Janet J. Fritz

Learning to Talk about Emotions: A Functionalist Perspective.

BRETHERTON, INGE; FRITZ, JANET; ZAHN-WAXLER, CAROLYN; and RIDGEWAY, DOREEN. Learning to Talk about Emotions: A Functionalist Perspective. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1986, 57, 529-548. Although the recent focus on functionalist theories of emotions has led to an upsurge of interest in many aspects of emotional development, not enough attention has been paid to young childrens developing ability to talk about emotions. In this paper we attempt to place what is presently known about this topic into a framework that emphasizes the intrapsychic and interpersonal functions of emotion. We also consider suggestive evidence concerning the importance of the ability to talk about emotions in the conduct of interpersonal interaction. The paper concludes with some ideas on future directions for research, placing particular emphasis on a functionalist approach to the analysis of emotion-denoting terms.

Fostering Personal Teaching Efficacy through Staff Development and Classroom Activities.

Abstract The effectiveness of the DARE to be You (DTBY) teacher training for enhancing feelings of personal teaching efficacy was assessed for 241 control or training-group teachers using a pretest, posttest, and 9-month follow-up design. Examined was the relation between personal and general teaching efficacy, satisfaction with and investment in teaching, and integration of roles. Significant group-by-time interactions were found for personal and teaching efficacy and the four teacher self-perception measures, using a repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance. Level of involvement with the DTBY classroom activities was related to efficacy judgments. The study provides support for the value of the DTBY training and the importance of addressing teaching efficacy issues within staff development programs aimed at curricular innovation.

Early gender differences in the functional usage of language

Early male and female differences in the functional use of language were investigated by coding the verbal interactions of 32 preschool children during a 10-minute play session with same-sex peer. The speech of each child was classified into functional-motivational categories using the FIS-P scoring instrument. The findings were consistent with the literature on adult conversational styles, showing that males talk more and are more assertive in their social interactions than are females. The results of this study demonstrate the existence of early gender differences in the functional use of language and emphasize the importance of a developmental approach to the study of communication styles.

Strategies for infusing curricula with a multicultural perspective

We describe pedagogical strategies for infusing a multicultural perspective into courses across a variety of disciplines; these methods have proven effective with students who are predominantly Anglo and oriented toward careers in the human services. The strategies include personalizing information through vicarious learning and case studies; inculcating critical thinking skills; simulations; literary analysis; and cooperative learning in large classes. Changes were documented in student attitudes, emotions, knowledge, professional skills, and the classroom environment. We review lessons learned about the process of curriculum revision, especially the importance of faculty support systems and impediments to implementation.

REVERSAL-SHIFT BEHAVIOR IN CHILDREN WITH SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITIES

The discrimination learning of 7- to 9-yr.-olds with specific learning disabilities was studied by using the reversal and intradimensional shift paradigms. Three groups of Ss included 20 normal controls, 20 having learning disability but receiving no drug treatment, and 10 having learning disability and receiving drug treatment. All groups given the intradimensional shift task performed significantly better than those given the reversal shift task, while the controls performed significantly better on both shift tasks than Ss with learning disabilities. The prediction of superior shift performance by the latter Ss who were receiving drug treatment, compared to that by the non-drug group, was not substantiated. Results were discussed in terms of support for the Zeaman and House attention model of discrimination learning and the effects of drug therapy on attention for children with specific learning disabilities.

Facilitation of semantic comprehension at the one-word stage of language development

Early in the development of language, children must learn to relate the language they hear to objects and events in their immediate perceptual environment. Gilmore (1977) found that infants at the two-word stage of language production and, under certain conditions, some infants at the one-word stage as well, seemed to map a simple sentence (e.g. The bunny hugs the kitty ) onto a visual event (which, for example, showed a puppet rabbit hugging a puppet cat). In Gilmores experiment, a habituation series of trials, presenting either appropriate pairings of a variety of sentences with visual events (as in the above example), or inappropriate pairings (e.g. The kitty hugs the bunny , when, in fact, the reverse was true) were presented repeatedly until subjects habituated. A test series of trials followed with an inappropriate/appropriate pairing, whichever was not used during habituation. Two-word subjects seemed to discriminate between the test and habituation pairings in either case. One-word subjects seemed to discrimi- nate only when they received the appropriate pairing during habituation and the inappropriate during the test.

Infant’s Differential Social Response to Mother and Experimenter

This chapter focuses on infants’ socioemotional reactions to their mother and to a relatively unfamiliar experimenter during a structured social interaction sequence similar to the one developed by Klein and Durfee (1976). Infants were divided into two groups based on their differential (comparative) pattern of reaction to experimenter and mother rather than the more common procedure (e.g., Morgan & Ricciuti, 1969) of using only the reaction to the experimenter or analyzing the reactions to the two adults separately. We felt, based on a study by Harmon, Suwalsky, and Klein (1979), that grouping infants by the type of differential social reaction they showed could provide a meaningful index of the quality of the infant—mother relationship. Furthermore, we hypothesized that the type of differential social response would be related on the one hand to maternal characteristics and on the other hand to the quality of infant play. Thus differential social response is conceptualized as an intervening variable mediating the relationships between maternal variables and child variables.

Employer obstacles to child care

Abstract458 businesses were surveyed regarding their support of employee child-care needs. Small businesses provided less support than large businesses. Obstacles to providing child-care support differed by size of business. Factor analyses indicated that substantially different reasons were used to explain why child care is not supported. Implications for child-care advocates are discussed.