Influence Opportunities and the Development of Argumentation Competencies in Childhood

Whether argumentation competencies are associated with the kind of influence opportunities children have in their lives is the focus of this study. The hypothesis is that when children have the opportunity to initiate and evaluate arguments, hear others make and examine arguments, and participate equally in resolving disputes, children are able to develop their argument skills. Four argumentation competencies associated with critical discussions of proposals are identified: creating consensus about problematic situations, advocating proposals, facilitating behavioral commitment, and integrating identities. Second, fourth, and sixth grade children completed tasks that assessed their influence opportunities and argument competencies. Children who perceived themselves to have many collaborative influence opportunities, that is, opportunities in which they could engage in mutual influence, had more highly developed argument competencies than children who did not have such opportunities. As predicted, this relationship occurred with the argument competencies of problem conception, proposal advocacy and facilitating commitment. Measures of non-collaborative influence opportunities were not associated with argument competencies. Together, the results suggest that discussions in which children are given the opportunity to influence and be influenced with arguments may provide the best context for children to develop their argument skills.     

Competitive behavior: A manifestation of motivation for ability comparison

Social comparison theory predicts that when the person is uncertain about the level of his ability, he may seek comparison information through competitive behavior. This derivation, however, has never been directly tested. An experiment is reported in which the level of the subject's uncertainty about his competence was manipulated and subsequent measures of his competitive motivation and behavior were obtained. The data indicate that higher levels of uncertainty do lead to higher levels of motivation and competition, but only under conditions that minimize threat to self-esteem.     

Competence,guilt, and victimization: Sex differences in attribution of causality in television dramas

Sex differences in attribution of causality are investigated in three types of television programs: prime-time family, violent, and daytime serial shows. Both frequency and type of causal statements were studied, using DeCharm's conceptualization of personal causation as origin-like (internal to the self) or pawn-like (external to the self). There were striking sex differences in violent programs, with males modeling more origin behavior and females modeling more pawn behavior. In soap operas there were no sex differences, but both origin and pawn ideas were expressed in terms of personal responsibility, with fewer references to more competent origin behaviors such as goal setting, planned decision making, or self-confidence. These findings have implications for differential socialization of competent coping skills for males and females.The authors would like to express appreciation to Katie Henry and Jennifer Mardoyan, who assisted with this research.     

An approach to preventing coparenting conflict and divorce in low-income families: strengthening couple relationships and fostering fathers' involvement

In the context of current concern about levels of marital distress, family violence, and divorce, the SFI study is evaluating the effectiveness of an intervention to facilitate the positive involvement of low-income Mexican American and European American fathers with their children, in part by strengthening the men's relationships with their children's mothers. The study design involves a randomized clinical trial that includes assignment to a 16-week couples group, a 16-week fathers group, or a single-session control group. Couples in both group interventions and the control condition include partners who are married, cohabiting, and living separately but raising a young child together. This article presents the rationale, design, and intervention approach to father involvement for families whose relationships are at risk because of the hardships of their lives, many of whom are manifesting some degree of individual or relationship distress. We present preliminary impressions and qualitative findings based on our experience with 257 families who completed the pretest, and the first 160 who completed one postintervention assessment 9 months after entering the study. Discussion centers on what we have learned and questions that remain to be answered in mounting a multisite preventive intervention to strengthen relationships in low-income families.     

Book reviews

Spoehr, K. T., and Lehmkuhle, S. W. Visual Information Processing. San Francisco: Freeman. 1982. Pp. 298. ISBN 0-7167-1373-X. Hardback £16.90; paperback £9.80.

Weale, R. A. Focus on Vision. London: Hodder & Stoughton. 1982. Pp. 194. ISBN 0-340-24839-4. £5.75.

Warren, R. M. Auditory Perception: A New Synthesis. New York: Pergamon Press. 1982. Pp. 239. ISBN 0-08-025957-X. £12.50.

Bryden, M. P. Loterality: Functional Asymmetry in the Intact Brain. London: Academic Press. 1982. Pp. 319. ISBN 0-12-138180-3. £19.60.

Simon, T. W. and Scholes, R. J. (Eds.) Language, Mind, and Brain. Hillsdale, N. J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 1982. Pp. xvi + 263. ISBN 0-89859-153-8. £19.95.

Wilding, J. M. Perception: From Sense to Object. London: Hutchinson. 1982. Pp. 314. ISBN 0-09-150720-1. £12.95.

Rosenzweig, M.R. and Porter, L. W.(Eds.). Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 34. Palo Alto, Calif.: Annual Reviews Inc. 1983. Pp. 617. ISBN 0-8243-0234-6. $30.00.

Schank, R. C. Dynamic Memory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1983. Pp. 233. ISBN 0-521-24856-2. Hardback £18.50; paperback £6.95.

Hinton, G. E. and Anderson, J. A. (Eds.). Parallel Models of Associative Memory. Hillsdale, N. J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 1981. Pp. 295. ISBN 0-89859-105-0. £17.50.     

What’s it all about? A qualitative study of meaning in life for counseling psychology doctoral students

The interviews of 10 female counseling psychology doctoral students regarding their views about meaning in life (MIL) were analyzed using consensual qualitative research. The participants defined MIL as goals or purposes, were actively involved in searching for meaning, and believed that MIL had been stimulated by life-changing experiences and culture. On a personal level, they gained meaning from relationships, personal growth, and religion/spirituality. On a professional level, they gained meaning from providing therapy, conducting research, and teaching. As therapists, participants approached MIL indirectly by asking about client goals/motivations or by focusing on other clinical problems that if resolved would enhance MIL. Implications for doctoral training and for psychotherapy are offered.     

More than One Way to Get There: Pathways of Change in Coparenting Conflict after a Preventive Intervention

This study explored pathways of change in the levels of conflict couples experienced after Supporting Father Involvement, an evidence‐based, prevention‐oriented couples and parenting intervention that included a diverse low‐income and working class group of participants. Pathways of change were examined for couples with baseline conflict scores that were initially low, medium, and high. The growth mixture model analysis found that the best‐fitting model for change in couples' conflict was represented by three distinctly different change patterns. The intervention was most successful for High‐Conflict couples. This finding contributes to a growing literature examining variations in how relationships change over time and the process of change, especially for couples in distress. This study supports further investigation into the impact and costs associated with universal interventions versus those that target specific groups of higher risk families.