Loving and angry? Happy and sad? Understanding and reporting of mixed emotions in mother–child relationships by 6‐ to 12‐year‐olds

The Evaluative Space Model of emotions allows for the coactivation of positive‐appetitive and negative‐avoidant systems, but few studies have examined mixed emotions in child development. Existing research suggests children's understanding of opposite valence emotion combinations emerges by approximately 11 years of age. However, it is not yet clear whether various opposite valence combinations are understood at different ages, nor whether children can understand them in others before they have experienced such mixed emotions themselves. Semi‐structured interviews with 97 children investigated whether they regarded six combinations of opposite valence mixed emotions as possible, could provide reasons for them, and report their own experience of each in the context of mother–child relationships. Both understanding that such combinations are possible and ability to provide reasons for them increased after age 6 and up to age 11, but were still incomplete in 12‐year‐olds. Understanding of different opposite valence combinations developed at different rates. At each age, fewer children who showed understanding of these combinations in others reported having had a similar experience themselves. The findings suggest a need to systematically examine a range of mixed emotions in order to develop a comprehensive theory of the development of mixed emotion understanding. They also suggest extending research into adolescence.     

The effects of self‐explaining when learning with text or diagrams

Self‐explaining is an effective metacognitive strategy that can help learners develop deeper understanding of the material they study. This experiment explored if the format of material (i.e., text or diagrams) influences the self‐explanation effect. Twenty subjects were presented with information about the human circulatory system and prompted to self‐explain; 10 received this information in text and 10 in diagrams. Results showed that students given diagrams performed significantly better on post‐tests than students given text. Diagrams students also generated significantly more self‐explanations that text students. Furthermore, the benefits of self‐explaining were much greater in the diagrams condition. To discover why diagrams can promote the self‐explanation effect, results are interpreted with reference to the multiple differences in the semantic, cognitive and affective properties of the texts and diagrams studied.     

The heterogeneity of attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms and conduct problems: Cognitive inhibition,emotion regulation,emotionality, and disorganized attachment

This study examined the contributions of several important domains of functioning to attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and conduct problems. Specifically, we investigated whether cognitive inhibition, emotion regulation, emotionality, and disorganized attachment made independent and specific contributions to these externalizing behaviour problems from a multiple pathways perspective. The study included laboratory measures of cognitive inhibition and disorganized attachment in 184 typically developing children (M age = 6 years, 10 months, SD = 1.7). Parental ratings provided measures of emotion regulation, emotionality, and externalizing behaviour problems. Results revealed that cognitive inhibition, regulation of positive emotion, and positive emotionality were independently and specifically related to ADHD symptoms. Disorganized attachment and negative emotionality formed independent and specific relations to conduct problems. Our findings support the multiple pathways perspective on ADHD, with poor regulation of positive emotion and high positive emotionality making distinct contributions to ADHD symptoms. More specifically, our results support the proposal of a temperamentally based pathway to ADHD symptoms. The findings also indicate that disorganized attachment and negative emotionality constitute pathways specific to conduct problems rather than to ADHD symptoms.     

A COMPARISON OF PEER-DIRECTED AND TEACHER-DIRECTED EMPLOYMENT INTERVIEW TRAINING FOR MENTALLY RETARDED ADULTS

Interview skills deficits may limit employment prospects of mentally retarded adults. Although numerous papers highlight the importance of interview skills, few have validated effective strategies for use with mentally retarded persons. Further, there has been a lack of research contrasting rival interview skills training strategies. The present study was conducted with two mentally retarded young adults. It contrasted peer-directed instruction, in which both participants were equally deficient in the target skills, with teacher-directed instruction. Results of the investigation indicated that instruction, rehearsal, and feedback may be effective strategies regardless of who provides instruction. Comparisons of teacher-directed and peer-directed instruction indicated little or no difference in the effectiveness of the two procedures. However, the peer-directed procedure involved considerably less staff time than did the teacher-directed procedure.     

Reciprocal peer management: Improving staff instruction in a vocational training program

To test the feasibility and utility of involving peers as sources of feedback, 6 subjects, instructors in a vocational program for adults with mental retardation, participated in a staff training and management program. Subjects' teaching interactions were assessed during baseline, in-service training (on effective teaching), return-to-baseline, peer management, and follow-up phases. Peer management was introduced in multiple baseline fashion across pairs of subjects. Members of each pair were trained to monitor peer teaching, to record and graph data, to provide feedback, and to set goals with the peer. Each pair then performed these procedures on the job for several weeks, during which time 4 of the 6 subjects increased their use of effective teaching methods (over baseline). However, inconsistencies in the magnitude and durability of these increases require that the study be viewed as inconclusive, although it has heuristic value as a promising model for involving co-workers in staff management programs.     

School adjustment, school performance and peer relations among first-graders in a Swedish suburban area

A study of 95 first-graders in one school management area used teacher ratings of problems and sociometric ratings to assess school adjustment and peer relations; 14% of the children had difficulties in reading/writing, motor skill, concentration and psychosocial function. Behavioural problems did not generally coincide with poor scholastic performance, but a small group (6.3%) exhibited problems in both reading/writing, concentration, gross and fine motor skill and psychosocial functions. Sociometric results showed only moderate agreement with teacher ratings. Extremely popular boys had no teacher-rated problems, but children with teacher-rated problems did not to any high degree tend to be isolated. Poor gross motor skill did distinguish isolated boys from others, a relationship that was not evident among the girls. The need to study the validity of teacher ratings as well as the prognostic value of school adjustment in first grade was stressed.     

Unprogrammed effects of training high-status peers to interact with severely handicapped children.

We examined the effects of a peer initiation intervention with high- and low-status nonhandicapped students on the behavior of untrained peers toward handicapped students. In the context of a counterbalanced withdrawal design, high- and low-status nonhandicapped students were taught to direct social initiations to eight severely handicapped students during recess activities. The interactions of the high-status students resulted in higher levels of initiations by untrained peers toward the handicapped students than did the interactions of the low-status students. Social response levels were also differentially affected by the status of the peer initiator.     

Imitation among infants in a day-care center and the development of locomotion

To examine the relationship between imitation and locomotor development among peers during infancy, we observed free play in a class of infants in a day-care center over a one-year period. The analysis included 16 infants (mean age was 8.3 months (SD=2.3) at the beginning of the observation) and 5 caregivers. The longitudinal data were divided into the crawling, cruising, and walking periods, and the imitation of object manipulation that took place among the infants during each period was analyzed. With the development of locomotion, peer-to-peer imitation became frequent. Infants who had acquired the ability to walk demonstrated imitation more frequently in triadic interactions than in dyadic interactions. Imitation took place between infants, but it was often mediated by caregivers rather than directly between infants. The results suggest that the acquisition of locomotor skills is a link in a developmental cascade from motor development to infant peer interaction. However, it is reasonable to interpret the results as indicating that the development of locomotion does not directly affect infant interactions in isolation, but rather that walking increases both the sharing and manipulation of objects with caregivers and proximity to peers, and their combined effects form a cascade.     

Communities as conduits of harm: A social identity analysis of appraisal,coping and justice-seeking in response to historic collective victimization

Social identity approach (SIA) research shows that community members often work together to support survivors of collective victimization and rectify social injustices. However, complexities arise when community members have been involved in perpetrating these injustices. While many communities are unaware of their role in fostering victimization, others actively deny their role and responsibility to restore justice. We explore these processes by investigating experiences of community violence and collective justice-seeking among Albanian survivors of dictatorial crimes. Survivors (N = 27) were interviewed, and data were analysed using theoretical thematic analysis guided by the SIA. The analysis reveals the diverse ways communities can become harmful ‘Social Curses’. First, communities in their various forms became effective perpetrators of fear and control (e.g., exclusion and/or withholding ingroup privileges) during the dictatorship because of the close relationship between communities and their members. Second, communities caused harm by refusing to accept responsibility for the crimes, and by undermining attempts at collective action to address injustices. This lack of collective accountability also fosters survivors' feelings of exclusion and undermines their hope for systematic change. Implications for SIA processes relating to health/wellbeing (both Social Cure and Curse) are discussed. We also discuss implications for understanding collective action and victimhood.