摘要:

Recent studies have suggested that certain behavioural characteristics in children are closely associated with peer acceptance, and that children who are not accepted by peers are more lonely than other children. The present research examines a more comprehensive pattern of relationships. In addition to behavioural characteristics, peer acceptance, and feelings of loneliness and social dissatisfaction, the study includes self‐perceptions of social competence, self‐esteem, and goal orientation (defensive ego‐involvement). A theoretical model is presented to analyse predictive relations. The model was tested on a sample of 8th grade children (N=96). Teacher and peer assessments of behavioural characteristics (humour, externalising, internalising and prosocial behaviour) were applied.In general, results were consistent with the proposed model. Loneliness was predicted by behavioural characteristics and low peer acceptance, and strong negative paths were found from loneliness to self‐esteem and perceived social competence. Self‐perceptions were not predicted by peer acceptance, and few direct paths were found from behavioural characteristics to self‐perceptions. Thus loneliness has a mediating position between behaviour and peer acceptance on the one hand and self‐perceptions on the other hand. This indicates that children's self‐perceptions are affected by their socio‐emotional reactions to peer difficulties and not directly by low peer acceptance. Strong negative paths were found from self‐esteem and perceived social competence to defensive ego‐involvement, which suggests that negative self‐perceptions may have adverse consequences for children's goal orientations. Practical implications of the

ISSN:0007-0998    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-8279.1996.tb01210.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The aim of the present study was to develop two six‐item self‐report scales (the Bullying‐Behaviour Scale and the Peer‐Victimisation Scale) to assess bully‐victim problems at school. These scales were designed so that they could be immersed within the Self‐Perception Profile for Children (SPPC: Harter, 1985) thus reducing the saliency of the items. Internal reliability of both scales was found to be satisfactory (Cronbach's alpha = 0.83 and 0.82 respectively). Data are reported on the association between scores on both scales and scores on the SPPC and the Birleson Depression Inventory (Birleson, 1981) with 425 children (204 boys and 221 girls) ranging from 8 to 11 years (mean = 9.2 years). Forty‐six per cent of the children were classified as bullies, victims, or both: 22 per cent were classified as victims only, 15 per cent as bully/victims, and 9 per cent as

ISSN:0007-0998    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-8279.1996.tb01211.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The effect of gender and school type on Swedish speaking Finnish students' information gathering for the future and self‐evaluation was investigated in a study, in which 15‐year‐old comprehensive school students and 18‐year‐old upper secondary school and vocational school students (N=460) served as samples. It was observed that girls generally reported more information gathering than boys did, about three content areas, mostly concerning future education and occupation, and less concerning family life. Girls also reported more information gathering in all contexts except formal education, than boys. Home was reported as the most used source of knowledge, next came peers and school friends; mass media and formal education were the least used source. Formal education was emphasised by comprehensive school students, and mass media by upper secondary school students. Generalisation of more reported information gathering across contexts was more typical of girls, while generalisation of less information gathering was more typical of boys. Limited relationships between self‐evaluation, measured as self‐esteem, certainty of goal realisation and school achievement, and information gathering were found. It is suggested that informal learning of cultural knowledge is a more powerful mediator of future preparation than for

ISSN:0007-0998    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-8279.1996.tb01212.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This study examines the effect of interest levels on the comprehension monitoring ability of 8‐ and 9‐year‐old children. Two groups participated in the study; they were matched for single‐word reading and vocabulary skills, but differed in comprehension skill. Two tests were carried out which required the children to read a number of brief passages, some of which contained embedded problems. The children's task was to identify the problems. Test 2 was game‐like in nature and the children reported finding it more interesting than Test 1. Interest level was found to affect test performance in the poor comprehenders' comprehension monitoring: a significant improvement in their performance was found at high interest levels (Test 2). However, the performance of the good comprehenders was independent of interest level. This study suggests that the comprehension‐monitoring deficit in the poor comprehenders is not irreversible, and is likely to be related to poor motivation and low levels of interest. The implications for remedial education ar

ISSN:0007-0998    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-8279.1996.tb01213.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Children whose non‐verbal cognitive ability markedly exceeds their verbal cognitive ability (discrepant, D group) as measured in cognitive abilities tests (CATs) were compared with non‐discrepant children individually matched on either verbal (V group) or non‐verbal (NV group) CAT scores. 66 children from year 7 (11/12 years) and 60 from year 10 (14/15 years) were selected on this basis in a semi‐rural comprehensive school. The scores of the D and V groups were essentially the same on single word reading tests, spelling and the pig latin tests of phonological awareness, while the NV group was superior on these tests. The D group was not worse than the V group on any test and was significantly better than it (and not different from the NV group) on oral syntax, block design from the WISC‐R, and vocabulary (BPVS). The verbal CAT is a good predictor of GCSE (as was confirmed in this study) and regression analysis showed that it is determined to a large extent by basic logical ability (assessed by nvCAT scores) and by reading skill; however, there is also a significant contribution from syntactical understanding. It is pointed out that discrepant pupils are not necessarily reading‐retarded with respect to chronological age and need to be identified and targeted if they are to reach the potential level of achievement predicted by their n

ISSN:0007-0998    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-8279.1996.tb01214.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This study examines the development of counting and cardinality in a structured sample of 60 English 3 1/2–41/2 year‐olds attending local education authority nursery classes in socially mixed areas of Portsmouth. Children were given two types of task: counting sets of animals, and giving specified numbers of items from a pile. Three measures of cardinal understanding were used: spontaneous repetition of the last word on completion of a counting trial, repetition of the last word in reply to a question, and use of counting vs. grabbing when asked to give a specific number of items from a heap. In line with research on other populations the results indicate a pronounced developmental discrepancy between procedural and conceptual knowledge of counting, but cardinality appears to develop six months later in this population than in other populations studied. There were marked individual differences, however. Proficiency with object counting was found to be necessary, but not sufficient, for cardinal understanding. Children rarely repeated final count words spontaneously. Last word repetition in response to a verbal prompt depended on the nature of the prompt. Contrary to previous research, the present results indicate that last word repetition elicited by the prompt ‘how many?’ is not merely a conventional reply but generally implies an understanding of cardinality. The findings also indicate that an understanding of cardinality emerges relatively suddenly, consistent with the discovery or construction of a principle. Whether nursery pupils treat counting simply as a conventional routine without cardinal significance appears to depend on the situation as well as on their understanding of cardinality. The findings are discussed in relation to Karmiloff‐Smith's Representational Redescript

ISSN:0007-0998    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-8279.1996.tb01215.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Richardson (1991) showed that children's performance at items from Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices could be boosted by converting the elements to real‐life objects and setting them in a realistic context. From this, he concluded that people reason exclusively by using context dependent schemas and hence that measures of abstract reasoning ability may give a misleading impression of children's skills and potential. However, each realistic context item also had a cover story that was read to the child (ostensibly to activate the necessary schema), and this study investigated the possibility that these cover stories were giving the children additional help, perhaps by focusing their attention or by inadvertently giving clues as to the rules.Three factors were investigated; whether the items were abstract or set in context, whether each item was given with or without a commentary, and whether each commentary gave weak or strong guidance as to the rules. It was found that although items set in context were easier than abstract items their advantage was reduced when like was compared with like, and that the strong guidance commentaries were responsible for the greatest facilitation. It is concluded that the existence of domain‐free reasoning processes cannot be ruled out, and that it is unlikely that people reason exclusively by using knowle

ISSN:0007-0998    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-8279.1996.tb01216.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

In this response to Roberts&Stevenson I question their claims about the nature of the information in the commentaries to socio‐cognitive items; question the distinction between ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ guidance in those commentaries; argue that their results actually support my earlier findings; and challenge their arguments about the existence of domain‐free reasonin

ISSN:0007-0998    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-8279.1996.tb01217.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Richardson (1996) criticises Roberts&Stevenson (1996) on two counts: that their classification of the commentaries used by Richardson (1991) is in error, and that this is also confounded with item difficulty. Both claims are refuted here: the first by a demonstration of the validity of the classification, the second by using published norms on item difficulty. It is concluded that Richardson has not supplied evidence that disproves the existence of domain‐free reasoning processes, and it is suggested that he is attempting to resolve a false dichotomy: context‐specific knowledge and domain‐free reasoning processes are not mutually excl

ISSN:0007-0998    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-8279.1996.tb01218.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Assessment of students' communication skills after a course in problem‐clarifying skills requires an assessment method different from the traditional written examination. In this article we describe the construction and evaluation of simulations, video tests and paper‐and‐pencil tests. The results of an investigation into the quality of the tests show that they all have their advantages and disadvantages. The simulation is valid, but students' scores on one simulation are not reliable in the sense of generalisable. In order to achieve generalisable scores, i.e., scores which indicate how well a student will perform in problem‐clarifying interviews in general, five simulations have to be administered. Furthermore, the simulation is time‐consuming. The video test is a reliable and a reasonably efficient instrument. Its validity is also reasonable. The paper‐and‐pencil test is reliable and very efficient. It is, however, questionable to what extent students' proficiency in conducting a problem‐clarifying interview can validly be assessed by the paper

ISSN:0007-0998    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-8279.1996.tb01219.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY