Janis E. Jacobs

Changes in Children’s Self-Competence and Values: Gender and Domain Differences across Grades One through Twelve

This study extended previous research on changes in childrens self-beliefs by documenting domain-specific growth trajectories for 761 children across grades 1 through 12 in a longitudinal study of perceptions of self-competence and task values. Hierarchical Linear Modeling was used to (1) describe changes in beliefs across childhood and adolescence within the domains of mathematics, language arts, and sports; (2) examine the impact of changes in competence beliefs on changes in values over time in the same domains; and (3) describe gender differences in mean levels and trajectories of change in competence beliefs and values. The most striking finding across all domains was that self-perceptions of competence and subjective task values declined as children got older, although the extent and rate of decline varied across domains. For example, in language arts, competence beliefs declined rapidly during the elementary school years, but then leveled off or increased to some extent; whereas the decline in self-competence beliefs in sports accelerated during the high school years. Significant gender differences in beliefs were found in most domains; however, the gender differences in developmental trajectories appeared to be domain specific rather than global. Importantly, the gender differences between boys and girls did not systematically increase with age, as predicted by some socialization perspectives. Adding competence beliefs as an explanatory variable to the model for task values revealed that changes in competence beliefs accounted for much of the age-related decline in task values. In addition, competence beliefs accounted for most of the gender differences in task values for language arts and sports.

The Benefits of Informed Instruction for Children's Reading Awareness and Comprehension Skills.

PARIs, ScoTTrr G., and JACOBS, JANIS E. The Benefits of Informed Instruction for Childrens Reading Awareness and Comprehension Skills. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1984, 55, 2083-2093. This study examines childrens reading awareness and comprehension skills as examples of the developmental and instructional relations between childrens metacognition and performance. 8and 10-year olds were interviewed about their knowledge of reading tasks and strategies in the fall and spring. A scale of reading awareness was constructed and related to childrens performance on several reading tasks. During the year half of each group received 4 months of classroom instruction on how, when, and why to use reading strategies to enhance comprehension. Pretest correlations revealed a significant relation between childrens level of reading awareness and comprehension skills. Furthermore, comparisons between pretests and posttests revealed that the metacognitive instruction significantly increased childrens reading awareness and their use of comprehension strategies. The study clearly showed that (a) children who are more aware of the nature of reading tasks and strategies also score higher on tests of reading comprehension and (b) informed instruction in the classroom can enhance both awareness and comprehension skills.

Parents, task values, and real-life achievement-related choices.

Publisher Summary Expectancies for success are defined as childrens beliefs about how well they will do on upcoming tasks, either in the immediate or longer-term future. This chapter emphasizes the distinctive contributions made by competence beliefs, expectations for success, and task values to achievement and choice in different domains. The chapter then focuses on the importance of subjective task values and the role parents play in shaping them. Task values can develop only within the contexts of childrens lives; thus, as developmentalists, it is believed that it is important to consider the conditions under which children begin to value one set of activities that do not match either their social identities to their personal identities. The chapter also sheds light on a childs access to positive relationships with others. It focuses on the nature of childrens emotional relationships with their parents and how these connections may be related to developing values and activity choices. Perceptions of high levels of connectedness and emotional support from parents are related positively to both psychological and behavioral indicators of successful development. This relationship holds in adolescence even when children begin to establish other strong relationships with peers and to gain some independence from parents.

Childhood and Adolescent Sports Participation as Predictors of Participation in Sports and Physical Fitness Activities During Young Adulthood

This study examined whether organized sports participation during childhood and adolescence was related to participation in sports and physical fitness activities in young adulthood. The data were from the Michigan Study of Adolescent Life Transitions. The analyses include more than 600 respondents from three waves of data (age 12, age 17, and age 25). Childhood and adolescent sports participation was found to be a significant predictor of young adults’ participation in sports and physical fitness activities.

The Development of Judgment and Decision Making During Childhood and Adolescence

Research on adult judgment and decision making has focused on deviations from normative models, demonstrating biases and reliance on heuristic shortcuts, thus presenting a very different picture than developmental theories that describe a unidirectional progression toward greater logic and efficiency. Recent research related to this apparent contradiction indicates that children develop competencies to reason effectively and make normative decisions, but also develop biased judgment strategies that are used inappropriately in some situations. We suggest potential explanations for the findings, highlighting the need to consider models that incorporate development in both experiential and analytic information processing systems.

The Career Plans of Science-Talented Rural Adolescent Girls

Relations between parent attitudes, intrinsic value of science, peer support, available activities, and preference for future science careers were examined for science-talented, rural, adolescent females. Two hundred and twenty 9th-12th-grade girls and their mothers responded to questionnaires about science courses, plans for future courses and college majors, perceptions of the girls’ abilities in science, and numerous supports and deterrents for continued interest in science areas. Current intrinsic interest in science was most strongly related to preferring a science career, but previous experiences with science (measured by grade in school, science GPA, friends’ support for science, and extracurricular science activities) and socializers’ attitudes (measured by mothers’ perceptions of the value of science for women and of their daughters’ abilities) were also related. The discussion highlights the importance of providing activities and other supports to maintain girls’ interests in science in a rural environment.

Gender Differences in Math Ability: The Impact of Media Reports on Parents

Research reports of educationally relevant findings are infrequently covered by the media. When research is the focus of the popular press, the media are believed to have a strong influence on public opinions. An empirical study was conducted to investigate the impact of media coverage following the release of a research report by Benbow and Stanley (1980). Parents of adolescents were targeted as the population most likely to be influenced by the research findings. Parents who had responded to surveys regarding their childrens math abilities prior to the media coverage were recontacted and their beliefs were reassessed. The results provide evidence that research reported in the media can have an effect on the beliefs of people who are exposed to it. In this article, we discuss the nature of the media coverage and its differential impacts according to gender and prior beliefs.

Introduction to the special issue: The development of decision making

In the present paper, the authors describe the rationale for, and contents of, the current special issue of the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology (2001, volume 22, number 3) on the Development of Decision making. In addition, they provide a primer of what is currently known about age changes in this ability, discuss some of the issues that confront scholars who study this topic, and make suggestions for future research.

Relations Between Social Self-Perceptions, Time Use, and Prosocial or Problem Behaviors During Adolescence

This study investigated the relations between social self-perceptions, time use, and later involvement in prosocial or problem behaviors during early, middle, and later adolescence. The authors used an idiographic approach to identify four different patterns of social self-perceptions (confident, anxious, unconcerned, desperate) and then examined the relations between group membership and time use. As predicted, social selfperceptions were significantly related to the ways in which adolescents spend their time and to later involvement in later prosocial and problem behaviors. Notably, adolescents who were most self-confident about their social skills (Confident group) and those who were most willing to go to great lengths to make and keep friends (Desperate group) spent significantly more time with peers than those in the other two groups. In addition, patterns of social self-perceptions were significantly related to adolescents’ own involvement and their perceptions of friends’involvement in prosocial and problembehaviors.

RISKY DRINKING AND DRIVING/RIDING DECISIONS: THE ROLE OF PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE

Factors related to risky drinking and driving/riding decisions were explored by presenting vignettes to 135 older adolescents, 17–24 years of age, with vignettes related to drinking and other social behaviors engaged in at a party. Analyses revealed that alcohol-related behaviors, attitudes toward the acceptability of drinking and driving, and previous drinking and driving/riding experiences were all significant predictors of decisions about driving or riding while intoxicated. Indeed, the overall model accounted for 46% of risky drinking and driving/riding decisions. As predicted, older respondents had more previous experiences with driving while intoxicated and riding with intoxicated drivers than did younger respondents, and they reported that drinking and driving was more acceptable among their peers. However, contrary to expectations, there were no differences in the number of risky decisions made by the two age groups or between males and females. The importance of previous experiences is discussed.