The Development of Aggressive Mental Models in Young Children

This study was undertaken to examine why a previous study revealed that children inaccurately recalled “seeing” violence in a nonviolent cartoon clip. We used a 2 (still photo vs. video clip) × 2 (action hero vs. neutral character) repeated measure experimental design and showed preschoolers (33–60 months) two photos and two video clips. Children were asked to tell a story about what might happen next. In addition, parents filled out a brief questionnaire. Results indicate that first, children whose parents reported that they had never been exposed to violent cartoons gave fewer aggressive responses than those who had seen one. Second, character type appears to have a greater effect on children's aggressive mental models than the narrative does. Overall, the effect of stereotypical action characters (as compared to neutral characters) is greater than it is for the video clip versus still-photo manipulation. Third, older children provided more aggressive story endings to the action character in the video sequence compared to younger children who saw the neutral character in the still photo or the neutral character in the video sequence. In sum, a single exposure to action cartoons may help very young children establish mental models for aggression. Second, both older and younger children are influenced by action cartoons, but older children are better able to incorporate story information whereas younger children focus on character appearance. Results are discussed in terms of mental models and child development.     

Dynamics in Using Different Question Types in Estonian Police Interviews of Children

The present study examined Estonian police officers' interviewing tactics with children in cases of physical and/or sexual abuse, as there are no published studies conducted in a country formally part of the Soviet Union. Also, the dynamics in using different question types within interviews was examined. Investigative interviews with 66 children (mean age 8 years 10 months, range 4 to 14 years) were transcribed and analyzed. Option‐posing and direct questions were most frequently employed, but invitations produced significantly more information. Four to seven‐year‐old children were asked more suggestive questions than older children. As interviews progressed, the average number of explanations and general invitations per interview decreased, whereas the number of suggestive and option‐posing questions increased. This study suggests that like police officers in other countries, Estonian investigators require training in structured interviewing methods to increase the number of invitations and reduce reliance upon option‐posing and direct questions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using Tablets to Collect Data From Young Children

Mobile, touch-screen devices are increasingly ubiquitous in children’s lives. The extensive use of such devices presents an exciting opportunity for data collection. We describe a simple method for creating cross-platform, interactive tablet experiments using open Web-based resources. We illustrate this method by collecting data from 1- to 4-year-old children in a word-recognition paradigm, using 3 different techniques: tablets, eye tracking, and an in-person storybook paradigm. Both accuracy and reaction-time data from the tablet compared favorably with the other methods. Tablets should be considered as a viable method for collecting low-cost, well-controlled developmental data.     

Using Class Pass Intervention to Decrease Disruptive Behavior in Young Children

Previous research has shown that disruptive behavior can impair students’ academic success (Pierce et al. in Remedial Spec Educ 25:175–188, 2004, https://doi.org/10.1177/07419325040250030501), as well as increase teacher’s stress level (Westling in Remedial Spec Educ 31:48–63, 2010, https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932508327466). The Class Pass Intervention (CPI) is a Tier 2 intervention designed to decrease disruptive behavior and increase academic engagement; however, few studies have evaluated the efficacy of CPI. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of CPI on disruptive behavior and academic engagement of young students who engage in disruptive behavior. This study used a non-concurrent multiple baseline design to assess experimental control. In the current study, CPI led to a decrease in disruptive behavior and an increase in academic engagement for all three participants and these levels persisted throughout schedule thinning. In addition, results of teacher and student social validity assessments indicated that the intervention was effective and easy to implement and that students preferred the intervention.

     

Testing and Training Analogical Responding in Young Children Using A Relational Evaluation Procedure

The Psychological Record - Analogical responding, or relating relations, as operationally defined by relational frame theory (RFT), is ubiquitous in everyday language and cognition, and is a key...     

Developing Rapport with Children in Forensic Interviews: Systematic Review of Experimental Research

The vast majority of guidelines recommend that developing rapport with children is essential for successful forensic child interviewing; however, the question remains as to whether there is a sufficient body of scientific research to generate evidence-based guidelines for developing rapport with children in legal contexts. To answer this question, we conducted a systematic review of the literature to identify experimental studies of the effects of rapport-building methods on the reliability of children's reports. Independent raters applied 12 exclusion criteria to the 2,761 potentially relevant articles located by electronic and hand searches of the literature. Experimental studies were few. Although studies to date are a beginning, the overall scientific base is weak regarding even basic issues such as how to best define rapport and the efficacy of common rapport-building techniques. This systematic review highlights what we know, what we do not know, and how much more we need to know to create evidence-based best practice. Recommendations for reshaping the research agenda are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Aspects of Communication in Families with Young Children

The subjects for this study were 16, non-pathological, four-person families, each with a child three or four years old and a child six or seven. Half the children were male and half female. The interactions studied involved both parents with one child and then with the other. The content of each remark was studied through a system of language-usage categories. This analysis indicated that older children sent and received a wider variety of messages than younger children did. Also, female children received a higher ratio of positive feedback to negative feedback from parents than males did. Who talks to whom, and who talks the most were also studied. These measures showed the formation of strong same-sex coalitions between parent and child. A number of the findings support a general systems interpretation of family interaction.     

Dependency and Independence in Young Children

The present study investigated the hypothesis that a positive relation exists between self-concept and moral judgment in young children. In the first experiment 40 kindergarten children between the ages of 5–1 and 6–6 with mental ability scores ranging from 82 to 144 were each administered a self-concept appraisal and a series of Piagetian moral dilemmas. Product-moment correlations and a multiple-regression analysis evaluated the relationship. When the self-concept and moral-judgment scores were collapsed, all of the moral-judgment factors correlated significantly with at least one self-concept factor. A second experiment tested the implications of the first. Eighty-five children between the ages of 5–11 and 8–4 were given the self-concept and moral-judgment measures. An eight-week communications-training session for randomly selected parents of children scoring below the mean on the self-concept measure was held. Posttesting showed no improvement in self-concept for the experimental group. Implications of these experiments are discussed.     

Testing Models of Psychopathology in Preschool-aged Children Using a Structured Interview-based Assessment

A number of studies have found that broadband internalizing and externalizing factors provide a parsimonious framework for understanding the structure of psychopathology across childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. However, few of these studies have examined psychopathology in young children, and several recent studies have found support for alternative models, including a bi-factor model with common and specific factors. The present study used parents’ (typically mothers’) reports on a diagnostic interview in a community sample of 3-year old children (n?=?541; 53.9 % male) to compare the internalizing-externalizing latent factor model with a bi-factor model. The bi-factor model provided a better fit to the data. To test the concurrent validity of this solution, we examined associations between this model and paternal reports and laboratory observations of child temperament. The internalizing factor was associated with low levels of surgency and high levels of fear; the externalizing factor was associated with high levels of surgency and disinhibition and low levels of effortful control; and the common factor was associated with high levels of surgency and negative affect and low levels of effortful control. These results suggest that psychopathology in preschool-aged children may be explained by a single, common factor influencing nearly all disorders and unique internalizing and externalizing factors. These findings indicate that shared variance across internalizing and externalizing domains is substantial and are consistent with recent suggestions that emotion regulation difficulties may be a common vulnerability for a wide array of psychopathology.     

Reasoning Ability in Young Children

The astrological assumption of personality differences among individuals born under different sun signs was investigated. Significant differences were obtained between sun sign groups on four of the 18 scales of the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) as follows: Communality, Socialization, Flexibility, and Femininity. The overall pattern of results based on F ratios, multiple comparisons between means, and estimates of strength of association was interpreted as showing no meaningful relationships between sun sign and scores on Communality, Socialization, and Flexibility. Adopting even the most conservative standards of inference, however, all of the test statistics employed indicated a powerful effect on the Femininity scale. Implications for future research were discussed.     

Ritualistic Behavior in Young Children

The aim of this study was to examine ritualistic behavior at its developmental peak. Children 20–59 months of age were sampled through a national system of daycare centers in Israel (N = 228). The order of onset of the ritual behaviors measured was virtually identical to that reported for an American sample (D. W. Evans et al., 1997). Gender and age effects were found for fearfulness but not for ritualistic behavior. Maternal reports of ritualistic behavior were highly correlated with reported fears, and with shy and emotional temperament. Mothers of the children who were in the top 10% in their use of rituals according to maternal report, worried about their child's ritualistic behavior, even though maternal worry was not correlated with ritualistic behavior for the whole distribution.     

Spatial Scaling in Young Children

This article examines the emergence of the ability to use a simple map to acquire information about distance in a larger space. It is commonly believed that scaling is a late achievement in childhood. The present study examined the origins of this ability by using the simplest of situations. In two experiments, we presented preschool children with a dot in a long thin rectangle, and asked them to use that representation to find an object in a corresponding location in a much larger sandbox. All 4-year-olds and a majority of 3-year-olds performed well on this task. We present a model that posits a simpler mechanism for scaling than that proposed in the existing literature.     

Future Thinking in Young Children

ABSTRACT— The study of future thinking is gaining momentum across various domains of psychology. Mentally projecting the self forward in time (i.e., mental time travel) is argued to be uniquely human and of vital importance to the evolution of human culture. Yet it is only recently that developmentalists have begun to study when, and how, this capacity emerges. I begin by outlining the concept of mental time travel, along with newly developed methodologies to test children's ability to mentally project the self into the future. Data suggest that this ability is in place by ages 4 or 5 but also reveal conditions under which children may experience difficulty accurately predicting their future desires. I conclude by discussing how the research on children's mental time travel can be used to further our understanding of the development of future-oriented behaviors, including planning and delaying gratification.     

Derived Comparative and Transitive Relations in Young Children with and Without Autism

The Psychological Record - The current study comprised 2 experiments to generate relational responding in typically developing children and children with autism. In Study 1, the children were...