Explaining interindividual differences in toddlers' collaboration with unfamiliar peers: individual, dyadic, and social factors

During their third year of life, toddlers become increasingly skillful at coordinating their actions with peer partners and they form joint commitments in collaborative situations. However, little effort has been made to explain interindividual differences in collaboration among toddlers. Therefore, we examined the relative influence of distinct individual, dyadic, and social factors on toddlers' collaborative activities (i.e., level of coordination and preference for joint activity) in joint problem-solving situations with unfamiliar peer partners (n = 23 dyads aged M = 35.7 months). We analyzed the dyadic nonindependent data with mixed models. Results indicated that mothers' expectations regarding their children's social behaviors significantly predicted toddlers' level of coordination. Furthermore, the models revealed that toddlers' positive mutual experiences with the unfamiliar partner assessed during an initial free play period (Phase 1) and their level of coordination in an obligatory collaboration task (Phase 2) promoted toddlers' preference for joint activity in a subsequent optional collaboration task (Phase 3). In contrast, children's mastery motivation and shyness conflicted with their collaborative efforts. We discuss the role of parents' socialization goals in toddlers' development toward becoming active collaborators and discuss possible mechanisms underlying the differences in toddlers' commitment to joint activities, namely social preferences and the trust in reliable cooperation partners

"... nur ein Suchen nach Anerkennung": Prozesse des Aufbaus rechtsextremer Haltungen im Kontext sozialer Erfahrungen

'Im starken Kontrast zur Eindeutigkeit der Bilder, die vom gewaltförmig auftretenden und mehrheitlich von Jugendlichen getragenen Rechtsextremismus vorliegen, steht das geringe Wissen über die Prozesse der Annäherung an rechtsextreme Orientierungen und Szenegruppierungen. Wie sich solche Haltungen biographisch aufbauen und welche Zusammenhänge dabei mit Sozialisationserfahrungen und jugendkulturellen Präferenzen bestehen, ist weitgehend unklar. In Bezug auf Skinheads - eine Gruppe, die bis heute wie keine andere den Typus des rechtsextremen Jugendlichen illustriert und symbolisiert, zeichnet der folgende Artikel auf der Basis neuer empirischer Daten verschiedene Muster von Hinwendungen nach und stellt die Ergebnisse in den Kontext des Integrations-/ Desintegrations-Ansatzes.' (Autorenreferat)'In sharp contrast to the uniformity of the images of violent right-wing youth in Germany very little is known about processes of adaptation to right-wing orientations and groups. It is largely unknown how these orientations are built in biographical contexts and how they are connected to experiences of socialisation. On the base of empirical data this article shows for the group of skinheads - the type of group mostly symbolising and illustrating right-wing youth in Germany - different patterns of developments to right-wing orientations and discusses the results in the context of the integration/ disintegration approach.' (author's abstract)

Explaining variation in parents' and their children's stress during COVID-19 lockdowns

The coronavirus pandemic poses a substantial threat to people across the globe. In the first half of 2020, governments limited the spread of virus by imposing diverse regulations. These regulations had a particular impact on families as parents had to manage their occupational situation and childcare in parallel. Here, we examine a variation in parents' and children's stress during the lockdowns in the first half of 2020 and detect the correlates of families' stress. Between April and June 2020, we conducted an explorative online survey among n = 422 parents of 3- to 10-year-old children residing in 17 countries. Most participants came from Germany (n = 274), Iran (n = 70), UK (n = 23), and USA (n = 23). Parents estimated their own stress, the stress of their own children, and various information on potential correlates (e.g., accommodation, family constellation, education, community size, playtime for children, contact with peers, media consumption, and physical activity). Parents also stated personal values regarding openness to change, self-transcendence, self-enhancement, and conservation. The results indicate a substantial variation in the stress levels of families and their diverse reactions to regulations. Media consumption by children commonly increased in comparison to the time before the pandemic. Parents raising both pre-school- and school-aged children were at a particular risk of experiencing stress in response to regulations. Estimated stress and reactions varied with the age of children and the personal values of parents, suggesting that such variables need to be considered when implementing and evaluating regulations and supporting young families in the current and future pandemi

The Development of Context-Sensitive Attention in Urban and Rural Brazil

Human perception differs profoundly between individuals from different cultures. In the present study, we investigated the development of context-sensitive attention (the relative focus on context elements of a visual scene) in a large sample (N= 297) of 5- to 15-year-olds and young adults from rural and urban Brazil, namely from agricultural villages in the Amazon region and the city of Sao Paulo. We applied several visual tasks which assess context-sensitive attention, including an optical illusion, a picture description, a picture recognition and a facial emotion judgment task. The results revealed that children and adults from the urban sample had a higher level of context-sensitive attention, when compared to children and adults from the rural sample. In particular, participants from Sao Paulo were more easily deceived by the context elements in an optical illusion task and remembered more context elements in a recognition task than participants from rural Amazon villages. In these two tasks, context-sensitivity increased with age. However, we did not find a cultural difference in the picture description and the facial emotion judgment task. These findings support the idea that visual information processing is highly dependent on the culture-specific learning environments from very early in development. Specifically, they are more consistent with accounts that emphasize the role of the visual environment, than with the social orientation account. However, they also highlight that further research is needed to disentangle the diverse factors that may influence the early development of visual attention, which underlie culture-specific developmental pathways

Archaeological excavation and geomagnetic survey in the Northern sector of the Copper Age settlement of Valencina (Seville). 2017 campaign

En 2017 comenzaron las excavaciones del Proyecto Valencina Nord en el sector septentrional de este gran poblado de ca. 200 ha durante el Calcolítico Medio. En la primera campaña se priorizó la prospección geofísica en el sector noroeste, en dirección hacia el barranco de Los Pozos, pudiéndose proponer que tres de los sistemas de fosos identificados en 2014 continúan hacia el oeste, el más exterior con los fosos 5, 14, 6 y 7, un segundo sistema con los fosos 11 y 12 y el tercero, que corta estos dos últimos fosos, con un único foso 10 de mayores dimensiones. Por otra parte, se documentó que el poblado continúa por fuera del foso más exterior 5 en el sector 4 del Cerro del Mármol, y asciende en dirección norte hacia el Cerro de la Cabeza en el sector 5. La excavación se centró en un área con múltiples estructuras excavadas en el suelo según la geofísica, a la vez que el corte 4 incluía parte del gran foso 10. Las estructuras que han comenzado a excavarse en los cortes 3 y 4 muestran una buena correlación con los datos geofísicos. Un aspecto novedoso es la identificación de un primer fragmento de cerámica campaniforme en la excavación del Cerro de la Cabeza y varias cerámicas del Bronce Antiguo que amplían la fase del Calcolítico Medio detectada en la prospección superficial durante 2014 y también apuntan dos dataciones de carbono 14 de nuestras excavaciones. Estos datos sugieren que el poblado, el cual redujo probablemente sus dimensiones durante el Calcolítico Final, tenía entonces una extensión mínima de 27 ha, presentando el conjunto de cerámica campaniforme más grande de la Península Ibérica, triplicando en número de fragmentos a ZambujalIn 2017, excavations of the Valencina Nord Project began in the northern sector of this large mega-site of ca. 200 ha during the Middle Chalcolithic. In the first campaign, geophysical survey at the NW sector, in direction of the Los Pozos ravine was prioritized, and it is possible to propose that three of the ditch systems identified in 2014 continue westward, the outermost with the ditches 5, 14, 6 and 7, a second system with ditches 11 and 12, and the third, which cuts these last two ditches, with a single ditch 10 of larger dimensions. On the other hand, it was documented that the settlement continues outside the outermost ditch 5 in sector 4 at Cerro del Mármol, and ascends northwards towards Cerro de la Cabeza in sector 5. The excavation focused on an area with multiple pit structures excavated in the ground according to geophysics, while grid 4 included part of the great ditch 10. The structures that have begun to be excavated in grid 3 and 4 show a good correlation with the geophysical data. A novel aspect is the identification of a first fragment of Bell Beaker pottery in the excavation of Cerro de la Cabeza and several Early Bronze Age ceramics that extend the Middle Chalcolithic phase detected in survey during 2014, supported by two radiocarbon dates in our excavations. These data suggest that the settlement, which probably reduced its dimensions during the Late Chalcolithic, had a minimum extension of 27 ha, and presents the largest Bell Beaker pottery set in the Iberian Peninsula, tripling in number of fragments to ZambujalEl Proyecto General de Investigación “Valencina Nord. El poblado calcolítico de Valencina de la Concepción. Desarrollo del hábitat y economía en el Norte” fue aprobado por la Consejería de Cultura de la Junta de Andalucía. El Instituto Arqueológico Alemán de Madrid financió la campaña de excavación, mientras la campaña de prospección geofísica la asumió la Facultad de Filosofía de la Universidad de Würzbur

Excavación arqueológica y prospección geomagnética en el sector norte del yacimiento de la Edad del Cobre de Valencina de la Concepción (Sevilla). Campaña de 2017

In 2017, excavations of the Valencina Nord Project began in the northern sector of this large mega-site of ca. 200 ha during the Middle Chalcolithic. In the first campaign, geophysical survey at the NW sector, in direction of the Los Pozos ravine was prioritized, and it is possible to propose that three of the ditch systems identified in 2014 continue westward, the outermost with the ditches 5, 14, 6 and 7, a second system with ditches 11 and 12, and the third, which cuts these last two ditches, with a single ditch 10 of larger dimensions. On the other hand, it was documented that the settlement continues outside the outermost ditch 5 in sector 4 at Cerro del Mármol, and ascends northwards towards Cerro de la Cabeza in sector 5. The excavation focused on an area with multiple pit structures excavated in the ground according to geophysics, while grid 4 included part of the great ditch 10. The structures that have begun to be excavated in grid 3 and 4 show a good correlation with the geophysical data. A novel aspect is the identification of a first fragment of Bell Beaker pottery in the excavation of Cerro de la Cabeza and several Early Bronze Age ceramics that extend the Middle Chalcolithic phase detected in survey during 2014, supported by two radiocarbon dates in our excavations. These data suggest that the settlement, which probably reduced its dimensions during the Late Chalcolithic, had a minimum extension of 27 ha, and presents the largest Bell Beaker pottery set in the Iberian Peninsula, tripling in number of fragments to Zambujal.En 2017 comenzaron las excavaciones del Proyecto Valencina Nord en el sector septentrional de este gran poblado de ca. 200 ha durante el Calcolítico Medio. En la primera campaña se priorizó la prospección geofísica en el sector noroeste, en dirección hacia el barranco de Los Pozos, pudiéndose proponer que tres de los sistemas de fosos identificados en 2014 continúan hacia el oeste, el más exterior con los fosos 5, 14, 6 y 7, un segundo sistema con los fosos 11 y 12 y el tercero, que corta estos dos últimos fosos, con un único foso 10 de mayores dimensiones. Por otra parte, se documentó que el poblado continúa por fuera del foso más exterior 5 en el sector 4 del Cerro del Mármol, y asciende en dirección norte hacia el Cerro de la Cabeza en el sector 5. La excavación se centró en un área con múltiples estructuras excavadas en el suelo según la geofísica, a la vez que el corte 4 incluía parte del gran foso 10. Las estructuras que han comenzado a excavarse en los cortes 3 y 4 muestran una buena correlación con los datos geofísicos. Un aspecto novedoso es la identificación de un primer fragmento de cerámica campaniforme en la excavación del Cerro de la Cabeza y varias cerámicas del Bronce Antiguo que amplían la fase del Calcolítico Medio detectada en la prospección superficial durante 2014 y también apuntan dos dataciones de carbono 14 de nuestras excavaciones. Estos datos sugieren que el poblado, el cual redujo probablemente sus dimensiones durante el Calcolítico Final, tenía entonces una extensión mínima de 27 ha, presentando el conjunto de cerámica campaniforme más grande de la Península Ibérica, triplicando en número de fragmentos a Zambujal

Sevilla, Spain. The chalcolithic mega-site of Valencina de la Concepción (Sevilla), Spain. Results of the fieldwork from 2018 to 2020

The chalcolithic site of Valencina de la Concepción is located in Andalusia, in southern Spain, on the western edge of the Lower Guadalquivir river basin. The settlement area and a contemporaneous necropolis extend over more than 460 ha, constituting the largest site among a series of chalcolithic mega-­sites located throughout the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. The project focuses on the history of the chalcolithic settlement of Valencina de la Concepción. The investigations include excavations and field surveys on the agricultural land in the northern area of the archaeological site. Through geomagnetic surveys ten different lines of ditches, forming a total of five different enclosures and a sixth, smaller one could be detected. Besides ditches and pits, six dwelling structures and workshops, partially dug into the geological base, are being excavated. The available information and radiocarbon dates from the ditches and excavated structures indicate a continuous occupation of the settlement of Valencina from 3300/3200 to 2200 cal. BC and allow a hypothetical reconstruction of the different enclosures. Between 2300 and 2200 cal. BC settlement activity in Valencina came almost to an end. There are only a few remains indicating occupation of the site during a final stage of the Early Bronze Age, between 1900 and 1700 cal. BC

EL POBLADO DE LA EDAD DEL COBRE DE VALENCINA DE LA CONCEPCIÓN (SEVILLA): NUEVOS DATOS SOBRE SUS RECINTOS Y ESPACIOS DOMÉSTICOS. CAMPAÑA DE 2018

The second excavation campaign during 2018 in the northern sector of the site of Valencina de la Concepción has documented four Chalcolithic huts with an oval floor plan, semi-excavated in the subsoil, which should have adobe walls, of which the biggest one, UC 447/448, is 6 m long by 3 m wide. Moreover, the largest identified ditch, No. 10, was drilled, which has a V-section, 11 m wide in grid 4 and a maximum depth of 8,50 m according to the drillings made. The main occupation of the sector corresponds to the Middle Chalcolithic, although there are structures assignable to the Early Chalcolithic and more specific occupation of the early Bell-Beakers, Early- Middle Bronze Age and transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age. Otherwise, the geomagnetic surveys of 2018 have covered 14 ha and made it possible to identify a fifth possible enclosure with two parallel ditches, which at least are surrounding the North, Northwest and West sides of the settlement. La segunda campaña de excavación durante 2018 en el sector norte del yacimiento de Valencina de la Concepción ha documentado cuatro cabañas calcolíticas de planta oval, semi-excavadas en el subsuelo, que debían tener paredes de adobes, de las cuales, la de mayores dimensiones, UC 447/448, tiene 6 m de longitud por 3 m de ancho. Por otra parte, se sondeó el foso más grande identificado, el n.º 10, que presenta sección en V, 11 m de ancho en el corte 4 y 8,50 m de profundidad máxima según las perforaciones realizadas. La ocupación principal del sector corresponde al Calcolítico Medio, aunque hay estructuras asignables al Calcolítico Inicial y ocupación más puntual de inicios del Campaniforme, Bronce Antiguo-Medio y transición del Bronce Final al Hierro Inicial. Por otra parte, las prospecciones geomagnéticas de 2018 han abarcado 14 ha y permitido identificar un quinto posible recinto con dos fosos paralelos, los cuales al menos están rodeando el norte, noroeste y oeste del yacimiento.&nbsp

Imitation of early prosocial behavior

This project aims to investigate the role of imitative learning in early prosocial developmen