Social Cognitive Mapping Research Articles

Natural Peer Leaders as Substance Use Prevention Agents: the Teens' Life Choice Project.

In adolescent social groups, natural peer leaders have been found to engage in more frequent experimentation with substance use and to possess disproportionate power to affect the behavior and social choices of their associated peer followers. In the current exploratory study, we used sociometrics and social cognitive mapping to identify natural leaders of cliques in a seventh grade population and invited the leaders to develop anti-drug presentations for an audience of younger peers. The program employed social-psychological approaches directed at having leaders proceed from extrinsic inducements to intrinsic identification with their persuasive products in the context of the group intervention process. The goals of the intervention were to induce substance resistant self-persuasion in the leaders and to produce a spread of this resistance effect to their peer followers. To test the intervention, we compared the substance use behaviors of the selected leaders and their peers to a control cohort. The study found preliminary support that the intervention produced changes in the substance use behavior among the leaders who participated in the intervention, but did not detect a spread to non-leader peers in the short term. This descriptive study speaks to the plausibility of employing self-persuasion paradigms to bring about change in high-risk behaviors among highly central adolescents. In addition, it highlights the viability of applying social psychological principles to prevention work and calls for more research in this area.

Using sociometric techniques to assess the social impacts of inclusion: Some methodological considerations

In recent years, sociometric techniques have been increasingly used to assess friendship development in children with special educational needs integrated in regular educational settings. In this paper, the findings produced by different techniques are contrasted with a view to examining whether the variable findings reported can be attributed to the technique employed. The analysis revealed that peer nominations have been used to determine pupils' social status and have overwhelmingly produced negative results. Peer ratings have been used to ascertain the level of acceptance pupils enjoy within their class network and have also produced negative results. Social Cognitive Mapping has been used to obtain information about the nature of social networks and the relations among peers and has produced mixed to positive results. As such, Social Cognitive Mapping could be viewed as a more robust approach that addresses more thoroughly the complexities of young children's social relations than the other two classic sociometric techniques. The paper concludes with highlighting methodological challenges surrounding the application of sociometric techniques and advocates their embedding within innovative multi-method research designs.

기술 키워드 네트워크와 인지지도 분석을 통한 무인항공기 비행체산업의 유망기술 도출 연구

본 연구는 국내 무인항공기산업과 같은 신성장동력산업의 국제적 기술 경쟁력 확보와 시장성 확보 및 산업성장이 가능한 미래유망 기술을 도출하는 방법론을 제시하는 것이다. 이에 본 연구는 KrKwic, Excel, NetMiner등의 분석 툴을 활용하여 무인항공기산업 분야의 특허데이터를 대상으로 동시출현 단어를 활용한 소셜네트워크분석과 하위그룹분석, 인지지도분석 방법을 제시하였다. 그 결과, '비행조정 기술', '피아식별 기술' 등은 향후 유망한 기술로 선정하여 집중 투자할 필요성이 큰 기술이라 볼 수 있었다. This study aims at providing a methodology for retaining international technology competitiveness, marketable industry, and sustainable promising technology in a field of new growth engine industry such as national unmanned aerial vehicle industry. We draw a result by analysing with tools such as KrKwic, Excel, NetMiner, presenting methods of a Social Network Analysis, sub-group analysis, and cognitive map analysis based on patent data in a field of unmanned aerial vehicle industry. As a result, some future promising technologies are prospected as what worths concentrated investment, such as 'pilot control tech', 'identification of friend or foe tech'.

Cognitive mapping of organic vegetable production in Flanders to support farmers strategy design

Organic farmers inherently have to cope with complex agricultural production system processes. Next to pursuing economic performance, farm management also encompasses optimization of the farm's ecological and social performance. The question arises how to maintain a certain balance between the multiple purposes. For this consideration, farmers as well as researchers need to have a good understanding of the whole farm functioning. Therefore this study aims to model the factors and their inter-relations influencing an organic farmers' decision-making process. These factors and inter-relations were modelled by using the qualitative cognitive mapping technique. Cognitive mapping can be used to develop maps of socio-ecological systems based on people's knowledge of ecosystems. Different stakeholders (farmers and experts) were interviewed in order to represent and visualize their tacit knowledge. Through in-depth interviews, stakeholders were questioned on the critical success factors of organic farm management and how these factors relate to each other. Based on these interviews, individual cognitive maps were constructed which were subsequently merged to build a social cognitive map. The social cognitive map represents the stakeholders' perception of the agricultural production system. It covers a broad range of factors (economic, agro-technical and biophysical factors, next to a few social factors), of which the most central ones are crop choice, crop rotation, marketing and technology and mechanization.

The strongness of weak signals: self-reference and paradox in anticipatory systems

Social sciences are experiencing an anticipatory turn. A core issue of this turn are the so-called ‘weak signals’. In order to speak of this type of signals, we must use the distinction between weak and strong. The question may be raised, who handles this distinction? That is, who is the observer? It seems that only two answers are possible: the observer is either outside or inside, i.e., either he is a world-observer, or he is a extra-world-observer. In the latter case, the problem of weak signals disappears; after the fact, everybody is able to say “I told you!”. In the former case, the system has to face the dilemma of warning signals. As social systems cannot observe themselves from the outside, the issue of weak signals should be explained as the outcome of a self-referential dynamics that finally leads to the paradox of knowing the unknown. In fact, the difference between weak and strong refers not to the future as such (to what is signalized), but to the observing system itself. The main hypothesis of this contribution is that a signal is weak for a lack of redundancy that hinders the system to combine a reference to an environmental event with a concomitant reference to a systemic cognitive map. By means of a system theory of sign, it should be possible to see the difference between weak and strong as an unfolding device for temporal paradoxes arising in social systems, and to support the hypothesis that, since in social systems cognitive maps are contingent on time, signals can be only weak, never strong.

Affiliation with Socially Withdrawn Groups and Children's Social and Psychological Adjustment.

This 1-year longitudinal study examined the effects of membership in socially withdrawn peer groups on children's social and psychological adjustment in a sample of 979 children (417 boys, 562 girls, M age = 11.84years). Data on children's social and psychological adjustment and problems were collected from peer nominations and self-reports in the fall and spring of a single academic year. Using the Social Cognitive Map, 162 peer groups were identified. Multilevel analyses showed that affiliation with withdrawn groups negatively predicted social competence and school attitude, and positively predicted victimization and depression. The results suggest that affiliation with socially withdrawn groups is a risk factor for the development of social and psychological problems.

Teacher attunement: Supporting early elementary students’ social integration and status

This study examined the longitudinal association between teachers' broad attunement to students’ peer group memberships and students’ social centrality and status in early elementary classrooms in a sample of 276 first – third graders and 20 teachers. We further examined the value added when considering teachers' precise attunement to students’ individual peer group affiliates. Social cognitive mapping (SCM) procedures were used to generate and compare students’ and teachers’ reports of peer groups to assess teacher attunement and students’ centrality; peer nominations assessed students’ social preference and popularity. Results indicated early elementary teachers’ attunement is limited. Findings substantiated the value in distinguishing between teachers' broad and precise attunement, indicating that teachers’ broad attunement to peer group memberships is important for popularity, whereas precise attunement to individual students' affiliates matters for centrality. Implications for the contribution of teacher attunement to students’ centrality and status are discussed in relation to teachers’ invisible hand.

Health Equilibrium Initiative: a public health intervention to narrow the health gap and promote a healthy weight in Swedish children.

BackgroundInequity in health is a global concern. Even in Sweden there are considerable health gaps between different social groups, not least concerning life-style related conditions. Interventions drawing on Community-based participatory research (CBPR) have potential to build prerequisites for complex, supportive structures that constitute basis for implementation of sustainable health promoting programs. CBPR rests on principles of empowerment. The researchers are responsible for the scientific quality and that ethical standards are met. Health Equilibrium Initiative (HEI) aims at narrowing the health gap and promoting healthy weight in children; “healthy weight” including both anthropometric criteria and aspects having to do with self-esteem and self-efficacy. Evaluation objectives are to compare outcome between children in intervention and control areas, conduct health economic assessments (HEA) and evaluate the processes of the project.Methods/designHEI is a repeated cross-sectional and longitudinal study. The Program Logic Model is based on Social Cognitive Theory and Intervention Mapping. Primary contact groups are children in disadvantaged communities. Core efforts are to confirm and convey knowledge, elucidate and facilitate on-going health work and support implementation of continuous health work. Socioeconomic status is assessed on area level by the parameters yearly average income, degree of employment, tertiary education and percent of inhabitants born in countries where violent conflicts recently have taken place or were ongoing. Anthropometry, food patterns, physical activity and belief in ability to affect health; together with learning, memory and attention assessment will be assessed in 350 children (born 2006). Examinations will be repeated after two years, forming the basis of a health economic analysis. The process evaluation procedure will use document analysis (such as structured reports from meetings and dialogues, school/workplaces policies and curriculum, food service menus); key informant interviews and focus groups with parents, children and professionals.DiscussionInviting, awaiting and including local perspectives create mutual confidence and collaboration. Enhanced self-efficacy and access to relevant knowledge has potential to enable individuals and communities to choose alternatives that are relevant for their health and well-being in a long perspective. The economic of this study may contribute in decision- making processes regarding appropriate public health interventions.

Indonesian Muslim Adolescents' Use of Tobacco and Alcohol: Associations With Use by Friends and Network Affiliates

The objectives of this longitudinal study were to predict the tobacco and alcohol use of Indonesian Muslim adolescents from their religiosity and the substance use of friends and network affiliates. At Year 1, there were 996 participants from eighth grade ( n = 507, age = 13.4 years) and 10th grade ( n = 489, age = 15.4); 875 were followed into the next grade. Friends and network affiliates were respectively identified by mutual selection and social cognitive mapping. Logistic regression analyses revealed that tobacco use was predicted at both Years 1 and 2 by friends’ use, whereas network affiliates’ use predicted individual use with the exception of girls at Year 2. Boys’ alcohol use was uniquely predicted by network affiliates’ but not friends’ use at both years, whereas girls’ use was not predicted by either friends’ or network affiliates’ use. Involvement with boys was associated with girls’ use of alcohol. Although these two types of peer associations may both be important, they may be associated in different ways with tobacco and alcohol use.

Increasing an AAC User's Classroom Community Membership Through Peer Social Networks: An Ecological Intervention

Abstract Increasingly, disability is being conceptualized through a social-ecological framework that emphasizes the match or mismatch between the person and their environment (Wehmeyer et al., 2008). With that, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers have examined what supports are necessary to create truly inclusive communities for individuals with disabilities, their families, and community members. In social interaction research within the schools, an effort to conceptualize social interaction supports for children with severe disabilities has emerged (Carter & Hughes, 2005). For children with severe disabilities who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), however, this is not the case (Snell, Chen, & Hoover, 2006). Instead, a majority of social interaction research for these children has focused on skill development (Fisher & Shogren, 2012). The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of social skills instruction on the classroom community membership of a child with severe disabilities (who used AAC) and her peers. We used (a) social interaction rate, (b) sociometric status, and (c) Social Cognitive Mapping (Cairns, Perrin, & Cairns, 1985) for analysis. Results and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Social Cognitive Maps. Un método para identificar los grupos sociales en contextos naturales

This article describes the composite Social-Cognitive Map (SCM), a user-friendly method to identify groups of persons in natural settings. The method is introduced, with its foundations, the interview procedure, the use of SCM software 4.0, and the analysis of the information it yields. Despite having a large tradition, this software is quite unknown in Spanish speaking contexts. This method can be applied in various fields, but in this study we focus on the school context, the classroom and the student groups in the classroom. The SCM provides information on: a) the identity of individuals who are members of a peer group and the people with whom each individual is more closely affiliated; b) the number of peer groups and the centrality of each group within the social network (class); and c) the centrality of each individual in the classroom. Finally, the results obtained in studies which applied this method are commented, and information about its validity, reliability and generalization is provided.

Development of a broadened cognitive mapping approach for analysing systems of practices in social–ecological systems

This paper presents a new cognitive mapping approach for analysing systems of practices in social–ecological systems. These systems are mapped from people's views collected during open-ended interviews. Cognitive maps are made up of diverse variables (e.g., operations, drivers, constraints) linked to each other by a range of relationships: cause–effect, fluxes of matter, information flows and sequence of two operations. Individual cognitive maps heuristically model the practices and decision-making processes expressed by interviewees. The mathematical formulation of cognitive maps allows individual cognitive maps to be aggregated into a social cognitive map. The latter can be used to model the system of practices used by a particular group of people. Using this approach, we analysed the practices and decision-making processes linked to grassland management in a Belgian grassland-based livestock farming system. Our work confirmed that a social cognitive map could be drawn up for multiple locations. The results showed how this inductive cognitive mapping approach overcame two limitations frequently highlighted in previous studies: the diverse interpretations of variables and relationships; and the difficulty in revealing the rationale in cognitive maps.

Peer Group Influence on Urban Preadolescents' Attitudes Toward Material Possessions: Social Status Benefits of Material Possessions

This study explores peer influence on urban preadolescents' perceptions of social status benefits of material possessions. A longitudinal design is used. Natural, interaction‐based peer groups are identified through the Social Cognitive Map procedure. Findings indicate that high‐status rather than low‐status peers in a group are influential on individuals. Strong influence of high‐status peers is observed in both boys' and girls' groups. High‐status peers are particularly influential on low‐status individuals in girls' groups and on high‐status individuals in boys' groups. Additionally, high‐status peers' influence is stronger on African Americans than on Hispanic Americans and tends to be stronger on Hispanic Americans than on White Americans. These findings imply that special attention should be given to high‐status youth in groups who highly endorse social benefits of material possessions. Characteristics of the target youth (e.g., gender, ethnicity and individual status) should be considered in future efforts for reducing the pervasiveness of materialism.

Manufacturing Phenomena or Preserving Phenomena? Core Issues in the Identification of Peer Social Groups With Social Cognitive Mapping Procedures

Manufacturing Phenomena or Preserving Phenomena? Core Issues in the Identification of Peer Social Groups With Social Cognitive Mapping Procedures

Opening the Black Box of Social Cognitive Mapping

Social DevelopmentVolume 22, Issue 3 p. 604-608 Article Opening the Black Box of Social Cognitive Mapping Zachary P. Neal, Corresponding Author Zachary P. Neal Michigan State UniversityZachary P. Neal, Department of Sociology, Michigan State University, 316 Berkey Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorJennifer Watling Neal, Jennifer Watling Neal Michigan State UniversitySearch for more papers by this author Zachary P. Neal, Corresponding Author Zachary P. Neal Michigan State UniversityZachary P. Neal, Department of Sociology, Michigan State University, 316 Berkey Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorJennifer Watling Neal, Jennifer Watling Neal Michigan State UniversitySearch for more papers by this author First published: 26 September 2012 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2012.00668.xCitations: 1 Author Note: Zachary P. Neal, Department of Sociology, Michigan State University; Jennifer Watling Neal, Department of Psychology, Michigan State University. The authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of this article. Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Citing Literature Volume22, Issue3August 2013Pages 604-608 RelatedInformation

Peer groups and victimisation among native and immigrant adolescents in Norway

Despite the rapid increase in immigration all over Europe and concerns expressed for the adjustment of immigrant children and young people, studies on peer victimisation among them are scarce. By combining the predictions of the acculturative stress model with the social–ecological perspective of peer victimisation, this study compared different forms of peer victimisation in native Norwegian and immigrant young people, and explored whether depressive symptoms and the ethnic composition of peer groups in multicultural classes were related to levels of victimisation. Victimisation and depressive symptoms were investigated with self-assessments. Social cognitive mapping was used to identify peer groups in classes. The sample comprised 97 native adolescents and 59 immigrant adolescents attending 10 grade 8, 9 and 10 classes in a multicultural urban Norwegian secondary school. In line with the predictions of the acculturative stress model, young immigrants reported higher global victimisation compared with native Norwegians. However, they did not differ regarding depressive symptoms. In total, 42 peer groups were identified; 26 were ethnically mixed. Taking into account the base rate of ethnically mixed peer groups in the sample, the number of victims was not related to their ethnic composition. Moreover, gender and immigrant status did not moderate the associations between depressive symptoms and victimisation. The study highlights the importance of investigating the ethnic composition of peer groups to understand better the dynamics of victimisation in multicultural classes.

The Multiple Meanings of Peer Groups in Social Cognitive Mapping

AbstractSocial cognitive mapping (SCM) is a common approach to identifying peer groups in developmental research. However, this approach involves three stages that each implies a unique conception of peer group. This article aims to bring conceptual clarity to the identification of peer groups using SCM by demonstrating how the meaning of peer groups differs at each stage of SCM. First, in the data collecting stage, interaction groups identify sets of children that hang out together. Second, in the data aggregating stage, co‐membership groups identify sets of children who are members of many of the same interaction groups. Third, in the data analyzing stage, similarity groups identify sets of children with similar patterns of relationships with their peers. After reviewing these three conceptions of peer groups, we briefly discuss some potential problems with using SCM as a tool to measure children's social networks and peer groups. Finally, we conclude by arguing that despite these issues, SCM remains a valuable methodology, and indeed one with untapped potential. Thus, we offer suggestions for the appropriate application of these theoretically and empirically distinct conceptions of peer group, noting that developmental researchers using SCM must identify which conception of peer group is used and justify why this conception is the appropriate one.

Religiosity of Adolescents and their Friends and Network Associates: Homophily and Associations With Antisocial Behavior

This study assessed the similarity of adolescents and their friends and peer network associates in religiosity and the extent to which these relationships were associated with antisocial behavior. The sample included 1010 Indonesian (480 male, 530 female) 8th (13.37 years) and 10th grade (15.36 years) students. Adolescents were similar to their mutual friends and network associates (identified using Social Cognitive Mapping) in religiosity, and the religiosity of both friends and network associates added to male adolescents' self‐religiosity in predicting antisocial behavior; these effects were not present for girls. Peers may associate with others similar to themselves in religiosity and these associations may partially explain why religious boys exhibit low levels of aggressive behavior.

Friends in the classroom: a comparison between two methods for the assessment of students’ friendship networks

One of the methods used most often to assess students’ friendships and friendship networks is the reciprocal nomination method. However, an often heard complaint is that this technique produces rather negative outcomes. This study compares the reciprocal nomination method with another method to assess students’ friendships and friendship networks: Social Cognitive Mapping (SCM). The outcomes show that descriptions of students’ friendships and friendship networks by both methods tend largely to overlap, even though SCM divides the students into smaller groups. The nomination method indeed yields a slightly more negative picture, labeling more students as “isolates”. According to students, in most cases the group structure of SCM best reflects reality, whereas more than half of the teachers consider the nomination structure to best fit with reality. It is concluded that the differences between both methods are small, which seems to be primarily based on rather arbitrary decisions in the programs calculating students’ scores and group composition.

The Peer Group as a Social and Cultural Context: Influence on Socioemotional Functioning in Chinese Children

The experience of peer interaction is a unique context for development.Peer social cluster is one of the important forms of interpersonal interaction at the group level.As a social and cultural context,the peer group plays a significant and particular role in children's social development.The process of social transition in China makes it possible for children of different social and cultural backgrounds to interact with each other in the same class.At the same time,they form peer groups with different social and cultural norms,which serve as a basis for the interpretation of particular social behaviors.Therefore,it is important to explore group background in the study of peer influence on individual socioemotional functioning.The purpose in the current study was to explore,using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM),the peer group as a context for the socialization of children’s social competencies.In this one-year longitudinal study,898 children from grade 3 to grade 5 were recruited from a suburban elementary school in Nantong,Jiangsu Province.Among them,there were 36.5 % urban children,48.8 % rural children,and 10.4 % migrant children in the first year.In both first and second years,children were asked to provide peer nominations for sociable,prosocial,and assertive behaviors,and to complete the Social Cognitive Map (SCM) measure.The analyses revealed several major results.First,at the individual level,group members had significantly higher scores on sociability,prosociality,assertiveness,and peer acceptance than did nonmembers.Urban children had significantly higher scores on assertiveness than did both rural and migrant children.The analysis also revealed a significant interaction between gender and background on prosociality.Second,peer groups were highly homogenous on social competences.Most children chose cross-background peers to form peer groups.Third,peer groups had significant main effects on socioemotional characteristics,except for prosocial behavior,over one year.Finally,to some extent,group social and cultural backgrounds moderated the group socialization function.Rural-urban groups had stronger effects on the development of sociability than did rural-migrant groups,while rural peer groups had stronger effects on the development of assertiveness than did urban peer groups.