bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Female Preschoolers' Verbal and Nonverbal Empathic Responses to Emotional Situations and Facial Expressions
Authors: Wiggers Michiel , Willems Henk
Published: March 2013

Several conceptualizations about the interdependency of three empathy responses during the empathic arousal process in children were contrasted, i.e., understanding, sharing, and facially expressing another's affect (cognitive, affective, and facial empathy, respectively). Videotaped episodes in which actors portrayed happiness, fear, sadness, and anger were presented to five-year-old girls in three conditions, 16 girls in each condition. In a first condition, emotions were conveyed by the actor's facial expressions, in a second condition by situational events, and in a third condition by both situational events and facial expressions. Girls' affective and cognitive empathy was assessed by asking questions about girls' own feelings and the actor's feelings, respectively. Girls' facial empathy was measured with Ekman and Friesen's Facial Action Coding System. Results corroborated an empathy conceptualization in which affective and facial empathy are mediated by cognitive empathy. An empathy conceptualization in which cognitive and affective empathy are aroused by afferent feedback of involuntary facial empathy was not supported by the results.
Age, Sex and Self Concepts in a Nigerian Population
Authors: Ezeilo Bernice N.
Published: March 2013

This study examines age and sex differences in self concept among Nigerian subjects. Self concept was measured with the Tennessee Self Concept Scale which had earlier been found both reliable and valid for the Nigerian population under consideration. The randomly selected subjects included literate males and females aged 14-50 years. Their educational levels ranged from class 3 secondary education to one and half years of university education.

The results show that level of self concept increases with age with a plateau from the age of 40 years. This suggests that for this culture the self concept tends to stabilize in the middle age. The effects of sex and sex x age interaction are non-significant. This was explained by reference to the possibility that the female subjects engaged in academic pursuit may have the self confidence to master the demands of academic achievement in a culture where their role is still subordinate.
Research on Cognitive Development in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Serpell Robert
Published: March 2013

This eclectic analysis identifies three themes informing research on cognitive development in Afrique noire over the past ten years. (1) Extending the range of generalizability of Western theories: the application of such theories has often been too literal and too preoccupied with direct comparisons between the behaviour of African and Western children. (2) Interpreting the uniqueness of the African situation: the detailed documentation necessary for this task can usefully draw on the immersed, participant observation strategy of anthropology but needs to be focussed on microsystematic processes. (3) Deriving implications for social policy: psychological research can usefully contribute to policy debates on the choice of linguistic media for school instruction, the design of natural and social science curricula, and the planning of appropriate services for disabled children. The task of changing the Eurocentric and potentially exploitative character of psychology in sub-Saharan Africa calls for adaptation to the sub-continent's social needs and for African scientific creativity.
Discontinuities Versus Continuities in Behavioural Development and the Neglect of Process
Authors: Hinde Robert A. , Bateson Patrick
Published: March 2013

The view that behavioural development is continuous, with the child's state at each point in time influencing future behaviour, has recently been challenged. However, the evidence for radical discontinuities between underlying organisations at different stages varies greatly in character and is often equivocal. Apparent discontinuities may appear for trivial reasons. Furthermore, an unequivocal sudden change in behaviour in the course of development may arise from continuous change at an underlying level of organisation. There need be no straightforward relationship between behaviour and the underlying 'psychological structure'. In addition, the complex interaction between sources of variation, and the existence of negative and positive feedback mechanisms in development, make the effects of a given experience difficult to predict. For these different reasons it is argued that a polarisation of views about whether development is continuous or discontinuous is distracting and liable to impede understanding of developmental processes.
Attachment and the Mother's Perception of Support from the Father
Authors: Durrett Mary Ellen , Otaki Midori , Richards Phyllis
Published: March 2013

Thirty-four Japanese infants and mothers were observed in the Strange Situation procedure when the infants were 12 months old. The mothers completed the Taylor Inventory of mother's perception of emotional support from the father. Mothers of securely attached infants perceived greater support from the father than mothers of anxiously attached/avoidant infants and anxiously attached/resistant infants. The findings were interpreted in terms of the cultural context.
Comments on the use of Conversational Features in Studies of the Vocalization Behaviours of Mothers and Infants
Authors: Elias Gordon , Broerse Jack , Hayes Alan , Jackson Ken
Published: March 2013

Observations of six mother-infant dyads at infant ages of approximately 13 weeks, 20 weeks, 27 weeks and 35 weeks served as a data base to examine difficulties associated with the use of conversational features (such as the avoidance of coaction) in the analysis of mother-infant vocalization episodes. The difficulties are associated with procedures involving: (i) The pooling of data, (ii) The unit of analysis, and (iii) The selection of appropriate 'expected' values for dyadic parameters used in tests of statistical inference. To illustrate these difficulties, the use of the odds ratio statistic as a means of determining such dependence is examined and alternative approaches are suggested.
Preschool Children's Interpretation of Facial Expressions of Emotion
Authors: Bullock Merry , Russell James A.
Published: March 2013

A structural model of emotions was used to reveal patterns in how children interpret the emotional facial expressions of others. Three-, four-, five-year-olds, and adults (n = 38 in each group) were asked to match 15 emotion-descriptive words (happy, excited, surprised, afraid, scared, angry, mad, disgusted, miserable, sad, sleepy, calm, relaxed, wide awake, and, as a check on response bias, insipid) with still photographs of actors showing different facial expressions. Whereas prior research had indicated that preschool-aged children are "inaccurate" in associating labels with faces, our results indicated that that research may have severely underestimated children's knowledge of emotions. In this study children used terms systematically to refer to a specifiable range of expressions, centered around a focal point. Multidimensional scaling of the word/facial expression associations yielded a two-dimensional structure able to account for the interrelationships among emotions, and this structure was the same for all age groups. The nature of this structure, the blurry boundaries between emotion words, and developmental shifts in the referents of emotion words suggested the primacy of two dimensions, pleasure-displeasure and arousal-sleep, in children's interpretation of emotion.
Consistency of the Behavior Problem Checklist Across Deaf, Blind, and Non-Handicapped Children
Authors: Schnittjer Carl J. , Hirshoren Alfred
Published: March 2013

This study was designed to compare the factor structure and degree of deviance for three groups of children namely; non-handicapped, deaf, and blind on the Behavior Problem Checklist (BPC). Congruence coefficients were determined for all possible combinations of factors from each of the three studies. The actual items comprising each factor were also compared. A third comparison procedure was based on the degree of deviation found in total score distributions for each of the factors in each study based on the Behavior Problem Checklist Manual Procedure.

The first two factors (i.e., Conduct Problem and Personality Problem) held up consistently for each of the three comparison schemes across all three studies. The third factor (Inadequacy-Immaturity) had a much less consistent pattern with some pairs of studies more alike in this regard than others. These findings were consistent with previous studies which had used other means for comparison of consistency.
Psychologists' Self-Perceptions of their Intellectual Aging
Authors: Mason Charles F. , Rebok George W.
Published: March 2013

The major purpose of the present study was to extend the available information base on intellectual aging by collecting self-report data from a sample of 100 psychologists ranging in age from 45 to 64 years. Respondents were asked to rate changes in six intellectual functions on a 5-point scale and to answer yes-no questions about concordance of present changes with past expectations and about health problems affecting intellectual functioning. Results showed that perceived changes positive and negative were occurring in a large proportion of psychologists and that a number of these changes violated beliefs previously held by the respondents. The importance of combining phenomenological and objective research perspectives was discussed.
The Study of Behavioural Development in Italy
Authors: Battacchi Marco W.
Published: March 2013

The state of developmental psychology in Italy is analyzed from the points of view of (a) professional education, (b) resources for research, (c) communication, and (d) current research trends. Current trends have been investigated by a multi-dimensional content analysis of the studies published or accepted for publication in qualified journals in the period 1978-May 1983.

As far as professional education is concerned, graduate studies having a curriculum based on developmental and educational psychology should be provided for by the reform of graduate studies in psychology now under discussion; post-graduate studies in developmental psychology will start in the academic year 1983/84. Developmental research has received inadequate financial support from the National Research Council, but the establishment of two large departments of developmental psychology should greatly improve the current standing of developmental psychology in the Italian psychological community. Three journals are specifically devoted to developmental or educational studies, whereas international communication is still too one-sided. As regards research trends, the main findings are the following: the cognitive theoretical paradigm is the one most often followed, but the interactional paradigm is increasing its influence; life-span and broad age-range studies are too poorly represented; studies conducted in natural settings predominated only in the interactional perspective; there is increasing evidence that a combination of manipulation of the setting and free-response observation is going to become one of the preferred research strategies; cognitive development, non-verbal communication, socio-emotional development and social interaction and reading are the most productive and promising research areas, whereas it is particularly striking that emotional and affective development (including personality) must be listed among the most often neglected areas.
Young Children's Spatial Localization after Moving
Authors: Lepecq Jean-Claude
Published: March 2013

Using a position learning procedure, this study investigates 4-, 5 and 6-year-olds' ability to retrieve, after a blindfolded move in an experimental room without fronted or distinctive landmarks, an immobile target localized before moving. Mastery in such a task would rely on the use of an "updated self-referent system" such that children would first perform an egocentrated target localization, then would compute their own move and finally, would coordinate this localization and this computation in order to update, after moving, an egocentrated localization that has become irrelevant. The results are consistent with the different components of this system. They mainly show that children as young as 4 years of age are able to steadily coordinate after moving, a prior egocentrated localization with what they rightly or wrongly believe to be their starting point, i.e., whether or not their computation of the move is accurate.
Midlife Influences Upon Intellectual Functioning in Old Age
Authors: Schaie K. Warner
Published: March 2013

Evidence is presented from the Seattle Longitudinal Study to show that cognitive style and other life style variables in midlife can predict part of the individual differences in pattern and rate of ability decline in old age. Differential importance of certain predictor variables are examined as a function of the extent of actul ability decline at various ages. During early middle age attitudinal flexibility maintains high level of function on the fluid abilities and on motor-cognitive flexibility. High performance on the latter variables at midlife as well as an engaged life style and the absence of family dissolution appear to be critical for the maintenance of high levels of ability performance from middle into old age.
Further Evidence on Preschoolers' Interpretation of Facial Expressions
Authors: Bullock Merry , Russell James A.
Published: March 2013

Two studies assessed the organization and basis for children's categories of emotion. In one, children (N = 240) from 2 to 5 years of age and adults (N = 60) chose facial expressions that exemplify such emotion categories as fear, anger, and happiness. In the other (N =100), they grouped expressions differing in arousal level or pleasure-displeasure according to perceived similarity. Preschoolers demonstrated more knowledge of emotion than had been seen in previous investigations, in which they were said to be inaccurate in categorizing expressions of all but a few emotions. The results fit a model of emotion categories in which the boundaries separating different categories are more fuzzy than distinct, and in which the categories are interrelated in a systematic order, an order based on their degree of pleasure and arousal. Children's categories were not identical to those of adults, however; categories of the youngest children were broad, admitting as members expressions similar in pleasure and arousal, and categories of older children became increasingly narrow with age.
Cognitive Performance and Cognitive Style
Authors: Kalyan-Masih Violet
Published: March 2013

This is the third in a series of "India Studies". It investigated within Piaget and Witkin's theories: (1) the relationships among cognitive performance and cognitive style and predictive possibilities; and (2) performance differences by sex, school, grade, and income.

The Sample consisted of 92 boys and girls of ages 12-15 years studying in private and government schools in Delhi, India; 47 children in grades 5-7, and 45 in grades 8-10; and 28, 35, and 29 children in the three income levels respectively.

Assessment measures were: Liquid Conservation, Islands, Goat-Lion, Hanoi Tower, Rabbits (Piagetian); Block Design (WISC-R); Paper Cutting, and Memory Design (Stanford-Binet); and Children's Embedded Figures Test.

Data were analyzed by correlational analyses, varimax and oblique factor analyses, multiple regression, and two-way ANOVA: grade (2)Xincome (3).

Cognitive style correlated significantly with cognitive performance and proved to be a good predictor. Factor analysis showed a common underlying construct in spite of different theoretical formulations. Developmental differences by grade, and performance differences by income levels, sex and school type were noted. These findings supported those of earlier research and demonstrated the applicability of Piaget and Witkin's theories for a non-Western sample.
Creativity in Adulthood and Old Age: Relations to Intelligence, Sex and Mode of Testing
Authors: Ruth Jan-Erik , Birren James E.
Published: March 2013

A total of 150 well-educated subjects 46 young persons (25-35 yrs.), 54 middle-aged persons (45-55 yrs.) and 50 old persons (65-75 yrs.) participated in a study of creativity and age. Of these, 86 were men and 64 women.

The results showed that there were age differences in creativity to the disadvantage of the old. A model based on the variables, reduced speed of information processing, a lower level of complexity and a decreased willingness to risk original solutions by age, are offered as explanations. Social factors such as educational goals and methods, as well as occupational and social roles, are further considered as modifiers of creative ability throughout life.

The results further indicate that an informal way of testing was beneficial for all age groups. The men performed better than the women on the two creativity tests in which answers pertaining to technical creativity were generated.

Age differences were also found in intelligence connected with logical reasoning, but not connected with verbal ability.
The Study of Behavioural Development in Brazil: Contemporary Research, Teaching and Practice
Authors: Ferreira Maria Clotilde Rossetti
Published: March 2013

Some notes on the history of psychology in Brazil, in terms of undergraduate and postgraduate training, provide a background for the understanding of present trends in research, teaching and practice in the field of behavioural development. Research work on any aspect of psychology in Brazil is closely intertwined with postgraduate programs. Most of them began in the seventies and are concentrated in the south-eastern regions of the country. The two basic theoretical influences on research are behaviourism and cognitivism, although an ethological orientation is evident in several recent studies. A review of the work of various research groups indicates great progress in behavioural studies during the last few years. An action-oriented approach clearly prevails, involving work with underpriviledged and mentally retarded children. The rate of scientific production measured in terms of published papers and books, however, remains extremely low. Efforts are being made to improve the scientific communication system, although serious limitations are imposed by the difficult economical situation of the country.
Relationships between the Social Networks of Swedish Mothers and Their Children
Authors: Tietjen Anne Marie
Published: March 2013

In a sample of seventy-two Swedish mothers and their children, significant relationships between characteristics of mothers' social networks and those of their children were found. The nature and strength of the relationship varied with the marital status of the mother and the sex of the child. The greatest similarity, or isomorphism, was found between the networks of married mothers and their daughters. The greatest dissimilarity was found between single mothers and their sons. The findings suggest that the nature and degree of mothers' involvement in their own networks of support and exchange may have both facilitative and inhibitive influences on the social relations of their children. Processes suggested by the data by which mothers' network involvement may influence their children's networks include modelling, teaching, sanctioning, providing opportunities, and providing a secure base.
Parent-Infant Interaction in Families on Israeli Kibbutzim
Authors: Sagi Abraham , Lamb Michael E. , Shoham Ronit , Dvir Rachel , Lewkowicz Kathleen S.
Published: March 2013

Thirty-eight first-born kibbutz-reared infants and their parents were observed in the parents' living quarters when the infants were 8 and 16 months of age. Although childcare was the primary responsibility of nonparental caretakers (metaplot) rather than either parent, sex differences in parental behavior similar to those observed in the US and Sweden were found. As in these countries, kibbutz mothers were more likely to vocalize, laugh, display affection, hold, and engage in caretaking than fathers were. This suggests that immediate competing demands on the parents' time do not account for the widely-observed sex differences in parental behavior. Whereas American infants (especially boys) develop preferences on attachment behavior measures for the same sex parent and Swedish infants develop preferences for their mothers, these kibbutz infants showed no preferences for either parent, suggesting that the relatively similar involvement of mothers and fathers in childcare in the kibbutz context may counteract the tendency to form preferential relationships.
Cognitive Mediation of Aggressive, Assertive, and Submissive Behavior in Children
Authors: Deluty Robert H.
Published: March 2013

The present study explored the relationships among levels of aggressiveness, assertiveness, and submissiveness and (1) alternative-thinking ability, (2) judgments of response alternatives on a variety of indices including 'evaluative' and 'potency' dimensions, and (3) consequential thinking, for 188 fourth-sixth grade children. The five best predictors of aggressiveness, of assertiveness, and of submissiveness for both boys and girls represented combinations of alternative-thinking, consequential-thinking, and evaluative-judgment dimensions. The clinical implications of these findings for treating aggressive and submissive children are discussed.
Childlessness: Strategies for Coping with Infertility
Authors: Woollett Anne
Published: March 2013

This study examines the coping strategies adopted by 50 men and women with fertility problems. All those interviewed had sought medical help and many had become very knowledgeable about reproduction and infertility. These are strategies concerned largely with maximising external resources. Others were concerned with redefining the problem and managing the negative concepts of themselves and others to infertility. Seeking social support, building up positive self-concepts and finding other ways of having needs met were strategies employed less frequently and when used were less thoroughly explored. Some reasons for not developing these strategies are discussed.
Acquiring Economic Notions: Profit
Authors: Berti Anna Emilia , Bombi Anna Silvia , De Beni Rossana
Published: March 2013

The study examines how an economic concept changes when children undergo different kinds of experiences simulated by means of tutorial and critical training. The final sample was composed of 68 third-grade Italian children, subdivided into a control group (given only a pre and post-test interview about buying and selling) and three experimental groups which were taught, by some different training procedures, that the shopkeeper can earn a profit by selling goods at a price higher than that which he paid for them. Results showed that experimental groups progressed, but not dramatically. An analysis of children's reactions during critical training pinpointed some difficulties that must be overcome in order to acquire the notion of profit.
Understanding of Horizontality in College Women: Effects of Two Training Procedures
Authors: Barsky Rosalind D. , Lachman Margie E.
Published: March 2013

Previous research has shown that many college females cannot correctly represent the horizontal on the Piagetian water-level task. The present study focuses on some possible reasons for this and attempts to determine if performance on the task can be modified. Sixty-eight college women were tested on the water-level task and on related measures of verticality, spatial relations, and cognitive style. Those failing the water-level task (N = 49) were assigned to one of three conditions: (a) physical knowledge training, (b) Euclidean reference training, or (c) a control group, and then were retested on the same measures. As predicted, both training groups improved on the water-level task while the control group did not. However, contrary to predictions, reference training did not show transfer to related measures. The results have implications for understanding the role of experience in spatial abilities.
Hypothesis Testing on a Proportional Reasoning Task by Children at Different Piagetian Stage Levels
Authors: Gruen Gerald E. , Offenbach Stuart I. , Keane Thomas
Published: March 2013

The relationship between 7-, 9-, and 11-year-old children's performance on a battery of selected Piagetian measures and on a proportional reasoning task was examined. The proportional reasoning task, modeled after an hypothesis-testing probe procedure, was devised to identify the hypotheses and strategies children use when making proportional judgments. As expected, a strong relationship between stage level and (1) the complexity of hypotheses used, (2) the use of the proportional hypothesis, and (3) the overall use of logical hypotheses was found. Generally, only formal-operational children responded proportionally. Contrary to expectations, children were not responsive to feedback, i.e., they tended to generate and maintain the same hypothesis across trials regardless of feedback. The role of children's cognitive limitations, as well as how salient the feedback was, were discussed as possible explanations for this finding. Age and sex differences on the proportional reasoning task also were found. Possible directions for extension of this study to older children and adolescents were discussed.
Children's Social Behavior: A Cross-Cultural Comparison
Authors: Bronstein Phyllis
Published: March 2013

Systematic observations of naturally occurring child behavior in 78 child-parent dyads in Mexican families were factor analyzed, yielding five interpretable factors. These factors were very similar to behavior clusters found in studies of child behavior in other cultures, though the bipolar dimensional structures previously found were not replicated. The results suggest that across a number of different cultures, individual child behaviors tend to cluster into very similar distinctive patterns, but that the bipolar dimensional arrangements of these clusters found previously may have been determined more by the instruments used and/or the methods of data analysis than by the actual structure of child behavior within a given culture.
Parent-Child Agreement on Attributional Beliefs
Authors: Cashmore Judith A. , Goodnow Jacqueline J.
Published: March 2013

The present study explores the extent to which parents and their adolescent children agree with respect to their attributional beliefs. First-born Australian children of Anglo and Italian background, and their parents, ranked talent, effort and teaching according to their relative importance in the development of six areas of skill art, music, mathematics, sport, writing a story, and science. The patterns of attributions varied across the six areas of skill. It varied even more strongly according to whether the attributions were given by parents or children. Children were more likely than their parents to stress the role of effort; parents were more likely than their children to stress the role of talent. Stress on effort was particularly marked among boys of immigrant background. The results were interpreted as providing support for hypotheses concerning the self-enhancing value of particular attributions and the information base used in making judgments.
Siblings and the Development of Prosocial Behaviour
Authors: Dunn Judy , Munn Penny
Published: March 2013

The frequency of sharing, helping, comforting and cooperative behaviour shown by young siblings towards one another, their response to the other child's distress, and the relation between this prosocial behaviour and conflict behaviour was studied in 43 2-child families observed at home when the second child was 18 and 24 months old. By 18 months children were capable of sharing/helping/comforting, but apparently rarely motivated to respond in this way; in contrast cooperative behaviour was frequently shown. Conciliation, teasing and cooperative behaviour was more frequently shown by 2-year-olds whose siblings had previously been cooperative, and similarly conciliation and distraction was most frequently shown by older siblings whose younger siblings had shown cooperative behaviour 6 months previously. Sibling constellation variables did not account for individual differences in prosocial behaviour.
Children's Comprehension of Metaphor in the Pictorial and Verbal Modality
Authors: Kogan Nathan , Chadrow Mindy
Published: March 2013

A picture-superiority effect has been observed in studies of children's learning and memory. The present investigation examines whether this effect generalizes to the domain of metaphoric comprehension. The degree of pictorial-verbal consistency in that domain is also explored. Verbal equivalents of the items of the pictorial Metaphoric Triads Task (MIT) were constructed, and both were presented to 2nd-and 5th-grade children in a counterbalanced design. No picture-su-periority effect was found. In fact, for items containing configurationally-based metaphors (i.e., those based on perceptual similarity), the verbal form yielded higher levels of comprehension. For such items, words are more likely than pictures to insure appropriate encoding, a necessary if not a sufficient condition for doing well on the MTT. Pictorial-verbal consistency was found, indicating that the limited generality of metaphoric capacity previously observed in late adolescents can be extended downward to children in the early elementary-school years.
Mother-Infant Interaction and Perceived Infant Temperament
Authors: Hagekull Berit , Bohlin Gunilla
Published: March 2013

The study sought answers to questions about the relative importance of perceptions of infant temperament and ongoing partner behavior in prediction of child and mother behavior in a standardized home interaction situation. Relationships between infant behavior and rated temperament were also assessed as well as interactive effects of sex and temperament on observed behaviors. A sample of 30 mothers and their 15-month-old infants were studied twice in their homes. Behaviors were classified in different categories (verbal, visual, touch, and motor) and as positive and negative actions. Maternal ratings of temperament in the Toddler Behavior Questionnaire (TBQ) were obtained. Bivariate correlational analyses showed several lawful associations between infant behavior and temperament ratings. An interactive effect of sex and the TBQ dimension of Intensity/Activity was found for child positive behavior. Multivariate analyses suggested the TBQ ratings of Manageability of the infant together with concurrent partner behavior to be the most important predictors of observed mother and infant activity.
The Origins of Young Children's Perceived Control: Mother Contingent and Sensitive Behavior
Authors: Skinner Ellen A.
Published: March 2013

The notion that caregiver sensitive and contingent behavior is closely related to children's perceived control has been proposed both by theorists interested in the effects of parent-child interactions and by those focusing on the origins of control beliefs. The present study investigated this relationship by analyzing the interactions between mothers and their 3-1/2-to 4-1/2-year-old children ( N = 120) during a problem-solving task. First, using separately derived indices of contingency, sensitive responsiveness, and sensitive initiation, a correlational analysis revealed that children's perceived control (assessed using an open-ended measure) was most closely related to mother sensitive initiation; all three mother behaviors were interrelated and correlated with child active engagement in the problem-solving task. Second, a conditional probability analysis showed that the relation between mother sensitive initiation and child engagement was reciprocal in that mother sensitive initiation increased the probability of child active engagement and child passivity increased the probability of mother low sensitive initiation. The advantages of a differentiated conception of caregiver behavior and of perceived control are discussed.
Theories of Transitional Object Attachment: An Overview
Authors: Litt Carole J.
Published: March 2013

In 1953, Donald Winnicott introduced the term 'transitional object' to describe those blankets, soft toys, and bits of cloth to which young children frequently develop intense, persistent attachments. Winnicott theorized that such T.O. attachments represent an essential phase of ego development leading to the establishment of a sense of self. Subsequent psychological theorists have linked the T.O. to the processes of: separation-individuation; ego and body ego development; the birth of memory, libidinal object constancy, and the capacity for symbolization, creativity; and the capacity for object relations and empathy. This paper reviews the major theories concerning the origin, development and psychological meaning of T.O.'s, and examines their validity in light of current empirical knowledge of T.O. behavior. An argument is made for viewing the T.O. as a developmental facilitator which may acquire different qualities and serve different psychological functions as the child moves toward physical and emotional independence.
Development of Recursive Thinking: Procedural Variations
Authors: Oppenheimer Louis
Published: March 2013

Sixty children participated in two studies designed to investigate the development of recursive thinking. They were from three age groups with ages 5, 7, and 9 years. To achieve this aim, Miller, Kessel and Flavell's (1970) task assessing children's abilities to conceptualize thought structures was presented in two versions. In the first study, employing the same procedure as used by Miller et al., the results reported by the latter authors were replicated. In the second study, in which a verbal comprehension, instead of a verbal production procedure was employed, the results indicated that the understanding of the recursive nature of thought appeared approximately two years earlier than with the original procedure.
From Drawings to Buildings; Working with Mathematical Scales
Authors: Carraher Terezinha Nunes
Published: March 2013

School instruction about and daily practice with proportions problems were contrasted with respect to their influences upon students' and construction foremen's performance in a series of problems on scale drawings, which seem to entail the formal operational scheme of proportionality. Foremen's perfomance was more accurate than students' but a greater proportion of students used a generalizable problem-solving strategy of finding and working with a simplified ratio (l/x or x/l). The school-taught proportions algorithm (x/a = b/c) had no significant impact upon students' problem-solving strategies. Students' performance revealed a strong ability to deal with the rule-based aspects of the mathematics in the problem but their ability to deal with meaning was weak; in contrast, job experience seems to enrich measurement with meaning. These differences can be traced to the contexts in which problem solving had been practiced and are suggestive of an educational implication: schools have overlooked the importance of meaning in mathematics, a practice which makes students' performance appear lower than their reasoning skills would lead one to expect.
Young Children's Responses to Unfamiliar Infants: The Effects of Adult Involvement
Authors: Fogel Alan , Melson Gail F. , Toda Sueko , Mistry Jayanthi
Published: March 2013

Pairs of unacquainted preschool children and 6 to 8 month old infants were observed individually for 10 minutes in a laboratory playroom as the infants' mother attempted to engage the child in interaction with her baby. There were approximately equal numbers of male and female children in two age groupings-2 to 3 years and 4 to 5 years old. Children stayed closer to the infant} engaged in more toy play with the infant, asked the mother more questions about the infant, and were less resistant to interact with the infant than were children in a previous study in which the mothers did not attempt to facilitate interaction. A larger number of children interacted with infants when mothers were involved rather than uninvolved. ANOVAs for age, sex, and sex composition of the child-infant pair revealed few significant effects suggesting that most preschool children can be encouraged to respond positively to babies after only a brief exposure.
Why do Japanese Write Characters in Space?
Authors: Sasaki Masato
Published: March 2013

A series of experiments examines the cognitive function of finger writing an action widely used by Japanese people and thought to be related to Kanji learning. In one experiment 105 Japanese students displayed finger writing in their efforts to solve Kanji anagram tasks, confirming that finger writing is used to facilitate the solution of Kanji anagrams. In another experiment Japanese children were observed to commence their finger writing at 10 years old and by 11 years old its role in cognition was apparently similar to that observed in adults. Finally, a cross-cultural study examined whether finger writing is related only to learning or knowing Kanji: 83 Japanese, 21 Taiwanese students and 23 other foreign students coming from a non-Kanji cultural area were tested. Taiwanese subjects used finger writing just as the Japanese subjects had. In a later study which involved solving English word problems, almost all of those using finger writing were from countries using Kanji characters. Japanese subjects also used finger writing in English word tasks.

Finger writing appears to originate from the existence of motoric or action based representation. This has implications for research in nonvisual imagery. The relationships between finger writing, aphasia and cross-cultural studies of cognition are discussed.
Exceptions to Mutual Trust: Children's Use of Second-Order Beliefs in Responsibility Attribution
Authors: Yuill Nicola , Perner Josef
Published: March 2013

Children of 6 to 9 years and adults judged a story protagonist's degree of blame for a traffic accident. All stories depicted a collision between a protagonist, who had the right of way, and another road user. Stories differed, however, in protagonist's second-order belief about the other road-user's knowledge. For instance, in one story, the protagonist mistakenly thought that the other had noticed her coming and that she could therefore rely on him abiding by the priority rule (principle of mutual trust) and grant her the right of way. This story contrasted with one where the protagonist knew that the other had not seen her and so was not justified in claiming priority. Most 7 and 8-year-old children understood the difference in second-order belief and about half of them were also able to make the correct responsibility attribution that the mistaken protagonist, thinking the other character knew, was less to blame for the accident than the one who knew about the other's ignorance. By 9 years, almost all children understood second-order beliefs and three-quarters were also able to make the correct responsibility attribution. The application of second-order beliefs to the principle of mutual trust is discussed in relation to communication failures and cooperative interaction.
The Construction of Perspectives: Piaget's Alternative to Spatial Egocentrism
Authors: Morss John R.
Published: March 2013

This paper explores longstanding inconsistencies in Piaget's account of the development of spatial representation and perspective-taking. It is argued that Piaget effectively develops an "alternative" theoretical position alongside but quite incompatible with the well-known theory of spatial egocentrism. This alternative theory focuses on the general differentiation of perspectives as such. The origins of both accounts are traced in Piaget's early writings, and detailed consideration is given to the findings of the original "three mountains" experiment. The place of both theories in The child's conception of space (Piaget & Inhelder, 1948/1956) is explored. Contemporary theory and research are discussed against this background, and it is concluded that Piaget's alternative theory is both compatible with contemporary thinking and important as a contributory source for future theorisation.
Children's Knowledge of the Situations that Provoke Emotion
Authors: Harris Paul L. , Olthof Tjeert , Terwogt Mark Meerum , Hardman Charlotte E.
Published: March 2013

In two studies, the development of children's knowledge of the situations that provoke emotion was examined. In the first study, English and Dutch children aged 5, 7, 10 and 14 years were presented with 20 common emotion terms and asked to describe situations likely to provoke each emotion. For children of both nationalities, knowledge of the determinants of emotion was not restricted to emotions that can be easily linked with a discrete facial expression. It rapidly extended to more complex emotions such as pride, worry, or jealousy. A second study undertaken with children living in an isolated Himalayan village confirmed and extended these basic findings. Additional analysis of both the accuracy with which children suggested determinants, and inter-relationships among those determinants suggested that children acquire such knowledge quite abruptly for any given emotion term.
The Ecology of Some Middle Class Families at Dinner
Authors: Feiring Candice , Lewis Michael
Published: March 2013

Three-year-old children and their families were observed during a dinner time situation in which all family members were present. Mealtime structure and procedure and verbal interaction patterns during dinner were examined for the sample as a whole and for the effects of family size. The structure of the family system and interaction patterns correspond. It was found that the mother was primarily in charge of the meal situation, preparing and serving the food as well as directing the verbal interaction. Family size was related to the dinner situation in that larger families were more child focused, less orderly and more noisy compared to small families. The results also indicated that the formality of the meal was related to the three-year-old child's verbal interaction with its older sibling. Overall, the results suggest how the mealtime experience, filled with information concerning sex-role behaviour, social manners and habits, and interpersonal relations between parents and children, is a central multifaceted context in which the child's socialisation takes place.
An Investigation of the Consequences of One Feature of Teacher-Child Talk for Children's Awareness of Ambiguity in Verbal Messages
Authors: Whittaker S. J. , Robinson E. J.
Published: March 2013

The aim was to identify features of 5-and 6-year-old children's everyday lives which contribute to their understanding about the requirements of effective verbal communication. An analysis of naturalistic data comparing talk to children at home and at school indicated several features of adultchild talk occurring frequently at school but rarely at home. One such feature was the asking of question sequences intended to elicit a particular answer. The teacher continued to ask questions until that answer was supplied. In an intervention study we investigated whether this use of extended question sequences promoted children's understanding of ambiguity. The results showed that it did. There was also learning during the training itself. This feature of teacher-child talk may promote understanding of ambiguity because it draws children's attention to a distinction they often fail to make: between the speaker's intended meaning and the verbal message used to convey that meaning to a listener.
Wartime in Men's Lives: A Comparative Study of American and Japanese Cohorts
Authors: Elder Glen H. , Meguro Yoriko
Published: March 2013

Wars and military conscription have involved millions of men, women, and children, though very little is known about their long-term effect on lives. Using cohorts of American and Japanese men, this study investigates three hypothesised effects of World War II. War mobilisation and related experiences: (1) altered the timing and sequencing of events in the transition to adulthood, especially when they occurred relatively early in life; (2) increased educational advancement and occupational opportunity; and (3) generally produced life changes that made the war a perceived turning point in the life course. Each of these propositions applies mainly to men who were mobilised at an early age. Data come from the Shizuoka city life history study of 1982, and from two longitudinal archives at the Institute of Human Development, Berkeley (the Oakland Growth Study and the Berkeley Guidance Study). The older Japanese men were born in 1918-24; the older Americans, in 1920-21. Younger cohorts include Japanese men born in 1927-30 and American men born in 1928-29. Especially among men in the younger cohort, Japanese and American, results from the data analysis generally provide empirical support for the life-course alteration, opportunity, and turning point hypotheses.
The Preschool Behaviour Questionnaire: Stability of its Factor Structure Between Cultures, Sexes, Ages and Socioeconomic Classes
Authors: Tremblay R. E. , Desmarais-Gervais L. , Gagnon C. , Charlebois P.
Published: March 2013

The Preschool Behaviour Questionnaire has been widely used in North-America to study social competencies and behavioural problems of preschool children. The 30 item rating scale was created by Behar and Stringfield (1974) as an adaptation of Rutter's (1967) Children's Behaviour Questionnaire intended for elementary school children. In their original study Behar and Stringfield proposed a three-component solution for their data: hostileaggressive, anxious-fearful, hyperactive-distractible. Most studies using the Behar Preschool Behaviour Questionnaire, (B-PBQ) have been using this three-component solution. Fowler and Park (1979), after a study of a "normal" population sample, concluded that a two-component solution (aggressive-hyperactive-distractible, anxious-fearful) was a better approximation to simple structure and more easily interpretable. They also concluded that the two-component solution was stable across sexes, but questioned the stability for "populations differing significantly in socioeconomic or ethnic composition". This study addresses the "simple structure" problem and the "stability of structure" problem for the B-PBQ. Four different samples ranging from N=383 to N=1161 were assessed in francophone schools in Montreal. Results of principal component analyses compared to Behar and Stringfield's data as well as Fowler and Park's data lead to the following conclusions: a two-principal-component solution has a simpler structure and is easier to interpret with reference to Rutter's Children's Behaviour Questionnaire; the two-component solution is stable across sexes, ages, socioeconomic populations and cultures. The Preschool Behaviour Questionnaire paired with the Children's Behaviour Questionnaire should be suitable for longitudinal and cross-cultural studies of social competencies from preschool to junior high school.