Age and gender differences in preschool children's identification of the emotions of others: A brief report.

Assessed 113 male and 101 female preschool-age children on the Borke Empathy Scale (1973) to examine gender differences and age differences in Ss' ability to correctly identify the emotions of others. Based on 3 studies by H. Borke (1971, 1973) and R. F. Marcus et al (see record 1979-28401-001), it was hypothesized that (1) there would be a progressive developmental pattern in empathic behavior from the 3rd–5th yr of life and (2) no gender differences would be observed. Significant age and gender differences were observed in Ss' ability to correctly identify others' emotional states associated with happiness, sadness, anger, and fear. A linear progressive improvement was observed between 3 age groups. A significant gender–age interaction revealed that girls were better in correctly identifying others' emotions at age 3 yrs, but by age 5 yrs boys were significantly more correct in their empathic identification of the emotions of others. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of children's understanding of ambivalence and causal theories of emotions.

Investigated a 4-stage developmental sequence in children's understanding of ambivalence. At the highest level of this sequence, children understand that contradictory feelings can coexist at the same time toward the same target in terms of a framework in which it is recognized that the 2 feelings influence one another. 20 4–5 yr olds, 20 7–8 yr olds, and 20 10–11 yr olds were presented with 2 tape-recorded stories in which the protagonist could be construed as feeling happy and sad or anger and love. Raters scored the Ss' responses to a structured interview about the stories in terms of the proposed sequence. Separate parts of the protocols were assessed independently with respect to a proposed sequence in children's causal theories of emotions. According to this sequence, children's understanding of feelings develops from an externally based theory in which feelings are wedded to events to an internally based theory in which feelings largely depend on memories, thoughts, and attitudes. Results support both hypothesized developmental progressions and show significant relationships between the 2 domains of Ss' understanding of emotions. Findings suggest that internal states' mediation of emotional responses may be an important component in understanding ambivalence and that the motivation to integrate conflicting feelings may play a role in promoting the external to internal shift in children's causal theories of emotions. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Informational basis for children's impressions of others.

Assessed the age at which 22 kindergartners, 22 2nd graders, and 22 5th graders used covariation information to form impressions of others when behavioral frequency was held constant or was varied. In Exp I the frequency of aggressive or helpful behavior was held constant, but behavioral consistency or nondistinctiveness was varied. Ss made single-rating and paired comparison judgments about each actor's future behaviors and personal characteristics. Results reveal that 2nd and 5th graders' comparison judgments were appropriately differentiated according to the available covariation information, whereas kindergartners' judgments were not appropriately differentiated. A 2nd experiment was conducted to determine whether 24 kindergartners' failure to use covariation information was simply the result of task demands. Ss made paired comparison judgments about aggressive behavior. Aggression frequency was either held constant (consistency vs nondistinctiveness) or was varied (relative degrees of consistency or nondistinctiveness). Results show that Ss' impressions of others did not vary according to differences in covariation information, at least when frequency was held constant. Findings undermine a task-demand interpretation of the results of Exp I and indicate that young children do use frequency information. There was no evidence that Ss used covariation information independently of differences in frequency. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of discipline techniques on children's personality trait inferences.

Investigated the effects of task-focused and approval-focused desists under conditions of limited information. 64 8th graders heard 1 of 2 tape-recorded desists. They then rated the target of the desist and the teacher administering the desist on personality trait and degree of confidence scales. A 2(Sex of Rater) * 2 (Type of Desist) multivariate analysis of variance revealed that the use of a negative approval-focused desist resulted in both the target of the desist and the teacher administering the desist being rated as having significantly less desirable personality traits than when a task-focused desist was used (p     

Effects of discrete emotions on young children's suggestibility.

Two experiments investigated the effects of sadness, anger, and happiness on 4- to 6-year-old children's memory and suggestibility concerning story events. In Experiment 1, children were presented with 3 interactive stories on a video monitor. The stories included protagonists who wanted to give the child a prize. After each story, the child completed a task to try to win the prize. The outcome of the child's effort was manipulated in order to elicit sadness, anger, or happiness. Children's emotions did not affect story recall, but children were more vulnerable to misleading questions about the stories when sad than when angry or happy. In Experiment 2, a story was presented and emotions were elicited using an autobiographical recall task. Children responded to misleading questions and then recalled the story for a different interviewer. Again, children's emotions did not affect the amount of story information recalled correctly, but sad children incorporated more information from misleading questions during recall than did angry or happy children. Sad children's greater suggestibility is discussed in terms of the differing problem-solving strategies associated with discrete emotions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personalized inferences of emotions and appraisals: Component processes and correlates.

Examined children's abilities to consider other people's personal history when inferring their cognitive appraisals and probable emotional reactions. Study 1 explored the sources of children's difficulty in making personalized inferences of emotion. Interviewed children averaging 6, 8, and 11 years of age about a series of stories describing a person's behavior or experience in one situation, followed by a second, related situation, or about partial stories. The youngest children had trouble figuring out mental appraisals from personal history information. Older children were capable of inferring appraisals but had trouble applying them to later situations when both steps were required to infer the person's emotion. Study 2 examined the extent to which social and cognitive factors are associated with the ability to make personalized inferences among 8-year-olds. The tendency to make personalized inferences of appraisals was more clearly associated with sociometric status than with cognitive capacity measures, suggesting that this may be an important element of children's social competence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of concern for others.

Investigated the development of prosocial and reparative behaviors by examining children's responses to distresses they caused and those they witnessed in others during the 2nd yr of life. Prosocial behaviors (help, sharing, provision of comfort) emerged between the ages of 1 and 2, increasing in frequency and variety over this time period. These behaviors were linked to expressions of concern as well as efforts to understand and experience the other's plight. Children's reparative behaviors after they had caused distress also increased with age. Age changes in these early signs of moral development were accompanied by social–cognitive changes in self-recognition. In assessments at age 2, children were most responsive to distress in their mothers but also showed some sensitivity toward unfamiliar persons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of contiguity, regularity, and age on children's causal inferences.

Investigated the effects of contiguity and regularity on the causal inferences of 96 5- and 6-yr-old and 8- and 9-yr-old children, using a discrimination task whose novelty precluded any reliance on previously gathered information; responses were thus solely a product of the children's firsthand evaluation of the data. Contiguity affected the causal statements of those in each age group, while regularity influenced the statements of the older but not the younger children. Results are basically consistent with Piagetian theory, although several other explanations are viable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral and physiological correlates of children's reactions to others in distress.

Examined the behavioral and physiological correlates of children's reactions to others in distress and the relation of these to dispositional helpfulness. 37 3rd graders and 29 6th graders watched a film about a distressed child. Facial expressions, heart rate variability (HRV), and skin conductance (SC) were recorded during the film. An index of dispositional helpfulness was obtained from children's mothers. High HRV was predictive of children's sympathetic rather than distressed reactions. For boys, sympathetic responsiveness positively predicted dispositional helpfulness; for girls, SC was inversely related to dispositional helpfulness. It was concluded that children who are able to regulate their vicariously induced emotional responsiveness are relatively likely to experience sympathy and relatively unlikely to experience personal distress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of discrete emotions on young children's ability to discern fantasy and reality.

This study examined 3- to 5-year-olds' (N = 128; 54% girls) ability to discriminate emotional fantasy and reality. Children viewed images depicting fantastic or real events that elicited several emotions, reported whether each event could occur, and rated their emotional reaction to the image. Children were also administered the Play Behavior Questionnaire and Pretend Action Tasks to assess play behaviors. Findings revealed age-related improvements in performance and biases in judgment based on the emotion depicted. Children reported that happy fantastic events could occur significantly more often than frightening and angry fantastic events and that happy real events could occur significantly more often than frightening and angry real events. Children's emotional reactions to the images but not play behaviors were significantly related to their fantasy-reality distinctions. Implications for the relation between emotions and children's fantasy-reality distinctions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Discriminating patterns of emotions in 10- and 11-yr-old children's anxiety and depression.

Evaluated emotional variables in the discrimination and prediction of anxiety and depression in 280 5th and 6th graders. Ss and teachers completed inventories assessing the Ss' emotions, anxiety level, and depression level twice, 4 mo apart. The battery included the Trait scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children and the Children's Depression Inventory. Results indicate that distinct patterns of emotional variables are involved in anxiety and depression syndromes, and these patterns confirm the hypotheses based on differential emotions theory. An attempt to predict future depression was successful when based on the Ss' self-reported emotions but not when based on the teachers' ratings of the Ss' emotions. It is concluded that the latter may have been due to the high stability (Time 1/Time 2 correlation) of the depression measure over the 4-mo interval. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Remember children's emotions: Sources of concordant and discordant accounts between parents and children.

Parents were asked to recall recent events that had evoked happiness, sadness, anger, and fear in their children. Children (N?=?77, 2 years 3 months to 6 years 6 months) indicated whether they remembered each event, and if so, they described the event and how it had made them feel. Agreement between parent and child concerning how the child felt varied as a function of emotion. Children agreed with their parents' emotion attributions most often for events that parents recalled as having evoked happiness and sadness, less often for fear, and least often for anger. Children disagreed with parents' attributions of happiness and sadness most often when parents and children differed concerning the attribution of children's goals. Discordant reports about children's anger were most frequent when parents and children reported conflicting goals. Discordant reports about fear were most frequent when parents and children focused on different parts of the temporal sequence surrounding the event. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of specific emotions in children's responses to interparental conflict: A test of the model.

Mothers, fathers, and their 6-year-old children (N?=?164) participated in a study testing key tenets of the specific emotions model of marital conflict. Parents reported their marital conflict strategies, were observed interacting with their children, and rated children's behavioral adjustment. Children reported their emotional reactions to specific interparental conflicts. Results support the specific emotions model. Children's behaviors mirrored the marital or parental behaviors of same-gender parents. Indirect effects of marital aggression through parental behavior were detected, and marital and parental behaviors interacted to predict girls' externalizing. Girls' anger, sadness, and fear increased with fathers' marital aggression. Fear and the anger by fear interaction predicted girls' internalizing. Fathers' marital aggression interacted with anger to predict externalizing and interacted with fear to predict internalizing behavior in boys. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mistaken inferences.

Responds to P. E. Nathan's (see record 1998-00122-002) comments about the Consumer Reports mental health survey. The present authors contend that Nathan's comments contain serious errors and mistaken assumptions, stemming from a misunderstanding of the incidence rates for seeking professional care among subscribers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of children's prosocial moral judgment.

Examined (a) the development of children's reasoning about prosocial moral dilemmas (those situations in which the needs of one individual conflict with those of others in a context in which the effects of laws, rules, punishment, authorities, and formal obligations are minimized or irrelevant), and (b) the relationship of structure of prosocial moral judgment to story solution. 125 elementary and high school students responded to 4 moral dilemmas involving prosocial conflicts. Elementary school children's reasoning tended to be hedonistic, stereotyped, approval and interpersonally oriented, and/or tended to involve the labeling of others' needs. Stereotyped images of persons and interpersonally or approval-oriented reasoning decreased in frequency with age, whereas clearly empathic considerations and judgments reflecting internalized values increased in use with age. Empathic moral concerns comprised much of the Ss' moral reasoning. Type of moral judgment was related to the way Ss said a moral conflict should be resolved. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Consequences of superfluous social constraints: Effects on young children's social inferences and subsequent intrinsic interest.

Investigated the effects of the imposition of a nominal contingency—the presentation of engagement in one activity as a means for earning the chance to engage in a second activity of equivalent initial interest—on 132 preschoolers' subsequent intrinsic interest in and social inferences about the 2 activities. Across experiments analogous contingency manipulations were presented in a highly familiar context in which Ss had previously encountered such contingencies and a more novel context in which Ss had not previously encountered the use of such social constraints. Ss in the 3 studies showed some tendency to discount interest in the activity presented as a means relative to the activity presented as an end. Further evidence suggests that findings did not result from any reflective reliance on an abstract discounting principle. Implications for understanding the development of self- and social perception processes and interpreting previous over-justification research are discussed. (57 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Young children's (Homo sapiens) understanding of knowledge formation in themselves and others.

Three- and 4-yr-old children were tested for comprehension of knowledge formation. In Exp 1, 34 Ss watched as a surprise was hidden under 1 of 4 obscured cups. The experimenter then pointed to the cup. All children searched under the correct cup, but no 3-yr-olds (in contrast to most 4-yr-olds) could explain how they knew where to look. Ss then discriminated between simultaneous pointing by 2 adults, one who had hidden a surprise and one who had left the room before the surprise was hidden. Most 4-yr-olds (but no 3-yr-olds) showed clear discrimination between the adults. In Exp 2, 16 Ss were tested with procedures designed to make the source of their own knowledge more obvious, but this had no effect on performance. It is concluded that studies using very similar procedures with chimpanzees and rhesus macaques were measuring an ability (or inability) to understand how knowledge states form. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age and the availability of inferences.

Investigated age differences in inference availability and memory using a speeded decision procedure and cued recall. Younger and older adults read passages that directly suggested either a target inference or an incorrect, competing inference before finally supporting the target inference. At critical points in a passage, Ss judged whether each of a series of words, including either the target or competing inference, was consistent with their current interpretation. Although both groups agreed on the final target inference, younger and older adults showed different patterns of inference availability and revision. Older adults showed broader and more sustained activation of alternative interpretations and also showed lower levels of inference recall. These findings are interpretable by a framework that proposes age-related breakdowns in inhibitory mechanisms that control the contents of working memory (L. Hasher and R. T. Zacks, 1988). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of children's understanding of basic-subordinate inclusion relations.

Four studies focused on developmental differences in the representation of basic-subordinate inclusion relations. Tests of comprehension and production of category names, induction, and responses to direct questions pertaining to inclusion revealed a marked developmental gap between the production of subordinate category names and complete understanding of basic-subordinate inclusion relations. However, even 3-year-olds showed rudimentary knowledge of the asymmetry of inclusion. Discrepancies between children's performance on categorization tasks involving familiar and unfamiliar subordinate categories suggest that understanding of the logical nature of inclusion relations is constructed through the integration of categorical knowledge from familiar domains. Interactions among the knowledge base, pragmatic sensitivity, and information processing efficiency in the development of inclusion are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)