A life-span theory of control.

A life-span theory of development is presented that is based on the concepts of primary and secondary control. Primary control refers to behaviors directed at the external environment and involves attempts to change the world to fit the needs and desires of the individual. Secondary control is targeted at internal processes and serves to minimize losses in, maintain, and expand existing levels of primary control. Secondary control helps the individual to cope with failure and fosters primary control by channeling motivational resources toward selected action goals throughout the life course. Primary control has functional primacy over secondary control. An analysis of extensive and diverse literatures spanning infancy through old age shows that trade-offs between primary and secondary control undergo systematic shifts across the life course in response to the opportunities and constraints encountered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of time on social preferences: Implications for life-span development.

Socioemotional selectivity theory holds that the reliable decline in social contact in later life is due, in part, to older people's preferences for emotionally meaningful social partners and that such preferences are due not to age, per se, but to perceived limitations on time. Confirming the theory, in both the United States and Hong Kong, older people showed a preference for familiar social partners, whereas younger people did not show this preference. However, when asked to imagine an expansive future, older people's bias for familiar social partners disappeared. Conversely, in the face of a hypothesized constraint on time, both younger and older people preferred familiar social partners. Moreover, social preferences in Hong Kong differed before and after the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China, which was construed as a sociopolitical time constraint. One year prior to the handover, only older people displayed preferences for familiar partners. Two months before the handover, both age groups showed such preferences. One year after the handover, once again, only older Hong Kong people preferred familiar social partners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Suicide notes of adolescents: A life-span comparison.

Utilizing suicide notes as the data source, this study begins to explore some psychological dimensions in adolescent suicide and to identify the differences and similarities of suicide across the life span. 80 notes, representing 4 developmental ages (i.e., adolescents, young adults, middle adults, old adults) were analyzed for specific protocols on 8 categories (i.e., unbearable pain, cognitive constriction, indirect expressions, inability to adjust, ego, interpersonal relations, rejection-aggression, and identification-egression). Despite similarities, the results identify that the suicide of teens may be more highly related to cognitive constriction, indirect expressions, rejection-aggression, and identification-egression, than other age groups. Further research beyond the suicides' own narratives (e.g., third-party interviews, study of attempters) is needed to replicate and extend the current findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Associative and strategic components of episodic memory: A life-span dissociation.

The authors investigated the strategic component (i.e., elaboration and organization of episodic features) and the associative component (i.e., binding processes) of episodic memory and their interactions in 4 age groups (10-12, 13-15, 20-25, and 70-75 years of age). On the basis of behavioral and neural evidence, the authors hypothesized that the two components are functionally related but follow different life-span gradients. In a fully crossed design, age differences in recognition memory for single words versus word pairs (associative demand manipulation) were examined under instructions that emphasized item, pair, or elaborative-pair encoding (strategy manipulation). As predicted, the results showed that the strategic and associative components follow different life-span trajectories. Relative to younger adults, children's difficulties in episodic memory primarily reflected lower levels of strategic functioning. In contrast, older adults showed impairments in both strategic and associative components. The authors conclude that the comparison of strategic and associative components of episodic memory across the life span helps to delineate the two components' unique and interactive contributions to episodic memory performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prosocial development: A longitudinal study.

Examined, using a longitudinal methodology, (1) the development of prosocial moral judgment and (2) the relation between prosocial moral judgment and both prohibition-oriented moral judgment and maternal childrearing practices. Three samples were tested: 33 82–99 mo olds were interviewed 3 times; 16 49–67 mo olds were interviewed twice; and 30 2nd graders were interviewed once. From preschool to elementary school years, needs-oriented (empathic) reasoning increased in frequency of use, whereas hedonistic reasoning decreased. Significant changes continued from the preschool years to 2nd grade, although change could be noted even before entry into school (over a 1-yr period from ages 4–5 to 5–6 yrs). The relation between level of prosocial reasoning and prohibition-oriented reasoning was low to moderate, depending on the measures that were intercorrelated. Level of reasoning was related to nonauthoritarian, nonpunitive maternal practices, but the role of empathic, supportive maternal practices appeared to change with age. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-perpetuating development of encoding biases.

The process of encoding new information involves the imposition of preexisting interpretive categories on newly encountered stimuli, even if the categories do not match perfectly those stimuli. We hypothesized that such encoding of stimuli as supportive of preexisting encoding dispositions may become a source of a perceiver's subjective experiences that support these dispositions. Through this nonconsciously operating mechanism, encoding rules may gradually develop in a self-perpetuating manner, even in the absence of any objectively supportive evidence. Results demonstrated this self-perpetuating process in three studies involving different stimulus materials and experimental tasks (matrix-scanning paradigm and two "intuitive judgment" tasks). The self-perpetuating development of encoding biases is discussed as one of the elementary mechanisms involved in the development of interpretive categories and other individually differentiated cognitive dispositions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age, ego level, and the life-span development of coping and defense processes.

Developmental variation in coping and defense strategy use was examined in a sample of 100 male and female participants ranging in age from 10 to 77 years. Each participant was administered Loevinger's ego development task, the Ways of Coping measure, and the Defense Mechanism Inventory. In addition, a brief narrative of a stressful experience was assessed for the developmental level of the response and for its content. The results suggest that, in addition to age, the developmental measures of ego level and source of stress predict the use of particular coping and defense strategies. In keeping with other research, sex differences in coping and defense strategies were also found. These findings are discussed in light of the need for tasks that are able to assess both developmental and individual differences in the maturity of coping and defense strategy use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rating formats and rater training redux: A context-specific approach for enhancing the effectiveness of performance management.

In this paper, we critically examine previous research on rating formats and rater training in the context of performance appraisal. Historically, the goal of this body of research has been to search for ways of maximizing the psychometric quality of performance evaluation data. Our central thesis is that there are a number of avenues for broadening this research. Accordingly, we propose a conceptual model that hopefully serves as a conceptual framework for future work in these 2 traditional performance appraisal research streams. For example, both rating formats and rater training research may be useful for facilitating and improving the feedback and employee development process, as well as reducing the potential existence of rater biases. In addition, format and training research may focus upon ways of enhancing both rater and ratee reactions to the appraisal system. A key feature of our model is the integration of national culture as a moderator of the relations between specific formats, training programs, and various outcomes. We consider both the national culture of raters and ratees, and focus specifically on comparisons between Western and East Asian cultures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A new analysis of life-span age trends in visual illusion.

Tested the magnitude of the over- and underestimated portions of the Ebbinghaus (Titchner circles) illusion in 688 Ss ranging in age from 5 to 70 yrs. Results indicate that the overestimated portion decreases while the underestimated portion yields increasing illusory distortion as a function of age. Both configurations produced nonlinear age trends. These results suggest that reports of inconsistent age trends in illusions may be the result of combining increasing and decreasing age functions found in some components of the same illusion configuration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prosocial development in middle childhood: A longitudinal study.

Examined change in prosocial moral judgment over a 7-year period; determined whether there are gender differences in the development of prosocial moral judgment; and examined the interrelations of moral judgment, affect (empathy), and behavior in middle childhood. Participants were two groups of children who have been followed for 5 and 7 years and two groups of children interviewed for the first time at either ages 9–10 or 11–22. Hedonistic reasoning decreased with age; simple needs-oriented moral judgments increased with age and then leveled off; most other more sophisticated types of reasoning increased in a linear fashion with age. Modes of reasoning that most explicitly reflect role taking or empathy increased in use with age for girls but not for boys. Empathy was positively related to needs-oriented judgments and to higher-level prosocial reasoning and was negatively related to hedonistic reasoning (depending on the age of the children). Empathy was positively related to donating at 11–22 years of age but not at 9–20 years of age. Relations between behavior and reasoning varied depending on the structure and costs of a specific behavior. The results are discussed in relation to theory and research concerning developmental change in moral reasoning and possible mediators of prosocial development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prosocial development in early adulthood: A longitudinal study.

Consistency of measures of a prosocial personality and prosocial moral judgment over time, and the interrelations among them, were examined. Participants' and friends' reports of prosocial characteristics were obtained at ages 21-22, 23-24, and 25-26 yrs. In addition, participants' prosocial judgment was assessed with interviews and with an objective measure of prosocial moral reasoning at several ages. Reports of prosocial behavior and empathy-related responding in childhood and observations of prosocial behavior in preschool also were obtained. There was interindividual consistency in prosocial dispositions, and prosocial dispositions in adulthood related to empathy/sympathy and prosocial behavior at much younger ages. Interview and objective measures of moral reasoning were substantially interrelated in late adolescence/early adulthood and correlated with participants' and friends' reports of a prosocial disposition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conscientiousness, autonomy fit, and development: A longitudinal study.

The authors examined employee development and its relationship with Conscientiousness and person-environment fit (in terms of needs and supplies of autonomy). They hypothesized that Conscientiousness would be positively associated with development but only when employees felt that the autonomy supplied by the organization did not fit their needs. In other words, whereas Conscientiousness could supply the dispositional resources for development, misfit was needed to create the need for development. The results supported the authors' predictions. Conscientiousness was positively related to development but only when employees were misfits with respect to autonomy. Employee involvement in development activities was then linked to subsequent fit. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A longitudinal study of friendship development.

At 3-wk intervals during their 1st term at the university, 53 female and 31 male freshmen completed questionnaires regarding their relationships with 2 same-sex individuals whom they had just met. Results showed that dyads that successfully developed into close friendships by the end of the fall school term differed behaviorally and attitudinally from dyads that did not progress. As the friendships developed, the intimacy level of dyadic interaction accounted for an increasing percentage of the variance in ratings of friendship intensity beyond that accounted for by the sheer quantity of interaction. Ratings of relationship benefits were consistently positively correlated with friendship intensity and increased as the relationship progressed. There were no differences in ratings of relationship costs between close and nonclose friends. Dyadic behavior patterns and attitude ratings at the end of the fall school term were good predictors of friendship status 3 mo later. Motivational and situational factors were also correlated with friendship outcomes. Sex differences were noted: Females engaged in more casual affection behaviors with their close than with their nonclose friends. Males engaged in little casual affection with their friends, regardless of their degree of closeness. Results replicate the major findings of R. B. Hays (1984). (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of context-specific tolerance to morphine: Support for a dual-process interpretation.

Four experiments, with 96 male Sprague-Dawley rats, examined the development of context-specific tolerance to the sedating and analgesic effects of morphine sulfate (5 mg/kg). Exp I assessed the temporal course of activity changes and analgesia consequent to acute morphine administration. Exps II–IV examined the development of context-specific morphine tolerance in the 2 measures under different conditions of pairing of morphine with a distinctive environment. In support of a dual-process model (postulating both a general tendency for conditioned diminution of unconditioned responding and a more restricted influence of the development of specific conditioned compensatory responses, tolerance was observed in both measures, but evidence of conditioned compensatory response was found only in the activity measure. The differential evidence of conditioned compensatory response in the 2 measures is consistent with the fact that the activity measure showed a biphasic unconditioned response in Exp I, whereas the analgesic measure did not. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A longitudinal study of ego development.

Using the Washington University Sentence Completion Test of Ego Development, 32 lower-class and lower-middle-class 12th graders (Group A) who had been given the test by A. Blasi (1971) as 6th graders were retested. The relationship between ego development and vocational attitudes and plans was also examined using a vocational choice questionnaire and the Career Maturity Inventory (CMI). To increase sample size, an additional 23 12th graders (Group B) were also administered the 3 measures. Results of statistical analyses show an increase at the .0005 level between 6th and 12th grades. Among Group A, sex differences at both grade levels were not significant; however, among Group B, girls had significantly higher ego levels than boys. In addition, ego development was significantly related to vocational maturity but not to reasons for vocational choices. Ego levels for 6th and 12th graders were significantly lower than those of middle- and upper-class Ss of comparable ages tested in other studies, suggesting a significant relation between ego development and socioeconomic status. Results are seen as evidence for the developmental nature of the ego, and support the sequentiality hypothesis, which suggests that stages follow in an invariant order. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spread of encoding and the development of organization in memory.

Examined the idea of spread of encoding as an explanatory principle in the development of free recall of words, in which the encoding of category-level word features increases the probability that these same features will be encoded for other same-category exemplars. The data of 2 experiments with 336 2nd graders and 2 experiments with 264 6th graders suggest that encoding of category-level features does not spread in elementary Ss' free recall. Using a mathematical model to estimate storage and retrieval difficulty, it was found that patterns of between-condition differences in storage and in retrieval did not suggest spread of encoding. In 2 experiments with 156 11th graders, data suggest that encoding of category-level features spreads in adolescent free recall. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychosocial development in adulthood: A 22-year sequential study.

Data supporting the notion of adult personality stability are challenged by the present findings, in which developmental change was demonstrated using the Eriksonian-stage-based Inventory of Psychosocial Development (A. Constantinople, 1969). A sequential design over the ages 20–42 was used on 2 cohorts of college students and alumni originally tested in 1966 and 1976–1977 (ns in 1988?=?99 and 83, respectively), and a 3rd cohort of college students in 1988–1989 (n?=?292). Results of longitudinal, cross-sectional, and sequential analyses challenged ideas about personality stability, with evidence of increasingly favorable resolutions of the early Eriksonian psychosocial stages up through the oldest age studied. There was evidence of a trend over the past decade toward less favorable resolution of ego integrity vs despair. The findings were interpreted in terms of developmental change processes during the adult years interacting with culturally based environmental effects on psychosocial development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning and transfer: A general role for analogical encoding.

Teaching by examples and cases is widely used to promote learning, but it varies widely in its effectiveness. The authors test an adaptation to case-based learning that facilitates abstracting problem-solving schemas from examples and using them to solve further problems: analogical encoding, or learning by drawing a comparison across examples. In 3 studies, the authors examined schema abstraction and transfer among novices learning negotiation strategies. Experiment 1 showed a benefit for analogical learning relative to no case study. Experiment 2 showed a marked advantage for comparing two cases over studying the 2 cases separately. Experiment 3 showed that increasing the degree of comparison support increased the rate of transfer in a face-to-face dynamic negotiation exercise. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A factor analytic study of daydreaming, imaginal process, and temperament: a replication on an adult male life-span sample

One hundred and seventy males aged 24 to 91 years were measured on daydreaming and related mental activity using the imaginal processes inventory and on temperament using the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey to determine if earlier results relating temperament to daydreaming in college populations were generalizable to the adult life-span. The earlier derived factor of "Neurotic-Anxious Absorption in Daydreaming" was found in this sample and had a negative correlation with chronological age, suggesting a decrease with increasing age. Other earlier derived factors on "Personal Acceptance-Utilization of Daydreaming," "Masculinity-Femininity," "Thinking Introversion," and "Social Extroversion" were also found in this sample, but were not related to age.