Individual differences in students' perceptions of routine classroom events.

144 Ss (72 males and 72 females) in Grades 1–5, who differed in classroom adjustment (according to teachers' judgments), were presented with 3 written vignettes portraying inappropriate student behavior. Interviews probed Ss' predictions of their teacher's motivation and response to the 3 vignette characters. Results show that Ss' reports varied across vignettes and differed primarily by grade level. Older Ss' responses were more elaborated and differentiating. Younger Ss' constructs tended to be more global, emotional, and value-laden. Females evidenced a more elaborate understanding of their teacher's motivation and behavior than males. Nonproblem Ss' working knowledge of the classroom, including discussion of their teacher, the vignette characters, and their reaction to them, did not differ from that of Ss who had a range of difficulties in the classroom. Of the troublesome Ss, only those diagnosed as hyperactive were notable for their differential responses. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Origins and pawns in the classroom: Self-report and projective assessments of individual differences in children's perceptions.

Two studies examined the significance of children's perceptions of their classroom environment along autonomy vs external control dimensions. Study 1 related a self-report measure of the perceived classroom climate—R. deCharms's (1976) origin climate questionnaire—to other self-related constructs. Among 140 4th–6th graders, the more "origin" the Ss perceived in their classroom, the higher their perceived self-worth, cognitive competence, internal control, and mastery motivation, and the lower their perceived control by unknown sources or powerful others. These relationships were primarily due to individual differences within classrooms rather than average classroom differences. Ss also wrote projective stories about an ambiguous classroom scene. Ratings of these stories indicated that originlike behavior in Ss' fantasy was associated with autonomy-oriented teachers and low aggression. Self-report and projective methods converged, particularly for Ss whose self-reported perceptions were extreme. In Study 2, with 578 Ss, relative contributions of classroom and individual difference effects were further examined. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of perceived autonomy and issues in assessment strategies. (27 ref) (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)     

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)     

Developmental trends in children's perceptions of parental child-rearing behavior.

Administered the Child's Report of Parental Behavior Inventory to 342 children in Grades 1 through 4. Results concerning 2 control factors confirm a previously noted trend that with advancing age, children perceive a decrease in psychologically controlling behaviors and a concomitant increase in parental rule making and limit setting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ordinal position differences in children's family interactions.

The purpose of this study was to compare the interactions of oldest and youngest children with parents and siblings. Twenty first-born and 17 last-born children between the ages of 4 and 8 from two- or three-child families were selected from a larger sample for this study. Their interactions at home with other family members were observed and coded. Oldest children emitted more of their total behaviors to parents than to siblings, whereas last-born children did not differ significantly in the total number of behaviors emitted to the two family member groups. When the incidence of individual behavior categories was examined, no significant main effect due to ordinal position was found; however, a significant interaction of ordinal position with family member group for some behaviors was found. Both parents and siblings emitted similar levels of prosocial responses toward oldest and last-born children. However, oldest children were more likely to be the recipient of negative responses from parents and siblings than were last-born children of the same age. Implications of these findings for understanding the influence of ordinal position on social behavior are discussed. (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)     

Age differences in judging the frequency of events.

80 Ss in 2 age groups, 18–30 and 60–75 yrs, saw a list of words that varied in number of presentations (1, 3, or 5) and level of background language frequency (high, medium, or low). Immediately or after a 20-min retention interval, Ss judged the presentation frequency of the study list words. Older Ss were less accurate in their frequency judgments than young Ss. The age difference was present on the immediate test and was not due to greater difficulty in discriminating presentation frequency from background frequency in the older group. The results are not consistent with the hypothesis that frequency judgment is unaffected by developmental changes. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Elementary school children's perceptions of play therapy in school settings.

Seven elementary school children's perceptions of the process of counseling with school counselors who utilized play therapy techniques were explored through a qualitative investigation. Findings included the importance of the therapeutic relationship, emotional expressiveness, and creative play. Better choices, decreased anxiety, increased empathy, and bolstered self-confidence were reported by participants as a result of participation in the counseling process. Additionally, participants articulated their preference for a mixture of traditional verbal interventions and play therapy techniques to solve problems in counseling. Implications for play therapists and counselors who utilize play therapy techniques in school settings are presented. (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)     

Sex differences in the causes of self-reported adolescent delinquency.

Sex differences in the causes of self-reported adolescent delinquency were examined in full and half siblings born to a nationally representative sample of women in the United States. Qualitative sex differences in the genes that influence delinquency were not detected. Similarly, the proportions of variance in both aggressive and nonaggressive delinquency attributable to genetic and environmental influences did not differ significantly between girls and boys. Nonetheless, total variance in delinquency was greater among boys, and a scalar sex-differences model suggested that genetic and environmental influences on delinquency have less effect on population variation in delinquency among girls. Similarly, a test of the polygenic multiple threshold model suggested that girls require greater causal liability for the expression of delinquency than boys. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in perceptions of desirable body shape.

Using a set of 9 figure drawings arranged from very thin to very heavy figures, 248 male and 227 female undergraduates indicated their current figure, their ideal figure, the figure that they felt would be most attractive to the opposite sex, and the opposite sex figure to which they would be most attracted. For men, the current, ideal, and most attractive figures were almost identical. For women, the current figure was heavier than the most attractive figure, which was heavier than the ideal figure. Both men and women erred in estimating what the opposite sex would find attractive. Men thought women would like a heavier stature than females reported they like, and women thought men would like women thinner than men reported they like. Results suggest that, overall, men's perceptions serve to keep them satisfied with their figures, whereas women's perceptions place pressure on them to lose weight. The sex differences reported are probably related to the greater incidence of dieting, anorexia, and bulimia among American women than among American men. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive style differences in children's spatial perspective taking.

Examined spatial perspective taking in a total of 80 4-, 6-, 8-, and 10-yr-old reflective and impulsive children (as indentified by scores on the Matching Familiar Figures Test) using a modification of Piaget's 3 mountain task. Results indicate that reflectives made more mature errors at 6 yrs of age and were more accurate in predicting another's perspective at 8 yrs of age, but they did not differ from impulsives in performance at 4 or 10 yrs of age. Results suggest that the development and expression of children's cognitive structures, at least in the spatial realm, is mediated by cognitive style factors. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural differences in the relationship between parenting and children's behavior.

Parent and teacher data for 14,990 children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth were used in multilevel analyses to examine the relationship between ethnicity, children's aggression and emotional problems, and parenting. Using parent and teacher report, relationships between ethnicity and child behavior were present but modest. The association between parental harshness and child aggression differed between ethnic groups and across informants. Using teacher report of outcomes, parental harshness was positively related to child aggression in European Canadian families but negatively related in South Asian Canadian families. For all ethnic groups, parental harshness was positively related to children's aggression when parent report of outcomes was used, but relationships varied in strength across ethnic groups. The relationship of parental harshness with child emotional problems did not differ across groups, irrespective of informant. The results are discussed within the context of an ecological model of parenting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental differences in children's recognition memory for faces.

Tested 108 White, upper-middle-class children at 3 age levels for recognition memory of adult male faces following 3 different orienting activities at encoding. One group received standard intentional learning instructions, another group judged whether each face had a big nose, and a 3rd group judged whether each face appeared "nice." Memory improved with age, and judgments of niceness facilitated memory equally at all ages. The results pose difficulties for A. L. Brown's (1975) model of memory development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in children's anxiety and defensiveness measures.

80 children in Grades 5 and 6 were administered the General and Test Anxiety Scales for Children, and the Defensiveness Scale for Children. Although girls scored higher than boys on the anxiety measures, there were no differences on the Defensiveness Scale, suggesting that the content of the scales, rather than defensiveness, merits further investigation. There were no differences between Black and White children on any of the measures. (2 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

First-grade teachers' goals and children's developing perceptions of school.

Used a longitudinal design to investigate how goals and practices of 1st-grade teachers influenced students' perceptions of school and their classroom behaviors. Before school began, the goals (academic vs social development) and classroom structure (strict vs permissive) of 13 teachers were assessed. 77 children were then interviewed and tested prior to 1st grade and again 7 mo later. Observations were conducted to corroborate self-report data. Results suggest that teachers' beliefs influenced classroom activities, children's behaviors, and children's perceptions of school. Certain combinations of the identified ideologies produced classroom environments which children found anxiety arousing. Clarity of teacher demands may be an important feature of supportive 1st-grade classrooms. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)