No description available.

This essay reports on findings drawn from a larger study which seeks to discover the ways in which persons between the ages of seventeen and twenty-one years attempt to cope with their situation in the period of transition between childhood and adulthood. The emphasis centres on three matters which are sources of conflict for youth: the striving for independence, the management of sexuality, and the desire for achievement. These conflict areas are considered in their relation to the structure and function of the youth culture, the structured complex of patterns of behaviour adhered to by youth, and their relevance for the process of identity formation. It was expected that the ways of coping with these problems of youth would differ according to the socio-economic position of the respondents. Data for the study was collected first, by means of a questionnaire administered to students in the introductory sociology course of this university. This allowed the selection of a sample of persons exhibiting the necessary characteristics of age, and socio-economic status which was calculated on the basis of the education and income of their parents. Each of the respondents grouped according to these criteria into four categories for each sex was interviewed and given a sentence completion test. Thirty-eight persons instead of the hoped for forty-five in each of eight categories—fulfilled the requirements. We found that all the respondents experience conflicts with regard to the three designated areas. In their striving for independence the conflict centred on their attempts to reconcile their need for independence from parental authority with a complementary need for dependence on their parents. In their attempts to manage sexuality they are striving to satisfy their desires and their consciences, and to gain social approval all at once. Under achievement they are trying to preserve their independence, utilize their capabilities, and obtain security simultaneously. Their general response to these conflicts is characterised as a "quiet rebellion". This involves the expression of independence in ways which satisfy the cultural dictates concerning children's obedience to parents and ensures social approval for "standing on their own feet", although this latter subtly subverts parental authority. It is further manifested in their moral individualism which lays the onus of the decision concerning right conduct on the individual, and in their proposed ritualistic participation in the public sphere with a concomitant innovation in the private realm. The centrality of the problem of independence reveals that these three conflicts are aspects of the search for identity involving at once the struggle to relate themselves to the environment in a new way and reluctance to abandon the old relation. The data suggests that it is not socio-economic status, but the character of the parent-child-relations in which they are embedded which differentiates their response to their situation. Furthermore, their behaviour is characterised by realism, a tendency to assess their social environment critically and not to yield to irresponsibility and romantic idealisation. It is therefore suggested, on the basis of the important similarities and differences between their behaviour and that of the youth culture, that the latter can be differentiated into sub-cultures corresponding to the early, middle and late adolescent age-levels. The more dramatic features of the youth culture would be confined to the two earlier levels, whereas at the third level there is greater orientation to the patterns of adult culture, with maintenance of such youth culture patterns as independence strivings and the dating complex which are adaptive for functioning in the adult world. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

In the present study, the Bene Anthony Family Relations Test was used to measure children's perceptions of their family members and a friend. Comparisons were made between the perceptions of: a) a group of disturbed children and one of their normal siblings (clinic pair), b) a group of normal children and one of their normal siblings (normal pair), and c) the clinic and normal pairs of children. No differences were found between the perceptions of disturbed children and their normal siblings or between the perceptions of the two normal siblings. The clinic pair differed from the normal pair in two respects: I) the clinic pair expressed more negative feelings toward their siblings, and 2) the clinic pair indicated more reliance on their friend. All groups perceived their parents similarly. It was concluded that more attention ought to be paid to the role of siblings and extrafamilial members. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Attachment behaviors in young children experiencing two primary caregivers were studied in group homes organized for single mothers. The nine subjects ranged in age from five to 27 months. They were observed separately with their mothers and with the adult in charge of their group home during the day. Only small qualitative differences in the adult-child interaction were observed. Little fear of strangers and separation anxiety were seen. The theoretical implications of results for the concept of attachment were discussed. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Data from 7 subtests of the MPI were analyzed for 120 kindergarten children in a low socio-economic area of Greater Vancouver. The subtests were selected as being representative of components of a mental ability profile (MAP) and included categories of IQ, spatial conceptualization, abstract reasoning, verbal comprehension and generic and word production. Classification of the data into 2 levels of age (5 yrs. 3 mos. - 5 yrs. 10 mos.; 5 yrs. 11 mos. - 6 yrs. 6 mos.), 2 levels of score on the MPI (4 - 7; 8 -11), and 3 levels of ethnic group (Chinese, Italian and Canadian) gave 2 contrasting MAPS. The Chinese MAP was distinctively different from the Italian and Canadian MAPS which closely resembled each other. Significant differences appeared (p<.01) for all categories between ethnic groups with the exception of verbal comprehension. Age was not a significant factor in any category. Scoring levels were significantly different (p<.01) but each ethnic group retained its MAP at both low and high levels of scoring. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Ninety-six children aged 4 to 9 years performed a classificatory task using simple line drawings of human figures. It was predicted that the youngest children would group the pictures according to overall body shape, with an increasing tendency with age for classification based on facial expression. This prediction was based on previous studies which find young children unable to analyze and "filter" information in a stimulus array in such a way as to utilize component parts. The results supported the prediction in general, the major exception being 5 year old girls, who classified the pictures mainly according to facial expression. Flexibility in performance increased with age. Suggestions were made for further research on the basis of the findings. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

The study, by exploiting Thomas S. Kuhn’s view of scientific development, attempted to establish a theoretical basis for teaching and learning science in the classroom. At the present preliminary stage of the exploratory study, the writer concentrated on Kuhn's historical pattern of science in which paradigms form research traditions separated by scientific revolutions resulting in new and more sophisticated views of the field. The writer felt that the acquisition of views of natural phenomena by children might follow some sort of evolutionary, Kuhnian-like pattern of paradigmatic investigatory activities. These activities would be separated by transitional periods of effort or paradigm-like shifts resulting in new and incommensurate ways of seeing natural phenomena. To facilitate the recognition of such a pattern of intellectual behaviour by children, the writer formulated a teacher role based on ideas drawn from Kuhn. The present study attempted to provide apparent examples of children's modes of thought and speculative bases: for some of their actions. By observing children's investigatory activities, involving sinking and floating objects, the writer found some support for what he has termed child-paradigms or points of view about natural events. All children, for example appeared to hold a child-paradigm that objects sink when filled with water. Support was also found for Kuhn's suggestion that children's views often show striking parallels to those of Aristotelians. In this case, the learners appeared to see water as an external, Aristotelian-like, motive force which causes objects to sink or move from their natural floating positions. During the course of their activities, all children appeared to encounter numerous novel observations or anomalies -- facts and findings inconsistent with their expectations. Applying the point of view that objects sink when filled with water, all learners discovered that the plastic straw floated. The assimilation of anomaly, in one instance, resulted in what has been termed a child-paradigm shift. During this experience the child's earlier view that floating objects do not displace water was replaced by a more sophisticated view involving water displacement. Although only one child-paradigm shift or perceptual-conceptual transposition seemed reasonably evident in the study, the writer felt that this concept was useful in accounting for children's acquisition of modern scientific views. He speculated that a modified teacher role could facilitate shifts in children's perception. In addition, he speculated about the potential usefulness of the study for classroom teaching and suggested several problems for future investigation related to curriculum development. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

Two groups of 5- to 8-year-olds, and a comparison sample of adults, were examined in an effort to explore the developing relationships between false belief understanding and an awareness of the individualized nature of personal taste, on the one hand, and, on the other, a maturing grasp of the interpretive character of the knowing process. In Study 1,20 children between 5 and 8, and in Study Two, a group of 15 adults, all behaved in accordance with hypotheses by proving to be indistinguishable in their good grasp of the possibility of false beliefs, and in their common assumption that differences of opinion concerning matters of taste are legitimate expressions of personal preferences. By contrast, only the 7- and 8-year-old children and adults gave evidence of recognizing that ambiguous stimuli allow for warrantable differences of interpretation. Study 3 replicated and extended these findings with a group of 48 5- to 8-year-old subjects, again showing that while 5-year-olds easily pass a standard test of false belief understanding, only children of 7 or 8 ordinarily evidence an appreciation of the interpretative character of the knowing process. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

No description available.

No description available.