A U‐Shaped Relation Between Sitting Ability and Upright Face Processing in Infants

A growing body of research indicates connections exist between action, perception, and cognition in infants. In this study, associated changes between sitting ability and upright face processing were tested in 111 infants. Using the visual habituation “switch” task (C. H. Cashon & L. B. Cohen, 2004; L. B. Cohen & C. H. Cashon, 2001), holistic processing of faces was assessed in same‐aged non‐ and near sitters (22–25 weeks) and same‐aged new and expert sitters (27–32 weeks). U‐shaped relation was found between sitting stage and holistic face processing such that only nonsitters and expert sitters processed faces holistically. It is posited that the results are due to a reorganization of the upright face‐processing system resulting from infants' learning to sit independently and trying to incorporate the meaning of upright faces.     

Child‐Care Subsidies and School Readiness in Kindergarten

The federal child‐care subsidy program represents one of the government's largest investments in early care and education. Using data from the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Birth Cohort, this study examines associations, among subsidy‐eligible families, between child‐care subsidy receipt when children are 4 years old and a range of school readiness outcomes in kindergarten (sample n ≈ 1,400). Findings suggest that subsidy receipt in preschool is not directly linked to subsequent reading or social‐emotional skills. However, subsidy receipt predicted lower math scores among children attending community‐based centers. Supplementary analyses revealed that subsidies predicted greater use of center care, but this association did not appear to affect school readiness.     

A Longitudinal Study of Emotion Regulation,Emotion Lability‐Negativity,and Internalizing Symptomatology in Maltreated and Nonmaltreated Children

The longitudinal contributions of emotion regulation and emotion lability‐negativity to internalizing symptomatology were examined in a low‐income sample (171 maltreated and 151 nonmaltreated children, from age 7 to 10 years). Latent difference score models indicated that for both maltreated and nonmaltreated children, emotion regulation was a mediator between emotion lability‐negativity and internalizing symptomatology, whereas emotion lability‐negativity was not a mediator between emotion regulation and internalizing symptomatology. Early maltreatment was associated with high emotion lability‐negativity (age 7) that contributed to poor emotion regulation (age 8), which in turn was predictive of increases in internalizing symptomatology (from age 8 to 9). The results imply important roles of emotion regulation in the development of internalizing symptomatology, especially for children with high emotion lability‐negativity.     

Rigidity in Gender‐Typed Behaviors in Early Childhood: A Longitudinal Study of Ethnic Minority Children

A key prediction of cognitive theories of gender development concerns developmental trajectories in the relative strength or rigidity of gender typing. To examine these trajectories in early childhood, 229 children (African American, Mexican American, and Dominican American) were followed annually from age 3 to 5 years, and gender‐stereotypical appearance, dress‐up play, toy play, and sex segregation were examined. High gender‐typing was found across ethnic groups, and most behaviors increased in rigidity, especially from age 3 to 4 years. In addressing controversy surrounding the stability and structure of gender‐typing it was found that from year to year, most behaviors showed moderately stable individual differences. Behaviors were uncorrelated within age but showed more concordance in change across time, suggesting that aspects of gender‐typing are multidimensional, but still show coherence.     

Use of Ethnographic Fiction in Social Justice Graduate Counselor Training

Ethnographic fiction is a technique for educating counseling students about the relationship of social justice to counseling practice. Preliminary data indicate it is an effective tool, with counseling students (N= 48) reporting an increased understanding and appreciation of clients’ life experiences from a holistic perspective. Furthermore, students reported that they were more motivated to address social justice issues in counseling.     

The Experiences of Black Master's Counseling Students: A Phenomenological Inquiry

This phenomenological study investigated the experiences of 8 Black students enrolled in a master's‐level counseling program. Five themes central to participant experiences were identified: (a) isolation as a Black student, (b) tokenization as a Black student, (c) lack of inclusion of Black counselor perspectives within course work, (d) differences between support received by faculty of color and support received by White faculty, and (e) access to support from people of color and White peers. Implications for counselor educators and study limitations are discussed.     

A cross-cultural comparison of numeracy skills using a written and an interactive arithmetic test

This study applied two arithmetic tests, one written and one one computer-based interactive, to samples of primary school children from two populations, one suburban non-Aboriginal and one rural Aboriginal. The results from the written test were significantly (p?&;lt;?0.001) better for the non-Aboriginal children than for the Aboriginal children. This was not the case with the results from the computer-based interactive test. The study used Rasch-based methodology to reduce the results from the two tests to a common scale, to ascertain whether the Aboriginal children performed better (in relation to the non-Aboriginal children) in the computer-based than in the written test. The study found that this was the case, and concluded that the results from the computer-based test exhibited less cultural bias against the Aboriginal children than the written test.