Children and adolescents coordinate group and moral concerns within different goal contexts when allocating resources

Coordinating complex social and moral concerns when allocating resources is a key issue in late childhood and early adolescence. This study explored resource allocation in three goal contexts that required children to focus to differing degrees on moral and group concerns. Children (9–11-years, M^age = 9.84, n = 190) and adolescents (14–16-years, M^age = 14.92, n = 154) were informed their school peer group held an in-group norm (competition, cooperation). Participants allocated resources between their in-group and an outgroup within one of three goal contexts (prosocial, learning-focused, and group-focused). Participants allocated in favour of their in-group to achieve a prosocial goal but attenuated this when the goal was focused on learning and cooperation. Adolescents, more than children, reasoned about the goals of resource allocation to justify their decisions. From 9 years old, children begin to coordinate peer group norms and goal information when deciding how to allocate resources within intergroup contexts.     

The effects of cross-fostering on the development of social preferences in meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus)

To determine the role of the parental environment in the formation of species attachments in the meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus), young of this species were fostered to either meadow vole parents (in-fostered young) or to prairie vole parents (M. ochrogaster; cross-fostered young). At 50 to 60 days of age, subjects were tested for social preference in an environment that simulated the conditions of a runway system. The testing design assessed the reaction of fostered animals to a novel species (M. pinetorum) as well as to the parental and biological species. The proportion of total test time spent near stimulus animals did not vary as a function of rearing condition. However, when compared to in-fostered controls, cross-fostered meadow voles displayed increased preference for prairie voles. Novelty did not appear to be a significant factor in test animal choice. These results suggest that in meadow voles, preference for the species of social partner is dependent on postnatal experience with parents.     

Children's Sleep Behavior Scale: normative data on 870 children in grades 1 to 6

A 22-item Likert-type rating scale for parents was developed for screening a broad range of specific sleep-related behaviors of elementary school children. The prevalence of these behaviors was reported by parents for boys (n = 459) and girls (n = 411) in three age groups, less than 8.5 yr., between 8.5 and 11.5 yr., and greater than 11.5 yr. For all age groups, the most prevalent behaviors were restlessness, waking up at night, pleasant dreams, getting up to go to the bathroom, talking while asleep, and complaints about not being able to sleep, while the least frequent were rhythmical movements and crying while asleep. The self-reports suggest that many of the behaviors are underestimated in the literature. Some sex and age differences were found, but the number of siblings, birth order, change in family structure, and educational status of father and mother were unrelated to the sleep variables. Test-retest reliabilities of self-reports by these parents to individual items were adequate.     

Food-search behavior and its relation to the central excitatory state in the genetic analysis of the blow fly Phormia regina

Dethier (1957) described an aspect of food-search behavior in Phormia regina as the blow fly dance. A hungry fly walks in relatively straight lines with its proboscis retracted until it encounters food (sucrose). After ingesting even a small amount of sucrose, the fly begins making frequent, tight turns, flexes its front tarsi to bring more chemosensory hairs into contact with the substrate and repeatedly extends and retracts its proboscis. Like the central excitatory state (CES), which causes an increase in proboscis extensions to water when a fly is stimulated with sucrose, the dance lasts longer in hungrier flies or with higher sucrose concentrations. It was considered that dance behavior might be an ethologically relevant manifestation of CES. In order to test this hypothesis, dance duration in lines selected for high- and low-CES levels was measured. As predicted, flies from the high-CES line danced longer than those from the low-CES line, and the CES-dance correlation in individual flies was high. This phenotypic correlation disappeared in the F2 generation of a cross between the high- and low-CES lines, a result indicating that the observed variations in CES and dance duration were not caused by the same set of genes. Further characterization of the underlying genetic system showed that several linked autosomal genes with digenic epistatic interactions and a complex pattern of maternal inheritance were responsible for the difference in dance durations between the high- and low-CES lines.     

Assessing teaching opportunities in a residential treatment facility

Seventeen living units in a residential treatment facility for developmentally disabled persons were assessed to determine the availability of teaching opportunities during the course of a normal day's routine. Teaching opportunities exist when the environment is arranged so that residents can participate in the ongoing activities. The teaching opportunities are identified within components that are recognizable activities that occur routinely and have a functional purpose. An assessment form was constructed as a means for documenting teachng opportunities. Assessments were conducted continuously from early morning through evening activities. The results of the assessments suggested that two approaches to resident care were in operation at the facility: one was characterized by a traditional care/custodial model, the other was characterized by a teaching model. On units where the number of teaching opportunities available was high, there was a smaller percentage of unstructured time, i.e., blocks of time when opportunities to engage in structured activities were not available to the residents.     

Individual and Group Decisions in Response to a Mock Trial: A Methodological Note1

An audiovisual slide-show presentation of a murder trial was used to examine the effects of group deliberations on juror's responses. Sex of defense attorney and race of defendant were systematically varied in the mock trial. Verdicts were assessed immediately following the trial presentation (before group deliberations) and immediately following group deliberations. Neither sex nor race significantly affected distributions of individual juror's predeliberation verdicts. Following group deliberations, however, an effect of attorney's sex emerged in both jury (group) verdicts and in individual, postdeliberation verdicts. Jurors in the male defense attorney conditions were more likely to vote not guilty following deliberations than were jurors in the female defense attorney conditions. This effect is discussed in terms of group shift.     

A Career Assistance Program for Elite Athletes

A program to assist elite athletes in coping with the transition out of active sport competition is presented. A life span development framework is used to describe the formulation of the program. An outline of the program is presented, and implications for counselors are discussed.     

Tacit coordination in monozygotic twins, dizygotic twins and virtual twins: Effects and implications of genetic relatedness

Game theorists have long been interested in why some partners are more successful at achieving mutual goals than others. The present study was conducted to determine if tacit coordination (non-negotiated consensus) varies as a function of genetic relatedness between social partners. The sample included 7–13-year-old monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs (n = 53), dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs (n = 85) and virtual twin (VT) pairs (n = 42; same-age unrelated siblings). Co-twin agreement on questions completed under individual and coordination conditions was compared across the three groups. MZ twins showed significantly greater overall agreement than DZ twins and VTs, using multiple criteria. The implications of these findings are considered with reference to behavioral-genetic and evolutionary theories of behavior.