Coaches' feedback and changes in children's perceptions of their physical competence.

Examined the relation between 5 junior high school softball coaches' feedback and changes in 72 of their female athletes' self-perceptions. Data collection procedures involved observation of coaches' game and practice behaviors, as well as pre- and postseason assessments of the players' self-perceptions (e.g., perceived competence, perceived performance control, expectancy for success). Data were collected during a 9-wk season. Multivariate regression analyses revealed that a significant portion of the variance in the players' psychosocial growth was a function of both the players' demonstrated sport competence and the behaviors of their coach in response to their skill performance. Coaches' practice behaviors were significantly associated with changes in players' self-perceptions, but their game behaviors were not. Although skill competence was the largest contributor, certain coaching behaviors were also influential in explaining changes in players' perceptions of competence. The salience of these coaching behaviors can be interpreted in light of their contingency to players' performance and their role in providing players with clear and consistent evaluation of their performance. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age-related changes in children's use of external representations.

This study explored children's use of external representations. Experiment 1 focused on representations of self. Self-recognition was assessed by a mark test as a function of age (3 vs. 4 years), delay (5 s vs. 3 min), and media (photographs vs. drawings). Four-year-olds outperformed 3-year-olds; children performed better with photographs than drawings; and there was no effect of delay. In Experiment 2, 3- and 4-year-olds used a delayed video image to locate a sticker on themselves (self task) or a stuffed animal (other task). The 2 tasks were positively correlated with age and vocabulary partialed out. Experiment 3 used a search task to assess whether children have particular difficulty using external representations that conflict with their expectations: 3- and 4-year-olds were informed of an object's location verbally or through video; on half of the trials, this information conflicted with children's initial belief. Three-year-olds performed worse than 4-year-olds on conflict trials, indicating that assessments of self and other understanding may reflect children's ability to reason about conflicting external representations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differences in parents' and their grown children's perceptions of parenting.

A 2–5 factorial between-Ss experiment was conducted, with level of success, sex of stimulus parent, sex of stimulus child, sex of respondent, and generation as the 5 independent variables. 139 undergraduates and their parents of the same sex served as Ss. The overall performance rating, the attributions made to explain parenting success/failure, and the ratings made both of the stimulus parent and of the stimulus child on the same 60 personality items were the dependent variables. The present study replicated one of the principal findings of attribution research: that males are more given to explaining failure in terms of external factors. Males of both generations made greater use of the factor Child's Fault in explaining parenting failure than did females. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age-related changes in children's hedonic response to male body odor.

Male sweat smells disgusting to many adults, but it is unclear whether children find it so. In Experiment 1A, children (mean age=8.7 years) and adolescents (M=16.6 years) smelled male sweat and other odors, rated each for liking, and attempted their identification. Only female adolescents disliked male sweat and could identify it. Experiment 1B, using the same procedure, obtained this gender difference in adults (M=26.7 years). In Experiment 2, children (M=8.1 years) and adolescents (M=16.6 years) were cued about the identity of the same odors. Irrespective of gender, adolescents disliked male sweat more than did children. In sum, dislike for the odor of male sweat may be an acquired social response that is based on odor identification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Catharsis: Effectiveness in children's aggression.

This article is written in response to a previous commentary (Trotter, Eshelman, and Landreth, 2003) (see record 2003-05749-008) advocating therapists' encouragement of aggression expression in the playroom. The belief that cathartic release of aggression removes hostile impulses has not been supported by research. On the contrary, evidence cited in this review suggests that play therapists who allow children to engage in aggressive play, without any attempt to strengthen ego or superego controls against aggression, are likely to increase the chances of future aggressive acts both within and outside the playroom. Further research is needed to clarify this issue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's reasons for nominating their peers as withdrawn: Passive withdrawal versus active isolation.

Examined children's reasons for choosing peers for the withdrawal items on the Revised Class Play (RCP). 88 elementary-school children nominated peers they felt were best described by each RCP item. Reasons for their nominations were classified into 2 categories: passive withdrawal from and active isolation by the peer group. For 3 of the items ("Someone who would rather play alone than with others," "Someone who is very shy," and "Someone whose feelings get hurt easily"), the children's reasons were predominantly based on passive withdrawal, whereas for 3 other items ("Someone who is often left out," "Someone who has trouble making friends," and "A person who can't get others to listen"), they were predominantly based on active isolation. Reasons for the remaining item ("Someone who is usually sad") were split equally between both alternatives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age-related differences in children's perceptions of social deviance: Changes in behavior or in perspective?

Previous research by the present authors (see record 1985-14217-001) revealed grade-related changes in children's ratings of aggression and withdrawal in peers. The contributions to such changes of age-related differences in the perspective of the raters and in the behavior of the children rated were investigated. Study 1 examined 120 teachers' ratings of aggression and withdrawal in 1st-, 4th-, and 7th-grade children to assess effects of age of children rated. In contrast to earlier findings with peer raters, no differences were found across grade level in the organization of teacher ratings. Study 2 examined age of rater differences in 436 1st-, 4th-, and 7th-grade Ss' beliefs about behavior that might be displayed by hypothetical peers. Differences paralleled those observed earlier in children's actual peer ratings. Study 3 examined 351 1st- and 7th-grade Ss' ratings of peers who were older or younger than the raters to assess the influence of age of rater on Ss' ratings. Age of rater effects emerged even when Ss rated peers who were not their age mates. These findings suggest that differences across grade level reported in children's peer ratings largely reflect differences in the child raters' view of behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age-related changes on a children's test of sensory-level speech perception capacity

Normative data, as a function of age, were obtained on a test designed to assess sensory-level speech perception capacity, the Three-Interval Forced-Choice Test of Speech Pattern Contrast Perception, otherwise known as THRIFTSPAC (or THRIFT for short). Performance under the input modalities of hearing alone, speech-reading alone, and the two combined was measured in 44 normally developing children between the ages of 5 years 7 months and 10 years 9 months. Results revealed that within each condition there were significant influences of age on performance for children below age 7 years. These changes appeared to be related to cognitive and, possibly, to phonological development. Implications for the clinical implementation of THRIFT are discussed.     

Assessment of children's self-efficacy for social interactions with peers.

Constructed the Children's Self-Efficacy for Peer Interaction Scale (CSPI) and administered it to 245 3rd–5th graders along with the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale and the Teacher Rating Scale of Social Efficacy. Analyses of reliability and construct validity indicated that the CSPI has psychometric properties that warrant its use. Ss' self-efficacy varied by grade and situation. The usefulness of the CSPI for research on children's social development is discussed. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of appraisal instrument on managerial perceptions of fairness and satisfaction with appraisals from their peers.

Examined whether the type of appraisal instrument (behavioral observation scales [BOS], behaviorally anchored rating scales [BARS], trait scales, or using no formal appraisal instrument) affected satisfaction with a peer appraisal and perceptions of fairness. 91 managers, while working in teams on a simulated task, provided one another with feedback. Satisfaction with peer appraisals was higher when BOS, BARS, or no formal instrument (control) was used to give feedback than was the case with a trait scale. Procedural justice was perceived as higher when either BOS or no instrument was used to give feedback than when the feedback was based on a trait scale. Trait scales were not perceived to be an acceptable instrument by peers for assessing their performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relation between 3-year-old children's skills and their hyperactivity, inattention, and aggression.

This study examines the relation between 3-year-old children's (N = 280) symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and aggression and their cognitive, motor, and preacademic skills. When the authors controlled for other types of attention and behavior problems, maternal ratings of hyperactivity and teacher ratings of inattention were uniquely and moderately associated with children's lower cognitive and preacademic skills. The few modest, simple associations between maternal ratings of aggression and children's skills were no longer significant when hyperactivity and inattention were controlled. This suggests that cognitive and preacademic problems among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms may begin to emerge as early as age 3. The results highlight the importance of examining the association between different types of behavior problems and young children's skills. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental changes in conformity to peers and parents.

Investigated developmental changes in conformity to parents and peers and relations between parent and peer conformity. In Study 1, 251 children in the 3rd, 6th, 9th, 11th, or 12th grade responded to hypothetical situations in which peers urged the child to perform either antisocial, prosocial, or neutral behaviors. For all types of behavior, the age trends for conformity were curvilinear, and peer conformity peaked in the 6th or 9th grade. In Study 2, 273 children in the 3rd, 6th, 9th, 11th, or 12th grades responded to situations testing conformity to peers on antisocial and prosocial behavior and conformity to parents on prosocial and neutral behavior. For antisocial behavior, a peak in peer conformity was found at the 9th grade. Significant age changes were not found for prosocial behavior. Conformity to parents on both types of behavior decreased steadily with age. With some but not all measures, conformity to parents and conformity to peers were negatively correlated. In addition, the relations between parents and peer conformity changed with age. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interparental aggression and young children's representations of family relationships.

Children's maternal, self, and marital representations were examined in 46 children 3 1/2 to 7 years old using the MacArthur Story Stem Battery. Children drawn from agencies serving battered women expressed fewer positive representations of their mothers and themselves, were more likely to portray interparental conflict as escalating, and were more avoidant and less coherent in their narratives about family interactions than children from a nonviolent community sample. Interparental aggression uniquely predicted representations of conflict escalation and avoidance after accounting for parent-child aggression, and the two types of aggression had additive effects in predicting positive maternal representations. The results suggest that witnessing aggression in the family affects children's developing beliefs about close relationships and may be a process by which these experiences give rise to later problems in social and emotional functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intergenerational transfer of psychosocial risk in women with childhood histories of aggression, withdrawal, or aggression and withdrawal

Intergenerational transfer of risk between mothers and children, based on mothers' childhood aggression and social withdrawal, was examined in an inner-city sample. Each of the 3 studies reported involved a subset of the 909 female participants in the Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project, initiated when the participants were of school age. Using medical records, Study 1 (n = 853) focused on prediction of teen motherhood, delivery complications during childbirth, multiparity, and close spacing of births. Study 2 (n = 428) examined pathways to school dropout and teen parenthood. Study 3 (n = 89) involved prediction of observed parent and child behavior from mothers' childhood characteristics. Mothers' childhood aggression was consistently predictive of negative outcomes in each area of intergenerational risk, especially when combined with social withdrawal and low levels of academic achievement. Education was protective: Mothers' years of schooling predicted positive outcomes.     

Children's perceptions of popular and unpopular peers: A multimethod assessment.

Children's perceptions of popular and unpopular peers were examined in 2 studies. Study 1 examined the degree to which 4th-8th-grade boys and girls (N=408) nominated the same peers for multiple criteria. Children viewed liked others as prosocial and disliked others as antisocial but associated perceived popularity with both prosocial and antisocial behavior. In Study 2, a subset of the children from Study 1 (N=92) described what makes boys and girls popular or unpopular. Children described popular peers as attractive with frequent peer interactions, and unpopular peers as unattractive, deviant, incompetent, and socially isolated. In both studies, children's perceptions varied as a function of the gender, age, and ethnicity of the participants. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age-related changes in odor discrimination.

Odor naming and recognition memory are poorer in children than in adults. This study explored whether such differences might result from poorer discriminative ability. Experiment 1 used an oddity test of discrimination with familiar odors on 6-year-olds, 11-year-olds, and adults. Six-year-olds were significantly poorer at discrimination relative to 11-year-olds and adults, who did not differ. Experiment 2 used the same procedure but with hard-to-name visual stimuli and compared only 6-year-olds with adults (as with the remaining experiments in this study). There was no difference in performance between these groups. Experiment 3 used the same procedure as Experiment 1 but with less familiar odors. Six-year-olds were significantly poorer at discrimination than adults. In Experiment 4 the researchers controlled for verbal labeling by using an articulatory suppression task, with the same basic procedure as in Experiment 1. Six-year-old performance was the same as for Experiment 1 and significantly poorer than that of adults. Impoverished olfactory discrimination may underpin performance deficits previously observed in children. These all may result from their lesser experience with odors, relative to adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parents' influence on children's achievement-related perceptions.

Two aspects of the relation between parents' perceptions of their children and children's self- and task perceptions in math and English were investigated: (a) the mediating role of parents' perceptions between grades and adolescents' self-perceptions and (b) the gendered nature of parents' perceptions. Data for this study are part of a longitudinal investigation (the Michigan Study of Adolescent Life Transitions). Data from 914 sixth-grade adolescents and their parents are used in this article. Results showed that parents' perceptions mediate the relation between children's grades and children's self and task perceptions in both domains. Parents' perceptions had a stronger influence on children's perceptions than children's own grades. Significant but low correlations between gender and self and task perceptions were found in both math and English. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Elementary school children's perceptions of their actual and ideal school experience: A developmental study.

154 2nd, 4th, and 6th graders were interviewed about their perceptions of school in 2 domains. The action domain tapped perceptions of their actual and ideal prerogatives with respect to privacy, territoriality, and 3 types of decision making (custodial, governance, and instructional). The value domain addressed Ss' evaluations of the school as a safe, just, responsive, important, and liked environment. Ss reported a fair amount of discrepancy between their ideal and actual status in the action domain, asserting that they ought to have more prerogatives than those they perceived as available to them, particularly with respect to decision making. This discrepancy increased with grade level. Ss' evaluations of school in the value domain were, on the whole, overwhelmingly positive. Results indicate that Ss did not see the school as supporting the expression of their emerging social competence and/or aspirations. In contrast, Ss saw the school as substantially sharing their values while constraining their actions. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The structure of children's interests and competence perceptions.

Two studies were conducted with samples of elementary school, middle school, and college students, who were given the Inventory of Children's Activities, which was designed to assess J. L. Holland's (1973, 1985a) RIASEC (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional) types on interests and competence perceptions. The structure was examined at the scale and item levels using the randomization test of hypothesized order relations and principal-components analysis. Results indicated that (a) there were few differences in structure between interests and competence perceptions, (b) the structure of interests and competence perceptions varied across age, (c) the fit of the circular model was positively related to age, (d) elementary and middle school students evaluated their interests and competencies using different dimensions than did college students, and (e) there were scale score mean differences across gender and age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social-information-processing factors in reactive and proactive aggression in children's peer groups.

In Study 1, a teacher-rating instrument was developed to assess these behaviors in elementary school children (N?=?259). Reactive and proactive scales were found to be internally consistent, and factor analyses partially supported convergent and discriminant validities. In Study 2, behavioral correlates of these forms of aggression were examined through assessments by peers (N?=?339). Both types of aggression related to social rejection, but only proactively aggressive boys were also viewed as leaders and as having a sense of humor. In Study 3, we hypothesized that reactive aggression (but not proactive aggression) would occur as a function of hostile attributional biases and intention-cue detection deficits. Four groups of socially rejected boys (reactive aggressive, proactive aggressive, reactive-proactive aggressive, and nonaggressive) and a group of average boys were presented with a series of hypothetical videorecorded vignettes depicting provocations by peers and were asked to interpret the intentions of the provocateur (N?=?117). Only the two reactive-aggressive groups displayed biases and deficits in interpretations. In Study 4, attributional biases and deficits were found to be positively correlated with the rate of reactive aggression (but not proactive aggression) displayed in free play with peers (N?=?127). These studies supported the hypothesis that attributional biases and deficits are related to reactive aggression but not to proactive aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)