Infant Attention and Early Childhood Executive Function

Individual differences in infant attention are theorized to reflect the speed of information processing and are related to later cognitive abilities (i.e., memory, language, and intelligence). This study provides the first systematic longitudinal analysis of infant attention and early childhood executive function (EF; e.g., working memory, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility). A group of 5‐month‐olds (n = 201) were classified as short or long lookers. At 24, 36, and 48 months of age, children completed age‐appropriate EF tasks. Infant short lookers (i.e., more efficient information processors) exhibited higher EF throughout early childhood as compared to infant long lookers, even after controlling for verbal ability (a potential indicator of intelligence). These findings are discussed in relation to the emergence of executive attention.     

Defeated Masculinity: Post-Traumatic Cinema in the Aftermath of the Vietnam War

After a latency period, the American cinema is processing the trauma of defeat in the Vietnam War. In these films, defeat is repressed but the defeated male is present. Central to the texts is a profound loss of self, incoherence at the gendered core of masculine identity, the failure to conform to the heteronormative mythical model, loss of traditional affiliations (representability of the social order, fatherhood, brotherhood), tortured body, and shattering of sexuality. All three models of post-traumatic masculinity subvert the identification between masculinity, patriarchy, and nationalism.     

Books on Research Methodology

Mary N. Barton and Marion V. Bell's compilation Reference Books: A Brief Guide (Baltimere: Enoch Pratt Free Library, $1.25)

Martha L. Hackman's The Practical Bibliographer (Prentice-Hall, $5.95 cloth, $2.95 paper)

Hubert M. Blalock An Introduction to Social Research (Prentice-Hall, $5.95 cloth, $2.95 paper)     

“This Is Our Library,and It’s a Pretty Cool Place”: A User-Centered Study of Public Library YA Spaces

This study sought to collect data from teens and librarians about their preferences and recommendations for the effective design of physical library spaces for teens. Librarians and teens at twenty-two U.S. public libraries filmed narrated video tours of their young adult (YA) public library spaces. The researchers used qualitative content analysis techniques to analyze the video data and to develop a framework for guiding the design of effective YA public library spaces. In addition to providing specific recommendations for user-centered YA library space design, this study highlights the need for continued user input into the design and maintenance of YA public library spaces as teens’ needs evolve and vary across time and from community to community.     

Introduction: Serving Underserved Populations

Issues central to the continuing debate about the future of the reference desk are explored here by two seasoned librarians. A point-counterpoint format allows the two debaters, “fresh” from their Columbia University Reference Symposium 2007 public debate, to continue to engage in argument and discussion. Readers are invited to consider the affirmative and negative sides of the various issues as advocated by the authors.     

Assessing Learning in the Outdoors with the Field Trip in Natural Environments (FiNE) Framework

The development and application of a framework that captures main characteristics of learning in nature—the Field Trip in Natural Environments (FiNE) framework—is the main outcome of this study that followed up 22 daily field trips of 4–6th grade students to nature parks. The theoretical and practical framework, which was developed based on the research literature and the data collected, allows systematic analysis of various phases of the field trip: preparation, pedagogy, activity and outcomes. The FiNE framework incorporates multiple views of the researchers and participants and examines the pedagogy employed and the outcomes as reported by the participating students. The employment of the framework indicates limited preparation and the use of traditional pedagogies and highlights the importance of social interactions and physical and learning activity. The FiNE framework provides researchers with a plausible scheme to assess various components of field trips to nature and to elucidate possible outcomes of such experiences.     

Multilevel correlates of behavioral resilience among children in child welfare

Resilience, defined as positive adaptation and functioning following exposure to significant adversity, is an important topic of investigation in child welfare. The current study used data from the Ontario Looking After Children (OnLAC) project to estimate the prevalence of behavioral resilience (i.e., lower frequency of conduct and emotional problems, higher frequency of prosocial behavior) in 531 5–9 year olds living in out-of-home care, and to determine how behaviorally-resilient children are functioning in other domains (i.e., peer relationships and academic performance). Furthermore, hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine the contribution of four levels of analysis (i.e., child, family, child welfare worker, and child welfare agency) on behaviors and to identify the contribution of predictor variables within each of these levels. Findings indicated that 50–70% of children exhibited resilience on one behavioral outcome while approximately 30% showed resilience on at least two of the outcomes. Also, 8.4–9.6% exhibited resilience on one of the behavioral outcomes in addition to peer relationships and academic performance. The child level accounted for the highest proportion of total explained variance in behavioral outcomes, followed by the family-, child welfare worker-, and child welfare agency-levels. A number of child and foster family variables predicted behavioral functioning. Findings indicate that it is important to inquire about children's functioning across multiple domains to obtain a comprehensive developmental assessment. Also, child and foster family characteristics appear to play considerable roles in the promotion of behavioral resilience.