| Abstracts:
January 2001 , Volume 47, Number 1
Sternberg,
R. J., Grigorenko, E. L., & Bundy, D. A. (2001). The predictive
value of IQ. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 47, 1-41.
Abstract:
This article reviews findings on the predictive validity of psychometric
tests of intelligence. The article is divided into five major
parts. In the first part, the issues with which the article deals
are introduced. In the second part, we discuss what psychologists
can learn about the predictive validity of intelligence tests
from results obtained in the established market economies. Intelligence
quotient (IQ) is considered in relation to educational achievement,
employment prospects and wealth generation, career outcomes, and
well-being. In the third part, the intelligence tests (primarily
for infants and children) that yield the IQ scores are discussed.
In the fourth part, constraints are presented on the interpretations
of findings, including cross-cultural issues. We conclude that
conventional tests of intelligence can be useful but only if they
are interpreted very carefully, taking into account the factors
that can affect them, and in conjunction with other measures.
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Espy,
K. A., Molfese, V. J., & DiLalla, L. F. (2001). Effects of
environmental measures on intelligence in young children: Growth
curve modeling of longitudinal data. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly,
47, 42-73.
Abstract:
Effects of different environmental measures on individual intellectual
growth patterns were examined in 105 young children participating
in a longitudinal study. Intelligence (Stanford-Binet, 4th edition)
was measured at ages 3 through 6 years, and child's environment
(HOME and SES) was assessed at age 3 years. Growth curve analyses
revealed that HOME scores exerted a constant influence on the
expected composite, verbal, and nonverbal intellectual skills
at each age. Only SES influenced the rate of growth, specifically
nonverbal intellectual skills. The magnitudes of these effects
were moderate, but consistent, regardless of whether age-standardized
or subscale raw scores were analyzed. These findings confirm that
HOME and SES scores are more than just different types of measures
of the child's environment.
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Venet, M., & Markovitz, H. (2001). Understanding
uncertainty with abstract conditional premises. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly,
47, 74-99.
Abstract:
Two studies examined abstract conditional reasoning. First, participants
at three grade levels (grade 8, college, university) were informed
that a problem corresponding to Affirmation of the consequent (P
implies Q, Q is true) had no certain response and were asked to
justify this conclusion, for both concrete and abstract premises.
Results showed an increase in use of formal justifications with
grade. The second study looked at the effects of embedding abstract
premises into realistic or fantasy contexts with participants at
grades 8 and 11. Results show that abstract reasoning is facilitated
by realistic context. These results support the idea that such reasoning
may represent a qualitative change in reasoning abilities and that
its development relies on appropriate access to empirical knowledge
despite the abstract nature of premises.
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Masur, E. F., & Turner, M. (2001). Stability
and consistency in mothers' and infants' interactive styles. Merrill-Palmer
Quarterly, 47, 100-120.
Abstract:
Stability over time and consistency across contexts in the interactive
behaviors of 10 girls and 10 boys and their mothers were investigated
during play and bath sessions when the children were 10, 13, 17,
and 21 months of age. Despite general instability and inconsistency
in the children's social responsivity, interest in the toys, and
positive affect, these behaviors evidenced systematic and expected
relations with maternal characteristics by the middle of the second
year. Mothers' behaviors demonstrated striking differences, with
responsiveness a highly stable and consistent personal style, affect
expression an unstable but consistent temporary quality, and directiveness
an unstable and inconsistent pattern. The results also highlight
the importance of considering both child age and interactive context
in understanding dyadic behaviors.
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Howe, N., Aquan-Assee, J., & Bukowiski, W.
M. (2001). Predicting sibling relations over time: Synchrony between
maternal management styles and sibling relationship quality. Merrill-Palmer
Quarterly, 47, 121-141.
Abstract:
Data from a 2-year sample of 26 families (Time 1 M ages: firstborns
= 3.1 years, secondborns = 14 months; Time 2 M ages: firstborns
= 6.2 years, secondborns = 3.5 years) were assessed for patterns
of influence of Time 1 sibling and maternal management styles on
Time 2 sibling agonism and cooperation. Time 1 sibling, but not
maternal styles, influenced Time 2 interaction; specifically, a
sibling social cognitive variable was associated with Time 2 agonism.
The synchrony or match between maternal management and sibling behavior
at Time 1 was associated with greater Time 2 cooperation and agonism.
Affective quality of relationships and the synchrony of maternal
management and sibling interaction and associations with long-term
sibling relations are discussed.
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Pellegrini, A. D., & Bartini, M. (2001).
Dominance in early adolescent boys: Affiliative and aggressive dimensions
and possible functions. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 47, 142+.
Abstract:
In this multimethod, multiagent longitudinal study, boys' dominance
was studied as they made the transition from primary to middle school.
A cohort of boys was followed as they moved from fifth grade (mean
age 10.1 years of age) through sixth grade (mean age 12.1 years
of age). Consistent with theory, dominance decreased as boys made
the transition to a new group; aggression initially increased from
primary school to the start of sixth grade and then decreased again
at the end of the year. Additionally, and consistent with theory,
dominance had a significant aggressive, but not affiliative, dimension
at the start of sixth grade. By the end of the year, dominance did
not have a significant aggressive dimension but did have a significant
affiliative dimension. Last, both affiliative and aggressive dimensions
of dominance predicted heterosexual relationships (i.e., dating)
at the end of the sixth grade. Results are discussed in terms of
distal, evolutionary effects and proximal, peer group effects on
peer relations in adolescence.
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