Exploring Factors Related to Young Children’s Word-Meaning Derivations During Read-Alouds

This study explores how child and text clues were related to 31 kindergarteners’ word-meaning derivation outcomes for 372 words presented in books read aloud to children. Data were analyzed using a multilevel, cross-classification, ordered logit model. Children showed no word-meaning derivation 40% of the time, indicating a need for instruction. Better word-meaning outcomes were related to text factors (written text clues in close proximity to the word) and child factors (literal comprehension and metacognition). Thus, using text with written clues in close proximity to the word and building children's literal comprehension and metacognition may improve word-meaning derivation.     

Role of perceived importance in intergroup contact

Furthering G. W. Allport's contentions for optimal contact, the authors introduce a new construct: the perceived importance of contact. They propose that perceived importance is the best proximal predictor of contact's reduction of prejudice. If individuals have opportunities for contact at work or in the neighborhood, their chances to have intergroup acquaintances and friends increase. Intergroup contact among acquaintances and friends can be perceived as more or less important, which in turn determines intergroup evaluations. A 1st study shows that the new measure of perceived importance is indeed distinct from established quantity and quality indicators. The results are cross-validated in a 2nd study that also sheds light on the meaning of importance. In 3rd and 4th studies, structural equation analyses and a meta-analysis support the hypotheses.     

To be(long) or not to be(long): social identification in organizational contexts

In the past few years, ideas of Social Identity Theory and Self-Categorization Theory have been successfully applied to the organizational domain. In this article, the authors provide an overview of these recent developments and present a concept of social identification in organizational contexts, based on these theories. The assumptions of this framework are that (a) social identification in organizational contexts is a multifaceted concept consisting of different dimensions and foci (or targets), (b) higher levels of identification are related to higher productivity and more positive work-related attitudes, and (c) identification is a very flexible concept that is linked to the situational context. The authors present the results of a series of field and laboratory studies in which the proposed relationships are analyzed and, in the main, confirmed.     

The onset of receding motion captures attention: comment on Franconeri and Simons (2003)

Franconeri & Simons (2003) reported that some but not all types of motion capture attention in a visual search task, ostensibly because some types of motion are behaviorally significant. In the present article, we argue that a more parsimonious explanation of their results is that the onset of motion, but not motion per se, captures attention. This conclusion helps to resolve inconsistencies between the Franconeri and Simons findings and earlier reports from other investigators and is consistent with results that we have recently reported (Abrams & Christ, 2003). The Franconeri and Simons interpretation rests largely on their failure to find attentional capture by one type of motion-simulated receding motion. We report here the results of two experiments that demonstrate that the onset of receding motion does indeed capture attention when the motion is produced using stereo depth cues. As we have argued elsewhere, the capture of attention in displays containing motion appears to be dependent on the onset of the motion, rather than on the mere presence of specific types of motion as suggested by Franconeri and Simons. One possible explanation is that the onset of motion captures attention because it serves as a strong cue to animacy--and the detection of nearby animals can have important consequences for survival.     

Real-life outgroup exposure,self-reported outgroup contact and the other-race effect

People are better at recognizing faces from their own racial or ethnic group compared with faces from other racial or ethnic groups, known as the other-‘race’ effect (ORE). Several theories of the ORE assume that memory for other-race faces is impaired because people have less contact with members of other racial or ethnic groups, resulting in lower visual expertise. The present research investigates contact theories of the ORE, using self-report contact measures and objective measures of potential outgroup exposure (estimated from participants' residential location and from GPS tracking). Across six studies (total N = 2660), we observed that White American and White German participants displayed better memory for White faces compared with Black or Middle Eastern faces, whereas Black American participants displayed similarly equal or better memory for White compared with Black faces. We did not observe any relations between the ORE and objective measures of potential outgroup exposure. Only in Studies 2a and 2b, we observed very small correlations (rs = −.08 to .06) between 4 out of 30 contact measures and the ORE. We discuss methodological limitations and implications for theories of the ORE.     

Accumulation of Risk and Promotive Factors Among Young Children in US Military Families

In the families of the new cohort of war veterans now entering the civilian population in the United States are over two million young children (Cozza, Haskins & Lerner, 2013; Institute of Medicine, 2013). Several noteworthy studies have shown that children exposed to separation from a parent due to combat‐related deployment are at elevated risk for a variety of negative consequences (Lester & Flake, 2013). Cozza et al. (2013) argue that existing studies of military children focus too much on the stresses or deficits they experience, failing to give sufficient attention to their strengths, the strengths of their families, or the supports around them. In the current study we focus on risk and promotive factors in the lives of children aged 0–10 in military families. We examine the likelihood of negative outcomes as functions of additive, cumulative, and interactive relationships between risk and promotive factors and children's outcomes. Risk factors, particularly parental depression, community poverty, and cumulative risk, were more strongly associated with children's outcomes than promotive factors. There was, however, a significant risk‐protective relationship between accumulations of risk and promotive factors, consistent with promotive conditions operating in a protective fashion under conditions of elevated risk.     

Closing the Vocabulary Gap?: A Review of Research on Early Childhood Vocabulary Practices

Our qualitative literature review of 31 published studies found that (a) three major approaches are used in early childhood classrooms to support children's vocabulary learning—exposing children to advanced words, providing direct word-meaning instruction, and employing mixed-method interventions; (b) these practices support children's learning of targeted vocabulary words and/or general vocabulary knowledge gains, but various methods have differential impacts on children's depth of word knowledge; and (c) theme-based multimethod interventions are the most likely approach to close the gap. Based on these findings, we suggest future research directions and discuss implications for classroom practice.