INTERACTIVE LINKS BETWEEN RELATIONAL AGGRESSION,THEORY OF MIND,AND MORAL DISENGAGEMENT AMONG EARLY ADOLESCENTS

The aim of this study was to investigate possible interactive links between theory of mind (ToM), moral disengagement and relational aggression, using a moderated mediation analysis, with gender as a moderator, in a sample of 120 Greek preadolescents. Results indicated that relational aggression was significantly positively associated with moral disengagement and negatively with ToM. Moderated mediation analyses indicated that boys with deficient ToM were more likely to morally disengage from their actions which in turn resulted in relational aggression, while poor ToM was directly linked to relational aggression only for preadolescent girls. Moral disengagement had a direct effect on relational aggression only for boys, while ToM was found to partially mediate the relationship between moral disengagement and relational aggression only for girls. The results emphasize that the co‐morbid effects of socio‐cognitive factors should be taken into consideration when relational aggression is explored.     

Role of Schemas in One-Step Word Problems

This study focuses on the structures and relationships involved in one-step additive and multiplicative problems. Thirty-three problems were given to 450 students in grades 2, 3 and 4. The analysis of results showed that the facility ratio of the problems differs by structure, by situation and by the sequence of the data within the same situation. It was also verified that students’ ability to solve one-step problems increases with age, but the relative difficulty of the problems is grade independent. Four cognitive developmental levels were indicated. It is envisaged that teachers may facilitate students to develop efficient problem solving schema networks, by hierarchically sequencing activities related to one-step problems.     

Coping with bullying and victimisation among preadolescents: the moderating effects of self-efficacy

Bullying and victimisation may result from ineffective coping with interpersonal stressors. However, little is known about the preadolescents who are most susceptible to dysfunctional coping styles. Self-efficacy beliefs may be one source of individual differences in coping among those involved in bullying and victimisation. The purpose of the present research was to examine whether links between bullying/victimisation and coping were moderated by self-efficacy beliefs. Participants were 262 Greek preadolescents who completed self-report assessments of bullying/victimisation, coping, and self-efficacy. Results indicated that self-efficacy moderated the association between bullying/victimisation and coping, in that greater use of ineffective coping (i.e., resignation, passive avoidance) predicted bullying and victimisation among preadolescents with moderate and low levels of social and emotional self-efficacy, whereas greater use of adaptive coping (i.e., positive self-instructions, social support) was reported by those with higher self-efficacy beliefs. Practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Resistance to interference in complex negative patterning

Resistance to interference was examined in rats that received a complex negative patterning discrimination in which XA and XB were followed by food reinforcement and XAB was not. Retention of the discrimination was evident after separate reinforcement of both A and B (Experiment 3), but not after reinforcement of either AB (Experiments 1 and 3) or XAB (Experiments 2 and 3). These data suggest that complex negative patterning discriminations are acquired configurally and that the relative similarity of the original discrimination and subsequent interference trials dictates the final degree of retention observed.     

Motivational beliefs as mediators in the association between perceived scholastic competence,self-esteem and learning strategies among Greek secondary school students

The present study investigated the links between self-motivational beliefs, perceived scholastic competence, self-esteem and learning strategies among 134 Greek junior high school students in the subject of Greek language, through self-report. A model was tested with motivational constructs as mediators between perceived scholastic competence and self-esteem on the one side and participants’ learning strategies in language on the other. Mediation analyses results showed that perceived scholastic competence predicted all learning strategies both directly and indirectly through intrinsic goal orientation and task value. Self-esteem was not found to predict learning strategies directly, but only indirectly through intrinsic goal motivation. The findings are discussed in terms of their educational implications.     

Conditioned defensive burying in rats free to escape

Rats shocked once by a stationary, wire-wrapped prod bury it if suitable materials are available. Does this conditioned defensive burying occur when rats have the opportunity to flee from the source of aversive stimulation, or is it limited to situations such as those in which it had previously been studied—those in which the relatively small test chamber confined each rat to the immediate vicinity of the prod? In the present experiments, the capacity of rats to flee from the shock prod was enhanced by increasing the floor dimensions of the test chamber up to 200X80 cm (Experiment 1) or by providing the rats with an opportunity to seek refuge in a separate, safe compartment (Experiment 2). Although both of these modifications to the usual conditioned-defensive-burying paradigm significantly reduced the duration of burying and the height of the accumulated mounds, burying remained well above control levels in all experimental conditions.     

Development of decision‐making skills and environmental concern through computer‐based,scaffolded learning activities

This article focuses on the development of decision‐making skills and environmental concern by 11‐ and 12‐year‐old students through computer‐based, scaffolded learning activities. The enacted activities provided necessary scientific information and allowed for the consideration of multiple aspects of the problem, the study of the effects of every possible solution and the formulation and balancing of criteria. The optimization strategy for decision making was adopted, because it allows for the development of compensatory thinking which is more relevant to actual situations of decision making. Twelve students participated in the pilot enactment of the proposed activities. Data collection relied on students’ reports and pre‐ and post‐ tests as well as a closed questionnaire designed to measure students’ environmental concern. The teaching intervention proved quite successful in enhancing the decision‐making skills of the participating children. Moreover, students’ performance on the environmental concern questionnaire correlated in interesting ways with the improvement of decision‐making skills.