Children's evaluations of moral and conventional retaliations

Recent research has found that children are able to effectively interpret and justify situations of moral provocation and retaliation and that their disapproval of provocation increases with age (Astor, 1994; Smetana, Campione-Barr & Yell, 2003). The current study aimed to discover whether children judge moral provocation and retaliation as worse than conventional provocation and retaliation, and if these judgments changed depending on the pattern in which the acts occur. 47 adults and 106 children (aged 4-9) were presented with 8 conditions that combine moral violations and retaliations with conventional violations and retaliations. These conditions were designed to present participants with violations and retaliations that came from within the same domain, and some that came from different domains, (i.e., ‘matched’ and ‘mismatched’ domain conditions). It was hypothesized that in all scenarios, children would judge acts of moral transgressions and retaliations as worse and more punishable than conventional. Findings showed that unprovoked transgressions were judged as worse than provoked transgressions, with the most leniency being for provoked transgressions in the conventional domain. Children between ages 4-6 displayed the least leniency for retaliations when compared to older children and adults. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Exploring contexts that facilitate optimal infant and toddler verbal and non-verbal communication

Associations were examined between amount and type of communicative behavior and several contexts: child's age, communication partner (e.g., adult, peer), communication style (i.e., adult- or child-directed), and temperament. Researchers removed a common bias featured in much of the research on infant and toddler communication, the use of a mother or a classroom caregiver as the communication partner. To remove this bias, the children participated in four trials: one solo (alone) play for baseline information, one peer-play and two adult-child play interactions (one adult-directed and one child-directed). Twenty two infants and toddlers from 6-to-26 months of age were videotaped and coded for nonverbal communication (e.g. showing, pointing, taking, and offering gestures) and verbal communication (e.g. vocalizations or non-word utterances and verbalizations or speaking words that were understood by the researchers), as well as affect (mood) during the four trials. A temperament scale was also completed by each child's teacher to examine the relationship between temperament and children's communicative behaviors. Researchers hypothesized: 1) Toddlers will verbally communicate (includes both vocalizations and verbalizations) more than infants; 2) All children will vocalize and verbalize more with adults than with peers; 3) The adult-directed trial will encourage higher amounts of communication from all children than the child-directed trial; and 4) Children with higher intensity, activity, approachability, positive mood and adaptability scores on the Carey Temperament Scale will vocalize and gesture more frequently in all trials. Data analyses revealed that toddlers communicated more than infants the adult-directed trials yielded more communication than the solo and peer trials did, though the toddlers held the weight of the interactions when both groups were combined; the two adult trials were comparable, and not significantly different from each other. Temperament did not appear to affect young children's communication production, with the exception of a negative correlation between positive mood ratings and overall communication. Several other analyses examining correlations between other behaviors were also significant. In sum, contexts that facilitate optimal interactions differ for infants and toddlers. Adults should keep these results in mind when communicating with very young children, as there is more than one "optimal" context of communication for infants and toddlers. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Literacy and dramatic play: storytelling with props increases preschool children's language skills during play

Literacy and play are two of the greatest influences to children's social and cognitive growth. To examine how literacy influences play, research on the impact of children's literature on dramatic play is reviewed followed by a study that examined how aspects of children's environment may affect children's play. In the current study, classrooms of preschool children were randomly assigned to an adult reading a novel story with props (experimental group), or to the same adult reading the novel story without props (control group). Subsequent to the story telling, the children were videotaped and coded for dramatic play. Children were also interviewed. Parents and teachers were asked to complete surveys about children's exposure to literature in the home or classroom environment, respectively. Analyses conducted revealed that, children in the prop condition used more story language to describe their roles in action than the children in the control group. Gender difference analyses revealed that parents reported girls to be more engaged with literacy at home, and to use more imagination. Both parents and teachers may want to use the tools and findings presented in this study as a way of assessing their interactions with their children, their understanding of how children play and learn, as well as how they can be more informed facilitators of positive play and literacy relationships. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

What not to swear: how do children learn bad words?

Children begin producing taboo words as early as ages one or two years old and produce them at a steady rate until the teenage years. However, little is known about how children acquire taboo words and whether the acquisition of taboo words is similar to the acquisition of other types of words. The current study explores the differences in how children acquire a novel taboo word compared to a novel object word. Three- to 8-year-olds (N=97) saw a short video featuring nonsense words that were framed as either novel object words or novel taboo words. Children identified the nature of the word (i.e., good/bad, right/wrong), reproduced the word, identified the original source of the word, and made several additional judgements about that source. Participants also completed the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) as a measure of receptive vocabulary. Results revealed both older and younger children learn taboo words, but only younger children did so at rate greater than object words. Additionally, taboo words were the only word type not related to increases in vocabulary size. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

College students' perceptions of adoption

The differences in perceptions of adoption among college students were the focus of this research. The research was conducted in response to a lack of literature in the area of college students and adoption. The results indicated that college students perceived adoption to be more stressful than having a biological child, and perceived having a biological child more satisfying than adopting. Still, many college students stated they would consider adopting. These findings are consistent with the often expressed view of adoption as "second-best". The purposes and hypotheses discussed in this research are important for families, students, counselors, educators, and social workers. There is a lack of information available to college students considering adoption, a lack of support to adoptees, and insufficient knowledge about the process and outcomes of adoption. Understanding college students' attitudes toward adoption should give direction regarding future social, legal, and educational views and pursuits related to adoption. Further research is needed to determine general findings, specifically research including more adoptees as well as a more diverse population of college students in various settings such as private, parochial and racially diverse college populations. Studies must focus on adoption and address stereotypes presented in literature, media, and educational materials. Expanding the body of literature will assist educators, advocates, parents, and counselors in taking the next step of shifting the paradigm of adoption to a more favorable one. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Differences in affect through medical play

Child life specialists use play as a central mechanism to teach and communicate with their patients. Play allows children to learn, engage in their surroundings, and express themselves. A variety of types of play, including pretend and medical play, can be seen within the work of child life specialists. Few studies have examined medical play outside of the hospital, with no studies examining the affect displayed in medical play. The purpose of this research study is to examine the differences in affect expressed in children through non-medical themed pretend play and medical pretend play. Thirty-seven children, three to four years old, participated in the study. This study aimed to examine medical play outside of the hospital setting. Fantasy, positive expression, and additional pretend play qualities were analyzed to determine participants’ affect during medical play. Participants also engaged in pretend play without a medical theme as a mode of comparison. During non-medical themed pretend play, participants’ played the role of the pizza maker. During medical play, participants’ played the role of the doctor. The play sessions lasted a maximum of 10 minutes each, and they were recorded. Videos were then coded to examine the affect displayed in each play session. Children were asked to self report their feelings during the play sessions. The findings indicated that differences in affect do exist between non-medical themed pretend play and medical play. Children displayed more affect in the pizza play sessions than the medical play sessions. In addition, differences in affect were demonstrated between the quality of fantasy, comfort level, and frequency of play with children displaying more fantasy, comfort, and frequency of affect during play. Participants played longer with the pizza play items and reported more positive feelings after non-medical themed pretend play than medical pretend play. Children who are feeling unpleasant emotions have been found to display less affect and engage in less play. Considering this, the current study may suggest that medical play is associated with unpleasant thoughts decreasing the expression of affect and length of play. Adults providing medical play to children, such as child life specialists, should be sensitive to the cues provided during such play, including affect, and provide support to increase normalization and positive feelings during medical play. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Word learning from videos: evidence from 2-year-olds

Young children are exposed to large amounts of screen media daily and many parents believe educational media is a source of learning for their children. However, whether or not children are able to learn information from television and video is still inconclusive. Of specific interest in the current studies was whether or not children are able to learn words from television or videos. In Study 1, 2-year olds were introduced to a novel word through a short animated video and then tested to assess their ability to comprehend and produce the name of the word in both a video setting and a live setting. Study 2 examined 2-year olds ability to honor mutual exclusivity to words learned from videos using the same experimental tasks. The results suggest children are able to add a word learned from video to their productive vocabulary, transfer their knowledge of the word learned from video into their everyday setting, and apply the word learning principle of mutual exclusivity to words learned from videos. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Culture, racial identity and mood effects on birth outcomes of African-American mothers in Alabama

The purpose of this study was to determine if racial identity, acculturation, depression and or anxiety would predict birthweight in African Americans. Multiple linear regression was conducted and results indicated that racial identity predicted birthweight. African American mothers who identified with having a stronger racial identity reported having low birthweight babies less often than those who scored lower on racial identity. These findings are consistent with those that support other positive effects of racial identity, such as higher self-esteem and less risk-taking behaviors among youth. Further exploration of racial identity revealed self image as the essential element of predicting birthweight. Results also indicated that for African American mothers between the ages of 21 and 35, birthweight decreases as mothers' age increase. This finding is congruent with the weathering hypothesis which states that the health of African-American women may begin to deteriorate in early adulthood; thereby suggesting that the optimal age for childbirth for African Americans may be earlier than most research suggest. More research is needed to explore the effects of racial identity and self image on birthweight among a more diverse group of mothers. Additional research should also compare women from different parts of the country and migration time in the U. S. to re-examine the possible effects of acculturation. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Does father warmth/involvement predict intergenerational teenage pregnancy and adolescent risky sexual behavior?

Previous studies highlight many disadvantages for adolescent mothers who experience an early pregnancy. Among these disadvantages is the high probability of single-parenthood and the likelihood that their children may experience early pregnancies as well, i.e., intergenerational teenage pregnancy. The implications of the Balance Theory suggest that the primary source of warmth for adolescent girls comes from their fathers. Adolescent girls who grow up in father-absent homes may seek this missing warmth outside of the home in intimate sexual relationships. Using data from the Mobile Youth and Poverty Study (MYPS), single mothers who reported giving birth between the ages of 12-19 and their 15-year-old daughters were chosen for the current study. It was hypothesized that adolescent girls in father-absent homes would be more likely to experience an adolescent pregnancy and engage in more risky sexual behavior. Although a small portion of the sample actually experienced an early pregnancy (n=19), levels of father warmth significantly predicted whether adolescent girls had initiated sexual intercourse by age 15 as well as frequency and recency of the sexual intercourse. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Does group membership affect children's judgments of social transgressions?

Children judge moral transgressions as more serious and more punish-worthy than conventional transgressions (Slomkowski & Killen, 1992; Smetana, 1981). Children also judge the actions of in-group members more favorably than those of out-group members (Aboud, 2003; Zak & Knack, 2001). The current study asked whether children would judge moral and conventional transgressions committed by an in-group member differently when compared to the same acts committed by an out-group member (i.e., act judgments). Additionally, it asked whether children would judge the transgressors themselves differently based on their group status (i.e., in-group, out-group, neutral, and self). Results show that preschool children reliably judge moral and conventional transgressions differently. Compared to children’s judgments of out-group members, their judgments of in-group members were more lenient. Results suggest that group membership does indeed affect how serious or punish-worthy a violation and a violator are judged to be. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries