Individual differences in the theory of mind and superior temporal sulcus

We investigated the brain area with regard to individual differences in the theory of mind. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined the brain area in which signal intensity was apparently related to performance of a theory-of-mind task on multiple regression analysis. A significant relation was observed between performance of theory-of-mind task and activation in the left anterior superior temporal sulcus. We could not find such an activation in the superior temporal sulcus and the temporo-parietal junction area. The present findings provide new evidence that the anterior superior temporal sulcus might dictate individual differences in theory of mind.     

Covert antisocial behavior, peer deviancy training, parenting processes, and sex differences in the development of antisocial behavior during childhood

Two longitudinal studies were used to examine the occurrence and consequences of peer deviancy training during childhood and the relative role of early covert antisocial behavior in risk for antisocial behavior in early adolescence. Peer deviancy training was apparent in a sample of at-risk first grade children, and it showed persistence and increased prevalence across the school year. Peer deviancy training, peer rejection, and unskilled parenting made additive contributions to the development of antisocial behavior during kindergarten and first grade and to antisocial behavior in fourth grade. Skilled parenting partially mitigated the association of peer deviancy training with antisocial behavior for boys. The appearance and growth of covert antisocial behavior was a predictor of fourth grade antisocial for boys and girls, more so than aggressive and overt antisocial behavior. Peer deviancy training and early covert antisocial behavior were key pathways to girls' antisocial behavior in fourth grade, and they complemented the roles of peer rejection and overt antisocial behavior for boys. The relationships of parenting and peer processes to trajectories of antisocial behavior were similar for boys and girls; but boys showed higher levels of antisocial behavior, were more involved in peer deviancy training, and were more likely to experience peer rejection.     

The development of executive attention: contributions to the emergence of self-regulation

Over the past decade, developmental studies have established connections between executive attention, as studied in neurocognitive models, and effortful control, a temperament system supporting the emergence of self-regulation. Functions associated with the executive attention network overlap with the more general domain of executive function in childhood, which also includes working memory, planning, switching, and inhibitory control (Welch, 2001). Cognitive tasks used with adults to study executive attention can be adapted to children and used with questionnaires to trace the role of attention and effortful control in the development of self-regulation. In this article we focus on the monitoring and control functions of attention and discuss its contributions to self-regulation from cognitive, temperamental, and biological perspectives.     

The influence of parenting practices and neighborhood characteristics on the development of childhood aggression

The present study examined the way in which neighborhood impoverishment, neighborhood social processes, and parenting practices relate to the development of aggressive behavior among children aged 6–8 years raised in low‐income neighborhoods. A total of 424 children (male = 207, female = 217) and their families participated in the study. Hierarchical linear regression revealed that neighborhood impoverishment, neighborhood social processes, and parental monitoring/supervision were associated with childhood aggression 2 years later. Neighborhood social processes did not mediate the relation between neighborhood impoverishment and childhood aggression, nor did parental monitoring/supervision mediate the relation between neighborhood characteristics and childhood aggression. Children residing in neighborhoods with substantial poverty are at greater risk of developing aggressive behavior. Strong neighborhood social processes and high levels of parental supervision/monitoring are associated with lower levels of aggression. Despite the protective benefits of neighborhood social processes and high‐quality parenting, neighborhood economic deprivation continues to elevate risk of developing aggressive behavior.     

Individual differences in testosterone and corticosterone levels in relation to early postnatal development in the rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus

Many aspects of an animal's early development contribute to the emergence of individual differences in physiology. Here we asked whether litter size, birth mass, suckling success and postnatal growth were predictors of individual differences in testosterone (T) and corticosterone (CORT) levels in neonatal domestic rabbits. Serum concentrations of both hormones, which we measured on postnatal day 8, were significantly and positively correlated with pup growth and milk intake. Litter size and birth mass were not significantly correlated with levels of T and CORT, although both parameters were indirectly associated with the levels of these hormones via their effects on milk intake and pup growth. Our results highlight the importance of naturally occurring features of the postnatal environment in shaping individual differences in T and CORT levels during early life.     

Shyness,aggression, and empathy in children of shy mothers: Moderating influence of children's psychophysiological self-regulation

Maternal psychological factors are known to play a critical role in children's socioemotional development, particularly in pro- and anti-social behaviors. Although shyness is a ubiquitous phenomenon and associated with social anxiety, relatively few have examined the relation between maternal shyness and children's socioemotional development. We explored the moderating influence of children's resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and RSA change on the relation between maternal shyness and children's shyness, empathy, and aggression in 129 (62 males) typically developing 4- (n = 81) and 6- (n = 48) year-olds. We found that 6-year-olds' RSA change score from baseline to a cognitive challenge task acted as a moderator on the relation between mother's shyness and child observed empathy but not for maternal report of child aggression or child's observed shyness. These results were not found in the 4-year-olds. Six-year-olds with relatively high RSA change and relatively low maternal shyness displayed the highest levels of empathy. These results suggest that the maternal caregiving environment and biological characteristics of the child may confer individual differences in prosocial behaviors in children. Findings are discussed in terms of age-related differences in socioemotional behaviors in children of shy mothers.     

Antecedents of toddler aggression: dysfunctional parenting in mother-toddler dyads.

Aggression is stable as early as 2 years of age and predicts many negative adult outcomes. Although longitudinal predictors of child aggression have been identified, information is lacking regarding the proximal precursors of toddlers' aggression. During a 30-min interaction, 54 mother-toddler dyads were observed. Toddlers were categorized as aggressive or nonaggressive based on whether they exhibited aggression toward their mothers within the interaction. Most toddlers in both groups escalated from mild to more severe forms of misbehavior. Mothers of aggressive toddlers displayed more lax and over-reactive discipline when addressing misbehaviors that preceded aggression than did mothers of nonaggressive toddlers. Mothers of aggressive toddlers either ignored or attended neutrally or positively to the aggression. Implications for parenting interventions are discussed.     

The role of early parenting in children's development of executive processes

Using structural modeling, we examined the influence of mothers' verbal input that provided information about associations between objects and actions (scaffolding) at 3 and 4 years of age on children's 6-year executive processing skills. Executive processing skills were measured by search retrieval and independent goal-directed play tasks. A set of 4-year basic skills (language, memory, nonverbal problem solving) considered to be prerequisites for executive processing also were included. Patterns of influence across these variables were examined for 253 children who varied in neonatal complications and in their degree of risk for later developmental problems. Results showed that mothers' early verbal scaffolding at 3 years indirectly influenced both types of executive processing skills at 6 years by directly influencing children's language and nonverbal problem-solving skills at 4 years of age. Four-year scaffolding did not show direct influences on later executive processing skills. The provision of this form of maternal verbal input when children are rapidly developing language appears to support a set of basic skills necessary for later executive processing.     

Interpersonal aggression in urban minority youth: Mediators of perceived neighborhood,peer, and parental influences

This study examined perceived social environment and personal control variables as predictors of interpersonal aggression in urban minority youth. Perceived environmental factors included neighborhood risk, friends' delinquency, and parental monitoring practices, which were examined as direct predictors of aggression and as indirect predictors mediated by anger control skills and risk-taking characteristics. The sample consisted of 452 primarily African-American sixth-graders attending New York City public schools. Structural equation modeling indicated that better perceived parental monitoring practices were directly associated with less aggression and had an indirect effect that was mediated by better anger control skills. Perceived neighborhood risk and friends' delinquency were directly associated with more aggression and had indirect effects that were mediated by greater individual risk-taking. Implications of these findings for prevention interventions are discussed. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Schizophrenia,theory of mind,and persecutory delusions

Introduction. There is already a substantial body of evidence supporting Frith's (1992 Frith CD (1992) The cognitive neuropsychology of schizophrenia Hove, UK: Psychology Press  ) theory that theory of mind (ToM) is impaired in people with schizophrenia. However, a specific relationship between impaired ToM and paranoid delusions, while intuitively reasonable, has only been demonstrated in two studies to date.

Methods. A total of 25 participants with schizophrenia were classified as paranoid or nonparanoid and compared with 38 healthy controls on a variety of ToM tasks. These tasks included verbal and nonverbal, and first and second order ToM tasks.

Results. Participants with schizophrenia performed significantly more poorly than healthy controls on both the first and second order verbal ToM tasks but not on the nonverbal ToM tasks. However, the ToM deficit was only observed for those participants with schizophrenia who had persecutory delusions. There was also a strong relationship observed between the severity of persecutory delusions and length of illness.

Conclusions. This study represents only the third demonstration of a specific link between paranoid delusions and ToM impairment. Reasons why previous findings on this issue have been so inconsistent are considered. Further research is needed to explore the relationships among paranoia, ToM, and length of illness.     

Reading mind from pictures of eyes: theory of mind,language ability,general intellectual ability,and autism

Some researchers have claimed that theory of mind or 'mind reading' ability, necessary for inferring the mental states of others, depends on language ability. However, previous tests of theory of mind were verbally demanding, and high correlations found might have been an artifact. This paper reports the performance of 22 children with autism, with varying degrees of dysfunction, on a test devised by Baron-Cohen, Jolliffe, Mortimore, and Robertson (1997), based on a relatively nonverbal theory of mind. The test involved inference of mental states from photographs of human eyes. Results indicated that mind reading ability was independent of language ability, general intelligence, or mental age. Test scores were, however, strongly related to the severity of autistic disorder. These results suggest both the independence of mind-reading ability from language ability and general intelligence, and a strong relationship between theory of mind deficit and the autistic disorder.     

Husbands' and wives' marital adjustment, verbal aggression, and physical aggression as longitudinal predictors of physical aggression in early marriage

Marital adjustment, verbal aggression, and physical aggression have long been associated in the marital literature, but the nature of their associations remains unclear. In this study, the authors examined these 3 constructs as risk factors for physical aggression during the first 2 years of marriage in 634 couples recruited as they applied for marriage licenses. Couples completed assessments at the time of marriage and at their 1st and 2nd anniversaries. Results of path analyses suggest that prior verbal aggression and physical aggression by both partners are important longitudinal predictors of physical aggression but do not support the role of marital adjustment as a unique predictor of subsequent physical aggression. Contrary to prior research, results also failed to support physical aggression as a unique predictor of marital adjustment.     

Individual differences in mood in early childhood: their relation to gender and neonatal sex steroids

Predominant mood states were assessed for 104 children via 24-hr mother diaries during the first 2 years of life. Consistent sex differences were found across ages and across cohorts: boys were more often reported to be in a happy/excited mood, girls in a quiet/calm mood. The sexes did not differ in the frequency of negative moods (including crying), however. Scores for happy/excited and quiet/calm mood states were quite stable across the ages sampled: 6, 9, 12, 18, and 26 months. These stabilities were generally greater for boys. Negative moods showed only borderline stability. Relationships between the mood scores and five sex-steroid hormones (progesterone, androstenedione, testosterone, estrone, and estradiol), assayed from umbilical cord blood at the time of the children's birth, were assessed. For boys small, but significant, positive relationships were found between happy/excited moods and androstenedione, estrone, and progesterone. Correlations of opposite sign were found between these hormones and boys' scores for quiet/calm mood. For girls, the correlations were low and insignificant, but generally of opposite sign from those found for boys, and a number of hormones showed significant sex-by-hormone interactions in their relation to children's mood scores. The implication of these findings for the understanding of sex differences is discussed. Also discussed are the problems of interpretation posed by the intercorrelations among hormones when hormone scores are used for prediction of aspects of later development.     

Alignment and theory of mind in schizophrenia

Introduction. We predicted that participants with schizophrenia would be able to successfully “align” during conversation in the context of impaired theory of mind. Alignment is a process by which interlocutors’ representations of the conversational situation converge; and it may, in part, explain how people with schizophrenia can often participate successfully in dialogue despite experiencing impaired mentalising.

Methods. Fifty-nine people with schizophrenia and 38 healthy adults completed a standardised, empirical conversational alignment task with a mentalising component and a measure of current IQ. The patients also completed two independent theory of mind tests. We used ANCOVAs to compare the groups’ performances.

Results. The participants with schizophrenia and the healthy participants demonstrated equivalent alignment skills even though the schizophrenia participants displayed clear theory of mind difficulties. Symptom subtype analyses found no differences between subtype groups in alignment, but healthy controls and remitted patients performed significantly better on the mentalising component than the paranoia group.

Conclusions. These results are consistent with the schizophrenia participants having intact alignment skills alongside mentalising impairments. We propose that this explains why people with schizophrenia can often participate successfully in conversation but have difficulties with more complex dialogues, with resolving misunderstandings, and with untangling ambiguities during conversation.     

Verbal and visual cognition: Individual differences in the lab,in the brain,and in the classroom

In many ways, individuals vary in their thought processes, and in their cognitive strengths and weaknesses. Among the findings revealed by individual differences research, one major dividing line highlighted recurrently by decades of experimental studies is that between linguistically-mediated cognitive operations (verbal cognition), versus cognition, which primarily operates on visual – or visuospatial – representations (visual cognition). In this article, we review findings from three research areas—cognitive abilities, working memory, and task strategies—focusing on individual differences in verbal and visual cognition. In each area we highlight behavioral, neuroimaging, and classroom-based findings, bridging the perspectives of these different methodologies.     

Individual differences during the development of the domestic chick's attraction toward intermittent light

Stable and persisting individual differences occur in the domestic chick's attraction toward normally preferred rates of intermittent white light in the vicinity of 4 flashes per second during the period around hatching when this preference develops. These differences are not linked to fluctuations in the test environment, high levels of indiscriminate responding toward flicker in those most attracted, the presence of an alternate rate preference in those least attracted, or to differences among chicks in arousal level or locomotor ability.