms of truth conditions. Section 2 discusses the psychological evidence about conditionals reported by Over and Evans (this volume). Section 3 discusses the syntactic grounds offered by Haegeman (this volume) for distinguishing two sorts of conditional.
Non‐conceptual Content and the Sound of Music
Authors: Luntley Michael
Published: August 2003

Abstract: I present an argument for the existence of nonconceptual representational content. The argument is compatible with McDowell's defence of conceptualism against those arguments for nonconceptual content that draw upon claims about the fine‐grainedness of experience. I present a case for nonconceptual content that concentrates on the idea that experience can possess representational content that cannot perform the function of conceptual content, namely figure in the subject's reasons for belief and action. This sort of argument for nonconceptual content is best achieved with examples from auditory perception, especially our perception of music.
The Explanatory Need for Mental Representations in Cognitive Science
Authors: Von Eckardt Barbara
Published: August 2003

Abstract: Ramsey (1997)argues that connectionist representations ‘do not earn their explanatory keep’. The aim of this paper is to examine the argument Ramsey gives to support that conclusion. In doing so, I identify two kinds of explanatory need—need relative to a possible explanation and need relative to a true explanation and argue that internal representations are not needed for either connectionist or non‐connectionistpossibleexplanations but that it is quite likely that they are needed fortrueexplanations. However, to show that the latter is the case requires more than a consideration of the form of explanation involved.
Housing, credit and the euro: the policy response
Authors: Muellbauer John
Published: August 2003

HM Treasury produced its long‐awaited assessment of the five economic tests in June, having signalled the basic decision months in advance. The Treasury sees important impediments to adopting the Euro in UK housing and credit markets, and makes some proposals for further investigation and policy. In this paper, John Muellbauer considers the policy options.
The housing market and the monetary transmission mechanism in the UK, in and out of EMU
Authors: Cooper Adrian , Britton Erik
Published: August 2003

This paper, prepared for the No Campaign, uses the OEF Global Macroeconometric Model to assess the impact of the housing market on the UK's convergence with the Eurozone. The OEF Model provides the ideal framework for such analysis, as it incorporates a detailed system for forecasting UK house prices, transactions, mortgage borrowing and their interaction with consumer spending and the wider economy, within the context of a model of the Eurozone economy. Our analysis suggests that, if the government were to wish to take the UK into EMU, action to reduce the impact of changes in interest rates on the housing market would be beneficial in improving the UK's economic stability.
Constitutional Privilege and Constituting Pluralism: Religious Freedom in National, Global, and Legal Context
Authors: Beyer Peter
Published: August 2003

Lori Beaman argues that religious freedom in Canada and the United States is well established in theory (or myth) but limited in practice, privileging Protestantism in particular and varieties of Christianity in general. Focusing on the treatment of other religions in the courts of the two countries, she defends the hypothesis that these legal systems tend to reinforce the hegemony of Christianity, using this as an implicit model of what constitutes a religion, and thereby maintaining the marginalization and restricting the freedom of other religions. The present article sets Beaman's arguments in a wider global context, exploring the extent to which Christianity does and does not serve as a global standard for religion; and addressing the question of why issues of religious freedom so frequently end up being the subject of legal judgment and political decision. The main conclusions drawn from this global contextualization are that maintenance of some kind of religious hegemony is the rule all across global society, not just in Canada and the United States, and that unfettered freedom of religion or genuine religious pluralization is correspondingly rare, if it exists anywhere. Moreover, it is argued that such limitations, frequently expressed in legal judgments and political decisions, are more or less to be expected because they flow from the peculiar way that religion has been constructed in the modern and global era as both a privileged and privatized, as both an encompassing and marginalized social domain. The article thereby simultaneously reinforces and takes issue with Beaman's position: the modern and global reconstruction of religion invites its infinite pluralization at the same time as it encourages its politicization and practical restriction. Religions act as important resources both for claims to inclusion and for strategies of relative exclusion.
Strictness and Congregational Growth in Middletown
Authors: Tamney Joseph B. , Johnson Stephen D. , McElmurry Kevin , Saunders George
Published: August 2003

The relative effectiveness of strictness theory and modernization theory in explaining congregational growth is tested using a random sample of white, Protestant churches in Middletown (N = 98). Although the former theory predicts that growth is positively related to an authoritative structure and to enforcing rules of ascetic strictness, modernization theory predicts the opposite pattern. For our sample, authoritative leadership seemed not to produce congregational growth. The main finding was that strict rules positively related to growth among working‐class congregations, but negatively related to growth among middle‐class congregations.
Praying for Others, Financial Strain, and Physical Health Status in Late Life
Authors: Krause Neal
Published: August 2003

The purpose of this study is to see if praying for other people buffers the effects of financial strain on the physical health status of the person who offers the prayer. In the process, race differences in the frequency of praying for others are evaluated. Three main findings emerge from the nationwide survey of older people that was conducted for this study. First, the data suggest that the deleterious effects of chronic financial problems on physical health are reduced significantly for older people who pray for others often. In contrast, the findings further reveal that praying for material things fails to offset the pernicious effects of economic difficulty on health. Finally, the results indicate that older African Americans are more likely to pray for others than older whites.
Intimate Diversity: The Presentation of Multiculturalism and Multiracialism in a High‐Boundary Religious Movement
Authors: Jenkins Kathleen E.
Published: August 2003

Researchers studying the small yet significant number (8–10 percent) of U.S. multiracial/ethnic congregations have argued that formal organizational commitment, the development of inclusive worship styles, and the formation of small racially/ethnically mixed groups appear to be significant factors in constructing and maintaining congregational diversity. Drawing from four years of field studies in a racially and ethnically diverse congregation of the International Churches of Christ (ICOC), I address a process about which we know relatively little: the construction and maintenance of multiracial/ethnic networks in high‐boundary religious movements. I demonstrate how this type of group is particularly able to present a valuable and rising commodity in our U.S. religious economy, what I have named intimate diversity—the enactment and/or narration of close and caring relationships among a racially and ethnically diverse membership. My comparative analysis here of the ICOC, the People's Temple, and contemporary U.S. Bahá'í communities suggests that membership in such groups offers members greater exposure and involvement with people from different backgrounds, but the terms of involvement in the organization seriously limit and define the manner in which individuals can experience diversity. Furthermore, group commitment to present a face of intimate diversity and strict mechanisms of social control hinder the abilities of the leadership and members to clearly recognize contradictions in group racial/ethnic ideologies and practice.
Where's the Religion? Distinguishing Faith‐Based from Secular Social Service Agencies
Authors: Ebaugh Helen Rose , Pipes Paula F. , Chafetz Janet Saltzman , Daniels Martha
Published: August 2003

The charitable choice provision and President Bush's proposed Faith‐Based and Community Initiative have spurred debates regarding government support of faith‐based social service programs and their effectiveness. To address the issue of relative effectiveness, the logically prior question of what constitutes a faith‐based agency and how they differ from secular providers must be answered. Utilizing data from a mailed survey, this study compares the organizational characteristics of faith‐based and secular agencies that provide services to the homeless in Houston, Texas. Results indicate that the two agency types vary significantly across several dimensions including funding sources and preferences, decision‐making tools, organizational culture, practices, leadership, and staffing characteristics. In addition, survey data and content analysis of mission statements reveal that 80 percent of faith‐based agencies use religious imagery in some form of their “public face” to communicate their religiousness.
The Mobilization of Elite Opinion: Rabbi Perceptions of and Responses to Anti‐Semitism
Authors: Djupe Paul A. , Sokhey Anand E.
Published: August 2003

One of the persistent problems facing the Jewish community is anti‐Semitism, which has a long, tragic history in the United States and abroad. At the same time, anti‐Semitic acts are probably at their lowest ebb in American history. Using a sample of more than 400 rabbis drawn from the four great movements of American Judaism, we investigate rabbi perceptions of anti‐Semitism in the United States, as well as their attitudinal and behavioral reactions to it. We test and find evidence for the notions that Orthodox rabbis, as well as those connected to and mobilized by Jewish advocacy organizations, perceive anti‐Semitism as a greater problem and concern themselves with the issue more often in their public speech.
Associations Between Religious Orientation and Varieties of Sexual Experience
Authors: Rowatt Wade C. , Schmitt David P.
Published: August 2003

This study examined associations between religious orientation, newly discovered sexual dimensions of personality, and other sexual desires. All participants (n = 161) completed measures of religious orientation, sociosexuality, seven sexual personality dimensions, short‐term and long‐term mating desires, and mate‐poaching behavior. Participants also completed scales assessing social desirability and the Big Five personality factors. Intrinsic religious orientation was positively associated with more restricted sexuality and desire (i.e., decreased sociosexuality, less desire for a large number of sex partners across time). Extrinsic religious orientation was positively associated with more unrestricted sexuality description and desire (i.e., increased sociosexuality and mate poaching; decreased sexual restraint and relationship exclusivity). Both religious orientations accounted for unique variation in sexual dimensions of the self when gender, socially desirable responding, and the Big Five personality factors were statistically controlled. As such, multidimensional measures of religiosity could be theoretically important to include in future scientific research on sexuality and personal relationships.
The Creation of a Distinct Subcultural Identity and Denominational Growth
Authors: Evans John H.
Published: August 2003

Scholars have long been concerned with the causes of differential growth in the membership of religious traditions and denominations. In this article I use data from three surveys, matched with census and membership data from U.S. states, to test Smith's recent theory of denominational growth and decline. I find that in the one denomination under study, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the states where membership has declined the least are those states where the members of the denomination are both the most theologically orthodox and have the strongest identity as theological liberals. Although seemingly paradoxical, it fits Smith's theory well. Liberal Protestants do not thrive where they are the most conservative, but rather where they have created a unique identity—a unique social niche—somewhere between evangelicalism and secularism.
Neosecularization and Craft Versus Professional Religious Authority in a Nonreligious Organization
Authors: Grant Don , O'Neil Kathleen M. , Stephens Laura S.
Published: August 2003

At the same time many religious organizations are apparently becoming more internally secularized, other nonreligious organizations appear to be going through a countervailing process of “sacralization” (Demerath). This study explores this development through a case study of a state university hospital that attempted to created a more “holistic” corporate culture. Extending research on the declining scope of religious authority (Chaves) and professional systems (Abbott), this study suggests that secular settings may be fertile ground for craft versions of religious authority to develop. Implications of the latter during an age when authority structures and caring tasks in general are being downsized and devolved are discussed.
Annotation: The neural basis of social impairments in autism: the role of the dorsal medial‐frontal cortex and anterior cingulate system
Authors: Mundy Peter
Published: August 2003

Background: The fundamental social disturbance of autism is characterized, in part, by problems in the acquisition of joint attention skills in the first years of life, followed by impairments in the development of social cognition, as assessed on theory of mind (ToM) measures. Recently, studies have indicated that a system involving the dorsal medial‐frontal cortex (DMFC), and the anterior cingulate (AC), may contribute to the development of the tendency to initiate joint attention in infancy. Similarly, research has implicated the DMFC/AC system in ToM performance in typical and atypical individuals. These data suggest it may be useful to consider the functions associated with this system in the developmental psychopathology of autism.

Method: A review of the studies of the connections between the DMFC/AC system, joint attention and ToM task performance.

Results and conclusions: This review raises the hypothesis that the DMFC/AC may be involved in the basic disturbance in social orienting in autism. The DMFAC/AC may also play a role in the capacity to monitor proprioceptive information concerning self‐action and integrate this self‐related information with exteroceptive perceptual information about the behavior of other people. A disturbance in these functions of the DMFC/AC may contribute to the atypical development of intersubjectivity, joint attention and social cognition that may impair the lives of people with autism. Thus, impairment in the development of this system may constitute a neural substrate for socio‐cognitive deficits in autism.
Infant attachment and temperament as predictors of subsequent externalizing problems and cardiac physiology
Authors: Burgess Kim B. , Marshall Peter J. , Rubin Kenneth H. , Fox Nathan A.
Published: August 2003

Background: The primary objective of this study was to examine the extent to which both individual child temperament and parent–child relationship quality independently and/or interactively predicted physiological, psychosocial, and behavioral ‘outcomes’. Employing a longitudinal prospective design over three years, statistical associations were found among infant attachment, uninhibited temperament, and 4‐year behavioral and physiological functioning that supported a bio‐psychosocial model of development.

Method: Three cohorts totaling 140 children and their mothers visited the laboratory for observational assessments of attachment classification at age 14 months (Strange Situation), behavioral inhibition at 24 months, and social behaviors with unfamiliar peers at age 4 years. Cardiac measures of heart rate and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) were collected at every time point. At age 4 years maternal ratings of child temperament and behaviors were also obtained.

Results: Analyses of variance (ANOVAs) with inhibition group (high, moderate, low) and attachment classification (A, B, C) revealed that the low inhibited group had significantly higher activity level scores and displayed significantly less reticence at 4 years compared to the moderately and highly inhibited groups. Infants who had an avoidant attachment with their mothers had more externalizing problems (aggressive behaviors) at age 4 than either securely or ambivalently attached infants. This predictive relation, however, was qualified by an interaction whereby avoidant attachment and uninhibited temperament together predicted a higher incidence of externalizing behavior problems. Moreover, infants’ avoidant attachment was not concurrently but predictively associated with lower heart rate and high RSA at age 4 years. Therefore, an avoidant mother–child relationship in infancy could influence the development of an underaroused autonomic profile in early childhood.

Conclusions: Consistent with bio‐psychosocial models of development, these findings support the contention that both early child temperament and parent–child relationship quality contribute to subsequent psychological/behavioral and physiological functioning.
Strong genetic effects on cross‐situational antisocial behaviour among 5‐year‐old children according to mothers, teachers, examiner‐observers, and twins’ self‐reports
Authors: Arseneault Louise , Moffitt Terrie E. , Caspi Avshalom , Taylor Alan , Rijsdijk Fruhling V. , Jaffee Sara R. , Ablow Jennifer C. , Measelle Jeffrey R.
Published: August 2003

Background: Early childhood antisocial behaviour is a strong prognostic indicator for poor adult mental health. Thus, information about its etiology is needed. Genetic etiology is unknown because most research with young children focuses on environmental risk factors, and the few existing studies of young twins used only mothers’ reports of behaviour, which may be biased.

Method: We investigated genetic influences on antisocial behaviour in a representative‐plus‐high‐risk sample of 1116 pairs of 5‐year‐old twins using data from four independent sources: mothers, teachers, examiner‐observers previously unacquainted with the children, and the children themselves.

Results: Children's antisocial behaviour was reliably measured by all four informants; no bias was detected in mothers’, teachers’, examiners’, or children's reports. Variation in antisocial behaviour that was agreed upon by all informants, and thus was pervasive across settings, was influenced by genetic factors (82%) and experiences specific to each child (18%). Variation in antisocial behaviour that was specific to each informant was meaningful variation, as it was also influenced by genetic factors (from 33% for the children's report to 71% for the teachers’ report).

Conclusions: This study and four others of very young twins show that genetic risks contribute strongly to population variation in antisocial behaviour that emerges in early childhood. In contrast, genetic risk is known to be relatively modest for adolescent antisocial behaviour, suggesting that the early‐childhood form has a distinct etiology, particularly if it is pervasive across situations.
Genotype–environment interaction in children's adjustment to parental separation
Authors: O'Connor Thomas G. , Caspi Avshalom , DeFries John C. , Plomin Robert
Published: August 2003

Background: Understanding the processes by which genetic risks lead to psychopathology is a key conceptual and methodological task for research. The current study, based on an at‐risk adoption design, examines the hypothesis that the effect of genetic risk on children's behavioral/emotional problems and social adjustment is moderated by psychosocial risk, specifically parental separation.

Method: Data are based on the Colorado Adoption Project. One hundred and seventy‐one adoptees, all of whom were placed in the adoptive home in early infancy, were assessed using a multi‐method strategy at 12 years of age. Adoptees’ adjustment was measured using parent and teacher reports on the Child Behavioral Checklist as well as observer ratings of social competence; all raters were blind to the biological background of the adoptee. Genetic risk was indexed by biological parents’ self‐reports of negative emotionality, which was completed prior to the adoption.

Results: By age 12 years, 23 of the 171 adoptees experienced a separation in the adoptive home. Correlation and regression analyses indicated that the association between genetic risk and child adjustment was moderated by parental separation. In the absence of parental separation, genetic risk was uncorrelated with adoptee adjustment; however, there were substantial and significant associations between individual differences in genetic diathesis and poor adjustment among the adoptees who experienced parental separation.

Conclusions: The association between parental separation and children's behavioral/emotional and social adjustment may not be entirely environmental in origin. Genetic vulnerability is accentuated by major psychosocial stresses, and this may partly explain the wide individual differences in children's adjustment to family transitions.
Executive functioning, temperament, and drug use involvement in adolescent females with a substance use disorder
Authors: Giancola Peter R. , Mezzich Ada C.
Published: August 2003

Background:This study determined whether temperament mediates the relation between executive functioning (EF) and drug use involvement and whether EF and temperament interact to account for unique variance in drug use involvement.

Method:Participants were 340, 14–18‐year‐old, adolescent females with a substance use disorder and controls. EF was measured using a battery of neuropsychological tests, temperament was assessed using theDimensions of Temperament Survey – Revised, and drug use involvement was measured with theDrug Use Screening Inventory.

Results:Temperament mediated the relation between EF and drug use involvement. Girls with a ‘difficult’ temperament exhibited significantly greater drug use involvement than girls with a ‘good’ temperament. Finally, low EF was significantly related to increased drug use involvement for girls with a good temperament, but not for girls with a difficult temperament.

Conclusions:The results suggest that a difficult temperament is a more important risk factor for drug use than low EF. Given previous studies that have shown significant relations between EF and drug use, further research on this topic is warranted.
The effect of social context on psychiatrists’ judgments of adolescent antisocial behavior
Authors: Hsieh Derek K. , Kirk Stuart A.
Published: August 2003

Background: The DSM assumes that mental disorders can be identified by the presence of specific co‐occurring symptoms associated with certain duration and impaired functioning, independent of the social context in which symptoms occur. The validity of this assumption was tested using the judgments of experienced psychiatrists. We hypothesized that psychiatrists would judge an identical set of adolescent antisocial behaviors, meeting the DSM‐IV diagnostic criteria for conduct disorder, as indicative of mental disorder or non‐disordered problem‐in‐living, depending on the social context.

Method: A representative sample of 483 psychiatrists in the United States read one of three experimentally manipulated vignettes depicting adolescent antisocial behavior and responded to questions concerning its nature, prognosis, cause, and response to various treatments.

Results: Results supported our hypothesis. Under some circumstances, a youth may exhibit behaviors that meet the DSM‐IV diagnostic criteria for conduct disorder, but be judged by psychiatrists as not having a mental disorder. In addition, as predicted, psychiatrists reached different judgments about course, etiology, and treatment responsiveness when the identical behaviors occurred in different social contexts.

Conclusions: The findings illuminate weaknesses in the validity of classification systems based on behavioral criteria independent of their social context. Implications of findings are discussed.
Locally oriented perception with intact global processing among adolescents with high‐functioning autism: evidence from multiple paradigms
Authors: Mottron Laurent , Burack Jacob A. , Iarocci Grace , Belleville Sylvie , Enns James T.
Published: August 2003

Background: According to predictions from the Weak Central Coherence (WCC) theory for perceptual processing, persons with autism should display a tendency to focus on minute details rather than on a more general picture (Frith & Happé, 1994). However, the evidence for this theory is not consistent with findings of an enhanced detection of local targets (Plaisted, O'Riordan, & Baron‐Cohen, 1998b; Plaisted, Swettenham, & Rees, 1999), but a typical global bias (Mottron, Burack, Stauder, & Robaey, 1999; Ozonoff, Strayer, McMahon, & Filloux, 1994).

Method: Adolescents with high‐functioning autism and CA‐ (approximately 15 years) and IQ‐ (approximately 105–110) matched typically developing adolescents were administered a series of global–local visual tasks, including a traditional task of hierarchical processing, three tasks of configural processing, and a disembedding task that involved rapid perceptual processing.

Results: No group differences were found on either the traditional task of hierarchical processing or on tasks of configural processing. However, group differences were found on the disembedding task as the search for embedded, in relation to isolated stimuli, was slower for the typically developing adolescents but similar for the participants with autism.

Conclusions: These findings are consistent with other reports of superior performance in detecting embedded figures (Jolliffe & Baron‐Cohen, 1997; Shah & Frith, 1983), but typical performance in global and configural processing (Mottron, Burack et al., 1999; Ozonoff et al., 1994) among persons with high‐functioning autism. Thus, the notions of local bias and global impairment that are part of WCC may need to be reexamined.
Targets and Cues: Gaze‐following in Children with Autism
Authors: Leekam Susan R. , Hunnisett Emma , Moore Chris
Published: August 2003

Children with autism are known to have difficulties in sharing attention with others. Yet one joint attention behaviour, the ability to follow another person's head turn and gaze direction, may be achieved without necessarily sharing attention. Why, then, should autistic children have difficulties with it? In this study we examined the extent of this difficulty by testing school‐aged autistic children across three different contexts; experiment, observation, and parent interview. We also tested whether the ability to orient to another person's head and gaze could be facilitated by increasing children's attention to environmental targets and social cues. Results for experiment and observation demonstrate that a sizeable proportion of children with autism did not have difficulties with following another's head turn. There was a difference between children with high and low verbal mental ages, however. Whereas children with higher mental ages (over 48 months) were able to orient spontaneously to another person's head turn, children with lower mental ages had difficulties with this response. When cues were added (pointing, language) or when feedback from targets was given, however, their performance improved. Parent interview data indicated that children with autism, whatever their mental age, began to follow head turn and gaze direction years later than typically developing children. Developments in attention and language are proposed as possible factors to account for this developmental delay.
Characteristics of the Subject and Interview Influencing the Test‐Retest Reliability of the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents‐Revised
Authors: Pérez Rosario Granero , Ascaso Lourdes Ezpeleta , Doménech Massons José M. , De La Osa Chaparro Nuria
Published: August 2003

This paper reviews some of the characteristics of the informants as well as some of the attributes of the DICA‐R interview that could influence the test‐retest reliability in a sample of 109 psychiatric outpatients aged 7–17 years. Different regression models using reliability coefficients constructed from the kappa statistic were obtained. Of those characteristics evaluated in the children, a high level of psychological impairment proved to be significant when it came to predicting the lowest test‐retest reliability of the answers; none of the subject‐related characteristics were significant in the adolescent patient model. The attributes of the questions that proved to be significant when explaining the lower reliability obtained for the individual question in the children's model were the length of the questions (longest questions), the content (internalising), the presence of time concepts, comparison with the peer group, and the need to exercise judgement; in the adolescents' model, the significant attributes were found to be the internalising content, the presence of time concepts, evaluation concerning the impairment caused by the disorder, and the need to exercise judgement. In the group of children our results are in accordance with the original paper. Similar results were found with adolescents. These findings have implications for the development and revision of new interview schedules.
Emotional and Behavioural Problems in Primary School Children from Nuclear and Extended Families in Korea
Authors: Hwang Hyejung Jin , St James‐Roberts Ian
Published: August 2003

The changes occurring within Korean society provide an opportunity for studying the influence of family structure on children's emotional and behavioural problems. Children aged 7–13 years from two Korean cities were assessed for emotional and behavioural problems in school by their teachers, using the Children's Behaviour Questionnaire. In Study 1, 326 children from extended families were compared with demographically matched nuclear family children in the same school classes. In Study 2, a further sample of 204 extended family children was compared with pair‐matched nuclear family children, in order to replicate the findings. Children from Study 1 were followed up 2.5 years later. Children from extended families had lower behaviour problems scores and the prevalence of serious problems was lower in extended family children. These differences were most marked in relation to externalising behaviour problems and were stable over the studies and time. Grandparents in extended families may increase children's resiliency by providing sources of attachment, affection, and knowledge, as well as having indirect effects through their support of parents. Consistent with recent ideas about the cognitive bases for behaviour problems, it may be that rules for behaviour derived from traditional cultural beliefs and values are internalised by children from extended families and generalise to prevent behaviour problems in school.
Trick or Treat?: Uneven Understanding of Mind and Emotion and Executive Dysfunction in “Hard‐to‐manage” Preschoolers
Authors: Hughes Claire , Dunn Judy , White Adele
Published: August 2003

It is widely recognised that impaired social relations are characteristic of school‐aged children with behavioural disorders, and predict a poor long‐term outcome (Parker & Asher, 1987). However, little is known about the early antecedents of social impairment in behaviourally disturbed children. The aim of the present study was to explore three areas of potential dysfunction in younger children: theory of mind, emotion understanding, and executive function. Forty preschoolers, rated by their parents on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Goodman, 1994) as “hard to manage” (H2M) were compared with a control group on a set of: (1) theory of mind tasks (including an emotion prediction task involving either a nice or a nasty surprise); (2) emotion understanding stories (that required affective perspective‐taking skills as well as situational understanding); and (3) simple executive function tasks (adapted for preschoolers, and tapping inhibitory control, attentional set‐shifting, and working memory). Small but significant group differences were found in all three cognitive domains. In particular, hard‐to‐manage preschoolers showed poor understanding of emotion and executive control, poor prediction or recall of a false belief, and better understanding of the belief‐dependency of emotion in the context of a trick than a treat. Moreover, executive function was associated with performance on the theory of mind tasks for the hard‐to‐manage group alone, suggesting both direct and indirect links between executive dysfunction and disruptive behaviour.
The Origins of the Correlations between Tobacco, Alcohol, and Cannabis Use During Adolescence
Authors: Lynskey Michael T. , Fergusson David M. , Horwood L. John
Published: August 2003

Methods of structural equation modelling were used to analyse the correlations between reports of tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis use in a birth cohort of New Zealand children studied to the age of 16. This analysis produced three major conclusions: (a) the correlations between tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis use could be explained by a factor representing the individual's vulnerability to substance use; (b) predictors of vulnerability to substance use were the extent to which the individual affiliated with delinquent or substance using peers, novelty seeking, and parental illicit drug use; (c) in the region of 54% of the correlations between substance use behaviours could be predicted from observed risk factors and 46% was attributable to non‐observed sources of vulnerability.
Genetic Association between Atopy and Behavioral Symptoms in Middle Childhood
Authors: Wamboldt Marianne Z. , Schmitz Stephanie , Mrazek David
Published: August 2003

The relationship of atopic and behavioral symptoms in a community sample of 66 monozygotic and 141 dizygotic twin pairs, ages 4–11 years, was investigated via mother report questionnaires. Within‐person correlation between atopic symptoms and Child Behavior Checklist internalizing symptoms (CBCL‐INT) was .21 (p < .001) for the total sample. Cross‐correlations between atopy and CBCL‐INT were .26 for monozygotic and .04 for dizygotic twins. A common and specific factor model applied to the data revealed that the cross‐correlation between atopy and CBCL‐INT was mainly due to genetic influences (77% of the covariance). This study supports the hypothesis that there is a shared genetic risk for atopy and internalizing symptoms.
Short Normal Children and Environmental Disadvantage: A Longitudinal Study of Growth and Cognitive Development from 4 to 11 Years
Authors: Dowdney Linda , Skuse David , Morris Kathleen , Pickles Andrew
Published: August 2003

The aim of this investigation was to follow up a sample of exceptionally short but medically healthy children, and a normal comparison group, previously studied at 4 years of age. They lived in an inner‐city area which was, on objective criteria, seriously disadvantaged in socioeconomic terms. When first seen at 4 years, cases were significantly impaired in cognitive abilities relative to comparisons, although firstborns were much less severely affected. Of the original 46 cases, 45 were assessed again at 11 years. Most continued to live in the same geographical area. Case children remained exceptionally short, even when parental stature was taken into account, although a degree of catch‐up had occurred. One third had special educational needs, and a similar proportion had been referred for speech therapy. Verbal and nonverbal cognitive skills of both case and comparison children had, on the whole, changed little and group differences persisted. In conclusion, short normal children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds are at high risk of educational failure at elementary school.
Information Processing in Recovered Depressed Children and Adolescents
Authors: Dalgleish Tim , Neshat‐Doost Hamid , Taghavi Reza , Moradi Ali , Yule William , Canterbury Rachel , Vostanis Panos
Published: August 2003

Previous research into subjective probability estimates for negative events revealed that depressed children estimated events as equally likely to happen to themselves as to other children. In contrast, both controls and anxious children estimated that negative events were more likely to happen to others than to themselves. The present study followed up this finding by investigating the subjective probability judgements concerning future negative events generated by children and adolescents who have recovered from depression. Subjects generated probability estimates either for themselves or for other children for a range of negative events on a visual analogue scale. The results revealed that both recovered depressed and matched control groups estimated negative events as significantly more likely to happen to others than to themselves. It was also found that the recovered depressed subjects estimated that negative events were less likely overall, compared to the controls. These results are discussed in the context of the adult literature.
Disentangling the Overlap between Tourette's Disorder and ADHD
Authors: Spencer Thomas , Biederman Joseph , Harding Margaret , O'Donnell Deborah , Wilens Timothy , Faraone Stephen , Coffey Barbara , Geller Daniel
Published: August 2003

Objective: To identify similarities and differences in neuropsychiatric correlates in children with Tourette's syndrome (TS) and those with ADHD. Method: The sample consisted of children with Tourette's syndrome with ADHD(N= 79), children with Tourette's syndrome without ADHD (N= 18), children with ADHD (N= 563), psychiatrically referred children (N= 212), and healthy controls (N= 140). Results: Disorders specifically associated with Tourette's syndrome were obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and simple phobias. Rates of other disorders, including other disruptive behavioral, mood, and anxiety disorders, neuropsychologic correlates, and social and school functioning were indistinguishable in children with Tourette's and ADHD. However, children with Tourette's syndrome plus ADHD had more additional comorbid disorders overall and lower psychosocial function than children with ADHD. Conclusions: These findings confirm previously noted associations between Tourette's syndrome and OCD but suggest that disruptive behavioral, mood, and anxiety disorders as well as cognitive dysfunctions may be accounted for by comorbidity with ADHD. However, Tourette's syndrome plus ADHD appears to be a more severe condition than ADHD alone.
Familial Subtypes of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A 4‐year Follow‐up Study of Children from Antisocial‐ADHD Families
Authors: Faraone Stephen V. , Biederman Joseph , Mennin Douglas , Russell Ronald , Tsuang Ming T.
Published: August 2003

ADHD is a familial disorder with high rates of comorbidity with conduct disorder in childhood and antisocial personality and substance use disorders in adulthood. A growing literature suggests that ADHD with antisocial comorbidity may be nosologically distinct from other forms of ADHD. Previously, we proposed a family‐based stratification that defined Antisocial families as those with either conduct disorder or antisocial personality disorder in the probands or relatives. To provide predictive validity for that stratification, we assessed psychopathology in these families 4 years after their initial assessment. Results show that the probands and siblings from Antisocial families had higher rates of psychopathology during the 4‐year follow‐up period compared with siblings from Non‐antisocial and control families. They also had more deviant ratings on the Child Behavior Checklist (especially for anxious/depressed, delinquent, and aggressive behavior). We found fewer group differences in the academic, psychosocial, and intellectual correlates of ADHD. These results confirm and extend previous work indicating that Antisocial ADHD may be a nosologically and clinically meaningful subform of ADHD.