Developmental Transactions Between Self-Regulation and Academic Achievement Among Low-Income African American and Latino Children

This study examined the development of emerging self-regulation (SR) skills across the preschool years and relations to academic achievement in kindergarten and first grade. SR skills of 403 low-income African American and Latino children were measured at 2&1/2, 3&1/2, and 5 years (kindergarten). Reading and math skills were measured at 5 and 6 years (first grade) using the Woodcock–Johnson. Transactional relations between SR skills and achievement outcomes were estimated with latent difference score models. Increases in set shifting predicted prospective increases in reading, but not math scores. Increases in simple response inhibition predicted prospective increases in math, but not reading scores. Application of these findings to early intervention programming and needed supports for school readiness and achievement are discussed.     

Peer to peer support: the disappearing work in the doctoral student experience

This paper reflects on the importance of study groups in contributing to a positive postgraduate experience and explores specific concepts, such as ‘disappearing behaviours’ in contrasting the ‘official’ languages of universities with the beneficial behaviours found through study groups. Additionally the paper advocates the systematic inclusion of strategies such as study groups in the postgraduate experience. Funding arrangements and research frameworks for higher education in Australia focus on student progress and completion, as well as comparison of research quality within and between universities. As a result, there is a significant emphasis on timely completion of postgraduate degrees. This paper posits that there is an apparent contradiction between the indicators of success in this area, such as completion rates and annual progress reports and the positive contribution that study groups can make to the doctoral student experience.     

Book Reviews

Horace Mann: Educational Statesman. By E. I. F. Williams. Illustrated. The Macmillan Co. 354 pp. $1.50.

Recollections and Reflections. By J. J. Thomson. The Macmillan Co. 451 pp. $4.00.

The Woodrow Wilsons. By Eleanor Wilson McAdoo in collaboration with Margaret Y. Gaffey. Illustrated. The Macmillan Co. 301 pp. $3.50.

Glimpses into the Long Ago and a Brave Young Land. By Edna McGuire. First two volumes in a series of History texts for the Elementary School. Illustrated. The Macmillan Co. 333 and 392 pp. $.96 and $1.08.

Measuring Intelligence. A Guide to the Administration of the New Revised Stanford-Binet Tests of Intelligence. By Lewis M. Terman and Maud A. Merrill. Houghton Mifflin Co. 461 pp. $2.25.

My Typewriter and I. By Nellie Louise Merrick, Robert Frederick Bown, and August Dvorak. Foreword by Alfred L. Hall-Quest. American Book Co. 363 pp. $2.20.

Naturalism in American Education. By Geoffrey O'Connell. The Catholic University of America. 219 pp.

Philosophy of Education. By Rupert C. Lodge. Harper and Brothers. 328 pp. $2.00.

Secondary School Teaching. By J. G. Umstattd. Ginn and Co. 459 pp. $3.00.

As of the Gods. By Walter Rollo Brown. D. Appleton-Century Co. 237 pp. $2.00.

Death Stops the Rehearsal. By Richard M. Baker. Charles Scribner's Sons. 335 pp. $2.00.

Notable Short Stories. Selected and Edited by Raymond McFarland. The Macmillan Co. 423 pp. $1.00.

Storm in a Teacup. By Gus March-Phillips. E. P. Dutton and Co. 304 pp. $2.00.

The Long Death. By George Dyer. A Catalyst Club Mystery. Charles Scribner's Sons. 250 pp. $2.00.

Dine at Home with Rector: A Book on What Men Like, Why They Like It, and How to Cook It. By George Rector. Preface by Arthur “Bugs” Baer. E. P. Dutton and Co. 248 pp. $2.50.

For Readers Only. By J. Penn. Cartoons by Low. E. P. Dutton and Co. 289 pp. $2.50.

Forty Years on Main Street. By William Allen White. Illustrated. Farrar and Reinhart. 409 pp. $3.00.

Look Through the Bars. By Ernst Toller. Farrar and Rinehart. 310 pp. $2.75.

Suns Go Down. By Flannery Lewis. The Macmillan Co. 226 pp. $2.00.

A Declaration of Interdependence. By H. A. Overstreet. W. W. Norton and Co. 284 pp. $3.00.

The Dangerous Sea. By George Slocomb. The Macmillan Co. 286 pp. $2.50.     

Cross-modality transfer effects in conditioning-enhanced neophobia in chicks (Gallus domesticus): Evidence for the separability of novelty from specific stimulus characteristics

In this study, we investigated the separability of novelty from specific stimulus characteristics (e.g., color or taste quality) in the transfer of aversion effects. Ninety-six chicks (Gallus domesticus) received a novel visual (red water) or taste (3.0% vinegar) CS paired with an injection of lithium chloride or saline. The chicks were then tested for aversion to the CS or for conditioning-enhanced neophobia in response to a different novel visual cue (green water) or taste cue (1.0% saline). Aversions to the CSs were reliable and similar to each other. Reliable evidence of conditioning-enhanced neophobia occurred with respect to each test stimulus, irrespective of the type of CS, but conditioning with the vinegar CS produced reliably greater enhancement of neophobia than did conditioning with red water. For each CS, postconditioning neophobia was more persistent in testing with saline than with green water. The results for postconditioning neophobia suggested that novelty is a general stimulus property that is separable from specific stimulus characteristics.     

Writing together to foster wellbeing: doctoral writing groups as spaces of wellbeing

ABSTRACT

Candidate wellbeing is recognised as a continual challenge for doctoral programs, with government mandates requiring an institutional response. This article explores the experiences of candidates undertaking intensive writing sessions (‘Write-Ins’) and their influence on their wellbeing. Exploratory findings demonstrate opportunities for Write-In models to contribute positively to ‘Spaces of Wellbeing’. Spaces of Wellbeing theory highlights four dimensions of space that influence wellbeing: capability, security, integrative and therapeutic spaces. Findings show the Write-Ins contributed positively to wellbeing by offering space for candidates to enhance writing productivity, to work to their own pace, to connect with others, and to work flexibly.     

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.     

A Process Model of Attachment–Friend Linkages: Hostile Attribution Biases,Language Ability,and Mother–Child Affective Mutuality as Intervening Mechanisms

This study identified mechanisms through which child–mother attachment security at 36 months was associated with mother‐ and teacher‐reported friendship quality at 3rd grade. Data from a subsample of 1,071 children (536 boys) participating in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development were used. Separate structural equation models were tested for mother and teacher reports of peer functioning. For both models, the total indirect effect between attachment security and friendship quality was significant. Tests of specific indirect effects indicated that attachment security was associated with friendship quality via greater mother–child affective mutuality and better language ability at 54 months and fewer hostile attributions (teacher model only) and greater peer competence at first grade. The findings highlight interpersonal and intrapersonal mechanisms of attachment–friend linkages.