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Descriptors:
Factor Analysis; Writing Skills; Writing (Composition); Models; Grade 4; Grade 7; Mandarin Chinese; Individual Differences; Generalization; Comparative Analysis; Developmental Stages; Goodness of Fit; English

Abstract:
The goal of the present study was to examine the generalizability of a model of the underlying dimensions of written composition across writing systems (Chinese Mandarin vs. English) and level of writing skill. A five-factor model of writing originally developed from analyses of 1st and 4th grade English writing samples was applied to Chinese writing samples obtained from 4th and 7th grade students. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to compare the fits of alternative models of written composition. The results suggest that the five-factor model of written composition generalizes to Chinese writing samples and applies to both less skilled (Grade 4) and more skilled (Grade 7) writing, with differences in factor means between grades that vary in magnitude across factors. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Language Aptitude; Native Speakers; Correlation; Phonology; Second Language Learning; Chinese; Spanish; Age; Morphology (Languages); Syntax; Developmental Stages; Language Tests; Scores; Phrase Structure; Language Research; Foreign Countries; Place of Residence

Abstract:
A study was conducted to identify the scope and timing of maturational constraints in three linguistic domains within the same individuals, as well as the potential mediating roles of amount of second language (L2) exposure and language aptitude at different ages in different domains. Participants were 65 Chinese learners of Spanish and 12 native speaker controls. Results for three learner groups defined by age of onset (AO)--3-6, 7-15, and 16-29 years--confirmed previous findings of windows of opportunity closing first for L2 phonology, then for lexis and collocation and, finally, in the mid-teens, for morphosyntax. All three age functions exhibited the discontinuities in the rate of decline with increasing AO associated with sensitive periods. Significant correlations were found between language aptitude, measured using the LLAMA test (Meara, 2005), and pronunciation scores, and between language aptitude and lexis and collocation scores, in the AO 16-29 group. (Contains 6 figures, 7 tables and 11 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Developmental Stages; Foster Care; Cultural Influences; Social Work; Young Adults; Child Development; Parent Child Relationship; Literature Reviews; Attitude Measures; Parent Attitudes; Childhood Attitudes; Foreign Countries

Abstract:
Irrespective of type of placement, contact with the birth family is one of the more contentious issues in decision-making for children in care. Despite widespread belief that contact with the birth family is beneficial for children and young people in care, this aspect of children's care experience has not received a great deal of attention. In this article I review the literature and draw on research I have undertaken to explore the views of children and young people in care, foster parents, and social work practitioners. The complexity of belonging to more than one family is discussed and tensions in relation to contact with the birth family are identified. It becomes clear that each situation is unique and that there is no "rule of thumb" that can be applied. Five key variables are identified: child or young person's developmental stage and history; child or young person's views and wishes; type of placement and future goals; cultural factors; and work with birth families. Practice guidelines in relation to these are developed in the final section. (Contains 1 note.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Adolescents; Parent Child Relationship; Aggression; Home Visits; Mothers; Correlation; Mental Health; Observation; Video Technology; Social Adjustment; Emotional Adjustment; Developmental Stages

Abstract:
Dyadic variability is considered to be a key mechanism in the development of mother-adolescent relationships, and low levels of dyadic flexibility are thought to be associated with behavior and relationship problems. The present observational study examined heterogeneity in the development of dyadic variability in mother-adolescent interactions and associations with psychosocial functioning. Dyadic variability refers to the range of emotional states during interactions of mother-adolescent dyads. During five annual home visits, 92 mother-adolescent dyads (M age T1 = 13; 65.2% boys) were videotaped while discussing a conflict, and they completed several questionnaires on adolescents' aggressive behavior and adolescents' and mothers' perceived relationship quality. Two types of dyads were distinguished: low variability dyads (52%) and high decreasing variability dyads (48%). Over time, high decreasing variability dyads were characterized by a broader emotional repertoire than low variability dyads. Moreover, these two dyad types had distinct developmental patterns of psychosocial adjustment. Over time, high decreasing variability dyads showed lower levels of adolescents' aggressive behavior, and higher levels of perceived relationship quality than low variability dyads. These findings suggest that over time more dyadic variability is associated with less adjustment problems and a more constructive development of the mother-adolescent relationship. Adaptive interactions seem to be characterized by a wider range of emotional states and mothers should guide adolescents during interactions to express both positive and negative affect. Observing the dyadic variability during mother-adolescent interactions can help clinicians to distinguish adaptive from maladaptive mother-adolescent dyads. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Art Therapy; Visual Aids; Art Products; Ethics; Developmental Stages

Abstract:
Using the metaphor of the human life cycle, the author of this viewpoint suggests that consideration of the birth, life, and death of images made in art therapy may promote a new perspective on their ethical treatment. A developmental view of images encourages art therapists to see art images as living entities that undergo a natural life cycle. The birth process adds meaning to the image and encourages the careful tending of images newly born. An "adolescent" image might challenge its creator, whereas images in "middle age" or later may be revisited to offer new perspectives. A developmental view of images supports the integration of meaning derived from all stages of the life span. (Contains 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Cognitive Processes; Prediction; Preschool Children; Infants; Cognitive Development; Attribution Theory; Age Differences; Task Analysis; Developmental Stages; Cues

Abstract:
Research on early physical reasoning has shown surprising discontinuities in developmental trajectories. Infants possess some skills that seem to disappear and then re-emerge in childhood. It has been suggested that prediction skills required in search tasks might cause these discontinuities (Keen, 2003). We tested 3.5- to 5-year-olds' understanding of collision events using a forced-choice paradigm with reduced prediction demands. Although the group as a whole performed at chance level, when the preschoolers were subdivided into three age groups, the oldest group performed above chance level. These findings suggest that it is unlikely to be prediction skills that affect young preschoolers' performance on physical reasoning tasks. The findings lend support to a task-demand hypothesis, which proposes that discontinuities in developmental trajectories can be explained by differences in the extent to which cognitive processes are required by the different tasks. (Contains 1 figure.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Child Abuse; Adolescents; Parent Child Relationship; Depression (Psychology); Juvenile Justice; Young Adults; Mothers; Fathers; Affective Behavior; At Risk Persons; Correlation; Symptoms (Individual Disorders); Longitudinal Studies; Developmental Stages; Skill Development; Gender Differences; Role

Abstract:
Objective: Current research has established that depression is a common outcome of child abuse. The current study extends previous research by examining the relationship between parental emotional and physical abuse and adolescents' depressive symptoms using a prospective longitudinal design. We anticipated that this relationship would be mediated through problems in affect regulation, consistent with the view that the presence of abuse in the parent-child relationship would derail the development of adaptive affect regulation. Finally, we further examined gender-linked transmission of risk by considering both the gender of the parent perpetrating abuse and the gender of the adolescent. Methods: A sample of high-risk youth (N = 179; 46% female) from juvenile justice and clinical settings completed assessments regarding maternal and paternal physical and emotional abuse, affect dysregulation and depressive symptoms during three time points over the course of five years. Results: The relationship between maternal abuse and depressive symptoms was partially mediated through affect dysregulation at Time 1 and fully mediated at Time 2. In addition, adolescents' reports of maternal abuse at Time 1 predicted their depressive symptoms in early adulthood even after accounting for the partial mediating role of affect dysregulation at each of the three timepoints of the study. It was also found that paternal abuse was related to depressive symptoms through an indirect relationship with affect dysregulation for males, but not females. Conclusion: These findings suggest that adolescence may be a sensitive developmental period wherein abuse experiences have profound direct and mediated influences on the risk for later depression. Adolescents or young adults who have experienced abuse may benefit from interventions designed to build affect regulation skills. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Developmental Stages; Genetics; Biology; Animals; Laboratories; Undergraduate Students; Higher Education; Undergraduate Study; Science Education

Abstract:
We developed laboratory exercises using zebrafish ("Danio rerio") and nematodes ("Caenorhabditis elegans") for a sophomore-level Integrative Biology Laboratory course. Students examined live wildtype zebrafish at different stages of development and noted shifts occurring in response to "fgf8a" deficiency. Students were introduced to development in other fish species to demonstrate how variation in developmental systems affects phenotype. Finally, students cultured "glp-1(bn18ts) C. elegans" mutants under different conditions to illustrate how the environment and genetics act concurrently to modulate development. Undergraduate students responded positively to both the fish and "C. elegans" laboratory modules. These novel laboratory exercises are intended to promote an integrative view of biology and to help prepare undergraduate students for independent research with faculty. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Psychological Patterns; Emotional Development; Social Theories; Developmental Stages; Mediation Theory; Social Psychology; Self Control; Semiotics

Abstract:
Starting with an overview of theoretical approaches to emotion from an activity-oriented stance, this article applies Vygotsky's three general principles of development, sign mediation, and internalization to the development of emotional expressions as a culturally evolved sign system. The possible twofold function of expression signs as a means of "interpersonal" regulation and "intrapersonal" regulation predestines them to be a mediator between sociocultural and psychological processes in the domain of emotions. The proposed internalization theory of emotional development transfers Vygotsky's theory of the development of speech and thinking to the development of expression and feeling. Three stages of emotional development are described and underpinned by empirical studies: (a) the emergence of enculturated expression signs and related emotions from precursor emotions of newborns in the interpersonal regulation between caregivers and children during early childhood, (b) the emergence of intrapersonal regulation of emotions out of their interpersonal regulation by using expression signs as internal mediators that starts from preschool age onward, and (c) the internalization of emotional expression signs and the emergence of a mental plane of emotional processing. (Contains 1 figure and 2 footnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Global Approach; Foreign Countries; Social Change; Young Adults; Rural Areas; Poverty; Youth; Longitudinal Studies; Heuristics; Developing Nations; Self Concept; Sex Role; Statistical Analysis; Developmental Stages; Family Relationship

Abstract:
Global policy attention has begun to focus on young people in developing countries and much of the discourse is framed around notions of "transition to adulthood" based on the idea that individuals develop in linear ways, separate from family and community. This idea has already been widely critiqued in western contexts. This article explores the lives of children growing up in rural Andhra Pradesh, India, who are no longer in formal schooling, drawing on data from Young Lives, a longitudinal study of children in four developing countries. Analysis combines descriptive statistics and qualitative longitudinal research. This article suggests that many of the assumptions underpinning the international discourse fail to match with the realities of young people's everyday lives in rural India. It suggests that young people's obligations to family, combined with a sense of destiny, constrained by gender norms, help to explain their "transitions"--transitions that are interconnected and depend on each other. This article concurs that the concept of transition may be useful as a heuristic device, but that it must be used critically and not simply be imposed on contexts that are themselves in transition and in process of rapid social change. (Contains 2 tables and 5 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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