6th Grade Boys Research Articles

Does low self-regard invite victimization?

Two hypotheses were tested. The first was that low self-regard contributes over time to victimization by peers. The second was that behavioral vulnerabilities (e.g., physical weakness, manifest anxiety, poor social skills) are more likely to lead to victimization over time when children have low self-regard than when they are "self-protected" by healthy self-regard. Participants were 189 third-through 7th-grade boys and girls; data were collected in the fall and the spring of the school year. Both hypotheses were supported, especially when self-regard was assessed in terms of self-perceived peer social competence. In addition, the experience of being victimized led to diminished self-regard over time. Poor self-concept may play a central role in a vicious cycle that perpetuates and solidifies a child's status as a victim of peer abuse.

Student Gender and Teaching Methods as Sources of Variability in Children's Computational Arithmetic Performance

An experimental study of the effects of a didactic teaching approach and a constructivist teaching approach on 3rd- and 5th-grade boys' and girls' performance on arithmetic computation problems was conducted. Two groups of children, matched on the basis of initial computation performance as well as grade and gender, were taught how to solve arithmetic problems using one of these two instructional approaches. Analysis of subsequent computation test performance revealed that 5th graders scored higher than 3rd graders, and there was a significant interaction between gender and instruction group. After instruction, girls in the didactic group outperformed boys in both instruction groups and girls who had been taught using constructivist approaches. Gender differences in computation performance can appear relatively early, by 3rd grade, if didactic instruction strategies are used to teach computational rules. The pattern of gender differences suggests that didactic teaching does not handicap boys. Rather, it appears that didactic instruction enhances computational performance in girls.

Reflected self-appraisals: Strength and structure of the relation of teacher, peer, and parent ratings to children's self-perceived competencies.

The authors obtained teacher, parent, peer, and self-ratings of social acceptance, academic competence, athletic competence, physical appearance, and behavioral conduct on 463 3rd-and 434 6th-grade girls and boys. Multivariate estimates of the relation between self- and others' reports were substantially larger than have previously been found with univariate tests. Interbattery factor analyses revealed evidence of domain specificity; that is, others' appraisals in 1 domain tended to be most strongly related to self-appraisals in the same domain. Analyses also revealed evidence of cross-domain relations; others' appraisals in 1 domain were sometimes related to self-appraisals in different domains. The strength and structure of these relations varied with children's gender, children's grade level, and informant type. The complexity of the relation between self- and others' evaluations has implications for future tests of the reflected self-appraisal process and for school-based programs for enhancing children's self-concepts.

Desire for Weight Gain and Potential Risks of Adolescent Males Using Anabolic Steroids

This study examined the perceptions of adolescent males regarding their physical strength, health status, and desire to gain weight and their perceptions of anabolic steroid use. Subjects were 12th-grade boys (N = 3403), drawn from a pool of 150 high schools nationwide, who completed a health questionnaire. Analysis indicated 47.0% (n = 1475) who wanted to gain weight, perceived themselves as of less than average strength and having good health, and were sports participants. Also, among those who desired weight gain, about 24% (n = 345) were not sure about the most dangerous health risks associated with anabolic steroid use, and 16% (n = 221) did not want to see the use of anabolic steroids in sports stopped. The findings indicate that adolescent boys, who desired weight gain and currently abstained from anabolic steroid use, might be at risk for becoming users.

A self-administered rating scale for pubertal development

The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of a new self-rating scale to measure children's pubertal status without pictorial representations or interviews. The scale is an adaptation of an interview-based puberty-rating scale by Petersen, and included scores for each of five items rating physical development, an overall maturation measure, and a categorical maturation score designed to be similar to Tanner staging categories. Each measure was obtained from independent ratings by students and parents, and a 3-point categorical scale was also obtained from teachers. Subjects included 698 5th- and 6th-grade students (323 boys and 375 girls) from 61 schools and their parents and teachers. Fifth-grade students rated themselves and were rated by parents as less mature than 6th graders; 6th-grade girls were consistently rated more mature than boys of the same age. Significant correlations were found between parents and students for all of the measures for 6th-graders and 5th-grade girls and several measures for 5th-grade boys. This new scale is a useful tool for assessing pubertal status in settings that require noninvasive measures.

Conflict-Resolution Behavior in Adolescent Boys: Antecedents and Adaptational Correlates

We investigated three self-reported conflict-resolution behaviors (avoid, attack, and compromise) in a longitudinal study of eighty-one 10th-grade boys drawn from a school-based sample. Boys used all three conflict-resolution behaviors. Boys who frequently responded to parent-adolescent conflict with attack were at risk for the widest range of concurrent adaptational deficit, including both externalizing and internalizing problems. Avoidance was associated with internalizing problems, compromise with fewer problems of all types, and better school functioning. Sixth-grade antecedents of 10th-grade conflict-resolution behaviors included (a) child personality; (b) parents' management of their own affect; (c) inconsistent, rejecting, and supportive child rearing; and (d) family structure (intact, separated or divorced, and remarried). Results are interpreted in terms of modeling and arousal theories.

Stress reaction of school-age children to the bombardment by SCUD missiles.

Stress reactions of 5th-, 7th-, and 10th-grade children (N = 492) exposed to missile attacks during the Persian Gulf War were examined a month after the war by a questionnaire that assessed level of exposure to trauma and psychological symptoms. Higher stress responses were obtained in areas hit and were influenced by proximity to sites or individuals involved in actual damage. Gender, age, and region interacted such that 5th-grade boys reported the highest stress reactions regardless of region, whereas 5th-grade girls reported the highest stress responses only in regions hit. Gender, age, and objective and subjective stress correctly identified 75% of the children as potential clinical or nonclinical candidates. The possible mediating coping responses and applications for high-risk groups are discussed.

Socialization of achievement: Influence of mothers' need for approval on children's achievement cognitions and behavior.

This study investigated the effect of mothers' need for approval (nApp) on children's expectancies for success and persistence during failure. Ninety 5th-grade boys and girls were asked to complete 4 puzzles, 3 of which were unsolvable. Subjects stated their expectancies before each trial, before the first and last trials, or before the last trial only. On each trial children's persistence was measured. In addition, nApp of the children's mothers was measured with the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Gender differences in expectancies were found only for children with high-nApp mothers, with boys stating higher expectancies than girls before both the 1st and last trials

Relationship between drug use and other problem behaviors in urban adolescents.

This study tested the generality of Jessor and Jessor's (1977) problem behavior theory, which states that a variety of problem behaviors constitute a behavioral syndrome in normal adolescents. Relationships among 5 adolescent problem behaviors (cigarette use, alcohol use, marijuana use, delinquency, and sexual intercourse) were examined in 7th-grade boys (n = 556) and girls (n = 715), and 9th-grade boys (n = 481) and girls (n = 485) in an urban school system in which the majority of students were African American and from low-income families. Measures of problem behavior frequency were positively correlated with each other and negatively correlated with several measures of conventional behavior. Confirmatory factor analyses replicated findings of previous studies that a single common factor underlies adolescent problem behaviors.

Ain't Misbehavin': Adolescent Values and Family Environments as Correlates of Misconduct in Australia, Hong Kong, and the United States

Tenth and 11th grade boys and girls in Hong Kong ( N = 141), Australia (N = 155), and the United States (N = 155) completed questionnaires about their misconduct, family environments, and values. Relative to Australian and American youth, Hong Kong adolescents reported less misconduct; described their families as less accepting/engaged and less demanding; and placed less value on general individualism, outward success, and individual competence, and more value on tradition, prosocial outcomes, and the family as living unit. However, despite these differences, levels of adolescent misconduct were related in similar ways to family environments and adolescent values in all three cultures. Valuing outward success, on the part of the adolescent, and low levels of monitoring, on the part of parents, were associated with misconduct. In regression analyses, family environments and adolescent values were better predictors of misconduct than was cultural group; each contributed approximately twice the amount of var...

THE RELATION OF ACCEPTANCE-REJECTION TO SOCIAL SCHEMATA AND KINETIC FAMILY DRAWINGS

One hundred and forty-nine 5th-grade boys and girls were administered a set of social schemata figures, including both dyad and family configurations in a variation of Kuethe's Felt Figure Replacement Technique. They were also asked to draw a Kinetic Family Drawing. The hypothesis that accepted children will place and draw themselves closer to other figures than will rejected children was not supported. The data did, however, indicate that acceptance-rejection is a more crucial factor for girls than for boys. A puzzling finding in the KFD was analyzed. The hypothesis that girls place and draw themselves closer to other figures than do boys was supported, but only for the accepted group, not for the rejected group. The data wre compared to those from research involving aggressive and nonaggressive boys. It is apparent that peer acceptance-rejection is not equivalent to peer aggression-nonaggression.

Boys who lie.

Lying in 4th-, 7th-, and 10th-grade boys was measured through parent and teacher reports. There was a tendency for the prevalence of lying to be lower for older boys. In all three grades lying was significantly related to several problem behaviors, such as delinquency, theft, and fighting. However, the correlations were generally higher for older than for younger children. Children who lied were more likely to come from families where mothers poorly supervised their children and rejected them, and where parents did not get along well or did not live together. Socioeconomic status was not related to children's lying.

Item identification speed and memory span performance in learning disabled children

Previous studies have found that slower naming latencies correlate with the memory span difficulties of learning disabled (LD) children. The current study attempted to further clarify the relationship between speed and span by directly examining whether slower identification of item information is the source of span difficulties in LD children. Forty-eight 6th-grade boys participated in the study, 24 LD and 24 non-LD. The method involved pretesting each subject to obtain mean naming latencies for each of eight classes of stimuli. The experimental procedure then presented each subject with two memory span tasks: one using stimuli that had produced comparable group naming latencies, and the other with a stimulus class that had produced significant group differences in naming speed. The results indicated that span performance varied directly with naming speed. Results were discussed within the working memory framework of A. D. Baddeley and G. Hitch (1974), in The psychology of learning and memory (Vol. 8), New York: Academic Press).

EFFECTS OF ALIEN‐REINFORCEMENT AND ITS COMBINED TYPE ON LEARNING BEHAVIOR AND EFFICACY IN RELATION TO PERSONALITY*

Effects of new types of reinforcement, alien type and alien combined with external type (double reinforcement), were examined in comparison with a conventional external one. One hundred and twenty children, 6th grade boys and girls, worked on learning discrimination tasks. Under alien reinforcement, upon correct responses of the child the experimenter received reinforcers from him‐(or her‐) self thus reinforcing the child responses. Under each condition, alien, external or double, children learned the tasks and their learning efficacy increased. Personality characteristics of children, in terms of extraversion and emotionality, differentiated effects of three reinforcement conditions on learning behavior and efficacy. The effect of alien reinforcement was influenced by the personality factors most, and that of double reinforcement least. In addition, personality factors influenced differently between alien and external conditions. Learning occurred differently under three different conditions of reinforcement, depending on the personality type of learners. Underlying mechanisms of alien reinforcement were different from, and its functions were independent of, those of external reinforcement. None of the effects of alien reinforcement on learning and motivation were contaminated by the intellectual faculties of learners.

Chewing tobacco use by adolescents: prevalence and relation to cigarette smoking.

The prevalence of teenage smokeless tobacco use and its relation to cigarette smoking was studied. Nine percent of 7th grade boys and 20% of 9th and 10th grade boys reported daily use. There was very little regular chewing among girls although about 20% reported having tried it. There was a strong association between smoking and chewing among 7th graders but only a weak association among 9th and 10th graders. Boys who chew tended to have friends who chew and/or smoke. The data suggested that chewing is affected by peer social influence processes in a manner similar to smoking.

児童における社会志向性と課題志向性について

In this study, it was assumed that motivational trait of children could be made of two kinds of orientation: social orientation and task-orientation. The social orientation was defined by a willingness to participate in socially visible works, whereeas the task-orientation was defined by an interest in the independent mastery and the challenge to the difficulty. The purpose of this study was to construct a scale to measure the relative intensity of these orientations, and to investigate how these orientations relate to the children's adjustment to various situations.In the first study, a scale (originally containing 24 items) measuring the two orientations was constructed and administered to 436 boys and girls from 4 th to 9 th grade. The results indicated that in both elementary school and secondary school, two factors were obtained and the factor structure was very similar in both schools. As expected, these factors corresponded to the social and task-orientation. Consequently, the scale was of 16 items (8 items in each orientation).Next, the developmental trends in each orientation were analysed. The social orientation decreased at the 8 th grade level, and temporally increased in 6th grade boys. As for the task-orientation, a decrease was observed in girls, especially on items measuring challenge.In the second study, the relationships of the two orientations in children's adjustment were investigated. The measures were sociometric test (choice of playmates and study-mates),“l'épreuve du dynamisme évolutif”, self-esteem scale, and academic achievement. 180 boys and girls in 4 th through 6 th grade were used as subjects, and were classified into four categories according to their relative intensity of the two orientations.Main results were as follows.1. In the sociometric status of each group, social orientation was related to the status in the choice of playmates, whereas both social and task-orientation were related to the status in the study-mates. Socially oriented groups showed relatively high rate of mutual choice.2. In l'épreuve du dynamisme évolutif and the selfesteem scale, the socially oriented groups rated their feeling of social adjustment higher, and preferred their own school age more than the less oriented groups.3. In the academic achievement, both orientations were related to some extent to their achievement in many school subjects. In general, the task-orientation had stronger relations; still, some characteristics in each subject were found.Some implications assuming two kinds of orientation (i. e. social and task-orientation) were discussed.

Dyadic Verbal Communication Abilities of Learning Disabled and Normally Achieving Fourth- and Fifth-Grade Boys

This study examined the dyadic verbal communication skills of learning disabled and normally achieving 4th- and 5th-grade boys. The performances of 12 learning disabled children paired with 12 normally achieving children were compared with those of 12 dyads composed only of normally achieving children. The children exchanged information regarding a pattern of blocks under conditions varying the channels available for communication and feedback. All children performed the tasks in both Speaker and Listener roles. A measure of dyadic success was determined. In addition, the language used by the children was examined to obtain information on such variables as information content, response to questions, questions asked, and amount and efficiency of interactions. Dyads involving learning disabled children were found to be less successful and less efficient than those consisting of only normally achieving children. Further, the learning disabled children performed less successfully in certain aspects of the Speaker and Listener roles. Implications for assessment, class performance, and training are discussed.

Children's Causal Attributions in Achievement Situations

Summary The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to investigate the external validity of children's causal attributions in achievement situations, and (b) explore attributional patterns of different cultures within the United States. One hundred and seventy-four 4th and 5th grade boys and girls (93 Anglo, 54 Mexican-American, and 27 Black) were asked to give rewards to children described by stories. The eight stories varied effort, ability, and outcome for each situation. The results indicated similarities with previous research which suggest that some attributional patterns may be consistent among all children. They conflict with earlier research indicating that intent (effort) was a more important determinant of rewards given than outcome for 10- to 12-year-olds and suggest the need for further research of racial groups to investigate cultural influence on attributional patterns.

Reward Distribution for Cooperative Effort in Children: Two Studies of the Effects of Age, Sex, and Level of Contribution to the Task

Summary Two studies examining reward distribution are reported. In the first, 230 lst, 3rd, and 5th grade boys and girls were asked to distribute nickels between themselves and another child as a reward for their contribution to the performance of their class in a contest between classes. In the second study, 210 kindergarten, lst, 3rd, Sth, and 6th grade boys and girls distributed candy to themselves and their partner as a reward for building a tower and participating in a contest with other pairs of children. Results of the first study showed no effect of age, but a clear effect of sex and the distributor's relative level of contribution to his class on the distribution. The second study showed no effect of sex, but once again, a clear effect of relative performance and an interaction of performance with age.

The Effects of Stimulus Integration on Children's Component Selection Strategies

Abstract Three groups of 4th and 6th grade boys and girls (N = 60) were given relevant, irrelevant, or no stimulus pretraining prior to paired-associate learning. Stimulus integration produced by relevant pretraining did not affect paired-associate learning. Fewer learning trials were required by 6th graders, and easy to pronounce stimuli were easier to learn. Integrated stimuli elicited less single component cue selection whether stimulus integration was due to pronunciability or pretraining. Relevant pretraining resulted in equal cue selection for easy and hard to pronounce stimuli. After irrelevant or no pretraining, there was more single component cue selection in the hard to pronounce stimuli.