Parent attributions of emotion to their children and the cues children use in perceiving their own emotions

A number of studies have demonstrated stable individual differences in the cues that generate emotions and other feeling states. These differences are assumed to arise from the cues parents use to identify their children's emotional states. As children learn about their own emotional states, they come to rely on these same cues. To test one implication of their view, the facial expressions of children (N=41) were manipulated and their feelings assessed. Some children reported emotions consistent with their expressions, while others reported emotions appropriate to the situation. In a separate procedure, their mothers were asked to identify the emotional states of children whose expressions were inconsistent with an account of their circumstances. Mothers who paid more attention to their children's expressive behavior had children who were more responsive to their own expressive behavior. In contrast, the mothers who were more responsive to situational cues had children whose emotions arose from the situational cues as well.The authors would like to thank numerous teachers and administrators of the Worcester Public School system in Worcester, Massachusetts, for their assistance.     

A taxonomy of item response models

A number of models for categorical item response data have been proposed in recent years. The models appear to be quite different. However, they may usefully be organized as members of only three distinct classes, within which the models are distinguished only by assumptions and constraints on their parameters. “Difference models” are appropriate for ordered responses, “divide-by-total” models may be used for either ordered or nominal responses, and “left-side added” models are used for multiple-choice responses with guessing. The details of the taxonomy and the models are described in this paper. The present study was supported in part by two postdoctoral fellowships awarded to Lynne Steinberg: an Educational Testing Service Postdoctoral Fellowship at ETS, Princeton, NJ and an NIMH Individual National Research Service Award at Stanford University, Stanford, CA. Helpful comments by the editor and three anonymous reviewers are gratefully acknowledged.     

On the detectability of straight lines in visual noise: An extension of French’s paradigm into the millisecond domain

We report the results of a study that investigated the effects of four experimental parameters on the tachistoscopic detectability of dotted lines in a noisy background consisting of dynamic patterns of identical dots. Characteristics of the lines that were explored included dot spacing, dot numerosity, and line orientation. Dot spacing was shown to be the most powerful parameter in determining the masking effect: the closer the dots, the more easily the line was detected. Increasing the number of the dots was also effective in increasing the detectability of a line, but only up to a limit of five dots. The orientation of the line, on the other hand, did not alter its detectability. Increasing the density of the visual masking noise monotonically reduced the detectability of the line. These studies are an extension of French’s (1953, 1954) work, differing mainly in the fact that the stimulus material was presented tachistoscopically rather than in a mode that allowed prolonged (up to 5 sec) examination of the figures. Thus, they put the results in a domain in which physiological interpretations may be more critically evaluated. A comparison of the results suggests that essentially the same sorts of cognitive mechanisms are operating in the millisecond domain as in the longer exposures. This suggests that simple neurological models utilizing the concept of feature filters or detectors may be being prematurely applied to relatively complex perceptual processes.     

The role of observer attitudes in judgments of blame in cases of wife assault

This study examines the importance of observer characteristics in determining blame in cases of wife assault. Four independent variables (observer's attitudes toward sex roles, observer sex and age, and victim behavior) were assessed for their influence on the blaming judgments of 128 participants. Subjects completed a questionnaire that contained demographic items and six wife assault vignettes that varied in level of victim provocation (low or high). Questions about blame of the husband and wife followed each vignette. An attitudes toward women scale (AWS-B) was then administered. The main hypothesis, that subjects with traditional attitudes would blame the victim more and the perpetrator less for the assault than their egalitarian counterparts, was supported, as was the prediction of an interaction between provocation and AWS-B. The results are discussed in light of the role of observer attitudes in attribution models.     

Cognition and metacognition at extreme altitudes on Mount Everest

The FACTRETRIEVAL2 test battery, which assesses both retrieval of general information from memory and metacognition about that retrieval, was administered to people before and after a recent expedition to Mount Everest and at extreme altitudes above 6,400 m (higher than any mountain in North America or Europe). The major findings were as follows: First, the same extreme altitudes already known to impair learning did not affect either accuracy or latency of retrieval, and this robustness of retrieval occurred for both recall and forced-choice recognition. Second, extreme altitude did affect metacognition: The climbers showed a decline in their feeling of knowing both while at extreme altitude and after returning to Kathmandu (i.e., both an effect and an aftereffect of extreme altitude). Third, extreme altitude had different effects than alcohol intoxication (previously assessed by Nelson. McSpadden, Fromme, & Marlatt, 1986). Alcohol intoxication affected retrieval without affecting metacognition, whereas extreme altitude affected metacognition without affecting retrieval; this different pattern for extreme altitude versus alcohol intoxication implies that (a) hypoxia does not always yield the same outcome as alcohol intoxication and (b) neither retrieval nor metacognition is strictly more sensitive than the other for detecting changes in independent variables.     

Values of Postpartum Women from the Inner City: An Exploratory Study

An exploratory study of the values of inner-city postpartum women was conducted. Subjects were largely single, with many on/or going on public assistance. Each subject was given the Rokeach Value Scale and asked to prioritize the terminal values (goals) in terms of herself and the instrumental values (means) in terms of what she would like to teach her child. Rankings were compared to corresponding rankings compiled by a national sample, considered a more traditional era, and by marital status within the postpartum mother sample itself. Economic values were ranked higher by inner-city mothers than by the national sample. The top terminal value was family security and the top instrumental value was responsible. When compared by marital status, the only significant difference was the higher ranking of mature love given by married women. Results suggests that the values of the inner-city single postpartum mother can be conceptualized as a mosaic incorporating values shared with the mainstream and values adapted to the conditions of poverty.     

Contextualizing social identity in considerations of what it means to be a nurse

This paper describes research which provide the context for a discussion of how social representations can circumscribe identity possibilities and render feasible certain groups evaluations. Specifically, a research approach is advocated in which Social Identity and Social Representation Theory are integrated within single complementary paradigm, (Breakwell, 1993). A brief but critical examination of both theoretical traditions is ofered as the backdrop to this. A case study is described as a means of illustrating the unique potential of the integrated paradigm to predict and explain the meaning of social identity and the evaluations it affords. An investigation is then described involving 178 nurses ranging from Trainee to Charge Nurse status. Nurses were invited to use Q-sorts to describe the meaning of their group membership. As predicted from having identified the types of social representation of nurses available, two diferent identity orientations emerged: a communal-interpersonal (Patient Centred) and instrumental-intergroup (Professional Distinctiveness). The communal-interpersonal identity orientation was most typical of the lower status trainee nurses and also female nurses. In turn, higher status nurses and also male nurses, articulated a primarily instrumental-intergroup identity orientation. The evaluations signalled by group membership were also predictable from the identity orientations exhibited.     

Parents, infants, and day-care teachers: Interrelations and implications for better child care

Many young children are reared today in both family and child-care settings. The relation that exists between these two settings has important implications for child care. Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological model is used as a way to view the interrelations among children, families, and child-care programs. Data from a study of infants in day care provide information on the time infants spend in family and day-care contexts, how parents and caregivers view children's behavior in these two settings, and rates of otitis media (ear infections) and other illnesses for these children. Results show that infants spend about twice as many hours per day awake with parents as in day care. Regarding child behaviors, parents and caregivers seem to have similar behaviors they like and dislike, but they each see particular children quite differently with respect to these behaviors. Finally, infants in this sample were diagnosed with illnesses 60% to 70% of the time. Findings are discussed in terms of the ecological model with particular attention given to relations between parents and caregivers.