Socialization and Temperament in the Development of Guilt and Conscience

Toddlerhood antecedents of conscience were examined in 58 8-10-year-old children. The measures of conscience, such as general affective/moral orientation, the extent of reparation, and the intensity of guilt feelings, were assessed from children's narratives produced in response to semiprojective stories involving transgressions, distress, and conflict. Maternal endorsed socialization orientations and observed rearing behaviors that deemphasized the use of power were associated with the children's internalized conscience 6 years later. However, these findings were significant only for children who were relatively prone to fearful arousal. The capacity for self-regulation, indexed by early compliance and noncompliance to maternal socialization, predicted children's internalized conscience 6 years later. There was preliminary evidence that compliance obtained in a rearing context that deemphasized power assertion was most conducive to the development of conscience. The findings are discussed in view of the interplay of socialization and temperament in moral development.     

Maternal Reports of Conscience Development and Temperament in Young Children

Multiple manifestations of emerging conscience, their development, organization, and links with temperament were studied in 171 21–70-month-old children. A new parental report instrument was designed to measure conscience, with good psychometric qualities and predictive of children's behaviors in a laboratory. For most aspects of conscience, the major developmental shifts occurred around age 3. 2 components of early conscience emerged in factor analyses: Affective Discomfort, significantly higher for girls, that encompassed guilt, apology, concern about good feelings with the parent following wrongdoing, and empathy with others, and Active Moral Regulation/Vigilance, which included confession and reparation following wrongdoing, internalization of rules of conduct (self-regulation), and concern about others' wrongdoing. Children's temperament, assessed by maternal reports, was associated with conscience. Low impulsivity and high inhibitory control were associated with Active Moral Regulation/Vigilance for both sexes and, for girls only, also with Affective Discomfort. For girls, temperamental reactivity related positively to Affective Discomfort and negatively to Active Moral Regulation/Vigilance.     

Parental Job Loss and Early Child Development in the Great Recession

The study examines whether and why parental job loss may stifle early child development, relying on cohort data from the population of children born in Ireland in 2007–2008 (N = 6,303) and followed around the time of the Great Recession (2008–2013). A novel approach to mediation analysis is deployed, testing expectations from models of family investment and family stress. Parental job loss exacerbates problem behavior at ages 3 and 5 (.05–.08 SDs), via the channels of parental income and maternal negative parenting. By depressing parental income, job loss also hampers children’s verbal ability at age 3 (.03 SDs). This is tied to reduced affordability of formal childcare, highlighting a policy lever that might tame the intergenerational toll of job loss.     

Child Temperament and Total Diurnal Cortisol in Out-of-Home Center-Based Child Care and in At-Home Parental Care

The association between child temperament characteristics and total diurnal saliva cortisol in 84 children (M = 2.3 years, SD = 0.6) attending out-of-home, center-based child care and 79 children (M = 2.0 years, SD = 0.5) attending at-home parental care was examined. Saliva samples were collected during two consecutive days, that is, Sunday and Monday, with four samples taken per day. While children higher in surgency had higher total diurnal cortisol production, we did not find evidence that temperament moderated the associations between child-care context and total diurnal cortisol. Negative affectivity and effortful control were not related to cortisol output. Our findings suggest that temperamental surgency may be associated with higher total cortisol production in early childhood across child-care settings.     

Parenting and Temperament as Interacting Agents in Early Language Development

Objective. This study investigated relations among parenting, temperament, and early language, especially parenting as a moderator of the temperament-language association. Design. Measures of temperament, parenting (maternal responsiveness), and language were obtained from a sample of 102 predominantly European American, middle-class mother - infant dyads who were studied when the infants were 12 and 16 months of age. Results. The interaction between infant distress to novelty and maternal responsiveness at 12 months was related to 16-month language, such that when infants were low in distress to novelty, more responsive parenting was associated with better language abilities. Moreover, for boys only, greater maternal responsiveness was related to better language abilities only when boys displayed less smiling and laughter. Conclusions. The effects of emotionality and parenting on language acquisition depend on the level of the other.     

Freedom of Conscience and Illiberal Socialization: The Congruence Argument

This paper addresses the question of whether the interest liberal societies have in producing liberal citizens gives liberal societies the right to regulate the affairs of illiberal groups. It claims that attempts by Rawls and Galston to make liberalism more pluralism friendly by reducing the demands for liberal citizenship fail, and it explores arguments by Amy Gutmann, Susan Moller Okin, Eamonn Callan and Will Kymlicka that support a stronger interest in regulating the socialization practices of illiberal groups. The main conclusion of the article is that we must seek for a context-sensitive balance between the need to produce liberal citizens and other liberal values such as freedom of conscience.     

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.     

Toward a Science of Professional Development in Early Reading Instruction

In the current climate of accountability and research-based practices in reading instruction, professional development is often identified as one of the key elements needed to change the trajectory of progress for struggling readers and to ensure their ongoing success. Research on teacher quality and its impact on student achievement seems to suggest that teacher quality has a significant effect on student academic achievement. Although enhancing teachers' effectiveness has been the subject of much interest and fascinating speculation, there has been little empirical research to document the factors that make professional development optimally effective. The purpose of this article is to propose a conceptual framework of factors that support professional development and sustain its impact on reading improvement. In addition, I suggest several important questions that could be answered if a science of professional development is realized.     

A Person-Centered Approach to Child Temperament and Parenting

The aim of this study was to examine how variations in children's temperamental reactivity and mothers’ parenting stress relate to parenting behavior. A sample of 3,001 mother–child dyads was assessed when children were 14, 24, 36, and 54 months. Latent profile analysis identified a group of temperamentally “easy” children whose mothers experienced little parenting stress, along with two groups of highly reactive children differentiated by mothers’ stress levels. Maternal negative regard over time was highest in the group of reactive children with highly stressed mothers. Mothers in this group also perceived more child behavior problems and had less knowledge of child development. Results are discussed relative to Person × Environment interactions and the complex interplay between parent and child characteristics.     

气质与儿童社会化研究评介

气质是个性结构中受遗传影响较大的一个因素 ,在个体心理发展早期阶段就已有明显的表现 ,对儿童个性形成和社会化具有重要作用。最新研究表明 ,气质与儿童的社会认知、利他行为、性别角色、道德品质的发展均有密切关系。气质是儿童社会化发展的最初基础 ,影响儿童社会化程度 ,而社会化的发展也对气质产生一定的影响     

儿童早期发展与教育中的动作和运动问题——四论进化、发展和儿童早期教育

随着《国家中长期教育改革与发展规划纲要(2010-2020)》等一系列教育政策文件的颁布,学前教育如何遵循幼儿成长规律和学前教育规律,回归基本成为值得再次关注的重大问题。什么是儿童早期发展与教育的基本,如何认识基本,是需要学前教育理论研究界深入思考的。儿童早期的动作发展不仅是其智力发展的重要指标,更是发展的普遍特征;运动是以身体为轴心的一种综合性的、多方面的和总体的活动,涉及认知、动机以及情感方面。动作和运动在儿童早期发展与教育中具有重要地位。从种系发生和个体发生角度来说,动作和运动(同时还包括感觉)在婴幼儿期心理的发展中起着积极的建构作用。从动作技能与智力技能的同源性来看,动作问题一开始就并不单纯是动作问题,动作发展本身是儿童早期心理发展的重要组成部分,同时也是其早期心理发展的主要建构力量。对儿童早期动作和运动的研究具有重大的生物学、人类学、心理学和教育学意义。遗憾的是,儿童早期动作发展和运动的重要性并未引起足够的重视。过分强调抽象符号系统的作用,特别是把抽象符号系统和学业学习在儿童早期发展中的作用置于一个极不恰当的位置是当前早期教育实践中极为普遍存在、也是非常危险的倾向。这种危险在于以所谓早期智力开发的名...     

The Development of Early Profiles of Temperament: Characterization,Continuity, and Etiology

This study used a data‐driven, person‐centered approach to examine the characterization, continuity, and etiology of child temperament from infancy to toddlerhood. Data from 561 families who participated in an ongoing prospective adoption study, the Early Growth and Development Study, were used to estimate latent profiles of temperament at 9, 18, and 27 months. Results indicated that four profiles of temperament best fit the data at all three points of assessment. The characterization of profiles was stable over time, while membership in profiles changed across age. Facets of adoptive parent and birth mother personality were predictive of children's profile membership at each age, providing preliminary evidence for specific environmental and genetic influences on patterns of temperament development from infancy to toddlerhood.     

Effects of Poverty and Maternal Depression on Early Child Development

Researchers have renewed an interest in the harmful consequences of poverty on child development. This study builds on this work by focusing on one mechanism that links material hardship to child outcomes, namely the mediating effect of maternal depression. Using data from the National Maternal and Infant Health Survey, we found that maternal depression and poverty jeopardized the development of very young boys and girls, and to a certain extent, affluence buffered the deleterious consequences of depression. Results also showed that chronic maternal depression had severe implications for both boys and girls, whereas persistent poverty had a strong effect for the development of girls. The measures of poverty and maternal depression used in this study generally had a greater impact on measures of cognitive development than motor development.     

Worried and Blue: Mild Parental Anxiety and Depression in Relation to the Development of Young Children's Temperament and Behavior Problems

Objective. This study explores relations between mild parental symptoms of anxiety and depression and the temperament and behavior patterns in preschool age children. Design. Parental report and laboratory observations were collected in a community sample (N = 65) of Head Start and other preschool attendees, ages 3-5 years. Results. Mild parental dysphoria is associated with measures of both child temperament and problem behaviors and these child personality measures vary with parental symptomatology. Mild parental depression was diffusely associated with increased levels of both internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, and with attention and emotion regulatory difficulties in children's temperament. Mild parental anxiety was more circumscribed in its association with child problem behavior but was specifically related to children's temperamental difficulties in attention and emotion regulation. Patterns differentiating association with depression and anxiety symptoms were evident from both parental and observer sources of information. Conclusions. Even mild levels of parental distress may relate to both parental perceptions of child temperament and behavior as well as what is observed by others.     

唐氏综合症儿童的气质特点及对母亲教养行为的影响

本文介绍了由澳大利亚国家健康和医疗咨询中心提供资助的一项研究.此项研究探讨了23位唐氏综合症儿童气质特点及对他们母亲教养行为的影响.结果发现唐氏综合症的儿童与正常儿童明显差异.容易型气质的唐氏综合症儿童比困难型儿童容易引起母亲的直接教育反应和较少的负情绪语言表达;而且母亲的教养方式与唐氏综合症儿童的气质中的活动性、节律性、趋避、适应性和心境纬度有显着相关.     

Trends and Issues in the Dissemination of Child Development and Early Education Knowledge

Drawing upon the experience gained from 25 years as director of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education this paper is presented in two parts. First some observations on current trends in the environment to which the dissemination of child development and early education knowledge is directed. Included within these trends are the expansion of the information environment as an increasing number of specialist journals emerge and the collision in some countries between these specialised professionals and experts and public and political sentiment. Second, some issues related to the dissemination of knowledge are presented ending with the suggestion that those in advisory and training positions have an important role to play in helping the scientific and practitioner cultures understand each other. The paper concludes with a discussion of some implications of the trends and issues.

     

家长气质及教养方式对幼儿自我效能感的影响研究

本研究以38名大班幼儿及其家长为研究对象,采用问卷、访谈和情景测试等方法,探讨了幼儿自我效能感与家长气质及教养方式之间的关系。结果表明:(1)幼儿自我效能感的个体差异较大。(2)幼儿自我效能感不存在性别差异。(3)家长气质类型不同,其子女的自我效能感有显著差异。(4)家长教养方式中的“情感支持与理解”因子与幼儿自我效能感存在显著正相关“,拒绝与否认”因子与幼儿自我效能感呈显著负相关。(5)家长气质与教养方式的某些因子有显著相关,由此推论出家长的内在气质通过外显的教养方式体现,家长的教养方式对幼儿的自我效能感产生直接影响。     

我国儿童早期发展工作现状分析及策略建议

随着经济和社会的发展,我国儿童步入从求生存到谋发展的新转型时期。儿童早期发展的内涵和外延在国际和国内都已形成共识,应在借鉴国外的儿童早期发展典型工作经验的基础上,立足我国的现实国情,分析儿童早期发展工作现状。中国儿童早期发展工作从政策法规、项目实施和体系构建等方面着手,取得了突出的阶段性成绩,高风险儿童数量快速下降,健康指标东西部差别不断减小。然而,城乡儿童发展不平衡的问题依然存在,特别是在贫困地区问题仍然严峻。我国儿童早期发展工作与国际发达地区相比依然不完善,特别是家庭养育环节的工作亟待改善。建议下一步应明确工作定位,构建工作体系,从部门协调、筹资机制、人员激励、信息化建设等方面有重点地开展工作。     

浅谈教育教学中如何合理高效地使用信息技术

信息技术的发展给我们的教育教学带来了极大的影响,越来越多的教师开始运用信息技术进行教学,教育教学中合理高效地使用信息技术就变得非常重要。要让其高效合理地为我们服务,就要求我们要弄清楚信息技术和教育教学的关系。信息技术是一种辅助教学的工具,我们不能本末倒置,要抓住所授科目的特点,深入分析教学内容,找准信息技术在教学中的切入点,然后依据不同媒体的特点,结合教学内容设计恰当地信息技术。