Thoughtful Friends: Executive Function Relates to Social Problem Solving and Friendship Quality in Middle Childhood

Abstract

The present study examined links between best friendship quality, social problem solving in response to a transgression and conscious control of behavior (i.e., executive function or EF). Eighty-one 7- to 10-year-olds answered questions about their best friendship quality and responses to friendship transgressions (i.e., interpretations, goals, and strategies they would endorse). They also completed a battery of EF tasks measuring working memory, inhibition, and shifting. Results revealed few relations between social problem solving and best friendship quality. Social problem solving related to EF abilities, with inhibition relating to fewer revenge goals and cognitive flexibility relating to more neutral interpretations. Better working memory related to worse best friendship quality. Finally, verbal IQ was a strong predictor of several positive social problem-solving interpretations, goals, and strategies. Results suggest cognitive abilities in EF and language may be important to consider during middle childhood in this period of advancing social problem solving and friendships.     

论汉代交友之礼

朋友在个人的成长过程中起着非常重要的作用,朋友之间交往要以礼相待,汉代人们交友之礼主要体现在真诚守信、礼让互谅、规过劝善、不论贫富贵贱、友爱互助、患难与共等方面,了解汉代交友礼仪,对于当今社会如何促进人际关系的和谐具有启迪和借鉴意义。     

Parental Patterns of Cooperation in Parent–Child Interactions: The Relationship Between Nonverbal and Verbal Communication

This study expands the existing research into forms of parent–child cooperation by simultaneously assessing verbal/nonverbal channels of communication and their congruent/incongruent interrelatedness. The study aims to explain parental patterns of cooperation and to analyze the effect of a wide range of social and situational factors, including parents' gender, child's gender, socioeconomic status, and task difficulty. Parent–child interactions (n = 160) in structured joint game sequences were filmed in their homes and analyzed using a mixed multivariant design. The results highlight the importance of integrative congruence/incongruence patterns and the significant effects of background variables in parental inducing/inhibiting‐cooperation patterns. The proposed model expands the theoretical and methodological framework of parental cooperation.     

Narratives About Specific Romantic Conflicts: Gender and Associations With Conflict Beliefs and Strategies

Using a sample of 145 predominantly heterosexual emerging adults, the authors examined constructive and destructive interpretations of romantic conflict via narratives and studied how gender affected conflict interpretations and relationship functioning. Destructive interpretations were related to negative conflict beliefs for women and dating aggression for men. Across gender, constructive interpretations were related to more problem solving but were more strongly related to less aggression for men. Understanding conflict interpretations through narratives may enhance relationships skills training for emerging adults.     

高中生化学问题解决思维过程口语报告编码分析

将高中生化学问题解决思维过程口语报告分为相应的10个行为指标进行人工编码和定量分析。被试是56名高中生,材料为6个中等难度的化学问题,通过“出声思考”实验,记录口语报告,并对口语报告进行编码和数据统计分析,结果发现:(1)高中优生的重复、解释、推理、归纳、总结等行为指标上明显优于中等生;(2)在解决不同类型的化学问题时,重复、设问、推理、归纳和反思等指标存在明显差异;(3)学生能力层次与问题类别在重复、推理、归纳和试误等行为指标上存在明显交互作用。     

Detecting Deceit Via Analyses of Verbal and Nonverbal Behavior in Children and Adults

This experiment examined children's and undergraduates' verbal and nonverbal deceptive behavior, and the extent to which their truths and lies could be correctly classified by paying attention to these responses. Participants (N= 196) aged 5–6, 10–11, and 14–15, as well as university undergraduates, participated in an erasing the blackboard event, and told the truth or lied about the event afterwards. Nonverbal and verbal responses were coded, the latter with Criteria‐Based Content Analysis and Reality Monitoring. Although children and undergraduates demonstrated different behaviors (for example, the children obtained lower CBCA scores and made more movements), actual cues to deceit were remarkably similar across different age groups (for example, both 5–6‐year‐olds and undergraduates obtained lower CBCA scores and made fewer movements while lying). A combination of verbal and nonverbal lie detection methods resulted in more correct classifications of liars and truth tellers than the verbal and nonverbal lie detection methods individually, with the combined method obtaining hit rates as high as 88%.     

Personality Types and Development of Adolescents' Conflict with Friends

This study examined the development of adolescents' conflict frequency and conflict resolution with their best friends, and tested whether adolescents with different personality types differed in these developmental changes from early to middle adolescence. Dutch adolescents (N = 922, 468 boys; M_age = 12.4 years at first wave) annually filled in questionnaires for five consecutive years. Growth modelling revealed that, whereas adolescents' conflict frequency and hostile conflict resolution did not change, positive problem solving, withdrawal, and compliance during conflict with best friends increased from age 12 to 16 years. Adolescents with different personality types differed in the mean levels of conflict frequency and conflict resolution strategies. That is, resilients had less conflict with friends than undercontrollers and overcontrollers. During conflict, resilients used the least hostile conflict resolution and compliance, and employed the most positive problem solving. Undercontrollers adopted the least positive problem solving, and overcontrollers complied and withdrew the most. Using a person‐centred approach, three developmental conflict resolution types were identified based on different constellations of the four conflict resolution strategies over time. Adolescents with different personality types had different distributions on the conflict resolution types. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Effects of Nonverbal Immediacy and Verbal Person Centeredness in the Emotional Support Process

This study explores the combined influence of nonverbal immediacy and verbal person centeredness in the emotional support process. Three complementary models were tested in an experiment with 216 participants who disclosed an emotionally upsetting event to a confederate trained to display different levels of nonverbal immediacy and person centeredness. Participants subsequently completed a set of instruments measuring the perceived comforting quality of the confederate. Results suggested that nonverbal immediacy and person centeredness influence perceptions of what makes for good comforting. The data supported 2 of the advanced models but failed to provide support for a nonverbal primacy effect on perceived comforting quality.     

When Problems Lead to Ideas: The Roles of Daily Vigor and Social Interactions

In this study, we investigate idea generation by conducting a diary study. We hypothesized that idea generation depends on problem identification, and that this relation is moderated by two factors: (a) the number of social interactions an individual has with “non‐redundant” network connections, and (b) an individual's level of vigor. The hypotheses were tested by making use of a diary study among 31 employees of a Dutch applied university over a period of 2 weeks. Results showed that idea generation results from the identification of problems that require new ideas to solve them. An individual's number of social interactions and the level of redundancy of these social interactions moderated this relation. The level of vigor of an individual did not predict idea generation, but results suggest that vigor is needed for interacting with others. Furthermore, this study contributes to the creativity research using a new approach to look at the effects of social interactions by relating them to the overall structure of social networks.     

Regressive Imagery in Creative Problem‐Solving: Comparing Verbal Protocols of Expert and Novice Visual Artists and Computer Programmers

We applied computer‐based text analyses of regressive imagery to verbal protocols of individuals engaged in creative problem‐solving in two domains: visual art (23 experts, 23 novices) and computer programming (14 experts, 14 novices). Percentages of words involving primary process and secondary process thought, plus emotion‐related words, were tabulated. Visual art protocols were higher in primary process thought and emotion‐related words; those from programming were higher in secondary process thought. Almost no main effects of expertise or interactions were found. Correlations between the measures (particularly those involving emotion‐related words) also varied as a function of task. This pattern suggests cognitive processes vary considerably across different creative problem‐solving tasks or domains, and that a more domain‐specific approach to creative cognition may be advisable. Further implications for integrating and consolidating some extant lines of creativity research are discussed.     

The Importance of Written,Verbal, and Nonverbal Communication Factors in Employment Interview Decisions

This study explored dimensions of influential factors in employment interviewing from the recruiter's (N = 423) perspective in hiring new college graduates for an entry-level position. A factor analysis of 28 communication items was conducted. Study results suggest that there are six dimensions of influential communication factors in employment interviews.     

Conflict Resolution in Chinese Adolescents' Friendship: Links with Regulatory Focus and Friendship Satisfaction

It is generally acknowledged that people adopt different resolution strategies when facing conflicts with others. However, the mechanisms of conflict resolution are still unclear and under researched, in particular within the context of Chinese adolescents' same-sex friendship relations. Thus, the present study investigated the mediator role of conflict resolution strategies in the relationship between regulatory foci and friendship satisfaction for the first time. 653 Chinese adolescents completed the regulatory foci, conflict resolution style, and friendship satisfaction measures. The results of the structure equation modeling showed that while promotion focus was positively associated with problem-solving and compliance, prevention focus was positively associated with withdrawal and conflict engagement. In addition, problem-solving mediated the relationship between promotion focus and friendship satisfaction, and conflict engagement mediated the relationship between prevention focus and friendship satisfaction. These findings contribute to understanding Chinese adolescents' use of conflict resolution strategies as well as the relationship between regulatory foci and behavioral strategies in negative situations.     

亲子关系、朋友关系影响问题行为的3种模型

家庭和同伴是影响个体发展的最重要的微系统, 是儿童青少年问题行为的重要影响因素,以往对上述问题的实证研究非常广泛, 但很零散。对前人研究的分析发现亲子关系、朋友关系影响问题行为有3种模型：独立模型、交互影响模型和间接效应模型, 然而这些模型及其有关研究仍存在诸多问题与不足, 如亲密关系测量指标不统一, 内外化问题行为研究不均衡, 评价主体单一化, 文化差异, 缺乏充分的追踪研究和实验设计等, 未来研究应对上述方面加以关注。     

Creative Problem Solving in Small Groups: The Effects of Creativity Training on Idea Generation,Solution Creativity,and Leadership Effectiveness

This investigation evaluated the degree to which creativity training, idea generation instruction, and creative process impacted idea production, creativeness of solutions, and leadership effectiveness. Three sets of hypotheses were tested with a 114 groups of adults. First, groups whose members had some (i.e., one CPS course) or advanced training (i.e., graduate-level study in creativity or creativity professionals) were significantly more effective at idea generation than groups without training. Furthermore, leaders with some and advanced training were perceived to be significantly more effective than those with no creativity training. With respect to creativeness of solutions, the advanced training groups outperformed all others. The second set of hypotheses focused on the effectiveness of idea generation instruction (i.e., instructions without brainstorming, brainstorming, and brainstorming with criticism). Analysis revealed no significant difference for idea generation instruction relative to idea production or creativeness of solutions. The final set of hypotheses examined the use of a simple process structure for groups without prior creativity training (i.e., distinct phases for idea generation and solution development). Analysis revealed that those meetings that followed a simple process structure out performed groups that did not follow a process for both idea generation and creativeness of solutions. Further results are presented and implications discussed.     

质性比较专家与新手的物理问题解决过程

本实验致力于回答两个问题 :(1 )在何种任务限制下 ,专家表现出对新手的解题优势 ;(2 )可以采用何种实验手段 ,来细致刻画解题过程中运用的程序性知识 (“条件 -行动”)。本实验以物理学领域的“欧姆定律”为研究内容 ,采用专家 -新手比较范型 ,对被试的言语报告进行编码与分析 ,进而描绘了解题活动所依赖的“条件 -行动”关系 ,从中展现了专家解题相对于新手的整体优势。对这些优势的进一步个案分析表明 ,物理学解题专长的实质在于 :(1 )条件化操作 (从已知条件得出复杂关系 ) ;(2 )精致化知识 (比例公式与嵌套公式 )。     

A Visual Representation to Quantitate,Diagnose, and Improve Creativity in Insight Problem Solving

A new visual representation for insight problems permits 22 new quantitative measures; which leads to a detailed diagnosis of a person's (or team's) creative weaknesses; which then leads to prescribing targeted, effective counter‐techniques for each weakness. Currently, only two measures are consistently used for insight problem solving: the number of problems solved and the time to solve the problems. These coarse measurements do not reveal the intricate dynamics of solving insight problems. Furthermore, four commonly used creativity measures (i.e., fluency, originality, flexibility, and elaboration) are often not applied to insight problems. This new visualization permits the easy application of all four creativity measures. I challenge creativity researchers to help determine which of the 22 proposed quantitative measures are the most diagnostic for insight problem solving in isolation and, in a weighted linear combination, which might yield an effective quotient (i.e., overall measure) of insight problem solving ability.     

Remembering Friends as Not So Friendly in Competitive and Bargaining Social Interactions

From children's schoolyard play to executives' boardroom negotiations, competitive and bargaining interactions are common to everyday life. Sometimes, the interacting parties are socially close and sometimes not. In this research, we examine how friendship influences memory for actions in such interactions. Dyads consisting of either friends or strangers played a competitive card game (Study 1) or the ultimatum game (Studies 2 and 4) and then recalled the interaction. We find that participants remembered friends' play as more competitive (Study 1) and less generous (Studies 2 and 4) than strangers' play, even when friends' actual play was more generous than that of strangers (Studies 2 and 4). Friendship did not affect recall for one's own play. In a workplace setting, Study 3 reveals people expect more of work colleagues who are friends than of work colleagues who are acquaintances. Study 4 tests our complete model and shows that people expect more of friends than of strangers and that this difference in expectations explains the less favorable memory for friend's actions. Our findings are consistent with a negative disconfirmation account whereby people expect their friends to be less competitive and more generous, and when these expectations are violated, people remember friends' actions more negatively than they actually were. Much research shows positive effects of friendship norms on actual behavior. We demonstrate a negative effect on people's memory of friends' behavior in competitive and bargaining social interactions. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.