Evidence for Use of Mathematical Inversion By Three-Year-Old Children

The principle of inversion—that a + b ? b must equal a—requires a sensitivity to the relation between addition and subtraction that is critical for understanding arithmetic. Use of inversion, albeit inconsistent, has been observed in school-age children, but when use of a computational shortcut based on inversion emerges and how awareness of the inversion principle relates to other mathematical or numerical skills remain unclear. Two possibilities were explored in 3-year-olds by adapting a method used previously with older children involving the addition and subtraction of blocks differing in length. These children were significantly more accurate on inversion than standard problems, this difference was observed even in children who did not count well, and performance did not differ between formats that afforded qualitative or quantitative solutions. Thus, 3-year-olds appear to develop an early sensitivity to quantitative inversion.     

Construal Level and Social Exclusion: Concrete Thinking Impedes Recovery From Social Exclusion

Social exclusion is a painful experience. Recent research has shown, however, that coping with exclusion can be facilitated by favorable conditions. In the current research, we investigated whether construal level affects recovery from social exclusion. We hypothesized that an abstract vs. concrete mindset would moderate coping with exclusion. Indeed, lower compared to higher concrete thinking (Study 1) and abstract compared to concrete thinking (Study 2) bolstered the basic need of belonging when excluded. Priming of abstract thinking, moreover, increased participants’ sense of belonging both in response to exclusion and inclusion relative to no priming (Study 3). Our results are the first to establish a relationship between construal level and social exclusion, thereby suggesting an alleviating “abstraction discount” effect for the consequences of social exclusion.     

The Development of Social Exclusion Detection in Early Childhood: Awareness of Social Exclusion Does Not Always Align with Social Preferences

ABSTRACT

Starting in the preschool years, children show socially exclusive behaviors, such as intentionally leaving out another child from a ball game. Prior research investigating social exclusion understanding in preschoolers primarily used interview methods and it is clear that the verbal and cognitive skills necessary to identify and reason about social exclusion become more sophisticated with age. Yet it is unknown how children’s ability to identify social exclusion relates to their own behavior, such as their social preference for socially inclusive or exclusive individuals. Further, whether such social preferences remain stable or change across development is an open question. Thus, the current study investigated whether the ability to identify social exclusion develops in tandem with social preference behavior by assessing 3- to 6-year-old children’s (N = 256) identification of social exclusion and preferences between socially exclusive and inclusive agents. Five- to six-year-old children correctly identified social exclusion and preferred inclusive agents over exclusive agents across two experiments. Three- to four-year-old children could correctly identify social exclusion, but did not show evidence of a preference for inclusive agents over exclusive agents. Children were also able to detect implicit, nonverbalized social exclusion equally well as explicit, verbalized social exclusion across development. These findings suggest that young children’s social preferences are not wholly dictated by their ability to identify socially exclusive agents. This divergent pattern of social preference from identification has implications for interpreting social preference behavior in young children.     

心理学视野中的社会排斥

社会排斥是许多社会问题的深层根源,长期为社会学者、政策研究者所关注。近年来,心理学者也将目光转向了社会排斥研究。在心理学者的视野中,社会排斥是指个体被某一社会团体或他人排斥或拒绝,一个人的归属需求和关系需求受到阻碍的现象。文章主要介绍了社会排斥影响个体认知、情绪和行为的研究。文章认为,在我国开展社会排斥的心理学研究,很有现实意义     

Reducing Trichotillomania in a Three-Year-Old Girl

The frequent hair pulling by a three-year-old girl was targeted in the current study. After a baseline period, the child's parents instituted a treatment program which included hugs and praise for periods of not pulling, a loud “No,” for movements toward her hair, and “No,” with holding her arms to her side for 15-20 seconds for pulling. Immediate reductions in hair pulling were obtained. A delayed consequences procedure was instituted in order to reduce hair pulling that did not occur in the parent's presence. Follow-up indicates maintenance f reduced hair pulling for 12 months following the completion of treatment.     

Children's Social and Moral Reasoning About Exclusion

ABSTRACT— Developmental research on social and moral reasoning about exclusion has utilized a social-domain theory, in contrast to a global stage theory, to investigate children's evaluations of gender- and race-based peer exclusion. The social-domain model postulates that moral, social-conventional, and personal reasoning coexist in children's evaluations of inclusion and exclusion, and that the priority given to these forms of judgments varies by the age of the child, the context, and the target of exclusion. Findings from developmental intergroup research studies disconfirm a general-stage-model approach to morality in the child, and provide empirical data on the developmental origins and emergence of intergroup attitudes regarding prejudice, bias, and exclusion.     

Social Exclusion and the Desire to Reconnect

People have a fundamental need to belong that, when satisfied, is linked to a variety of indicators of well‐being. The current article discusses what happens when social relationships go awry, namely through social exclusion. It seeks to resolve discrepancies in the literature by proposing that responses to social exclusion depend primarily on the prospect of social acceptance. When people feel socially excluded, they want to regain acceptance and thus may respond in ways that can help them do so. When the possibility of acceptance is not forthcoming, however, socially excluded people become selfish and antisocial. Evidence for this pattern was found at behavioral, cognitive, and biological levels. The motivation to gain acceptance may drive people to engage in negative health behaviors, such as smoking. Thus, excluded people demonstrate sensitivity to possible social acceptance, but they can exude an air of selfishness and hostility when there is no possibility of satisfying their need to belong.     

Gender-Role Cognition in Three-Year-Old Boys and Girls

Although the multidimensionality of gender roles has been well established, few researchers have investigated male and female roles separately. Because of the substantial differences in the ways male and female roles are portrayed in our culture, boys and girls may think and learn about these roles differently. The male role is more clearly defined, more highly valued, and more salient than the female role; thus, children's cognitions about these two roles may be expected to differ. The present study addressed the question of whether there is sex-typical variation in gender labeling, gender-role knowledge, and schematicity. Participants were 120 families; 15% were from minority ethnic groups, and 17% were single-parent families; 25% of the parents had a high school education or less. Results indicated that at 36 months of age, boys were less able to label gender and less knowledgeable about gender roles than were girls. Boys' knew more about male stereotypes than female stereotypes, whereas girls knew considerably more than boys about the female role and as much as boys about the male role. Boys and girls were found to be similar in gender schematicity. Traditionality of parental attitudes regarding child-rearing and maternal employment were not strongly related to children's gender cognition.     

Boosting One's Social Identity: Effects of Social Exclusion on Ethnocentrism

The present research examined the effects of social exclusion on ethnocentrism. It was reasoned that expressions of ethnocentrism boost one's social identity, which can serve as a buffer to the thwarted need to belong. In fact, Study 1 revealed that social exclusion, relative to a neutral control condition, increased participant's expressions of ethnocentrism. A second study replicated this finding and showed that social exclusion experiences also increase ethnocentrism relative to a social acceptance and a negative, non-rejection condition. These findings suggest that the effects of social exclusion on ethnocentrism are specific to the thwarted need to belong.     

农民工社会排斥的制度内与制度外分析——杭州市的个案研究

本文通过对杭州市农民工的实地访谈发现,移徙工人在城市就业过程中不仅面临着制度性的排斥,而且也遭到非制度性的排斥.这种制度性的社会排斥主要表现为体制性的排斥、规范性的排斥和执行性的排斥;非制度性的排斥既来自于城市市民,也源自于农民工群体内部的竞争性排斥和强权性排斥.在上述发现的基础上,文章讨论了西尔弗提出的社会排斥范式的表现形式.作者认为,中国农民工在城市就业过程中受到的社会排斥符合垄断性排斥范式的特点,但是又有自己独特的表现形式,类似于费孝通所说的差序格局.     

社会排斥的研究范式与理论模型

社会排斥是一种普遍现象, 对个体和社会有很大影响, 具多种表现形式。常见研究范式有拒绝范式、放逐范式、孤独终老范式及其他范式。其理论模型有需要-威胁的时间模型、多元动机模型及情绪麻木和自我控制失败说。当前研究在社会排斥对基本需要、情绪和自尊有何影响上存在争议。未来需谨慎使用研究范式, 明确研究对象, 提高研究的生态效度, 寻找社会排斥出现的原因, 探索有效的干预措施, 在中国文化背景下开展社会排斥研究。     

Possession Episodes in Young Children's Social Interactions

This naturalistic study examined the relationships between possession episodes and other social behaviors. Twenty children were observed in 240 social interactions that occurred during free play in their preschool classroom. The interactions were analyzed for behaviors related to possession, affiliation, prosociability, and aggression. The findings suggest that possession episodes are positively associated with agonistic behaviors and negatively related to positive social responses both situationally and dispositionally. First, disputes following possession claims frequently resulted in the termination or disruption of the social interaction. Moreover, a comparison between children's behaviors in interactions that contained a possession episode and in those that did not revealed that more aggression and fewer prosocial and affiliative behaviors occurred in the possession interactions. Second, in an analysis of individual social patterns, children who frequently engaged in possession disputes engaged in more aggressive actions and fewer affiliative ones than did their less possession-oriented classmates.     

Family Interactions in Children With and Without ADHD

We used global ratings to compare the family (parent[s]-child) interactions of 51 clinic-referred children with ADHD and 32 non problem children. Children and parent(s) were videotaped while engaging in problem solving and game playing activities. Independent coders, blind to children's diagnostic status, rated the interactions using measures designed to assess interaction competence and quality. Significant group differences emerged between the ADHD and control groups during problem solving on the interaction quality measures of Warmth, Engagement and Communication. Comparisons of the interactions of families of children with ADHD, with (ADHD W) and without (ADHD W/O) comorbid disruptive behavior disorders, were non significant, although increased symptomology was associated with reduced Warmth and Engagement during problem solving. Irrespective of group membership family interactions were more positive during game playing versus problem solving.     

社会排斥情境下自我关注变化的性别差异

本研究关注社会排斥和性别在自我关注程度上的交互作用。结合社会排斥框架下的需求-威胁模型以及性别研究文献, 本研究提出社会排斥会威胁男性的效能需求和女性的关系需求, 并反映在自我关注程度的变化上。本研究进行了4个实验, 前两个实验证实遭遇社会排斥后男性自我关注程度上升, 而女性自我关注程度下降, 后两个实验检验了权力感操控和自我建构操控对于社会排斥影响的干扰作用, 实验结果对相关假设提供了支持。     

Reactivity to Exclusion Prospectively Predicts Social Anxiety Symptoms in Young Adults

Peer victimization leads to negative outcomes such as increased anxiety and depression. The prospective relationship between peer victimization and social anxiety in children and adolescents is well established, and adults with social anxiety disorder (SAD) are more likely than individuals with other anxiety disorders to report a history of teasing. However, a crucial bridge between these findings (peer victimization in young adults) is missing. We manipulated perceptions of peer exclusion in a young adult sample (N = 108) using the Cyberball Ostracism Task. Reactivity to exclusion prospectively predicted social anxiety symptoms at a 2-month follow-up, whereas self-reported teasing during high school and current relational victimization did not. This research suggests that reactions to peer victimization may be a worthwhile target for clinical interventions in young adults. Targeting how young adults react to stressful social interactions such as exclusion may help prevent the development of SAD. Future research should test if reactivity to exclusion plays a role in the relationship between other disorders (e.g., depression) and peer victimization.     

Social Interactions and Feelings of Inferiority

A daily event-recording method, referred to as the Daily Interaction Record in Organizations (DIRO) was employed for assessing the influence of three types of social interaction on negative affect at work. For this purpose, 38 correctional officers (COs) completed forms, for a l-week period, that described their social interactions and stressful events at work. Moreover, the forms measured the negative feelings of COs both at the beginning and at the end of the workday. The results showed that each type of social interaction had a different effect on negative affect at the end of the day. Instrumental support showed an adverse effect on negative affect because this type of support appeared to induce feelings of inferiority, which in turn led to negative affect. Rewarding companionship appeared to have a positive effect, whereas intimate support showed no effect at all on negative affect. It is concluded that a micro-analytic approach offers interesting possibilities for fine-grained analyses of daily occurring social interactions and psychological mechanisms involved in social support as related to negative affect.     

Exclusion and Discrimination: Zimbabwean Migrant Children and South African Schools

Post-2005 migration movements from Zimbabwe to South Africa have included a growing number of children. These children face considerable difficulties in accessing the South African educational system. School attendance rates are significantly lower amongst migrant than South African children. This paper is based on recent interviews with Zimbabwean parents and guardians in Cape Town and Johannesburg and shows the levels and types of discrimination they and their children face as well as their powerlessness to effect change. The exclusion of migrant children from education contravenes South Africa’s international human rights obligations as well as its own Bill of Rights and Department of Education directives. The Department of Home Affairs, however, makes schools sites for the enforcement of the draconian provisions of the 2002 Immigration Act. School authorities therefore operate with conflicting mandates. The evidence suggests that most prefer to side with the Department of Home Affairs and make their schools unwelcoming spaces for Zimbabwean children.     

Extent of Child Social Exclusion in Pakhtun Culture: A Multidimensional Approach

The main objective of this paper was to investigate the association between socio-economic variables like Access to Services, Participation in Paid Work, Education/Skills, Health Status, State of Living Environment, Environment of Crimes at Community Level, Gender, Sufficiency of Family Income, Perception of Poverty and Religious Affiliation with Social Exclusion in Children. The results showed that there were indications of low likelihood of social exclusion among children with improved access to services, state of education and skills, state of health status and family income. Conversely, high likelihood of social exclusion is traced in those children who participated in paid work, lived in poor state of physical living environment; lived in environment of crimes at community level, from feminine gender, felt themselves poor and belonged to religious minority. Eliminating underage employment, provision of vital educational facilities encompassing the modern age needs, strict crime controlling measures through law enforcing agencies; drive for coordination between family and community for addressing gender based disparities in working environment under a sound package were suggested as some of the policy recommendations in the light of the study.