Fathers’ Challenging Parenting Behavior Prevents Social Anxiety Development in Their 4-Year-Old Children: A Longitudinal Observational Study

Recent models on parenting propose different roles for fathers and mothers in the development of child anxiety. Specifically, it is suggested that fathers’ challenging parenting behavior, in which the child is playfully encouraged to push her limits, buffers against child anxiety. In this longitudinal study, we explored whether the effect of challenging parenting on children’s social anxiety differed between fathers and mothers. Fathers and mothers from 94 families were separately observed with their two children (44 % girls), aged 2 and 4 years at Time 1, in three structured situations involving one puzzle task and two games. Overinvolved and challenging parenting behavior were coded. Child social anxiety was measured by observing the child’s response to a stranger at Time 1, and half a year later at Time 2, and by parental ratings. In line with predictions, father’s challenging parenting behavior predicted less subsequent observed social anxiety of the 4-year-old child. Mothers’ challenging behavior, however, predicted more observed social anxiety of the 4-year-old. Parents’ overinvolvement at Time 1 did not predict change in observed social anxiety of the 4-year-old child. For the 2-year-old child, maternal and paternal parenting behavior did not predict subsequent social anxiety, but early social anxiety marginally did. Parent-rated social anxiety was predicted by previous parental ratings of social anxiety, and not by parenting behavior. Challenging parenting behavior appears to have favorable effects on observed 4-year-old’s social anxiety when displayed by the father. Challenging parenting behavior emerges as an important focus for future research and interventions.     

治疗感染性骨不连伴大段骨缺损的探讨与思考

感染性骨不连伴大段骨缺损是目前临床骨科较为常见、多发、治疗极为棘手的病种之一,治疗方法多种多样,但疗效却不理想,且缺乏统一的诊治与疗效判断标准,总结、分析几种临床上主要治疗方法的利弊,为该病探寻一条微创、安全、并发症少及疗效确切的可靠治疗方法.随着对Ilizarov技术的基础与临床研究的不断深入,该技术在治疗传统方法难以治愈的疾病如四肢关节严重畸形、感染性骨不连或伴有骨缺损、皮肤软组织缺损等方面显示出自身的优势,为治疗疑难骨科疾病开辟了一条新的有效途径.     

能力社会比较与归因反馈对不诚实行为的影响

社会比较作为认识自我的一种方式,对个体心理与行为的诸多方面产生影响,但对于社会比较如何影响不诚实行为以及归因反馈在其中的作用,目前尚不清楚。在3项实验中操纵了不同方向的能力社会比较,探讨其对不诚实行为的影响(研究1)以及归因反馈在其中的调节作用(研究2)。结果发现:(1)相比于向下比较和无比较,向上比较会增加个体的不诚实行为;(2)归因反馈调节上述影响:向上比较后,相比于给予能力反馈,给予努力反馈可以减少个体的不诚实行为。本研究拓展了社会比较后效研究,对如何减少社会比较引起的不诚实行为具有重要启示。     

“Who said it?” How contextual information influences perceived profundity of meaningful quotes and pseudo-profound bullshit

Psychological research on pseudo-profound bullshit—randomly assembled buzz words plugged into a syntactic structure—has only recently begun. Most such research has focused on dispositional traits, such as thinking styles or political orientation. However, none has investigated contextual factors. In two studies, we introduce a new paradigm by investigating the contextual effect on pseudo-profound bullshit and meaningful quotes. In Study 1, all participants rated the profundity of statements in three contexts: (a) isolated, (b) as allegedly said by a famous author, or (c) within a vignette (short story). Study 2 serves as a conceptual replication in which participants rated statements in only one of three contexts. Overall, our results demonstrate that although contextual information such as author's name increases the perceived profundity of bullshit, it has an inconsistent effect on meaningful quotes. The present study helps to better understand the bullshit receptivity while offering a new line of research.     

Development of a facial-expression database of Chinese Han,Hui and Tibetan people

Recently, cross-cultural facial-expression recognition has become a research hotspot, and a standardised facial-expression material system can significantly help researchers compare and demonstrate the results of other studies. We developed a facial-expression database of Chinese Han, Hui and Tibetan ethnicities. In this study, six basic human facial expressions (and one neutral expression) were collected from 200 Han, 220 Hui and 210 Tibetan participants who lived in these regions. Four experts on each ethnicity evaluated the facial-expression images according to the expressions, and only those achieving inter-rater agreement were retained. Subsequently, 240 raters evaluated these images according to the seven emotions and rated the intensity of the expressions. Consequently, 2980 images were included in the database, including 930 images of Han individuals, 962 images of Hui individuals and 1088 images of Tibetan individuals. In conclusion, the facial-expression database of Chinese Han, Hui and Tibetan people was representative and reliable with a recognition rate of over 60%, making it well-suited for cross-cultural research on emotions.     

Educational Science Students’ Implicit Theories of Creativity

This article presents the results of research into the implicit theories of creativity of Educational Science students preparing for the role of educational counsellors. Educational Science students will soon be working in educational institutions where they are expected to support creativity. Prospective (pre)school counsellors were asked about how they perceive and how they experience creativity in their own schooling by means of a questionnaire and focus group interview. Participants’ answers were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative content analyses. The data obtained from the questionnaire showed that the students mainly defined creativity as the characteristic of a person or process. They saw the major possibility for developing creativity during university studies in stimulating teaching activities and a supportive educational climate. The data from the focus group expanded the students’ definition of creativity through the domain of the expression and the valuation of creativity. In the discussion about the development of creativity during university studies, the role of the study program and the students’ individual characteristics were highlighted. The aspects of Educational Science education that need to be changed to increase the quality of the preparation of future educational counsellors are also considered.     

Language-mediated object categorization: A longitudinal study with 16- to 20-month-old Serbian-speaking children

This study addressed the development of language-mediated categorization longitudinally, on a sample of Serbian-speaking children aged 16–20 months. Twenty four children were tested 3 consecutive times on: categorization of unknown objects with a shared label and a similar shape; and categorization of unknown objects with a shared label, but no visual similarity. The task was embedded in a game-like activity which included real object manipulation, categorization of novel objects labeled with made-up names, and socio-pragmatic cues provided by the experimenter. Our results indicate that an average child develops the ability to categorize novel objects with a similar shape and a shared label around 16 months of age, whereas for novel objects with a shared label, but no visual similarity, this ability is acquired sometime between 18 and 20 months of age. Our results partly confirm research findings obtained in other languages, thus emphasizing the need for cross-linguistic and cross-cultural validation of all language-related developmental studies.     

The Effect of Locus of Control on University Students' Mental Health: Possible Mediation through Self-Esteem and Coping

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of locus of control on university students' mental health and to examine possible mediational roles of self-esteem and coping. A total of 418 university students completed Rotters I-E Scale, Self-liking/self-competence Scale, Endlers Coping with Stressful Situations Scale and Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale. The results showed that external locus of control, lower self-liking and self-competence, as well as less problem-focused and more emotion-focused coping predict more symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress in university students. However, mediational analysis revealed that the effect of locus of control was fully mediated by self-esteem and coping, with self-liking and emotion-focused coping being the strongest mediators. Results suggest that beliefs about control affect beliefs about one's self-worth and coping strategies, which in turn can affect one's mental health.