The moderating role of internalising negative emotionality in the relation of self-regulation to social adjustment in Italian preschool-aged children

The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating role of internalising negative emotionality (i.e., anxious, concerned, and embarrassed displays) in the association between children's self-regulation and social adjustment. Seventy-four Italian children (44 girls, 30 boys; M age?=?35.05 months, SD?=?3.57) were assessed using two self-regulation tasks. Internalising negative emotionality was assessed through observations of children's emotion expressions during the tasks. Teachers evaluated children's social competence and internalising and externalising problems. Results demonstrated that among children who exhibited internalising negative emotionality, self-regulation was positively associated with social competence and negatively related to externalising problems. Our results suggest that self-regulation may play a crucial role for social adjustment when children show emotions such as anxiety and embarrassment during challenging situations.     

Conceptual Integration of Arithmetic Operations With Real‐World Knowledge: Evidence From Event‐Related Potentials

Research on language processing has shown that the disruption of conceptual integration gives rise to specific patterns of event‐related brain potentials (ERPs)—N400 and P600 effects. Here, we report similar ERP effects when adults performed cross‐domain conceptual integration of analogous semantic and mathematical relations. In a problem‐solving task, when participants generated labeled answers to semantically aligned and misaligned arithmetic problems (e.g., 6 roses + 2 tulips  = ? vs. 6 roses + 2 vases  = ?), the second object label in misaligned problems yielded an N400 effect for addition (but not division) problems. In a verification task, when participants judged arithmetically correct but semantically misaligned problem sentences to be “unacceptable,” the second object label in misaligned sentences elicited a P600 effect. Thus, depending on task constraints, misaligned problems can show either of two ERP signatures of conceptual disruption. These results show that well‐educated adults can integrate mathematical and semantic relations on the rapid timescale of within‐domain ERP effects by a process akin to analogical mapping.     

ON THE RELATION OF MANDS AND THE FUNCTION OF DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOR

When standard analogue functional analysis procedures produce inconclusive results in children with conversational speech, the child's mands may help to identify the function of destructive behavior. In the current investigation, functional analyses conducted with 2 children who exhibited self-injury, aggression, and property destruction were undifferentiated across conditions. Based on informal observations and school and parental report, an analysis was conducted using mands to help determine the function of the destructive behavior. Using a multielement design, the therapist's compliance with the child's mands occurred either on a fixed-ratio (FR) 1 schedule or contingent on destructive behavior. Destructive behavior occurred at high and consistent levels when reinforcement of mands was contingent on destructive behavior and at near-zero levels when reinforcement of mands occurred on the FR 1 schedule. Based on these results, a second analysis was conducted in which compliance to mands occurred only when the child appropriately requested it (i.e., functional communication training plus extinction) and, for 1 child, compliance with mands was terminated contingent upon destructive behavior (i.e., functional communication training plus response cost). For both children, the rates of destructive behavior decreased markedly. The results suggest that assessing the child's mands may be useful in decreasing destructive behavior when a functional analysis is inconclusive.     

Molar and latent models of cognitive slowing: Implications for aging,dementia, depression,development, and intelligence

The time that it takes a group of participants to respond in simple cognitive tasks varies systematically with the identity of the group. For example, on most tasks, older adults take longer to respond than younger adults. Similarly, on most tasks, younger children take longer to respond than mature children. More generally, response time has been found to vary reliably with a number of other factors that differentiate groups of participants, including the levels of dementia, depression, and intelligence. For each factor, investigators have sought to determine whether the various mental processes are slowed identically as the level of impairment increases. They have based this determination largely on the relation between the overall response times of the relevant groups. Here it is shown how one can base this determination on the relation between the speeds of the individual latent or mental processes governing the performance of the target groups. Such a shift in emphasis has three important advantages: it reduces the possibility of falsely accepting or rejecting the hypothesis that all processes are slowed identically; it pinpoints the actual processes that are lengthened disproportionately when processes are not slowed identically; and it makes possible the rigorous testing of the effects of changes in speed on other dependent variables (e.g., accuracy).     

USING A CHOICE ASSESSMENT TO PREDICT REINFORCER EFFECTIVENESS

A choice assessment has been found to be a more accurate method of identifying preferences than is single-item presentation. However, it is not clear whether the effectiveness of reinforcement varies positively with the degree of preference (i.e., whether the relative preference based on the results of a choice assessment predicts relative reinforcer effectiveness). In the current study, we attempted to address this question by categorizing stimuli as high, middle, and low preference based on the results of a choice assessment, and then comparing the reinforcing effectiveness of these stimuli using a concurrent operants paradigm. High-preference stimuli consistently functioned as reinforcers for all 4 clients. Middle-preference stimuli functioned as reinforcers for 2 clients, but only when compared with low-preference stimuli. Low-preference stimuli did not function as reinforcers when compared to high- and middle-preference stimuli. These results suggest that a choice assessment can be used to predict the relative reinforcing value of various stimuli, which, in turn, may help to improve programs for clients with severe to profound disabilities.     

FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS AND TREATMENT OF CIGARETTE PICA

A series of analyses was conducted to assess and treat the pica of cigarette butts by a young man with mental retardation and autism. First, we demonstrated that pica was maintained in a condition with no social consequences when the available cigarettes contained nicotine but not when the cigarettes contained herbs without nicotine. Second, a choice assessment (Fisher et al., 1992) confirmed that tobacco was preferred over the other components of the cigarette (e.g., paper, filter, etc.). Third, an analogue functional analysis (Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, & Richman, 1982/1994) demonstrated that cigarette pica was maintained independent of social consequences. Fourth, a treatment designed to interrupt the hypothesized response—reinforcer relationship reduced consumption of cigarettes to zero. Finally, because cigarette pica occurred primarily when the individual was alone or under minimal supervision, a procedure based on stimulus control was developed to improve the effectiveness of the intervention in these situations.     

Development of consensus about child oppositional behavior: Increased convergence with entry into school

This study examines the relation between parent and teacher ratings of oppositional behaviors in children from kindergarten to second grade. One cross-sectional sample of 85 boys in kindergarten, first, and second grade was assessed for problem behavior on the basis of reports from the children, parents, teachers, and trained observers. The second sample consisted of parent and teacher ratings of both boys and girls in a longitudinal design at 5 and 7 years of age. Results from both studies indicate that agreement does increase around the time of the child's transition into school and that each informant influences the ratings of the others over time.     

Creating Another Identity: Aging Actresses in the Eighteenth Century

In the eighteenth century, it was usual for actors and actresses to build a repertoire of roles, and to keep possession of particular parts once they had created them, sometimes throughout their careers. They were, therefore, as likely to be identified with the characters they played as they were either for themselves or for their ability to create such dramatis personae. Yet, paradoxically, their personal identities, formed not only by character or personality and ability, but also by appearance and reputation, could affect the way in which their performances on stage were received by their audiences and critics. During a century in which identity and status were often worn externally, eighteenth-century actresses were keenly admired for their appearance, especially when young. As still happens today, appearance and ability were often juxtaposed by the critics in their reviews of actresses' performances, which mark the culmination of the creative process of acting. An examination of the working lives of eighteenth-century actresses to discover the ways in which their appearance and ability became integral to both their identity and the processes they used, as well as how their choice of roles could affect their reputation and even their health as they aged, provides not only intriguing information about the relationship between the creative processes of acting and the identity of the actress, but also an historic, thereby determined, cultural society of lived bodies, which can help to inform some of the current attitudes toward aging and identity, particularly in female performers.     

Reporting and referring research participants: ethical challenges for investigators studying children and youth

Researchers studying at-risk and socially disenfranchised child and adolescent populations are facing ethical dilemmas not previously encountered in the laboratory or the clinic. One such set of ethical challenges involves whether to: (a) share with guardians research-derived information regarding participant risk, (b) provide participants with service referrals, or (c) report to local authorities problems uncovered during the course of investigation. The articles assembled for this special section address the complex issues of deciding if, when, and how to report or provide referrals for research participants who are minors (referred to hereafter as minor research participants). This paper focuses on two factors underlying these decisions: the validity of risk estimates and meta-ethical positions on scientific responsiblity. It is suggested that, before sharing information about minor research participants investigators should do the following: critically examine the diagnostic validity of developmental measures, include the scope and limitations of information sharing in informed consent procedures, and become familiar with state reporting laws. I discuss the impact of the traditionally accepted act utilitarian meta-ethical position on the investigator-participant relationship, and I recommend consideration of alternative positions as a step toward developing a research ethic of scientific responsibility and care.