Childhood Experience and the Onset of Menarche: A Test of a Sociobiological Model

We tested predictions about psychosocial factors in the onset of menarche using data from a longitudinal study of 16-year-old girls. Belsky, Steinberg, and Draper have proposed a model that seeks to explain individual differences in maturational timing in terms of stressful childhood experiences. Their model hypothesizes that (1) individuals who grow up under conditions of family stress (2) experience behavioral and psychological problems which (3) provoke earlier reproductive readiness. In this study, the effect of family stressors on menarche was mediated by neither behavior problems nor weight, contrary to the predictions. However, the most provocative proposition advanced by Belsky et al. received empirical support. Family conflict and father absence in childhood predicted an earlier age of menarche, and these factors in combination with weight showed some evidence of an additive influence on menarche. A genetic inheritance model may provide a more parsimonious account of these data than does a conditional adaptation model derived from sociobiology.     

Advancing Research and Measurement on Fathering and Children's Development

Fathers are more than social accidents. Research has demonstrated that fathers matter to children's development. Despite noted progress, challenges remain on how best to conceptualize and assess fathering and father–child relationships. The current monograph is the result of an SRCD-sponsored meeting of fatherhood scholars brought together to discuss these challenges and make recommendations for best practices for incorporating fathers in studies on parenting and children's development. The first aim of this monograph was to provide a brief update on the current state of research on fathering and to lay out a developmental ecological systems perspective as a conceptual framework for understanding the different spaces fathers inhabit in their children's lives. Because there is wide variability in fathers’ roles, the ecological systems perspective situates fathers, mothers, children, and other caregivers within an evolving network of interrelated social relationships in which children and their parents change over time and space (e.g., residence). The second aim was to present examples of empirical studies conducted by members of the international working group that highlighted different methods, data collection, and statistical analyses used to capture the variability in father–child relationships. The monograph ends with a commentary that elaborates on the ecological systems framework with a discussion of the broader macrosystem and social-contextual influences that impinge on fathers and their children. The collection of articles contributes to research on father–child relationships by advancing theory and presenting varied methods and analysis strategies that assist in understanding the father–child relationship and its impact on child development.     

Lessons from Alternative Grading: Essential Qualities of Teacher Feedback

One critically important step in the instructional process is providing feedback to students, and yet, providing timely and thorough feedback is often lacking due attention. Reasons for this oversight could range from several factors including increased class sizes, vast content coverage requirements, extracurricular responsibilities, and the generally hectic daily schedules of teachers. This article synthesizes the findings from a year-long qualitative study investigating the alternative grading practices of five high school teachers and gives particular attention to the nature of the feedback these teachers provided to their students. Teachers' feedback is pared down to its essential qualities in order to offer manageable and practical strategies to current classroom teachers for providing effective feedback to their students.     

Long-delay,one-trial conditioned preference and retention in monkeys (Cebus apella)

Cebus monkeys explored a small T-maze for 5 min, and their preference for the striped or black arm of the maze was assessed. On the next day, the experimental animals were placed into the nonpreferred arm for a 1-min period (exposure to the CS), removed from the T-maze for a 30-min delay interval, and then returned to the startbox of the maze, where they received a food reward (UCS). One control group (CS only) received the placement experience but was not rewarded after the 30-min period. A second control group (noncontingent UCS) received the reward in the startbox but not the placement experience. A second preference test showed that the experimental, but not the control, animals reversed their original preference, now showing a preference for the arm associated with reward. A retention test given 4 months after three such training-test trials revealed considerable retention of the preferences exhibited by the experimental and CS-only control subjects.     

Teacher voices from an online elementary mathematics community: examining perceptions of professional learning

Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education - This study compares web usage data with interviews from 41 participants, who are members of an online professional development site called the Everyday...     

Genetic Moderation of Intervention Efficacy: Dopaminergic Genes,The Incredible Years,and Externalizing Behavior in Children

This study investigated whether children scoring higher on a polygenic plasticity index based on five dopaminergic genes (DRD4, DRD2, DAT1, MAOA, and COMT) benefited the most from the Incredible Years (IY) parent program. Data were used from a randomized controlled trial including 341 Dutch families with 4‐ to 8‐year‐old children (55.7% boys) showing moderate to high levels of problem behavior. IY proved to be most effective in decreasing parent‐reported (but not observed) externalizing behavior in boys (but not girls) carrying more rather than fewer dopaminergic plasticity alleles; this Gene × Intervention effect was most pronounced in the case of boys whose parents’ manifested the most positive change in parenting in response to the intervention. These results proved robust across a variety of sampling specifications (e.g., intention to treat, ethnicity).     

The Relationship between Fathers' and Children's Communication Skills and Children's Behavior Problems: A Study of Head Start Children

This study focused on the communicative interaction of fathers with their Head Start children and the relationship of fathers' and children's communicative skills and child behavior problems early and late in the school year. The results indicate a relationship between children's communicative competence and social behavior. The structural models for externalizing and internalizing behavior confirm the hypothesis that father communication is linked to child communication skills and child communication is linked to behavior problems. The findings also suggest that children's communicative competence may have an ongoing direct effect on children's social behavior that transcends the impact that earlier social behavior has on later social behavior.     

Career Choice Patterns and Behavior of Work-Bound Youth During Early Adolescence

A national longitudinal database (NELS: 88-94, 1996) was used to examine the occupational aspiration patterns, vocational preparation, and work-related experiences of adolescents who were either work-bound or college-bound two years after their initial transition from high school to work or postsecondary education. Adolescents' career choice and behavior patterns were analyzed at two separate points. Grades 8 and 10 achievement profiles of work- and unemployment-bound youths were similar; both groups had significantly lower achievement scores than college-bound youths. Socioeconomic status (SES) had considerable influence on determining both occupational aspirations and postsecondary transition status. Two-thirds of all young adults who were work-bound or unemployed/out of the work force were in the lowest two SES groups. Adolescents in the highest SES were four times more likely to be college-bound. Educational aspiration was a more accurate predictor of postsecondary status than occupational aspiration. Work-bound youths did not engage in higher levels of school-based work preparation than college-bound peers. Occupational aspirations of college-bound youth were relatively stable over the two-year period (from Grade 8 to 10), while those of noncollege-bound youths were more volatile. The prestige levels of occupational aspirations, for all youth, were relatively established by early adolescence and did not change significantly over time.     

Is There a Core Literature in Museology?

Abstract While critics have often asserted that museology is underdeveloped as a discipline and lacks a “core literature,” no empirical evidence has been introduced to support this claim. A citation analysis of journal articles and books published over the past several years shows clear evidence that a core literature is in fact evolving in the field. Highly‐productive and influential authors are easily identifiable, as are seminal works that have received large numbers of citations by other authors. The majority of those highly‐cited works belong to the discipline of museology itself, and sizable numbers of influential publications cluster around key unifying themes.