Table of Content

15 January 2007, Volume 23 Issue 1

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The Analysis of Children’s Errors in Counterfactual Reasoning

ZHANG Kun

Psychological Development and Education. 2007, 23(1):  6-9. 

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57 children aged 3 to 5 years were used as subjects to explore the performances of children in counterfactual reasoning and to explore if they made realististic errors.The result indicated that there was significant age difference in both 2-choice counterfactual task and 3-choice counterfactual tasks.Young children indeed made realistic errors in counterfactual reasoning.But they also chose the third location as their answers in 3-choice task.

Development of Transitive Inferences in 5-to-6-olds

HU Qing-fen, Chen Guang

Psychological Development and Education. 2007, 23(1):  10-17. 

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The importance of transitive inferences is not dispute to psychologists.Since Piaget indicated this,many developmental psychologists have studied the transitive ability in children.Some investigators made the point that children have difficulties in transitive inferences not because their ability in reasoning,but their low memory span.Young children have a fairly low memory span,so it is hard for them to remember the premises of inferences.So,it is important to design an experiment that can not only examine children's ability of transitive inferences,but also eliminate the need for the memory load.In this study,we designed two tasks in which children could see the premises at the time that they were asked the inferential question,one for length transitivity and the other for weight transitivity.Our aim was to discover whether young children could work out the transitivity problems(A>B,B>C:A?C). 32 children aged from 5 to 6 participated in this study.We used computer to present the problems and let children chose the correct answer from two pictures.The results were as follows:(1)Children aged 6-year-olds did better than children aged 5-year-olds,this age effect was significant;(2)Children's performance was similar in different tasks.(3) The direction of premises had no significant effect on children's performance.These results of this study indicated that children's ability to do transitive inferences developed fairly rapidly from 5 to 6,and children aged 6-year-olds were able to make transitive inferences about length and weight.

The Development of English Spelling in Chinese Elementary School Students from Third to Sixth Grade and Its Relationship with Orthographic Awareness

LI Bei-lei, ZHOU Ying, LI Yan-fang, DONG Qi

Psychological Development and Education. 2007, 23(1):  18-23. 

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English spelling skills and orthographic awareness were investigated in 167 Chinese students from third to sixth grade.The results showed that English spelling of Chinese elementary school students was generally on letter-name stage according to Stage Theory of spelling development and it was improved significantly when moving to Grade Five from Grade Four.It is also found that there is a significant correlation between student's English spelling ability and their orthographic awareness.Furthermore,English spelling ability can be reliably predicted by double position rule awareness in Grade Four,Five and Six children.

The Impact of Children’s Peer relations on Their Loneliness

SUN Xiao-jun, ZHOU Zong-kui

Psychological Development and Education. 2007, 23(1):  24-29. 

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571 elmentary school children from grade 3 to grade 5 were used as subjects to investigate the relationships among social preference,friendship quality,passive withdrawal,self-perceived social competence and loneliness,and in addition,to investigate the impact of different level variable of peer relations on loneliness.The results indicated that children's peer relations variables(peer acceptance,friendship quality,self-perceived social competence)can signifi-cantly predict their loneliness;the predictive effectiveness of self-perceived social competence on loneliness is biggest, then the friendship quality and peer acceptance;and passive withdrawal behavior can't significantly predict its loneliness,when the impact of other peer relations variables are controlled.

The Relationships among Family SES,Intelligence,Intrinsic Motivation and Creativity

SHI Bao-guo, SHEN Ji-liang

Psychological Development and Education. 2007, 23(1):  30-34. 

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415 middle school students were used as subjects and the Revised Scientific Creativity Tests for Adolescents as instrument to investigate the relationships of family SES,intelligence,intrinsic motivation and creativity.The results were as follows:(1)there is a significant correlation between family SES,intelligence,intrinsic motivation and creativity. (2)As an environmental factor,family SES has significant direct effects on creativity,and its standardized regression weights is equal to that of intelligence and higher than that of motivation.(3)Family SES has both direct and indirect (through intelligence)effects on creativity,and intelligence and motivation have only direct effects on creativity respectively.

Mediating Role of Social Support System in Academic Stressors and Coping Strategies in Middle School Students

LI Tian-wei, CHEN Xu, LIAO Ming-ying

Psychological Development and Education. 2007, 23(1):  35-40. 

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Method of questionnaire was used to investigate mediating role of social support system in academic stressors and coping strategies in middle school student.The results were as follows:(1)Competition Stress has a direct influence on passive coping strategies;Frustration stress also has a direct influence on maintaining coping strategies and active coping strategies;(2)negative social support(such as conflict and punishment)is a mediator between self development stress or target requirement stress and the three types of coping strategies;(3)positive social support is a mediator model between target requirement stress and maintaining coping strategies or active coping strategies.

The Relationship between Alcohol Expectancies and Drinking Behavior in Adolescents: Evidence from the Longitudinal Research

WANG Chang-hai, GUAN Yi-jie, WANG Xiao-hua, YANG Tao, ZHANG Hong-chuan, DONG Qi

Psychological Development and Education. 2007, 23(1):  41-45. 

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This two-year longitudinal study mainly explored the developmental relationship between alcohol expectancies and drinking behavior.About 1000 adolescents in Beijing were selected to fill in the questionnaires.The results indicated that:(1)both drinking behavior and alcohol expectancies were increased during the two years.While the girl's developmental rates of drinking behavior and positive alcohol expectancy are higher than those of the boys.(2)as the low grade students reached higher grades,they demonstrated more varieties of drinking behavior and alcohol expectancies than the general level of the same grade a year ago.(3)the basic relationship among drinking behavior,positive expectancy and negative expectancy remained stable during the two years.But the effect of negative expectancy decreased while the effect of positive expectancy increased.

The Structural Relationship Among Big Five Personality,Demography Variable and SWB

ZHANG Xing-gui, HE Li-guo, JIA Li

Psychological Development and Education. 2007, 23(1):  46-53. 

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379 random sample of middle school and university students was selected delaminated,based on multi analysis and multi-regressive analysis,combing literature research and method of structural equation model,the structural relationship among demography variable,big five personality and subjective well-being(SWB)was reviewed.It shows that two factors of demography variable,grade and family economic situation not only had significant direct influence on SWB,but also had indirect effect on SWB,which through the intermediary from extraversion and neuroticism,the two factors of big five personality.The other two factors of demography variable,sex and family location had faintly indirect effect on SWB through the intermediary from extraversion and neuroticism.As far as the relationships between big five personality and SWB,agreeableness was not related with SWB,conscientiousness and openness to experience had indirect effect on SWB,which through the intermediary from extraversion and neuroticism,besides the direct effect on SWB, extraversion and neuroticism acted as the intermediary to influence SWB for each other,and personality integrate with demography variable strengthened the prediction on SWB.

Goal Orientation and Adjustment: the Mediating Role of Social Self-Efficacy

MENG Hui, FAN Jinyan, LIU Jing

Psychological Development and Education. 2007, 23(1):  54-58. 

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This longitudinal study is intended to examine relationships among dispositional goal orientation,social self-efficacy,and cultural adjustment.Data were collected from 176 freshmen in a university in China.Results indicated that a learning orientat ion was positively related to freshmen's social self-efficacy,whereas a performance orientation was not related to freshmen's social self-efficacy.Freshmen's social self-efficacy was positively related to social and psychological adjustment and not related to academic adjustment.A learning orientation was positively related to social and psychological adjustment,and the relat ionship was mediated by social self-efficacy.A learning orientation was also positively related to academic adjustment,but the relationship was not mediated by social self-efficacy.Finally,a performance orientation was not related to adjustment.The implications for research and practices were discussed.

Ego Identity Status,Identity Style and Parent-Adolescent Communication in College Students

WANG Shu-qing, ZHANG Wen-xin, ZHANG Ling-ling

Psychological Development and Education. 2007, 23(1):  59-65. 

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594 college students were investigated using the revised Extend Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status-2, Identity Style Inventory-3 and Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale.The results indicated as follows:(1)college students in the moratorium status were 6715 per cent,and students in the other three statuses were about 10 per cent,respectively;(2)no grade differences and gender differences were found on the distribution of four identity statuses;(3) in contrast with students in the other three statuses,college students in the achievement status scored higher in the informational style,forclosures scored higher in the normative style,and diffusions scored higher in the diffuse style;(4) openness and problem in parent-adolescent communication had both direct and indirect influences on the identity statuses.Indirect influences were moderated by the identity styles.

Cross-Cultural Difference in Life Satisfaction Judgments

QIU Lin, ZHENG Xue

Psychological Development and Education. 2007, 23(1):  66-71. 

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Based on a big sample of 8,007 subjects from 36 countries,this study tested the cross-cultural differences in life satisfaction judgments.The results of HLM analyses show that(1)positive affect experience,self-esteem and social relation satisfaction positively predicted life satisfaction,and negative affect experience was a negative predictor;(2) significant variability among nations was found in terms of their average life satisfaction and the correlation between affect, self-esteem,social relation satisfaction and life satisfaction;(3)individualism-collectivism explained the variability across nations of life satisfaction and its correlation with self-esteem,but it didn't made any contribution to explain the relationship between affect experience or social relation satisfaction and life satisfaction.

A Comparative Study on Stability in Decision-Making of Older Adults and College Students

GAO Shan, LI Hong, CHEN An-tao, BAI Jun-jie

Psychological Development and Education. 2007, 23(1):  72-75. 

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222 college students and 157 older adults were used as subjects to investigate the stability of regularity principle in their decision making.This research revealed that college students had a significant irregularity inclination while old adults showed no such tendency.Sticking to rules is necessary for rat ional decision.College students made irregular choice and lacked rationality to some extent,faced with hypothetical discount cards for supermarkets.the author interpreted older adults-regular choice as avoiding over consuming witch is an tacit knowledge obtained in the experience of shopping.

Studies on Classroom Information Processing of Primary School Teachers

ZHANG Xue-min, SHEN Ji-liang, LIN Chong-de

Psychological Development and Education. 2007, 23(1):  76-81. 

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The present study was intended to research classroom information processing of primary school teachers in Chinese Language,mathematics,sciences and social sciences and non-teachers by reaction time paradigm.The experiment recorded response time and correct rate as the indicators of teachers response to different type classroom information.The results showed that teachers with subject teaching experience both focused subject content information and classroom activitiy information.Subject knowledge,subject teaching experience and classroom teaching experience played an important role in promoting teachers abilities in classroom information processing and developing teachers expertise.

Primary School Teachers′ Perception of Students′ Attention Problems

LI Yu-feng, SHI Bao-guo, SHEN Ji-liang

Psychological Development and Education. 2007, 23(1):  82-86. 

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24 primary school teachers and 98 pupils from Hebei province were tested and interviewed to analyze the accuracy and the influencing factors of primary school teachers'perception of students'attention problems.The results indicated as follows:(1)the accuracy of primary school teachers'perception of students'attention problems is relatively high as a whole;(2)the accuracy of primary school teachers'perception declined with the rising of their teaching age and professional post;(3)there is an insignificantly positive correlation between the accuracy of teachers'perception and the level of their conditional knowledge;(4)the accuracy of primary school teachers'perception is independent of the grade of students they teaching.

Teachers’ Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Its Structure and Influnence Factors

CAO Ke-yan, LONG Jun-wei

Psychological Development and Education. 2007, 23(1):  87-92. 

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The study adopted 796 teachers and Teachers'Organizational Citizenship Behavior Questionnaire,ocnstructed by the authors.The results showed that teachers'organizational citizenship behavior consists of five factors,namely, school identification,altruism behavior,conscientiousness,interpersonal harmony,resources protecting.There are significantly different teachers'organizational citizenship behavior among different qualifications,school grade.The organizational citizenship behavior of senior qualifications teachers is significantly higher than junior qualifications teachers.The organizational citizenship behavior of province school teachers is significantly higher than city school teachers,the organizational citizenship behavior of city school teachers is significantly higher than district school teachers.

Comparisons among the Effects of Four Patterns of Phonological Awareness Interventions on English Words Decoding

LI Qing-an, YANG Qing, ZHANG Meng, WANG Bao-yun, WANG Yan-hua

Psychological Development and Education. 2007, 23(1):  93-100. 

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A pretest-posttest comparison group quasi-experimental design was adopted,84 grade three pupils were assigned to four phonological awareness interventional groups,namely,the group of purely phonemic awareness training, the group of integrated training of phonemic awareness with letter-sound,the group of integrated training of phonemic awareness with letter-sound and phonemic transcription,and the group of integrated training of onset-rime awareness with letter-sound and phonemic transcription,and the effects of the four patterns of phonological awareness interventions on English phonological awareness and English words decoding skills for grade three pupils were compared.The findings were as follows:(1)in terms of the phonemic blending and substitution skills,the pattern of integrated training of onset-rime awareness with letter-sound and phonemic transcription could result in certain advantage;(2)all of the four patterns of phonological awareness interventions could enhance significantly English words decoding skills for grade three pupils, and could make them to generalize the decoding skills acquired from interventions to the decoding of the unfamiliar words; (3)all of the four patterns of phonological awareness interventions could enhance significantly English words decoding skills for grade three pupils,however,the patterns of integrated training of phonemic awareness with letter-sound could make the largest enhancement.

A correlational study on Domestic Violence and Mental Health of Middle School Students

LI Zhi-ruo, ZHANG Fan, HE Xian-you, HU Jun-sheng, LU Jia-shi, LIU Jin-jian

Psychological Development and Education. 2007, 23(1):  101-106. 

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403 middle school students in Guangzhou were measured by Domestic Violence Scale and Middle School Students Mental Health Scale,trying to find if there was any relationship between body violence,oral violence and cold violence.The results showed that the domestic violence was very common in existence,which had a great impact on middle school students'mental health.The oral violence was more severe than the body violence,while the cold violence was the most severe one.The three types of violence were apparently negatively correlated.The oral violence and the cold violence predicted mental health best,especially the cold violence,which should be paid most attention because of its greater obscurity and harm.

Development of Adolescence Mental Health Diathsis Questionnaire

SHEN De-li, MA Hui-xia, BAI Xue-jun

Psychological Development and Education. 2007, 23(1):  107-111. 

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In this paper,we explained the operational meanings of Mental Health Diathsis,demonstrated the structure and the content of Mental Health Diathsis Questionnaire,and discussed the developmental idea and the reliability and validity about the questionnaire.

Revisioning Prosocial Tendencies Measure for Adolescent

KOU Yu, HONG Hui-fang, TAN Chen, LI Lei

Psychological Development and Education. 2007, 23(1):  112-117. 

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The present study was designed to revise the Prosocial Tendencies Measure(PTM)developed by Carlo.The researchers investigated four times in Beijing,with the theory based on the Chinese cultural background and the developmental situation of adolescence.The researchers added three items to compliance scale and deleted two items to altruism scale.The results show that the revised measures have sound psychometrical criterion,the Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the public,anonymous,altruistic,compliant,emotional and dire scale of PTM are 0.71,0.78,0.76, 0.74,0.73,0.56,respectively,and the correlation between the six scales and the overal measure are 0.49,0.76, 0.80,0.80,0.79,0.80,respectively.

The Development of the Parent-Adolescent Conflict Resolution Questionnaire and Its Application

SONG Guang-wen, HE Wen-guang

Psychological Development and Education. 2007, 23(1):  118-123. 

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This paper first defined the construct of parent-adolescent conflict resolution,based upon previous literature and experimental research work and compiled a preliminary questionnaire.914 subjects were involved and the results indicted that this questionnaire had high reliability and validity.Results indicted:①The main five resolutions included: dealing with problem positively,submitting,avoiding,rebelling and attacking,others modulation.②There were notable difference between types,genders and ages to the resolution,and also there were notable difference to the resolution according to different objects.