A review of sex differences in peer relationship processes: Potential trade-offs for the emotional and behavioral development of girls and boys.

Theory and research on sex differences in adjustment focus largely on parental, societal, and biological influences. However, it also is important to consider how peers contribute to girls' and boys' development. This article provides a critical review of sex differences in several peer relationship processes, including behavioral and social-cognitive styles, stress and coping, and relationship provisions. The authors present a speculative peer-socialization model based on this review in which the implications of these sex differences for girls' and boys' emotional and behavioral development are considered. Central to this model is the idea that sex-linked relationship processes have costs and benefits for girls' and boys' adjustment. Finally, the authors present recent research testing certain model components and propose approaches for testing understudied aspects of the model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temperament, activity, and expectations for later personality development.

Temperament is assumed to be the biologically based, emotional core of personality. Adult personality is presumed to emerge developmentally from temperament. One mechanism that may link temperament to subsequent personality development involves caregiver expectancies. Stability in personality may be associated with caregiver expectancies about the meaning of temperament-based behavior. The expectancies, in combination with implicit theories of personality development, support stability and patterned change. This multimethod study examined the relations among motor activity differences, temperament, and expectations about future personality characteristics in preschool children. It was hypothesized that motor activity and temperament differences would be linked to teachers' expectations about later personality development. The hypothesis that expectations about such links would be moderated by the sex of the child was also examined. Outcomes generally corroborated hypotheses. Results are discussed in terms of personality development and age-related adaptations to social contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A developmental perspective of self-construals and sex differences: comment on Cross and Madson (1997)

S. E. Cross and L. Madson (1997) proposed that women and men differ in self-construals, with women as interdependent and men as independent, and that these construals are seen to underlie many sex differences in social behavior. In this article, the authors address the issues of sex differences in self-construals, the stability of self-construals, and the centrality of interdependence-independence to sex differences. They examine the proposal next from a developmental perspective, suggesting that development of the self does not precede children's gender-related behavior. Evidence regarding the socialization processes that may contribute to sex differences in self-construals is largely inconclusive, especially regarding the differential treatment of boys and girls by parents. Their developmental perspective provides insights into ways that Cross and Madson's approach can be elaborated to explain sex differences in social behavior.     

Developmental environment affects risk-acceptance in the hissing cockroach, Gromphadorhina portentosa.

Consistent individual differences in the tendency to accept risk have been demonstrated in invertebrates, fish, birds, and mammals, including humans. These individual differences have been associated with size, growth rate, survival, and reproductive success. Little research, however, has investigated the effect of developmental environment on individual differences in risk-acceptance. Competing hypotheses offer different explanations of how variation in the quality of the developmental environment affects risk-acceptance in adults. The first hypothesis states that individuals developing in poor quality environments take risks because such behavior is their only means of obtaining adequate fitness returns. The second hypothesis states that individuals developing in poor environments avoid risk because their poor physical condition makes them especially vulnerable to injury or death. We measured several forms of risk-accepting behavior (exploration, foraging, and recovery after disturbance) in male hissing cockroaches (Gromphadorhina portentosa) that had developed in nutritional and social environments of varying quality. Individuals raised on poor nutrition diets exhibited lower levels of risk-acceptance than those raised on high nutrition diets. Risk-acceptance among individuals that developed on poor nutrition diets was negatively correlated with body size. We conclude that quality of developmental environment affects risk-acceptance across behavioral contexts in male hissing cockroaches. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that condition-dependent vulnerability mediates the relationship between developmental environment and risk-acceptance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contingency detection and the contingent organization of behavior in interactions: Implications for socioemotional development in infancy.

In this report, the authors review studies addressing the issue of contingencies in social and nonsocial contexts during infancy. The review is divided into 4 groups of studies that suggest that (a) young infants detect contingencies unrelated to their behavior; (b) infants detect contingencies involving their behavior; (c) the study of contingency is pertinent for addressing behavioral organization within parent-infant interaction; and (d) there is a link between behavioral contingency in early infancy and global measures of socioemotional development that are predictive of social functioning at later points during childhood. Throughout the report, the pertinence of infant emotional responses during contingency-related tasks is emphasized. Finally, the authors delineate certain enduring questions regarding contingency experience in infancy and suggest ways of organizing research to address some of them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The evolution of sex differences in spatial ability.

It is widely believed that male mammals have better spatial ability than females. A large number of evolutionary hypotheses have been proposed to explain these differences, but few species have been tested. The authors critically review the proposed evolutionary explanations for sex differences in spatial cognition and conclude that most of the hypotheses are either logically flawed or, as yet, have no substantial support. Few of the data exclusively support or exclude any current hypotheses. The hypothesis with the strongest support proposes that range size was the selection pressure that acted to increase spatial ability. The authors suggest ways in which these hypotheses could be tested by presenting explicit predictions and suggesting suitable test species or conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reactive oxygen species and the neurodegenerative disorders

Starting at infancy and continuing throughout adult life, huddling is a major component of the behavioral repertoire of Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus). Huddling behavior maintains the cohesion of litters throughout early life, and in adulthood, it remains a consistent feature of social behavior of R. norvegicus. During infancy, rats have severely limited sensorimotor capabilities, and yet they are capable of aggregating and display a form of group regulatory behavior that conserves metabolic effort and augments body temperature regulation. The functions of huddling are generally understood as group adaptations, which are beyond the capabilities of the individual infant rat. We show, however, that huddling as aggregative or cohesive behavior can emerge as a self-organizing process from autonomous individuals following simple sensorimotor rules. In our model, two sets of sensorimotor parameters characterize the topotaxic responses and the dynamics of contact in 7-day-old rats. The first set of parameters are conditional probabilities of activity and inactivity given prior activity or inactivity and the second set are preferences for objects in the infant rat's environment. We found that the behavior of the model and of actual rat pups compare very favorably, demonstrating that the aggregative feature of huddling can emerge from the local sensorimotor interactions of individuals, and that complex group regulatory behaviors in infant rats may also emerge from self-organizing processes. We discuss the model and the underlying approach as a paradigm for investigating the dynamics of social interactions, group behavior, and developmental change.     

Joint attention and early social communication: implications for research on intervention with autism

Highly structured, intensive early intervention may lead to significant developmental gains for many children with autism. However, a clear understanding of early intervention effects may currently be hampered by a lack of precision in outcome measurement. To improve the precision and sensitivity of outcome assessment it may be useful to integrate research on the nature of the social disturbance of autism with research on early intervention. In this regard, it may be that measures of nonverbal social communication skills are especially important in the study of preschool intervention programs. This is because these measures appear to tap into a cardinal component of the early social disturbance of autism, and because these measures have been directly related to neurological, cognitive, and affective processes that may play a role in autism. The research and theory that support the potential utility of these types of measures for early intervention research are reviewed. Examples are provided to illustrate how these types of measures may assist in addressing current issues and hypotheses about early intervention with autism including the "recovery hypothesis," the "pivotal skill hypothesis," and the relative effectiveness of discrete trial versus incidental learning approaches to early intervention. A cybernetic model of autism is also briefly described in an effort to better understand one potential component of early psychoeducational treatment effects with children with autism.     

What is remembered about early childhood events?

Almost 100 years ago, Freud identified infantile or childhood amnesia, the difficulty that most adults have remembering events from their first years of life. Recent research in cognitive psychology has in fact demonstrated a paucity of verbal memories of early life experiences. Although Freud believed that childhood memories are repressed, modern explanations for childhood amnesia focus instead on cognitive and social developmental advances of the early preschool years. According to the social interaction hypothesis, a narrative sense of self emerges as a result of parent-child conversations about the past. Implications of autobiographical memory research for models of adult attachment and psychotherapy are discussed.     

The Emergence of Autobiographical Memory: A Social Cultural Developmental Theory.

The authors present a multicomponent dynamic developmental theory of human autobiographical memory that emerges gradually across the preschool years. The components that contribute to the process of emergence include basic memory abilities, language and narrative, adult memory talk, temporal understanding, and understanding of self and others. The authors review the empirical developmental evidence within each of these components to show how each contributes to the timing, quantity, and quality of personal memories from the early years of life. The authors then consider the relevance of the theory to explanations of childhood amnesia and how the theory accounts for and predicts the complex findings on adults' earliest memories, including individual, gender, and cultural differences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antecedents of self-regulation: A developmental perspective.

The emerging ability to comply with caregivers' dictates and to monitor one's own behavior accordingly signifies a major growth of early childhood. However, scant attention has been paid to the developmental course of self-initiated regulation of behavior. The literature devoted to early forms of control is summarized, highlighting the different philosophical orientations. Focusing on the period from early infancy to the beginning of the preschool years, an ontogenetic perspective is proposed that traces the kinds of modulation or control of which the child is capable. The developmental sequence of monitoring behaviors that is proposed calls attention to contributions made by the growth of cognitive skills. The role of mediators (e.g., caregivers) is also discussed. (3 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Infancy parenting and externalizing psychopathology from childhood through adulthood: Developmental trends.

Developmental models and previous findings suggest that early parenting is more strongly associated with externalizing problems in early childhood than it is in adolescence. In this article, the authors address whether the association of poor-quality infancy parenting and externalizing problems “rebounds” in adulthood. Poor-quality infancy parenting was associated with externalizing problems at kindergarten and first grade (mother report) as well as at 23 and 26 years (self report). Infancy parenting was not significantly associated with either mothers’ or youths’ reports of externalizing problems at 16 years. These findings are consistent with the notion that poor-quality infancy parenting is a risk factor for externalizing problems in developmental periods for which externalizing behavior is most deviant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Incompatible with evolutionary theorizing.

Comments on the article by A. H. Eagly and W. Wood (see record 1999-05337-002) which examined the origins of sex differences in human behavior. Eagly and Wood argued that social structural theory can explain the origin of psychological sex differences. The present article discusses conceptual problems which render Eagly and Wood's theory implausible. The authors see the social structuralists' dualistic interpretation of the origin of human traits as untenable and note that it results from a misunderstanding of what drives the evolution of adaptations. It is also noted that social structuralists' contention that humans do not have evolved psychological sex differences is implausible, because their implicit assumption that the sexes have not faced different adaptive problems over evolutionary history is not true. The authors point out that social structuralists neglect empirical evidence supporting the hypothesis that behavioral sex differences are mediated by hormonal influences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Changes in interpersonal distances and categories of play behavior in the early weeks of preschool.

Observations of 57 children were made using time lapse and moving film techniques in a preschool over a 10-wk period. Ss attended 5, 3, or 2 days/wk. Behavior was recorded in 5 categories: aggressive behavior, rough and tumble behavior, distance from the nearest child, distance from the teacher, and frequency of close proximity; a 6th category, play behavior, was related to the potential for social interaction in preschool play. Behavior was related to measures of attendance at preschool, preschool group, age, and sex via multiple regression analyses. Scores on all measures of social interaction except aggressive behavior increased with preschool experience. The 3 preschool groups showed different degrees of change, and this was directly related to the number of days of attendance at preschool. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physical activity play: the nature and function of a neglected aspect of playing

In this review, we consider the nature and possible developmental functions of physical activity play, defined as a playful context combined with a dimension of physical vigor. We distinguish 3 kinds of physical activity play, with consecutive age peaks: rhythmic stereotypies peaking in infancy, exercise play peaking during the preschool years, and rough-and-tumble play peaking in middle childhood. Gender differences (greater prevalence in males) characterize the latter 2 forms. Function is considered in terms of beneficial immediate and deferred consequences in physical, cognitive, and social domains. Whereas most theories assume that children's play has deferred benefits, we suggest that forms of physical activity play serve primarily immediate developmental functions. Rhythmic stereotypies in infancy are hypothesized to improve control of specific motor patterns. Exercise play is hypothesized to function primarily for strength and endurance training; less clear evidence exists for possible benefits for fat reduction and thermoregulation. In addition, there may be cognitive benefits of exercise play that we hypothesize to be largely incidental to its playful or physical nature. Rough-and-tumble play has a distinctive social component; we hypothesize that it serves primarily dominance functions; evidence for benefits to fighting skills or to emotional coding are more equivocal. Further research is indicated, given the potentially important implications for children's education, health, and development.     

Elective mutism: an analysis of 100 cases

OBJECTIVE: An extended series of 100 children with elective mutism (EM) was clinically analyzed. METHOD: The total sample included two subgroups of clinically referred children at different locations and a subgroup of nonreferred children with EM. The study was based on comprehensive item sheets and, in the nonreferred sample only, the Child Behavior Checklist. RESULTS: EM is a rare disorder in the referred child psychiatric samples. It typically starts at preschool age, is more common in girls, and is seen in all social strata. A background of migration and early developmental risk factors is also quite common. Premorbid speech and language disorders play a role in one third of the clientele, and three quarters of children with EM had behavioral abnormalities during infancy and preschool age. School and unfamiliar people create the social context in which children with EM most frequently do not speak. Shyness and internalizing behavior problems are the most common personality features in EM, and comorbid diagnoses are quite frequent. CONCLUSION: This large series of affected children has identified the most typical features of EM and thereby extends the limited knowledge of this rare disorder of childhood.     

Patterns of sustained attention in infancy shape the developmental trajectory of social behavior from toddlerhood through adolescence.

The current study examined the relations between individual differences in sustained attention in infancy, the temperamental trait behavioral inhibition in childhood, and social behavior in adolescence. The authors assessed 9-month-old infants using an interrupted-stimulus attention paradigm. Behavioral inhibition was subsequently assessed in the laboratory at 14 months, 24 months, 4 years, and 7 years. At age 14 years, adolescents acted out social scenarios in the presence of an unfamiliar peer as observers rated levels of social discomfort. Relative to infants with high levels of sustained attention, infants with low levels of sustained attention showed increasing behavioral inhibition throughout early childhood. Sustained attention also moderated the relation between childhood behavioral inhibition and adolescent social discomfort, such that initial levels of inhibition at 14 months predicted later adolescent social difficulties only for participants with low levels of sustained attention in infancy. These findings suggest that early individual differences in attention shape how children respond to their social environments, potentially via attention's gate-keeping role in framing a child's environment for processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An investigation of classroom situational dimensions of emotional and behavioral adjustment and cognitive and social outcomes for Head Start children.

This study used a developmental-ecological approach to investigate the relationship across the school year between early problems in preschool classroom situations and a comprehensive set of readiness competencies for urban low-income children. Study 1 identified 3 reliable and unique underlying classroom situational dimensions where behavior problems occurred: structured learning, peer interaction, and teacher interaction situations. Boys and younger children evidenced more problematic behavior across all situations. Study 2 investigated the relationship between early problems in the situations and readiness outcomes. Early situational difficulties uniquely and differentially predicted lower peer social and classroom learning outcomes. In combination, both the type of behavior problem (what) and the situational problem (where) explained greater variance in the prediction of readiness outcomes, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of developmental trajectories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A cross-cultural analysis of the behavior of women and men: Implications for the origins of sex differences.

This article evaluates theories of the origins of sex differences in human behavior. It reviews the cross-cultural evidence on the behavior of women and men in nonindustrial societies, especially the activities that contribute to the sex-typed division of labor and patriarchy. To explain the cross-cultural findings, the authors consider social constructionism, evolutionary psychology, and their own biosocial theory. Supporting the biosocial analysis, sex differences derive from the interaction between the physical specialization of the sexes, especially female reproductive capacity, and the economic and social structural aspects of societies. This biosocial approach treats the psychological attributes of women and men as emergent given the evolved characteristics of the sexes, their developmental experiences, and their situated activity in society. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental Socialization of Emotion Expression: Gender Differences and Relations to Child Adjustment.

The present study examined gender differences in children's submissive and disharmonious emotions and parental attention to these emotions. Sixty children and their mothers and fathers participated when children were 4 and 6 years old. Children's emotion expression and parental responses during a game were coded. Girls expressed more submissive emotion than boys. Fathers attended more to girls' submissive emotion than to boys' at preschool age. Fathers attended more to boys' disharmonious emotion than to girls' at early school age. Parental attention at preschool age predicted later submissive expression level. Child disharmonious emotion predicted later externalizing symptoms. Gender differences in these emotions may occur as early as preschool age and may be subject to differential responding, particularly by fathers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)