Isolated teenagers, cooperative learning, and the training of social skills

The effects of individual and group contingencies on the achievement and social integration of isolated, learning-disabled students were studied. Five socially isolated and withdrawn eighth-grade students in foreign-language and math classes were subjects. The choice of working alone or in a group with no academic contingency (i.e., bonus points) was compared with working in cooperative learning groups with a group-academic contingency (i.e., bonus points), a group-academic contingency with social-skills training, and a group-academic contingency in combination with a social-skills contingency (i.e., bonus points). The results indicated that the combination of group-academic and social-skills contingencies produced in the socially isolated and withdrawn students the highest rates of appropriate social interaction with peers, acceptance and liking by peers, positive attitudes toward the subject area, and achievement.     

Development of anti‐immigrant attitudes in adolescence: The role of parents,peers, intergroup friendships,and empathy

Ethnic and racial intergroup attitudes are assumed to develop due to the influence of socialization contexts. However, there is still little longitudinal evidence supporting this claim. We also know little about the relative importance of socialization contexts, the possible interplay between them as well as about the conditions and mechanisms that might underlie socialization effects. This longitudinal study of adolescents (N = 517) examined the effects of parents and peers’ anti‐immigrant attitudes as well as intergroup friendships on relative changes in adolescents’ anti‐immigrant prejudice, controlling for the effects of socioeconomic background. It also examined whether the effects of parents or peers would depend on adolescents’ intergroup friendships. In addition, it explored whether the effects of parents, peers, and intergroup friendships would be mediated or moderated by adolescents’ empathy. Results showed significant effects of parents, peers, intergroup friendships, and socioeconomic background on changes in youth attitudes, highlighting the role of parental prejudice. They also showed adolescents with immigrant friends to be less affected by parents and peers’ prejudice than youth without immigrant friends. In addition, results showed the effects of parents, peers, and intergroup friendships to be mediated by adolescents’ empathic concern. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

想象性群际接触对合作行为的影响：内隐性别偏见的中介作用

为考察想象性群际接触对内隐性别偏见与合作行为的影响,采用单类内隐联想测验（SC-IAT）和三种合作范式进行了两个实验。结果发现：与对照组相比,（1）积极想象性接触能显著降低不同性别个体对异性的内隐性别偏见。（2）积极想象性接触仅能显著增加个体在囚徒困境中的合作行为,内隐性别偏见起部分中介作用。结果表明,积极想象性接触既能减少个体对异性群体的内隐性别偏见,并可进一步促进两人情境中与异性间的合作行为。     

Group Reward Contingencies and Cooperative Learning: Immediate and Delayed Effects on Academic Performance,Self-esteem,and Sociometric Ratings

While cooperative learning methods have been reported to have positive effects on a range of personal and social student outcomes, research into their academic benefits has produced mixed results. This study evaluated the effects of one cooperative learning method (cooperative reading and integrated composition, or CIRC) on the reading achievement, sociometric ratings, and self-esteem of 83 third-graders under three reward conditions (group rewards, individual rewards, and no rewards). Although students in the group rewards condition achieved significantly (p < 0.05) higher rate and accuracy scores on weekly reading quizzes than those in the individual and no rewards conditions, this effect was not reflected in overall pre–post reading test scores. There were also no significant effects for condition on the sociometric questionnaire. There was, however, a significant condition by sex interaction effect on total self-esteem scores, which indicated higher scores in the group rewards condition than in the other two conditions for girls. Results are interpreted in light of their practical implications for the application of the CIRC method in school settings, and their theoretical implications for research on the impact of group reward contingencies in cooperative learning methods. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Evaluations of presidential performance: Race, prejudice, and perceptions of Americanism

Earlier research suggests that despite President Obama's election, racial prejudice persists and continues to shape reactions to his presidency. The current work examines the role of Whites’ prejudice in shaping perceptions of Obama's Americanism, and ultimately evaluations of his performance. Specifically, this research proposes that “how American” Obama is perceived will mediate the relationship between racial prejudice and evaluations of his performance for White, but not Black participants and only for Obama and not for Vice-President Biden. Data were collected from 295 Black or White students surveyed 1 year after Obama's election. Supportive of our hypotheses, racial prejudice predicted Whites’ negative evaluations of Obama's performance, and this relationship was mediated by how American Obama was perceived. Additionally, these relationships were not obtained among Black participants or when Blacks or Whites evaluated the Americanism and job performance of Vice-President Biden.     

The Jigsaw classroom under test: No effect on intergroup relations evident

Two quasi‐experiments with intervention and control classes investigated effects of the Jigsaw classroom on intergroup relations, with 11 years old in grade 6 (Study 1) and 13–15 years old in grades 8–10 (Study 2). Both studies investigated developments in majority members' outgroup attitudes, intergroup friendship and empathy. They also investigated attitudes towards school among all the students. Study 2 added assessments of common ingroup identity in the majority sample and considered outgroup attitudes in the minorities' sample. Particularly in Study 2, an effort was made to ensure an accurate implementation of Jigsaw. The studies could not confirm that Jigsaw had effects on intergroup relations. Study 2, using adolescents as participants and 11 Jigsaw classes, found no effects of Jigsaw. In Study 1, one of the two Jigsaw classes had a statistically significant, minor favourable development along outgroup attitudes. However, this development may have been an effect of having two teachers (and few students in the class); no similar development was uncovered in the second Jigsaw class (with one teacher). The data question the frequent optimism on behalf of the Jigsaw classroom as an effective means to counter prejudice. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Impact of Size of Cooperative Group on Achievement,Social Support,and Self-Esteem

The effect of cooperative learning in pairs and groups of 4 and in individualistic learning were compared on achievement, social support, and self-esteem. Sixty-two Italian 7th-grade students with no previous experience with cooperative learning were assigned to conditions on a stratified random basis controlling for ability, gender, and self-esteem. Students participated in 1 instructional unit for 90 min for 6 instructional days during a period of about 6 weeks. The results indicate that cooperative learning in pairs and 4s promoted higher achievement and greater academic support from peers than did individualistic learning. Students working in pairs developed a higher level of social self-esteem than did students learning in the other conditions.     

When the bullied peer is native-born vs. immigrant: A mixed-method study with a sample of native-born and immigrant adolescents

An increasing number of immigrant students attend Italian schools, with the possibility of being involved in bullying episodes. A few studies have investigated this phenomenon, providing some evidence that immigrant students may face an increased risk of being bullied compared to native-born students. The present study adopted a mixed-method design, which may better detect the dynamics of bullying towards immigrant peers. Participants were 692 native-born and immigrant students (20.5% with immigrant background; 54.8% females) who filled in self-report measures about their bullying experiences, popularity, acceptance of diversity at school, and prejudice. Thirty-five pupils (54% with immigrant background) were also interviewed. Two hypothetical bullying scenarios were presented: one depicting a native-born victim and one depicting an immigrant victim. After each scenario, adolescents were encouraged to reason about the motives for bullying. Quantitative data showed that general bullying was associated with perceived popularity status among peers, while racial bullying was associated with prejudice but not peer status. The relevance of anti-immigrant prejudices in driving racial bullying emerged also from adolescents’ interviews. The qualitative data indicated that among the reasons for bullying, adolescents mentioned a desire for dominance and popularity, in particular when the victim was non-immigrant. Findings suggest that, in addition to individual and peer group-related risk factors, prejudice also needs to be addressed in anti-bullying interventions aimed to counteract racial bullying.     

Mathematics Performance of Immigrant Students Across Different Racial Groups: An Indirect Examination of the Influence of Culture and Schooling

Immigrant students are commonly assumed lower performers in US schools. Their inadequate English language skills and adaptation to the mainstream US school norms are often seen as obstacles to their successful school learning. However, whether and to what extent this assumption is sustainable for immigrant students' performances in mathematics is the question that has not been empirically explored. Proper answer to the question would help verify the popular assumption about the immigrant students and their learning in the mainstream US schools. Guided by the straight-line, segmented assimilation and cultural capital theories, this study examined this issue using US grades 4 and 8 datasets of Trend in International Mathematics and Science Study 2007 and 15-year-old dataset of Program for International Student Assessment 2009. It was found that there were substantial differences in the mathematics performances of students across different racial groups. Being immigrant students does not always mean they are lower performers than their mainstream peers. The immigrant students coming to the USA earlier did not always show worse mathematics performance over their immigrant peers who came to the USA later. These findings challenge the popular assumption that immigrant students' inadequate English language skills and adaptation to the mainstream US school norms are obstacles to their successful school learning and call for a deeper understanding about the academic performance of immigrant students in different content areas and at various stages of immigration across different racial groups.     

How the Opinions of Racial Minorities Influence Judgments of Discrimination

We investigated the influence of target versus non-target group members on judgments of racial discrimination. In Study 1, Black individuals were regarded as better sources of information about racial discrimination than White individuals. In Study 2, Black peers were more influential than White peers on judgments of discrimination. In Study 3, the influence of Black peers was moderated by internal concern with prejudice, and mediated by the perceived credibility of the peer. We discuss these findings in terms of targeted social referencing, whereby members of relevant target groups exert more influence than members of non-target groups over assessments of discrimination.     

初中生同伴圈子的发展及其对合作倾向、预期和行为的影响

在社会化过程中,同伴圈子不仅决定儿童青少年的交往范围和互动质量,而且影响其心理发展和社会适应。本研究从苏州市某初级中学选取768名初一学生进行了为期一年的追踪,采用社会认知地图、合作倾向评定量表和公共物品困境实验范式测查了同伴圈子、合作倾向、预期与合作行为,运用多层线性模型技术（Two-level HLM）探讨同伴圈子的合作水平对个体合作水平的影响。结果发现：（1）女生圈子数量最多而规模最小,男女混合圈子规模最大而数量最少;跨地域圈子数量最多且规模最大;（2）女生圈子最为稳定,男女混合圈子最不稳定;（3）在混合性别圈子中,个体的合作预期与行为更容易随着圈子合作预期水平的提高而增强;而在单性别圈子中,个体的合作预期与行为更容易随着圈子合作行为水平的提高而增强。结论：初中生同伴圈子在性别上具有同质性,女生圈子多且稳定;第一年单性别和混合性别圈子的合作倾向、预期和行为水平对第二年个体的合作水平产生了不同影响,即不同性别圈子对个体的影响模式存在差异。     

初中生同伴圈子的发展及其对合作倾向、预期和行为的影响

在社会化过程中,同伴圈子不仅决定儿童青少年的交往范围和互动质量,而且影响其心理发展和社会适应。本研究从苏州市某初级中学选取768名初一学生进行了为期一年的追踪,采用社会认知地图、合作倾向评定量表和公共物品困境实验范式测查了同伴圈子、合作倾向、预期与合作行为,运用多层线性模型技术（Two-level HLM）探讨同伴圈子的合作水平对个体合作水平的影响。结果发现：（1）女生圈子数量最多而规模最小,男女混合圈子规模最大而数量最少;跨地域圈子数量最多且规模最大;（2）女生圈子最为稳定,男女混合圈子最不稳定;（3）在混合性别圈子中,个体的合作预期与行为更容易随着圈子合作预期水平的提高而增强;而在单性别圈子中,个体的合作预期与行为更容易随着圈子合作行为水平的提高而增强。结论：初中生同伴圈子在性别上具有同质性,女生圈子多且稳定;第一年单性别和混合性别圈子的合作倾向、预期和行为水平对第二年个体的合作水平产生了不同影响,即不同性别圈子对个体的影响模式存在差异。     

Gender, academic achievement, and preferences for cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning among African-American adolescents.

In this study, we investigated the relationships among gender, academic achievement, and student preferences for cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning in a sample of 136 African-American adolescents enrolled in sixth and seventh grades in a school in Georgia. We used the Learning Preference Scale for Students (LPSS; Barnes, Owens, & Straton, 1978) to measure cooperative, competitive, and individualistic preferences. Three two-way ANOVAs (Gender x Academic Achievement) were conducted, in which the three learning preferences were the dependent variables. Gender had a significant effect on the preference for cooperative learning, with girls reporting a higher preference for this method than boys did. For the other two learning preferences, no significant gender differences were found. Academic achievement did not correlate significantly with any of the three learning preferences. A two-way interaction between gender and academic achievement was observed for competitive learning preferences. Girls' preferences for competition increased as academic achievement increased; boys' preferences for competition decreased as academic achievement increased.     

An Initial Study of the Effects of Cooperative Learning on Reading Comprehension,Vocabulary Acquisition,and Motivation to Read

This study investigated the effects of the Jigsaw II cooperative learning (CL) model and whole class instruction in improving learners' reading comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and motivation to read. Forty-four grade five English as a foreign language learners participated in the study, and a posttest-only control group experimental design was employed. The results did not indicate any statistically significant differences between the control and experimental group on the dependent variables of reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition. However, the results revealed statistically significant differences in favor of the experimental group on the dependent variable of motivation to read and its dimensions, the value of reading, and reading self-concept. The pedagogical implications of the findings and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

Unpopularity and disliking among peers: Partially distinct dimensions of adolescents' social experiences

The paper examines whether unpopularity and disliking among peers are partially distinct dimensions of adolescents' negative social experience. We recruited 418 students (187 boys, 231 girls, M = 12.12 years, SD = 4.33) from an urban junior high school. These early adolescents completed a peer nomination inventory assessing aspects of their social relationships with peers (i.e., popularity, liking, unpopularity and disliking), reciprocated friendships and behavioral reputations with peers (i.e., relationally and overtly aggressive, relationally and overtly victimized, withdrawn and prosocial). The participants also completed self-report inventories assessing their feelings of loneliness and peer victimization. In addition, academic performance data was obtained directly from school records. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that unpopularity and disliking among peers were associated with different behaviors. Unpopularity was also associated with reports of loneliness, relational victimization and low numbers of reciprocated friends, whereas disliking was associated with low academic performance. These results highlight the importance of multidimensional conceptualizations of negative social experiences in early adolescence and the differential risks associated with unpopularity and disliking among peers.     

The impacts of friendship groups’ racial composition when perceptions of prejudice threaten students’ academic self-concept

Literature on racially prejudiced stereotypes suggests that students?? academic self-concepts (ASC) can be damaged when a stereotype demeans the intelligence of their racial or ethnic group. There is little research on how students overcome this burden, but there is some evidence that the racial composition of friendship groups play a role. One argument suggests having racially diverse friends could help students see the inaccuracy of stereotypes and another points out that racially homogenous friends could collectively resist the stereotypes as a support group. In this study I analyze a nationally representative and racially diverse sample of United States adolescents to examine these hypotheses. After estimating multivariate regression models for four separate racial/ethnic groups (Asian, African-American, Hispanic, white), results show that although perceptions of prejudice do predict decreases in ASC for African-American students, racially homogenous friendship groups have the opposite effect which lends credibility to the support group hypothesis. In addition, racial diversity of friendship groups predicts decreased ASC for African-American students, suggesting diverse groups could make prejudice more salient. The implications for these findings include the reminder that prejudice is still a valid concern in American schools and that peers can be a significant source of racial tension and/or support. In terms of students?? ASC, it is important for educators to be aware of these social conditions and to continue to seek a better understanding of race relations in schools so that more students are not psychologically burdened by racial tension.     

Ethnicity as a social context for the development of African-American adolescents

Does anticipated future racial discrimination undermine African-American adolescents' academic motivation and performance? Do face-to-face experiences with racial discrimination at school undermine African-American adolescents' academic functioning? Does African-American ethnic identity buffer these relations? This paper addresses these questions using two waves of data from a longitudinal study of an economically diverse sample of African-American adolescents living near Washington D.C. The data were collected at the beginning of the 7th grade and after the completion of the 8th grade. As expected, the experiences of day-to-day racial discrimination at school from one's teachers and peers predicted declines in grades, academic ability self-concepts, and academic task values. A strong, positive connection to one's ethnic group (our measure of ethnic identity) reduced the magnitude of the association of racial discrimination experiences with declines in both academic self-concepts and school achievement. Most youth responded to anticipated future discrimination with increased academic motivation.     

The relationship between parental racial attitudes and children’s implicit prejudice

Although many researchers assume that implicit racial attitudes develop via exposure to prejudicial socializing agents (e.g., parents, peers, and the media) starting in childhood, there is a dearth of research on implicit attitudes in children. This study looks at the effect of one socializing agent—parents—on children’s or implicit racial prejudice. Specifically, we examine Allport’s (1954) contention that children’s identification with their parents moderates the intergenerational transmission of prejudice. Fourth- and fifth-grade children completed measures of implicit and explicit pro-White/anti-Black prejudice, as well as a survey assessing child-parent identification. Parents completed a survey that measured their attitudes toward Blacks. As hypothesized, we found greater correspondence between parents’ prejudice and children’s prejudice among children who were highly identified with their parents than less identified children.     

The Concept of Social Status

Summary

This study investigated the effects on prejudice of either a cooperative or competitive strategy adopted by either a white or a black partner. It indicated that involvement in a game situation led to a reduction in prejudice when a white S had a white partner who cooperated or competed, or a black partner who cooperated. If the black partner competed, however, there was a statistically nonsignificant increase in prejudice. Further, Ss tended to imitate the strategy of their partner. The results were considered in relation to the general effect of competition and cooperation in society.