Social support, life stress, and subsequent medical care utilization.

246 men and 191 women (aged 40–72 yrs) were monitored for medical care utilization in a health maintenance organization (HMO) over a 5-yr period. Rates of utilization were related to initially obtained indicators of life stress and social support and to interactions between life stress, social support, and age. Predictors of male and female HMO use are discussed. Multiple regression permitted a distinction between immediate and delayed effects of stresses on HMO visits. Implications regarding the buffering hypothesis for the mitigating effects of social support on the likelihood of health breakdown are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental changes in the effects of landmarks on infant spatial behavior.

The ability of 118 6-, 9-, and 11-mo olds to keep track of positions in space was assessed under 4 conditions varying the presence, salience, and location of landmark information. Each S was trained to expect an event at 1 of 2 windows to either side. Ss were then rotated to the opposite side of the room, and the direction of search was interpreted as an indication of whether the event's location was being coded egocentrically or objectively. Results indicate high proportions of egocentricity at all ages in the absence of landmarks. In contrast, egocentricity decreased at all ages when stripes and lights surrounded the target site. However, whereas the 9- and 11-mo olds switched to consistent objective responding in this condition, the 6-mo olds glanced at both windows, indicating uncertainty as to which reference system should be used. Only the 11-mo-olds showed any evidence of being able to use landmark information presented at the irrelevant window. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The understanding of relative speeds, distances, and durations of movement.

In an extension of an earlier study by R. S. Siegler and D. D. Richards (see record 1979-28311-001), 102 1st–7th graders judged the relative speeds, distances, and durations of travel in 16 selected displays of 2 toy trains moving in the same direction down parallel tracks. A major variant in the investigation was the use of displays in which speeds, distances, and durations were sometimes equal instead of always unequal. Results further clarify both the order of concept acquisition and the nature of thought during the development of each concept. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of spatial orientation in infancy.

The ability of infants at 6, 11, and 16 mo to keep track of their relationship to a place in space was assessed in 4 experiments with 72 Ss. Ss were trained to expect an event to occur to their right or left; they were then moved so that their view of the space was reversed. The direction in which they turned in anticipation of the event indicated whether they were coding the location egocentrically or objectively. In Exp I, a longitudinal study of 24 infants, significant shift with age from egocentric responding at 6 and 11 mo to objective responding at 16 mo was revealed, a change that data in Exp II indicated was not simply due to previous experience with the experimental space. In Exps III and IV, manipulation of the type of experience Ss had during training failed to decrease egocentric responding at 6 and 11 mo. The overall pattern indicated that a landmark had its greatest impact at 11 mo. The data support Piaget's theory that in coding location, young infants rely on past accommodations to an object rather than its relationship to other objects or the larger space. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of relational reasoning and avoidance of premature closure.

First-, third-, fifth-, and sixth-grade children were administered 20 relational reasoning problems in which they had to deduce the possible sizes of one item relative to two others on the basis of a visual comparison of the sizes of the two other items and a written clue concerning the location(s) of the biggest or smallest of the three items. Some problems had single solutions, whereas others had multiple solutions. Although a high frequency of flawless performance on the single-solution problems was not seen until sixth grade, reasoning errors were less frequent than would be expected by chance even among the first-grade children. A ready facility for detecting the possibility of more than one correct solution to multiple-solution problems also did not emerge until sixth grade. Corrective feedback substantially improved the frequency with which first- through fifth-grade children detected multiple solutions on reassessment; however, this training failed to raise their performance to the level displayed spontaneously by the sixth-grade children. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Laboratory versus home: The effect of environment on the 9-month-old infant's choice of spatial reference system.

55 9-mo-olds watched while an object was hidden under a cloth to their left or a cloth to their right. They were then moved to the opposite side of the table and allowed to search. Since no trials training a reach in one direction were included, the child's choice of the incorrect cloth from the new position was interpreted as reliance on a spatial reference system based on the child's body, rather than on repetition of a learned motor habit. Striking environmental effects were found. Infants tested in a landmark-free laboratory and an unfamiliar landmark-filled office behaved egocentrically; those tested in their homes did not. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental changes in the ability to coordinate perspectives of a large-scale space.

In 2 experiments using a large-scale space and a 3rd using a model of that space, 85 3-, 4-, and 5-yr-olds were trained to find a trinket either to their right or left. The Ss' position in the space was then changed so that their view of the space was reversed. When asked to find the trinket again, Ss' choice of left or right indicated whether they had coordinated the 2 views of the space. While the 5-yr-olds were able to coordinate the views in the large-scale space without landmarks, the 3- and 4-yr-olds did better with landmarks and with the model space. Reminding the 3- and 4-yr-olds that they had changed position enhanced the performance of the 4-yr-olds but not the 3-yr-olds. Data indicate that the ability to coordinate perspectives in large-scale space may be present but not used spontaneously during a transitional stage. Discrepancies between behavior with the 2 types of space are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Environmental differentiation and familiarity as determinants of children's memory for spatial location.

The degree to which 2 environmental variables, familiarity and differentiation, affect the ability of children to recall the spatial location of an event was assessed in 3 experiments with a total of 72 3-5 yr old preschoolers and 16 7-8 yr olds. In each study Ss were taken individually on strolls through a variety of environments, were exposed to an event, and later were asked to recall where that event had occurred. This procedure was followed on 1 occasion without the S's foreknowledge that such a request would be made, and on a 2nd occasion with foreknowledge of the S. Differentiation and foreknowledge both had a significant effect on the ability of preschool Ss to perform in this task, but familiarity did not. 8-yr-olds were significantly more accurate than preschoolers in an undifferentiated environment but not in a differentiated environment. Results support Piaget's theory that the development of spatial representation proceeds from dependence on topological spatial relations to incorporation of projective and Euclidean concepts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)