Why does children's generosity increase with age: susceptibility to experimenter influence or altruism?

This study evaluated whether age differences in children's generosity are due to increasing altruistic motivation or increasing susceptibility to experimenter influence strategies. 282 first, third, and fifth graders voted on how to spend a gift of money under 1 of 5 instructional sets--3 levels of experimenter influence, peer influence, or no influence, or no influence. Voting choices (in increasing order of generosity according to experimenter-defined scoring weights) were splitting up the money equally among class members, buying something for their class, buying something for their school, or giving the money to poor children. Voting choices also were scored according to empirically derived weights based on rankings provided by an independent sample of 50 first, third, and fifth graders. Both scoring systems indicated that fifth graders were more generous than younger children, but only under high levels of experimenter demand, and peer influence did not increase children's generosity. Furthermore, first graders appeared more generous when the child-derived rather than the experimenter-derived scoring system was used. Thus generalizations regarding age differences in generosity observed in laboratory experiments may require qualification, specifying the degree and type of experimenter influence involved.     

DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING SERVICE‐LEARNING IN AGING

This article focuses on the potential benefits of service‐learning in aging to students, the university, and the community. We first discuss the concept of service‐learning, clarify its parameters, and describe the types of projects that best exemplify its unique blend of service and learning. Opportunities for service‐learning are examined using examples from the current Intergenerational Service‐Learning Project of the National Council on Aging. The complexity of initiating and gaining acceptance of service‐learning in aging projects is explored, with particular attention given to supervisory and curriculum issues. Finally, the national implications of service‐learning in aging are discussed, as well as the possibilities for including service‐learning approaches in some of the new federal initiatives in aging.     

INTERGENERATIONAL SERVICE‐LEARNING: CONTRIBUTIONS TO CURRICULA

This article reports some findings from a national demonstration project involving the National Council on the Aging (NCOA) and thirteen colleges and universities. We studied 39 courses in which students were involved in service‐learning in aging. We describe and discuss (1) the range of demonstrably feasible adaptions, (2) what faculty say their students learned from the experiences, and (3) faculty perceptions of personal benefits and costs associated with developing and directing these projects.     

The ubiquity of grey literature in a connected content context

Publishing Research Quarterly -     

Effects of Mothers' Simulated Withdrawal and Depressed Affect on Mother-Toddler Interactions

Effects of enacted maternal withdrawal and depression were observed in a sample of 18–36-month-old children during counterbalanced brief (10-min) episodes of simulated depression and normal affect. As predicted, when mothers enacted withdrawal and depressed affect by becoming less positive, expressive, involved, talkative, and responsive, toddlers physically withdrew from them, made more negative physical bids for attention, and became more unfocused and generally negative. Children accepted their unresponsive mothers' infrequent interaction bids, but did not attempt to comfort them when they appeared depressed. In mothers' normal mood episodes, children were more positive, were never unfocused, and played closer to their mothers. As expected, toddlers reacted negatively to transitory maternal withdrawal and depressed affect, displaying their distress in a developmentally appropriate manner.