Impact of induced joy on literacy in children: does the nature of the task make a difference?

This research examined whether induced joy influences fifth graders’ performance in literacy tasks. Children were asked to recall a joyful experience, used as a joy induction, before completing either a grammar (Study 1) or textual comprehension task (Study 2). The grammar task involved understanding at the surface level and retrieval of appropriate declarative and procedural knowledge, but limited elaboration unlike the textual comprehension task, which tackled inference generation. By differentiating tasks based on depth of processing required for completion we aimed at testing the validity of two concurrent hypotheses: that of a facilitating effect and that of a detrimental effect of induced joy. Compared to controls, joy induced children showed better performance on the grammar task – specifically children with lower language ability. No differences across groups emerged as a function of joy induction on the text comprehension task. Results are discussed with respect to emotion effects on cognition.     

3～6岁儿童情绪伪装认知能力发展及其与错误信念理解的关系

个体的情绪伪装能力是其情绪社会化发展极为重要的方面,选取某幼儿园123名3～6岁儿童为被试,通过“区分外表-真实情绪”任务和“错误信念”任务考察3～6岁儿童情绪伪装认知能力的发展特点,进而探讨情绪伪装认知与错误信念理解的关系.结果表明：（1）儿童情绪伪装认知能力随年龄增长而提高,3～5岁为儿童情绪伪装认知能力的快速发展期;（2）儿童在消极情境下区分内外情绪的能力显著高于在积极情境中的表现;同时,对两种情绪伪装动机（社会适应、自我保护）的认知能力无显著差异;（3）儿童情绪伪装认知和错误信念理解能力显著相关,两种错误信念（意外内容、意外地点）理解都能很好地预测情绪伪装认知能力.     

Promoting spiritual well-being: a quasi-experimental test of an element of Hay and Nye’s theory of children’s spirituality

This study is one of the first tests of key implicit claims of Hay and Nye’s theory of children’s spirituality and spiritual development. Two quasi-experimental studies tested two claims: that exposure to six conditions posited as fostering relational consciousness in a programme of spiritual formation promotes spiritual well-being; that the effect of the conditions continues after exposure ends. The results for Study One revealed that length of exposure to any of the six conditions was not a significant predictor of spiritual well-being, F(3, 179)?=?1.49, p = 0.22. Study Two results indicated that as the length of time since exposure increased so did spiritual well-being, r(38)?=?0.39, p = 0.01 at the bivariate level, and F(4, 35)?=?2.4, p = 0.06 in the regression. These results reveal a possible relationship between exposure to the six conditions and spiritual well-being.     

Effects of verbal ability and fluid intelligence on children's emotion understanding

This study investigated the role of verbal ability and fluid intelligence on children's emotion understanding, testing the hypothesis that fluid intelligence predicts the development of emotion comprehension over and above age and verbal ability. One hundred and two children (48 girls) aged 3.6–6 years completed the Test of Emotion Comprehension (TEC) that comprised external and mental components, the Coloured Progressive Matrices and the Test for Reception of Grammar. Regression analysis showed that fluid intelligence was not equally related to the external and mental components of the TEC (Pons & Harris, 2000). Specifically, the results indicated that the external component was related to age and verbal ability only, whereas recognition of mental emotional patterns required abstract reasoning skills more than age and verbal ability. It is concluded that the development of fluid intelligence has a significant role in the development of mental component of emotion comprehension.     

父母婚姻质量与儿童内化问题:父母情绪表达的中介作用与儿童迷走神经活动的调节作用

基于家庭系统理论与个体-环境交互理论,研究考察了父母情绪表达在父母婚姻质量与儿童内化问题关系中的中介作用,以及儿童迷走神经活动的调节作用。研究选取155名6~7岁小学儿童为被试,运用便携式生理多道记录仪采集儿童静息与任务状态下的心电（ECG）与呼吸率,换算出基线RSA与RSA反应作为迷走神经活动的指标,采用母亲报告的《婚姻质量问卷》、《家庭情绪表达问卷》和《儿童行为量表》测评父母婚姻质量、父母情绪表达及儿童内化问题。结果发现：（1）父母婚姻质量负向预测小学儿童内化问题;（2）父母消极、积极情绪表达在父母婚姻质量与小学儿童内化问题关系中起中介作用;（3）小学儿童迷走神经张力（基线RSA）调节父母消极情绪表达与儿童内化问题关系。研究结果表明父母婚姻质量不仅直接影响儿童内化问题,同时会通过父母情绪表达间接地影响儿童内化问题。另外,较高迷走神经张力能够缓冲父母消极情绪表达对儿童内化问题的影响。     

自闭症和智力障碍儿童行为问题与父母焦虑的关系:育儿压力的中介作用与领悟社会支持的调节作用

为探讨自闭症和智力障碍儿童行为问题与其父母焦虑的关系及其内在作用机制,研究采用问卷法对1023名自闭症和智力障碍儿童父母进行调查。结果表明：(1)自闭症和智力障碍儿童行为问题对父母焦虑具有正向预测作用;(2)育儿压力在儿童行为问题和父母焦虑间起中介作用;(3)儿童行为问题与育儿压力的关系受到领悟社会支持水平的调节,调节作用只在智力障碍儿童父母群体中显著。研究结果有助于揭示自闭症和智力障碍儿童行为问题对父母焦虑的影响及作用机制,对改善自闭症和智力障碍儿童父母育儿压力与焦虑具有一定指导意义。     

Drawing conclusions: Instructing witnesses to draw what happened to them

We reviewed the child and the adult literature on the impact of witnesses drawing what happened on the number of details recalled and the accuracy of the reported details. Most experiments reported a beneficial effect of drawing what happened (or drawing the scene) on the number of details reported primarily in free recall and sometimes also in cued recall. The consensus across studies was that drawing protocols did not negatively impact the accuracy of reported details (when accuracy was attainable) unless suggestive details were drawn. These results were largely consistent regardless of interviewer expertise or protocol used. Draw-and-tell instructions should be considered by forensic investigators for the following reasons: (1) the beneficial effect on number of details recalled with no detriment to accuracy, (2) the added benefit for children who need additional interviewer support, and (3) the ease at which the instruction can be implemented with minimal expertise or training. However, more ecologically valid research is needed to establish the efficacy of drawing (1) in forensic interviews, (2) in the presence of misinformation, (3) across instances of repeated event memory, and (4) across sequential interviews.     

The nature space. A reflexive thematic analysis of therapists' experiences of 1:1 nature-based counselling and psychotherapy with children and young people: Exploring perspectives on the influence of nature within the therapeutic process

Nature-based therapy is an emerging and rapidly developing field within counselling and psychotherapy, yet there is little published empirical research, or integrated models relating to its practice with Children and Young People (CYP). The present study aimed to explore therapists’ experiences of one-to-one nature-based counselling and psychotherapy with CYP, eliciting perspectives on the interaction between nature and the therapeutic process. A reflexive thematic analysis provides preliminary insights into possible mechanisms of action with the potential to inform a longer-term exploration of whether nature-based therapy is effective, for whom and why. The study highlights the need to better explore and understand how nature-based therapy supports relational and intrapsychic change in interaction with developmental processes, to inform construction of coherent and consolidated theory and models for practice.     

父母心理控制与对立违抗障碍儿童抑郁和攻击行为的关系:父子依恋和母子依恋的中介效应

采用父母心理控制、亲子依恋、抑郁量表对从北京市、山东省和云南省14所小学筛选出来的246名对立违抗障碍(Oppositional Defiant Disorder,ODD)儿童进行施测,并由被试的班主任填写儿童攻击行为量表,考察父、母心理控制对ODD儿童抑郁和攻击行为的影响,以及父子依恋和母子依恋在其中的中介作用。结果发现:(1)ODD儿童中男生人数更多,且男孩的抑郁和攻击行为更严重;(2)父亲对男孩的心理控制更强,而母亲在对男孩和女孩的心理控制上没有显著差异;(3)父、母心理控制与ODD儿童的父子依恋、母子依恋和抑郁均呈显著相关,但只有父亲心理控制与ODD儿童的攻击行为显著相关;(4)父子依恋在父母心理控制和ODD儿童抑郁之间没有起到显著的中介作用,母子依恋在母亲心理控制和ODD儿童抑郁之间有显著的中介作用。父子依恋和母子依恋在父、母心理控制和ODD儿童攻击行为之间均没有起到显著的中介作用。     

小学一年级阅读流畅性对二、三年级阅读理解的预测

采用追踪研究考察了124名小学一年级儿童的阅读流畅性对其二、三年级阅读理解的影响。结果发现,在控制了性别、家庭社会经济地位、推理能力、汉字识别、口语词汇及多种阅读相关认知技能之后,儿童一年级时的字词流畅性可以预期其二、三年级时的阅读理解水平,句子流畅性对二年级时阅读理解的变异有独特解释作用,但对三年级时阅读理解的变异没有显著的解释作用。相对于句子流畅性,字词流畅性在小学低年级阶段对阅读理解的贡献更大。