The Development of Anticipatory Postural Adjustments in Infancy

Efficient voluntary action requires postural adjustments that compensate for potential balance disturbances before they occur. These anticipatory postural adjustments have been widely investigated in adults, but relatively little is known about their development, especially during infancy. This study examined the early development of anticipatory postural activity in support of pulling action while standing. A total of 34 infants between 10 and 17 months were tested. The task required infants to open a cabinet drawer to retrieve toys while a force resisting the pulling action was applied to the drawer. The experiment included between 9 and 13 pulling trials. The force resisting the pull was doubled after the first 4 initial trials and returned again to its original value after another 4 trials. Electromyographic activity from the gastrocnemius and biceps brachii muscles was recorded. The proportion of pulls involving anticipatory activity in the gastrocnemius muscles progressively increased between 10 and 17 months. In addition, infants with considerable experience in opening drawers learned to recruit greater strength of their anticipatory postural adjustments for heavier pulls. Implications for the role of motoric experience in anticipatory postural activity are discussed.     

Relations of Young Children's Agreeableness and Resiliency to Effortful Control and Impulsivity

The hypothesis that the relations of effortful control and impulsivity to children's agreeableness would be at least partly indirect through their resiliency was tested. Eighty‐two children (M age=58.67 mos.) were participants. Children nominated peers on agreeableness and completed a behavioral measure of effortful control. Teachers and a subsample of parents reported on children's effortful control, impulsivity, resiliency, and agreeableness. In a structural equation model, effortful control predicted high agreeableness, and this relation was indirect through resiliency. Impulsivity predicted high resiliency and was negatively related to agreeableness. In an alternative model, effortful control predicted high resiliency indirectly through agreeableness and impulsivity was not related to agreeableness. A third model indicated that with the exception of a path from effortful control to agreeableness, agreeableness and resiliency did not predict effortful control or impulsivity. The findings suggest that effortful control and impulsivity may contribute to resiliency and agreeableness, that resiliency and agreeableness are interrelated, and that resilient children are not overly controlled.     

Early Understanding of Subject and Object Wh‐Questions

In this study, we used the splitscreen preferential looking paradigm to test 13‐, 15‐, and 20‐month‐olds' developing understanding of simple matrix what‐questions of the forms “What hit the X?” (subject‐question) and “What did the X hit?” (object‐question). Infants responded appropriately to subject‐questions by 15 months of age, and to both subject‐ and object‐questions by 20 months. At no age did infants look longer toward the object overtly mentioned in the question, as might be expected based on a surface account of early language acquisition. This suggests that infants may have some understanding of these complex structures long before they are produced.     

"What Group?" Studying Whites and Whiteness in the Era of "Color‐Blindness"

In this article I argue that despite the claims of some, all whites in racialized societies "have race." But because of the current context of race in our society, I argue that scholars of "whiteness" face several difficult theoretical and methodological challenges. First is the problem of how to avoid essentializing race when talking about whites as a social collective. That is, scholars must contend with the challenge of how to write about what is shared by those racialized as white without implying that their experiences of racialization all will be the same. Second, within the current context of color‐blind racial discourse, researchers must confront the reality that some whites claim not to experience their whiteness at all. Third, studies of whiteness must not be conducted in a vacuum: racial discourse or "culture" cannot be separated from material realities. Only by attending to and by recognizing these challenges will empirical research on whiteness be able to push the boundaries of our understandings about the role of whites as racial actors and thereby also contribute to our understanding of how race works more generally .     

Temperamental Vulnerability and Negative Parenting as Interacting Predictors of Child Adjustment

This study examines parenting by temperament interactions in predicting child adjustment. Participants included 40 first and second graders, their mothers, and teachers. Child report of maternal psychological control and hostility was assessed using the Child Puppet Interview. Mothers completed temperament scales from the Child Behavior Questionnaire, and teachers provided information on child adjustment. As expected, among children high in irritable distress, maternal psychological control was associated with internalizing problems and maternal hostility was associated with externalizing problems. Among children with poor effortful control, maternal hostility was associated with externalizing behavior. This study offers evidence that the effects of negative parenting are accentuated among children with temperamental vulnerabilities.     

Consumption Rituals in the Transition to Motherhood

The acquisition of consumer goods is a significant feature of the transition to motherhood for middle-class women in contemporary US society. The acquisition and arrangement of consumer goods during the transition to motherhood often occurs in ritualized fashion through two prevalent consumption rituals, nesting and gifting. Using data from qualitative, semi-structured interviews with new, first-time mothers, this article explores the symbolic meanings mothers associate with these consumption rituals. Findings indicate that the rituals facilitated a sense of control and feelings of preparedness for the new role and status of mother, played a significant role in gendering the child, and allowed mothers to create a sense of continuity between their own interests and their children’s interests. In all three of these areas, nesting and gifting were conceived as ways of becoming more “prepared,” thereby facilitating the transition to becoming a mother. This study provides insight into how consumption helps perpetuate the gender system, both through gendering the child and reinforcing the culture of motherhood.     

Young Children's Affective Responses to Acceptance and Rejection From Peers: A Computer‐based Task Sensitive to Variation in Temperamental Shyness and Gender

This study presents a novel task examining young children's affective responses to evaluative feedback—specifically, social acceptance and rejection—from peers. We aimed to determine (1) whether young children report their affective responses to hypothetical peer evaluation predictably and consistently, and (2) whether young children's responses to peer evaluation vary as a function of temperamental shyness and gender. Four‐ to seven‐year‐old children (N = 48) sorted pictures of unknown, similar‐aged children into those with whom they wished or did not wish to play. Computerized peer evaluation later noted whether the pictured children were interested in a future playdate with participants. Participants then rated their affective responses to each acceptance or rejection event. Children were happy when accepted by children with whom they wanted to play, and disappointed when these children rejected them. Highly shy boys showed a wider range of responses to acceptance and rejection based on initial social interest, and may be particularly sensitive to both positive and negative evaluation. Overall, the playdate task captures individual differences in affective responses to evaluative peer feedback and is potentially amenable to future applications in research with young children, including pairings with psychophysiological measures.     

The Role of Respect in the Relation of Aggression to Popularity

Can aggressive children be popular with peers? Generally, sociometric popularity (liking nominations) has been shown to be negatively associated with aggression, and perceived popularity (popularity nominations) has been shown to be positively associated with aggression. The thesis of the present research was that being respected by peers moderates the relation between aggression and popularity. For both third‐ through sixth‐grade boys (N = 107) and girls (N = 117), perceived popularity by peers was positively associated with nominations for aggression (both overt and relational) only for children high in respect. Aggression was negatively associated with sociometric popularity for girls who were low in respect; sociometric popularity for girls high in respect was not related to aggression nominations. In sum, aggressive children were considered to be popular only if they were respected; aggressive girls were not disliked if they were respected.     

A Sort of Homecoming: Incarceration and the housing security of urban men

While individuals returning from prison face many barriers to successful re-entry, among the most serious are the challenges they face in securing housing. Housing has long been recognized as a prerequisite for stable employment, access to social services, and other aspects of individual and family functioning. The formerly incarcerated face several administrative and de facto restrictions on their housing options; however, little is known about the unique instabilities that they face. We use a longitudinal survey of urban families to examine housing insecurity among nearly 3000 urban men, including over 1000 with incarceration histories. We find that men recently incarcerated face greater housing insecurity, including both serious hardships such as homelessness, and precursors to homelessness such as residential turnover and relying on others for housing expenses. Their increased risk is tied both to diminished annual earnings and other factors, including, potentially, evictions from public housing supported by Federal “one-strike” policies.