Effects of bilingualism and biliteracy on children's emerging concepts of print.

Three groups of 4- and 5-year-old children were examined for their concepts of how print refers to language. All of the children could identify printed letters and their sounds but not read alone. The groups studied were monolingual speakers of English, bilingual speakers of French and English, and bilingual speakers of Chinese (Mandarin) and English. Bilingual children were equally proficient in both languages and were familiar with print and storybooks in both languages. The tasks assessed children's understanding of the general correspondence between print and language in which the printed form represents a word and the specific correspondence between a constituent of print and one of language that determines representation in a given writing system. The general correspondence relation applies to all writing systems, but the specific correspondence relation changes for different kinds of writing systems. Bilingual children understood better than monolingual children the general symbolic representation of print. The older Chinese-English bilingual children also showed advanced understanding of the specific correspondence relations in English print. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factors in classroom environment variables.

To determine the cross-sectional similarity of the underlying structure of classroom environment variables, the Learning Environment Inventory and the Primary Mental Abilities Test were administered to 46 Grade 8 and 50 Grade 11 classrooms in Canada. The intercorrelations of Grades 8 and 11 were analyzed by the method of iterative principal components, and 3 components were retained in each case. The Grade 8 factors were orthogonally rotated to make them as similar as possible to the Grade 11 factors. Structures of affective and cognitive variables became very similar, but a slight differentiation and specificity was noted as a function of grade level. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paraprofessionals, partners, peers, paraphernalia, and print: Expanding mental health service delivery.

Presents a model that defines 5 types of nonprofessional therapeutic agents–paraprofessionals, partners, peers, paraphernalia, and print—and proposes their use at 3 levels of intervention—prevention, treatment, and maintenance. Selected research using these nonprofessional agents is described, and additional therapeutic applications are suggested. Implications of the model for treatment effectiveness, the role of mental health professionals, and cost-effective service delivery are also explored. (5? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender, self, and others: Perceptions of the campus environment.

Although the influence of gender roles in education has been noted by counseling psychologists, the debate over sex equity in higher education remains controversial. Research on this topic has yielded inconclusive results. In this study of 635 upper level undergraduates with varying academic majors, results indicated that greater sex bias and discrimination were reported by women, whereas greater indifference and lack of recognition were perceived by men. Students' experiences with sexual harassment and perceptions of the degree to which women were represented in the curriculum did not differ by sex. Self-esteem for both sexes and level of feminist identity development for women were associated with perceptions of the educational environment. Suggestions for prevention, intervention, and further research are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology in the developing world: An evaluation through the concepts of "dual perception" and "parallel growth."

Analyzes psychology in developing countries in relation to the concepts of dual perception (which reflects the differing perspectives on social reality held by coexisting modern and traditional sectors in the same society) and of parallel growth (which refers to the development of institutions within a society that have few relations with each other but that are linked to and dependent on institutions outside that society). It is suggested that these concepts can highlight structural problems that must be overcome before psychology can take a positive role in addressing the issues facing developing countries. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Length conservation and speed concepts: Organizational disequilibrium training between concepts.

Administered training to Ss at varying levels of cognitive organization. Ss were 60 middle-class Israeli 6-7 yr olds. The training condition exploited structural mix between operational length and intuitive speed concepts, such that Ss successively alternated partial structures underlying these concepts. Findings were that (a) training was effective for operational speed concept acquisition among Ss with structural mix; (b) training was not effective for Ss without structural mix; (c) those who acquired the operational speed concept also acquired operational reasoning for the concept of movement; and (d) all Ss who employed an integration strategy during training became operational for speed on the posttest, while none who used other strategies acquired operational reasoning for the speed concept. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of time, speed, and distance concepts.

Used the rule-assessment approach to examine understanding of the concepts of time, speed, and distance in 36 5-, 8-, and 11-yr-olds and 12 undergraduates. Parallel tasks were developed for the 3 concepts that allowed specification of whether Ss were relying on time, speed, distance, end point, end time, beginning point, or beginning time cues in making their judgments. It was found that 5-yr-olds understood all 3 concepts in the same way: Whichever train ended farther ahead on the tracks was said to have traveled for the longer time, at the faster speed, and for the greater distance. Undergraduates, at the other extreme, understood all 3 concepts as distinct and separate ideas. The transitional period was marked by specific confusions among the 3 concepts: Time was regularly confused with distance, distance was confused with time, and speed was confused with distance and to some extent with end point. Both speed and distance concepts appeared to be mastered well before the concept of time. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intersectionality, power, and relational safety in context: Key concepts in clinical supervision.

In this paper, we articulate foundational concepts for a supervision framework from a critical postcolonial perspective: intersectionality, power, and relational safety in context. We identify opportunities, challenges, and dilemmas encountered when engaging with students and colleagues in examining dimensions of privilege and oppression in supervision-of-supervision and supervision of clinical work conducted by clinicians in training. We highlight experiences of supervisees and supervisors of color throughout the paper, bringing together our own voices as a supervisor of color and White supervisor via our shared postcolonial lens to advance dialogue among scholars of all ethnicities. We also differentiate our experiences, purposefully centering the voices of supervisors of color to further a critical postcolonial agenda. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interfacing the experimenter to the computer: Languages for psychologists.

Examines and compares the software (computer languages) that behavioral scientists are most likely to purchase: SCAT, INTERACT, SKED, OS/8 FORTRAN IV, RT11/FORTRAN, RSX-11M, Data General's Real-Time, Disk Operating System and its FORTRAN, and interpretative languages (e.g., BASIC). Issues related to mechanical features, ease of use in programming, and support services are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Male honor and female fidelity: Implicit cultural scripts that perpetuate domestic violence.

Two studies explored how domestic violence may be implicitly or explicitly sanctioned and reinforced in cultures where honor is a salient organizing theme. Three general predictions were supported: (a) female infidelity damages a man's reputation, particularly in honor cultures; (b) this reputation can be partially restored through the use of violence; and (c) women in honor cultures are expected to remain loyal in the face of jealousy-related violence. Study 1 involved participants from Brazil (an honor culture) and the United States responding to written vignettes involving infidelity and violence in response to infidelity. Study 2 involved southern Anglo, Latino, and northern Anglo participants witnessing a "live" incident of aggression against a woman (actually a confederate) and subsequently interacting with her. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Knowledge growth and maintenance across the life span: The role of print exposure.

One hundred thirty-three college students (mean age?=?19.1 years) and 49 older individuals (mean age?=?79.9 years) completed 2 general knowledge tasks, a vocabulary task, a working memory task, a syllogistic reasoning task, and several measures of exposure to print. A series of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that when measures of exposure to print were used as control variables, the positive relationships between age and vocabulary, and age and declarative knowledge, were eliminated. Within each of the age groups, exposure to print was a significant predictor of vocabulary and declarative knowledge even after differences in working memory, general ability, and educational level were controlled. These results support the theory of fluid-crystallized intelligence and suggest a more prominent role for exposure to print in theories of individual differences in knowledge acquisition and maintenance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Culture, control, and perception of relationships in the environment.

East Asian cognition has been held to be relatively holistic; that is, attention is paid to the field as a whole. Western cognition, in contrast, has been held to be object focused and control oriented. In this study East Asians (mostly Chinese) and Americans were compared on detection of covariation and field dependence. The results showed the following: (a) Chinese participants reported stronger association between events, were more responsive to differences in covariation, and were more confident about their covariation judgments; (b) these cultural differences disappeared when participants believed they had some control over the covariation judgment task; (c) American participants made fewer mistakes on the Rod-and-Frame Test, indicating that they were less field dependent; (d) American performance and confidence, but not that of Asians, increased when participants were given manual control of the test. Possible origins of the perceptual differences are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of the conception of economic inequality: II. Explanations, justifications, and concepts of social mobility and change.

720 6-, 11-, 14-, and 17-yr-olds from 4 social classes were interviewed about their concepts of economic inequality. Adolescents were more likely than children to explain and justify inequality by referring to equity and were more fatalistic in their conceptions of change and in justifying wealth and poverty. Younger Ss were more likely than adolescents to claim that individual mobility and social change could be achieved through others giving money and less likely to say that social change could be achieved by changing the social structure. Upper-middle-class Ss were more likely than others to claim that poverty cannot be changed and that poverty is due to equity or wasting money, and less likely than lower-class Ss to claim that the poor should not suffer. Lower-class 17-yr-olds were more likely than any other group to claim that the rich would resist social change. Blacks were less likely than Whites to claim that poverty is due to bad luck or fate. Findings are discussed in terms of cognitive–developmental trends, functionalist effects, and conflict theory. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)