CROSS-CULTURAL STUDIES OF TEMPERAMENT: TEMPERAMENT IN GREEK INFANTS

Three infant cohorts from Greek cultural backgrounds were compared with an Anglo-Australian infant cohort across 9 dimensions of temperament using Australian and Greek versions of the revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire (Carey and McDevitt 1978). Infants from a Greek cultural background were generally considered to be more ‘difficult’ than the Anglo-Australian infants on the temperament dimensions of Approach, Adaptability, Mood and Distractibility even after the effects of social class were controlled statistically. The reported cross-cultural differences were discussed with regard to the potential influence on temperament ratings of ethnicity and culture, social status, psychobiological factors, migrant status, social assimilation, and questionnaire characteristics.     

Observation of Depictive Versus Tracing Gestures Selectively Aids Verbal Versus Visual–Spatial Learning in Primary School Children

Previous research has established that gesture observation aids learning in children. The current study examined whether observation of gestures (i.e. depictive and tracing gestures) differentially affected verbal and visual–spatial retention when learning a route and its street names. Specifically, we explored whether children (n = 97) with lower visual and verbal working‐memory capacity benefited more from observing gestures as compared with children who score higher on these traits. To this end, 11‐ to 13‐year‐old children were presented with an instructional video of a route containing no gestures, depictive gestures, tracing gestures or both depictive and tracing gestures. Results indicated that the type of observed gesture affected performance: Observing tracing gestures or both tracing and depictive gestures increased performance on route retention, while observing depictive gestures or both depictive and tracing gestures increased performance on street name retention. These effects were not differentially affected by working‐memory capacity. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Family therapy with incest

Intervention to interrupt the cycle of incest poses unique considerations for the clinician. This paper presents a multilevel intervention model making use of the family system and subystems within it to interrupt the incest cycle. The discussion provides a perspective for the clinician for intervention with such families including the use of dyads: Husband-wife, father-daughter, mother-daughter. It focuses on the central importance of strengthening the marital dyad while providing support for realignment of dysfunctional coalitions which allowed for the emergence of the incest cycle. Boundaries, collusion, the use of the therapy team, and implications for treatment are integral to the discussion.     

The cognitive representation of an event involving human motion

Human motion is analyzed as a function of the temporal pattern of relative stability and instability of the body in relation to its supporting ground. The cognitive representation of an event unit involving human motion is described as some small number of relatively stable, preparatory motions, followed by an unstable, completing motion. Two experiments tested the coherence of the preparatory motion (s)-completing motion structure, and the visual conditions under which an unstable motion is encoded as the completing motion of an event unit. Preparatory-completing structures were recognized more easily than completing-preparatory structures. The offset of contour motion at the center of an unstable motion was found to be an important variable in the encoding of a completing motion.     

The Effects of Psychological Trauma on Children and Adolescents

In this review the authors examine the cognitive, affective, behavioral, and somatic-physiological effects documented in the literature as sequelae of overwhelming life events in children and adolescents. Findings from the literature are compared with the current formulations of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, third edition, revised (DSM-III-R, American Psychiatric Association, 1987) as this diagnostic category applies to children. Responses likely to be observed in children and adolescents who have been exposed to traumatic events are discussed. Suggestions for future research and counseling practice are presented     

Gana’Jôh: Haudenosaunee Pedagogies of the Drum Letters From the Woodshop

This article presents reflections on a drum-making workshop organized for young Haudenosaunee men on Six Nations of the Grand River territory in a region now known as Ontario, Canada. Imbued with an inductive character, we reflect on the disconnections between Indigenous and Western ways of knowing and draw on transdisciplinary methodological approaches to praxis. The main body of the article is constructed through a series of letters where each author reflects on the tensions and contradictions between Indigenous ways of knowing and the modes of knowledge creation promoted through academic White settler ideals. Drawing on Indigenous epistemologies from Leanne Betasamosake Simpson we argue that material production in relation to the making of Haudenosaunee drums can become pedagogy and fuel Indigenous-specific resurgence and intelligence. After we introduce ourselves and sketch the context for our project, the narrative proceeds through two voices in conversation. Each co-author reflects on the insights that emerged from an effort to decolonize learning through the pedagogies of the drum.     

Individual differences in learning to perceive length by dynamic touch: Evidence for variation in perceptual learning capacities

Recent studies of perceptual learning have explored and commented on variation in learning trajectories. Although several factors have been suggested to account for this variation, thus far the idea that humans vary in their perceptual learning capacities has received scant attention. In the present experiment, we aimed at providing a detailed picture of the variation in this capacity by investigating the perceptual learning trajectories of a considerable number of participants. The learning process was studied using the paradigm of length perception by dynamic touch. The results showed that there are substantial individual differences in the way perceivers respond to feedback. Indeed, after feedback, the participants' perceptual performances diverged. We conclude that humans vary in their perceptual learning capacities. The implications of this finding for recent discussions on variation in perception are explored.     

Do Gender and Age Moderate the Relationship between Friendship Quality and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury in Community Children and Adolescents?

In the present study, we investigated the relationship between friendship quality (dimensions) and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) as well as the moderating role of gender and age in this relationship. The sample consisted of 463 children and adolescents (50.10% female, age range: 9–17 years). Friendship quality and NSSI were measured using the Friendship Qualities Scale (FQS; Bukowski, Hoza, & Boivin, 1994) and the Self Harm Inventory (SHI; Sansone, Wiederman, & Sansone, 1998), respectively. Overall, total friendship quality and NSSI were significantly and negatively related. Additionally, the relationship between total friendship quality and NSSI was moderated by gender and age. Specifically, girls with low friendship quality reported more NSSI; whereas for boys an opposite effect was found. As for age, friendship quality and NSSI were positively related in older participants. In younger participants, a relationship between friendship quality and NSSI seemed rather absent. This study highlights the important association between friendship quality and NSSI, as well as gender- and age-related differences in this association, which should be taken into account in the prevention and treatment of NSSI.     

Influences on communicative development at 24 months of age: child temperament, behaviour problems, and maternal factors

Within a longitudinal study using a large representative, community sample of infants recruited at mean age 8 months, we examined influences on infant communication development at 24 months, including child gender, shy temperament, behavioural and emotional problems, and several variables relating to maternal psychosocial health. On most developmental measures girls were in advance of boys and they also showed shyer temperament. Child gender, shy temperament and maternal psychosocial indices were associated with both vocabulary development as measured by the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI), and communication and symbolic development assessed via the Communication and Symbolic Behaviour Scales-Developmental Profile (CSBS) at 24 months. No prediction was found using scores at 8 or 12 months, although moderate stability between measures between 12 and 24 months was evident. Predictors of 24 month outcomes were all concurrently measured variables, and included temperamental shyness, but very little variance in communication outcomes was explained. Children whose mothers were experiencing clinical levels of depression and life difficulties reported more child behavioural problems.