| Abstracts:
April 2002, Volume 48, Number 2
Kuttler,
A. F., Parker, J. G., & La Greca, A. M. (2002). Developmental
and gender differences in preadolescents' judgments of the veracity
of gossip. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 48, 105-132.
Abstract:
Hypothetical vignettes were used to examine 384 preadolescents'
understanding of gossip in varying circumstances. Children correctly
labeled talk about nonpresent others as gossip and considered
it inappropriate. Skepticism was higher for gossip than for firsthand
information and was greatest in the presence of cues suggesting
that speakers were unreliable or harbored ulterior motives. Surprisingly,
skepticism of gossip decreased with age. Attributions for speakers'
behavior were sensitive to subtle contextual cues, and in the
absence of clear motives, children, particularly girls, were likely
to assume that gossipers spread false information out of jealousy.
Overall, preadolescents appear to have a relatively mature understanding
of the limitations of gossip, treat gossip with skepticism, and
judge harshly gossipers who spread false gossip.
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Jones, S., Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., &
MacKinnon, D. P. (2002). Parents' reactions to elementary school
children's negative emotions: Relations to social and emotional
functioning at school. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 48, 133-159.
Abstract:
This study addressed the role of specific parenting practices
in children's expression of emotion and social competence. The
specific objective was to examine the relations of parents' reactions
to children's negative emotions with children's social and emotional
competence at school and to explore the moderating role of children's
dispositional emotionality in this relation. A diverse sample
of first to fourth graders was observed at school; teachers reported
on children's social competence and affect, and parents reported
on their reactions to their children's negative emotions and the
intensity of children's negative emotions. Parental problem-focused
reactions were positively related to socioemotional competence
for boys but negatively associated for girls. Parental punitive/minimizing
reactions were associated with low socioemotional competence.
Moderating effects were obtained for emotion-focused (comforting)
parental reactions: Children prone to intense negative emotions
were especially low in socioemotional competence if their parents
reported using high or average levels of these reactions.
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Talwar, V., & Lee, K. (2002). Emergence
of white-lie telling in children between 3 and 7 years of age.
Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 48, 160-181.
Abstract:
White-lie-telling behavior in 3 to 7-years-olds was examined using
a Reverse Rouge Task. Before children took a photograph of the
experimenter, the experimenter asked, "Do I look okay for
the photo?" In the experimental condition, the experimenter's
nose had a visible mark; in the control condition, it did not.
Most of the children in the experimental condition told white
lies. Undergraduates who saw children's videotaped responses could
not discriminate the white-lie tellers from the control nonliars.
Analysis of the children's expressive behavior revealed that white-lie
tellers only differed from control nonliars on three categories.
Results suggest that children are not always candid truth tellers.
They are able to use both verbal and nonverbal display rules and
tell white lies in politeness situations. Return
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Corapci, F., & Wachs, T. D. (2002).
Does parental mood or efficacy mediate the influence of environmental
chaos upon parenting behavior? Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 48, 182-201.
Abstract:
Using repeated observational and questionnaire data from 57 infants
and their parents, lower parental efficacy perceptions and higher
parental negative mood states were evaluated as potential mediators
to explain the adverse influence of environmental chaos on parenting.
Factor analysis revealed noise- and crowding-chaos dimensions
in the home. Higher scores on both chaos dimensions were related
to less responsive and stimulating parenting. Home chaos was generally
unrelated to parental ratings of distressed mood, but parents
reported a lower sense of efficacy as noise level in home increased.
However, our data did not support predicted links between measures
of parenting and efficacy. The overall pattern of results indicates
that neither parental mood nor efficacy appears to mediate relations
between home chaos and parenting behavior. Return
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Aram, D., & Levin, I. (2002). Mother-child
joint writing and storybook reading: Relations with literacy among
low SES kindergartners. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 48.
Abstract:
Maternal mediation in joint writing was compared to storybook
reading in terms of their relations with emergent literacy among
kindergartners in a low Socioeconomic Status population. Joint
writing was examined by dyadic writing. Story-book reading was
assessed by storybook recognition. Children's literacy was measured
by word writing and recognition, and phonological and orthographic
awareness. Kindergarten teachers ranked the children's verbal,
graphic, and mathematical abilities. After partialling out home
environment measures and story-book reading, maternal writing
mediation explained added variance of word writing/recognition
and phonological awareness. Storybook reading explained added
variance of verbal ability above home environment and maternal
writing mediation. Mediation in joint writing is linked to reading
and writing acquisition, and storybook reading is related to verbal
abilities. Return
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