Sharone L. Maital

The Hebrew Communicative Development Inventory: Language Specific Properties and Cross-Linguistic Generalizations.

Cultural, linguistic, and developmental evidence was taken into consideration in constructing the HCDI, a Hebrew adaptation of the MCDI. The HCDI was then administered to a stratified sample of Israeli mothers of 253 toddlers aged 1;6 to 2;0 (M = 1;8.18). Hebrew results are presented and compared with scores from the original MCDI sample (Fenson, Dale, Reznick, Bates, Thal & Pethick, 1994). The HCDI is a reliable and sensitive measure of lexical development and emergent grammar, capturing wide variability among Israeli toddlers. In comparison with English, the relation between vocabulary size and age, as well as the shape of the growth curves for nouns, predicate terms, and closed class words relative to size of lexicon, were strikingly similar. These results indicate that conclusions concerning cross-linguistic similarities can be best documented by using parallel methods of measurement. The HCDI results support the claim that early lexical development in Hebrew and in English follow remarkably similar development patterns, despite the typological differences between the two target languages.

Maternal personality and parenting cognitions in cross-cultural perspective

A total of 467 mothers of firstborn 20-month-old children from 7 countries (103 Argentine, 61 Belgian, 39 Israeli, 78 Italian, 57 Japanese, 69 Korean, and 60 US American) completed the Jackson Personality Inventory (JPI), measures of parenting cognitions (self-perceptions and knowledge), and a social desirability scale. Our first analysis showed that the Five-Factor structure of personality (Openness, Neuroticism, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness) could be extracted from the JPI scales when cross-cultural data from mothers in the 7 countries were analyzed; it was also replicable and generalizable in mothers from so-called individualist and collectivist cultures. Our second analysis showed that the five personality factors relate differently to diverse parenting cognitions in those individualist versus collectivist cultures. Maternal personality has significance in studies of normative parenting, child development, and family process across cultural contexts.

Is the future what it used to be? A behavioral theory of the decline of saving in the west

Abstract In all but one (Austria) of the 24 OECD countries, all forms of saving—personal, business and government—expressed as a percent of income or GDP were lower in 1987 than in 1973. This decline in national saving—amounting to over 4% of GDP—implies a serious devaluation of the future among countries that comprise 60% of world output. No persuasive explanation or model has been advanced to explain it. This article proposes a behavioral theory, based on the proposition that for most households the marginal rate of time preference (the subjective premium attached to present consumption compared to future consumption), exceeds, rather than equals, market interest rates. This implies that it always pays to spend more by borrowing . People constrain themselves from doing so by a variety of self-imposed precommitment constraints. These constraints have been seriously weakened during the past 15 years by various forms of deregulation. It is argued that national saving will not recover until the pro-savings self-imposed constraints are restored, at least in part.

Contexts of Collaboration in Caregiving: Infant Interactions with Israeli Kibbutz Mothers and Caregivers

This report directly compares caregiving activities of mothers and nonfamilial care‐givers in the context of the Israeli kibbutz, where responsibilities for chiidrearing are typically shared according to formalized kibbutz social norms. For comparison, the study also included full‐time homemaker mothers from typical, urban nuclear families in Israel. The frequency and sequence of common caregiving activities showed similarities and differences among mothers and caregivers, as did patterns of associations among mother and caregiver behaviors and patterns of interactions between mothers and infants as well as between caregivers and infants. Infants themselves differed in exploration and vocalization with different caregivers. Caregiving activities, interactions, and developmental processes provided by kibbutz mothers and professional nonfamilial caregivers are discussed in terms of a “division of caregiving responsibilities,” and they are compared with caregiving provided by homemaker mothers.

The Internet and School Psychology Practice

ABSTRACT The Internets potential impact on school psychology is assessed. Particular attention is given to e-mail, the most common method of communication on the Internet. Discussion focuses on implications for consultation, professional development, parent and teacher training, counseling, and assessment. Although research at present is limited, the Internet seems to hold the most promise for enhancing con sultation, professional development, and parent and teacher training. The relative absence of research and ethical guidelines should preclude widespread use of the Internet in assessment and counseling. Nonetheless, with the appropriate safeguards, online peer support groups might become a viable adjunct to counseling for older students. Guidelines for practice are offered and relevant ethical issues are addressed.

The Rise and Fall of the Future: Why Did National Saving Decline?

Between 1973 and 1987, the rate of saving of households, businesses and governments declined in virtually all 24 OECD countries. For the United States, France, Japan, and the United Kingdom, the drop in national saving amounted to about 5 per cent of GDP. Since 1987, savings rates have recovered somewhat, but as of 1994 remain substantially below their levels in the early 1970s (see Table 9.1 and Figures 9.1 and 9.2).