Natural Mentoring Processes Deter Externalizing Problems Among Rural African American Emerging Adults: A Prospective Analysis

A 3-wave model linking natural mentoring relationships to externalizing behavior was tested with 345 rural African American emerging adults in their final year of high school. Structural equation models were executed linking multi-informant reports of mentor-emerging adult relationship quality with youths' externalizing behavior 18 months later. Consistent with our primary hypotheses, emerging adults whose relationships with their natural mentors were characterized by instrumental and emotional support and affectively positive interactions reported lower levels of anger, rule-breaking behavior, and aggression. These effects emerged independent of the influences of family support and youth gender. Two intrapersonal processes, a future orientation and self-regulation, emerged as mediators of the influence of natural mentoring relationships. The influence of natural mentors was most pronounced for emerging adults experiencing high levels of life stress.     

A comparison of activity‐based to event‐based prospective memory

Four experiments were conducted that directly compared activity‐based to event‐based prospective memory. In general, when a goal is established to perform an activity at the conclusion of a different activity, successful completion suffers as compared with associating the same intention with a concrete environmental event. In this regard, activity‐based performance was worse than comparable event‐based conditions. However, certain conditions such as making transitional points salient between tasks and providing practice may ameliorate these differences between the two kinds of intentions. Other variables that may discriminate between these two kinds of intentions are considered; but the initial evidence favours the notion that ultimate goal completion covaries with the type of intention that is established initially at encoding and the degree of environmental support provided at retrieval. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Inter- and intra-individual variation in immediate free recall: an examination of serial position functions and recall initiation strategies

Serial position functions in immediate free recall have been historically noted for their bowed shape, where items presented at the beginning (primacy) and end (recency) of a list are better remembered than those presented in the middle. While extensive work has examined these effects, researchers typically ignore the systematic differences among individuals that likely contribute, but are lost when using an aggregate function. In the current study, inter- and intra-individual differences in serial position functions and differences in recall strategies were examined. Participants performed a free recall task on multiple lists. Three groups of participants were derived based on the relative profiles in their serial position functions. These groups differed in the extent that they output mainly primacy items, recency items, or both primacy and recency items. Performance on immediate free recall and on cognitive ability tasks was compared between these three groups. Systematic inter- and intra-individual variation in recall strategies led to differential profiles of performance in immediate free recall, which was also related to the additional cognitive ability measures. Performance on a task can be due to the utilisation of a variety of control processes that emphasise various components of that task over other components.     

Mothers’ and Fathers’ Responsive Problem Solving with Early Adolescents: Do Gender,Shyness, and Social Acceptance Make a Difference?

We assessed the extent to which youths’ (n = 231) shyness and social acceptance in preadolescence were associated with parents’ responsive problem solving 1 year later after controlling for initial levels of parents’ problem solving. Teachers (n = 176) completed assessments of youths’ shyness and social acceptance, and parents (n = 231 married pairs) completed assessments of their responsive problem solving with the child. For shy daughters, higher levels of social acceptance from peers predicted more responsive problem solving from fathers. Greater social acceptance predicted marginally less maternal problem solving for sons, but greater social acceptance predicted marginally more maternal problem solving with daughters. Results suggest the salience of child gender, shyness, and social acceptance when considering typical levels of parental involvement with youth. Implications for parents include the importance of successful problem solving discussions with emerging adolescents, especially youth who are shy or excluded by peers.     

A Confirmatory Comparison of the Factor Structure of the Children's Depression Inventory between European American and African American Youth

We examined the factor structure of the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) among a sample of 523 African American children (m age = 12.76) and a sample of 564 European American youth (m age = 12.43). Previous investigations have produced discrepant factor structures among samples of predominantly majority-culture children, but fewer investigations of the factor structure of the CDI have been conducted among non-European American samples. Confirmatory factor analyses of the original 5 factors identified by Kovacs (1983, 1991) revealed that the items had invariant measurement properties across the samples. The latent factor structure, however, revealed telling differences between the two samples. For European American youth, only one of the original five factors was meaningfully differentiated from the others, whereas for the African American youth, two of the factors clearly emerged as unique facets of depression. Consistent with other reports, between-group mean differences on the CDI and its factors were noted. We argue that further validation of the CDI among traditionally underserved populations is warranted. Predictive validation investigations, in particular, are needed to examine the relationship between CDI factor scores and clinical outcomes.     

The lived experiences of Qatari adolescents attending international secondary school

Many Qatari families are opting to have their children educated at international schools with curricula based upon western thought and educational standards. Exploring the perceptions of Qatari adolescents as they are engaged in this experience provided an opportunity to uncover the phenomenon of Qatari ways of being as related to Western educational thought. A hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used to investigate the lived experience of Qatari adolescents attending gender integrated, international, secondary schools in Qatar. Nineteen participants took part in five gender segregated focus groups. Qatari Culture and Islamic faith were the primary themes that emerged and these interconnected with the sub-themes of family, identity, and respect. The participants shared common traits with Third Culture Kids. At times, school expectations, norms and values conflicted with traditional family values, practices and culture, but participants saw the cross-cultural value in attending international schools.     

Gender Differences in Narcissism and Courtship Violence in Dating Couples

The current study explored the relationship between courtship violence and the exploitativeness/entitlement factor of overt narcissism, covert narcissism, and sexual narcissism. Data were analyzed from 63 currently dating couples on their own and partner’s aggression using the CTS2. All were white, heterosexual students from a small US college in Central Pennsylvania. An interdependence analysis showed that correlations were entirely explained at the individual-level, thus demonstrating that gender is a key element in understanding narcissism and courtship violence. For women, exploitativeness/ entitlement was significantly correlated with sexual coercion in both dating partners. For men, covert narcissism was correlated with physical assault and sexual narcissism was correlated with their partner’s sexual coercion. Narcissism also influenced some discrepancies in self- and partner-rated aggression.     

Dupré's Anti–Essentialist Objection to Reductionism

In his 'The Disorder of Things' John Dupré presents an objection to reductionism which I call the 'anti–essentialist objection': it is that reductionism requires essentialism, and essentialism is false. I unpack the objection and assess its cogency. Once the objection is clearly in view, it is likely to appeal to those who think conceptual analysis a bankrupt project. I offer on behalf of the reductionist two strategies for responding, one which seeks to rehabilitate conceptual analysis and one (more concessive) which avoids commitment to any such analysis.