Sibling collusion and problem behavior in early adolescence: toward a process model for family mutuality

Sibling collusion is a process by which siblings form coalitions that promote deviance and undermine parenting. Collusive sibling processes were identified and measured using macro ratings of videotaped family interactions. Hypotheses were tested on a multiethnic sample of urban youth, with a target child identified as either high risk (n = 26) or normative (n = 26), and their families. Siblings in families with a high-risk target child showed reliably higher rates of collusion than those in families with a normative target child. Sibling collusion also accounted for variance in problem behavior after controlling for involvement with deviant peers. Findings suggest that deviant conduct forms a common ground among siblings, potentially amplifying risk of mutuality in problem behavior during early adolescence. These data also indicate that attention to sibling relationship processes is relevant to family interventions designed to mitigate the development of behavior problems.     

Further experiments on probability-matching in the pigeon

In a discrete-trials, two-key choice situation, probability-learning by pigeons was studied under a variety of training conditions. Matching was found in simultaneous and in successive problems, but a spatial problem produced only maximizing. In the simultaneous problem, noncorrection produced maximizing, while correction produced matching. Guidance produced maximizing when the animals were required to earn each opportunity for choice by pecking a center key on FR-5, but matching when the center key was not used. In a discrete-trials one-key situation, with latency as the measure, frequency and probability of reinforcement were varied independently. Differences in probability produced differences in latency of response, but differences in frequency did not.     

Conceptual clarity in international collaborations: A point of departure for policy-relevant research on discrimination

A workshop was conducted as part of the International Metropolis Conference held in Vienna, Austria in September 2003. The Metropolis Project is meant to facilitate research in the area of migration that can optimally inform policy. In this context, a workshop was conducted with the objective of discussing how policy-relevant research on discrimination could be conducted internationally. Four broad areas were addressed: ‘key stakeholder’ involvement, obtaining ethical and other forms of approval, international, national and local funding opportunities, and qualitative and quantitative methodology and questionnaire development. Viewpoints represented included those of non-governmental organizations, researchers, health professionals, and policy-makers/implementers. Countries represented in the discussions included Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Key conceptual differences included how best to define discrimination, societal acknowledgement of discrimination, the meaning of ‘race’, ‘racism’, ‘national’, and ‘migrant’, and perceptions of national identity.     

Aggression and psychopathology in adolescents with a preference for violent electronic games

Associations between a preference for violent electronic games and adolescents’ self‐perceptions of problem behaviors and emotions were examined. It was predicted that a preference for violent games would be associated with negative externalizing characteristics, in particular aggressive emotions and behaviors, on the Youth Self‐Report (YSR), a standardized self‐report measure of adolescent problem behaviors. Thirty‐two 11‐ through 15‐year‐olds (17 girls) listed and categorized favorite electronic games into one of six predetermined categories and completed the YSR. MANOVA revealed significant relationships between a preference for violent games and the Thought Problems subscale (P < .01) and YSR Total Score (P < .05), with trends noted for the Internalizing (P < .06) and Anxious‐Depressed (P < .08) subscales. Expected relationships with externalizing behaviors, including aggression, were not found. However, across all YSR subscales, children with higher preference for violent games had more clinically significant elevations than those with low preference for violent games. On the Total Problems subscale, of the eight children receiving scores in the clinically significant range, six were in the High preference group (three boys and three girls). The failure to find the expected relationships between a preference for violent games and aggressive, externalizing behaviors is puzzling. It is possible that individuals with a preference for violent games may have high exposure to all forms of media violence. Their perceptions of their own behavior, in comparison, may not seem sufficiently aggressive to justify endorsement of problems in this area. Or, playing violent electronic games may promote a disconnection between the emotions normally associated with violence and violent acts. These explanations are consistent with a desensitization model where exposure to media violence decreases sensitivity to aggression. Aggr. Behav. 28:134–144, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

‘Making’ as a catalyst for reflective practice

Within the research and teaching program of maker pedagogy(TM), this study analyzes how teacher candidates construct knowledge about teaching and teaching with technology. The study applies an experiential-intuitive framework of reflective practice and takes cues from critical thinking to analyze the participants’ interactions in a maker pedagogy lab. Schön’s conception of reflection drove the data collection and analysis of participants who were asked to reflect on their experiences gained in the maker pedagogy lab. The researchers argue that the maker pedagogy lab provides participants with a way to understand their teaching practice. The results demonstrate that the maker projects enabled teacher candidates to engage in exploratory and hypothetical talk about how they are thinking about teaching and learning, particularly with technology. Furthermore, the researchers uncovered that teacher candidates’ prior knowledge and frames of reference affect their making experiences and their developing identities as science and technology teachers.     

Dynamic Social Impact: A Theory of the Origins and Evolution of Culture

Dynamic social impact theory suggests that culture is created and shaped by local social influence as defined by four phenomena: (i) clustering, or regional differences in cultural elements; (ii) correlation, or emergent associations between elements; (iii) consolidation, or a reduction in variance; and (iv) continuing diversity. This article describes dynamic social impact theory and its propositions and reviews research supporting its predictions using a variety of methodologies and several types of cultural elements. This research suggests that cultures can be created and changed from the bottom-up through everyday communication with neighbors, friends, and coworkers. Attributes that are more important, observable, and demonstrable and less heritable may be more likely to spread and differentiate cultures than others.     

State and trait anxiety: A cross-cultural comparison of Chinese and Caucasian students in Canada

Chinese people immigrating to North America are subject to specific Stressors in moving to a new country, and, furthermore, these factors interact with their cultural background to produce higher levels of anxiety than are commonly believed to exist. The present study compared the responses of 60 Chinese and 60 Caucasian Canadian students to questionnaires measuring multidimensional trait and state anxiety. As predicted, the Chinese students endorsed significantly higher levels of trait anxiety for ambiguous situations and daily routines than did the Caucasians. Moreover, they were also significantly more likely than the Caucasians to rate the research situation as being ambiguous and threatening. Of all the possible background variables tested, English fluency was the single most powerful covariate that was predictive of the results, with those students who indicated a lowered English proficiency tending to score higher across all four facets of trait anxiety. As the Chinese students were also significantly more likely than the Caucasians to indicate a lower level of English fluency, the present results are supportive of the likelihood that lack of familiarity with the adopted culture and language may contribute to adjustment difficulties in Chinese immigrants. This paper is based in part on an M.A. thesis in psychology at York University by the first author under the supervision of the second author. This research was supported in part by a research grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) to the second author (Grant No. 410-94-1473).     

Why Education in Public Schools Should Include Religious Ideals

This article aims to open a new line of debate about religion in public schools by focusing on religious ideals. The article begins with an elucidation of the concept ‘religious ideals’ and an explanation of the notion of reasonable pluralism, in order to be able to explore the dangers and positive contributions of religious ideals and their pursuit on a liberal democratic society. We draw our examples of religious ideals from Christianity and Islam, because these religions have most adherents in Western liberal democracies that are the focus of this article. The fifth and most important section “Reasonable pluralism and the inclusion of religious ideals in public secondary schools” provides three arguments for our claim that public schools should include religious ideals, namely that they are important to religious people, that they are conducive for the development of pupils into citizens of a liberal democracy, and that the flourishing of pupils as adults is advanced by encountering religious ideals. We also offer a more practical reason: religious ideals can more easily be included within public education than religious dogmas and rules.

Adolescent Friendship as a Dynamic System: Entropy and Deviance in the Etiology and Course of Male Antisocial Behavior

A dynamic systems framework was applied to understand the influence of friendship on antisocial behavior from childhood (age 9-10) through adulthood (age 24-25) for Oregon Youth Study males (N = 206). Boys were videotaped interacting with a friend at ages 14, 16, and 18, and deviant content and interpersonal processes were independently coded. Conditional dyadic interpersonal processes were studied as a communication system and summarized by an index of information entropy (F. Attneave, 1959). High entropy scores represent disorganized, unpredictable patterns of interaction, whereas low entropy scores reflect an organized dialogue. Conversations of early-onset antisocial boys and their best friends were less organized and included more deviant content than those of well-adjusted controls. Prediction analyses, however, revealed an interaction between entropy and deviant talk. Consistent with expectation, males with well-organized interactions (i.e., low entropy) but elevated levels of deviant content were most likely to continue antisocial behavior into adulthood. Findings suggest that individual risk for maladaptation may be amplified by early adolescent friendship dynamics organized around deviance.