Child Development and Public Policy: Toward a Dynamic Systems Perspective

Little theoretical work exists that proposes general mechanisms for how public policies may influence child development. This article argues that dynamic systems theories may be useful in illuminating such processes, as well as highlighting gaps in current research at the intersection of public policy analysis and developmental science. A brief review of dynamic systems theories as they are currently utilized in other areas of developmental science is provided, as well as a statement of why they may help advance research in public policy and child development. Five principles of dynamic systems theories are presented and discussed using examples from research that address the question, "How do current antipoverty and welfare reform policies affect children?" Also presented are examples of hypotheses and research questions that each principle may generate for future work. The concluding section presents challenges that each principle poses for research methodology, and potential uses of the dynamic systems approach for developing and integrating policy and program initiatives.     

发展心理学研究的新视角——进化发展心理学

进化发展心理学是在现代生物学、生态学等学科的影响下形成的一个新的学科分支,走一种从种系发生来解释人类发展的新理论视角。它试图以达尔文进化发展的机制来解释人类各种心理与行为的进化意义,并通过汇总各个领域的研究资料、设计进化实验等途径和方法来探讨人类心理和行为产生与发展的机制。     

Toward a Developmental Science of Politics

In this monograph, we argue for the establishment of a developmental science of politics that describes, explains, and predicts the formation and change of individuals’ political knowledge, attitudes, and behavior beginning in childhood and continuing across the life course. Reflecting our goal of contributing both theoretical conceptualizations and empirical data, we have organized the monograph into two broad sections. In the first section, we outline theoretical contributions that the study of politics may make to developmental science and provide practical reasons that empirical research in the domain of politics is important (e.g., for identifying ways to improve civics education and for encouraging higher voting rates among young adults). We also review major historical approaches to the study of political development and provide an integrative theoretical framework to ground future work. Drawing on Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems model as an organizing scheme and emphasizing social justice issues, we describe how factors rooted in cultural contexts, families, and children themselves are likely to shape political development. In the second section of the monograph, we argue for the importance and utility of studying major political events, such as presidential elections, and introduce the major themes, rationales, and hypotheses for a study of U.S. children's views of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In addition, we apply a social-justice lens to political thought and participation, addressing the role of gender/sex and race/ethnicity in children's political development broadly, and in their knowledge and views of the 2016 U.S. presidential election specifically. In interviews conducted within the month before and after the election, we examined two overarching categories of children's political attitudes: (a) knowledge, preferences, and expectations about the 2016 election, and (b) knowledge and attitudes concerning gender/sex and politics, particularly relevant for the 2016 election given Hillary Clinton's role as the first female major-party candidate for the presidency. Participants were 187 children (101 girls) between 5 and 11 years of age (M = 8.42 years, SD = 1.45 years). They were recruited from schools and youth organizations in five counties in four U.S. states (Kansas, Kentucky, Texas, and Washington) with varying voting patterns (e.g., Trump voters ranged from 27% to 71% of county voters). The sample was not a nationally representative one, but was racially diverse (35 African American, 50 Latinx, 81 White, and 21 multiracial, Asian American, Middle Eastern, or Native American children). In addition to several child characteristics (e.g., age, social dominance orientation [SDO]), we assessed several family and community characteristics (e.g., child-reported parental interest in the election and government-reported county-level voting patterns, respectively) hypothesized to predict outcome variables. Although our findings are shaped by the nature of our sample (e.g., our participants were less likely to support Trump than children in larger, nationwide samples were), they offer preliminary insights into children's political development. Overall, children in our sample were interested in and knowledgeable about the presidential election (e.g., a large majority identified the candidates correctly and reported some knowledge about their personal qualities or policy positions). They reported more information about Donald Trump's than Hillary Clinton's policies, largely accounted for by the substantial percentage of children (41%) who referred to Trump's immigration policies (e.g., building a wall between the United States and Mexico). Overall, children reported as many negative as positive personal qualities of the candidates, with negative qualities being reported more often for Trump than for Clinton (56% and 18% of children, respectively). Most children (88%) supported Clinton over Trump, a preference that did not vary by participants’ gender/sex or race/ethnicity. In their responses to an open-ended inquiry about their reactions to Trump's win, 63% of children reported negative and 18% reported positive emotions. Latinx children reacted more negatively to the election outcome than did White children. Girls’ and boys’ emotional responses to the election outcome did not differ. Children's personal interest in serving as U.S. president did not vary across gender/sex or racial/ethnic groups (overall, 42% were interested). Clinton's loss of the election did not appear to depress (or pique) girls’ interest in becoming U.S. president. With respect to the role of gender/sex in politics, many children (35%) were ignorant about women's absence from the U.S. presidency. Only a single child was able to name a historical individual who worked for women's civil rights or suffrage. Child characteristics predicted some outcome variables. For example, as expected, older children showed greater knowledge about the candidates than did younger children. Family and community characteristics also predicted some outcome variables. For example, as expected, participants were more likely to support Trump if they perceived that their parents supported him and if Trump received a greater percentage of votes in the children's county of residence. Our data suggest that civic education should be expanded and reformed. In addition to addressing societal problems requiring political solutions, civics lessons should include the histories of social groups’ political participation, including information about gender discrimination and the women's suffrage movement in U.S. political history. Providing children with environments that are rich in information related to the purpose and value of politics, and with opportunities and encouragement for political thought and action, is potentially beneficial for youth and their nations.     

Extending the Discourse on Developmental Appropriateness: A Developmental Perspective

This article makes the argument that the present discourse on developmental appropriateness needs to be expanded. Four points are made: First, the present discourse assumes a consensus about child development that is more apparent than real; second, it is premised on a suspect notion of broad, universal stages; third, it ignores an important alternative perspective to the dominant individualist perspective on learning and development; and fourth, it ignores an important alternative perspective to the dominant view of the relationship between learning and development. Critiques are made and alternative perspectives presented.     

Extending the Discourse on Developmental Appropriateness: A Developmental Perspective

This article makes the argument that the present discourse on developmental appropriateness needs to be expanded. Four points are made: First, the present discourse assumes a consensus about child development that is more apparent than real; second, it is premised on a suspect notion of broad, universal stages; third, it ignores an important alternative perspective to the dominant individualist perspective on learning and development; and fourth, it ignores an important alternative perspective to the dominant view of the relationship between learning and development. Critiques are made and alternative perspectives presented.     

Gender Differences in the Developmental Cascade From Harsh Parenting to Educational Attainment: An Evolutionary Perspective

This study utilized life history theory to test a developmental cascade model linking harsh parenting to low educational attainment. Multigroup models were examined to test for potential gender differences. The sample consisted of 1,482 adolescents followed up for 9 years starting in seventh grade (M_age = 12.74). Results supported indirect links between harsh parenting and low educational attainment through the development of extreme peer orientations, early sexual behavior, and delinquency. Among male adolescents, harsh parenting was related to the development of an extreme peer orientation, which further led to increased delinquency, and subsequently lower educational attainment. Among female adolescents, harsh parenting predicted extreme peer orientations, which increased both delinquency and early sexual behavior. Early sexual behavior further predicted lower educational attainment in female adolescents.     

Reading Within Families: Taking a Historical Perspective

This article draws on a study which was designed to extend understanding of habitual and committed adolescent readers. The study brought together four theoretical perspectives – the social, cultural, spatial and historical – as a way of re-imagining the field of reading. The historical perspective is the one foregrounded here, offering views of reading as a long-term, intergenerational process, in this instance constructed through setting adults’ comments about reading alongside those of their children or grandchildren. Analysis of data from two of the research methods employed in the study – semi-structured small-group interviews and interviews conducted by the students themselves with a parent or grandparent – suggests that there is a strong argument to be made for attending more closely to adolescent readers from a historical perspective, as well as from social, cultural and spatial perspectives, in order to understand better some of their subtle characteristics as they shift over time rather than as they appear when viewed merely in the here-and-now.     

Effects of a Preventive Parenting Intervention for Divorced Families on the Intergenerational Transmission of Parenting Attitudes in Young Adult Offspring

This study evaluates whether the New Beginnings Program (NBP), a parenting intervention for divorced mothers, led to positive parenting attitudes in young adult offspring. Data were collected from 240 mothers (G1) and offspring (G2) at ages 9–12 and again in adolescence and young adulthood. Alternative theoretical models were tested to examine mediators of NBP effects on G2 parenting attitudes. Significant interactions between condition and baseline G1 parenting indicated that NBP improved G2's parenting attitudes for those exposed to poorer G1 parenting at program entry. Effects on G2 warm attitudes were partially mediated through program effects on G1 warm parenting. The implications of improving parenting attitudes in offspring who experience parental divorce on well‐being in the next generation are discussed.     

Parenting as a Protective Process for School Success in Children from Homeless Families

The role of parenting as a protective process for school success was investigated among 59 African American children 6 to 11 years old from homeless families residing in a Minneapolis shelter. Reliable scores for three dimensions of parenting—parent-child closeness, parent involvement in education, and firm discipline—were derived from ratings based on interviews with parents while they were living at the shelter. After families had left the shelter, children's school success was assessed via three types of indicators: a) performance on a standardized achievement test; b) ratings of school records for the current school semester as well as cumulative school records; and c) teacher assessments of appropriate school behavior. Results suggested that good parenting may be protective for school success in these children. Close parent-child relationships and high parent involvement in the child's education were associated with school success in terms of school records of achievement and behavior in school. Parent's intellectual functioning, education level, psychological distress and firm disciplinary practices were unrelated to child academic success. Future research directions and implications for intervention are discussed.     

Parenting as a Protective Process for School Success in Children from Homeless Families

The role of parenting as a protective process for school success was investigated among 59 African American children 6 to 11 years old from homeless families residing in a Minneapolis shelter. Reliable scores for three dimensions of parenting—parent-child closeness, parent involvement in education, and firm discipline—were derived from ratings based on interviews with parents while they were living at the shelter. After families had left the shelter, children's school success was assessed via three types of indicators: a) performance on a standardized achievement test; b) ratings of school records for the current school semester as well as cumulative school records; and c) teacher assessments of appropriate school behavior. Results suggested that good parenting may be protective for school success in these children. Close parent–child relationships and high parent involvement in the child's education were associated with school success in terms of school records of achievement and behavior in school. Parent's intellectual functioning, education level, psychological distress and firm disciplinary practices were unrelated to child academic success. Future research directions and implications for intervention are discussed.     

略论高等教育的发展观

高等教育发展现是决定高等教育发展方向、进行高等教育发展研究和制订高等教育发展规划的基础。面对新世纪，我们应该确立可持续发展与跨越式发展相统一、科学教育与人文教育相促进、民族化与现代化相结合的发展现。     

A Developmental Neuropsychological Perspective for Reading and Writing Acquisition

The principle of developmental dissociations is illustrated as a technique for studying functional brain organization in developing children with and without frank brain damage. Specific developmental dissociations described include disparities between (a) the cognitive and motor systems; (b) declarative and procedural knowledge; (c) fine motor, orthographic, oral language, reading, and writing function; (d) corresponding orthographic-phonological code connections; and (e) lexical analysis and lexical selection in reading. The educational implications of these dissociations are discussed. First, the developmental dissociations observed between the cognitive and motor systems and between declarative and procedural knowledge in motorically impaired individuals suggest that sensorimotor experience may not be a prerequisite for all intellectual development, as Piaget claimed, and that an abnormal sensorimotor period may impair the acquisition of procedural knowledge relatively more than the acquisition of declarative knowledge. Second, the dissociations observed among fine motor, orthographic, oral language, reading, and writing function support a model of noncontingent, normal variation or developmental independence in acquiring neurodevelopmental skills and academic skills, which fall along a continuum in a range typically found in normally developing readers and writers and which vary considerably within and across individuals in their relative level of development. Third, the dissociations between corresponding orthographic-phonological codes can contribute to problems in acquiring word recognition skills. Finally, the dissociation between lexical analysis and lexical selection accounts for children who can extract meaning from silent reading of text but whose oral reading is dysfluent. We argue, in keeping with the spirit of the Piagetian tradition, that developmental dissociations offer a technique for dissecting the components of biofunctional brain systems and thus for studying the constructive processes of the learner whose nervous system continually interacts with the environment.     

Linking Maternal Efficacy Beliefs, Developmental Goals, Parenting Practices, and Child Competence in Rural Single-Parent African American Families

With a sample of 139 rural, single-parent African American families with a 6- to 9-year-old child, we traced the links among family financial resource adequacy, maternal childrearing efficacy beliefs, developmental goals, parenting practices, and children's academic and psychosocial competence. A multimethod, multiinformant design was used to assess the constructs of interest. Consistent with the hypothesized paths, financial resource adequacy was linked with mothers' sense of childrearing efficacy. Efficacy beliefs were linked with parenting practices indirectly through developmental goals. Competence-promoting parenting practices were indirectly linked with children's academic and psychosocial competence through their association with children's self-regulation.     

Empowering Families with Mentally Ill Members: A Strengths Perspective

Family is an important social agency that meets the various needs of its members. By building on the strengths of family when it is facing challenges, one can enhance the value of families. Empowerment is a part of strengthening the families. It refers to a state where in the individuals experience feelings of being worthy and competent, having power and control. The strengths perspective based on an empowerment approach compels the social workers and clients to collaborate as partners. Families with mentally ill certainly face many challenges. Yet, they also have the resources, knowledge and skills to call upon in times of crisis. Hence by recognizing and building on the families strengths and empowering them, one can help families in improving their lives.     

身心障碍患者家庭的亲职压力与社会支持

为了解身心障碍患者家庭亲职压力与社会支持具体现状及关系,以《社会支持评定量表》《亲职压力简表》为研究工具.结果表明,身心障碍患者家庭亲职压力处于非常高的水平,社会支持得分相对较高;与患者关系在亲职压力与社会支持(客观支持、主观支持)方面得分有显著差异,受教育水平在亲职压力和社会支持均存在显著差异;社会支持与亲职压力存在一定的关系(|0.014-0.339|),对支持利用度、主观支持对亲职压力有显著性的负向预测作用.研究表明,身心障碍患者家庭所接受的社会支持越多,护理人可能所感受到的亲职压力越低.     

The Cultural Structuring of Parenting and Universal Developmental Tasks

Objective. This study explores middle-class Anglo and Puerto Rican mothers' beliefs and self-reported practices related to infant feeding, sleeping, and toilet training. Design. Open-ended interviews were conducted with 60 mothers (Anglo = 32, Puerto Rican = 28) in their homes when their infants were 8 months of age. Results. Compared to Puerto Rican mothers, Anglo mothers had earlier age expectations regarding feeding-related milestones, were more likely to use the strategy of providing opportunities for learning, more likely to refer to emotional components of the learning process, such as pride or self-esteem, and less likely to use parental control or guidance. Puerto Rican mothers emphasized instrumental independence, or the ability to perform tasks without help, whereas Anglo mothers focused on emotional autonomy, or concern about the child's inner self. Conclusions. Puerto Rican mothers' emphasis on encouraging instrumental independence suggests a more nuanced perspective regarding such broad rubrics as "individualism" and "sociocentrism." In particular, Puerto Rican mothers tended to view instrumental independence as necessary for meeting societal expectations. Thus, independence need not solely be associated with the values of mothers from individualistic cultures. However, Puerto Rican mothers' focus on instrumental independence is distinct from Anglo mothers' emphasis on emotional autonomy and appears to serve larger sociocentric goals.     

配对联想学习缺陷——探索阅读障碍的新视角

发展性阅读障碍一直是教育学和心理学关注的热点,但阅读作为一种逐步习得的技能,很少有研究者从学习能力的视角出发,探索技能随着时间和练习而发展变化的历程.文章在回顾了阅读障碍研究的理论框架之后,从学习的角度,阐述了配对联想学习能力与阅读之间的关系,分析了语言特异性学习能力缺陷及其与语音缺陷之间的关系,介绍了汉语阅读障碍的学习能力研究现状,为今后的理论研究和训练矫治提供了一个新视角.