Facilitating children's accurate responses: conversational rules and interview style

This study examined the effectiveness of teaching young children a set of social conversational rules as a method of reducing errors in children's memory reports. Forty children (aged 3 to 6 years) interacted with a confederate ‘teaching assistant.’ Three conversational rules were examined as possible means of decreasing inaccuracies. For comparison purposes, three placebo rules were also developed. To test the limitations of teaching young children a set of conversational rules, three interview styles (neutral, repetitive, accusatory) were used. Results indicated that children who received all three target rules provided a smaller proportion of incorrect responses than did children who received fewer target rules or than children in a placebo control group, regardless of interview style. Theoretical and applied issues are discussed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the Causal Completeness of Physics

According to an increasing number of authors, the best, if not the only, argument in favour of physicalism is the so‐called ‘overdetermination argument’. This argument, if sound, establishes that all the entities that enter into causal interactions with the physical world are physical. One key premise in the overdetermination argument is the principle of the causal closure of the physical world, said to be supported by contemporary physics. In this paper, I examine various ways in which physics may support the principle, either as a methodological guide or as depending on some other laws and principles of physics.     

Associated Factors of Suicide Among University Students: Importance of Family Environment

The aim in this study was to underline the importance of family environment as a significant associate of suicide probability among university students. For this aim 226 Turkish university students completed Suicide Probability Scale, Family Environment Questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory, and Positive and Negative Affect Scale. As a result of the formulated regression analysis, after controlling for the 51% of the total variance accounted for by the control variables (i.e., gender, age, living with family versus away from family, and Grade Point Averages) and mood related variables (i.e., depressive symptoms, and positive and negative affect), family cohesion still emerged as a significant associate of the suicide probability. These findings underline the importance of family relations as a risk factor of suicide among university students.This work has been supported by the Turkish Academy of Sciences, in the framework of the Young Scientist Award Program. (TG-TUBA-GEBİP/2002-1-11).     

Co‐development of child‐mother gestures over the second and the third years

This study looks at whether there is a relationship between mother and infant gesture production. Specifically, it addresses the extent of articulation in the maternal gesture repertoire and how closely it supports the infant production of gestures. Eight Spanish mothers and their 1‐ and 2‐year‐old babies were studied during 1 year of observations. Maternal and child verbal production, gestures and actions were recorded at their homes on five occasions while performing daily routines. Results indicated that mother and child deictic gestures (pointing and instrumental) and representational gestures (symbolic and social) were very similar at each age group and did not decline across groups. Overall, deictic gestures were more frequent than representational gestures. Maternal adaptation to developmental changes is specific for gesturing but not for acting. Maternal and child speech were related positively to mother and child pointing and representational gestures, and negatively to mother and child instrumental gestures. Mother and child instrumental gestures were positively related to action production, after maternal and child speech was partialled out. Thus, language plays an important role for dyadic communicative activities (gesture–gesture relations) but not for dyadic motor activities (gesture–action relations). Finally, a comparison of the growth curves across sessions showed a closer correspondence for mother–child deictic gestures than for representational gestures. Overall, the results point to the existence of an articulated maternal gesture input that closely supports the child gesture production. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Emotional Reactions to Menarche Among Mexican Women of Different Generations

This study explored the information received about menstruation by Mexican women as well as their reactions to menarche. The most important topics that teenagers, young women, and middle-aged women were informed about were menstrual hygiene and physiology. In contrast, senior citizens were more informed about hygiene and activity restrictions. Regarding their reactions to menarche, teenagers and young women reported being confused. Positive reactions were reported only by older women who had knowledge about menstruation prior to menarche. Finally, younger women were more likely to present ambivalent reactions to menarche, probably because they are exposed to mixed messages which are often contradictory, resulting in more confusion and ambivalence.     

Measurement Properties of the Hungarian Version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0: Health Related Quality of Life and Associated Characteristics of the School Children in Hungary

Applied Research in Quality of Life - This study aimed to evaluate health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of Hungarian schoolchildren aged 8–18 years and in a representative urban...