Gender, Race and Morality in the Virtual World and Its Relationship to Morality in the Real World

This research examines children’s beliefs about moral behavior in the virtual world and the real world. Participants were 515 children, average age 12 years old. One-third were African American and two-thirds were Caucasian American. Children completed surveys mailed to their homes which included questions about the acceptability of morally questionable virtual behaviors. Findings indicated: (1) gender and race differences in the acceptability of morally questionable behaviors in the virtual world; (2) moral behavior and moral attitudes in the real world predicted the acceptability of morally questionable behaviors in the virtual world; and (3) the frequency of IT use predicted the acceptability of morally questionable behaviors in the virtual world. Implications for children’s IT education are discussed.     

A Confidant Support and Problem Solving Model of Divorced Fathers’ Parenting

This study tested a hypothesized social interaction learning (SIL) model of confidant support and paternal parenting. The latent growth curve analysis employed 230 recently divorced fathers, of which 177 enrolled support confidants, to test confidant support as a predictor of problem solving outcomes and problem solving outcomes as predictors of change in fathers’ parenting. Fathers’ parenting was hypothesized to predict growth in child behavior. Observational measures of support behaviors and problem solving outcomes were obtained from structured discussions of personal and parenting issues faced by the fathers. Findings replicated and extended prior cross‐sectional studies with divorced mothers and their confidants. Confidant support predicted better problem solving outcomes, problem solving predicted more effective parenting, and parenting in turn predicted growth in children's reduced total problem behavior T scores over 18 months. Supporting a homophily perspective, fathers’ antisociality was associated with confidant antisociality but only fathers’ antisociality influenced the support process model. Intervention implications are discussed regarding SIL parent training and social support.     

The contribution of working memory to children's mathematical word problem solving

The study explored the contribution of working memory to mathematical word problem solving in children. A total of 69 children in grades 2, 3 and 4 were given measures of mathematical problem solving, reading, arithmetical calculation, fluid IQ and working memory. Multiple regression analyses showed that three measures associated with the central executive and one measure associated with the phonological loop contributed unique variance to mathematical problem solving when the influence of reading, age and IQ were controlled for in the analysis. In addition, the animal dual‐task, verbal fluency and digit span task continued to contribute unique variance when the effects of arithmetical calculation in addition to reading, fluid IQ, and age were controlled for. These findings demonstrate that the phonological loop and a number of central executive functions (shifting, co‐ordination of concurrent processing and storage of information, accessing information from long‐term memory) contribute to mathematical problem solving in children. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The relation of maternal emotional and cognitive support during problem solving to pre‐academic skills in preschoolers

Using a sample of 263 mother–child dyads, we examined the extent to which maternal emotional and cognitive support during a joint problem‐solving task when children were 3‐years‐old predicted children's academic skills 1 year later independent of each other, the quality of the home learning environment, and maternal emotional responsiveness. When all parenting measures were examined simultaneously, only maternal emotional support during problem solving and the quality of the home learning environment predicted unique variation in gains in pre‐academic skills from 3 to 4 years of age. The positive effect of emotional support during problem solving was especially apparent for children whose pre‐academic skills were low at the age of 3 years. These findings are discussed in light of the changing demands placed on young children and their parents as they prepare for entry to the formal school system. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessing the effectiveness of the ‘Incredible Years® parent training’ to parents of young children with ADHD symptoms – a preliminary report

This study examined the effectiveness of an evidence‐based parent training program in a real‐world Scandinavian setting. Parents of 36 young children with or at risk of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) self‐referred to participate in the Incredible Years^® Parent Training Program (IYPT) through a Danish early intervention clinic. Using a benchmarking approach, we compared self‐report data with data from a recent efficacy study. Eight out of nine outcome measures showed comparable or higher magnitude of effect from pretest to posttest. Effects were maintained or improved across six months. The methodology of this study exemplifies a rigorous but feasible approach to assessing effectiveness when evidence‐based US protocols are transferred into the existing Scandinavian service delivery. Findings suggest that IYPT can be implemented successfully as an easy‐access early intervention to families of children with or at risk of ADHD.     

How do friendship maintenance behaviors and problem‐solving styles function at the individual and dyadic levels?

Friendship maintenance behaviors and problem‐solving styles are both important for relationship satisfaction and commitment. However, the association between maintenance and problem‐solving styles is unclear. Furthermore, it has not been determined if maintenance and problem‐solving styles are individual‐ or dyadic‐level behaviors. One hundred forty‐eight friendship dyads completed measures of friendship maintenance, problem solving, and satisfaction/commitment. Utilizing the pairwise latent variable model (G. Griffin & R. Gonzalez, 1995), this research found that although there were both individual‐ and dyadic‐level components, maintenance behaviors occurred primarily at the dyadic level, but problem‐solving styles tended to be more of an individual‐level behavior. Maintenance behaviors were positively correlated with the problem‐solving styles of voice and loyalty but were negatively correlated with neglect and exit. Furthermore, friendship maintenance behaviors predicted dyadic‐level satisfaction/commitment. However, problem‐solving behaviors predicted individual‐level satisfaction/commitment. The results are discussed in terms of implications for the friendship maintenance and problem‐solving literature.     

Real‐World Correlates of Performance on Heuristics and Biases Tasks in a Community Sample

In the current study, we sought to examine whether performance on several heuristics and biases tasks and thinking dispositions was associated with real‐life correlates in a community sample of adults. We examined performance on five heuristics and biases tasks (ratio bias, belief bias in syllogistic reasoning, cognitive reflection, probabilistic and statistical reasoning, and rational temporal discounting), three thinking dispositions (actively open‐minded thinking, future orientation, and avoidance of superstitious thinking), and a questionnaire assessing real‐world correlates in several domains (substance use, driving behavior, financial behavior, gambling behavior, electronic media use, and secure computing). Our heuristics and biases tasks and thinking disposition measures were modestly associated with several real‐world outcomes, including the domains of secure computing, financial behaviors, and the total scores. That is, better performance on the heuristics and biases measures was associated with fewer negative outcomes. We found that the associations were generally higher in males than in females. Heuristics and biases performance and thinking dispositions were unique predictors of real‐world outcomes after statistically controlling for educational attainment and sex differences. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Creative Thinking: Processes,Strategies, and Knowledge

Creative achievements are the basis for progress in our world. Although creative achievement is influenced by many variables, the basis for creativity is held to lie in the generation of high‐quality, original, and elegant solutions to complex, novel, ill‐defined problems. In the present effort, we examine the cognitive capacities that make creative problem‐solving possible. We argue that creative problem‐solving depends on the effective execution of a set of complex cognitive processes. Effective execution of these processes is, in turn, held to depend on the strategies employed in process execution and the knowledge being used in problem‐solving. The implications of these observations for improving creative thinking are discussed.     

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.     

Reciprocal and complementary sibling interactions,relationship quality and socio‐emotional problem solving

Associations between reciprocal and complementary sibling interactions, sibling relationship quality, and children's socio‐emotional problem solving were examined in 40 grade 5–6 children (M age = 11.5 years) from middle class, Caucasian, Canadian families using a multi‐method approach (i.e. interviews, self‐report questionnaires, daily diary checklist, narrative task). Findings demonstrated that reciprocal sibling interactions were positively associated with warmth, mutual esteem, happy daily exchanges, and negatively related to rivalry and dominance, whereas complementary interactions were positively related to upsetting daily exchanges. Further, reciprocal and complementary interactions differed significantly in relation to several relationship qualities, with reciprocal interactions emerging as a significantly stronger correlate of happy exchanges. Only reciprocal interactions were positively correlated with socio‐emotional problem solving. Finally, birth order moderated the negative association of reciprocal interactions with rivalry and dominance and the positive association with socio‐emotional problem solving. In each case, the effect was stronger for younger members of the sibling dyad. Findings are discussed in light of recent theory on the sibling relationship and children's development. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Creativity and future time perspective: Exploring fantasy and realistic measures

The purposes of this study were to investigate the relationship between the cognitive dimensions of creativity and Future Time Perspective (FTP) and to explore the usefulness of a real‐world measure of divergent thinking. The sample consisted of 135 female undergraduate students with a mean age of 19 years. Creativity was measured using Guilford's Consequences and FTP was measured using the Future Problem‐Solving Task (FPST). Consequences is a fantasy oriented assessment and the FPST is a realistically oriented assessment. Results showed that Consequences and the FPST were moderately correlated. These findings suggest that both creativity and practicability play important roles in an adolescent's ability to solve real‐world future problems. Implications center on the appropriateness and utility of employing real‐life problems in creativity problem‐solving tasks for adolescents.     

Development of social problem‐solving strategies and changes in aggressive behavior: A 7‐year follow‐up from childhood to late adolescence

The aim of this study was to predict a stability of aggressive behavior on the basis of social problem‐solving strategies. Subjects were a total of 120 children, but complete follow‐up data were available only in 47 cases. Their aggressive behaviors were peer rated, and problem‐solving strategies were assessed in childhood subjects being 10 years on average, and 7 years later. Association between a development of social strategies and changes in aggressive behavior was studied with personality‐oriented pattern analyses. The main finding was that a development of strategies predicted a stability or changes of aggressive behavior very well. Aggressive strategies, both in childhood and in adolescence, as well as a lack of constructive alternatives characterized permanently aggressive subjects. Turning from nonaggressive to aggressive behavior was also explained by aggressive problem‐solving strategies, while a positive development, i.e., turning from childhood aggressive to adolescent nonaggressive behavior, was possible only if a person had never used aggressive strategies. Agreement between behavior and strategies was higher among girls. The findings supported a claim that intervention of aggressive behavior may be possible by modifying social strategies. Aggr. Behav. 25:269–279, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Prosocial children,bullies and victims: An investigation of their sociometric status,empathy and social problem‐solving strategies

This study investigates links between children's social behaviour and their sociometric status, empathy and social problem‐solving strategies. Sociometric ratings were obtained from a sample of 131 9–10‐year‐old children drawn from two matched schools. Each child also completed a newly developed and empirically derived Social Behaviour Questionnaire. This questionnaire led to the identification of 21 prosocial children, 23 bullies and 14 victims of bullying. Children in these subgroups were then assessed on measures of empathy and social problem‐solving. Prosocial children were significantly more popular than the other role groups, and bully‐victims were most frequently rejected by their peers. Prosocial children also showed greater empathic awareness than either bullies or victims, but gender was the significant source of variance. Prosocial children and victims responded more constructively than did bullies to socially awkward situations, and bullies were less aware than prosocial children of the possible negative consequences of their solution strategies.     

Patterns of problem‐solving in children's literacy and arithmetic

Patterns of problem‐solving among 5‐to‐7 year‐olds' were examined on a range of literacy (reading and spelling) and arithmetic‐based (addition and subtraction) problem‐solving tasks using verbal self‐reports to monitor strategy choice. The results showed higher levels of variability in the children's strategy choice across Years 1 and 2 on the arithmetic (addition and subtraction) than literacy‐based tasks (reading and spelling). However, across all four tasks, the children showed a tendency to move from less sophisticated procedural‐based strategies, which included phonological strategies for reading and spelling and counting‐all and finger modelling for addition and subtraction, to more efficient retrieval methods from Years 1 to 2. Distinct patterns in children's problem‐solving skill were identified on the literacy and arithmetic tasks using two separate cluster analyses. There was a strong association between these two profiles showing that those children with more advanced problem‐solving skills on the arithmetic tasks also showed more advanced profiles on the literacy tasks. The results highlight how different‐aged children show flexibility in their use of problem‐solving strategies across literacy and arithmetical contexts and reinforce the importance of studying variations in children's problem‐solving skill across different educational contexts.     

Leave Her out of It: Person‐Presentation of Strategies is Harmful for Transfer

A common practice in textbooks is to introduce concepts or strategies in association with specific people. This practice aligns with research suggesting that using “real‐world” contexts in textbooks increases students’ motivation and engagement. However, other research suggests this practice may interfere with transfer by distracting students or leading them to tie new knowledge too closely to the original learning context. The current study investigates the effects on learning and transfer of connecting mathematics strategies to specific people. A total of 180 college students were presented with an example of a problem‐solving strategy that was either linked with a specific person (e.g., “Juan's strategy”) or presented without a person. Students who saw the example without a person were more likely to correctly transfer the novel strategy to new problems than students who saw the example presented with a person. These findings are the first evidence that using people to present new strategies is harmful for learning and transfer.     

Justification of violence beliefs and social problem-solving as mediators between maltreatment and behavior problems in adolescents

This study examined whether justification of violence beliefs and social problem solving mediated between maltreatment experiences and aggressive and delinquent behavior in adolescents. Data were collected on 191 maltreated and 546 nonmaltreated adolescents (ages 14 to 17 years), who completed measures of justification of violence beliefs, social problem-solving dimensions (problem orientation, and impulsivity/carelessness style), and psychological problems. Findings indicated that maltreated adolescents' higher levels of delinquent and aggressive behavior were partially accounted for by justification of violence beliefs, and that their higher levels of depressive symptoms were partially mediated by a more negative orientation to social problem-solving. Comparisons between boys and girls indicated that the model linking maltreatment, cognitive variables, and psychological problems was invariant.     

Dyadic Flexibility in Early Parent–Child Interactions: Relations with Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Child Negativity and Behaviour Problems

Lower levels of parent–child affective flexibility indicate risk for children's problem outcomes. This short‐term longitudinal study examined whether maternal depressive symptoms were related to lower levels of dyadic affective flexibility and positive affective content in mother–child problem‐solving interactions at age 3.5 years (N = 100) and whether these maternal and dyadic factors predicted child emotional negativity and behaviour problems at a 4‐month follow‐up. Dyadic flexibility and positive affect were measured using dynamic systems‐based modelling of second‐by‐second affective patterns during a mother–child problem‐solving task. Results showed that higher levels of maternal depressive symptoms were related to lower levels of dyadic affective flexibility, which predicted children's higher levels of negativity and behaviour problems as rated by teachers. Mothers' ratings of child negativity and behaviour problems were predicted by their own depressive symptoms and individual child factors, but not by dyadic flexibility. There were no effects of dyadic positive affect. Findings highlight the importance of studying patterns in real‐time dyadic parent–child interactions as potential mechanisms of risk in developmental psychopathology. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

儿童外部问题行为稳定性的研究

儿童早期外部问题行为对后期的学业、行为和同伴关系以及成人期的生活都有消极的影响。探讨外部问题行为的起源、影响因素和发展机制,对考察童年期外部问题行为是否可预测将来的问题、评估干预和预防措施的必要性和有效性,都是必不可少的。文章阐述了儿童外部问题行为稳定性的有关概念,介绍了外部问题行为的发展趋势、“童年期开始的”和“青春期开始的”外部问题行为的发展路径、行为遗传学研究成果以及影响外部问题行为稳定性的因素,并指出了这类研究对治疗和干预的意义     

Surrogate‐assisted multicriteria optimization: Complexities,prospective solutions,and business case

Complexity in solving real‐world multicriteria optimization problems often stems from the fact that complex, expensive, and/or time‐consuming simulation tools or physical experiments are used to evaluate solutions to a problem. In such settings, it is common to use efficient computational models, often known as surrogates or metamodels, to approximate the outcome (objective or constraint function value) of a simulation or physical experiment. The presence of multiple objective functions poses an additional layer of complexity for surrogate‐assisted optimization. For example, complexities may relate to the appropriate selection of metamodels for the individual objective functions, extensive training time of surrogate models, or the optimal use of many‐core computers to approximate efficiently multiple objectives simultaneously. Thinking out of the box, complexity can also be shifted from approximating the individual objective functions to approximating the entire Pareto front. This leads to further complexities, namely, how to validate statistically and apply the techniques developed to real‐world problems. In this paper, we discuss emerging complexity‐related topics in surrogate‐assisted multicriteria optimization that may not be prevalent in nonsurrogate‐assisted single‐objective optimization. These complexities are motivated using several real‐world problems in which the authors were involved. We then discuss several promising future research directions and prospective solutions to tackle emerging complexities in surrogate‐assisted multicriteria optimization. Finally, we provide insights from an industrial point of view into how surrogate‐assisted multicriteria optimization techniques can be developed and applied within a collaborative business environment to tackle real‐world problems.     

Mathematical problem solving and working memory in children with learning disabilities: both executive and phonological processes are important

The purpose of this investigation was to explore the relationship between working memory (WM) and mathematical problem solving in children with learning disabilities (LD). Children with LD (age 11.5 years) were compared to chronologically age-matched (CA-M) and younger comprehension/computation achievement-matched children (age 8.9 years) on measures of verbal and visual-spatial WM, phonological processing, components of problem solving, and word-problem solving accuracy. The results showed that (1) children with LD were inferior on measures of word solution accuracy, components of problem solving, phonological processing, domain-general WM, and verbal WM when compared to children who were CA-M, (2) children with LD were comparable to younger children on all processing measures, except measures of domain-general WM, visual-spatial WM, phonemic deletion, and identifying problem goals, (3) measures of verbal and visual-spatial WM contributed significant variance to solution accuracy independent of phonological processing, and (4) the influence of WM on solution accuracy was mediated by long-term memory (LTM) processes related to the knowledge of algorithms. The results support the notion that information activated from LTM, rather than phonological processing, mediates the relationship between executive processing and solution accuracy in children with LD.