Relations Among Parenting,Culture, and Prosocial Behaviors in U.S. Mexican Youth: An Integrative Socialization Approach

We examined the longitudinal relations among parental socialization practices—including acceptance or harsh parenting and ethnic socialization—ethnic identity, familism, and prosocial behaviors in a sample of U.S. Mexican youth. Participants included 462 U.S. Mexican adolescents (M_age at Wave 1 = 10.4 years old; 48.1% female), their mothers, and fathers at the 5th, 7th, 10th, and 12th grades. Results showed that maternal and paternal ethnic socialization predicted several forms of prosocial behaviors via ethnic identity and familism. Fathers’, but not mothers’, harsh parenting and acceptance had direct links to specific forms of prosocial behaviors. This study suggests the need for culturally informed theories that examine the reciprocal relations between two distinct domains of cultural socialization.     

Information systems management: The need for a post-modern approach

This paper proposes a post-modern way of thinking about the development and the management of information systems and especially information systems development. The paper proposes a framework for a co-evolutionary or co-creation approach to information systems development and management incorporating all the main stakeholders.     

Examining the effectiveness of real-time query expansion

Interactive query expansion (IQE) (c.f. [Efthimiadis, E. N. (1996). Query expansion. Annual Review of Information Systems and Technology, 31, 121–187]) is a potentially useful technique to help searchers formulate improved query statements, and ultimately retrieve better search results. However, IQE is seldom used in operational settings. Two possible explanations for this are that IQE is generally not integrated into searchers’ established information-seeking behaviors (e.g., examining lists of documents), and it may not be offered at a time in the search when it is needed most (i.e., during the initial query formulation). These challenges can be addressed by coupling IQE more closely with familiar search activities, rather than as a separate functionality that searchers must learn. In this article we introduce and evaluate a variant of IQE known as Real-Time Query Expansion (RTQE). As a searcher enters their query in a text box at the interface, RTQE provides a list of suggested additional query terms, in effect offering query expansion options while the query is formulated. To investigate how the technique is used – and when it may be useful – we conducted a user study comparing three search interfaces: a baseline interface with no query expansion support; an interface that provides expansion options during query entry, and a third interface that provides options after queries have been submitted to a search system. The results show that offering RTQE leads to better quality initial queries, more engagement in the search, and an increase in the uptake of query expansion. However, the results also imply that care must be taken when implementing RTQE interactively. Our findings have broad implications for how IQE should be offered, and form part of our research on the development of techniques to support the increased use of query expansion.     

The influence of instruction modality on brain activation in teenagers with nonverbal learning disabilities: two case histories

Teenagers with nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD) have difficulty with fine-motor coordination, which may relate to the novelty of the task or the lack of "self-talk" to mediate action. In this study, we required two teenagers with NLD and two control group teenagers to touch the thumb of each hand firmly and accurately to the fingertips of the same hand, in an order specified by verbal or tactile instruction. Brain activity patterns (measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging) suggest that unlike control participants, the NLD participants used internalized speech to facilitate the novel task only when instructions were verbal. NLD participants also showed activity in a more widely distributed network of neural structures. These findings provide preliminary evidence for remediation strategies that encourage internal speech.     

Executive function effects and numerical development in children: Behavioural and ERP evidence from a numerical Stroop paradigm

Most research on numerical development in children is behavioural, focusing on accuracy and response time in different problem formats. However, Temple and Posner (1998) used ERPs and the numerical distance task with 5-year-olds to show that the development of numerical representations is difficult to disentangle from the development of the executive components of response organization and execution. Here we use the numerical Stroop paradigm (NSP) and ERPs to study possible executive interference in numerical processing tasks in 6–8-year-old children. In the NSP, the numerical magnitude of the digits is task-relevant and the physical size of the digits is task-irrelevant. We show that younger children are highly susceptible to interference from irrelevant physical information such as digit size, but that access to the numerical representation is almost as fast in young children as in adults. We argue that the developmental trajectories for executive function and numerical processing may act together to determine numerical development in young children.     

从领导的视角看香港幼儿教育的学习空间:一种现象学的方法

近年来,香港的幼儿教育开始受到重视,政府对幼儿教育机构负责人的管理也开始加强。本文籍由从事现象学研究的学者常用的访谈法对6位幼儿期教育机构的领导进行了访谈,访谈的内容主要涉及与学习概念有关的个人发展经历和其在幼儿教育机构工作时的经验。从幼儿教育机构的领导的视角来看待香港幼儿教育的学习空间,本文探索了在他们的早期学校教育、教师培训和幼儿教育机构教学经历中的一些好的学习经验以及成人学习与幼儿学习的明显区别。     

Navajo child abuse and neglect study: A comparison group examination of abuse and neglect of navajo children

The presence of vastly different cultural influences on child rearing and family life in Native Americans than are found in the general population offers an opportunity to examine the issue of child abuse and neglect in a different cultural context. A study was conducted to obtain baseline data and to isolate types and circumstances associated with maltreatment of Navajo children under 9 years of age. Records from tribal and state courts, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), state social services and a sample of ambulatory pediatric cases were reviewed to elicit abuse or neglect status data for calendar year 1975. Data on 365 abuse or neglect cases were compared with 867 nonabused or nonneglected children (comparison group). A double blind case numbering system was employed to ensure confidentiality of data obtained. Abuse cases were dichotomized according to litigation status (e.g., adjudicated versus documented by clinical findings). Neglect cases were categorized by perceived parental control over circumstances leading to the neglect (e.g., voluntary versus involuntary neglect). Reliability sub-studies were conducted by study staff and Navajo volunteers to assess the degree of agreement in the classification of study case status. Tribal census data for 1975 provided baseline information from which the incidence of abuse or neglect involving Navajo children was established. Extrapolated study data suggests up to 8.6% of the reservation resident Navajo children under age 9 to have been abused or neglected. Various sociode-mographic characteristics differentiating the abusive and neglectful families from those of the nonabused or nonneglected children in the comparison group are reported.     

Desktop multimedia environments to support collaborative distance learning

Desktop multimedia conferencing, when two or more persons can communicate among themselves via personal computers with the opportunity to see and hear one another as well as communicate via text messages while working with commonly available stored resources, appears to have important applications to the support of collaborative learning. In this paper we explore this potential in three ways: (a) through an analysis of particular learner needs when learning and working collaboratively with others outside of face-to-face situations; (b) through an analysis of different forms of conferencing environments, including desktop multimedia environments, relative to their effectiveness in terms of meeting learner needs for distributed collaboration; and (c) through reporting the results of a formative evaluation of a prototype desktop multimedia conferencing system developed especially for the support of collaborative learning. Via these analyses, suggestions are offered relating to the functionalities of desktop multimedia conferencing systems for the support of collaborative learning, reflecting new developments in both the technologies available for such systems and in our awareness of learner needs when working collaboratively with one other outside of face-to-face situations.     

Transition time: Make it a time of learning for children

Young children spend much of their day in transition, passing from one place or activity to another. Caregivers can use this time for planned activities which reinforce learning.Betty Ruth Baker is Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction and Director of Early Childhood Education at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.     

Longitudinal Relations Among Parenting Styles,Prosocial Behaviors,and Academic Outcomes in U.S. Mexican Adolescents

This article examined parenting styles and prosocial behaviors as longitudinal predictors of academic outcomes in U.S. Mexican youth. Adolescents (N = 462; Wave 1 M_age = 10.4 years; 48.1% girls), parents, and teachers completed parenting, prosocial behavior, and academic outcome measures at 5th, 10th, and 12th grades. Authoritative parents were more likely to have youth who exhibited high levels of prosocial behaviors than those who were moderately demanding and less involved. Fathers and mothers who were less involved and mothers who were moderately demanding were less likely than authoritative parents to have youth who exhibited high levels of prosocial behaviors. Prosocial behaviors were positively associated with academic outcomes. Discussion focuses on parenting, prosocial behaviors, and academic attitudes in understanding youth academic performance.