Early Relationship Quality From Home to School: A Longitudinal Study

The aim of this investigation was to examine the role of social relationships in the home as predictors of social functioning in the first years of school. Longitudinal data gathered on 156 children from urban, low-income families were used to examine the unique contributions of mother-child attachment classification at ages 1 and 2 years, the child's relationship with another adult caregiver, the child's closeness to a sibling, and the child's status in the family relative to siblings between ages 3 and 4 years, to teacher reports of their own relationship to the child and the child's social skills in the classroom and peer relations. The role of family-based relationships as possible protective factors for children at social or demographic risk for problems in school was also tested. Results indicate that quality of different family relationships provides relatively independent and complementary information about early social functioning in school, with more limited evidence for compensatory or protective processes at work.     

Maximizing responses to a nationwide faculty survey

Using on-campus facilitators to distribute and retrieve an 11-page questionnaire administered to a nationwide sample of humanities faculty and nonhumanities department chairmen in two-year colleges resulted in an 84% return rate. The 2,000 subjects were drawn from 156 junior/community colleges selected on the basis of geographic locale and type of control. Secondary stratification variables included college size, organization, and curriculum emphasis. Accurate rosters of full-time and part-time faculty were generated from class schedules. Pilot procedures, selection of the college and faculty samples, and the use of facilitators are described.     

Information processing by intellectually gifted pupils solving mathematical problems

What differences may be found in the way gifted pupils, as compared with average pupils from the second form of lower secondary education, process information while solving mathematical problems? Gifted pupils apparently solved the problems better, faster and needed less assistance than average pupils. A global distinction of the subprocesses orientation, execution and evaluation also allows for the conclusion that in most cases the gifted pupils processed information in a different fashion. The yield of this line of research should be the improvement of education in two respects. For one, the results may induce teachers to adapt their teaching to gifted pupils. Secondly they may try to teach average pupils to process information like gifted pupils typically would.     

Mechanisms of the relation between perinatal problems, early childhood illness, and psychopathology in late childhood and adolescence

Data on perinatal and early childhood somatic and psychological risk factors of a random sample of children were gathered in early to middle childhood and employed to examine the long-term risk of emotional and behavioral problems of late childhood and adolescence. 3 issues were addressed: First, can syndromic specificity of such effects be identified on scaled and diagnostic measures of syndromes? Second, are these effects attributable to excess risk of low-income children for both perinatal and later childhood problems? Third, are the intervening mechanisms identifiable as intellectual impairment, vulnerability to poor health, poor maternal caretaking, maternal rejection, or maternal stress associated with marital problems? Findings indicated that elevated risk was present for all syndromes, both at the scale level and at the diagnostic level. None of the examined intervening mechanisms fully accounted for the effects of early risks.     

University research in flux: Policy debate in Australia

After a brief golden age Australian university research faces a difficult future. Two notions, utility and concentration, have become the catchwords of the emerging policy initiatives. Both have tended to be interpreted narrowly and simplistically, utility as having immediate technological applications that will bring economic benefits, and concentration to argue for breaking the teaching-research nexus, reducing the research workforce and thus achieving cost savings. As proposed, both initiatives require more centralised control of research policy and funding. Despite the outstanding record of Australia's universities in research and the absence of evidence to support the benefits claimed for the new initiatives, the pressure for change is gaining momentum. The problems facing Australian universities have much in common with those in other Western countries, although unique solutions must be sought for every setting. This paper argues that, in Australia, the adoption of the easy solution of increased concentration, short-term utility, and centralised control, is likely to compromise the established excellence and diversity in basic research, and to lead to an overall reduction in the scale of university research. Before any changes are instigated, there is a pressing need for a broad-ranging review based on widespread participation in a debate about needs and priorities, and rigorous research into the performance of the existing system and the potential benefits of the changes proposed.     

Disorganized Behavior in Adolescent–Parent Interaction: Relations to Attachment State of Mind,Partner Abuse,and Psychopathology

Disoriented, punitive, and caregiving/role‐confused attachment behaviors are associated with psychopathology in childhood, but have not been assessed in adolescence. A total of 120 low‐income late adolescents (aged 18–23 years) and parents were assessed in a conflict‐resolution paradigm. Their interactions were coded with the Goal‐Corrected Partnership in Adolescence Coding Scales. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the three disorganized constructs (punitive, caregiving, and disoriented interaction) were best represented as distinct factors and were separable from a fourth factor for collaboration. The four factors were then assessed in relation to measures of attachment disorganization, partner abuse, and psychopathology. Results indicate that forms of disorganized behavior first described in early childhood can also be reliably assessed in adolescence and are associated with maladaptive outcomes across multiple domains.