Celebrating
the 50th Anniversary of the Merrill-Palmer Quarterly. Merrill-Palmer
Quarterly, 50, 1-16.
Abstract:
The academic year 2004-2005 marks the 50th anniversary of the
Merrill-Palmer Quarterly: A Journal of Developmental Psychology.
This occasion provides an opportunity to celebrate the journal's
heritage, its long history of scholarly contributions to the human
developmental sciences, and its current and future mission as
a purveyor of scientific discoveries. Accordingly, the purpose
of this article is to announce this important milestone and to
provide an overview of some of the journal's history, including
the confluence of events, persons, institutional forces, and publication
trends that brought about its creation and contributed to its
longevity. The purview of this historical treatise is divided
into four principal epochs: (1) the era preceding the inception
of the Merrill-Palmer Quarterly; (2) the establishment of the
Merrill-Palmer Institute and founding of the Quarterly; (3) the
1950s through the 1990s, when the Merrill-Palmer Quarterly became
a repository for scientific research; and (4) the postmillennial
Quarterly.
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Hanish,
L. D. & Guerra, N. (2004). Aggressive Victims, Passive Victims,
and Bullies: Developmental Continuity or Developmental Change?
Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 50, 17-38.
Abstract:
We evaluated the extent to which aggressive victims show unique
developmental pathways that are different from those of passive
victims, bullies, and uninvolved children. A total of 1,722 children
were followed from 4th grade to 6th grade, and the prevalence
and stability of each group were assessed. Aggressive victims
became less prevalent and passive victims and bullies became more
prevalent with age. Although it was common for aggressive victims
and bullies to move from one group to the other across time, there
was little overlap with the passive victim group. Stability estimates
were higher for the bully and aggressive victim groups than for
the passive victim group, and patterns of stability were influenced
by peer rejection and exposure to violence.
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Wilson,
A. E., Smith, M. D., Ross, H. S., Ross, M. (2004). Young Children's
Personal Accounts of Their Sibling Disputes. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly,
50. 39-60.
Abstract:
We investigated children's personal representations of significant
sibling conflicts. Forty pairs of siblings were interviewed separately
about the same disputes. Although they described the same episodes,
both older (M age = 7.0) and younger (M age = 4.4) siblings ascribed
more serious transgressions to their opponents than to themselves.
They also justified and denied their own severe transgressions
more frequently than their siblings' offenses. Overall, children
were systematically biased in favor of their own innocence, and
older siblings were more self-serving in their use of justifications
than their younger siblings. The number and complexity of justifications
increased with siblings' age, whereas denials were more frequently
relied upon by younger siblings. It is suggested that investigations
of children's unique conflict representations represent an important
complement to observational studies of sibling conflict.
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Ross,
H. S., Smith, J., Spielmacher, C., & Recchia, H. (2004). Shading
the Truth: Self-Serving Biases in Children's Reports of Sibling
Conflicts. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 50, 61-85.
Abstract:
Siblings between 4 1/2 and 9 1/2 were interviewed concerning positive
and negative actions of self or sibling that either did or did
not occur in past conflicts, and then asked to describe these
disputes. Children evidenced self-serving biases, ascribing positive
actions to themselves more than to their siblings. Additionally,
younger siblings denied their negative actions. Older siblings
admitted to, but spontaneously explained, their negative actions;
they also excluded such actions from their narratives. Moreover,
differences between children's accurate and inaccurate responses
(in latencies to respond, integration of actions in narratives,
and explanations for actions that did or did not occur) suggest
that children's attempts to manage the impressions they make on
others contribute to biased reports of past conflicts.
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Heyman,
G. D. & Giles, J. W. (2004). Valence Effects in Reasoning
about Evaluative Traits. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 50, 86-109.
Abstract:
Reasoning about evaluative traits was investigated among a group
of 7- and 8-year-olds (N = 34), a group of 11- to 13-year olds
(N = 25), and a group of adults (N = 23) to determine whether
their inferences would be sensitive to the valence of social and
academic traits. Four aspects of trait-relevant beliefs were examined:
(1) malleability, (2) stability over time, (3) origin in terms
of nature versus nurture, and (4) an inference criterion that
concerns how readily traits are inferred. Although there was evidence
of an age-related decrease in the tendency to emphasize positive
information, participants of all ages responded that positive
traits are less malleable and more stable over time than negative
traits, that the positive influences of biological and environmental
factors are likely to override the negative influences, and that
competence can be more readily inferred from positive outcomes
than from negative outcomes.
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