A place for Bobo in play therapy.

Some therapists hold that the Bobo and other aggressive toys should be excluded from the playroom as they elicit acting-out behavior that is transferred to the world outside the playroom. However, many therapists view the inclusion of these items as imperative elements that facilitate positive growth and maturation in the child. Interviews with authorities in the field of play therapy support the position that the inclusion of the Bobo is not only useful, but a therapeutic necessity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perverse Spite: The Possessive Gleam in the Mother's Eye and the Struggle to Own One's Soul: Reply to Stern (2004).

In this response to Jeffrey Stern's (2004) (see record 2004-21113-016) commentary on my article, "Giving the Devil His Due: Spite and the Struggle for Individual Dignity" (P. Shabad, 2000) (see record 2000-00917-004), I suggest that in emphasizing the conscious vindictiveness of explicit spite, Stern minimizes the perverse aspects of "cutting off one's nose to spite one's face" as a means of avenging oneself against powerful others. The underlying impetus of perverse spite is to break free from the prison of subtle developmental contingencies and unconscious seductions surrounding maternal possessiveness. When the child's self-assertive strivings are blocked because of the shame and fear of premature separateness, the inward obsessional churning of resentment becomes a fertile ground for perverse spite. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

易燃性智能测试仪软件系统的设计与实现

基于玩具安全标准对玩具易燃性的要求,结合PLC控制技术、网络技术和软件技术,对研制的智能燃烧测试仪的工作原理、硬件结构设计、功能特性进行了详细的论述,并重点对软件系统中的主控程序、人机界面、通信程序的设计与实现进行了阐述,指出此测试仪是一台软件与硬件相结合的设备,其软件系统的实现极大地提高了测试仪的自动化水平.     

Parents' Personality and Infants' Temperament as Contributors to Their Emerging Relationship.

The authors examined the contributions of infant's temperament and parent's personality to their relationship. In Study 1, 102 infants, mothers, and fathers were studied when infants were 7 months; in Study 2, 112 infants and mothers were followed from 9 to 45 months. Infants' temperament (joy, fear, anger, and attention) was observed in standard temperament paradigms. Parents' personality measures encompassed the Big Five traits and Empathy in Study 1 and Mistrust, Manipulativeness, Aggression, Dependency, Entitlement, and Workaholism in Study 2. Parent-child relationship (shared positive affect and parental responsiveness in Studies 1 and 2 and parental tracking of the infant in Study 1) was observed in naturalistic contexts. In Study 1, mothers' Neuroticism, Empathy, and Conscientiousness and fathers' Agreeableness, Openness, and Extraversion related to the relationship with the infants. All measures of infant temperament also related to the emerging relationship. In Study 2, maternal Mistrust, Manipulativeness, Dependency, and Workaholism predicted the relationship with the child. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

基于AHP-TOPSIS模型的青少年解压玩具产品设计研究

目的 为改善青少年日常生活中产生的负面情绪,提出一种针对青少年基于AHP-TOPSIS混合模型设计解压玩具的方法。方法 首先,根据青少年对解压玩具的需求,基于情感化设计理论进行解压玩具需求要素分析,并构建AHP模型,从“本能层、行为层、反思层”3个方面确定子准则层的14个二级指标,计算各设计因素的综合权重;其次,基于高权重设计因素,设计了3款青少年解压玩具方案;最后,结合TOPSIS(逼近理想解排序法)对3款解压玩具方案进行评分,对初始评价矩阵进行加权标准化处理,计算评价对象的正负理想解及相对贴近度,对3个设计方案进行优选。结论 结合AHP(层次分析法)与TOPSIS(逼近理想解排序法)构建的评价模型,有助于排除主观性影响,从系统与层次等多个角度将设计思考过程进行定性与定量分析,使决策中的设计方案更加科学合理,所分析的产品评价体系、提出的设计策略和方案优选方法可以为青少年解压玩具设计提供清晰、客观的参考。     

Mother-adolescent physiological synchrony in naturalistic settings: Within-family cortisol associations and moderators.

In this study, the authors examined parent-adolescent cortisol associations in 45 families with adolescent children (24 girls; M age = 15.78 years, SD = 1.44 years). Family members’ salivary cortisol levels were measured seven times a day on 2 typical weekdays. Family members provided reports of demographic and health variables, and adolescents rated parent-child relationship characteristics. After accounting for the effects of time of day and relevant demographic and health control variables on cortisol levels, hierarchical linear models indicated the presence of significant covariation over time in mother-adolescent cortisol (i.e., physiological synchrony). Furthermore, moderating tests revealed that mother-adolescent cortisol synchrony was strengthened among dyads characterized by mothers and adolescents spending more time together, and in families rated higher on levels of parent-youth shared activities and parental monitoring or supervision. Analysis of momentary characteristics indicated that maternal presence at the time of cortisol sampling lowered adolescent cortisol levels but did not account for mother-adolescent cortisol synchrony. Within-family physiological synchrony was amplified in momentary contexts of elevated maternal negative affect and elevated adolescent negative affect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A state space analysis of emotion and flexibility in parent-child interactions.

Negative emotion has been shown to reduce flexibility in cognition and behavior. We examined interpersonal flexibility during negative emotional episodes within parent-child interactions. Fifty-five mothers and early-adolescent daughters were observed during a positive discussion, a negative (conflict) discussion, and another positive discussion. Codes of moment-to-moment changes in emotion expression were used to create state space grids from which measures of emotional valence and flexibility were derived. As expected, mean flexibility was lowest during the conflict discussion when negative emotion peaked, suggesting that interpersonal flexibility decreases with increasing negative emotion. Sub-groups identified as low or high in stress were also compared. Dyads with girls reporting more stressful events showed lower flexibility during the first positive discussion. However, dyads expressing more negative emotion during the conflict discussion were also more flexible, suggesting that flexible dyadic styles permit more negative emotion. These individual difference findings are discussed in terms of the suppression versus expression of negative emotions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reconceptualizing feeding and feeding disorders in interpersonal context: The case for a relational disorder.

The feeding of young children is fundamentally a relational and multisystemic process. Successful treatment of clinically significant feeding problems involves careful assessment of the full range of influences on the feeding relationship and integrated treatment approaches. However, current diagnostic approaches to feeding disorders tend to be reductionistic, exclusively focused on the child as an individual, and overly concerned with exclusionary criteria. Criteria are proposed for "Feeding Disorder Between Parent and Child" that address these limitations and embrace the complexity of feeding problems. A multiaxial diagnosis that describes the child (including medical, developmental, and behavioral characteristics); the parent; the parent-child relationship; and the social and nutritional context of feeding will more accurately speak to treatment planning in this population. The proposed diagnostic criteria were developed and refined on the basis of the available literature and many years of treatment experience across the authors of this article. The proposed diagnosis will support the development and evaluation of treatment packages with components specifically targeted to issues of the child, parent, parent-child interaction, and the broader environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

From turtles to Tangible Programming Bricks: explorations in physical language design

This article provides a historical overview of educational computing research at MIT from the mid-1960s to the present day, focusing on physical interfaces. It discusses some of the results of this research: electronic toys that help children develop advanced modes of thinking through free-form play. In this historical context, the article then describes and discusses the authors own research into tangible programming, culminating in the development of the Tangible Programming Bricks system—a platform for creating microworlds for children to explore computation and scientific thinking.