Property content guides children’s memory for social learning episodes

How do children’s interpretations of the generality of learning episodes affect what they encode? In the present studies, we investigated the hypothesis that children encode distinct aspects of learning episodes containing generalizable and non-generalizable properties. Two studies with preschool (N = 50) and young school-aged children (N = 49) reveal that their encoding is contingent on the generalizability of the property they are learning. Children remembered generalizable properties (e.g., morphological or normative properties) more than non-generalizable properties (e.g., historical events or preferences). Conversely, they remembered category exemplars associated with non-generalizable properties more than category exemplars associated with generalizable properties. The findings highlight the utility of remembering distinct aspects of social learning episodes for children’s future generalization.     

Assessment of children's social skills

Various methods of social skills assessment with children were reviewed. Based upon an extensive review of the literature, it was found that behavioral observations, sociometrics, and teacher ratings have been the most often used methods of assessing children's social skill deficits. Advantages and disadvantages of each assessment technique were discussed within a psychometric and social validation context. Conclusions were that school psychologists should utilized all three measures to secure a comprehensive picture of children's social behavior and to obtain some measure of social validation.     

Children’s social cognition about proactive aggression

In this study, 6- and 9-year-old children (N = 258) observed two instances of proactive aggression (one relational and the other direct aggression) that were committed by members of a group toward out-group members. Participants were either members of the group or independent observers. Analyses of participants’ social cognition about the aggressor and the aggression (cause of aggression, moral judgment of aggression, attitudes toward the aggressor, and exclusion of the aggressor) indicated that, overall, group members were more positive toward aggressors than were independent observers. Although intergroup competition was perceived to be the cause of the aggression, participants disapproved of both types of aggression (especially direct aggression), disapproval increased with age, and girls disapproved of relational aggression more than did boys. Group members’ social cognition about the aggressor and the aggression comprised a coherent cognitive process for both types of aggression, but the observers’ process was simpler and differed by aggression type.     

Preparing our future counselling professionals: Gatekeeping and the implications for research

Social science research specific to the identification and prevalence of unsuitable students within counselling, psychology, and social work training programmes is briefly reviewed in this article. This area of enquiry relates to the gatekeeping responsibilities of professional educational programmes, to ensure that their graduates are competent to provide ethical and effective practice to the public. Key issues which impede the usefulness of this gatekeeping literature to counselling educators are raised. These include: methodological inconsistencies which limit the comparison of findings and hence the drawing of sound conclusions; the lack of definitional clarity relating to the construct of gatekeeping; and the confusing array of nomenclature used to represent students’ failure to meet acceptable professional standards. It is apparent from this overview that there are common factors irrespective of nomenclature that are associated with students at risk of not becoming competent entry‐level practitioners. This suggests that a structured approach to terminology is appropriate. There is also evidence to suggest that encountering such students is a regular occurrence for faculty, with students indicating higher numbers of impaired students than educators. A working definition of gatekeeping is provided and nomenclature suggested.     

Preparing ex‐offenders for work: applying the self‐determination theory to social cognitive career counseling

Ex‐offenders, persons with criminal and limited job histories, are being released into communities every year. Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) focuses on several cognitive–person variables and on the interaction effect with the environment. Conceptually, the author views the integration of SCCT and the self‐determination theory as a promising model for engaging ex‐offenders in behavior change and job counseling. A fictional case study is presented that applies the integrated theory model.     

儿童的社会权力认知及其与社会行为的关系

有关成人社会权力认知的研究已有大量的成果及理论, 但儿童的社会权力认知近期才受到关注。社会权力认知是儿童社会认知的重要组成部分。社会权力经常体现在社会支配及社会地位上的差异。从很早开始, 儿童就能基于不同的线索来判断社会权力, 儿童基于这些线索的认知发展有进化上的适应意义。儿童对社会权力获得方式的认知会随年龄增长而发生变化, 年幼儿童更认可基于支配的社会权力获得方式, 而年长儿童更认可基于声望的社会权力获得方式。儿童的社会权力认知会影响选择性信任、资源分配及亲社会行为。未来研究需要考虑影响儿童社会权力认知发展的内部机制以及儿童社会权力对社会行为影响的过程机制, 并考虑文化因素和早期互动经验对儿童社会权力认知发展的影响。     

Emoji图像符号的社交功能及应用

Emoji是一种从最初模仿挪用日式动漫符号, 到后来日益扩展其使用范围的图像符号体系。自从1999年Shegetaka Kurita创造Emoji以来, Emoji不断获得充实和发展, 目前已成为数字交流中代替肢体动作、面部表情等非语言线索的主要形式, 并成为全球普遍使用的交流工具。Emoji本身具有有趣、形象、生动和幽默等特点, 在网络交流中具有表达情感、加强表达、改变语气、维持或增进人际关系等功能。同时, 其使用会受到性别、文化、语境和平台等因素的影响。目前, 随着Emoji的不断发展和广泛使用, 其应用范围已经扩展至网络交流之外的心理测量、商业营销、法律判决以及情感分析等领域, 具有广泛的应用和研究价值。未来可以从以下几个方面进一步深入研究：(1)进一步探索Emoji在网络交流中的应用和未来发展趋势; (2)加大对Emoji在其他领域中应用情况的进一步研究; (3)更加深入探索Emoji的神经生理机制; (4)从认知加工角度来探讨Emoji在网络交流中的积极效果。     

A developmental assessment of children's verbal strategies for social action resolution

The objectives of this study were (1) to devise a method to assess children's developing verbal strategies for action resolution as expressed in reflection on a naturalistic, real-life social experience and (2) to examine these strategies in relation to differences in age and reflective social understanding level. In the design of this study the two independent variables were grade (second and third versus fourth and fifth) and level of reflective social understanding (level 1 versus level 2 on a social understanding interview schedule). Four small activity groups (six subjects per group), homogeneous with respect to grade and reflective social understanding level, were composed from 24 girls with middle class backgrounds. Each of the four groups met for twelve consecutive school weaks, once a week, for 90 minutes in adult supervised after-school cooperative group activities (e.g., putting on a puppet show).A Social Action Resolution Strategies interview was administered to each subject individually at the end of the twelve-week program in order to assess the child's preferred verbally expressed choice of action for resolving common conflits which arose in the activity group experience. Interviews were coded according to four levels of social action resolution strategies (0–3). Results indicated that the developmental sequence of social perspective-taking levels can be considered to underlie the range of strategies used by children to settle social conflicts as well as social understanding levels. A clear relation among level of social action resolution strategies, level of reflective social understanding, and grade was found.     

Children's strategy preferences for resolving contradictory story information under two social conditions

This paper attempted to examine how children, when confronted with a literary implicature, resolve this implicature under two types of social conditions. More specifically, this paper identified five types of strategies which people employ to resolve text anomalies arising when old information in a story setting is incompatible with new information in a story ending. Two experiments demonstrated that third graders (8.4 and 8.6 years) and sixth graders (12.5 and 12.8 years) consistently selected certain strategies for resolving old and new, empirical and value, contradictory information. Although third and sixth graders demonstrated a similar strategy preference for resolving contradictory old and new information in formal conditions, the principal difference was that third graders modified old information to fit new information while sixth graders modified new information to fit old information. In contrasting the formal and informal conditions, third graders shifted their strategy preferences so as to minimize the amount of text restructuring in the formal condition; sixth graders, on the other hand, shifted their strategy preferences so as to maximize the amount of text restructuring in informal conditions. These findings suggest that story schema structures are more interpretive than story grammar psychologists presently assume.     

Preparing Rural Adolescents for Post‐High School Transitions

In this study, the authors evaluated the impact of 4 career development curricular strategies and emotional/instrumental support in preparing rural adolescents to make successful post‐high school transitions. Curriculum strategies and perceived support helped 8th‐, 10th‐, and 12th‐grade students attain critical aspects of career development, enhanced student satisfaction that their education was better preparing them to achieve future educational and career goals, and increased student intentions to enter post‐high school settings that required greater levels of education and training. Girls reported earning higher grades and participating in more work‐based learning activities and intended to enter post–high school training settings that required more education than did boys.     

Cognitive-behavioral therapy for social anxiety disorder: supporting evidence and future directions

The present paper examines the role of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in the treatment of social anxiety disorder (SAD). A cognitive-behavioral model of SAD is first presented. Different modalities of CBT for SAD are then described, including exposure, cognitive restructuring, relaxation training, and social skills training, and evidence supporting their efficacy is reviewed. The comparative and combined impact of CBT and pharmacotherapeutic interventions is also explored. CBT appears to be an efficacious treatment for SAD. However, the overall efficacy CBT may be increased by closer examination of the active ingredients of treatment. Such analyses may also enable more successful integration of the different CBT techniques and of CBT and pharmacotherapy in the treatment of SAD.     

Comments on the future of Asian social psychology

The efforts of Asian social psychology and the Asian Association of Social Psychology (AASP) over the past decade and longer have clearly drawn attention to Asian cultures and their potential influence on psychological processes, and have highlighted the need to incorporate Asian social psychology into a global understanding of social psychology. Despite these advancements, however, all four authors, in their own way, suggest that these efforts are only the tip of the iceberg, and describe how Asian social psychology can shift their contributions to a higher gear. In this brief commentary, I discuss three points raised in the papers by Atsumi, Hofstede, Leung, and Ward: identity, the gold standard of comparison, and the contribution of Asian social psychology to a global social psychology, all in relation to visions of the future.     

The relationship of role-play assessment of children's social skills to multiple measures of social competence

The present investigation evaluated the relationship of role-play performance of children's social skills with multiple measures of social competence. Thirty-eight psychiatric inpatient children (ages 7–13 yrs) completed measures to assess role-play performance, knowledge of social skills, self-efficacy and self-reported social behavior in diverse situations. Overt social interaction was directly but unobtrusively assessed in the hospital as well. Multiple measures of social skills were also completed by hospital staff, parents and teachers. The results indicated that role-play performance correlated significantly with child knowledge and self-efficacy but not with overt social behavior or self-reported social behavior in diverse situations. Role-play performance generally did not correlate with measures completed by staff, parents and teachers. Yet measures completed by these informants did converge and also were useful in delineating diagnostic groups of children whose social behavior would be expected to be problematic. The implications of the results for the use of role-play tests to evaluate social skills and to discriminate clinical populations are discussed.     

Preparing for vocational choice

Adolescents are often overwhelmed and disillusioned by the monumental and momentous task and risk of making a career choice. Adults in general and counselors in particular can assist them not only in being more realistic about their career expectations, but can be especially helpful by encouraging them to develop personal attributes and skills.     

Co‐authoring better futures for children and families – Anticipation Dialogue in children’s social care networks

Anticipation Dialogue (AD), in comparison to Open Dialogue, the lesser known form of dialogical network practices introduced by Seikkula and Arnkil, seems not to be used in children’s social care in the UK, and there is little literature about it. In this article I will introduce and explain Anticipation Dialogue and make links to other systemic ideas including Signs of Safety. I will review the literature and give a case example from my children’s social care practice.     

Children's affective,behavioral, and cognitive responses to social comparison

Relative outcomes in social commerce with peers are potent determinants of cognitions and behavior in young children. Although there has been considerable attention given to the behavioral consequences of social comparisons following the receipt of rewards, there has been less concern with cognitive or affective consequences. Additionally, little is known about the accrued effects of multiple social comparison experiences that may be consistent or inconsistent with one another. In the present study, young children received a constant level of reward but the amount they saw a peer receive was varied. There were two sequences of reward distribution, and in a given sequence children received either the same number of rewards as the peer (=), more (+), or fewer (?). In a 3 × 3 factorial design all possible combinations occurred. A negative inequality in reward distribution, no matter where it fell in a sequence, made children sad and inclined children to distribute fewer rewards to peers. When a sequence contained an initial experience of positive inequality, children decreased subsequent levels of self-reward. Experiencing a comparison that revealed a negative inequality in reward distribution also disrupted children's accuracy in appraising the overall distribution of rewards: even when an initial negative inequality was completely offset by an equivalent experience of positive inequality, children inaccurately concluded that they had received fewer rewards than their peers.     

The relationship between father absence and children's social problem solving competencies

Predictions of deficits in children's social problem-solving competencies due to early and continuing father absence were investigated. To test these predictions, equal numbers of father-present and father-absent third graders matched on a number of variables were assessed on measures of social problem-solving performance. In Phase 2 of the study, half of the children from the father-absent category received a 15 week intervention programme which was conducted by adult male trainers to provide structured practice in social problem solving. Results demonstrated that father-absent treatment subjects, compared to father-absent control subjects, improved their social problem-solving skills significantly. Despite improvement due to intervention, social problem-solving scores for father-absent treatment subjects were still below those for father-present control subjects. Educational and developmental implications of the findings were discussed.