UVicSpace | Institutional Repository
UVicSpace is the University of Victoria’s open access scholarship and learning repository. It preserves and provides access to the digital scholarly works of UVic faculty, students, staff, and partners. Items in UVicSpace are organized into collections, each belonging to a community.
For more information about depositing items, see the Submission Guidelines.
Recent Submissions
Film provoked aggression in children: effects of prior affection training
(1979) Marton, John P.; Acker, Loren E.
This research investigated the effects of prior affection training on subsequent television provoked aggression. The research manipulated the nature of children's training with the object (a stuffed Mickey Mouse toy) toward which aggression was later modelled via television.
Four and five year old children attending day care centres in Victoria, B.C. participated. Affection training consisted of the experimenter modelling a sequence of care taking acts directed at "Mickey''; feeding, cleaning, resting, etc. The experimenter modelled each act in a manner emphasizing gentle, affectionate components (encapsulating Mickey close to body with large surface area of contact, drawing Mickey close to face, incorporating slow and gentle movement, and interspersing stroking and rocking motions). The experimenter instructed and prompted imitation of each act by the child and provided physical and verbal guidance, as required, to ensure that affectionate components were present in the child's behaviour. Satisfactory imitations were verbally consequated.
Teacher training was a control training procedure consisting of modelling, prompting, and guiding a parallel sequence of caretaking acts. However, this procedure emphasized teaching components of behaviours and was devoid of overt physical affection. Affection and teacher training procedures were matched with respect to time spent with the experimenter, verbal consequences received from the experimenter, number of behaviours trained, etc. Another control group received no training. Televised aggression, shown to each of these children, depicted a sequence of caretaking acts similar to those in the training phase. However, these acts were modelled in a harsh, rough, aggressive manner.
Subsequent effects on behaviour were assessed in two setting conditions. In the prompted play setting (immediately following the televised aggression), the experimenter prompted the child to engage in each of the eight previously modelled caretaking acts (without specifying the manner in which the act was to be performed). Children were observed with respect to the character of their caretaking as regards the occurrence of directly imitative aggression (aggressive behaviours matching those televised) and generalized aggression (other aggressive behaviours). In the following free play setting, the children played with Mickey without specific prompts and occurrences of the two forms of aggression were again scored. Interobserver agreement was over 90% for directly imitative aggression and over 70% for generalized aggression. Data on the occurrences of affectionate and teaching imitations were also obtained through out.
Additional experimental conditions consisted of teacher training followed by nonaggressive television (as a control to determine the effects of the televised aggression in terms of provoking aggression) and affection training followed by aggressive modelling directly followed by free play (to determine the role of presence/absence of prompted play in contributing to free play effects).
The hypothesis tested was that affection training would buffer the occurrence of television provoked aggression. The results indicate that during prompted play only directly imitative aggression was provoked by the aggressive videotape. No significant differences in occurrences of directly imitative aggression were obtained between affection trained and teacher trained children. During free play both directly imitative and generalized aggression were provoked. During free play there were significantly fewer occurrences of aggression in affection trained children than in teacher trained children, by both the multi variate test for the two forms of aggression and by the univariate test for generalized aggression. The results are discussed in terms of the social demand characteristics of the two play settings, procedural issues, and presumed histories for affectionate and aggressive behaviours.
Some determinants of affectionate behavior in young children
(1976) Pirot, Michael; Acker, Loren E.
This research is concerned with the determinants of affectionate behavior in young children, and is focused upon the uncovering of the means by which to increase positive social behavior (e.g. modelling of prosocial behavior), rather than being concerned with negative social behavior and the means by which to decelerate it (e.g. punishment and extinction with their potentially unfortunate social consequences).
In two experiments, the determinants of affectionate behavior in young children were explored. Experiment I was the study of the effects of modelling and instruction upon imitative, concurrent, and free-play affectionate behavior of young children towards a toy object (teddy bear). The experiment consisted of two phases: a modelled caretaking or an instructed caretaking training phase followed by a free-play phase during which generalization data were taken.
Three groups were set in Experiment I: a) an Imitative Caretaking group in which caretaking behavior was modelled, with assessment of imitative caretaking and concurrent affectionate behavior; b) an Instructed Caretaking group in which instructions to caretake were given, with assessment of instructed caretaking and concurrent affectionate behavior; and c) a Control group, which received no training. All three groups were assessed as regards free-play affectionate behavior and aggressive behavior in a single phase free- play period.
The results of Experiment I demonstrated t hat the Imitative Care taking group produced a mean imitation rate of 69% during training and t hat this training produced significantly more free-play affectionate behavior than did t he Instructed Caretaking and Control groups. The - ii Imitative Caretaking group also produced significantly more concurrent affectionate behavior than the Instructed Caretaking group. The Instructed Caretaking group did not produce significantly more free-play affectionate behavior than the Control group. There was some evidence that physical contact and imitative caretaking may have been the effective variables producing the free-play affectionate behavior of the Imitative Caretaking group. Consequently these factors were systematically varied in Experiment II in order that their effects upon free-play affectionate behavior could be assessed.
Experiment II was conducted to explore the effects of imitative caretaking, non-imitative caretaking, and imitative neutral physical contact upon free-play affectionate and concurrent affectionate behavior. The experiment consisted of two phases: a training phase followed by a free-play phase (consisting of two periods) during which generalization data were taken.
Three groups were set in Experiment II: a) an Imitative Caretaking group (replicate of a group of the same name in Experiment I); b) a Non-Imitative Caretaking group (modelled caretaking kept constant, but physical contact obviated); and c) an Imitative Neutral Physical Contact group (physical contact kept constant, but the caretaking context obviated).
The results of Experiment II demonstrated that (imitative) caretaking and physical contact produced in imitation in the Imitative Caretaking group interacted as variables in such a manner to produce significantly more free-play affectionate behavior relative to the Non-Imitative Care taking and Imitative Neutral Physical Contact groups.
The increased free-play and concurrent affectionate behavior demonstrated by the Imitative Caretaking group of Experiment I was replicated by a similar group in Experiment II. These results suggest that these phenomena are reliable. The magnitude of treatment effect for the Groups factor was significantly increased by Experiment II as compared to Experiment I and thus increased the percentage of variance accounted for. Also the variability of the Imitative Caretaking group of Experiment II was significantly decreased for the girls, but not for the boys. This suggests that greater experimental control was accomplished by requiring that the children in imitation groups in Experiment II produce 100% criterion imitation (which was not demanded in Experiment I where the imitation rate was free to vary, producing 69% for the Imitative Care taking group).
Experiments I and II showed nearly nil amounts of aggressive behavior during training and free-play, and as such, conclusions about this rate are tenuous.
Sex was not a significant factor in almost every analysis of both experiments, suggesting that for three- to five-year-old children these treatment effects are not sex-dependent.
The generalization data of both experiments were taken in a cue-minimal/model-absent context, and as such provided a stringent test of the ability of the treatments to generalize to the free-play period. The Imitative Caretaking group produced generalization effects, suggesting that the effects of this treatment may generalize across a variety of stimulus situations. Consequently the techniques created by these experiments may provide teachers and parents a reliable means by which - iv to increase positive social behavior.
Child-context interactions: temperament and the development of peer group status among previously unacquainted children
(1989) Hobson-Underwood, Penelope Anne; Milton, G. A.
Theoretical models from the temperament literature are used as a basis for testing hypothesized relationships between temperamental dispositions, peer interactions, and peer group status in the present short-term longitudinal study. Ninety- six 6 to 9 year old children (50 girls, 46 boys) were brought together in groups of eight to interact with previously unacquainted, same-sex peers of similar ages for five hours. Each child was then given a sociometric interview and asked to nominate his or her two most- and least- favorite peers in the playgroup. Measures of each child' s emotionality, activity, sociability, and shyness (Buss & Plomin, 1984) were gathered from parents, observers previously unacquainted with the children, and the children themselves, to test predictions about the temperamental profiles of sociometrically rejected, neglected, average, and popular status children. A measure of body build (ponderal index) was also included. Behavioural observations were coded for each child over the course of the day to test hypothesized interactional patterns related to temperament and final peer group status. Data on I.Q., physical attractiveness and socioeconomic status were included to provide additional information on child and environmental variables, as well as to act as controls. Statistical analyses reveal significant differences in patterns of temperaments, behavioural interactions, appearance, I.Q., and SES among children in different sociometric status groups. The presence of children in each group having similar, and different characteristics, also suggests several alternative combinations of characteristics that may lead to more or less favorable peer group status. Findings of this study confirm the hypothesis that temperament plays an important role in the development of peer group status. Results also support the notion that children simultaneously evoke and experience differential responses and environments based on their own characteristics of individuality. Complex interactions involving temperament, social context (observers vs. parents), sex, and peer group status also provide indirect evidence of the operation of child-environment transactions in development. Findings support both personological and contextual models of child-environment interactions. Preliminary data on the nature of self-perceived temperament of children of different peer group status are also provided.
A mediated me: an autoethnographic study of self, body and media
(2002) Dellebuur, Kristyll Jo-Ann; Hoskins, Marie L.
In this autoethnographic study, the metaphor of a river illustrates the media's impact on women's conceptions of their body/selves. Through documenting and analyzing her own experiences with media and academic discourses about body and self, the author illustrates the complexities inherent in these discourses. Stating that current language limits our abilities to conceptualize our bodies and selves in healthy ways, the author introduces the term body/self as a more encompassing descriptor of the experiences she explores in this text. The author's findings challenge her previously held belief that knowledge-based prevention programming for disordered eating can effectively protect adolescent girls and women from the patriarchal discourses of femininity that they are swimming in. She puts forth the idea that resistance to these discourses must be a community activity and encourages activities for adolescent girls and adult women that foster feelings of physical groundedness and embodied wholeness.
A model of mixed-motive intra-alliance negotiation behavior
(1988) Schmidt, Faye Nella; Lee, Eric S.
A new theoretical model of mixed-motive intra-alliance negotiations is presented and tested. The assumptions in this model address: (a) cooperative and individualist goals, (b) positions of mutual dependence, (c) perceptions of power, (d) standards of fairness (equity and resource scarcity or need), and (e) outcomes (conflict and effective power). The model was developed with reference to the crisis game which simulates two-party negotiations in NATO over defense spending. It proposes that as negotiators interact over decisions relating to their cooperative and individualistic goals, several factors come into play (factors which are linked to the negotiator' s relative levels of resources and the importance of these resources to the alliance' s goals). One factor is the extent to which the negotiators are mutually dependent to obtain or maximize these goals. Another is the amount of power each is perceived to have. A third factor is the influence of the value of fairness which is assumed to impact contribution strategies and the negotiator's ability to justify the solutions they favor. These factors are used to predict levels of conflict and financial outcomes (e.g., high conflict will occur when negotiators are mutually dependent and there is a large discrepancy in their level of resource scarcity or need). In contrast to other crisis game models, this model generates predictions for a larger range of negotiation behaviors and outcomes in addition to predicting the amount of conflict. The model demonstrates a mathematical modelling approach in a complex situation, clarifies concepts important to intra-alliance negotiations, and advances theoretical knowledge.
Many of the model's predictions were tested in two experiments utilizing the crisis game. These studies examined the impact of different economic contexts on several negotiation behaviors and outcomes (e.g., desired and actual financial outcomes, concessions, perceived and effective power, conflict, defense fund spending, individual contribution strategies, and the importance of goals). In Experiment I the ratio of the resources needed by the alliance (to meet external threats) to available resources was held constant while the relative resources of the negotiators were varied (100 resources were divided using a .50/.50, .75/.25, and a .95/.05 division). In Experiment 2 the .75/.25 division was replicated with a new ratio of needed to available resources (in Experiment I the total resources were less than the maximum threat and in Experiment 2 the alliance's resources exceeded it). These experiments offer substantial support for the model including its new predictions linking conflict to both of the economic factors considered. In Experiment I a curvilinear conflict pattern was found with most conflict in the .75/.25 condition. In Experiment 2 the new level of resources resulted in a low level of conflict for this resource division. These results show that the model predicts the data reported in past studies (A. Bavelas, personal communication, 1977; Lee, 1986; Vitz and Kite, 1970) as well as new economic contexts not previously considered.