Attachment to Mother/Attachment to Father: A Meta-Analysis

An important tenet of attachment theory is that classification of security or insecurity as derived from the Strange Situation reflects the quality of an infant's relationship with its caregiver. One piece of evidence supporting this claim is the lack of concordance of classification between an infant and its mother and father. We performed a meta-analysis of the 11 studies that have examined the concordance of mother/father attachment to an infant. We found that security of attachment to one parent was dependent upon security to the other parent, that type of insecurity (avoidant/resistant) to one parent was dependent upon type of insecurity to the other, and that subcategory classification within the secure category (B1B2/B3B4) to one parent was dependent upon subcategory classification to the other. These data raise important questions regarding the meaning of infant attachment classification as derived from the Strange Situation. Among the possible explanations for the pattern of data are existence of concordant parenting styles and/or influence of infant temperament (possibly the tendency to cry upon separation) on classification of security/insecurity in the Strange Situation.     

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.     

Being highly prolific in academic science: characteristics of individuals and their departments

Higher Education - The prolific (exceptionally high producers of scholarly publications) are strategic to the study of academic science. The highly prolific have been drivers of research activity...     

Fashioning the Discipline: History of Science in the European Intellectual Tradition

This paper offers personal reflections on the fashioning of the history of science in Europe. It presents the history of science as a discipline emerging in the twentieth century from an intellectual and political context of great complexity, and concludes with a plea for tolerance and pluralism in historiographical methods and approaches.Robert Fox held the chair of the history of science at Oxford University between 1988 and 2006. He has been active in a number of international organizations, including the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science, of which he is a past president, and the European Society for the History of Science, whose founding president he became in 2004.     

The Needs of Secondary School Information Technology Co‐ordinators in the United Kingdom

ABSTRACT

This paper reports on a survey of secondary schools in the West Midlands, England, in 1991 and was conducted to measure the tasks required of information technology co‐ordinators and the training requirement of their schools. The main emphasis of information technology work was still on taught, examination courses and there was a perceived need for information technology awareness courses for all pupils. Many co‐ordinators had no clear perspective of the level of information technology permeation across the curriculum in their schools, and thus demonstrated an urgent need for audits of staff awareness and pupil access. Information technology co‐ordinators also saw a need for further in‐service training for many staff to enable delivery of their pupils’ information technology entitlement. Most staff training was school based and included collaborative teaching and courses run by the school staff. Little use was made of co‐operation with subject staff from other schools or outside specialists. The co‐ordinators defined their needs as being predominantly in the areas of time for co‐ordination duties, assessment of information technology across the curriculum, and training in new developments in the wider aspects of information technology.     

The Influence of Message and Audience Characteristics on TV News Grazing Behavior

This study examined television news channel changing (AKA grazing, zapping) behavior by focusing on the viewing duration and attention paid to stories that varied in sensational content and packaging. These two message-related factors had independent and interactive effects on how long grazers stayed tuned to a channel. Moreover, high sensation seekers, who were more avid news consumers in everyday life, exhibited different viewing and attentional patterns compared to low sensation seekers. While arousing television news was the most watched by all, high sensation seekers unexpectedly showed less preference for sensational tabloid packaging of arousing content than low sensation seekers.