The Disambiguation Prediction Effect

ABSTRACT

Children tend to select a novel object rather than a familiar object when asked to identify the referent of a novel label. Current accounts of this so-called disambiguation effect do not address whether children have a general metacognitive representation of this way of determining the reference of novel labels. In two experiments (each N = 48), three- and four-year-olds received a prediction task that required such a representation. In the initial phase, children completed four disambiguation test trials that were presented as instances of the same “game.” In the next phase, they received four additional trials. These differed only in that before the label was presented, children were asked to predict which object “was going to be right.” On the first prediction trial, most four-year-olds predicted the novel object, whereas most three-year-olds did not. On subsequent trials, despite having received feedback regarding predictions, three-year-olds showed no tendency to begin to predict the novel object, whereas most four-year-olds continued to make this prediction. These findings add to the evidence that most children develop a general metacognitive representation of their tendency to map novel labels onto novel rather than familiar objects some time around their fourth birthday.     

A Seat at the Table: Using Social Media as a Platform to Resolve Microaggressions Against Transgender Persons

Transgender, gender variant, and/or gender nonconforming persons are marginalized and pathologized in society and communities. The advent and widespread use of social media introduce an entirely new avenue of expression where cyber bullying and verbal assaults are common. Yet, social media also has the capacity to reach more people in more places, thus presenting a potentially powerful platform for advocacy. Grounded in digital critical participatory action research, the authors present a multimedia advocacy project that highlights advocacy strategies in which counselors can utilize social media to raise awareness, promote inclusion, and resolve microaggressions toward transgender persons.     

ROCs in Eyewitness Identification: Instructions versus Confidence Ratings

From the perspective of signal detection theory, different lineup instructions may induce different levels of response bias. If so, then collecting correct and false identification rates across different instructional conditions will trace out the receiver operating characteristic (ROC)—the same ROC that, theoretically, could also be traced out from a single instruction condition in which each eyewitness decision is accompanied by a confidence rating. We tested whether the two approaches do in fact yield the same ROC. Participants were assigned to a confidence rating condition or to an instructional biasing condition (liberal, neutral, unbiased, or conservative). After watching a video of a mock crime, participants were presented with instructions followed by a six‐person simultaneous photo lineup. The ROCs from both methods were similar, but they were not exactly the same. These findings have potentially important policy implications for how the legal system should go about controlling eyewitness response bias.Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of Physical Abuse on Internalizing Behavior Across Generations

This study investigated the multigenerational impact of mothers’ own exposure to physical maltreatment on internalizing symptoms in her child after accounting for her parenting practices, depression, and the child’s own exposure to stressful life events. Children (n?=?101, ages 5–16), predominantly African American, were recruited into this cross sectional study using ethnographic mapping and targeted sampling for high-risk neighborhoods. Mothers reported retrospectively on their own exposure to physical maltreatment in childhood, their parenting practices, as well as current depressive symptoms. Maternal report of her child’s exposure to stressful life events and child behavior was also collected. Maternal childhood exposure to physical maltreatment was significantly associated with her child’s internalizing symptoms (p?=?.004); this effect remained after accounting for child sex, maternal depressive symptoms, harsh parenting practices, and the child’s own exposure to stressful life events. Formal tests of mediation through these pathways were non-significant. Findings suggest mothers’ experience of childhood maltreatment contributes uniquely to children’s internalizing symptoms, potentially through previously uncharacterized pathways. Examination of additional behavioral, psychosocial and biological pathways may help better describe the multi-generational effects of child maltreatment.     

The link between preschoolers' executive function and theory of mind and the role of epistemic states

The aim of this study was to assess the specific relation between 3- to 6-year-olds’ performance on a task measuring executive function (EF), the Dimensional Change Card Sort task (DCCS), and different developmental attainments in their theory of mind (ToM) by employing a battery of scaled ToM tasks that were comparable in task format and task demands. In addition, individual differences on the temperamental dimensions emotionality, activity, sociability, and shyness were assessed by parental rating. The main findings show that children’s (N = 195) performance on the DCCS related to their overall performance on the ToM scale but that this relation was specific to those ToM tasks that tap children’s understanding of epistemic states such as knowledge access, diverse beliefs, and false beliefs regarding content and location. The relation between children’s EF and overall ToM performance remained significant after controlling for age, sentence comprehension, child temperament, and parental education. Individual differences in child activity showed consistent negative relation to EF and ToM abilities. The findings point to a differential involvement of the various EF components in reasoning about different mental concepts.     

Channels of Change: Contrasting Network Mechanisms in the Use of Interventions

This study informs community science, and seeks to narrow the research-to-practice gap, by examining how the interpersonal networks within a setting influence individuals' use of interventions. More specifically, it explores the role of two network mechanisms-cohesion and structural similarity-in urban elementary school teachers' use of interventions designed to improve academic and behavioral outcomes for students. Lagged regression models examine how position in advice giving networks influenced weekly use of the daily report card and peer assisted learning by kindergarten through fourth grade teachers in three schools. Results indicate that intervention use spreads among teachers with similar patterns of advice-giving relationships (i.e., via structural similarity), rather than from teachers who are sources of advice (i.e., via cohesion). These results are consistent with findings in other settings, and suggest that researchers wishing to increase the use of an intervention should select change agents based on their patterns of their relationships, rather than on their direct connections.     

Perceiving action-relevant properties of tools through dynamic touch: effects of mass distribution, exploration style, and intention

At issue in the present series of experiments was the ability to prospectively perceive the action-relevant properties of hand-held tools by means of dynamic touch. In Experiment 1, participants judged object move-ability. In Experiment 2, participants judged how difficult an object would be to hold if held horizontally, and in Experiments 3 and 4, participants rated how fast objects could be rotated. In each experiment, the first and second moments of mass distribution of the objects were systematically varied. Manipulations of wielding speed and orientation during restricted exploration revealed perception to be constrained by (a) the moments of mass distribution of the hand-tool system, (b) the qualities of exploratory wielding movements, and (c) the intention to perceive each specific property. The results are considered in the context of the ecological theory of dynamic touch. Implications for accounts of the informational basis of dynamic touch and for the development of a theory of haptically perceiving the affordance properties of tools are discussed.     

The influence of attachment and temperament on venipuncture distress in 14-month-old infants: the Generation R Study

Objective

This study examined the effects of attachment and temperament on infant distress during venipuncture.

Method

The study was embedded in the Generation R Study, a prospective population-based study. Two different research procedures (i.e., blood sampling and the Ainsworth Strange Situation Procedure) yielded measures of venipuncture distress and attachment security and disorganization in 246 infants aged 14 months. Four temperament traits (distress to limitations, fear, recovery from distress, and sadness) were assessed using the maternally reported Infant Behavior Questionnaire - Revised, at the age of 6 months.

Results

There were no differences between mean levels of distress during venipuncture in infants classified as having insecure attachment, but there was a trend for disorganized attachment. The temperament traits were not related to distress. However, children with a disorganized attachment and higher temperamental fear had more venipuncture distress.

Conclusion

When different risk factors are present simultaneously, infant distress is heightened.