Infants’ and Young Children's Imitation of Linguistic In‐Group and Out‐Group Informants

Although children can use social categories to intelligently select informants, children's preference for in‐group informants has not been consistently demonstrated across age and context. This research clarifies the extent to which children use social categories to guide learning by presenting participants with a live or video‐recorded action demonstration by a linguistic in‐group and/or out‐group model. Participants’ (N = 104) propensity to imitate these actions was assessed. Nineteen‐month‐olds did not selectively imitate the actions of the in‐group model in live contexts, though in‐group preferences were found after watching the demonstration on video. Three‐year‐olds selectively imitated the actions demonstrated by the in‐group member regardless of context. These results indicate that in‐group preferences have a more nuanced effect on social learning than previous research has indicated.     

Authoring Student Voices on College Preparedness: A Case Study

African American students continue to attend college at much lower rates than their white, Asian, and Latino counterparts. Although researchers have examined this issue from a multitude of vantage points, the voices of students—particularly students of color—have been limited in this research. Using a counter-storytelling narrative approach, this study examines what urban African American high school students identify as the critical factors affecting their educational trajectory and college-going prospects. Findings from the current study reveal that students identified inadequate resources, tracking, lack of AP courses, and poor teachers as factors that influenced their high school to college transition. This study provides much needed insight into the discourse on school reform from the most important constituent in schools—the students.     

Examining the influence of the parent-initiated and coach-created motivational climates upon athletes' perfectionistic cognitions

The aims of this study are threefold. First, we investigate the influence of the parent-initiated motivational climate upon elite junior athletes' perfectionistic cognitions. Second, we examine whether the coach-created motivational climate predicts additional variance in elite junior athletes' perfectionistic cognitions beyond the effects associated with the parent-initiated motivational climate. Third, we test the moderating role of athletes' gender and age in the relationship between the parent-initiated and coach-created motivational climates and athletes' perfectionistic cognitions. A total of 190 elite junior athletes (mean age 15.2 years, s?=?1.5, range 10-18) completed the Parent-Initiated Motivational Climate Questionnaire-2 (White & Duda, 1993), the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire-2 (Newton, Duda, & Yin, 2000), and the Perfectionistic Cognitions Inventory (Flett, Hewitt, Blankstein, & Gray, 1998). Regression analyses revealed that mother- and father-initiated worry-conducive climates, the father-initiated success-without-effort climate, and the coach-created performance motivational climate predicted male athletes' perfectionistic cognitions. Female athletes' perfectionistic cognitions were predicted by the mother-initiated worry-conducive climate, father-initiated learning-enjoyment climate, and both dimensions of the coach-created climate. Finally, athletes' gender emerged as a significant moderator of the mother-initiated worry-conducive climate and athletes' perfectionistic cognitions relationship. Findings confirm that the parent-initiated motivational climate is a significant predictor of athletes' perfectionism-related thoughts, and provide initial support for the influence of the coach-created motivation climate over children's perfectionistic cognitions.