Formalizing theories of child development: Introduction to the special section

Here we introduce a Special Section of Child Development entitled “Formalizing Theories of Child Development.” This Special Section features five papers that use mathematical models to advance our understanding of central questions in the study of child development. This landmark collection is timely: it signifies growing awareness that rigorous empirical bricks are not enough; we need solid theory to build the house. By stating theory in mathematical terms, formal models make concepts, assumptions, and reasoning more explicit than verbal theory does. This increases falsifiability, promotes cumulative science, and enables integration with mathematical theory in allied disciplines. The Special Section contributions cover a range of topics: the developmental origins of counting, interactions between mathematics and language development, visual exploration and word learning in infancy, referent identification by toddlers, and the emergence of typical and atypical development. All are written in an accessible manner and for a broad audience.     

PhD by Publication: innovative approach to social science research,or operationalisation of the doctoral student … or both?

ABSTRACT

The PhD by Publication offers doctoral students an opportunity to focus on publishing during their candidature. A considerable body of literature has explored questions of legitimacy, consistency and quality of this model of scholarship, while students have reflected on how this approach helped build a publishing track record and develop skills associated with writing scholarly articles [Jackson, D. (2013). Completing a PhD by publication: A review of Australian policy and implications for practice. Higher Education Research & Development, 32(3), 355–368; Robins, L., & Kanowski, P. (2008). PhD by publication: A student’s perspective. Journal of Research Practice, 4(2), 1–20]. However, there is a need to explore how this approach both shapes and reflects the student experience of doctoral studies. This auto-ethnographical article analyses my own experience of the PhD by Publication. On the one hand, this method suited my multidisciplinary research topic and approach to research and assisted the flexibility and creativity of my research. On the other, I began to view my value as a researcher and the value of my research, in terms of the quantitative performance metrics of research in output, citation counts and h-index. Concept of performativity, I analyse how the PhD by Publication potentially reshapes what it is to be a doctoral student, and how the value of doctoral students is construed by themselves and others within their university.     

Adolescent Ethnic Identity in Social Context: A Commentary

Key findings from the various studies of this special section of Child Development are that ethnic identity is embedded in a positive proximal interpersonal context in adolescence and that the links between ethnic identity and the interpersonal context seem to become stronger from the beginning of early adolescence on. Remarkably, the (longitudinal) studies do not show that ethnic identity is a better predictor of developmental outcomes or that it can be better predicted in minority groups than in majority groups. I use one of the articles to demonstate that a longitudinal prediction model is different from a developmental sequence model. Finally, an extension of the present measures of ethnic identity is proposed. This extension would allow for a thorough investigation of the saliency of ethnic identity and its interplay with other identity domains during adolescent development.     

Commentary: New Directions in Developmentally Informed Intervention Research for Vulnerable Populations

This special section of Child Development brings together experts in developmental science and intervention research to incorporate current evidence on resilience for vulnerable populations and give concrete suggestions for action and research. This commentary synthesizes the contributions of the articles, noting themes such as simultaneous attention to multiple risk, protective, and promotive processes; integrating new principles from clinical and therapeutic interventions; and adapting intervention approaches for new populations. It then describes additional directions for interventions to maximize resilience, including approaches that address social psychological processes, issues related to demographic and other forms of diversity, policy‐related individual behaviors, and sequenced interventions across the life span. It also gives suggestions for integrating implementation science on expansion and scale with behavioral intervention science.     

Winning at the Publication Game

Prospective authors submitting articles to The Clearing House or other professional journals should realize that publishing success depends, in part, on game strategies. This article by the Executive Editors of TCH identifies ten strategies, based on metaphors from competitive sports, that can help authors win at the publication game.     

Perspectives on educational technology research and development

This is the introductory article for the first issue ofEducational Technology Research and Development (ETR&D). The authors review the issues and process that led to the decision by the AECT Executive Board to co-publishEducational Communication and Technology Journal (ECTJ) and theJournal of Instructional Development (JID) in a new journal. The results of analyses of ECTJ and JID by Schwen and Middendorf (1987) and Dick and Dick (1989) are briefly summarized. The authors then report their own survey of AECT members to determine the topics and types of articles the members would prefer to read in ETR&D. Member preferences are compared with the actual content of the last ten issues of ECTJ and JID. Finally, the authors briefly discuss their own perspectives on ETR&D.     

Recognition and influence: the evolution of higher education research and development

Higher Education Research & Development (HERD) was established to address a perceived gap in higher education publishing: research of interest to practitioners that was engagingly written. After 30 years of contributing to the field, HERD has constructed a unique position for itself among higher education journals. This paper reviews the general patterns and tendencies demonstrated through the citation practices of authors in the first five years of HERD and it compares them with the ideas used to support arguments about higher education research in more recent articles published in the journal. By comparing the results of this review with citation practices in similar journals of higher education, the study suggests that HERD continues to attract practitioner researchers responding to the changing social and epistemological landscape of higher education. The paper concludes that HERD has been instrumental in consolidating the concepts of the field in a way that has accommodated a large number of authors who only occasionally engage in higher education research. This, in turn, has led to the emergence of a distinctive literature about higher education teaching and learning.     

Distinguishing Polemic From Commentary in Science: Some Guidelines Illustrated With the Case of Sage and Burgio (2017)

Exposure to nonionizing radiation used in wireless communication remains a contentious topic in the public mind—while the overwhelming scientific evidence to date suggests that microwave and radio frequencies used in modern communications are safe, public apprehension remains considerable. A recent article in Child Development has caused concern by alleging a causative connection between nonionizing radiation and a host of conditions, including autism and cancer. This commentary outlines why these claims are devoid of merit, and why they should not have been given a scientific veneer of legitimacy. The commentary also outlines some hallmarks of potentially dubious science, with the hope that authors, reviewers, and editors might be better able to avoid suspect scientific claims.     

Commentary on Cross‐Cultural Perspectives on Positive Youth Development With Implications for Intervention Research

There is a growing focus on youth positive development issues among researchers and practitioners around the world. In this special issue of Child Development, each of the international authors provides new perspectives and understanding about youth developmental assets in different cultural settings. The present commentary (a) examines some of the cross‐cultural themes that emerge from the four articles by international authors in this issue with implications for positive youth development (PYD) and (b) how intervention science can benefit by incorporating a PYD approach. As evident, youth involved in contexts that provide positive resources from significant others not only were less likely to exhibit negative outcomes, but also were more likely to show evidence of positive development.     

Instructional techniques and service delivery approaches for students with learning difficulties

This article is the second of two feature articles in this Journal, providing a summary of the literature review contained in Volume Two of the DETYA Report, Mapping the Territory: Primary students with learning difficulties in literacy and numeracy. The first article (Volume 6, No.1, March 2001, pages 12–19) examined definitions of learning disability and explored the loci of learning difficulties and their influence on literacy and numeracy development. This second article summarises the last three sections from the review. Section Three explores effective instructional techniques and programs in literacy and numeracy for students with learning difficulties. After that, effective service delivery approaches within regular settings are examined in Section Four. Finally, issues in program evaluation and measurement of outcomes are addressed in Section Five.     

Editorial: A Vision of a Fair and Efficient,Diverse and Inclusive,Cumulative Science of Child Development in the Best and Worst of Times

If you have come here in search of the submission requirements at Child Development, this is perhaps not the editorial you are looking for. Consider visiting instead our revised instructions to authors . Nor does this essay simply detail the priorities of the incoming board and the initiatives we will be implementing over the next 6 years, though these are summarized in Table 1. Rather, this editorial was written to articulate clearly the scientific values underlying current plans and policies at the journal in support of publishing the highest quality and highest impact research on child development. I emphasize two interrelated themes: (a) our plans for continuing to emphasize and enhance diversity and inclusion in research on child development and (b) our policies that remove impediments to cumulative developmental science. Discussion focuses primarily on how we are incentivizing efforts to achieve these widely held yet too often neglected goals, taking as its point of departure emerging challenges to a fair and efficient editorial process at the journal. In so doing, I mean to highlight the essential work of continuously cultivating editorial structures that firmly embed in developmental science fundamental scientific values, principles that make it possible for research on child development to flourish in both the best and worst of times.     

They do care: An interview with William Damon and Anne Colby on moral development

What follows is an interview with William Damon and Anne Colby, pioneers in the fields of moral psychology and education. Throughout their careers, they have studied, moral identity, moral ideals, positive youth development, purpose, good work, vocation, character development in higher education, and professional responsibility. In their words, they are interested in the ‘best of humankind’—not only the competencies, but also the character necessary for living a good life—not only for the sake of the individual, but also for society. They have received numerous academic and civic awards and honors. Their publications include Some Do Care, Greater Expectations, Educating Citizens, The Path to Purpose, and most recently, The Power of Ideals—in addition to editing, for example, New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development and The Handbook of Child Psychology. As a married couple, their vocational journeys have mostly been separate, but have always complemented each other and sometimes converged. This interview asks about reflections on their careers, their own sense of purpose, their greatest contributions, current needs in our field, and advice to emerging scholars.     

Citations of ETR&D and related journals, 1990–2004

Scientific communication in the field of educational technology was examined by analyzing references from and citations to articles published in Educational Technology Research and Development (ETR&D) for the period 1990–2004 with particular emphasis on other journals found in the citation record. Data were collected on the 369 core articles found in the 60 issues published during that time period, their reference lists (containing over 14,805 individual items), and citations of those articles in other journals (1,896 entries). The top cited and citing journals during that time period are listed. Nine symbiotic journals (i.e. those that are most cited by ETR&D and frequently cite it) were identified: Contemporary Educational Psychology, Educational Psychologist, Instructional Science, Journal of Computer-Based Instruction (no longer published), Journal of Educational Computing Research, Journal of Educational Psychology, Journal of Educational Research, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, and the Review of Educational Research. The results provide an in-depth, quantitative view of informal connections within the field via the citation record. Implications for further research and the potential influence of new technologies on scientific communication are also discussed.     

Moving through the Faculty Ranks: An Exploratory Study on the Perceived Importance of Book Publishing and Publishing in Peer‐Reviewed Journals in Criminology/Criminal Justice

This research explored the perceptions of members (N = 454) from two national criminology/criminal justice organizations regarding the significance of book publications and publishing peer‐reviewed journal articles for tenure and promotion. The research revealed the sentiment that journal article publications were perceived to be important publications when it came to promotion to both the associate and full professor ranks. More specifically, white faculty, those employed at research institutions, held a doctorate, and had considerable journal article publications, felt peer‐reviewed articles were important for tenure and promotion. The authors close by arguing that tenure and promotion committees should be open to book publications.     

Trends of Science Education Research: An Automatic Content Analysis

This study used scientometric methods to conduct an automatic content analysis on the development trends of science education research from the published articles in the four journals of International Journal of Science Education, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Research in Science Education, and Science Education from 1990 to 2007. The multi-stage clustering technique was employed to investigate with what topics, to what development trends, and from whose contribution that the journal publications constructed as a science education research field. This study found that the research topic of Conceptual Change & Concept Mapping was the most studied topic, although the number of publications has slightly declined in the 2000’s. The studies in the themes of Professional Development, Nature of Science and Socio-Scientific Issues, and Conceptual Chang and Analogy were found to be gaining attention over the years. This study also found that, embedded in the most cited references, the supporting disciplines and theories of science education research are constructivist learning, cognitive psychology, pedagogy, and philosophy of science.     

Consultee-Centered Consultation: Contemporary Perspectives and a Framework for the Future

ABSTRACT

Consultee-centered consultation (CCC) is a familiar, but historically understudied, model of consultation. This Special Issue of the Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation summarizes, supplements, and updates the CCC research base; considers the role of CCC in contemporary school and community settings; and calls for and helps guide future CCC research and practice. This introduction to the Special Issue begins with a definition of CCC, individuates the model from its historical roots in mental health consultation, and provides a timeline of significant events in the evolution of the CCC model. Next, each article in the Special Issue is previewed in order to highlight unique contributions made to the CCC literature. Collectively, these articles provide a summary of the current state of CCC, multicultural frameworks for CCC training and practice, and multiple directions for future research.     

Children Learn From Both Embodied and Passive Pretense: A Replication and Extension

Research suggests that children can learn new information via pretense. However, a fundamental problem with existing studies is that children are passive receivers of the pretense rather than active, engaged participants. This preregistered study replicates previous learning from pretense findings (Sutherland & Friedman, 2012, Child Development), in which children are passive observers of pretense, and extends to two additional conditions that require children to partially (with puppets) or fully (with costumes) embody a character. Children (N = 144, 24–79 months) learned equally well, and better than those in the control condition, from all three play scenarios. At a 2-week follow-up, learning was equally retained across embodiment conditions for older, but not younger, preschoolers. Future research should consider embodiment’s role for more complex material.     

Child development in developing countries: introduction and methods

The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) is a nationally representative, internationally comparable household survey implemented to examine protective and risk factors of child development in developing countries around the world. This introduction describes the conceptual framework, nature of the MICS3, and general analytic plan of articles in this Special Section. The articles that follow describe the situations of children with successive foci on nutrition, parenting, discipline and violence, and the home environment. They address 2 common questions: How do developing and underresearched countries in the world vary with respect to these central indicators of children’s development? How do key indicators of national development relate to child development in each of these substantive areas? The Special Section concludes with policy implications from the international findings.     

Reference citations in selected instructional design and technology journals, 1985–1990

This article reports on a bibliometric research study undertaken to identify authors who are most frequently cited inEducational Technology Research and Development, Educational Communication and Technology Journal, and in theJournal of Instructional Development. Thirty-seven authors with 20 or more citations over a five-year period were identified and rank-ordered by total number of citations.