Enabling skills in early reading acquisition: A study of children in Latvian kindergartens

Preschool children in Latvia were tested in order to examine the relationships among various enabling skills and early reading performance. A principal component analysis indicated three factors: a phonemic awareness factor, a naming factor, and a short-term memory factor. Multiple regression analyses with word identification and sentence comprehension as dependent variables yielded further support to the powerful role played by phonemic awareness in explaining variance in both these aspects of reading. Unexpectedly, neither naming nor short-term memory contributed to explain unique variance in word and sentence reading. The Latvian orthography is very consistent, and our results provide further evidence to the importance of phonemic awareness in early reading acquisition especially in a transparent language. Therefore, the tasks used when assessing phonemic awareness can be very useful when screening children at risk for developing reading problems. Enhancing children's letter knowledge and phonemic awareness skills should be a priority goal in the kindergarten classroom.     

The dimensionality of the verbal aggressiveness scale

Infante and Wigley's (1986) Verbal Aggressiveness Scale (VAS) is a widely accepted and frequently used measure of trait verbal aggression. Although the scale is almost always scored as if it were unidimensional, previous factor analytic studies provide evidence that it is multidimensional with two distinct factors. The present studies (N = 194 and 177) used confirmatory factor analysis to replicate the two‐factor solution. The two‐factor model was consistent with the data, and provides a better fit to the data than the unidimensional solution. The first factor, comprised of all aggressively worded, nonreflected items, appears to measure verbal aggressiveness as intended whereas the second factor, comprised of all reverse‐scored items (benevolently worded), appears to measure a communication style related to other‐esteem confirmation and supportiveness. Given this interpretation, it is recommended that only the 10 aggressively worded items be scored. Hamilton, Buck, and Chory‐Assad, in an adversarial collaborative discussion, agree that the VAS is bidimensional, but offer an alternative conceptual model. They hold that the two factors reflect selfish individualism and prosocial cooperation.     

Ironic Message Production: How and Why We Produce Ironic Messages

This paper addresses the conceptualization and production of irony. Specifically, psychological predispositions are used to identify what makes the production of an ironic message likely. Reasons for endorsing and suppressing ironic messages are discussed based on individuals’ goals in a situation. The importance of common ground between individuals during ironic message productions is also discussed. Results suggest (a) the suppression of ironic messages due to concern for both the other and the self, (b) there is a need for mutual understanding of an attitude for ironic messages to be understood as ironic, and (c) the endorsement of ironic messages is designed to inflict harm to others.     

Communication Processes that Predict Young Adults’ Feelings of Being Caught and their Associations with Mental Health and Family Satisfaction

In this study, the degree to which young adults felt caught between their parents was tested as a mediator between marital conflict behaviors and young adults’ mental health and family satisfaction. Participants included 1170 young adult children from first marriage and postdivorce families in four different states. Using structural equation modeling, the results revealed that parents’ symbolic aggression, demand/withdraw patterns, and negative disclosures were positively associated with young adult children's feelings of being caught. Such feelings, in turn, were inversely associated with children's reports of family satisfaction and mental health. Although young adult children from divorced families witnessed, on average, more marital aggression, negative disclosures, and demand/withdraw patterns than those from nondivorced families, the associations in the model were relatively comparable across both family types. Further, tests of mediation revealed that feeling caught served primarily as a partial mediator for family satisfaction and as a full mediator for mental health, though such feelings suppressed the positive effect of parental disclosures on family satisfaction for children in nondivorced families. Finally, children's closeness with both parents moderated the associations in the model.     

The Chilling Effect in Families and the Pressure to Conceal Secrets

In this study two models were constructed to test the link between the chilling effect and family members' continued concealment of secrets. The direct effects model suggests that coercive power in families has a direct influence on family members' concealment, such that it suppresses the desire to reveal sensitive information for fear of negative consequences. In contrast, the indirect effects model contends that coercive power diminishes family members' closeness and commitment to one another, which in turn, compels them to want to continue to conceal negative secrets. For families in general, the results supported the direct effects model. This study also assessed how these models applied to conformity– and conversation-oriented families.