Self-Perceived Peer Acceptance in Preschoolers of Differing Economic and Cultural Backgrounds

Self-evaluation begins in early childhood and becomes more nuanced as children get older. However, little is known about the specific factors that predict self-perception and in particular peer acceptance, early in life. This is especially true for low-income children and children of different ethnicities. This study examined 4-year-old children's feelings of social acceptance relative to teachers' perceptions. It also explored whether temperament, language skills, traditional parenting, and teachers' perceptions of peer acceptance were related to children's self-perceptions. Using 94 preschoolers from different cultural and economic backgrounds as participants, results of a mixed model analysis of variance indicated that the relation between children's self-perceptions and teachers' ratings were not uniform across economic and cultural groups. In addition, results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses demonstrated that traditional parenting was one of the strongest predictors of children's social self-perceptions. Beyond parenting, children with relatively good verbal skills, who were not temperamentally shy, tended to perceive themselves as socially competent.     

Diagnostics of Robust Growth Curve Modeling Using Student's t Distribution

Growth curve models with different types of distributions of random effects and of intraindividual measurement errors for robust analysis are compared. After demonstrating the influence of distribution specification on parameter estimation, 3 methods for diagnosing the distributions for both random effects and intraindividual measurement errors are proposed and evaluated. The methods include (a) distribution checking based on individual growth curve analysis; (b) distribution comparison based on Deviance Information Criterion, and (c) post hoc checking of degrees of freedom estimates for t distributions. The performance of the methods is compared through simulation studies. When the sample size is reasonably large, the method of post hoc checking of degrees of freedom estimates works best. A web interface is developed to ease the use of the 3 methods. Application of the 3 methods is illustrated through growth curve analysis of mathematical ability development using data on the Peabody Individual Achievement Test Mathematics assessment from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 Cohort (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, 2005).     

Computer-Mediated Communication Versus Vocal Communication and the Attenuation of Pre-Interaction Impressions

Conflicting theoretical approaches yield divergent predictions about the effects of telephones versus computer-mediated communication (CMC) in the persistence or dissipation of pre-interaction expectancies. Moreover, different theoretical orientations and their underlying assumptions often invoke different methodologies, which can bias the results of research. The current studies articulate and assess rival hypotheses from alternative theoretical paradigms to uncover how CMC and vocal communication affect interpersonal impressions. Methodological issues in past CMC research are evaluated that limit the generalizability of previous findings in the area. Experiments employing alternative assumptions and methods indicate that CMC is functionally equivalent to vocal communication in its ability to ameliorate expectancies and that in some cases it can be superior in transmitting positive impressions.     

Environmental anxiety: Assessing emotional distress and concerns after toxin exposure

Abstract

Anxiety in face of environmental risks is common, but few attempts have been made to assess individual differences psychometrically and to validate the measures in samples that have suffered from exposure to neurotoxic substances. The present study deals with this problem in two ways. First, levels of general anxiety were determined in two large independent samples of workers who were exposed to multiple organic solvents and in their nonexposed referents. In both samples, anxiety was substantially higher in exposed subjects than in their referents. Second, an Environmental Worry Scale (EWS) was developed and validated in three samples. This 17-item instrument and its 8-item subscale yielded satisfactory psychometric properties and also succeeded in discriminating solvent exposed from nonexposed subjects. Finally, the EWS was used in a structural equation model that was designed to predict the intention to avoid chemicals. The worry factor served as a mediator between exposure and intention, whereas exposure by itself did not influence intentions.     

The European Early Promotion Project: A new primary health care service to promote children's mental health

The number of children in Europe with significant psychologic and social problems is large and increasing. This article describes an innovative crosscultural method of working with families to promote the psychosocial well being of children and prevent the development of psychologic and social problems. A study designed to evaluate the effects of the service is also presented. Primary health care workers in five European countries have been trained to conduct promotional interviews with all prospective mothers in their area one month before and one month after birth. They have also been taught to work with mothers identified as in need of support as a parent by using a specific counselling model to try to prevent the onset of child mental health difficulties. Effects of the intervention on children's psychologic development and family adaptation are being evaluated at two years in comparison with matched groups not receiving the intervention. ©2002 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

An Appraisal Account of Individual Differences in Emotional Experience

People can differ tremendously in the emotions they experience, both in general as well as in response to specific events, and such differences have large impact on their lives. Based on recent research on individual differences in appraisal and emotion, we propose a framework to understand the basis for individual differences in emotional experience. In this framework, individual differences in how people appraise their circumstances and in how these appraisals are related to emotional experience are seen as crucial in determining how people differ in both contextualized emotional experience and more stable emotional dispositions. We discuss parallels with other explanatory frameworks, implications for the nature of emotion traits, and directions for future research.     

视时距知觉适应后效的空间选择性

时距知觉适应后效是指长时间适应于某一特定时距会导致个体对后续时距产生知觉偏差。其中对视时距知觉适应后效空间选择性的探讨存在争议,有研究支持位置不变性,也有研究支持位置特异性。这类研究能有效揭示时距编码的认知神经机制,位置不变性可能意味着时距编码位于较高级的脑区,而位置特异性则可能意味着时距编码位于初级视觉皮层。未来还可以探究时距知觉适应后效的视觉坐标表征方式,开展多通道研究以及相应的神经基础研究。     

Delayed reward learning: Disproof of the traditional theory

Without the aid of secondary rewards to bridge the temporal gap, each of 15 rats learned to select the rewarded side of a T-maze although the reward was delayed until 1 min after the response was emitted. Similar results were obtained from another group of eight rats for which the length of the delay was 5 min. In a final experiment using the same basic procedure, five groups of rats were trained for 25 days with delays of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, or 8.0 min. The percentage of correct responses did not significantly differ among groups. According to prevailing psychological theory, these results are impossible.     

Contour displacements and tracking errors: Probing ’twixt Poggendorff parallels

Explanations of the Poggendorff effect were tested by varying the separation between outer parallels and by adding interior parallels. Error decreased with the addition of interior parallels, which can be explained by repulsion of parallels. A strong linear trend existed for judgmental error in millimeters plotted against separation between outer parallels. The nonzero intercept of a best-fit line and the slight nonlinearity of the data suggest a hypothesis of contour repulsion between parallels at moderate separations coupled with mistracking of the transversal across the region between parallels. Since the Poggendorff effect was independent of viewing distance, perceptual errors cannot be explained by purely peripheral mechanisms. A true intersection between transversal and parallel was the most critical feature of a display. Inverting a display increased the mean error.