Julia Badger

Evidence of a Transition from Perceptual to Category Induction in 3- to 9-Year-Old Children.

We examined whether inductive reasoning development is better characterized by accounts assuming an early category bias versus an early perceptual bias. We trained 264 children aged 3 to 9 years to categorize novel insects using a rule that directly pitted category membership against appearance. This was followed by an induction task with perceptual distractors at different levels of featural similarity. An additional 52 children were given the same training followed by an induction task with alternative stimuli. Categorization performance was consistently high; however, we found a gradual transition from a perceptual bias in our youngest children to a category bias around 6 or 7 years of age. In addition, children of all ages were equally distracted by higher levels of featural similarity. The transition is unlikely to be due to an increased ability to inhibit perceptual distractors. Instead, we argue that the transition is driven by a fundamental change in childrens understanding of category membership.

Psycho-educational intervention increases reflective functioning in foster and adoptive parents

It is well established that looked after children are more likely to develop complex behavioural and emotional difficulties that can leave many carers struggling to help and understand the child. This can lead to the breakdown of placements whereby the lack of placement stability leaves the child even more vulnerable. The Family Minds (FM) psycho-educational and interactive programme is a newly developed intervention for groups of foster and adoptive parents. It lasts for nine hours and comprises elements of mentalisation-based family therapy, lectures, group exercises and homework, with the aim that parents will be able to better understand and support their fostered or adopted child through increased reflective functioning. In a study undertaken in Texas we evaluated whether there was a change in the parents’ reflective functioning (verbal mentalisation) pre- to post-FM training compared to a comparison group who experienced a ‘treatment as usual’ intervention comprising four hours of lecture information about trauma and attachment. Using five-minute speech samples pre- and post-training, we coded whether the capacity to think reflectively about oneself and one’s child altered in either training group. We found that, unlike the comparison group, parents in the FM group significantly increased their reflective functioning. This outcome was independent of several factors such as the age of the parent, age of the child and time as a carer. The only factor influencing the significant change was the training group in which the parent was placed. These findings suggest that this novel mentalisation-based psycho-educational training programme can successfully increase parents’ reflective functioning which, in turn, should enhance and strengthen the understanding and relationship between the foster/adoptive parent and the child and reduce negative outcomes.

Interviewing strategies in the face of beauty: a psychophysiological investigation into the job negotiation process.

Abstract:  After the application form is submitted, the interview is the most important method of human resource allocation. Previous research has shown that the attractiveness of interviewees can significantly bias interview outcome. We have previously shown that female interviewers give attractive male interviewees higher status job packages compared their average looking counterparts. However, it is not known whether male interviewers exhibit such biases. In the present study, participants were asked to take part in a mock job negotiation scenario where they had to allocate either a high‐ or low‐status job package to attractive or average looking “interviewees.” Before each decision was made, the participants anticipatory electrodermal response (EDR) was recorded. The results supported our previous finding in that female participants allocated a greater number of high‐status job packages to attractive men. Additionally, male participants uniformly allocated a greater number of low‐status job packages to both attractive men and attractive women. Overall, the average looking interviewees incurred a penalty and received a significantly greater number of low‐status job packages. In general, the EDR profile for both male and female participants was significantly greater when allocating the low‐status packages to the average looking interviewees. However, the male anticipatory EDR profile showed the greatest change when allocating attractive women with low‐status job packages. We discuss these findings in terms of the potential biases that may occur at the job interview and place them within an evolutionary psychology framework.

Category structure affects the developmental trajectory of children's inductive inferences for both natural kinds and artefacts

Inductive reasoning is fundamental to human cognition, yet it remains unclear how we develop this ability and what might influence our inductive choices. We created novel categories in which crucial factors such as domain and category structure were manipulated orthogonally. We trained 403 4–9-year-old children to categorise well-matched natural kind and artefact stimuli with either featural or relational category structure, followed by induction tasks. This wide age range allowed for the first full exploration of the developmental trajectory of inductive reasoning in both domains. We found a gradual transition from perceptual to categorical induction with age. This pattern was stable across domains, but interestingly, children showed a category bias one year later for relational categories. We hypothesise that the ability to use category information in inductive reasoning develops gradually, but is delayed when children need to process and apply more complex category structures.

“What Happened Next”: A study of outcomes for maltreated children following care proceedings

This is the first report from a study of outcomes for 114 children from 49 families assessed in an expert multi-disciplinary service during care proceedings. The study investigated the extent of children’s adaptation following judicial decisions made in the proceedings and what factors might be involved in changes in the children’s adaptation and well-being. We also aimed to investigate the reliability of the expert placement and treatment recommendations made to the court. The original assessment reports for the court were independently coded using a comprehensive child adaptation measure (Target and Fonagy, 1992). At follow-up, mean time of 26 months after their assessment, the researchers re-employed the child adaptation measure in semi-structured interviews with carers in birth, adoptive, foster and kinship placements. The data were independently coded and the results compared with the child’s original score as a measure of change in adaptation post proceedings in their substitute family or birth family. Researchers also collected information about the children’s placement(s) and any support or treatment received. The study found that children’s well-being significantly improved by an average of +6.7 points between initial assessment (M = 68.13; SD = 9.86) and follow-up (M = 74.82; SD = 7.84), (t (67) = −5.0, p < .001, d = 0.76). Children whose global adjustment scores were clinically concerning at the time of assessment hardly improved their scores (.44), compared to children whose global adjustment scores were within the normal range at the time of assessment. Interestingly, the majority (88%) of expert placement recommendations had been accepted and implemented. However, less than 50% of the children and only 30% of parents received the support and treatment recommended in the experts’ reports in the proceedings. The implications for both policy and practice in working with children and their families during and after care proceedings are explored.

Development of reasoning: behavioral evidence to support reinforcement over cognitive control accounts

Abstract Speeds theory makes two predictions for the development of analogical reasoning. Firstly, young children should not be able to reason analogically due to an undeveloped PFC neural network. Secondly, category knowledge enables the reinforcement of structural features over surface features, and thus the development of sophisticated, analogical, reasoning. We outline existing studies that support these predictions and highlight some critical remaining issues. Specifically, we argue that the development of inhibition must be directly compared alongside the development of reasoning strategies in order to support Speeds account.