Factor structure of self-regulation in preschoolers: testing models of a field-based assessment for predicting early school readiness

The importance of early self-regulatory skill has seen increased focus in the applied research literature given the implications of these skills for early school success. A three-factor latent structure of self-regulation consisting of compliance, cool executive control, and hot executive control was tested against alternative models and retained as best fitting. Tests of model equivalence indicated that the model held invariant across Head Start and private child-care samples. Partial invariance was supported for age and gender. In the validity model, because of a substantial amount of shared variance among latent factors, we included a second-order factor explaining the two types of executive control. Higher order executive control positively predicted teacher report of learning behaviors and social competence in the classroom. These findings are discussed in light of their practical and theoretical significance.     

A longitudinal examination of stress generation in depressive and anxiety disorders

The current study compared two competing theories of the stress generation model of depression (stress causation vs. stress continuation) using interview-based measures of episodic life stress, as well as interpersonal and noninterpersonal chronic life stress. We also expanded on past research by examining anxiety disorders as well as depressive disorders. In addition, we examined the role of neuroticism and extraversion in these relationships. Participants were 627 adolescents enrolled in a two-site, longitudinal study of risk factors for depressive and anxiety disorders. Baseline and follow-up assessments were approximately one year apart. Results supported the stress causation theory for episodic stress generation for anxiety disorders, with neuroticism partially accounting for this relationship. The stress causation theory was also supported for depression, but only for more moderate to severe stressors; neuroticism partially accounted for this relationship as well. Finally, we found evidence for interpersonal and noninterpersonal chronic life stress continuation in both depressive and anxiety disorders. The present findings have implications regarding the specificity of the stress generation model to depressive disorders, as well as variables involved in the stress generation process.     

Benevolent sexist beliefs predict perceptions of speakers and recipients of a term of endearment

This study examined how endorsement of benevolent sexist ideologies predicts perceptions of requesters who use a term of endearment and of the female addressees who comply with their requests. Undergraduate women who previously completed the Benevolent Sexism Scale as part of the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory were randomly assigned to one of four groups. They watched one of four videos in which a female addressee responded to a request that either included or did not include the term of endearment "hon"; the requester was either male or female. Participants then rated both actors' social likeability. Among participants who watched a woman respond to a female requester who addressed her with the term "hon," benevolent sexism scores predicted liking for the female responder and disliking of the female requester. Findings reflect the dissatisfaction of women who are high in benevolent sexism with women who act outside of traditional gender role expectations.     

The Status of our Ordinary Three Dimensions in a Quantum Universe 1

There are now several, realist versions of quantum mechanics on offer. On their most straightforward, ontological interpretation, these theories require the existence of an object, the wavefunction, which inhabits an extremely high‐dimensional space known as configuration space. This raises the question of how the ordinary three‐dimensional space of our acquaintance fits into the ontology of quantum mechanics. Recently, two strategies to address this question have emerged. First, Tim Maudlin, Valia Allori, and her collaborators argue that what I have just called the ‘most straightforward’ interpretation of quantum mechanics is not the correct one. Rather, the correct interpretation of realist quantum mechanics has it describing the world as containing objects that inhabit the ordinary three‐dimensional space of our manifest image. By contrast, David Albert and Barry Loewer maintain the straightforward, wavefunction ontology of quantum mechanics, but attempt to show how ordinary, three‐dimensional space may in a sense be contained within the high‐dimensional configuration space the wavefunction inhabits. This paper critically examines these attempts to locate the ordinary, three‐dimensional space of our manifest image “within” the ontology of quantum mechanics. I argue that we can recover most of our manifest image, even if we cannot recover our familiar three‐dimensional space.     

Educational Theory in an Era of Knowledge Capitalism

Two related aspects of the present ??knowledge capitalism?? stage of globalisation are discussed in this article: the transformation of education to make it more directly supportive of educational growth and competition, and the growing demands on educational research to provide scientific evidence for education policy and practice, using narrowly defined methods and techniques. It is argued that both developments have profound consequences for the construction and use of educational theory, and the vital need for critical discussion and communication in this respect is emphasised.