Siblings’ Understanding of Teaching in Early and Middle Childhood:‘Watch Me and You’ll Know How to Do It’

This study examined siblings’ knowledge about the teaching concept during naturalistic teaching contexts, wherein children’s communicative interactions were used as a gateway to their social understanding (Turnbull, Carpendale, & Racine, 2009). Participants included 39 sibling dyads (older age group, M_age = 6;4; younger age group, M_age = 4;5) observed for six 90-min sessions at home. Teaching episodes were identified and coded for: a) initiation of teaching (i.e., assumes role or learner requests teaching), b) knowledge states (i.e., knowledge, lack of knowledge, questioning knowledge), c) transfer of knowledge (i.e., learning), and d) teaching strategies (e.g., direct instruction). Children who assumed the teaching role referenced knowledge and questioning knowledge, whereas learners requested teaching by referencing a lack of knowledge. Firstborn learners were more likely to reference knowledge versus second-born learners who referenced a lack of knowledge. Transfer of knowledge occurred when teachers referenced knowledge. When learners referenced knowledge states, teachers were more likely to use direct instruction, demonstration, and negative feedback. Results underscore the developmental significance of sibling teaching and demonstrate a novel approach to studying children’s social understanding in the teaching context (Turnbull et al., 2009).     

Middle School Learners' Use of Latin Roots to Infer the Meaning of Unfamiliar Words

This study investigated how middle school students leverage information about bound Latin roots (e.g., voc in advocate and vociferous) to infer meanings of unfamiliar words, and how instruction may facilitate morphological analysis using roots. A dynamic assessment of morphological analysis was administered to 29 sixth graders (n = 17 intervention students) and 30 seventh graders (n = 18 intervention students). Qualitative analyses of analytic strategies revealed patterns of morphological problem solving that included direct (i.e., direct application of roots to analyze unfamiliar words) and indirect routes (i.e., use of known words that carry the roots to analyze unfamiliar words). Intervention students applied a direct route at higher rates than control students. Correlational analyses revealed a small but significant treatment effect on establishing meaning memory representations for roots and a significant, positive treatment effect for use of roots to infer unfamiliar word meanings. Overall results show promise for use of bound Latin roots for morphological problem solving.     

Observing Purchase‐Related Parent–Child Communication in Retail Environments: A Developmental and Socialization Perspective

In a quantitative observation study, we unobtrusively examined purchase‐related communication between 0‐ to 12‐year‐old children and their parents (N= 269 dyads) during supermarket and toy store visits. The aims of the study were to determine (a) the development of purchase‐related parent–child communication (i.e., children’s purchase influence attempts, their coercive behavior, parent‐initiated communication) and (b) the relative influence of different socialization variables (e.g., television viewing, family communication patterns) on these communication variables. Our inverted‐U hypothesis for the effect of developmental level on purchase influence attempts received support: Children’s purchase influence attempts increased until early elementary school and started to decline in late elementary school. Our inverted‐U hypothesis for the effect of developmental level on coercive behavior was also supported: Children’s coercive behavior was highest among preschoolers. With increasing age, children were more likely to be involved in the purchase decision‐making process, and parent–child communication more often resulted in a product purchase. Finally, children’s television viewing was the most important (positive) predictor of their purchase influence attempts.     

Risk Perception: Using Conditional Versus General Base Rates for Risk Communication1

In general, people judge their chance of experiencing a health risk as being less than the general base rate because of their favorable status on risk factors (e.g., history of stroke). Presenting base rates for high and low risk groups (conditional base rates) were hypothesized to lessen people's tendency to adjust downward from the base rate because risk factors are included in conditional base rates (CBRs). Young (M= 19 years) and older women (M= 46 years) were presented with either a general base rate (GBR) or CBRs for high‐ and low‐risk groups for 5 health risks. The CBR groups were significantly less likely to adjust their probability judgments from the base rate for the risk group that they believed applied to them (e.g., smoker vs. nonsmoker). The CBR effect was replicated in a second experiment in which women (M = 19 years) were informed of either a GBR, a CBR for a high‐risk group, or a CBR for a low‐risk group. The findings suggest that people might estimate subjective probabilities by considering both the base rate for a health risk and self‐assessments on risk factors. Biases about one's status on risk factors, however, may limit people's identification with relevant risk groups and warrant further investigation.     

What Is Engagement? Proactivity as the Missing Link in the HEXACO Model of Personality

We tested the hypothesis that proactivity represents the engagement vector in the HEXACO model of personality. Questionnaire data were obtained in five studies, three of which consisted (mostly) of students: Study 1 (N = 188, M_age = 20.0, 89.4% women), Study 3 (N = 315, M_age = 20.4, 80.6% women), and Study 4 (N = 309 self‐ratings, M_age = 20.0, 78.3% women; N = 307 other‐ratings, M_age = 24.5, 62.2% women). Participants in the other two studies came from an ISO‐certified representative community panel: Study 2 (N = 525, M_age = 51.2, 52.0% women) and Study 5 (N = 736, M_age = 42.2, 48.0% women). Proactive Personality and Proactivity were positively related to Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience, but only weakly related or unrelated to Honesty‐Humility, Emotionality, and Agreeableness, supporting the alignment of Proactive Personality/Proactivity with the hypothesized HEXACO engagement vector. Additionally, Proactivity explained incremental variance in self‐rated job performance on top of the HEXACO facets that were most closely associated with Proactive Personality/Proactivity, that is, Social Boldness (an Extraversion facet), Diligence (a Conscientiousness facet), and Creativity (an Openness to Experience facet), but not in entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship. Proactivity is the missing engagement link in the HEXACO model of personality. The results are discussed in light of higher‐order factors (e.g., general factor of personality and Alpha and Beta) of personality and bandwidth‐fidelity controversies.     

The Relationship Between Control,Job Seeking,and Well‐Being in Unemployed People

We tested the usefulness of the competence–contingency–control model to account for well‐being and job seeking in the unemployed. We surveyed 216 job seekers (M age = 35 years; M unemployment = 12.4 months) with measures of personal competency, beliefs about contingency relationships, job seeking, and well‐being. We hypothesized that control (i.e., competency and contingency) would be positively related to well‐being and job seeking, and that job seeking would be positively associated with well‐being and would mediate or moderate between control and well‐being. We found that control accounted for one third of the variance in well‐being, and was positively associated with job seeking (7% of variance). Job seeking did not mediate or moderate between control and well‐being.     

The Illusion of Double‐Discount: Using Reference Points in Promotion Framing

Double‐discount is an effective format for promoting purchase decisions. However, extant literature has overlooked how temporal order of discounts applied affects consumers’ purchase decisions. In this paper, we show that the sequence of discount magnitude (e.g., 10% followed by 40% vs. 40% followed by 10%) leads to biases in consumer judgment and influences the perceived appeal and purchase intention of the deal. We term this the double‐discount sequence effect. Using four experiments, we showed that double‐discount in an ascending sequence (e.g., taking 10% off, then an additional 40% off) is preferable over that in a descending sequence. We also found that discount application sequence—but not the presentation order—matters to consumers. Consumers anchor on the first discount they encounter and evaluate the second discount with respect to this first one.     

The Wax and Wane of Narcissism: Grandiose Narcissism as a Process or State

Though grandiose narcissism has predominantly been studied in structural terms—focused on individuals' general tendencies to be more or less narcissistic—we tested whether it also has a meaningful process or state component. Using a daily diary study methodology and multilevel modeling (N = 178 undergraduates, 146 female; M_age = 18.86, SD = 2.21), we examine whether there is significant variability in daily state narcissism and whether this variability relates systematically to other psychological states (i.e., self‐esteem, stress) and daily events. We assessed state narcissism and daily experiences over a 10‐day period. We observed significant within‐person variability in daily narcissism. Notably, this variability was not simply random error, as it related systematically to other psychological states and daily events. Specifically, state narcissism was higher when people experienced more positive agentic outcomes (e.g., having power over someone) or more positive communal outcomes (e.g., helping someone with a problem). State narcissism was lower on days people experienced greater felt stress. These relations held when state self‐esteem, gender, and trait narcissism were controlled. These findings suggest that grandiose narcissism has a meaningful process or state component.     

Mexican American emerging adults' relationships with siblings and dimensions of familism values

We used a person‐oriented approach to describe the profiles of Mexican American emerging adults' relationships with siblings using affective/behavioral qualities (e.g., positivity) and relationship maintenance strategies (e.g., communication frequency) and to examine how profiles of sibling relationships were related to dimensions of Mexican American emerging adults' familism values. Using data from 186 Mexican American emerging adults (M_age = 21.56), we conducted latent profile analyses and identified three profiles of emerging adults' relationships with siblings: moderate (n = 106), positive/involved (n = 64), and negative/distant (n = 16). Our findings suggest that the majority of emerging adults in our study reported close relationships with siblings and dimensions of familism values were differentially associated with profiles of sibling relationship qualities.     

Is Human Behavior Autocorrelated? An Empirical Analysis

The current review and analysis investigated the presence of serial dependency (or autocorrelation) in single-subject applied behavior-analytic research. While well researched, few studies have controlled for the number of data points that appeared in the time-series and, thus, the negative bias of the r coefficient, and the power to detect true serial dependency effects. Therefore, all baseline graphs that appeared in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) between 1968 and 1993 that provided more than 30 data points were examined for the presence of serial dependency (N = 103). Results indicated that 12% of the baseline graphs provided a significant lag-1 autocorrelation, and over 83% of them had coefficient values less than or equal to (±.25). The distribution of the lag-1 autocorrelation coefficients had a mean of .10. Subsequent distributions of partial autocorrelations at lags two through seven had smaller means indicating that as the distance between observations increases (i.e., the lag), serial dependency decreased. Although serial dependency did not appear to be a common property of the single-subject behavioral experiments, it is recommended that, whenever statistical analyses are contemplated, its presence should always be examined. Alternatives for coping with the presence of significant levels of serial dependency were discussed in terms of: (a) using alternative statistical procedures (e.g., ARIMA models, randomization tests, the Shewhart quality-control charts); (b) correcting statistics of traditional parametric procedures (e.g., t, F); or (c) using the autocorrelation coefficient as an indicator and estimate of reliable intervention effects.     

The Role of Perspective Taking and Self-Control in a Preventive Intervention Targeting Childhood Disruptive Behavior

Prevention studies typically focus on outcome variables such as reductions in problem behavior, rather than targeted factors (e.g., cognitions), or the relation between change in targeted factors and outcomes. Therefore, the current study examined the effect of a targeted prevention program for childhood disruptive behavior on targeted factors (i.e., perspective taking and self-control) and associations between change in targeted factors and outcomes (i.e., aspects of disruptive behavior). The sample consisted of 173 children (Mage?=?10.2 years) who were randomly assigned to an intervention condition (n?=?70) or waitlist control condition (n?=?103). Assessment took place at pre-, post- and follow-up measurements. For ethical considerations, follow-up data was not available for children on the waitlist. Findings revealed a direct intervention effect on self-control. From pre-test to follow-up, children who received the intervention improved in perspective taking and self-control. Moreover, improvements in self-control were associated with and predicted reductions in teacher-reported symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder. No associations were found between changes in perspective taking and disruptive behavior. These findings suggest that self-control may be an important target factor in reducing childhood disruptive behavior in targeted prevention.

     

Lifestyle changes are related to reductions in depression in persons with elevated coronary risk factors

This observational study investigates whether persons with elevated coronary risk factors (CRFs >3 and/or diabetes) and depression [i.e., ≥16 on the Center for Epidemiological Scale – Depression (CES-D)] can make changes in health behaviours over 3 months and improve depressive symptoms and other CRFs. Analyses were based on data from 310 men and 687 women enrolled in the high-risk arm of the Multisite Cardiac Lifestyle Intervention Program, targeting diet (10% fat), exercise (3 h per week) and stress management (7 h per week). As expected, at study entry, depressed persons had a more adverse medical status, consumed more dietary fat and practiced less stress management than non-depressed persons. To examine 3-month changes, participants were grouped into (1) depressed persons who became non-depressed (CES-D ≤ 16, n = 248; 73%), (2) persons who remained or became depressed (CES-D >16, n = 76) and (3) non-depressed persons who remained non-depressed (n = 597). All persons, regardless of group, met program goals. The greatest improvements (i.e., diet, exercise, perceived stress, hostility and mental health) were observed in Group 1 relative to Groups 2 and 3, which did not differ from each other. Comprehensive lifestyle changes appear to be feasible and beneficial for initially depressed persons with elevated CRFs.     

Self‐confidence,anxiety, and post‐purchase dissonance: a panel study

This study proposes an integrated conceptual model of the antecedents of post‐purchase dissonance. Data were gathered via a two‐stage panel study among consumers who made purchase of technology items. Study results demonstrate that consumer chronic characteristics (i.e., trait anxiety and generalized self‐confidence) not only directly influence post‐purchase dissonance positively and negatively but also are mediated by consumers' temporary feelings (i.e., state anxiety and specific self‐confidence) toward a purchase situation, and then indirectly influence post‐purchase dissonance positively and negatively. Trait anxiety positively influences state anxiety and that generalized self‐confidence and specific self‐confidence negatively influence state anxiety. Furthermore, trait anxiety appears to negatively influence specific self‐confidence, and generalized self‐confidence appears to negatively influence trait anxiety and positively influence specific self‐confidence.     

An Examination and Interrogation of African American Males’ Racial Identity,Prosocial Behaviors and Aggression

Using multiple regression analysis and Pearson’s R, the current exploratory study of 89 African American male adolescents (M = 12.5 years old) examined relationships among REI (i.e., 20 as a socialization product of identity formation processes), prosocial behaviors (i.e., represented as supportive behavioral orientation in response to stress), and aggression (i.e., a reactive coping strategy). Significant relationships among racial public regard, age, and verbal aggression emerged. Older adolescents believed that other people have lower regard for their race, and this predicted an increase in verbal aggression. These findings demonstrate the importance of understanding contextual factors when examining outcomes.     

Feasibility of a Telephone Intervention for HIV Patients and Their Informal Caregivers

Objectives: To assess the feasibility of a telephone intervention for HIV-positive patients and their caregivers. Methods: HIV-positive participants, some co-enrolled with their informal caregiver, enrolled in this randomized study. Intervention-arm participants (124 patients and 76 caregivers; dyads assigned to same arm) received up to 12 scheduled calls from an interventionist over 6 months. Results: An average of 7.6 (SD = 3.0) calls to each participant was completed; 66.5% received at least 6 calls; 43.0% received more than 75% of the intervention (defined as ‘study adherent’). Having a higher T-cell count was associated with call adherence (p = .014); cocaine use was associated with reduced call adherence for both patients (p = .019) and caregivers (p = .083). Common telephone themes included problems with mood, relationships, finances, housing, and work; interventions (e.g., referral for mental health care) were initiated in response to these. Participant satisfaction was high, and many reported benefits from the intervention. Conclusions: Using a telephone intervention with HIV-positive patients and their caregivers is a feasible and potentially beneficial intervention.     

The prevalence of declarative and indirect yes/no Questions when children testify in criminal cases of child sexual abuse in the United States

The present study assessed how attorneys questioned children in cases of child sexual abuse in the United States tried between 2005 and 2015. Trial testimonies (N = 134) of 5- to 17-year-olds (M = 12 years old) were coded for the linguistic form of attorneys' questions and children's subsequent responses. Three fourths of all questions were closed ended. Both declarative (statement question; e.g., “And he hit you?”; 21% of questions) and indirect yes/no questions (beginning with an indirect speech act; e.g., “Do you remember X?”; 11% of questions) were common, and produced potentially problematic responses, in comparison with forced-choice and yes/no questions. Declarative questions elicited the highest rates of unelaborative responses whereas indirect yes/no questions elicited the highest rate of nonsubstantive responses. The findings highlight the importance for researchers to better assess children's responses to declarative questions and for prosecuting attorneys to cautiously use declarative and indirect yes/no questions when questioning children.     

Parent and child adjustment dual trajectories at the beginning of the COVID-19 syndemic

Children and their families have been significantly impacted by the unfolding of the COVID-19 syndemic. We sought to identify (1) groups of families with distinct profiles of joint trajectories of parental anxiety and child emotional distress and (2) protective and risk factors associated with these dual-trajectory profiles. A sample of 488 parents (65% White; 77% mothers) with 3- to 8-year-old children (M_Age = 5.04, SD_Age = 1.59) was followed from late March to early July in 2020. Survey data on parent (i.e., anxiety symptoms) and child (i.e., emotional distress) adjustment were collected at three time points. Using multivariate growth mixture modeling, we identified one group with low parental anxiety and child emotional distress (42.7%) and three other distinct groups with varying risk levels among parents and/or children. We also identified protective (e.g., positive parenting) and risk (e.g., child negative affect, negative parenting, perceived stress with racism) factors in predicting parent and child adjustment. It can be concluded that, overall, our sample (mostly middle- and high-socioeconomic status families) demonstrated family resilience amid COVID-19, consistent with prior disaster coping literature. At the same time, our findings also indicated the need to identify at-risk families and modifiable factors for post-disaster public health interventions.     

Analysing the Influence of Autonomous and Controlling Social Factors Within the Theory of Planned Behaviour

The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of autonomous (i.e., autonomy support from parents and peers) and controlling (i.e., social physique anxiety) social factors on future intention to exercise, integrating the distal (i.e., basic psychological needs satisfaction and self‐determined motivation) and proximal (i.e., attitudes, perceived behavioural control and subjective norms) determinants of intention defined in self‐determination theory (SDT) and the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Self‐report questionnaires were distributed to 390 secondary school pupils (male = 218, female = 172, M_age = 15.10, standard deviation = 1.94). The results of path analysis, controlling for past behaviour of physical activity, showed that social factors predicted future intention to exercise through the influence of the distal and proximal determinants. The main contribution of the study was to provide evidence that the proximal determinants of the TPB captured the direct influence of social factors, independent of the mediating effects of psychological needs satisfaction and self‐determined motivation towards exercise. Results supported the integration of the two theories, clarifying the processes of influence of autonomous and controlling social factors within the variables of SDT and the TPB.     

Life and death in the Lone Star State: three decades of violence predictions by capital juries

The accuracy of three decades of Texas jury predictions of future violence by capital defendants was tested through retrospective review of the disciplinary records of former death row (FDR) inmates in Texas (N = 111) who had been sentenced to death under this “special issue” and subsequently obtained relief from their death sentences between 1989 and 2008. FDR inmates typically had extended tenures on death row (M = 9.9 years) and post-relief in the general prison population (M = 8.4 years). FDR prevalence of serious assault was low, both on death row (3.6%) and upon entering the prison population (4.5%). None of the assaults resulted in life-threatening injuries to the victims. Violence among the FDR inmates was not disproportionate compared with life-sentenced capital offenders. Consistent with other research, juror expectations of serious prison violence by these offenders had high error (i.e., false positive) rates. The confidence of legislators and courts in the violence prediction capabilities of capital jurors is misplaced. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Clarifying the Relation Between Extraversion and Positive Affect

This article clarifies two sources of ambiguity surrounding the relation between extraversion and positive affect. First, positive affect is defined differently across major models of the structure of affect. Second, no previous research has examined potentially diverging associations of lower‐order aspects of extraversion (i.e., assertiveness and enthusiasm) with positive affect. Australian (Study 1: N = 437, 78% female, M_age = 20.41) and American (Study 2: N = 262, 39% female, M_age = 33.86) participants completed multiple measures of extraversion and positive affect. Correlations were employed to examine relations among these measures. In both studies, extraversion was most clearly associated with positive affect as conceptualized within a major factor model of affect—specifically, as positive activation (Watson & Tellegen, 1985)—rather than the valence‐based conceptualization of positive affect provided by a circumplex model of affect (Russell, 1980). This was also the case for the assertiveness and enthusiasm aspects of extraversion. Our findings clarify the nature of the positive affective component of extraversion, which is best described in terms of both positive valence and high activation.