Familiality estimates from restricted samples

In a recent paper here, Benbow, Zonderman, and Stanley (1983) report that the coefficient of regression of offspring IQ on parental IQ is much lower among the gifted than in the population at large. Thus, Benbow, Stanley, Kirk, and Zonderman conclude in a second paper, the gifted resemble their parents less than do people in general. In this paper, I show that this result is an artifact of the particular estimator of the regression coefficient employed by Bendoq, Zonderman, and Stanley. The leastsquares estimator, which they employ, is severely biased downward, if the sample on the dependent variable is restricted to the upper tail of the distribution, and this is precisely the nature of Benbow et al.'s sample. That is to say, in a bivariate normal distribution with constant regression coefficient, samples restricted to values of the dependent variable (here, child's IQ) above a certain value will always produce a lower regression coefficient than unrestricted samples drawn from the entire but same distribution. I introduce an unbiased estimator that can be calculated from the sample statistics reported in the Benbow, Zonderman, and Stanley article and find that the coefficient of regression of gifted child's IQ on parental IQ is, in fact, higher than the regression coefficients reported in the literature for unrestricted samples. That is, Benbow et al.'s data suggest that the gifted in fact resemble their parents more than do persons in general.     

Assortative marriage and the familiality of cognitive abilities in families of extremely gifted students

The top 1% of the extremely bright students identified by the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (Benbow & Stanley, 1980b) were tested along with their parents, using a battery of specifically designed cognitive tests. These students represented the top 0.03% of their age group in intellectual ability. The results showed that the parents were extremely able and resembled one another significantly more than parents in the general population. In addition, the intellectually precocious children resembled their parents to a lesser extent than children of average ability resemble their parents. These results suggest that considerable assortative mating has occurred among the parents of these extremely gifted youth, but that extreme giftedness cannot be predicted reliably solely as a result of the mating of bright parents.     

Structure of intelligence in intellectually precocious children and in their parents

Students representing the top 0.03% of their age group in intellectual ability, who were identified by the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (Benbow & Stanley, 1980), were tested along with their parents using a battery of specifically designed cognitive tests. These highly intelligent children had less intelligent, but yet quite bright parents. Vernon's (1961) model of intelligence best fits our results. His following two factors explained most of the variance in the performance of the students and parents: verbal-educational and practical-spatial-mechanical. Moreover, there was potential evidence for a general factor. Among the children, who were mostly past puberty, age related to development of verbal abilities, but not spatial or mechanical abilities. Sex differences favoring the males were found on the spatial ability and mechanical comprehension tests.     

Vision and academic performance of learning disabled children

The purpose of this study was to assess difference in academic performance among myopic, hyperopic, and emmetropic children who were learning disabled. More specifically, myopic children were expected to perform better on mathematical and spatial tasks than would hyperopic ones and that hyperopic and emmetropic children would perform better on verbal measures than would myopic ones. For 439 learning disabled students visual anomalies were determined via a Generated Retinal Reflex Image Screening System. Test data were obtained from school files. Partial support for the hypothesis was obtained. Myopic learning disabled children outperformed hyperopic and emmetropic children on the Key Math test. Myopic children scored better than hyperopic children on the WRAT Reading subtest and on the Durrell Analysis of Reading Difficulty Oral Reading Comprehension, Oral Rate, Flashword, and Spelling subtests, and on the Key Math Measurement and Total Scores. Severity of refractive error significantly affected the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised Full Scale, Performance Scale, Verbal Scale, and Digit Span scores but did not affect any academic test scores. Several other findings were also reported. Those with nonametropic problems scored higher than those without problems on the Key Math Time subtest. Implications supportive of the theories of Benbow and Benbow and Geschwind and Behan were stated.     

Comparing Attention to Socially-Relevant Stimuli in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Developmental Coordination Disorder

Difficulties with social interaction have been reported in both children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD), although these disorders have very different diagnostic characteristics. To date, assessment of social skills in a DCD population has been limited to paper-based assessment or parent report. The present study employed eye tracking methodology to examine how children attend to socially-relevant stimuli, comparing 28 children with DCD, 28 children with ASD and 26 typically-developing (TD) age-matched controls (aged 7–10). Eye movements were recorded while children viewed 30 images, half of which were classed as ‘Individual’ (one person in the scene, direct gaze) and the other half were ‘Social’ (more naturalistic scenes showing an interaction). Children with ASD spent significantly less time looking at the face/eye regions in the images than TD children, but children with DCD performed between the ASD and TD groups in this respect. Children with DCD demonstrated a reduced tendency to follow gaze, in comparison to the ASD group. Our findings confirm that social atypicalities are present in both ASD and to a lesser extent DCD, but follow a different pattern. Future research would benefit from considering the developmental nature of the observed findings and their implications for support.     

Influences of credibility of testimony and strength of statistical evidence on children’s and adolescents’ reasoning

According to dual-process models that include analytic and heuristic modes of processing, analytic processing is often expected to become more common with development. Consistent with this view, on reasoning problems, adolescents are more likely than children to select alternatives that are backed by statistical evidence. It is shown here that this pattern depends on the quality of the statistical evidence and the quality of the testimonial that is the typical alternative to statistical evidence. In Experiment 1, 9- and 13-year-olds (N = 64) were presented with scenarios in which solid statistical evidence was contrasted with casual or expert testimonial evidence. When testimony was casual, children relied on it but adolescents did not; when testimony was expert, both children and adolescents relied on it. In Experiment 2, 9- and 13-year-olds (N = 83) were presented with scenarios in which casual testimonial evidence was contrasted with weak or strong statistical evidence. When statistical evidence was weak, children and adolescents relied on both testimonial and statistical evidence; when statistical evidence was strong, most children and adolescents relied on it. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for dual-process accounts of cognitive development.     

Behavioral expectations of retarded and nonretarded children

Two experiments were conducted to examine the effect of the mental retardation (MR) label on impression formation among retarded and nonretarded children and adolescents. The first experiment, conducted with nonretarded children in a mainstreamed school, indicated that they have pessimistic expectations of retarded children with regard to cognitive and ability-related behaviorsand, to a lesser extent, social behaviors (i.e., getting married). However, their reactions were not as pessimistic nor as “patronizing” as were those demonstrated by college students in previous research. In the second experiment, mentally retarded adolescents indicated that they also have negative behavioral expectations of retarded children, however, their self expectations were negative only for social behaviors. The results suggest that, among retarded persons, the expectations associated with the MR label are negative for social behavior, but apparently less pessimistic for cognitive and ability related tasks.     

The relation between spatial skill and early number knowledge: The role of the linear number line

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 48(5) of Developmental Psychology (see record 2012-11771-001). The grey boxes around the faces in Figure 2 are missing. The correct version is presented in the erratum.] Spatial skill is highly related to success in math and science (e.g., Casey, Nuttall, Pezaris, & Benbow, 1995). However, little work has investigated the cognitive pathways by which the relation between spatial skill and math achievement emerges. We hypothesized that spatial skill plays a crucial role in the development of numerical reasoning by helping children to create a spatially meaningful, powerful numerical representation-the linear number line. In turn, a strong linear number representation improves other aspects of numerical knowledge such as arithmetic estimation. We tested this hypothesis using 2 longitudinal data sets. First, we found that children's spatial skill (i.e., mental transformation ability) at the beginning of 1st and 2nd grades predicted improvement in linear number line knowledge over the course of the school year. Second, we found that children's spatial skill at age 5 years predicted their performance on an approximate symbolic calculation task at age 8 and that this relation was mediated by children's linear number line knowledge at age 6. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that spatial skill can improve children's development of numerical knowledge by helping them to acquire a linear spatial representation of numbers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Why cannot reasons change your moral decisions? Because they are not persuasive enough: A comment on Stanley et al. (2018)

Stanley et al. (2018) found that the consideration of reasons rarely induced people to change their moral decisions. We challenged this article by assuming what caused such a null or weak effect was that the persuasiveness of reasons provided to oppose the initial decisions was not strong enough. To verify our assumption, this study used Stanley et al.’s (2018) experimental paradigm and manipulated the levels of persuasiveness of reasons. The results revealed (1) that not only strong opposing reasons but also weak affirming reasons could induce changes in moral decision-making and increase decision confidence after altering the decisions; (2) that people with a weak decision confidence tended to change their initial decisions after evaluation of reasons; and (3) that people who maintained their decisions after considering weak opposing reasons enhanced rather than reduced their decision confidence. Overall, these findings demonstrated that moral decision change was a composite outcome of the interaction among reason type, reason persuasiveness and initial decision confidence and that low-quality argumentation had a boomerang effect on moral persuasion. This study re-lifted the role of rational reasoning in moral decision-making and revising, thus posing important amendments to Stanley et al.’s (2018) findings.     

Family interaction and child psychopathology: A comparison of two observation strategies

We examined two systems of assessing family interactions that are in common usage: a home based observation of free parent-child interaction and a clinic based observation of a structured mother-child problem solving discussion. Participants were 18 depressed, 27 conduct disordered and 16 comparison children and their mothers. Results indicated that: 1) these observations may yield very different data about child, and to a lesser extent, parent behavior, 2) parental affect in the clinic was related to their level of aversive behaviour in the home, 3) levels of both aversive and positive behavior for children and their mothers were correlated within each setting, 4) accuracy of diagnostic classifications made on the basis of the observational data were highest for comparison and conduct disordered children, but lowest for depressed children observed in the clinic, and 5) the inclusion of data on mothers' behavior increased classification accuracy for conduct disordered children only.     

The timing and mechanisms of children's use of morphological information in spelling: A review of evidence from English and French

We present a review of the research on English and French children's learning of the place of morphemes in spelling. Traditional models suggest that children use morphology relatively late in their spelling careers and that the end-point of development lies in rule-based performance. In contrast, we show that (a) children are sensitive to the role of morphemes in determining spelling at a young age and (b) they do not rely (at least exclusively) on rules. We discuss the features that may account for discrepancies between studies demonstrating late versus early use of morphology and we examine the processes that children might rely on in their learning, specifically statistical learning of intra- and inter-word regularities and retrieval of item-specific representations. This proposal provides a potential explanation for how children learn about the representation of morphology in print.     

The Perfection of the Teacher Through the Pursuit of Happiness: Cavell’s Reading of J. S. Mill

Drawing upon Nel Noddings’ contention that, if children are to be happy in schools, their teachers should also be happy, this paper tries to explore a way in which the obviously intimate but seemingly conflicting connections between students’ and teachers’ happiness can be understood from the viewpoint of Stanley Cavell’s reading of J. S. Mill. Mill’s conceptions of desire and pleasure are examined as a means of liberating the above connection from existing prioritization: that is, teachers’ or students’ happiness comes first. The pursuit of happiness for both teachers and students is discussed, in the hopes of illuminating alternative images of teacher education.     

Problems with intellectualism

In his most recent book, Know How, Stanley [Know how, Oxford University Press: Oxford, (2011b)] defends an Intellectualist account of knowledge how. In this paper, I will focus specifically on one claim that Stanley forwards in chapter one: I will focus on Stanley’s claim that automatic mechanisms can be used by the Intellectualist in order to terminate Ryle’s regress. I will argue that the proposed solution to the regress, regardless of how propositions are individuated, cannot provide an adequate Intellectualist account of skillful action. I should note that the solution to Ryle’s regress is central to the Intellectualist agenda. If Stanley fails to stop the regress or stops the regress by appealing to nonpropositional knowledge, then his Intellectualist project fails.     

A multitrait-multimethod analysis of variance of teachers' ratings of aggression,hyperactivity, and inattention

The convergent and discriminant validities of three teacher rating scale measures of the traits of hyperactivity, aggression, and inattention were explored, using the multitrait-multimethod matrix approach of Campbell and Fiske (1959), as well as an analysis of variance procedure (Stanley, 1961). In the present study teachers rated children from their elementary school classrooms on the above traits. The results provided strong evidence for convergent validity. Data also indicated that these traits can be reliably differentiated by teachers, suggesting that research aimed at better understanding the unique contributions of hyperactivity, aggression, and inattention is warranted. The respective benefits of analyzing multitrait-multimethod matrices by employing the ANOVAprocedure or by using the Campbell and Fiske (1959) criteria were discussed.     

"The relation between spatial skill and early number knowledge: The role of the linear number line": Correction to Gunderson et al. (2012)

Reports an error in "The Relation Between Spatial Skill and Early Number Knowledge: The Role of the Linear Number Line" by Elizabeth A. Gunderson, Gerardo Ramirez, Sian L. Beilock and Susan C. Levine (Developmental Psychology, Advanced Online Publication, Mar 5, 2012, np). The grey boxes around the faces in Figure 2 are missing. The correct version is presented in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2012-05400-001.) Spatial skill is highly related to success in math and science (e.g., Casey, Nuttall, Pezaris, & Benbow, 1995). However, little work has investigated the cognitive pathways by which the relation between spatial skill and math achievement emerges. We hypothesized that spatial skill plays a crucial role in the development of numerical reasoning by helping children to create a spatially meaningful, powerful numerical representation-the linear number line. In turn, a strong linear number representation improves other aspects of numerical knowledge such as arithmetic estimation. We tested this hypothesis using 2 longitudinal data sets. First, we found that children's spatial skill (i.e., mental transformation ability) at the beginning of 1st and 2nd grades predicted improvement in linear number line knowledge over the course of the school year. Second, we found that children's spatial skill at age 5 years predicted their performance on an approximate symbolic calculation task at age 8 and that this relation was mediated by children's linear number line knowledge at age 6. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that spatial skill can improve children's development of numerical knowledge by helping them to acquire a linear spatial representation of numbers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Knowing what to remember and forget: A developmental study of cue memory in intentional forgetting

These experiments are the first to investigate children’s encoding and use of information about a memory cue in Bjork’s (1972) intentional forgetting task. In Experiment 1, children in Grades 2, 4, and 6 and college students were given cues to either remember or forget after the presentation of each picture. Recall and recognition tests of pictures and cues followed. The procedure in Experiment 2 was identical to that in Experiment 1 except that the list of presentation pictures was altered for some children (Grades 3 and 4) and adolescents (Grades 8 and 9) so that remember and forget cues were associated with particular taxonomic categories. In Experiment 3, the testing component was modified so that children (Grades 2, 3, and 4) and college students were asked to recall only the cue associated with each picture. The results indicated that (1) children as young as second graders encode the cue associated with each picture, although to a lesser extent than do college students, (2) much improvement in intentional forgetting is still occurring during adolescence, (3) only adults adequately cluster their recall by cue, (4) associating remember and forget cues with items from different categories does not increase the differentiation between cues, and (5) eliminating picture recall and recognition has minimal effects on the magnitude of cue judgments. These results suggest that children’s difficulties on intentional forgetting tasks stem, at least in part, from their poorer encoding of information about whether an item should be remembered or forgotten.     

Visual control of manual aiming movements in 6- to 10-year-old children and adults

Recent results indicate that adults modulate their initial movement impulse toward a stationary visual target by processing visual afferent information. The authors investigated whether the mechanisms responsible for those modulations are already in place in young children or develop as the children grow older. Adults (n = 10) and 6-, 8- and 10-year-old children (ns = 6, 7, and 7, respectively) performed a video-aiming task while vision of the cursor they were moving was (acquisition) or was not (transfer) visible. The results indicated that within-participant variability of the initial impulse trajectory of the children's aiming movement leveled-off in acquisition between peak extent deceleration and the end of the initial impulse, whereas it increased linearly as movement unfolded in transfer. The results also indicated that children modulate their initial movement impulse when visual afferent information is available, although to a lesser extent than adults do, and strongly imply that contrary to past suggestions, the initial impulse of an aiming movement is not ballistic.     

Talking to children about family therapy: a qualitative research study

In an exploratory study a number of children were interviewed some time after family therapy. Their responses were analysed using grounded theory methodology. Outcomes indicate that for children, family therapy is potentially a complex arena in which ambiguities and ambivalences are present. The children's position in the therapeutic session is discussed in terms of their role in the 'therapeutic circle'.     

TIME FOR LOVE: The Place of Marriage and Children in the Thought of Stanley Hauerwas

In essays written throughout his career, Stanley Hauerwas has unfolded a Christian vision of the marriage bond and the presence of children that seeks insistently to place these seemingly natural bonds within the new family of God that is the church. I examine his understanding, aiming to appreciate the Christian vision displayed while also suggesting that his emphasis on the new thing God does in the church is sometimes allowed to absorb and thereby lose the distinctive significance of the created bonds of marriage and family.