Development of three-dimensional object completion in infancy

Three-dimensional (3D) object completion was investigated by habituating 4- and 6-month-old infants (n= 24 total) with a computer-generated wedge stimulus that pivoted 15 degrees , providing only a limited view. Two displays, rotating 360 degrees , were then shown: a complete, solid volume and an incomplete, hollow form composed only of the sides seen during habituation. There were no reliable preferences for either test display by 4-month-olds. At 6 months, infants showed a reliable novelty preference for the incomplete test display. Infants in a control group (n= 24) not habituated to the limited-view wedge preferred neither test display. By 6 months, infants may represent simple objects as complete in 3D space despite a limited perspective. Possible mechanisms of development of 3D object completion are discussed.     

Influences on intercultural relations: Counseling implications for American adolescents in Germany

A comparison of the relative importance of variables shown to influence the outcome of interracial contact was made in an intercultural contact situation. Implications of the findings for counseling applications were discussed. The variables studied were: amount of contact, length of time living in the country, norms, personal association, initial attitudes toward the country (expectations and first impressions), and attitudes toward people in general. The subjects were 199 American adolescents living in Germany and enrolled in on-base American schools for military dependents. The data were collected by questionnaires administered by faculty members at the schools during regular class time. Attitudes toward Germans, attitudes toward Germany and social distance toward German adolescents were utilized as the dependant variables. The analyses controlled for past intercultural experience and the age, sex, and ethnic group of the subjects. Three variables affected subjects' attitudes toward Germany: norms, first impressions, and sex of subject. The same three variables plus attitudes toward people affected attitudes toward Germans. Three different variables affected the social distance scale: age, sex, and expectations. Age and sex were control variables and appear to be artifacts of the particular social climate of the situation under study. Thus, norms, first impressions, expectations, and attitudes toward people appear to be the major influences on attitudes toward members of another culture. Amount of contact, length of time living in the country and personal association do not appear to be important in intercultural interaction. Suggestions were made for the preparation of educational programs and for family, group and individual counseling for families with adolescents who are transferred to new cultural environments.     

Development of anxiety disorders in a traumatized pediatric population: a preliminary longitudinal evaluation

OBJECTIVE: The current study was conducted to determine if post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology predicted later development of non-PTSD anxiety disorders in children and adolescents victimized by interpersonal trauma. METHODS: Thirty-four children with a history of interpersonal trauma and no initial diagnosis of anxiety disorder participated in the study. Children were assessed at time one (T1) and then 12-18 months later at time two (T2). At T1, the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for Children and Adolescents (CAPS-CA) and the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL) were used to evaluate children's PTSD symptoms and comorbid non-PTSD anxiety disorder diagnosis. At T2, the CAPS-CA and the K-SADS-PL were repeated. RESULTS: The diagnosis of PTSD and PTSD symptoms in children exposed to interpersonal trauma at T1, particularly the symptoms associated with avoidance and constricted emotional expression (criteria C) as well as physiological hyperarousal (criteria D), predicted the development of other anxiety disorders at T2. CONCLUSION: Traumatized children with initial PTSD symptomatology may be at risk of later development of other anxiety disorders.     

DEVELOPING STUDENT FIELD EXPERIENCES THROUGH UNIVERSITY‐COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONS

The political, economic, social, equity, and historical influences on the status of kindergarten education and early childhood teacher education in the United States are discussed. There are many sources of data that create a picture of the diverse programs, resources, and opportunities that kindergarten children experience, including the preparation of kindergarten teachers. This article addresses the questions: What does kindergarten curriculum look like today compared with other times? What is the status of full-day kindergarten? What are the influences of the high-stakes testing movement, school budgets, and economic status across communities? How has early childhood state teacher certification changed during the past two decades? What is worthwhile learning? This article takes an editorial position that supports an intellectually significant curriculum in which specially prepared early childhood teachers match teaching with the ways in which kindergarten children learn, and might want to learn more.     

A Phantasmic Experience: Narrative Connection of Dead Celebrities in Advertisements

Abstract

Featuring dead celebrities in current advertisements has become a well-known practice in contemporary advertising techniques. Marilyn Monroe sells Sunsilk, John Lennon is a spokesman for One Laptop per Child, Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor demonstrate the roominess of a Jetta's now larger backseat. To unearth the viability of re-structuring dead celebrities into new advertisements, this article analyzes how phantasms – visual and vocal recordings – speak to the living consumer through the construction of emplotment, a main element of Paul Ricoeur's narrative theory. Particularly, Ricoeur's work on mimesis, metaphors, and memories direct this inquiry for these terms shape a phenomenological understanding of temporality and connectivity with a disembodied other. The goal of such exploration aims to link dead celebrities with the construction and transmission of persuasive messages within an advertising narrative framework.     

Coming Out of the Campus Closet: The Emerging Visibility of Queer Students at the University of Florida, 1970–1982

This historical work chronicles the emergence of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and queer (LGBTQ) student visibility at the University of Florida from 1970 to 1982. It focuses on the establishment of an LGBTQ student group and student reactions to queer visibility. This work relies heavily on the student newspaper for the student perspective, and shows how the emergence of queer students was part of the expansion of student affairs offices and how queer student movements grew from other social protest movements. Higher education history has almost entirely omitted queer experiences, and queer history has not looked deeply into higher education.