TV guide: two-year-old children learn to use video as a source of information

Learning to use symbols is a challenge for young children even when the symbol in question (e.g., a live video image) is iconic and seems transparent to adults. This research examined the effect of experience on children's use of video-presented information. Two-year-old children saw themselves "live" on their family television for 2 weeks and then participated in an object-retrieval task. The children reliably used a live video presentation of an adult hiding a toy in an adjoining room to find the toy. Most also transferred what they learned to a task involving another symbol (pictures) that typically is very difficult for this age group. The results reveal flexibility in 2-year-olds' symbol use that follows from successful representation of a symbolic relation.     

The causal influences of attributions on emotions: a procedural priming approach

According to attributional theories of emotion, feelings of guilt presuppose that the causes of a negative event are located within the individual (internal attribution), whereas feelings of anger presuppose that the causes of the eliciting event are located outside the individual (external attribution). This study tested whether these attributions in fact exert the claimed causal influence on emotional experiences. The study employed a procedural priming technique in which neutral events were repeatedly attributed either to oneself (internal attribution) or to another person (external attribution). Subsequently, participants were exposed to a negative event that was ambiguous as to its causes. The results reveal that the prior repeated use of internal attributions enhanced the tendency to experience guilt, whereas the repeated use of external attributions enhanced the tendency to experience anger. These findings support the assumption that attributions exert a causal influence on emotions.     

A theory of causal learning in children: causal maps and Bayes nets

The authors outline a cognitive and computational account of causal learning in children. They propose that children use specialized cognitive systems that allow them to recover an accurate "causal map" of the world: an abstract, coherent, learned representation of the causal relations among events. This kind of knowledge can be perspicuously understood in terms of the formalism of directed graphical causal models, or Bayes nets. Children's causal learning and inference may involve computations similar to those for learning causal Bayes nets and for predicting with them. Experimental results suggest that 2- to 4-year-old children construct new causal maps and that their learning is consistent with the Bayes net formalism.     

Transitory bias as a source of customer dissatisfaction: An exploratory investigation

Previous literature has identified sources of customer dissatisfaction in the forms of poor product performance, discrimination, and universal mistreatment (i.e., broad-based mistreatment of customers). This article proposes the existence of a fourth source of perceived customer dissatisfaction, termed transitory bias, which is based upon fleeting customer characteristics and actions. Using a critical incident approach, this exploratory study analyzes customer narratives of 230 negative experiences. After writing their narratives, consumer informants completed a quantitative survey pertaining to their experience. Some sources of transitory bias were found to be customer complaining, negotiation, special requests, and underpurchasing. Transitory bias was found to drive perceptions of negative customer experiences in 29.1 per cent of the narratives. This was fewer than the number of cases involving universal mistreatment (50%) but more than those involving poor product performance (18.3%) and discrimination (2.6%). Results showed that satisfaction, repeat purchase likelihood, recommendation likelihood, and word of mouth were similar to those found in narratives where universal mistreatment and discrimination were primary drivers of dissatisfaction. This article creates awareness of the transitory bias construct and allows academicians the opportunity to study it as a source of customer dissatisfaction. Retail and service establishments should be aware of customer perceptions of transitory bias because it impacts key performance metrics. Managers may wish to train employees to better identify and respond to sources of transitory bias. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Covariation and temporal contiguity as principles of causal inference in young children

Four- to seven-year-old children observed a simple physical effect which could be attributed to either a consistent but noncontiguous covariate or a contiguous but inconsistent covariate. When there was a physical rationale for the temporal delay between covariate and effect, children attributed the effect to the consistent but noncontiguous covariate. In the absence of such a rationale, they attributed the effect to the contiguous but inconsistent covariate. It was concluded that neither consistent covariation nor strict temporal contiguity were essential aspects of causal inference for these children.     

Job stress,emotion, and work environment: Toward a causal model

Based on a theoretical job stress model, a causal structure linking antecedent variables, intervening processes, and a physiological response variable has been proposed. Antecedent variables comprise work environment, trait-anxiety, age and weight. Cognitive appraisal processes are conceived as intervening variables that may be assessed by two questionnaire scales ‘General Job Pressure’ and ‘General Job Dissatisfaction’. It is hypothesized that job pressure results from an accumulation of negative conditions, whereas job dissatisfaction arises from a lack of positive conditions. The model was tested by a sample of 98 male Ss involved in different occupations. Emotions were incorporated into the model assuming that job pressure leads to emotional reactions of anxiety and anger, while job dissatisfaction is connected with anger only. The total model was supported by the data, although consistent relationships of work environment with job stress variables could not be established. The personality and emotion measures displayed relations expected with the subjective job stress variables. There was no relationship between blood pressure and the variables associated with stress or emotion. The results are interpreted within the theoretical framework of a general job stress model.     

Reinforcement sensitivity theory at work: punishment sensitivity as a dispositional source of job-related stress

Gray's reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) describes two important personality constructs; sensitivity to reward and sensitivity to punishment. In two studies, we examine whether these constructs can be considered dispositions to work stress. Results of Study 1 (N = 105 employees in different occupations) indicated that employees with strong punishment sensitivity reacted more strongly to work stressors than others. This idea was confirmed in a longitudinal design in Study 2. Reward sensitivity was unrelated to stress in both studies. Overall, results strongly support the idea that punishment sensitivity is a dispositional source of work stress. Results further confirm that RST and its derived personality measures can contribute to theorizing about personality–environment interactions in a highly relevant daily setting, namely the working environment. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Encouraging children to think counterfactually enhances blocking in a causal learning task

According to a higher order reasoning account, inferential reasoning processes underpin the widely observed cue competition effect of blocking in causal learning. The inference required for blocking has been described as modus tollens (if p then q, not q therefore not p). Young children are known to have difficulties with this type of inference, but research with adults suggests that this inference is easier if participants think counterfactually. In this study, 100 children (51 five-year-olds and 49 six- to seven-year-olds) were assigned to two types of pretraining groups. The counterfactual group observed demonstrations of cues paired with outcomes and answered questions about what the outcome would have been if the causal status of cues had been different, whereas the factual group answered factual questions about the same demonstrations. Children then completed a causal learning task. Counterfactual pretraining enhanced levels of blocking as well as modus tollens reasoning but only for the younger children. These findings provide new evidence for an important role for inferential reasoning in causal learning.     

Family as a source of support under stress: Benefits of greater breadth of family inclusion

Family has profound meaning and represents the most important ingroup for most people, yet, we know very little about how lay perceptions of family affect well-being. In the current work, we examined how lay theories about breadth of family inclusion (i.e., including a broader variety of entities in one’s definition of family) were related to family experiences and to well-being. In Study 1, we found that lay theories about family as including a wider variety of entities (i.e., greater breadth of inclusion) predicted more positive family evaluations, more positive qualities, and greater family importance. In Study 2, we found that greater breadth of family inclusion was associated with greater resilience in the face of stress. Finally, in Study 3 we used an experimental manipulation of breadth of family inclusion, establishing that broader views of family produced greater social needs fulfillment. Implications for the role of ingroup memberships and identities in promoting well-being are discussed.     

Lipid reactivity to stress: II. Biological and behavioral influences.

This study examined behavioral and physiological influences on lipid concentrations during acute and chronic stressors. One hundred men (n = 92) and women (n = 8) were tested during a chronic stressor and during 2 acute stressors. During chronic stress, diet, physical activity, exercise, and sleep were examined. During the acute stressors, catecholamines, cortisol, plasma volume, and cardiovascular responses were examined. None of the behavioral influences could explain the lipid response to chronic stress. Responses of the atherogenic lipids to acute stressors were not solely reflecting hemoconcentration of the plasma but were moderately correlated with cardiovascular, epinephrine, and cortisol reactivity. Diastolic blood pressure reactors to the acute stressors had larger lipid responses to the chronic stressor than did nonreactors. Elevations in blood lipids during stress are not artifacts and may be clinically significant.     

An empirical test of the covariation analysis in causal attribution

The present investigation was designed to reveal the cognitive inference processes associated with both detection and utilization of covariation information in causal attribution. Male undergraduates were (a) informed that a test was easy or difficult and shown a videotape in which (b) the test-taker's performance was high or low, and (c) covariation between the test-taker's effort expenditure and trial-by-trial outcome was present or absent. High performance was attributed to the test-taker's effort and ability, whereas low performance was attributed to the difficulty of the test. However, recognition of the covariance relationship decreased the attribution of high performance to ability and of low performance to test difficulty and increased the attribution of low performance to effort. Effort attribution in the high performance condition was independent of covariation information. The results are discussed in terms of the relationship between covariation information and typical beliefs about the causes of achievement outcomes.     

Achievement and morality: a cross-cultural analysis of causal attribution and evaluation.

A recent study by Weiner and Peter has considered the emergence of certain patterns of attribution and evaluation in achievement and moral situations. According to their analysis, judgments should generally follow a Piagetian sequence in which younger children are influenced more by the outcome of an episode and older children by the intent of the protagonist. With a sample of U.S. subjects they found overall support for this analysis. A major of the present study is to determine how sociocultural factors may influence the judgmental patterns outlined by Weiner and Peter by essentially replicating their study in the manifestly different cultural context provided in Iran. Important discrepancies with Weiner and Peter were found which can be attributed to sociocultural factors. However, the cognitive-developmental framework proved generally valuable in working toward a comparative understanding of socialization patterns extant in the two cultures.     

Families and Schools Together: an experimental analysis of a parent-mediated multi-family group program for American Indian children

The goals of this randomized intervention study were to: (a) increase academic performance among American Indian children ages 4-9 years and (b) reduce classroom problem behaviors. To achieve these goals, the multi-family group program called Families and Schools Together (FAST) was adapted with three American Indian Nations in Wisconsin. Over 3 years, seven multi-family group cycles of FAST were implemented, each lasting 8 weeks. In collaboration with the College of Menominee Nation, this parent intervention approach was adapted to express tribal values while maintaining its core components. Fifty pairs of universally recruited American Indian students at three schools who were assessed, matched on five variables, and then randomly assigned to either the FAST or non-FAST control condition. Pretest, posttest, and 9- to 12-month follow-up data were collected by American Indian staff and university students on multiple indicators of academic and behavioral performance. Of the 50 families that attended FAST meetings at least once, 40 graduated (80%) from the 7 FAST cycles. On the immediate posttest, statistically significant differences in improvement, favoring FAST participants were found on the Aggressive Behavior scale of the teacher-rated Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and on the parent-rated Withdrawn scale of the same instrument. On the 1-year follow-up assessment, parent CBCL ratings indicated that FAST students had maintained their less withdrawn status and teacher ratings on the Social Skills Rating Scale (SSRS) revealed that FAST participants had exhibited relatively greater improvement in their academic competence. Parent surveys of the graduated students generally showed satisfaction with the program. Implications of the present results and future research directions are discussed.     

Support, stress, and recovery from coronary heart disease: a longitudinal causal model

Measures of support, stress, distress, and cardiac symptoms were obtained from a cohort of 73 male cardiac patients at hospitalization and at 3, 6, and 12 months thereafter. Sets of general and alternative hypotheses regarding the direction of causality among these variables were drawn from the literature on cardiac rehabilitation, stress, and support. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the stability and duration of these hypotheses over three time-lags. The results showed strong support for the general hypotheses and minimal support for the alternative hypotheses. Support ameliorated the subsequent experience of stress and distress and had opposing effects to these variables on cardiac symptoms. Support was more influential in the first half of the year than it was in the second half, however, whereas stress was predominant causally in the second half. Implications of this pattern for clinical intervention are drawn and directions for further research are proposed.     

Bullying: a source of chronic post traumatic stress?

This study surveyed 165 care professionals on their experience of workplace bullying. The results showed that in a 2-year period 40% had been bullied and 68% had observed bullying taking place. Of the 67 care professionals that had been bullied 44% were experiencing high levels of PTSD symptoms based on the general factor of the IES-E. However, when these results were examined further it was found that the symptoms clustered rather differently to those of victims of other forms of trauma. In victims of bullying, the symptoms of arousal and re-experience formed a single cluster of symptoms with avoidance remaining as a separate cluster. These results are challenging in both the classification of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and for the treatment of victims of bullying.     

Combined functional and causal connectivity analyses of language networks in children: a feasibility study

Instead of assessing activation in distinct brain regions, approaches to investigating the networks underlying distinct brain functions have come into the focus of neuroscience research. Here, we provide a completely data-driven framework for assessing functional and causal connectivity in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data, employing Granger's causality. We investigate the networks underlying story processing in 17 healthy children (8f, 9m, 10.4+/-2.8 years, 6.5-15.4 years). Extensive functional connectivity exists between brain regions, including some not detected in standard random effects analyses. Causal connectivity analyses demonstrate a clear dominance of left-sided language regions for both forward and backward interactions with other network nodes. We believe our approach to be useful in helping to assess language networks in the normal or pathological setting; it may also aid in providing better starting estimates for the more hypothesis-driven approaches like structural equation or dynamic causal modeling.