E.T.外星人--鲜为人知的10件事

Remember the first time you saw E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial? Did you cry? Spend the next month telling your nearest and dearest to "phone home" in your best E. T. voice?We've got a slew(许多,大量) of facts and figures to get you up to speed on everything E. T. And don' t worry, we won' t tell anyone we saw you crying in the theater.     

Introduction: From digital dirt road to educational expressway: Innovations in web-based pedagogy

Instructional Science -     

Developmental and individual differences in girls' sex-typed activities in middle childhood and adolescence

Girls' time in sex-typed leisure activities was studied across 2 years in middle childhood ( n =98, M =8.2 years in Year 1), early adolescence ( n =106, M =11.7 years), and middle adolescence ( n =86, M =14.9 years). In annual home interviews, White middle-class girls, mothers, and fathers rated their gendered attitudes, interests, and personality qualities, and saliva samples were used to assess testosterone; activity data were collected in 7 nightly phone interviews. Girls spent more time in feminine than masculine activities except in early adolescence. Girls' and parents' personalities and interests predicted sex-typed activities at each developmental period, but associations between testosterone and activities emerged only in middle childhood.     

The Relationship of Gender and Academic Performance to Motivation: Within-Ethnic-Group Variations

In contemporary psychology more within-group examinations of psychological phenomena are needed, especially in ethnic minority populations. This paper presents the findings of three separate studies of the relationship of GPA and gender to motivation, all of which are within ethnic group comparisons. One study is conducted with African-Americans, the second with Hispanic-Americans, and the third with Euro-Americans. The instruments used are the Assessment of Academic Self-Concept and Motivation and Assessment of Personal Agency Beliefs. Both measures provide a goal-focused, multidimensional, and comprehensive assessment of motivation. MANOVAs and subsequent ANOVAs are presented for each ethnic group. The findings reveal significant within-group differences that also vary from one ethnic group to another.     

Chronic Absenteeism and Preschool Children's Executive Functioning Skills Development

ABSTRACT

Investments in preschool programs for children from disadvantaged backgrounds have historically been supported by research showing that these programs help children build school readiness skills and narrow the income-achievement gap. However, results from recent studies of the links between preschool participation and increases in school readiness skills are more mixed. Significant variation in regular preschool attendance and the availability of high-quality early learning environments could help explain mixed findings on preschool effectiveness. Using data from a preschool expansion demonstration project, we explored associations between children's attendance rates, classroom quality, and neighborhood poverty and children's fall to spring gains in a set of important school readiness skills in executive functioning. Children (N = 197) lived in neighborhoods where 26% of households (range = 0 – 92%) lived below the poverty line and attended 48 classrooms in public and private settings. Attendance rates, including chronic absenteeism, were significantly associated with children's gains in executive functioning skills, but only when children attended high-quality classrooms. Results suggest that efforts to increase attendance rates may benefit children's executive functioning skills among children living in higher poverty neighborhoods the most when communities also invest in increasing preschool classroom quality.     

Are blogs putting youth at risk for online sexual solicitation or harassment?

OBJECTIVE: In light of public concern about the dangers to young people from maintaining online journals or "blogs," this exploratory paper examines whether bloggers are at increased risk for online sexual solicitation or harassment. METHOD: A national telephone survey of 1,500 youth Internet users, ages 10-17, conducted between March and June 2005. RESULTS: Sixteen percent of youth Internet users reported blogging in the past year. Teenagers and girls were the most common bloggers, and bloggers were more likely than other youth to post personal information online. However, bloggers were not more likely to interact with people they met online and did not know in person. Youth who interacted with people they met online, regardless of whether (AOR=2.42, p<.01) or not (AOR=2.36, p<.001) they blogged, had higher odds of receiving online sexual solicitations. Bloggers who did not interact with people they met online were at no increased risk for sexual solicitation (AOR=1.41, ns). Moreover, posting personal information did not add to risk. However, youthful bloggers were at increased risk for online harassment, regardless of whether they also interacted with others online (AOR=2.65, p<.01) or not (AOR=2.55, p<.01). CONCLUSION: Prevention messages about blogging need to directly address the risks of interacting with people youth meet online and the risk of online harassment.     

Externalizing Problems in Head Start Children: An Ecological Exploration

The increased familial and environmental stressors affecting Head Start families over the last two decades have precipitated an escalation of mental health difficulties among participant children (Yoshikawa & Knitzer, 1997). Using an ecological framework (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). this study explored externalizing behavior problems among a group of Head Start children in a suburban county. Children were assessed for externalizing behavior problems in the home and classroom. Additionally, parents participated in interviews about a variety of ecological factors related to children's behavior problems. Almost one-quarter of the children were identified by their parents as having externalizing behavioral problems in the borderline or clinical range. Twice as many girls as boys had borderline or clinical levels of behavioral problems. Child externalizing behavior was positively associated with child internalizing behavior, parent psychological symptomatology, child temperament, family environment, and exposure to community violence. Children with parent-identified externalizing behavior did have specific social problem-solving skills deficits. Additionally, they were observed to have high levels of specific inappropriate behavior, but did not exhibit high levels of teacher-rated behavior problems. The implications of these findings for Head Start program planning are discussed.     

The environment of poverty: multiple stressor exposure,psychophysiological stress,and socioemotional adjustment

The one in five children growing up in poverty in America have elevated risk for socioemotional difficulties. One contributing factor to their elevated risk may be exposure to multiple physical and psychosocial stressors. This study demonstrated that 8- to 10-year-old, low-income, rural children (N = 287) confront a wider array of multiple physical (substandard housing, noise, crowding) and psychosocial (family turmoil, early childhood separation, community violence) stressors than do their middle-income counterparts. Prior research on self-reported distress among inner-city minority children is replicated and extended among low-income, rural White children with evidence of higher levels of self- and parent-reported psychological distress, greater difficulties in self-regulatory behavior (delayed gratification), and elevated psychophysiological stress (resting blood pressure, overnight neuroendocrine hormones). Preliminary mediational analyses with cross-sectional data suggest that cumulative stressor exposure may partially account for the well-documented, elevated risk of socioemotional difficulties accompanying poverty.