East–west,collectivist-individualist: A cross-cultural examination of temperament in toddlers from Chile,Poland, South Korea,and the U.S.*

The present study examined toddler temperament across Chilean, South Korean, Polish, and U.S. samples, providing an opportunity to examine both collectivist-individualist and East–West contrasts. The effect of culture on the three factor and 18 dimension scores provided by the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire were investigated. Results provide evidence of cross-cultural differences between the four samples. Chilean toddlers scored significantly higher than U.S., Polish, and South Korean children on the overall factor of Negative Affectivity, as well as higher than the Polish and South Korean samples on the Surgency factor. South Korean toddlers scored significantly higher on the factor of Effortful Control, and two related dimensions, than U.S., Polish, or Chilean samples. Results are discussed in terms of the apparent roles of individualism/collectivism and East–West distinctions in shaping temperament development.     

Marital behavior, parenting behavior, and multiple reports of preschoolers' behavior problems: mediation or moderation?

Associations among positive and conflictual marital behavior and multiple reports of child behavior problems were examined in a community sample of 78 families with 3-year-old children. Maternal and paternal parenting behaviors were tested as potential mediators and moderators. Parents reported on child behavior problems and were observed during parent-child interaction and couple discussion in the presence of the child. Observers and preschool teachers also reported on child behavior problems. Less positive marital engagement and greater conflict were associated with observers' reports, but not with parents' or teachers' reports, of more behavior problems. Associations between marital behavior and child behavior problems were not explained by maternal or paternal behavior; stronger support was found for moderating effects of parenting. Also, positive marital engagement was a slightly better predictor of child behavior problems than was marital conflict.     

Naughty or nice?: equity, gender and behavior

We review the debate over behavior, gender and classroom placement in ability groups for kindergartners. Using vignettes we vary children’s gender in three ways; male, female, or unspecified gender and also describe them as behaving well, average, or misbehaving. Our aim is to probe how much gender and behavior matter with respect to mock reading group placement. The design allows us to see if depicted behavior affects placement when every vignette child is described as possessing the same, average ability. After reading vignettes that vary gender and behavior, but not ability, respondents are directed to assign the portrayed child to a high, medium or low reading group. While depicted behavior strongly affects reading group placement, gender is not a significant predictor.

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Post-traumatic stress symptoms and post-traumatic growth in children and adolescents 12 months and 24 months after the earthquake and tsunamis in Chile in 2010: A longitudinal study

On 27 February 2010, Chile experienced one of the strongest earthquakes in recorded history. The study aimed to evaluate post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and post-traumatic growth (PTG) in children and adolescents 12 months (T1) and 24 months (T2) after the earthquake and tsunamis in Chile in 2010. Three hundred twenty-five children and adolescents (47.4% girls; 52.6% boys) between the ages of 10 and 16 years participated in the study. The instruments included the Revised Post-traumatic Growth Inventory for Children by Kilmer et al., the Childhood PTSD Scale by Foa et al. and the Rumination Scale for Children by Cryder et al., as well as a scale to assess the severity of the event and a sociodemographic questionnaire. The PTSS and PTG scores decreased at T2. In addition, the main predictors of PTSS and PTG were disruptive experiences, losses after the event and intrusive and deliberate rumination during the previous year. These results enhance understanding of factors related to PTG, improve the ability to predict PTSS and PTG in children and adolescents following natural disasters, and inform the design of intervention strategies to promote better mental health in those affected.     

Spiritual development: understanding and importance in schools: an analysis based on statements made by school directors from Valparaíso,Chile

Chile’s General Law of Education states that one of the purposes of education is the spiritual development of all its schooled population. Furthermore, guidelines in Chile’s education system place school directors as key players in student’s learning. This article presents the results of a research involving school directors from Valparaíso, Chile. The aim of this research was to identify how directors of secular and religious schools understand their students’ spiritual development. We studied this aspect in particular through semi-structured interviews conducted with 20 participants. Results show that directors understand spirituality as a typically human ability that can be strengthened in schools and, thus, they believe it to be highly important in schools. In addition, they see a strong relation between spiritual development and ethical and moral development. This study also shows differences in how secular and religious schools’ directors understand this relation. This opens the way for more in-depth analysis regarding spiritual development in Chile’s education system, especially considering that directors generally believe it to be a part of a holistic and quality education.     

Dr. Daedalus and His Minotaur: Mythic Warnings about Genetic Engineering from J.B.S. Haldane, François Jacob, and Andrew Niccol's Gattaca

We are entering an era in which “cultural construction of the body” refers to a literal technological enterprise. This era was anticipated in the 1920s by geneticist J. B. S. Haldane in a lecture which inspired Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. In that lecture, Haldane reinterpreted the Greek myth of Daedalus and the Minotaur as heroic fable. Seventy years later another geneticist, François Jacob, used the same myth as cautionary tale. Here I explain the Minotaur's “genetic” monstrosity in terms of disability and hybridity, using the movie Gattaca to argue that ancient fears of monstrously disabled bodies are being recycled as bioethics.     

Body orientation and face orientation: two factors controlling apes’ begging behavior from humans

A number of animal species have evolved the cognitive ability to detect when they are being watched by other individuals. Precisely what kind of information they use to make this determination is unknown. There is particular controversy in the case of the great apes because different studies report conflicting results. In experiment 1, we presented chimpanzees, orangutans, and bonobos with a situation in which they had to request food from a human observer who was in one of various attentional states. She either stared at the ape, faced the ape with her eyes closed, sat with her back towards the ape, or left the room. In experiment 2, we systematically crossed the observers body and face orientation so that the observer could have her body and/or face oriented either towards or away from the subject. Results indicated that apes produced more behaviors when they were being watched. They did this not only on the basis of whether they could see the experimenter as a whole, but they were sensitive to her body and face orientation separately. These results suggest that body and face orientation encode two different types of information. Whereas face orientation encodes the observers perceptual access, body orientation encodes the observers disposition to transfer food. In contrast to the results on body and face orientation, only two of the tested subjects responded to the state of the observers eyes.     

Developmental profiles of adolescents and young adults choosing abortion: stage sequence, décalage, and implications for policy.

Three groups of unmarried females (ages 12-14, 17-19, and 23-25) electing to have an abortion in the first trimester of their first pregnancy were administered the Washington University Sentence Completion Test, the Rest Defining Issues Test, and a moral judgment interview of their reasons for choosing an abortion. Results indicated that there were clear developmental differences between the youngest group and the two older groups on the general measures of ego development and principled moral reasoning, as theory would have predicted. There were, however, no major differences across the three groups on the level of reasoning which directly assessed the specific decision concerning abortion. Further, all three groups were assessed at the self-protective level characterized by Stage 2 reasons of financial consequences and the need to rely exclusively on one's own self in such a difficult dilemma. These findings and developmental profiles are compared to national base rates, and the possible implications of apparent décalage, or discrepancy between the general stage assessments and the specific assessment on abortion, are discussed. In addition, the similarity between the older group of adolescents and the young adults was examined, particularly in light of the current controversy over mandatory parental consent.     

Affect, accessibility of material in memory, and behavior: a cognitive loop?

Two studies investigated the effect of good mood on cognitive processes. In the first study, conducted in a shopping mall, a positive feeling state was induced by giving subjects a free gift, and good mood, thus induced, was found to improve subjects' evaluations of the performance and service records of products they owned. In the second study, in which affect was induced by having subjects win or lose a computer game in a laboratory setting, subjects who had won the game were found to be better able to recall positive material in memory. The results of the two studies are discussed in terms of the effect that feelings have on accessibility of cognitions. In addition, the nature of affect and the relationship between good mood and behavior (such as helping) are discussed in terms of this proposed cognitive process.