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| Child Social Behavior |
| Sunday, May 30, 2004 |
| 2:30 PM–3:50 PM |
| Dalton |
| Area: DEV |
| Chair: Kerrie L. Lum Lock (Florida International University) |
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| Development of Self-control in Humans and Animals: Differences and Generalities |
| Domain: Applied Research |
| VINCA RIVIERE (University of Lille III), Jean-Claude Darcheville (University of Lille III) |
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| Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to compare results obtained in animal- and infant self-control schedules. The procedures used in studies both in animal and infant will be presented to explore cross-species- and age of subjects generality. The question of linear continuity across species will be discussed according to the results obtained in infants and children in the literature. |
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| Ideal Free Distribution in Children |
| Domain: Applied Research |
| MICHEL SOKOLOWSKI (Universite de Picardie), Gerald Disma (Universite de Picardie) |
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| Abstract: From a Darwinian point of view, natural selection acts to shape individual characteristics. In many cases, fitness is directly related to behavior, so we could expect behavior to be optimized. Because fitness may be affected by behavior at each level of development, we could expect at least some parts of children’s behavior being similarly optimized. When competition for patchily distributed resources occurs, the ideal free distribution predicts the equalization of gains in all the patches. In some defined conditions, the ideal free distribution results in the habitat matching rule which states that the ratio of individual in two patches is equal to the ratio of resources in these patches. We have tested this rule in groups of ten children ranging from 7 to 11 years old. The children competed for stickers available in two spatially defined patches according to different time schedules. Undermatching is shown in all groups of children. |
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| Attachment in Institutionalized Children |
| Domain: Applied Research |
| INMACULADA GOMEZ BECERRA (University of Almeria, Spain), Martha Pelaez (Florida International University), Trinidad Rodriguez Jimenez (University of Almeria, Spain) |
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| Abstract: Caregiver´s attachment is analyzed in a sample of 8 to 12 years old institutionalized children that were removed from their biological or natural parents when they were young. Two studies were conducted: The first study, is a preliminary epidemiological assessment of the accessible and representative population (24 children of 32) of the centers of smaller than Almería. We identified and described their main attachment figures by means of a questionnaire and then we correlate their verbal responses with different motivation conditions or categories of contingencies (positive and negative reinforcement). An analytic epidemiological assessment was conducted in the one of the attachment figures and analyzed based on the caregiver's descriptions regarding the perceived reinforcement functions they served. Other important variables were analyzed: the children's age at the moment of separation from the parents; the frequency of visits; and the length of children's permanency in the institution. The results point out the social-cultural and historical functions of the attachment figure and are discussed in the context of verbal behavior. In the second study, we used a control group of non-institutionalized children to improve our methodology. The results show that differences do not exist groups between both regarding the abstraction and descriptions of the main attachment figure; although if correspondence exists among the figure that the not institutionalized children inform as main attachment and those that describe as elements that provide the high-priority functions of reinforcement. Both studies are discussed from a behavioral-contextual perspective with emphasis on the socio-verbal context and the discriminative functions. |
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