Showing papers in "Merrill-palmer Quarterly in 1995"

A Longitudinal Study of White Children's Racial Prejudice as a Social-Cognitive Development.

Abstract: Longitudinal changes between ages 6 and 9 years in white children's (n = 47) prejudice towards black people and Native Indians were examined, with use of the Preschool Racial Attitude Measure (PRAM II) and a multiple-response racial attitude measure (MRA). Additional children (n = 40) were tested at age 9. In both samples, older children were less prejudiced on the PRAM than younger children, most of whom were prejudiced. On the MRA, which measured attitudes to each racial group independently, favorable-white and unfavorable-black evaluations did not decline with age, but unfavorable-white and favorable-black evaluations increased. These decreases in prejudice were associated developmentally with the perception that different races are more similar, that individuals of the same race are more different, and that racially different perspectives are both acceptable. Perception of withinrace similarity was associated positively with individual differences in prejudice at each age

The relation between motivational patterns and achievement cognitions through the elementary school years

Abstract: Among children in fifth and higher grades, the helpless motivational pattern is associated with the idea that intelligence is a fixed entity. Cognitive concommitants of helplessness in younger children, however, are not well understood. To identify developmental relations between motivational patterns and cognitions about ability and achievement, 139 first, third, and fifth graders' beliefs about ability and achievement were assessed, as well as their motivational responses to challenging puzzles. A sizeable minority of children at all ages showed the maladaptive helpless pattern (nonpersistence, negative expectations, etc.). Among older children, the helpless and mastery orientations were associated with differences in whether intelligence was seen as fixed or malleable. Younger children with the helpless pattern gave outcome-oriented explanations for school grades, whereas those with a mastery orientation gave process-oriented explanations

Why 3-year-old children get spanked: Parent and child determinants as reported by college-educated mothers.

Abstract: Little is known about the conditions surrounding the occurrence of physical punishment. Toward that end, telephone interviews were conducted for 14 days with 39 college-educated mothers of 3-year-old children. The majority of mothers (77%) reported spanking an average of 2.5 times per week. Of 537 serious child misbehavior incidents, described in detail, 16% ended in spanking. Certain types of misbehaviors, notably aggression, were more likely than other misdeeds to elicit spankings. However, parent effects were more evident. Positive attitudes toward spanking, and to a lesser extent, negative moods were linked to spankings. Parental use of physical punishment is important to understand in its own right but also reveals the interplay of variables that determine parental behavior.

The Development of Children Adopted from Romanian Orphanages.

Abstract: A cointegration framework is used to examine the short-run and long-run characteristics of energy demand in the Australian road transport sector. A lagged endogenous equation based on a partial adjustment process is proposed and estimated. Results indicate that energy demand, output and real energy prices are integrated of order 1 and cointegrated. The long-run output and price elasticities of energy demand are estimated to be 0.52 and -0.12 respectively. Causality tests reveal a bidirectional causality path between output and energy demand and a unidirectional path from energy consumption to prices. No other causality paths between output, prices and energy demand are detected. The short-run output elasticity of energy demand is estimated to be 0.25 based on an error-correction model. The short-run price elasticity is found to be insignificant. The inertia parameter is 0.48 corresponding to 95% of the demand adjustment occurring after five periods. The results are compared with previous findings and the variations are partially attributed to the structural changes in the road transport sector in the 1980s, some of which are discussed.

The development of the School-Age Temperament Inventory.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to develop the School-Age Temperament Inventory (SATI) as a parental report of children ages 8-11 years. Based on previous studies of temperament in children, four empirically derived dimensions were proposed: task persistence, negative reactivity, approach/withdrawal, and energy. Parent informants included 435 mothers and 228 of their spouses. Principal factor analysis with varimax rotation supported, in general, the empirically derived dimensions. The validity and reliability of the SATI was then evaluated. Cronbach's alphas were .85 to.90. Correlations between maternal and paternal reports were.51 to.68. Test-retest reliability was.80 to.89. The impact of gender and age was minimal. Convergent validity was evaluated by comparing the SATI with another temperament questionnaire designed for preschool children. Although continued development is recommended, the SATI appears to have adequate validity and reliability for use in research and structured parenting programs.

The Representativeness Heuristic and the Conjunction Fallacy Effect in Children's Decision Making.

Abstract: The use of the representativeness heuristic by second, fourth, and sixth graders showed a developmental increase in (a) base rate information and (b) information consistent with stereotypes about the story characters. Children used and extended information about the elderly to base their judgments on their construal of individuating information. Conjunction problems, concerning how likely elderly or young adults would engage in certain occupations or activities, showed children susceptible to the conjunction fallacy. Findings on both problems indicate the use of decision heuristics in the early grade-school years, and thus should be the years for beginning programs to lessen errors in social-decision judgments.

Loneliness in young children and infant-mother attachment: A longitudinal study.

Abstract: Although investigators have begun recently to elucidate the correlates of childhood loneliness, few have addressed empirically the developmental precursors of loneliness. Attachment theory provides one perspective from which to consider the familial antecedents of childhood loneliness. The proposition was examined here that one precursor of early childhood loneliness is insecure attachment. It was expected that the most loneliness would be reported by children who, as infants, had been classified insecure-ambivalent. As predicted, the most loneliness in early childhood was reported by children classified insecure-ambivalent in infancy. The least loneliness was reported by children classified insecure-avoidant in infancy, and an intermediate level of loneliness was reported by children classified secure in infancy. Findings are discussed in terms of the relative contributions of infant-mother attachment and infant temperament, and parallels are drawn to the literature on loneliness in adults

Early Parent-Child Relationships and Later Problem Behavior: A Longitudinal Study.

Abstract: Attachment security with mothers and fathers, parental behavior, and child behavior with parents were assessed when children were ages 18-24 months, and parent and teacher reports of problem behavior were completed when the children were in the first grade, ages 6 years, 4 months to 7 years, 5 months. Findings indicated that the mother-child relationship predicted later problem behavior; the father-child relationship did not. Different patterns of association emerged for the three aspects of the mother-child relationship; attachment security predicted low total problem scores at home; maternal acceptance predicted low total problem scores at home and school; and children's sharing behavior predicted low externalizing scores at home and school. Multiple regressions indicated that attachment security, maternal acceptance, and child behavior contribute unique variance in predicting problem behavior, thereby suggesting that these aspects of the parent-child relationship, and their developmental consequences, are partly distinct from one another

The Role of Prenatal Expectations in Parents' Reports of Infant Temperament

Abstract: The associations were examined among parents' characteristics, their prenatal ex­ pectations for and postpartum perceptions of infant temperament, and observers' ratings of temperament. During pregnancy and at 3 months postpartum, 70 prim- iparous women and their husbands completed several mood and anxiety ques­ tionnaires. Women completed prenatally Tellegen's Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire. Prenatal expectations for temperament were assessed with use of a modified version of Bates' Infant Characteristics Questionnaire (ICQ). At 3 months postpartum, parents and observers rated infant temperament on the ICQ. Results indicated that mothers and fathers shared expectations for the emotional expressivity of their infant, but differed in expectations for unpredictability and unadaptability. Parents7 postpartum ratings of temperament were much more similar than their expectations. Observers' ratings of temperament were modestly correlated with parents' ratings. Regression analyses showed that the best predictors of parents' postpartum ICQ ratings were their prenatal expectations.

Mother-Child Communication Sequences: Play Activity, Child Gender, and Marital Status Effects.

Abstract: contextual-ecological models of sex-typing guided the examination of mother-child communication patterns in relation to mother's marital status, child gender, and play activity. Married mothers (n = 47) and single mothers (n = 30) were videotaped in their homes while playing with their preschool-age daughter or son (mean age = 45.5 months). Mother-child pairs played with both a masculine-stereotyped toy set (toy track with cars) and a feminine-stereotyped toy set (toy foods and plates) for 8 min each. Mothers' and children's use of controlling (assertive), supportive (affiliative), and collaborative (both assertive and affiliative) speech acts were coded, and speech act sequences were analyzed. Mothers' and children's speech was influenced by child gender, the other's prior behavior, the mother's marital status, and the play activity. The study lends support to a multidimensional and multivariate view of sex-typing processes.

What's important about important conflicts ? Adolescents' perceptions of daily disagreements

Abstract: Adolescents' perceptions of daily interpersonal conflict processes were examined A single most important disagreement, as well as the resolution, outcome, lessons learned, affective intensity, and prevalence of all conflicts from the previous day were described in telephone interviews Most important conflicts contained more negative affect and were less typical than other conflicts Resolutions tended to involve submission or disengagement; outcomes frequently consisted of winners and losers; negative affect declined afterward, but did not disappear; usually, nothing was learned from most important conflicts Conflict components were interrelated: Resolutions were associated with outcomes and affective intensity, and affective intensity was linked to lessons learned Apparently, the salience of an interaction is influenced by specific conflict behaviors beyond the mere presence of disagreement

Infants' early verbal imitation and their later lexical development

Abstract: Imitation and lexical development of infants (n = 20) were examined longitudinally at ages 10, 13, 17, and 21 months. Infant lexicons were determined from maternal interviews. Words, vocalizations, and actions either outside or within infants' current repertoires were presented at ages 10 and 13 months. More verbally advanced 13-month-olds imitated more words inside their repertoires, but only reproduction of words outside their current lexicons predicted their future lexical development. When early vocabularies were statistically controlled, infants who imitated more words outside their repertoires at 13 months acquired larger noun lexicons by 17 months and larger non-noun lexicons by 21 months. Imitation of other behaviors was not related to vocabularies. Infants' early imitation of words not in their repertoires predicts and may facilitate their future lexical development.

Mothers' reports of paternal support: associations with maternal child-rearing attitudes

Abstract: Although studies of middle-class families have shown that paternal support is related to better maternal functioning, little is known about the impact of paternal support on maternal child-rearing in urban minority families Interviewed were African American and Hispanic adolescents ( 20 years) at infant age 12 months Measures included mothers'report regarding paternal residency and contact with infant; paternal support Ichild care and housework, emotional and instrumental support); and mothers' power-assertive child-rearing attitudes (strictness and aggravation) Resident fathers showed higher levels of all types of support Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that mothers'perceptions of paternal support, particularly emotional support, but not grandmother support, predicted maternal child-rearing attitudes Results suggest that maternal perceptions of paternal support by minority fathers does have a substantial impact upon maternal child-rearing attitudes and practices

Friendship quality during preadolescence and adolescence : the contributions of relationship orientations, instrumentality, and expressivity

Abstract: Relationship orientations, gender-related characteristics, and perceptions of friendship quality during preadolescence and adolescence were examined. In Study 1, 6th-, 8th-, and 10th-graders reported on their communal and exchange relationship orientations, instrumentality and expressivity, and friendship quality. Study 2 included 5th- and 8th-graders. Sex differences in friendship quality emerged around 8th grade in that either girls expressed higher levels of friendships quality (Study 1) or boys reported lower levels (Study 2). At the same time, expressivity in both studies made positive contributions to the prediction of friendship quality regardless of gender. The results also provide preliminary evidence that relationship orientations may play a more important role for the friendship quality of boys compared to girls.

Infants' detection of analogs of 'motherese' in noise

Abstract: Adult-to-infant (Al) speech has been found to be especially salient to young infants, but the mechanism underlying this salience is not well understood. The present study is a test of the possibility that stimuli with the properties of Al speech are more detectable in a noisy ambient environment. To test this hypothesis, 4-month-olds were habituated to white noise; following habituation, one of three different signal stimuli were added to the white noise. One signal stimulus was a monotonic pure tone, another was a frequency-modulated sweep corresponding to the intonation parameters of adult-to-adult (AA) speech, and the third was a frequency modulated sweep corresponding to the intonation parameters of Al speech. Infants showed evidence of detecting only the signal modeled after Al speech

The Effects of Children's Stereotypes on Their Memory for Elderly Individuals.

Abstract: First-, third-, and fifth-grade children were asked to recall positive or negative information about individuals labeled elderly and individuals not labeled at all. Children recalled more negative description information about the individuals, regardless of the age of the character the length of the delay, and the age of the children. However, for additional statements, children recalled more negative statements about the elderly than they did about individuals not labeled elderly. The elderly description also led to some distortions in children's recall. That is, some of the positive information about the elderly (e.g., the person was healthy) was recalled in its negative form (e.g, the person was sick). These results suggest that children's concepts or stereotypes about the elderly affect the organization and recall of information about specific elderly individuals

Social coordination during pretend play : comparisons with nonpretend play and effects on expressive content

Abstract: The role of pretend play interactions in stimulating social and emotional competence was examined by comparing the quality of pretend and nonpretend social play. The relation between social involvement in pretense and the expression of psychosocial issues was also assessed. The 24 4- and 6-year-old girls, each paired with a familiar peer, were observed in two videotaped 30-min free-play sessions. As expected, pretend play sequences involved more complex, mutually responsive, and emotionally invested social interaction than nonpretend sequences. Furthermore, expression of psychosocial issues within pretense was fostered by engagement in highly coordinated as opposed to less socially involved pretend play. Results are discussed in terms of the socioaffective and emotional mastery skills enhanced by coordinated pretense in the transition from preschool to school age.

Chinese American and Caucasian American Family Interaction Patterns in Spatial Rotation Puzzle Solutions.

Abstract: Studies show that Chinese American girls perform as well as Chinese American boys at higher levels of mathematics, whereas Caucasian American girls perform less well than Caucasian American boys. To examine sociocultural dimensions that may influence mathematics achievement, interactions of 24 first-generation Chinese American and 26 Caucasian-American mother-father-daughter triads were audiotaped as the fifth- and sixth-grade girls solved a computer-presented spatial rotation puzzle. Chinese American triads were quieter, more respectful, more serious, and more orderly, whereas Caucasian American triads were more sociable, more likely to use humor, more talkative, and more interactionally complex. Chinese American mothers and Caucasian American fathers appeared to be more responsive to their daughters' skills and behaviors. The findings support the hypotheses of cultural differences in family interaction patterns around a mathematics-related task.

Domain specificity and the logic of using general ability as an independent variable or covariate

Abstract: The practice of using general abilities as independent variables or covariates is reexamined in light of contemporary views of cognition. Delineated first is the current consensus regarding the nature and development of intellectual ability, a view in which domain-specificity and expertise is the main emphasis. Then, the most widely accepted views of general ability are presented. Assuming that both domain-general and domain-specific skills exist, the following question is considered: When would one expect general abilities to moderate the relation among domain-specific and other processes? In the fourth section, recent studies in which general abilities were used as independent variables or covariates are reviewed. This review reveals that in 80% of the studies, domain-general skills are far less important than domain-specific skills

Empirical Dissociations between Temperament and Behavior Problems: A Response to the Sanson, Prior, and Kyrios Study.

Abstract: Data derived from a treatment outcome study are used to address the controversy regarding the conceptual overlap between difficult child temperament and behavior problems. Forty mothers of preschool children were randomly assigned to either a temperament-focused parent-training program or a wait-list control group. At posttreatment, significant between-group differences emerged for ratings of child behavior problems but not for ratings of child temperament. These data are used to suggest that the observed associations between child temperament and behavior problems are likely meaningful and genuine, and not artificial.

Why some forms of induction are better than others at encouraging prosocial behavior

Abstract: To examine the effects of different forms of induction on children's prosocial behavior, predictions were derived from self-perception theory and evaluated regarding the cognitive component of the induction and the manipulation of choice. The affective valence of inductive appeals also was examined. Boys and girls (n = 80) at ages 7 and 8 years were randomly assigned to a 2 (Adult or Peer Beneficiary, as focus of induction) x 2 (Low or High Choice) x 2 (Positive or Negative Affect) factorial design. Beneficiary-oriented induction produced more internalized prosocial behavior than did adult-oriented induction under conditions of high choice. Affectively positive appeals were more effective than negative appeals across conditions. The findings, which were consistent with self-perception theory, help clarify when induction encourages internalized prosocial behavior.

Young Children's Help-Seeking in Mastery-Oriented Contexts.

Abstract: In the present study changes were explored in the frequency and style of very young children's help-seeking in mastery-oriented contexts. Dyads of 36 18-monthold and 36 24-month-old children were observed in free play and problem-solving contexts. Although younger toddlers sought less help than older toddlers, both groups of children sought more help in the problem-solving context than in the freeplay context. Older toddlers dramatically increased their rate of vocal help-seeking in the problem-solving context, whereas younger toddlers sought help through vocal and gestural means. Findings are discussed with respect to social and socialcognitive development of toddlers and the origins of help-seeking as a problemsolving strategy

Variability in Structured Wholeness: Context Factors in L. Kohlberg's Data on the Development of Moral Judgment.

Abstract: This study is designed to assess the variability in the development of moral judgment and to reconstruct it on the basis of cognitive context factors represented by characteristics of moral dilemmas and issues. With use of the original stage scores of the issues in Kohlberg's longitudinal sample, which consisted of eight age groups between 10 and 36 years, the hypothesis was tested that for age groups with conventional reasoning transpersonal dilemmas pull for higher stage scores than do personal dilemmas, whereas for preconventional age groups moral judgments of nonauthoritative issues are more advanced than authoritative issues. Results confirmed these hypotheses and have implications for a contextual constraint theory of moral judgment.

The Development of Infants' Search for Their Mothers, Unfamiliar People, and Objects.

Abstract: The development of infants' search for their mothers versus for unfamiliar persons and objects was investigated in 8-, 10-, and 12-month-olds with use of traditional object permanence procedures. When mothers, strangers, and small objects were hidden (Experiment 1), 12-month-olds showed higher levels of search for mothers than for strangers or objects; 10-month-olds showed higher levels for mothers than for strangers; 8-month-olds showed no differences in searching. When mothers, large objects, and small objects were hidden (Experiment 2), the oldest had higher levels of search for their mothers than for large or small objects; 10-month-olds, higher levels for mothers than large objects; the youngest again showed no difference in searching. Reasons for older infants' advanced search for their mothers are discussed

Development of Children's Knowledge and Use of Strategies for Self-Control in a Resistance-to-Distraction Task.

Abstract: The relationship between children's awareness and use of strategies for self-control was investigated Four-, six-, and eight-year-olds participated in a resistance-to-distraction task and then were interviewed to determine their knowledge about factors and strategies that affect one's ability to cope with distraction Spontaneous use of a temptation-inhibitive strategy increased between ages 4 and 6 and remained high at age 8 Four-year-olds showed mostly distracted behavior All children had some understanding of the effects of distraction on task completion and of age When given specific strategy choices, however, 4-year-olds were more likely to choose a strategy that focused on rewards, whereas 6- and 8-year-olds were more likely to select a task-facilitative strategy Knowledge of strategies was more highly correlated with process than with performance, and there was evidence that these relationships increased with age Results are discussed in terms of the generalization of strategic efficacy across task tapping various aspects of self-control

The Influence of Personal Effort Cues on Children's Judgments of Morality and Disposition.

Abstract: The influence of actor effort on children's moral and dispositional judgments was explored in two studies. Preschool, second-, and fifth-grade children heard stories in which the protagonists produced an intended or unintended outcome after exerting high or low levels of personal effort. Children made moral attributions and cross-situational predictions of behavior for each protagonist. Only judgments of actors producing intended negative outcomes were influenced by level of actor effort. Age-related findings indicated that older children's judgments and predictions reflected coordination of the actor's effort with information about the actor's anticipated goal. In contrast, preschool children appeared to focus more on the relation between the actor's effort and the consequence of the actor's behavior

Marital adjustment and children's academic achievement

Abstract: The relations were investigated between marital adjustment and children's functioning at school and home, with a focus on academic achievement. The sample included 70 children, ages 4 to 14 years, from intact, ethnically diverse families. In contrast to previous investigations of marital adjustment-academic achievement relations, which yielded inconsistent findings, the analyses controlled for intellectual aptitude. Marital adjustment was significantly related to two achievement measures (grades, teacher reports of school performance) and a trend was found for a third (achievement test scores). Significant associations also were found for other measures of school functioning and for children's behavior at home. Results indicate that relations between marital adjustment and child functioning extend beyond the home to children's achievement at school.