Development of time concepts: differentiating clock and calendar from apparent durations

To investigate the role of perception and stress on time concepts, the real-time and apparent durations of common events varying in length from 30 s to 4 years were rated by kindergarten through 12th-grade pupils, college students, professors, and stress-impaired adults (N = 1,788). The events were pleasant, neutral or unpleasant; either directly perceptible and of specific duration or perceptually vague; and happened either to oneself or to someone else. Second graders differentiated apparent from real-time durations and, therefore, already had an abstract concept of time. As predicted from differentiation theory (Gibson, E. J., 1969; Gibson, J. J., 1966, 1983), longer durations were acquired later than shorter ones; perceptually-vague durations were acquired later than clearly perceptible ones of similar length; and, as Neisser (1976) also suggested, stress did not lead to regression, nor did the personal-impersonal dimension make a difference during childhood.     

Instability of hierarchical cluster analysis due to input order of the data: the PermuCLUSTER solution

Hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis (HACA) may yield different solutions under permutations of the input order of the data. This instability is caused by ties, either in the initial proximity matrix or arising during agglomeration. The authors recommend to repeat the analysis on a large number of random permutations of the rows and columns of the proximity matrix and select a solution with the highest goodness-of-fit. This approach was implemented in an SPSS add-in, PermuCLUSTER, which can perform all HACA methods of SPSS. Analyses of 2 data sets show that (a) results are affected by input order, (b) instability in one method co-occurs with instability in other methods, and (c) some instability effects are more dramatic because they occur at higher agglomeration levels.     

Satisfaction and frustration of autonomy and relatedness needs: Associations with parenting dimensions and psychological functioning

Framed from Basic Psychological Needs Theory (Ryan and Deci in American Psychologist 55:68–78; Ryan, Deci, American Psychologist 55:68–78, 2000) and Ka?itçiba?i’s Autonomous-Related Self Theory (Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 36:1–20; Ka?itçiba?i, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 36:1–20, 2005), the study examined the relationships of adolescents’ satisfaction and frustration of autonomy and relatedness, with (a) adolescents’ perception of mother’s and father’s psychological control and autonomy support, and (b) adolescents’ self-acceptance and anxiety. Participants were 556 adolescents (M?=?17.25, SD?=?0.92). Path analysis showed more significant associations of autonomy support with satisfaction/frustration of autonomy and relatedness than psychological control, reporting also some differences between parents. Moreover, both satisfaction and frustration of autonomy and relatedness were associated with adolescents’ self-acceptance and anxiety although in different ways. Our study provides further data, useful to understand how needs for autonomy and relatedness are associated with parenting dimensions and contribute to the adjustment of adolescents living in psychologically interdependent cultures, taking into account the role of each parent as well as the separate contribution of need satisfaction and need frustration.     

Parenting Dimensions and Internalizing Difficulties in Italian and U.S. Emerging Adults: The Intervening Role of Autonomy and Relatedness

The present study examined the associations between emerging adults’ perceived parental psychological control and autonomy support, and their autonomy, relatedness and internalizing difficulties in Italy and the U.S. The participants included 494 Italian and 414 U.S. college students, between 18 and 28 years of age (Mean = 21.58, SD = 2.18). Our findings showed that dependency-oriented psychological control had no significant direct associations with autonomy, relatedness or internalizing difficulties. Moreover, the association between parental autonomy support and internalizing problems was fully intervened by autonomy and relatedness, whereas the association between achievement-oriented psychological control and anxiety and depressive symptoms was partially intervened by autonomy and relatedness. Finally, although parental psychological control and autonomy support had similar effects on maladjustment across the two countries, relatedness appeared to play a more central role as an intervening variable for anxiety in the Italian group than in the U.S. group. Overall, our findings highlighted the importance of examining parents’ contributions to emerging adults’ internalizing problems via autonomy support and psychological control across cultures.     

Women report being more likely than men to model their relationships after what they have seen on TV.

Students (21 men and 50 women) anonymously answered questions about imitating relationships seen on TV. The women were more likely than men to report trying to model family life after what they saw on TV situational comedies and to expect their significant other to act as those seen on TV. They also more frequently reported experiencing a significant other acting as those on TV. There was no difference by sex in current age, parents' marital status during the students' formative years, or age of separation, divorce, or widowing if any occurred. For neither women nor men did a broken home during the formative years correlate with looking to TV for information on relationships.