Shyness and Social Conflict Reduce Young Children's Social Helpfulness

This study examined social influences on 3‐year‐old children's decisions to help an experimenter gain another person's attention (N = 32). Children were slower to help the experimenter when the target had previously expressed disinterest in attending to her. Shy children were less likely to support the experimenter's attempts to communicate with the target; however, this association was not influenced by children's knowledge of the target's disinterest, and there was no relation between shyness and children's support for a separate physical goal. Therefore, young children's decisions to act helpfully incorporate consideration for others beyond a focal person with an unmet need, and they are further constrained by children's own comfort with the actions required to help.     

ASD儿童社会认知事件图式特征分析

为了给不同障碍程度的自闭症儿童开发适宜的早期干预训练脚本,本研究运用自编的儿童社会事件图式调查问卷,对随机选取的浙江省和上海市的78名自闭症儿童家长进行了调查.结果显示:影响ASD儿童社会认知的典型核心事件以家庭、学校、公共场所三个环境中共有的与人互动的事件为主;ASD儿童社会事件图式构成的复杂性程度和使用规则影响着人们对其认同度;本研究的12项社会事件图式可以为下一步虚拟现实的制作提供很好的材料支持.     

Emotional Competence, Emotion Socialization, and Young Children's Peer-Related Social Competence

This study investigated linkages between aspects of emotional competence and preschoolers' social skills with peers. Whether parental emotion socialization practices contributed to the prediction of social skill once emotional competence was statistically controlled was also of interest. Eighty-one predominantly Caucasian preschoolers were videotaped as they participated in three same-sex triadic peer situations. Four peer variables were coded from the videotapes: social initiations, the frequency with which children were the targets of positive social bids, non-constructive anger-related reactions, and prosocial acts. The emotional competence measures included situation knowledge, children's explanations of emotions, positivity of emotional expression during peer play, and emotional intensity. Maternal anger directed at the child was the measure of emotion socialization. Results revealed that the emotional competence variables were meaningfully related to the peer variables and that, for non-constructive anger reactions, maternal reports of anger explained unique variance. Results are discussed in terms of how emotional competence and emotion socialization contribute to peer behavior and the importance of designing and implementing affective intervention programs for young children and their families.     

Parents' Beliefs About Their Children's Cognitive, Social, and Motor Functioning

This study investigated the accuracy of parents' judgments about their children's cognitive, social, and motor abilities as well as the relationship between accuracy of prediction, and child performance. Subjects were preschool-age children and their mothers. Mothers were significantly less accurate in predicting their child's success or failure on the social items than on the cognitive and motor items. In all domains, overestimations of ability were more common than underestimations, with the greatest incidence of overestimations occurring for social items. The correlation between accurate predictions by the mother and correct response by the child was .79, and the correlation between overestimation and child competence was -.80. These findings support the “match” hypothesis, which posits that mothers who have more knowledge of their children are better able to create optimally challenging environments. Reasons for mothers' poorer ability to predict and greater tendency to overestimate their children's social understanding are discussed.     

Parents' Beliefs About Their Children's Cognitive,Social, and Motor Functioning

This study investigated the accuracy of parents' judgments about their children's cognitive, social, and motor abilities as well as the relationship between accuracy of prediction, and child performance. Subjects were preschool-age children and their mothers. Mothers were significantly less accurate in predicting their child's success or failure on the social items than on the cognitive and motor items. In all domains, overestimations of ability were more common than underestimations, with the greatest incidence of overestimations occurring for social items. The correlation between accurate predictions by the mother and correct response by the child was .79, and the correlation between overestimation and child competence was –.80. These findings support the "match" hypothesis, which posits that mothers who have more knowledge of their children are better able to create optimally challenging environments. Reasons for mothers' poorer ability to predict and greater tendency to overestimate their children's social understanding are discussed.     

父母育儿缺失对农村幼儿社会化发展的影响——基于湖南958名3-4岁幼儿的心理发展调查

本研究通过对湖南省17个县(市)的985个幼儿家庭育儿实况和幼儿社会化发展的调查发现:高达64%的农村幼儿在成长过程中父母处于缺位状态,且多数在幼儿22个月时就外出务工;农村留守幼儿的社会化发展水平低于非留守幼儿,与城镇幼儿发展水平之间的差异更为显著。为保障农村幼儿的健康发展,必须加强祖辈和父辈对农村留守幼儿情感和社会化发展的关注,强化其直接或间接的亲子良好互动,并进一步提升幼儿教师"代理母亲"角色的作用。     

Promoting Young Children's Social Competence through the Preschool PATHS Curriculum and MyTeachingPartner Professional Development Resources

Research Findings: Children's (n = 980) social competence during prekindergarten was assessed as a function of their teachers’ (n = 233) exposure to the Preschool Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) curriculum and 2 levels of support through MyTeachingPartner, a Web-based approach to professional development. Children in classrooms that implemented PATHS had increased levels of teacher-reported social competence over the course of the year. There were no associations between the use of PATHS and reductions in teacher-reported social problems. The results also suggested that teachers who used the MyTeachingPartner website more often reported greater gains in children's social competence. Practice or Policy: These findings have implications for the development and dissemination of social-emotional learning curricula and the provision of effective implementation supports for teachers. Continued work on the best ways to integrate technology into the professional development of teachers, both in service and preservice, is likely to enhance the accessibility and quality of supports for teachers.     

Social Interactions in the Home and the Development of Young Children's Conceptions of the Personal

Observations and interviews of 20 middle-class 3- and 4-year-olds and their mothers were conducted to examine the emergence of the personal domain. Interviews with children showed that 3- and 4-year-olds make a conceptual distinction between personal, and moral or conventional issues. Interviews with mothers indicated that they viewed it as important for young children to have freedom of choice over personal issues to develop a sense of autonomy and individuality. Observations in the home revealed that mothers tended to give direct social messages to children about moral, conventional, and prudential events, and were more likely to give indirect social messages in the form of offered choices to children in response to personal issues. Mothers were more likely to negotiate with children over personal than other social events. These data revealed a pattern of social interactions concordant with event domain, which included a reciprocal system along the border between the personal and the conventional.     

Perceptions of Social Support Among Young Children

225 children (ages 4 to 8, 103 girls, 37.5% Mexican-American) participated, reporting who provides support, frequency of receiving different types of support, and satisfaction with support received. These reports were subjected to factor analyses and results did not fit a prior conceptualization. Exploratory factor analyses resulted in a three factor solution that was both more interpretable and the solutions were more similar for reports of frequency of receiving support and satisfaction. A total of six subscale scores were computed, three each for the frequency and the satisfaction items, which were subsequently labelled: informational/emotional, recreational, and practical support. Analyses of the empirically derived subscale scores suggested that young, pre- and early elementary school-aged children responded to questions about their social support in reasonably reliable and valid ways. Significant correlations with indices of perceived competence and acceptance resulted. Remarkably little is known about young children's perceptions of their social worlds, or specifically the nature of support they think is available or that they actually receive. These data suggest that gathering this information from the children themselves is feasible. Ultimately such information should be critical for the design and evaluation of early childhood curricula instructing children about social relations generally, and specifically, who they can turn to for support.     

Social Interactions in Preschool Classrooms and the Development of Young Children's Conceptions of the Personal

Two studies examined preschool teacher and child interactions regarding personal, moral, and social-conventional issues in the classroom and the development of personal concepts in young children. In Study 1, 20 preschool classrooms, 10 with 3-year-olds and 10 with 4-year-olds, were observed to assess children's and teachers' interactions regarding personal, moral, social-conventional, and mixed events. Teachers used more direct messages regarding moral and social-conventional events than personal and mixed events. Teachers offered children choices, but they rarely negotiated personal events with children. Children responded with personal choice assertions when adults offered them choices, but adults did not differ in the frequency that they negated or affirmed children's assertions of personal choice. In Study 2, 120 preschool children, nearly evenly divided between males and females at 3, 4, and 5 years of age, were interviewed regarding their conceptions of personal events in the classroom and home. With age, children judged that they should retain control over personal decisions in both contexts. In both judgments and social interactions, teachers and children identified a personal domain in which children can and should make choices about how to structure their activities and assert their independence in the classroom.     

Maternal Depression, Children's Attachment Security, and Representational Development: An Organizational Perspective

Relations among maternal depression, child attachment, and children's representations of parents and self were examined. Participants included toddlers and their mothers with a history of major depressive disorder ( n = 63) or no history of mental disorder ( n = 68). Attachment was assessed at 20 and 36 months and representations of parents and self were assessed at 36 and 48 months. Depressive symptoms were assessed at all 3 time points. While early-occurring maternal depression had a negative impact on children's negative and positive representations of parents, attachment security mediated the relation between depressive symptoms and negative representations. Attachment security served as an intervening variable between maternal depression and changes in children's negative representations of self. Implications for prevention are highlighted.     

多元化的幼儿语言发展评价

现行阶段新课程改革教育高速发展,与此对应的新时期的幼儿教育也被提出了更为严格的要求,尤其是"怎样促进幼儿语言发展"更是成为了人们关注的热门话题。创设多元化的幼儿语言发展,不仅要家长对孩子的学习时间和学习内容进行合理的规划,还需要教师为幼儿提供一个良好的语言环境。     

Marital Conflict,Allostatic Load,and the Development of Children's Fluid Cognitive Performance

Relations between marital conflict, children's respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and fluid cognitive performance were examined over 3 years to assess allostatic processes. Participants were 251 children reporting on marital conflict, baseline RSA, and RSA reactivity (RSA‐R) to a lab challenge were recorded, and fluid cognitive performance was measured using the Woodcock–Johnson III. A cross‐lagged model showed that higher levels of marital conflict at age 8 predicted weaker RSA‐R at age 9 for children with lower baseline RSA. A growth model showed that lower baseline RSA in conjunction with weaker RSA‐R predicted the slowest development of fluid cognitive performance. Findings suggest that stress may affect development of physiological systems regulating attention, which are tied to the development of fluid cognitive performance.     

流动儿童社会支持与自尊的关系研究

目的:了解流动儿童社会支持、自尊及二者关系,为更好地采取教育措施提供依据。方法:采用社会支持量表(SSRS)和自尊量表(SES)对4~6年级402名小学生进行研究。结果:流动儿童的社会支持状况更差,流动儿童社会支持总分显著低于非流动儿童;流动儿童自尊得分高于非流动儿童,但两者之间差异不显著;流动儿童社会支持总分、主观支持和支持利用度与自尊呈显著负相关;社会支持总分对自尊具有显著预测作用。结论:家庭、学校和社会应给予流动儿童更多关注和支持,并注重其内心感受。     

Teachers' Emotional Support Consistency Predicts Children's Achievement Gains and Social Skills

Research Findings: It is widely acknowledged that consistent, high-quality teacher–student interactions promote optimal developmental outcomes for children. Previous research on the quality of teacher–student interactions provides empirical support for this premise. Little research has been conducted on the consistency of teacher–student interactions. This study examines whether consistency in teachers' emotional support is related to better academic and social outcomes for children. Multiple observations were conducted in 694 prekindergarten classrooms. Mean levels of emotional support and consistency of emotional support were used as predictors in multilevel models. Results indicated that when mean levels of emotional support were controlled, within-day consistency of emotional support predicted several academic outcomes in prekindergarten as well as social competence in kindergarten. Practice or Policy: Results indicate that teachers' consistency of emotional support is a salient aspect of children's classroom environment. Findings suggest that consistency should be considered when evaluating teachers' emotionally supportive interactions.     

贫困大学生的社会支持网研究

个体的社会支持网可以为人们提供情感、经济、信息等多方面的支持。运用提名法对贫困大学生的社会支持网研究发现,贫困生的社会支持网与非贫困生的社会支持网存在一些共性,如经济支持网与信息支持网规模小于情感支持网和交往支持网。当前,同伴和亲属是社会支持网的主要构成。但与非贫困生比较,贫困生的社会支持网又有不同之处,如密度更小。在趋同性方面,农村籍大学生的支持网中农村籍成员比例显著大于城市籍大学生支持网中农村籍成员比例,贫困生的支持网中贫困者的比例也大于非贫困生支持网中贫困者的比例。各类贫困生在户籍与经济状况方面的异质性都大于其相对应的非贫困生。因而贫困生的社会支持网所能提供的支持也更为不足。应该鼓励师生更主动地为贫困生提供社会支持。     

Children's Concordant Emotions and Cognitions in Response to Observed Emotions

Children's emotional and cognitive responses to observed scenarios were examined in 2 studies ( N = 138 5–13-year-olds) investigating hypothesized developments in concordant emotion with stimulus persons, cognitive attributions for these emotions, and the effects of emotional intensity in self and stimulus persons. Results across studies confirmed age-related increases in children's emotional and cognitive responses. There were limited increases with age in concordant emotion, and continuous increases in the frequency and kinds of attributions explaining such emotion. Results also confirmed a model ordering expected developments in children's emotion attributions. As expected, stimulus persons' emotional intensity correlated with children's emotion intensity and affect match. However, as expected, empathy with others was lower when children's own intensity was higher than stimulus persons'. Present findings contribute to investigations of children's understanding of emotions and have implications for developmental studies of empathy.     

Social and Emotional Competencies: Contributions to Young African-American Children's Peer Acceptance

This study explored the relation between measures of emotional competence, behavioral regulation, and general social competence and African-American preschoolers' peer acceptance and popularity. These children came from both lower and middle income families. Data were collected in a short-term longitudinal study following children over the course of a school year. Gender, emotion knowledge, emotion regulation, and themes of violence in response to hypothetical situations of interpersonal conflict were strongly related to peer acceptance. The results are consistent with findings from middle-class Caucasian samples. The results also highlight the importance of potential influences of context and setting on children's peer status as well as the need for greater understanding of within- group variability with regard to these constructs. Given the growing evidence that peer relationships are related in important ways to children's school adjustment, understanding the development of positive peer relationships may help shed light on ways to help children achieve at more optimal levels in the school context.