Boston College

About: Boston College is a education organization based out in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 9749 authors who have published 25406 publications receiving 1105145 citations. The organization is also known as: BC.

Mediators of gender differences in mathematics college entrance test scores : A comparison of spatial skills with internalized beliefs and anxieties

Abstract: This study was designed to investigate whether spatial skill, math anxiety, and math self-confidence functioned as mediators of a significant gender difference in the Mathematics Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT-M) among the top third of a college-bound sample. Using path analytic techniques, the decomposition of the significant gender-SAT-M correlation into direct and indirect effects indicated that there were no direct effects of gender on SAT-M. Mental rotation and math self-confidence showed indirect effects, mediating the gender-SAT-M relationship; math anxiety did not. Of these indirect effects, 36% was mediated by math self-confidence; 64% by mental rotation. For both these variables, most of the mediational effects of the gender-SAT-M relationship did not occur by way of the causal pathway leading through geometry grades. Thus, the mediational effects cannot simply be attributed to the presence of geometry items on the SAT-M or to math self-confidence acquired during prior geometry coursework.

Positive Youth Development and Relational-Developmental-Systems

Abstract: Interests in the strengths of youth, the plasticity of human development, and the concept of resilience coalesced in the 1990s to foster the development of the concept of positive youth development (PYD). As discussed by Hamilton (1999), the concept of PYD was understood in at least three interrelated but nevertheless different ways: (1) as a developmental process; (2) as a philosophy or approach to youth programming; and (3) as instances of youth programs and organizations focused on fostering the healthy or positive development of youth. We use concepts drawn from relational developmental systems theories and the tripartite conception of PYD suggested by Hamilton as frames to review the literature on (a) the different theoretical models of the PYD developmental process; (b) philosophical ideas about, or conceptual approaches to, the nature of youth programming with a special emphasis on the model of PYD with the most extensive empirical support, the Five Cs Model of PYD; and (c) key instances of programs aimed at promoting PYD. We also discuss the conceptual and practical problems in integrating these three facets of PYD scholarship, and conclude by explaining why understanding complex development requires multimethod integration as well as an integration of ideographic and nomothetic perspectives. Keywords: embodiment; multimethod integration; positive youth development; relational developmental systems theories; resilience; youth programs

The varieties of speech to young children

Abstract: This article examines caregiver speech to young children. The authors obtained several measures of the speech used to children during early language development (14-30 months). For all measures, they found substantial variation across individuals and subgroups. Speech patterns vary with caregiver education, and the differences are maintained over time. While there are distinct levels of complexity for different caregivers, there is a common pattern of increase across age within the range that characterizes each educational group. Thus, caregiver speech exhibits both long-standing patterns of linguistic behavior and adjustment for the interlocutor. This information about the variability of speech by individual caregivers provides a framework for systematic study of the role of input in language acquisition.

Attachment to Parents and Adjustment in Late Adolescent College Students Current Status, Applications, and Future Considerations

Abstract: The attachment model holds considerable promise for understanding the challenges and adjustment vicissitudes of late adolescent college students. The model is potentially valuable for counseling psychologists, further more, in linking knowledge of developmental theory with counseling intervention and prevention. Existing research supports an association between secure parental attachment and adjustment for first-year college students. A variety of methodological challenges, however, need to be addressed in order to fully assess the validity of attachment-based developmental and intervention models, especially for women and culturally and racially diverse college students.