‘A philosophy of change’: Emotions,civil society and global development

Dominant paradigms of global development have historically been devoid of emotions, connected with racialized and gendered ideas of rationality and civility. Within contemporary scholarship there is however increasing recognition of the importance of emotions for understanding development processes. This paper adds to this body of work by exploring the ways that emotions shape how people who are trying to ‘do’ development actually do it. Drawing on empirical material from conversations with civil society activists based on the Caribbean islands of Grenada and Barbados, this article explores some of the emotions that are present within civil society organizing and makes the case that in this context emotions are not just felt, they are generative of civil society organizing and wider development processes. Focusing on shame, the article demonstrates how emotions are produced relationally within civil society organizing, how emotions are generative and can co-construct spaces for civil society and how civic organizing can act as counter-expressions to these feelings. Emotions are then constitutive of global development, yet often neglected in dominant discourses of civil society within the development sphere, with professional subjectivities dominant.     

Asymmetrical responding to male versus female other-race categories in 9- to 12-month-old infants

Faces can be categorized along various dimensions including gender or race, an ability developing in infancy. Infant categorization studies have focused on facial attributes in isolation, but the interaction between these attributes remains poorly understood. Experiment 1 examined gender categorization of other-race faces in 9- and 12-month-old White infants. Nine- and 12-month-olds were familiarized with Asian male or female faces, and tested with a novel exemplar from the familiarized category paired with a novel exemplar from a novel category. Both age groups showed novel category preferences for novel Asian female faces after familiarization with Asian male faces, but showed no novel category preference for novel Asian male faces after familiarization with Asian female faces. This categorization asymmetry was not due to a spontaneous preference hindering novel category reaction (Experiment 2), and both age groups displayed difficulty discriminating among male, but not female, other-race faces (Experiment 3). These results indicate that category formation for male other-race faces is mediated by categorical perception. Overall, the findings suggest that even by 12 months of age, infants are not fully able to form gender category representations of other-race faces, responding categorically to male, but not female, other-race faces.     

The co‐construction of joint action between mothers and 2–4‐month‐old infants: the mother's role

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to describe object‐centred interactions between mothers and their 2–4‐month‐old infants, before and during the emergence of reaching and grasping movements. We hypothesized that when reaching movements emerge at around 3 months, mothers alternate between attention stimulation and reaching stimulation, before joint actions between mother and infant develop around objects. Twelve dyads were recorded when infants were 2 months, 3 months and 4 months. The interactive sessions lasted 5 min. Three age‐appropriate toys the infant could handle were available to the mother. A principal component analysis (PCA) was performed on verbal and non‐verbal maternal behaviours, motor infant behaviours and co‐occurrences of those behaviours. The developmental course of prehension in infants when playing with their mother follows similar pathways, as was described when they are observed alone. Mothers appeared to early scaffold prehension skills by verbal and non‐verbal means. Moreover, maternal behaviours change according to the infant's behaviour, and conversely, infant's behaviours influence maternal behaviours: mother plays first an active part in joint action, while later on, the infant achieves joint action when motor skills develop. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Early cognitive development and parental education

Relations between cognitive development in infancy and early childhood, and parental education were examined. Previous research has found little association between measures of the parenting environment, including parental education and socio‐economic status (SES), and cognitive development in infants and children under 2 years of age. However, the earlier studies may not have reliably measured individual differences in cognitive abilities, thus, there is uncertainty as to what age elements in the parental environment affect cognitive development. Seventy‐six infants were tested on a range of cognitive tasks at 3‐month intervals between the ages of 9 and 18 months. Information on parental education (a component of SES) was collected. Seventy‐one of the children returned at 27 months and completed the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, Mental Scale, which was used as an outcome measure for the earlier tasks. The findings present a clear indication that cognitive development in early childhood is affected by the parenting environment, at least from as early as 12 months. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of quantity and quality of home proximal processes on Dutch,Surinamese–Dutch and Turkish–Dutch pre‐schoolers’ cognitive development

This study examines the effects of mother–child literacy and problem solving interactions on 3–4‐year‐old children's cognitive development in a sample of Dutch middle‐class, Dutch lower‐class, Surinamese and Turkish immigrant families (n=130). Following the bioecological model of Bronfenbrenner and Ceci, mother–child book reading and problem solving interactions are viewed as proximal processes actualizing genetic cognitive potential. Interactions are studied from a quantitative perspective, based on questionnaire data, concerning frequency of exposure to these interactions, and a qualitative perspective, based on observational data, concerning affective quality and cognitive content. The study was designed as a 1 year longitudinal study. It was found that effects of mother–child interactions on cognitive development differed across the groups, controlling for earlier cognitive competence and family's SES. The findings are interpreted within the frame of the bioecological model and the behavioral genetic research paradigm. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A methodology to assess the utility of future space systems

The Air Force SPACECAST 2020 study identified and prioritized some future space systems and technologies required in the next century. This paper presents the results of research on the SPACECAST 2020 value model. The model determines and prioritizes future space systems’ utility towards controlling and exploiting space. This research identifies the assumptions and simplifications in the additive utility function and assesses modifications. The research shows that mutual utility independence of the mission areas is a reasonable assumption. Mutual utility independence allows the use of the multiplicative and multilinear utility functions. Also, the SPACECAST 2020 scoring functions used the same scoring scale and only measured the utility of future capabilities. This study makes modifications to the SPACECAST 2020 measure-of-merit scoring functions. It replaces most of these functions with either a concave, convex, linear or ‘S’ scoring function, which have expanded capability ranges to include both current and future capabilities. The modified scoring functions and alternative utility functions do not alter the SPACECAST 2020 results but do improve the credibility and future usefulness of the model. This study shows that the initial assumption of using an additive utility function is also valid. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Early maternal stimulation and the development of cognitive competence and attention of preterm infants

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between several dimensions of maternal interactive behaviours, and cognitive development and attention in preterm infants. Of special interest was the question of whether high levels of maternal stimulation and activity may have negative consequences for the development of preterm infants. Sixty-six preterm infants and their mothers were followed longitudinally and videotaped in interaction situations at home, at the infant age of 6, 9 and 12 months. Mothers behaviours were scored on involvement, sensitive responsiveness, non-intrusiveness and level of activity. Moreover, infant cognitive status was assessed at 6, 12 and 24 months of age, using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Infant ability in problem solving and attention were assessed in two problem solving tasks at 18 and 24 months of age. The results showed that infant cognitive status at 12 and 24 months was best predicted by maternal involvement and infant responsiveness. No significant relationships were found between maternal interactive behaviours and infant ability in problem solving and attention. More importantly, there was no indication that high levels of maternal stimulation or intrusiveness may have a negative impact on later cognitive development and attention in preterm infants. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

抑郁认知易感性应激模式的研究：起源、发展和整合

近年来,对抑郁易感性的研究,已经成为探寻抑郁心理病理的一个热点。文章介绍了抑郁易感性应激模型的相关定义、起源、及主要特点。介绍了在当代具有代表性的3个理论：（1）Abramson的抑郁无望理论;（2）Beck的认知易感理论;（3）双信息过程理论。尤其对抑郁认知易感性因素本身的起源、发展及影响因素进行了评述。最后,介绍了整合的抑郁认知易感性应激模型。在此基础上,提出了模型进一步完善和发展的方向