Developmental Psychology

Howe, Mark L.

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.38.1.3pmid: N/A

Preschool and kindergarten children's retention of stories was examined in the presence of interfering information and instructions to forget. Children learned 2 stories and, 24 hr later, were asked to recall the 1st or 2nd story learned. Some of the children were instructed, either following acquisition or just prior to the retention test, to forget the 2nd, or interfering, story. A model was used to isolate storage and retrieval effects, and the results showed that (a) retroactive interference affected both storage- and retrieval-based forgetting rates for the younger children but only storage-based forgetting rates for the older children, (b) intentional forgetting reduced retroactive interference primarily by attenuating storage-based forgetting regardless of age, (c) intentional forgetting instructions were effective only at acquisition for preschoolers but at both acquisition and retention for kindergarteners, and (d) all children recalled the to-be-forgotten story as well as they recalled the to-be-remembered story. These results are interpreted in terms of reorganization and distinctiveness effects in storage.

Lickliter, Robert; Bahrick, Lorraine E.; Honeycutt, Hunter

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.38.1.15pmid: N/A

Information presented redundantly and in temporal synchrony across sensory modalities (intersensory redundancy) selectively recruits attention and facilitates perceptual learning in human infants. This comparative study examined whether intersensory redundancy also facilitates perceptual learning prenatally. The authors assessed quail (Colinus virginianus) embryos' ability to learn a maternal call when it was (a) unimodal, (b) concurrent but asynchronous with patterned light, or (c) redundant and synchronous with patterned light. Chicks' preference for the familiar over a novel maternal call was assessed 24 hr following hatching. Chicks receiving redundant, synchronous stimulation as embryos learned the call 4 times faster than those who received unimodal exposure. Chicks who received asynchronous bimodal stimulation showed no evidence of learning. These results provide the first evidence that embryos are sensitive to redundant, bimodal information and that it can facilitate learning during the prenatal period.

Woolley, Jacqueline D.; Boerger, Elizabeth A.

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.38.1.24pmid: N/A

In three studies the authors investigated the development of beliefs about dreaming. Study 1 assessed 3- to 5-year-old children's beliefs about the origins and controllability of dreams. Results revealed significant changes in children's beliefs about the roles of behavioral experiences and mental processes in the generation of dream content. Results also revealed that young children consider both dreams and imagination to be highly controllable. In Study 2, preschool-age children, elementary school-age children, and adults received either imagination or dream stories and were questioned about controllability. In Study 3, emotional valence of the dream content was varied. Results of Studies 2 and 3 revealed significant development in beliefs that dreams are not subject to conscious control. Beliefs in controllability were higher among females. Study 3 showed that the emotional content of a dream affects these claims.

Ge, Xiaojia; Brody, Gene H.; Conger, Rand D.; Simons, Ronald L.; McBride Murry, Velma

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.38.1.42pmid: N/A

The effects of the pubertal transition on behavior problems and its interaction with family and neighborhood circumstances were examined with a sample of 867 African American children 10–12 years of age. Pubertal development status, pubertal timing, and primary caregivers' parenting behaviors were significantly related to affiliation with deviant peers and externalizing behaviors. Externalizing behavior among early-maturing children was associated positively with primary caregivers' use of harsh–inconsistent discipline and negatively with nurturant–involved parenting practices. Disadvantaged neighborhood conditions were significantly associated with deviant peer affiliation. The effect of pubertal transition varied according to family and neighborhood conditions: Early-maturing children living in disadvantaged neighborhoods were significantly more likely to affiliate with deviant peers. Early-maturing children with harsh and inconsistent parents were significantly more likely to have externalizing problems.

Chavajay, Pablo; Rogoff, Barbara

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.38.1.55pmid: N/A

Traditional indigenous social organization in the Americas has been characterized as involving horizontal multiparty engagements, in contrast with schooling, which often relies on hierarchy and division of labor. This study examined whether the social organization of problem solving of Guatemalan Mayan indigenous mothers and children varied with the mothers' extent of experience with school. We observed 47 mothers as they constructed a puzzle with 3 children (ages 6–12 years). Mayan mothers with little schooling (0–2 grades) were involved more in horizontal, multiparty engagements, whereas Mayan mothers with extensive experience with schooling (12 or more grades) were involved more in hierarchical, division-of-labor engagements with the children. The results suggest that Western formal schooling contributes to the reshaping of traditional collaborative social organization among indigenous Mayan people.

Posada, German; Jacobs, Amanda; Richmond, Melissa K.; Carbonell, Olga A.; Alzate, Gloria; Bustamante, Maria R.; Quiceno, Julio

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.38.1.67pmid: N/A

Attachment theory proposes that early care plays a key role in the emergence and organization of secure-base behavior across a wide range of cultures and contexts. Most studies on the topic have been conducted with Caucasian North American and European samples. Research needs to address questions concerning the cross-cultural generality of the sensitivity–security link, the appropriateness of the conceptualization of caregiving offered by attachment theory in other cultures, and the identification of caregiving domains other than those proposed by the theory. The authors address these issues in a study of maternal care and infant security in 2 different countries. Q descriptions of maternal behavior were obtained from observations at home. Infant security was assessed in a laboratory environment in Denver, Colorado and in the home environment in Bogota, Colombia. Findings are discussed in terms of the generality of the sensitivity–security link, the appropriateness of the model of caregiving suggested by attachment theory in both countries, and the relevance of other domains of caregiving to security.

Feiring, Candice; Taska, Lynn; Lewis, Michael

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.38.1.79pmid: N/A

This study examined adjustment following sexual abuse as a function of shame and attributional style. One hundred forty-seven participants (83 children and 64 adolescents) were seen at the time of abuse discovery and again 1 year later. Once adjustment at abuse discovery was accounted for, shame and attribution style explained additional variation in subsequent adjustment, whereas abuse severity did not. A pessimistic attribution style at abuse discovery moderated the relation between severity of abuse and subsequent depressive symptoms and self-esteem. The relations between abuse severity and these outcomes were significant only at high levels of pessimistic attribution style. Of note, patterns of change in shame and attribution predicted which children remained at risk or improved in adjustment. In addition, age and gender differences were found in adjustment over time.

Levy-Shiff, Rachel; Lerman, Maya; Har-Even, Dov; Hod, Moshe

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.38.1.93pmid: N/A

Biological and psychosocial risk factors in high-risk pregnancy and their relation to infant developmental outcomes were explored in a sample of 153 pregnant Israeli women who had pregestational diabetes mellitus, gestational diabetes mellitus, or were nondiabetic. Questionnaires on coping and resources as well as well-being and distress during the 2nd trimester were administered. Estimates of maternal fuels (HbAlc and fructosamine) were obtained throughout pregnancy. At 1 year, offspring were administered the Bayley Scales of Infant Development and mother–infant interactions were observed. Infants of mothers in the diabetic groups scored lower on the Bayley Scales and revealed fewer positive and more negative behaviors than did infants of mothers in the nondiabetic group. Infant outcomes in the maternal diabetic groups were associated with maternal metabolism. Maternal coping and resources differed in the 3 groups and differentially predicted infant development.

Poulin-Dubois, Diane; Forbes, James N.

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.38.1.104pmid: N/A

Toddlers' ability to use cues such as eye gaze and gestures to infer the meaning of novel action words was examined. In Experiment 1, 21- and 27-month-olds were taught labels for pairs of videotaped actions that were either similar or dissimilar in appearance. Similar actions differed mainly in the presence of behavioral cues related to the agents' intentions (e.g., extended arms). Only the older children were able to learn the labels for the similar actions. In Experiment 2, 3 new pairs of labels (2 similar, 1 dissimilar) were taught to children in the same age range. Eye gaze and gestures were the main features distinguishing the similar events. The same developmental effect was observed, with only the older children showing learning of both types of verbs and the younger children being impeded by the appearance of the actions. The results show that by the middle of the 2nd year, children begin to consider intentions-in-action when acquiring the meaning of novel action verbs.

McArdle, John J.; Ferrer-Caja, Emilio; Hamagami, Fumiaki; Woodcock, Richard W.

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.38.1.115pmid: N/A

Latent growth curve techniques and longitudinal data are used to examine predictions from the theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence (Gf-Gc theory; J. L. Horn & R. B. Cattell, 1966, 1967). The data examined are from a sample (N ∼ 1,200) measured on the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery—Revised (WJ–R). The longitudinal structural equation models used are based on latent growth models of age using two-occasion “accelerated” data (e.g., J. J. McArdle & R. Q. Bell, 2000; J. J. McArdle & R. W. Woodcock, 1997). Nonlinear mixed-effects growth models based on a dual exponential rate yield a reasonable fit to all life span cognitive data. These results suggest that most broad cognitive functions fit a generalized curve that rises and falls. Novel multilevel models directly comparing growth curves show that broad fluid reasoning (Gf) and acculturated crystallized knowledge (Gc) have different growth patterns. In all comparisons, any model of cognitive age changes with only a single g factor yields an overly simplistic view of growth and change over age.