Preschoolers' Recall of Own-Sex and Other-Sex Gender Scripts

A sample of 486 children in Beijing, China, were tested on the water-level task (WLT; J. Piaget &; B. Inhelder, 1948/1956). The participants were 256 boys and 230 girls from 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, and 11th grades. Three levels of mastery of the WLT were found. Level 1 consisted of 4th and 5th graders, who averaged about 71% correct. Level 2 consisted of 6th and 8th graders, who averaged about 83% correct. Level 3 consisted of 11th graders, who averaged 97% correct. The results provide partial support for the Piagetian theory of age-related developmental differences in performance on the WLT. The findings depict an interactive relationship of maturation with culture and education in the development of the ability to solve the WLT.     

中小学生字词再认中场合效应的发展研究

以223名小五、初二、高二学生为被试,探讨对学习项目的加工水平与再认中场合效应的关系以及这种关系的年龄特征。结果表明:(1)当对学习项目进行深加工时,场合因素对三个年级再认效果的影响没有表现出年龄趋势;当对学习项目进行浅加工时,场合因素对小学五年级再认效果的影响显著高于对初二、高二年级的影响,而初二、高二年级的差异不显著;(2)小学五年级学生再认中的场合效应与掩蔽模型的假设一致,初二、高二年级学生的场合效应与加和整体匹配模型的假设一致。     

Children's Understanding of Scientific Inquiry: Their Conceptualization of Uncertainty in Investigations of Their Own Design

The study examined children's understanding of scientific inquiry, through the lens of their conceptualization of uncertainty in investigations they had designed and implemented with a partner. These largely student-regulated investigations followed a unit about animal behavior that emphasized the scaffolding of independent inquiry. Participants were children in a 2nd grade class (n = 21) and a combined 4th-5th grade class (n = 31). The primary database consisted of videotaped structured interviews with each pair following completion of their investigation. These interviews were used to analyze whether the child had conceptualized an uncertainty in their study and, if so, the sphere of the uncertainty. This top-level analysis resulted in a taxonomy of 5 spheres of uncertainty: (a) how to produce the desired outcome as uncertain; (b) data as uncertain; (c) trend identified in the data as uncertain; (d) generalizability of this trend as uncertain; and (e) the theory that best accounts for the trend as uncertain. Seventy-one percent of the 2nd graders and 87% of the 4th-5th graders conceptualized 1 or more spheres of uncertainty in their respective research study. Among those who had conceptualized 1 or more spheres of uncertainty, 80% of the 2nd graders and 97% of the 4th-5th graders posited a strategy for how to modify their study to address the uncertainty. Finer grained analysis revealed that in almost every instance the grounds reflected some valid concern and the strategy the child proposed would at least begin to address the identified problem. These analyses indicate that most children developed a rich understanding of how uncertainty enters into scientific inquiry. In this context of reflection on their own scientific inquiry, these children manifested at least a rudimentary understanding of the complex relation between the natural world and knowledge thereof that transcended a naive realism, and manifested aspects of a "knowledge problematic" epistemological perspective.     

COOPERATION,COMPETITION, INDIVIDUALISM AND INTERPERSONALISM IN JAPANESE FIFTH AND EIGHTH GRADE BOYS*

The study compared the expression of cooperation, competition, individualism and interpersonalism in Japanese youth. Forty-two 5th grade boys and 42 8th grade boys first completed two questionnaires about cooperation/competition and group/individualized activities. Their group structure was then coded (as working in trios, in duos, or separately) as trios of boys built houses with playing cards. The experimental design crossed instructions (1) to work individually or in a group and (2) compete or do one's own best. Subjects were questioned about their awareness of, liking for and preferences for the cooperative, individualistic, and group-centered aspects of the experimental tasks. On orientation scales, 8th graders chose equal numbers of individualistic and group-centered activities, while 5th graders chose more group activities. Both age groups strongly favored cooperative over competitive items. In group trials of the experiment, 8th graders tended to work alone for greater proportions of time than did 5th graders. Questionnaire data indicated that (1) 8th graders reported greater enjoyment of the individualistic aspect of the task than did 5th graders, (2) both age groups evidenced a strong sense of interpersonalism, and (3) cooperation was rated more positively than competition at both ages. The study was discussed in relation to recent studies on Japanes school socialization and cooperation/competition.     

Visual spatial perception and paternal deprivation

College men and women who were father deprived for at least 1 year from birth to 18 years of age or non-deprived were compared on the Spatial Relations Test of the Differential Aptitude Tests (DAT), the Identical Blocks Test (IBT) and the Water Level Test (WLT). There was a significant sex difference favoring men—as expected—on the IBT and WLT but not on the DAT. There was no significant effect of father deprivation on the mean performance on any test but there was a correlation between years of deprivation and WLT performance for men (r = 0.48,P < 0.001). No other correlation between deprivation and test performance was significant.     

Communication skills and self-esteem in prevention of destructive behaviors

This study demonstrates the long-range effectiveness of SAY IT STRAIGHT training as a school-based program for the prevention of destructive behaviors by comparing juvenile police offenders among trained and untrained 9th-12th graders for 1 1/2 years following training. In the 1984-85 school year, 357 of the 740 9th-12th graders in a southwestern town completed SAY IT STRAIGHT training. Participation was voluntary and required parental permission. During a five-month pretraining period which began with the first day of school, the number of juvenile police offenders was not significantly different among students who would eventually be trained or not be trained. During the following 7 months including summer vacation, there were significantly fewer offenders among the trained students. The following school year and summer vacation there were again significantly fewer offenders among the trained students. During the whole 1 1/2-year study, the untrained students had about 4.5 times as many criminal offenses as the trained students and their offenses were more severe. Finally, 9th, 10th, and 12th graders as well as 11th-grade females who had been trained showed a significant shift toward behavioral intentions reflecting a greater willingness to implement their constructive decisions and feel comfortable doing so. This study extends the applicability of SAY IT STRAIGHT training which previously has been reported to significantly reduce alcohol/drug-related school suspensions among 6th-8th graders.     

Developmental differences in reactions to children labeled mentally retarded

In an attempt to examine age-related differences in response to the mental retardation label, 48 4th and 5th graders and 48 11th and 12th graders were told of a child of their own age and sex who was either labeled mentally retarded or unlabeled and who performed either competently or incompetently in giving a report. Incompetent target children were viewed more negatively than competent ones at both grade levels. The mental retardation label had less generalized impacts, leading girls but not boys (a) to cite lack of ability as the reason for a retarded child's failure, and (b) to hold low expectations that retarded targets would hold jobs, marry, or have children. A developmental shift in responses to the label was evident only on a trait perception measure; younger children stigmatized retarded targets, while older children granted special dispensation of a failing retarded child by viewing him or her more positively than a similarly incompetent but unlabeled child. Since only adolescent boys showed special dispensation, even though girls were more generally attentive to the label, both sex and age differences warrant further examination.     

Formal operations, the imaginary audience and the personal fable

One hundred twenty-nine 6th, 8th, 10th/11th, and 12th graders were administered Enright, Lapsley, and Shukla's Adolescent Egocentrism Scale (AES) and How Is Your Logic?, a Piagetian-based, group-administered, written test of cognitive development. A series of ANOVAs on four scales of the AES (imaginary audience, personal fable, self-in-general, nonsocial) provided partial support for Inhelder and Piaget's, and Elkind's views that adolescent egocentrism is a function of beginning formal operations. Discussion focused on the difficulty of assessing the true thoughts/feelings of persons who are worried how they will appear to others.     

饮酒期望、饮酒拒绝自我效能与青少年的饮酒行为:有中介的调节效应分析

以544名初一、初二、高一和高二的学生为研究对象,考察在控制了相关人口学变量后,消极饮酒期望对积极饮酒期望与青少年饮酒行为关系的调节作用,以及饮酒拒绝自我效能对消极、积极饮酒期望及两者交互作用与饮酒行为关系的中介作用。结果发现:(1)28.31%的中学生在过去一个月中曾饮酒,其中13.60%在过去一个月中曾大量饮酒,8.27%曾醉酒;(2)积极饮酒期望能正向预测青少年的饮酒行为,消极饮酒期望在积极饮酒期望与青少年饮酒行为关系中发挥调节作用;(3)饮酒拒绝自我效能在消极饮酒期望与饮酒行为关系中起部分中介作用,在积极饮酒期望与饮酒行为的关系以及消极饮酒期望的调节作用中发挥了完全中介作用;(4)调节效应的中介机制表明,低消极期望组中,随着积极期望的提高,饮酒拒绝自我效能呈直线下降的趋势;而在高消极期望组中,无论积极期望高或者低,饮酒拒绝自我效能均较高。研究结果对青少年饮酒行为的干预有重要的指导意义。     

不同干预者在青少年吸烟行为预防干预活动中的作用

选取北京市一所普通中学初一、初二、高一各三个班与高二两个班的359名学生为被试,随机分成教师实施干预组、课题组成员实施干预组和控制组,以比较教师和课题组成员的不同干预效果。结果发现：课题组成员为干预者的效果好于教师;教师组青少年后测比前测更认同吸烟的危害,课题成员组青少年后测比前测更反对吸烟的好处、更赞同吸烟具有各种危害;课题组成员和教师都能显著地提高被试的抵制技能;干预条件可间接通过吸烟好处和抵制技能对青少年后测吸烟行为产生作用。     

Attributions of Deviance to Self and Peers by Japanese and U.S. Students

Abstract

The author examined self-enhancement bias among 5th and 11th graders in the United States and Japan. After listening to stories describing aggressive, depressive, oppositional, and school-phobic behaviors of hypothetical peers, the participants rated the likelihood that they themselves and other students their age would act like the story protagonists. The U.S. students generally showed no greater self-enhancement tendencies than did the Japanese students; in addition, the relationships between positive and negative self-concepts and ratings of self-similarity to deviant exemplars were similar in both samples. In the depressed and oppositional stories, the 11th graders rated themselves less like the deviant characters and more different from their peers than did the 5th graders.     

What do children and adolescents say they do during video game play?

We examined the problem-solving behaviors that 5th, 6th, and 7th graders used to negotiate a novel recreational video game. Students were characterized as frequent or infrequent players and instructed to think aloud during game play for 20 consecutive minutes. Comments were used to make inferences about the students' problem-solving behaviors while playing. These comments were then linked to game performance. Among all students, the greatest number of comments concerned their actions and game events at a given point in game play. Females made greater reference to strategies for game play and process goals whereas males made greater reference to their evaluations of the game and when they reached an impasse. Among 5th graders, reference to impasse and rules for game play was linked to better game performance; among 7th graders, reference to insight about how to enact a specific move or circumvent an impasse was related to better performance.     

Attributions of deviance to self and peers by Japanese and U.S. students

The author examined self-enhancement bias among 5th and 11th graders in the United States and Japan. After listening to stories describing aggressive, depressive, oppositional, and school-phobic behaviors of hypothetical peers, the participants rated the likelihood that they themselves and other students their age would act like the story protagonists. The U.S. students generally showed no greater self-enhancement tendencies than did the Japanese students; in addition, the relationships between positive and negative self-concepts and ratings of self-similarity to deviant exemplars were similar in both samples. In the depressed and oppositional stories, the 11th graders rated themselves less like the deviant characters and more different from their peers than did the 5th graders.     

Do children "DRM" like adults? False memory production in children

The Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm was used to investigate developmental trends in accurate and false memory production. In Experiment 1, DRM lists adjusted to be more consistent with children's vocabulary were used with 2nd graders, 8th graders, and college students. Accurate and false recall and recognition increased with age, but semantic information appeared to be available to all age groups. Experiment 2 created a set of child-generated lists based on the free associations by a group of 3rd graders to critical items. The child-generated associates were different from those generated by adults; long and short versions of the child-generated lists were therefore presented to 2nd, 5th, and 8th graders and college students in Experiment 3. Second graders exhibited few false memories, whereas 5th graders were similar to adults in low-demand conditions and more similar to younger children in high-demand conditions. Findings are discussed in terms of developmental changes in automatic and effortful processing and the use of semantic networks.     

The mediational role of adolescents' friends in relations between activity breadth and adjustment

This investigation addresses the mediational role of friends' characteristics between adolescents' activity breadth (i.e., variety in activity participation) and their later adjustment. Data were drawn from 2 longitudinal studies: the Childhood and Beyond (CAB; N = 925) study and the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study (MADICS; N = 1,338). Adolescents at Time 2 in each study (8th, 9th, and 11th graders in CAB and 8th graders in MADICS) reported on the breadth of their participation across 5 activity settings: sports, religious, volunteering, community, and school. Friends' characteristics and adolescent adjustment were reported by adolescents at Times 1 and 3. Friends' positive characteristics significantly mediated relations between activity breadth and adolescent depressive affect, self-worth, alcohol use, and problem behavior in both studies. Friends' negative characteristics significantly mediated these relations in CAB, but not in MADICS.     

环境和个体因素与青少年饮酒行为的关系

选择湖南长沙三所中小学的681个学生为被试,考察青少年饮酒行为的特点及环境和个体影响因素的预测作用。结果发现:(1)过去的一个月中,31%的青少年曾有过饮酒行为,12.7%和8.5%的青少年有过大量饮酒和醉酒行为。男生、学习成绩中下者饮酒行为更多;(2)青少年饮酒行为与最好同伴和普通同学的饮酒行为、学校周围的饮酒环境呈显著正相关,与最好同伴和普通同学的饮酒态度、青少年自身的饮酒态度和饮酒拒绝效能感呈显著负相关;(3)同伴、学校环境因素和饮酒态度可以直接预测青少年的拒绝效能感,同时,同伴、学校环境因素又通过饮酒态度和拒绝效能感间接地预测青少年的饮酒行为。     

Children's self-selection into prevention programs: Evaluation of an innovative recruitment strategy for children of alcoholics

Systematically evaluated the efficacy of a self-selection strategy to recruit elementary-aged children into a school-based prevention program for children of alcoholics. Recruitment involved: a film about parental alcoholism, a follow-up meeting, and an invitation to participate in a prevention program. Of the 844 4th-6th graders exposed to recruitment, 67% showed no interest in the program, 26% attended the follow-up meeting, and 11% obtained parental permission. Analyses focused on group differences according to selection classification on measures of symptomatology and resources available to the child. Significant differences were noted on level of concern about parents' drinking, depression, conduct disorder, and self-worth. Children interested in the program tended to score higher on measures of symptomatology. The potential of a self-selection model for identifying children at risk and areas for future research are discussed.     

The relationship of social support to depressive symptoms during the transition to high school

The transition to high school is studied as a time when students may experience disruptions in their social support systems. Peer support, family support, and school belonging were hypothesized to be associated with adolescent adjustment, specifically depressive symptoms. Participants included 104 eighth graders and 101 ninth graders from a middle- to high-income, predominantly white community in southern Rhode Island. In year 2, 60 of the original 8th graders were surveyed as 9th graders. Three hypotheses were examined: Social support declines from 8th to 9th grade; depressive symptoms increase from 8th to 9th grade; and social support is significantly associated with depressive symptoms. The hypotheses were tested using cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Results indicated that 9th graders experienced more depressive symptoms and lower levels of school belonging as compared to the 8th graders. Changes in parent support and peer support were significantly associated with depressive symptoms in the transition to high school. Implications for increasing school belonging in the 9th grade are discussed.     

The effects of assertive training on performance in highly anxious adolescents

The effects of assertive training on measures of assertiveness, state anxiety, and mathematics performance in highly anxious adolescents were investigated. A group of 96 highly anxious 9th graders was assigned to one of four treatment groups. Pretest and posttest assessment included the Adolescent Self-Expression Scale (a measure of assertiveness), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Mathematics Problems and Concepts subtests of the California Achievement Test. Experimental treatment consisted of four assertive training sessions, while placebo treatment for the control groups consisted of four career development training sessions. Posttest was administered to all four groups. A MANOVA was used to analyze all of the data on the students who took the pre- and posttest and attended two or more training sessions. Assertive training resulted in increased assertiveness and decreased state anxiety, with no significant effect on mathematics performance, and no significant effect due to sex. It was concluded that assertive training is a counseling technique which can be used effectively with 9th graders.     

Age and race differences in racial stereotype awareness and endorsement

Age and race differences in race stereotype awareness and endorsement were examined in 382 Black and White fourth, sixth, and eighth graders. Youths reported their own beliefs and their perceptions of adults' beliefs about racial differences in ability in two domains: academics and sports. Children's own endorsement of race stereotypes was highly correlated with their perceptions of adults' race stereotypes. Blacks reported stronger traditional sports stereotypes than Whites, and 4th‐ and 6th‐grade Blacks reported roughly egalitarian academic stereotypes. At every grade level, Whites reported academic stereotypes that favored Whites, and 6th‐ and 8th‐grade Whites reported sports stereotypes that favored Blacks. Results support the tenets of status theory and have implications for identity development and achievement motivation in adolescents.