Internal Versus External Validity

bundet

E EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN EXPERT TEACHERS EXPLICIT MEMORY EXPLICIT TEACHING EXTERNAL VALIDITY EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES F FAILURE,EFFECTS OF FAMILY INFLUENCES FIELD EXPERIMENTS FIELD INDEPENDENCE– FIELD DEPENDENCE FLASHBULB MEMORIES, THE NATURE OF FLUID INTELLIGENCE FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION FRIENDSHIP G GANGS evaluation. Rules for the study of human subjects and issues related to conﬁdentiality guide the propriety standards. Accuracy standards require that conclu- sions about merit and worth be justiﬁed and true. Conclusions about merit and worth derive from accurate and defensible evidence collected in the evaluation. Even though there are such things as evaluation standards, evaluators and consumers of evaluations still need to make judgments about the desirability of any of the given standards. A Model for Evaluations There is a plethora of evaluation models, problems, and examples. They come from most of the traditional disciplines of the social sciences, humanities, and, of course, the ﬁeld of education. The National Science Foundation has published a brochure, ‘‘User-Friendly Handbook for Mixed Method Evaluations,’’ to guide evaluators who wish to approach an evaluation from a variety of perspectives. Mixed method evaluations bridge the gap between those who view evaluations in terms of social science methods and those who view them in more ethnographic terms. Figure 1 suggests one way to deﬁne approaches to evaluation studies. An evaluator chooses one or more of the existing evaluation models, applies his or her skills to a problem, and conducts a study within a set of constraints. The three dimensions are general. The par- ticular labels represent, more or less, the subset of skills and problems that will be addressed in an evaluation. General Models 1. Traditional. An emphasis on consistency between goals, experiences, and outcomes—goal attainment models 2. Decision oriented. An emphasis on collecting infor- mation from a variety of sources to provide a basis for giving information to decision makers and improving the program or product 3. Case study. An emphasis on using a variety of ethnographic methods to understand activities and values and on being responsive to diverse audiences 4. Integrative. An emphasis on identifying crucial issues, side effects, and costs and beneﬁts and mak- ing defensible value judgments These models may incorporate different modes of inquiry. That is, a traditional evaluation focusing on goal attainment could randomly assign units to some treatment and determine the effectiveness of that treat- ment. A case study could include more than one setting so that comparisons could be made between the effects in one location versus those in another. The particular methods of gathering evidence—experimental, quasi- experimental, and nonexpe rimental designs—depend not so much on the model that is adopted as on the questions being asked and t he resources available to answer them. Presently there is a major di spute about the desirabil- ity of using methods other than randomized controlled trials or experimental ﬁeld trials in either evaluation or research studies. Experimentation is called the gold standard methodology and is placed at the top of a hier- archy of possible research and evaluation methods. Experimental studies are con sidered the most desirable way to ascertain the impacts of programs and to deter- mine cause and effect in such studies. The emphasis on the superiority of experimental methods has met with considerable criticism. Respon- sible critics acknowledge the power of experimental methods in certain settings for speciﬁc purposes. It is generally acknowledged that a well-designed random- ized controlled trial can ascertain speciﬁc effects and assign cause. However, circumstances surrounding an evaluation may make it extremely difﬁcult to conduct Skills Models Constraints Traditional Decision Oriented Case Study Integrative Values Context Design Design Analyze Implement Report Figure 1 A heuristic for viewing evaluations Source: Edward Kifer. Evaluation 371 an experiment. For example, the resources available for an evaluation may not be sufﬁcient to conduct a randomized ﬁeld trial. The setting for a program may preclude the proper implementation of the pro- gram and, therefore, give erroneous results. It may not be possible to randomly assign participants to treatments, for example, to smoking and nonsmoking conditions. Critics argue that the issue is not the desir- ability of experimentation; rather, it is determining the extent to which it is possible, given a particular setting, to design an appropriate experiment and be able to maintain its internal validity. The ﬁdelity of the treatment is essential. Additionally, not all evaluations are on such a large scale that the resources are available to conduct either an experiment or a quasi-evaluation. Evaluations con- ducted in local settings with limited resources can still produce important and useful information. School sys- tems and individual schools may seek information about one practice or another or about one approach versus another. The approaches and skills mentioned here may be sufﬁcient to produce defensible answers to proposed problems. Big is not always good in evaluations. Skills 1. Design. An emphasis on asking appropriate ques- tions and gathering evidence that responds to those questions 2. Analyze. An emphasis on procedures and instru- mentation that are congruent with the proposed evaluation design 3. Implement. An emphasis on data collection and data analysis; a search for consistency between this and (1) and (2) 4. Report. An emphasis on writing for an appropriate audience; reporting complex results in straightfor- ward, understandable ways. Differentiating reports for varied audiences and stakeholders There is great diversity in what an education evalu- ator is asked to evaluate. It can be something as short as a professional development presentation to a huge curriculum project. Much of the debate about proper methodology is set in a context of large programs with substantial evaluation budgets. However, not all (and probably a small percentage of) evaluations are of that type. Still, the evaluator has the difﬁcult task of making sure the evaluation contains a sound set of potentially answerable questions no matter how ‘‘small’’ the evaluation. The design of the evaluation follows the questions to be asked about the object being evaluated. It is, of course, constrained by the available resources and the setting in which the evaluation occurs. Still, consis- tency between what is to be ascertained and how it is to be ascertained is crucial. Although there are argu- ments about the efﬁcacy of ethnographic techniques in evaluation studies, few deny that how a program is implemented is a crucial factor in its success. The most obvious way to assess the ‘‘ﬁdelity’’ of the treat- ment is through observational methods. Technical concerns are important, too. The proper selection or construction of an evaluation tool can inﬂuence greatly the results. Sometimes there is little information to guide the evaluator. For example, although constructed response items and tasks are increasingly popular in educational assessment and evaluation, little is known about how best to design them. Technical concerns such as reliability, interrater consistency, and rubric speciﬁcity have trumped design issues. How and what is collected must be congruent with the goals of the evaluation. Such concerns suggest a substantial training need of potential evaluators— technical expertise. A proper assessment of the evidence is the bridge between the important questions and the reporting of the results. An insightful analysis, be it a statistical or a content analysis, of the evidence provides the means to inform a variety of audiences of the purposes, goals, and effects of what is being evaluated. Multiple methods are often needed to produce the types of evi- dence needed for a proper analysis of the thing being evaluated. Whereas the writer of a typical research article typ- ically wants it published in a highly ranked, reputable journal and thus aspires to statistical sophistication demonstrating the newest techniques, the evaluator has the task of communicating important ﬁndings to a variety of audiences. Defensible evaluation publica- tions range from a one-page glossy ﬂyer to a well- crafted CD. In between are short reports targeting par- ticular audiences and persons. The evaluator should choose carefully how to approach a particular audi- ence and how sophisticated to make the presentation of the evidence. It should go without saying that the evaluator tells the same basic story to different audi- ences, just in simpler or more complex ways. 372 Evaluation Constraints 1. Values. An emphasis on what it means to evaluate (make judgments of worth); identifying the values issues embedded in the evaluation, looking at value orientations, and discerning potential value conﬂicts 2. Contexts. An emphasis on how a setting of an eval- uation impinges on what can be done effectively 3. Design. An emphasis on how a design of an evalua- tion can affect the type and strength of conclusions that might be reached It would be interesting to know whether an evalua- tor has ever believed that he or she has sufﬁcient resources to conduct the evaluation that is needed. Although resources, both ﬁnancial and human, con- strain what can be done by the evaluator, there are other constraints as well. An evaluator should attempt to make judgments of worth of what is being evaluated. That means it is nec- essary to identify the values issues inherent in the eval- uation, through the needs assessment or relevant professional literature and standards, and make sure that those issues are addressed in all aspects of the evalua- tion. The design must include provisions for collecting appropriate evidence so pr oper analyses and reporting of the values issues are a central part of the evaluation. A good example of how contexts inﬂuence what can be done in evaluations is in the international arena and the evaluation of educational achievements. Partic- ipation by countries is often conditioned on observing traditions about what can be tested and how. On the home front, one example is what can be taught (e.g., evolution in some states). These constraints inﬂuence the very nature of comparative evaluation studies. Finally, the evaluation question and the design determine what will be found. What goes in comes out. The evaluator must recognize that there is another day and another set of evaluations. Corrie Orthober and Edward ‘‘Skip’’ Kifer See also Assessment; Measurement Further Readings Levin, H. M. (1983). Cost-effectiveness: A primer. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Scriven, M. (1993). Hard-won lessons in program evaluation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Stufﬂebeam, D. L., Madaus, G. F., & Kellaghan, T. (2000). Evaluation models: Viewpoints on educational and human services evaluation. Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic. E XPERIMENTAL D ESIGN An experimental design is a speciﬁc strategy employed in research to answer a question of interest. In the ﬁeld of educational psychology, accumulation of knowledge is based on research. For example, an educational psy- chologist may wish to address the question of whether or not a speciﬁc method for teaching mathematics to primary school children resul ts in superior performance on a standardized test when contrasted with an alterna- tive method. Another educational psychologist might conduct a study to determine whether or not noise neg- atively affects the reading ability of children whose school is situated in close proximity to an airport. The three research strategies typically employed within the discipline of educational psychology are observational research ,the experimental method,and correlational research. Whereas observational research is typically informal and subjective, the experimental method is formal and objectiv e. Alternatively, whereas the observational method sacriﬁces precision for rele- vance, the experimental meth od sacriﬁces relevance for precision. The use of the term precision in deﬁning the experimental method implies the two elements of con- trol and precise quantiﬁcation , both of which are lacking in observational research. O n the other hand, the use of the term relevance in deﬁning observa tional research reﬂects the fact that the latter method observes human behavior in the natural environment as opposed to study- ing it in under the artiﬁcial conditions associated with the laboratory experiment. A hybrid of observational and experimental research is the ﬁeld experiment,which attempts to utilize experimental methodology to study behavior in the real world. C orrelational research also attempts to provide some balance between precision and relevance, in that it can quant ify the behavior of people in the real world, yet at the same time employ statistical means to impose some sort of control over the phenome- non being studied. The general subject of experimental design is most germane to research that employs the experimental and correlational methods. Basic Definitions The British statistician Ronald Fisher was primarily responsible for developing modern concepts of Experimental Design 373 experimental design within the framework of agricul- tural ﬁeld experiments he conducted at the Rothamsted Experimental Station in England during the period 1919 to 1939. Among other things, Fisher introduced the concepts of randomization; blocking, which can be employed to control for extr aneous variables; and fac- torial designs, which allow the researcher to simulta- neously study the impact of multiple variables. Regardless of the experimental design one employs, prior to conducting a study a researcher should specify a methodology that optimizes his or her ability to uti- lize the appropriate type of data to answer the question of interest in as efﬁcient and precise a manner as possi- ble. Among other things, so und experimental design involves identifying and controlling for potential sources of unwanted variability, as the latter can com- promise one’s ability to ident ify a cause-effect relation- ship between the variables of interest. It is important to note, however, that ethical and institutional considera- tions will often impose practical limitations on the type of research deemed acceptab le. Consequently, the chal- lenge to any researcher will be to design an ethically acceptable study that provides experimental control, yetatthesametimehaseno ugh experiential realism such that the researcher will be able to generalize the behavior of subjects beyond the environment in which they are studied. The most common type of hypothesis evaluated within the context of an experiment is a prediction regarding the relationship between two variables— speciﬁcally, an independent variable and a dependent variable. The independent variable is commonly referred to as the experimental treatment ,becauseit represents whatever it is that distinguishes the groups employed in an experiment from one another. The number of groups employed in an experiment repre- sents the number of levels of the independent variable. The measured responses of the subjects in an experi- ment represent the dependent variable, and if the experimenter’s hypothesis is accepted, the magnitude of subjects’ scores on the dependent variable should depend on the level of the independent variable to which subjects were exposed. True Experiment Versus Natural Experiment A distinction is often made between a true experiment and a natural experiment (which is often referred to as an ex post facto study ). The true experiment (which is referred to also as a true experimental design )is considered the gold standard of experimental design. In the simplest type of true experiment, subjects are randomly assigned to either an experimental group or control group. The experimental group only is intro- duced to a speciﬁc treatment manipulated by the experimenter to determine whether or not the treat- ment inﬂuences the behavior of subjects with respect to the response of interest, which will represent the dependent variable. Although, because of practical or ethical considera- tions, it may not always be possible for a researcher to design a true experiment, the latter type of experi- ment optimizes one’s ability to identify an existing cause-effect relationship between an independent and dependent variable, as well as to rule out one or more alternative hypotheses. The deﬁning characteristics of a true experiment are that each of the subjects is ran- domly assigned to one of two or more groups and that the independent variable is manipulated by the experi- menter. Random assignment optimizes the likelihood the groups will be equivalent to one another prior to the introduction of the experimental treatment. At the conclusion of a true experiment, a researcher employs an inferential statistical test to determine whether or not there is a statistically signiﬁcant differ- ence between the mean scores of the two groups on the dependent variable. If a signiﬁcant difference is obtained, it is likely to be due to the independent vari- able. It is important to note, however, that sound experimental design is a prerequisite for meaningful statistical analysis. A statistical procedure applied to a faulty experimental design will, for all practical pur- poses, be useless, because such a procedure is little more than an algorithm that is incapable of judging the suitability of its use. To illustrate a true experiment, assume 100 stu- dents are randomly assigned to two different groups, each of which will be taught mathematics by one of two methods to be identiﬁed as Method A versus Method B. It will be assumed that all 100 students will be taught in the same school at approximately the same time of day (speciﬁcally, one class at 10 a.m. and the other at 11 a.m.) by the same teacher. Note that random assignment of subjects to the groups opti- mizes the likelihood that before being introduced to the two teaching methods (which will represent the independent variable), the two groups will be equiva- lent with respect to, among other things, math achievement (which will represent the dependent 374 Experimental Design variable). At the conclusion of the study, if students taught by Method A perform signiﬁcantly better on a standardized math achievement test than students taught by Method B, the researcher would have a strong basis for concluding that Method A is supe- rior to Method B for teaching mathematics. The feature that distinguishes the true experiment from the natural experiment is that in the natural experiment, subjects cannot be randomly assigned to a group. This is because in a natural experiment, the variable that distinguishes the groups from one another is not manipulated by the experimenter but instead is a preexisting subject characteristic, such as one’s gender or race. Although some researchers employ the term independent variable to refer to the variable that distinguishes the groups from one another in a natural experiment, others limit the use of the terms independent and treatment variable to the grouping variable employed in a true experiment. Consequently, terms such as subject variable or attri- bute variable may be used to designate the grouping variable employed in a natural experiment. To illustrate a natural experiment, let us assume an educational psychologist wishes to compare the efﬁ- cacy of the educational systems of two towns, Town A versus Town B, each of which comprises 1,000 stu- dents. The psychologist conducts a study in which he or she compares the scores of students in the two towns (which will represent the independent/grouping variable) on a standardized academic achievement test (which will represent the dependent variable). Results show the average score of students in Town A is sig- niﬁcantly higher than the average score of students in Town B. Because the subjects employed in the study were not randomly assigned to the two groups (i.e., towns), the researcher will not be able to conclude that Town A has a superior educational system. Although the observed difference in academic achievement may, in fact, be due to Town A having a superior educational system, extraneous variables (such as socioeconomic status, environmental condi- tions, etc.) could also account for the difference. Any extraneous variable that is beyond the control of an experimenter by virtue of the fact that subjects are not randomly assigned to groups represents a potentially confounding variable. A confounding variable is any variable that systematically varies with the different groups. Because subjects are not randomly assigned to groups, the natural experiment is much more sub- ject to confounding than the true experiment, and because of the latter, if a difference between groups is obtained in a natural experiment, it does not allow a researcher to draw conclusions regarding cause and effect. For example, in the study under discussion, it is possible that the parents of students in Town A pro- vide their children with more intellectual stimulation outside of the classroom than do the parents of stu- dents in Town B, and it is the latter variable, rather than the different educational systems, that is primar- ily responsible for the superior academic performance of students in Town A. In the ﬁnal analysis, the type of information one can acquire from a natural experiment is correlational in nature. Correlational information only allows a researcher to conclude a statistical association exists between the grouping variable and the dependent vari- able. Thus, given the design of the study that was con- ducted, although the researcher can conclude that higher academic achievement is associated with Town A, he or she cannot pinpoint the cause of the difference. It should be noted the most elementary type of cor- relational design involves evaluating the scores of subjects on two variables to determine whether or not they are statistically associated with one another. A major goal of such research is to determine whether a subject’s score on one of the variables, referred to as the criterion variable , can be predicted from his or her score on the other variable, referred to as the pre- dictor variable. For example, a correlational design might investigate whether there is a predictive statisti- cal relationship between the number of out-of-class activities a student participates in and a student’s grade point average. More complex correlational stud- ies can be designed that involve more than one pre- dictor variable and one or more criterion variables. Internal Versus External Validity An experiment is said to have internal validity when its design is such that the researcher can rule out the likelihood of confounding variables. Although even with random assignment of subjects to groups there still remains the possibility of confounding, the latter is minimal, and consequently, in contrast to the natu- ral experiment, a true experiment will typically be viewed as having internal validity. Consequently, if a signiﬁcant difference on the dependent variable is observed between groups in a true experiment, a researcher will be able to argue the difference is due to the independent variable. Experimental Design 375 If the results of an experiment can be generalized, it is said to have external validity. More speciﬁcally, if the behavior of subjects on the dependent variable can be generalized to other persons, places, and time periods, a study will have external validity. Realisti- cally, however, the external validity of most experi- ments will be limited, in that the degree to which the results of a study may be generalized will typically be limited to individuals who are comparable to the subjects employed in the study. Additionally, when a study is conducted in a laboratory or some other controlled setting, the results may not generalize to the behavior of people outside of such settings. As noted earlier, a researcher will be challenged to design a study that achieves a reasonable balance between experimental control and experiential realism. Typi- cally, the greater the internal validity of a study, the lower the external validity, and vice versa. With respect to the latter, the true experiment is often depicted as being high in internal validity yet low in external validity, whereas observational research is depicted as being high in external validity yet low in internal validity. Threats to Internal Validity Donald Campbell and Julian Stanley made an impor- tant contribution to the literature on experimental design when they made a distinction between preex- perimental designs , quasi-experimental designs ,and true experimental designs. These authors noted that unlike the true experimental design, both preexperi- mental and quasi-experimental designs lack internal validity by virtue of the fact that subjects are not ran- domly assigned to experimental conditions or because a study lacks one or more control groups. A study characterized by either of the latter will not allow a researcher to effectively isolate cause and effect with respect to the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. Lack of internal validity associated with preexperimental and quasi-experimental designs can be traced primarily to the potential impact of the following potentially confo unding variables: history, maturation, instrumentation, statistical regression, and mortality. History can be deﬁned as events other than the independent variable that occur during the period of time that elapses between a pretest and a posttest on a dependent variable. To illustrate the potential impact of history as a confounding variable, consider a hypothetical study that represents an example of a one-group pretest-posttest design , which is one example of a preexperimental design. Assume that 100 high school juniors are administered the SAT exam in September (which represents the pretest), after which they take a 3-month course designed to improve SAT performance. The students are then administered the SAT again in January (which repre- sents the posttest). In the study, the SAT course can be viewed as representing the independent variable (i.e., the experimental treatment) and the difference between the pretest and posttest scores of the students as the dependent variable. If, in fact, students’ January SAT scores are signiﬁcantly higher than their Septem- ber scores, the researcher might be tempted to attri- bute the increase to the SAT course. One cannot, however, rule out the possibility the increase might have been due to some other variable that was also present between September and January. For example, it is possible that during the 3 months students were enrolled in the SAT course, their classroom teachers presented lessons that were responsible for the increase in SAT performance. Consequently, without a control group composed of a comparable group of students who also took the SAT in both September and January but who did not take the SAT course, one would not be able to effectively rule out history as a potentially confounding variable. A second threat to internal validity is maturation , which refers to developmental changes of a biological or psychological nature that occur within an organism as a result of the passage of time. Among other things, during the course of a study (which can be brief in duration or span a period of many years) sub- jects may grow stronger, become more or less agile, become fatigued, or become more or less intelligent. To illustrate the potential impact of a maturational variable on a dependent variable, assume 100 two- year-old children, who are identiﬁed, based on a pre- test, as below average in visual-motor coordination, are provided with physical therapy. After 6 months of physical therapy (which represents the treatment vari- able), the posttest scores of the children are signiﬁ- cantly higher than the pretest scores. Although one might surmise the physical therapy was directly responsible for the change in visual-motor coordina- tion (which represents the dependent variable), it is entirely possible the improved performance of the children could have been due to physical maturation and that, in fact, the physical therapy had little or 376 Experimental Design nothing to do with the change in visual-motor coordi- nation. Consequently, without a control group of chil- dren who were not provided with physical therapy, the researcher would not be able to effectively rule out maturation as a potentially confounding variable. Instrumentation refers to inconsistencies with respect to the accuracy of the instruments employed to measure a dependent variable over a period of time. Such things as instrument malfunction or fatigue or boredom on the part of human observers charged with recording the responses of subjects are instru- ment-related examples that can compromise the inter- nal validity of a study. Statistical regression is the phenomenon that a subject who obtains an extreme pretest score on a dependent variable will be more likely to yield a posttest score on the same variable that is closer to the mean. Consequently, in some instances, a change in a subject’s posttest score can be the result of regression toward the mean rather than due to a treatment variable presented between the pretest and posttest. Another threat to internal validity is subject mortality. Speciﬁcally, rather than the treatment variable, differential loss of subjects in two or more groups during the course of a study may be responsible, in some instances, for a between- groups difference on a dependent variable. Common Designs In most cases the primary reason a design is catego- rized as a preexperimental design is because it lacks a control group. Yet in spite of the limitations associ- ated with a preexperimental design, an educational researcher may occasionally employ such a design because ethical or other considerations may make it impossible or impractical to use a quasi- or true experimental design. A quasi-experimental design is more likely to be employed in educational research than is a preexperimental design, even though the internal validity of such a design is also compromised. In most instances, lack of random assignment is responsible for compromising the internal validity of a quasi-experimental design. Because many educa- tion-related issues are difﬁcult to study through use of a true experimental design, a researcher may have no choice but to use a quasi-experimental design to investigate a hypothesis of interest. Typically, such designs will contrast the performance of two or more intact groups, such as students in different classes or towns. Use of preexisting groups in the latter type of situations does not allow a researcher to assume equivalence, as there is no reason to believe the dif- ferent groups represent random samples. A hypothetical study will be described that repre- sents an example of a nonequivalent control group design , which is one type of quasi-experimental design. Assume two classes of 100 students in the same school are taught mathematics at approximately the same time of day by the same teacher. One class is taught by a method to be identiﬁed as Method A, whereas the other class is taught by a different method, to be identiﬁed as Method B. At the begin- ning of the school year, students in both classes are administered a standardized math achievement test that will represent a pretest measure of the dependent variable. The different teaching method each class is exposed to will represent the independent variable. At the conclusion of the school year, both classes are administered a posttest on the dependent variable. A determination with respect to whether one teaching method is superior to the other is based on the differ- ence between the pre- and posttest scores of the two classes. At the conclusion of the study, a change score is computed for each student by computing the differ- ence between a student’s pretest and posttest scores (it will be assumed that both classes exhibit superior performance on the posttest). If the mean change score of students in the class that was taught by Method A is signiﬁcantly greater than the mean change score of students who were taught by Method B, one might be tempted to conclude that Method A is superior to Method B. The latter conclusion, how- ever, could be challenged by virtue of the fact that students were not randomly assigned to the two clas- ses. For instance, there is the possibility that during the school year, the students in the class taught by Method A were more likely to have been exposed to conditions outside of the classroom that were condu- cive to increasing their skills in mathematics. If, on the other hand, students had been randomly assigned to the two classes at the beginning of the year, the likelihood of the latter would be minimal, and conse- quently, the design of the experiment would then con- form to the requirements of a true experimental design. More speciﬁcally, use of random assignment would transform the design into a pretest-posttest con- trol group design , which is one type of a true experi- mental design. Another example of a quasi-experimental design is a time-series design ,inwhich multiple measures are Experimental Design 377 obtained on a dependent variable before and after an experimental treatment. One type of time-series design is the multiple time-series design in which multiple measures on a dependent variable are obtained for two intact groups (i.e., groups that are formed on the basis of nonrandom assignment) before and after one of the groups is exposed to some inter- vention. For example, academic achievement scores might be obtained for a cohort of students for each year during a period 5 years before and 5 years after the introduction of a new curriculum in a school dis- trict. The latter scores are then compared over the same time period with the scores of what is consid- ered to be a comparable cohort of students in another school district that did not implement the change in curriculum. Another type of design that is often categorized as a time-series design is a single-subject design. This design is commonly employed with a single individ- ual in order to demonstrate the efﬁcacy of a behavior modiﬁcation procedure on some form of maladaptive behavior. For example, in an ABAB design, a baseline measure of the maladaptive behavior is obtained during the initial time period, labeled A. During the second time period, labeled B, the treatment is admin- istered and if successful, there will be a decrease in the frequency of the behavior. To conﬁrm the treat- ment was responsible for the decrease in the behavior during time B, it is withdrawn during the third time period, labeled A. During the ﬁnal time period, labeled B, the treatment is reintroduced in order to permanently eliminate the maladaptive behavior. Although not categorized as time-series designs, longitudinal and cross-sectional designs are also employed in educational research to evaluate subjects’ behavior over a prolonged period of time. The longi- tudinal design typically involves a large cohort of subjects who are repeatedly evaluated in order to determine whether or not change occurs with respect to a variable of interest with the passage of time. As an example, to determine whether or not intelligence changes during the course of one’s lifetime, a cohort of individuals may be administered an intelligence test every 10 years. The same question can also be addressed through use of the cross-sectional design, which evaluates multiple cohorts comprising subjects of different age levels with respect to the variable of interest. For example, a researcher might compare the scores on an intelligence test of cohorts comprising individuals who are 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 years of age. Because nonrandom subject mortality and his- torical variables can compromise the internal validity of longitudinal and cross-sectional designs, respec- tively, neither conforms to the requirement of a true experimental design. A common distinction in designing an experiment is that between an independent and dependent sam- ples design. In an independent samples design, each group comprises different subjects, whereas in a dependent samples design, the same subjects are exposed to all of the experimental treatments. A dependent samples design can also involve matching or blocking subjects. Matching subjects requires that a researcher initially identify one or more variables that are positively correlated with the dependent vari- able. Such a variable is referred to as a matching vari- able. To illustrate, consider an experiment composed of two experimental conditions in which a researcher stipulates that 10 subjects will serve in each condition. To match subjects, the researcher initially selects 10 subjects to serve in Condition 1. The researcher then identiﬁes 10 different subjects to serve in Condition 2, with the stipulation that each subject in Condition 2 is comparable to one of the subjects in Condition 1 with respect to the matching variable (e.g., intelli- gence). The latter study, which will comprise 10 pairs or blocks of subjects, is evaluated as a dependent sam- ples design. Although a dependent samples design is more sensitive than an independent samples design in identifying treatment differences, it is less commonly employed due to the practical problems associated with employing subjects in two or more conditions or in matching subjects. The design of an experiment can be considerably more complex than what has been described up to this point. An example of a more complex design com- monly employed in psychological research is the factorial design , which is able to simultaneously eval- uate the impact of two or more independent variables on one or more dependent variables. A major advan- tage of the factorial design is it allows the researcher to identify an interaction between variables. An inter- action is present when subjects’ performance on one independent variable is not consistent across all the levels of another independent variable. David J. Sheskin See also Descriptive Statistics; Inferential Statistics; Scientiﬁc Method; Statistical Signiﬁcance 378 Experimental Design Further Readings Campbell, D. T., & Stanley, J. C. (1963). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research. Skokie, IL: Rand-McNally. Christensen, L. B. (2000). Experimental methodology (8th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (1979). Quasi- experimentation: Design and analysis issues for ﬁeld settings. Boston: Houghton Mifﬂin. Fisher, R. A. (1935). The design of experiments. New York: Hafner. Shadish, W. R., Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (2002). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for generalized causal inference. Boston: Houghton Mifﬂin. Sheskin, D. J. (2007). Handbook of parametric and nonparametric statistical procedures (4th ed.). Boca Raton, FL: Chapman & Hall/CRC. E XPERT T EACHERS A number of forces concerning educational policy have come together to raise the awareness and research concerns over the identiﬁcation and prepara- tion of expert teachers for America’s school systems. Criteria for identifying expert teachers are being iden- tiﬁed and studied from different perspectives, includ- ing those of teachers, principals, and students, and then examined closely as these research ﬁndings are applied to the preparation of future teachers and the induction of beginning teachers into the schools. No Child Left Behind There are two major components of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation that dominate current dis- cussions related to K–12 education. The ﬁrst is the closing of the achievement gap between groups of students, by focusing on standardized achievement tests of student knowledge and skills each year to pro- vide an index of adequate yearly progress (AYP) for students in U.S. schools. The repercussions of failure to make AYP are severe and have dramatically chan- ged curricula and teaching practices as teachers and administrators focus on preparing students to succeed in the local testing setting that varies state to state. In 2001, President George W. Bush enacted NCLB legislation, which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. These reforms were intended to increase accountability for states, school districts, and schools; provide greater choice for par- ents and students; give more ﬂexibility to states and local educational agencies in the use of federal educa- tion dollars; and put forth a greater emphasis on evi- dence-based teaching methods that increase student academic achievement (Executive Summary). To meet many of these intents, NCLB calls for an increase in the number of highly qualiﬁed teachers in the class- room (Section 2101). Whereas much debate in the lit- erature exists about the deﬁnition of highly qualiﬁed teachers (also referred to as excellent teachers, effec- tive teachers, and expert teachers), according to the NCLB legislation, a highly qualiﬁed teacher • holds a bachelor’s degree; • is certiﬁed or licensed in his or her state; • has demonstrated subject matter competence, as deﬁned by the state in each of the core academic subjects he or she teaches; or • does not have certiﬁcation or licensure requirements [because they were] waived on an emergency, tem- porary, or provisional basis (Section 1901). Defining Expert Teachers Aside from the NCLB deﬁnition of expert teachers, many researchers have attempted to deﬁne the quali- ties of excellent teaching. In addition to determining the attributes of excellent teachers, researchers have examined the extent to which preparation helps tea- chers become excellent teachers as measured by stu- dent achievement. For instance, researchers have found that content preparation is positively related to student achievement in a curvilinear manner in which a threshold exists beyond which preparation is not sig- niﬁcant in predicting student achievement. However, other research has indicated that for higher-level courses (usually in high schools), the amount of con- tent training a teacher has had becomes very impor- tant. Although teachers often are required to be tested by their state to indicate competency, studies have reported more frequently that course-taking is a better indicator of teacher excellence than are teachers’ test scores alone. This is probably because teacher assess- ments have not been adequately designed to accu- rately gather authentic measures of critical thinking, problem representation, pedagogy, and actual teaching practices. The debate regarding the assessment of teacher effectiveness is whether coursework in education is more important than subject-matter coursework Expert Teachers 379 completed in arts and sciences and related areas. Sev- eral studies have demonstrated that, indeed, education courses are more critical to teaching than are subject- matter courses. A different perspective places value on both pedagogical knowledge, as gained from edu- cation courses, and subject-matter knowledge where an interaction between the two exists. Finally, at the other end of the continuum are studies that have found that students demonstrate greater achievement when taught by teachers who are certiﬁed in their ﬁeld, who have earned a master’s degree, or who are enrolled in graduate courses. However, when examin- ing this research, it is important to remember that the schools in which students are often failing are the schools in low-income neighborhoods where multiple languages are spoken and where a larger proportion of teachers are less qualiﬁed, less experienced, and more often teaching out of their certiﬁcation area. As research has shown, many qualiﬁed teachers teach in schools where students are from a higher socio- economic status. Thus, when examining teacher effectiveness, one must account for the complex rela- tionship between teacher qualiﬁcation and experience and student socioeconomic status. The argument that effective teachers are those who are certiﬁed in their ﬁeld, have a master’s degree, or are enrolled in graduate studies follows the line of research about experts in general. Literature on experts indicates that experts have more domain- speciﬁc knowledge, the ability to form more accurate and better problem representations, the capacity to recognize problem-types, and the skill to be forward- working and top-down processors. Moreover, the research on expertise demonstrates that experts self- regulate and, as a result, are more ﬂexible and can change representations faster. They also impose auto- maticity of lower-level cognitive processes, which frees memory capacity for more complex information. Finally, experts are experts in a speciﬁc domain; they are not experts in everything. Researchers in the ﬁeld indicate that deﬁning an excellent teacher is difﬁcult for a number of reasons. First, unlike ﬁelds with competitions or tournaments that identify an expert (e.g., chess and bridge), there exists no such process in education. The closest objec- tive measurement is student performance on standard- ized achievement tests. Yet, this measurement of expertise is confounded by the entry characteristics of the students when the teacher receives the students assigned to him or her, not to mention the issue of socioeconomic status and other factors confounded with test scores. National Board-Certified Teachers A close approximation to an objective measurement of teacher expertise is board certiﬁcation, created by the National Board of Professional Teacher Standards (NBPTS). Research from this elaborate and multifac- eted process found that there were 13 prototypical features of expert teachers. The features are as follows: 1. Better use of knowledge 2. Extensive pedagogical content knowledge, including deep representations of subject-matter knowledge 3. Better problem-solving strategies 4. Better adaptation and modiﬁcation of goals for diverse learners and better skills for improvisation 5. Better decision making 6. More challenging objectives 7. Better classroom climate 8. Better perception of classroom events and better ability to read the cues from students 9. Greater sensitivity to context 10. Better monitoring of learning and providing feed- back to students 11. More frequent testing of hypotheses 12. Greater respect for students 13. Display of more passion for teaching These NBPTS attributes of expert teachers are consis- tent with the attributes of expert teachers identiﬁed by researchers in the ﬁeld. A Qualified Teacher in Every Classroom According to NCLB regulations, the subject-matter competence for elementary teachers is deﬁned by a state test of the basic elementary school curriculum and the state’s high, objective, uniform, state standard of evaluation (HOUSSE). Secondary teachers respon- sible for core academic subjects, such as English, read- ing or language arts, mathematics, science, history, civics and government, geography, economics, the 380 Expert Teachers arts, and foreign languages, must demonstrate compe- tence in the content area(s) they are teaching. For secondary teachers, subject-matter competence must be met in each core academic subject they teach. This can be met by passing a state test in each subject or by completing an academic major, graduate degree, coursework equivalent to an undergraduate degree, or advanced certiﬁcation. This competence can also be met by completing the state’s HOUSSE in that subject. The criteria for the HOUSSE (see the NCLB Toolkit) • are set by the state for grade-appropriate academic subject-matter knowledge and teaching skills; • are aligned with challenging state academic content standards and student achievement standards and developed in consultation with core content specia- lists, teachers, principals, and school administrators; • must provide objective, coherent information about the teacher’s attainment of core content knowledge in the academic subjects in which a teacher teaches; • are applied uniformly to all teachers in the same academic subject and the same grade level through- out the state; • take into consideration, but are not based primarily on, the time a teacher has been teaching the aca- demic subject; and • are made available to the public upon request. Beyond Pedagogy Beyond general pedagogical knowledge and pedagog- ical content knowledge, other characteristics have been deemed important in excellent teaching. For instance, studies of the many kinds of knowledge attributed to teachers’ effectiveness have revealed the following qualities and qualiﬁcations: general aca- demic and verbal ability, subject-matter knowledge, knowledge about teaching and learning, teaching experience, and the set of qualiﬁcations measured by teacher certiﬁcation in addition to traits such as enthusiasm, perseverance, ﬂexibility, and concern for children. Studies also show that effective primary tea- chers utilize more engaging activities, demonstrate greater enthusiasm about the subject matter, hold higher expectations, praise student achievements, and encourage self-regulation. Studies have also found that being child-centered, being able to motivate stu- dents, showing empathy, and demonstrating consis- tency could increase the success of teachers. Quantitative Definitions to Expertise in Teaching Two quantitative approaches have been used to iden- tify and deﬁne expertise in teaching. Value-added modeling is based on a statistical procedure that was used to analyze data related to the characteristics of a group of Tennessee teachers who consistently dem- onstrated student learning. Growth curve modeling employs a regression anal- ysis to predict student learning over three points in time and then compares predicted student achieve- ment levels with actual student achievement. Those teachers who produced higher levels of student achievement than predicted were examined for char- acteristics that contributed to expertise in teaching, as measured by student achievement. Both of these approaches are valuable tools researchers can use to examine patterns of teacher expertise while also attempting to account for student characteristics. Elementary and Secondary Expert Teachers Researchers have also distinguished between expert teachers in the elementary versus secondary grades because of the inherent differences between the struc- tures of many of these typical classrooms. Speciﬁ- cally, teachers in the elementary grades are often responsible for the total curriculum, except for special areas such as music, art, and physical education. On the other hand, a secondary teacher may be responsi- ble only for a speciﬁc content area although there may be different courses assigned within one general area, such as mathematics, algebra, and geometry. Teachers at the primary level may be teaching a group of 25 students for the entire day, whereas secondary teachers may be teaching ﬁve different classes of 25 students a day. Differences in classroom management, discipline as well as transitioning from one topic to another, will vary with the age of the students and the content areas. Relationships between the teacher and the students will also vary due to the time together in the classroom and the nature of the relationships developed. Although there are clear differences in the issues faced by teachers of second versus tenth gra- ders, there are also common elements of successful teaching practices shared across these two different settings. Expert Teachers 381 The Teachers for a New Era Initiative In 2001 the Carnegie Corporation, along with addi- tional funding from the Annenberg and Ford founda- tions, launched the Teachers for a New Era (TNE) initiative, which focused on the preparation of excellent teachers based on three fundamental design principles: evidence-based decision making, the engagement of arts and sciences faculty in the preparation of teachers, and the preparation of teachers through clinical practice and a systematic induction process for beginning tea- chers in their ﬁrst teaching assignments. Eleven colleges and universities across the United States were funded to follow these three principles and provide evidence of the development of excellent teacher preparation programs to be replicated and extended. The criteria for demonstrating the prepara- tion of expert teachers is demonstrable pupil learning, that is, the evidence that the teacher has consistently demonstrated that his or her students learn, as mea- sured by a valid and reliable measure of academic achievement. Although this national initiative holds great promise for establishing further evidence on the preparation of expert teachers, as measured by their impact on their students’ learning, it is too early to judge. Changes in curriculum in preparing teachers were initiated only several years ago and the effects of these changes will not be available until these new teachers of TNE programs have completed their train- ing and been given ample time to reﬁne their knowl- edge, skills, and dispositions as they directly inﬂuence student learning for several more years. However, this initiative holds great promise because of the consis- tency of the application of the design principles and the focus on demonstrable pupil learning as the crite- ria for determining expertise in teaching. International Perspectives Studies have indicated that deﬁnitions of excellent teaching have been problematic because excellent teaching is contextually and culturally deﬁned. For instance, in the United States, participatory learning is considered a strategy of excellent learning. In China, however, where students are deferent to their teachers, participatory learning is considered to be disrespect- ful. Additionally, in some countries, such as Taiwan, where texts are selected and teachers are given one national curriculum, teachers’ expertise in teaching and learning is very difﬁcult to measure or evaluate. Similarly, several studies have pointed out that excel- lent teachers in urban schools must possess domain knowledge in urban culture, urban political economy, community, and social service support networks. Expert Teachers at the College Level While student performance in high-stakes testing often determines the effectiveness of teachers at the K–12 level, student ratings have a signiﬁcant impact on the evaluation of teachers and their effectiveness in higher education. For numerous years, students have been asked to identify characteristics of effective teachers. Effective teachers at the college level have been studied since the 1950s, and the characteristics have differed minimally. One study found that ﬁve characteristics of effective teachers were frequently cited as follows: capture students’ attention, stress important material, make good use of examples and illustrations, inspire class conﬁdence in their knowl- edge of the subject, and provide clear explanations. Another study of undergraduates indicated that a thorough knowledge of content matter, as well as preparedness, organization, enthusiasm, and student- orientedness, were critical in teaching expertise. Scott W. Brown and Paula Johnson See also Effective Teaching, Characteristics of; Teaching Strategies Further Readings Berliner, D. C. (1986). In pursuit of the expert pedagogue. Educational Researcher , 15 (7), 5–13. Berliner, D. C. (2001). Learning about and learning from expert teachers. International Journal of Educational Research , 35 , 463–482. Borko, H., & Livingston, C. (1989). Cognition and improvisation: Differences in mathematics instruction by expert and novice teachers. American Educational Research Journal , 26 (4), 473–498. Cochran-Smith, M. (2003). Teaching quality matters. Journal of Teacher Education , 54 (2), 95–98. Darling-Hammond, L., & Bransford, J. (2005). Preparing teachers for a changing world. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, P.L. No. 107–110, 115 Stat. 1425. (2002). Retrieved November 1, 2006, from http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/index.html 382 Expert Teachers Oakes, J., Franke, M. L., Quartz, K. H., & Rogers, J. (2002). Research for high-quality urban teaching: Deﬁning it, developing it, assessing it. Journal of Teacher Education , 53 (3), 228–234. Rice, J. K. (2003). Teacher quality: Understanding the effectiveness of teacher attributes. Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute. Sternberg, R. J., & Horvath, J. A. (1995). A prototype view of expert teaching. Educational Researcher , 24 (6), 9–17. Zumwalt, K., & Craig, E. (2005). Teachers’ characteristics: Research on the indicators of quality. In M. Cochran- Smith & Kenneth M. Zeichner (Eds.), Studying teacher education: The report of the AERA Panel on Research and Teacher Education (pp. 157–260). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. E XPLICIT M EMORY Explicit memory refers to the consciously mediated, deliberate attempt to retrieve a memory from the past. Explicit memory is critically important in educational psychology because the most conceptual learning by students and testing of knowledge by teachers engage explicit memory encoding and retrieval processes. In this entry, the major factors inﬂuencing explicit mem- ory that are educationally relevant are reviewed, fol- lowed by a description of the educational implications of explicit memory processes. Factors Affecting Explicit Memory Explicit memory is generally measured by one of two types of memory tasks: recognition or recall .Com- mon classroom recognition tasks are multiple-choice and true-false questions; common classroom recall tasks are ﬁll-in-the-blank questions and essays. In general, both recognition and recall are enhanced more by encoding processes that focus on concepts and meaning than they are by encoding processes that focus on perceptual attributes of information. Further- more, both recognition and recall are affected more by manipulations that inﬂuence the amount and type of concept-based processing people perform than by manipulations that inﬂuence the amount and type of perceptual processing people perform. Together, these two facts suggest that explicit memory is most effec- tively enhanced when people attend to the conceptual aspects of information. A second consideration for understanding explicit memory in the context of education is how information is studied. Two phenomena, the spacing effect and the testing effect , are particularly important. The spacing effect refers to the ﬁnding that distributing repetitions of information over time by placing other events in between the repetitions yields considerably better memory performance than repeating the same item twice in succession. The testing effect refers to the ﬁnding that people’s memory improves most when they interleave memory retrieval attempts with the study of information. Thus, alternating between studying and retrieving produces faster learning of information immediately and dramatically better retention over time compared with repeated study of information with only intermittent retrieval. Finally, there are differences between recognition and recall retrieval processes. Recognition memory tends to be strongly inﬂuenced by the alternatives that are presented along with a correct answer. Thus, if the incorrect alternatives on a recognition memory test are very similar to the correct answer, accurate recog- nition will require a more precise memory than if the incorrect alternatives are dissimilar to the correct answer. Recall, on the other hand, tends to be thought of as a process whereby a person uses cues he or she is given, such as a question or concept, to search for potential answers in their memory. One perspective that provides a useful framework for thinking about the process of recall distinguishes between similarities and differences among memories. Similarity among memory traces, such as being from the same conceptual category (e.g., fruits), is useful for searching through memory in an effort to ﬁnd candi- date responses. Once a candidate response is located, it is useful to have information in a memory trace that distinguishes it from other traces that are similar and therefore also possible responses. In essence, differ- ence information helps identify a candidate memory as the exact trace a person was attempting to retrieve. Educational Implications Thefeaturesofexplicitmemoryreviewedinthisentry have implications for instructional techniques, students’ study techniques, a

bundet

nd testing. Regarding instruction, it is generally beneﬁcial to use classroom instruction to inspire students to process information meaningfully, such that they can access their existing knowledge base and integrate newly learned information with their existing knowledge. This will allow them to notice commonalities between new concepts and their Explicit Memory 383 existing knowledge base. However, it will also be use- ful for classroom instruction to note features that distin- guish a new concept from existing concepts. Together, these two factors import the role of similarity and dif- ference in explicit memory retrieval into the educa- tional context, enabling improved access to new information, as well as improved ability to determine when the new information is (and is not) appropriately applied. Furthermore, it is useful to review at periodic intervals or to recommend that students take it upon themselves to review concepts at regular intervals. This takes advantage of the spaci ng effect, which promotes improved long-term remembering by distributing repe- titions of information over time and intervening events. Third, students should be instructed to test themselves as they study. This recommendation makes use of the testing effect, where inter leaved study and retrieval have been shown to promote improved retention com- pared with repeated studying with little testing. Finally, the method of testing used has implications for the kinds of knowledge students may be able to assess. The instruction and study recommendations noted in this entry are largely tailored to improving recall performance (essay, ﬁll-in-the-blank), although they will also tend to be effective at improving recogni- tion memory performance (multiple-choice, true-false). If the assessment used is a multiple-choice test, it is important for educators to be aware of the sensitivity of recognition memory to incorrect response alternatives. In particular, if only one response alternative on a multi- ple-choice question is plaus ible or was encountered in the classroom curriculum, students will be able to answer that question accurately based on the fact that only one possible answer contains a concept that they encountered in the classroom. On the other hand, if multiple response options are plausible and were encountered in the classroom context, students will need to possess more precise knowledge of class con- cepts to answer that questio n accurately. In essence, increasing the similarity between the incorrect test alter- natives and the correct answer on a multiple-choice test should allow instructors to evaluate the speciﬁcity and precision of students’ knowledge of subject matter, as opposed to simply assessing whether or not they have encountered a concept in the classroom context. Jason Arndt See also Episodic Memory; Long-Term Memory; Memory; Short-Term Memory Further Readings Bahrick, H. P., Bahrick, L. E., Bahrick, A. S., & Bahrick, P. E. (1993). Maintenance of foreign language vocabulary and the spacing effect. Psychological Science, 4, 316–321. Hunt, R. R., & McDaniel, M. M. (1993). The enigma of organization and distinctiveness. Journal of Memory and Language , 32 , 421–445. Karpicke, J. D., & Roediger, H. L., III. (2007). Repeated retrieval during learning is the key to long-term retention. Journal of Memory and Language , 57 , 151–162. E XPLICIT T EACHING The term explicit teaching refers to a method of instruction in which the teacher, who serves as a pro- vider of knowledge, presents skills and concepts in a clear, systematic, and direct way that promotes stu- dent mastery. Explicit teaching refers to the type of direct, teacher-led instructional explanation a teacher employs when describing curr icular content and proce- dures, strategy instructi ons, skills and concepts, and rules for memorization through verbally detailed expla- nations and examples. Explanations may include the teacher modeling a skill or concept, followed by the teacher guiding and providing feedback as the student practices applying the skill or concept. Students are provided many opportunities to apply, independently, the skill or concept so as to ensure their mastery and generalization of the skill . Explicit teaching methods include the teacher reviewing previous material, describing procedures, hig hlighting, modeling skills using cues and prompts, questioning students directly to ensure understanding, providing feedback and prog- ress monitoring while presenting multiple opportunities for students to practice the skill to mastery, and provid- ing opportunities for students to apply the new skill. During the modeling process, the teacher uses ‘‘think- alouds’’; that is, the teacher talks aloud about what he or she is thinking. The teacher provides speciﬁc exam- ples of the sequence broken into small steps and the mental processes that occur as the teacher thinks aloud through the procedure, thereby modeling the incremen- tal mental steps for the st udent. Think-alouds provide the student with detailed sequential step-by-step infor- mation which the student uses as an example when he or she goes through the mental process of solving the problem. Explicit teaching prevents confusion on the part of the student by always describing each step and by not assuming that a student should be able to 384 Explicit Teaching combine steps. Explicit explanations assist the student in knowing how and when to use the skill or concept. To retain student attention and focus, instructional pro- cedures are presented at a brisk pace. Explicit teaching is appr opriate when the student must demonstrate a high lev el of mastery of a task- speciﬁc strategy, when student acquisition of skills or factual content is essential b efore further skills or con- cepts can be acquired, when the student has little or no background knowledge of concepts, or when the stu- dent experienced initial failure with content. When the complexity of the task is reduced by breaking the pro- cedure into smaller steps, student mastery improves. With small speciﬁc steps, opportunities for student error are reduced. An explicit approach is appropriate when limited time is available, mastery is essential, or the task is complex or potentially hazardous. Reading and Mathematics Instruction Explicit teaching can be used for teaching reading strat- egies, such as mastering phonemic awareness. Later, explicit teaching ensures that the student is identifying words correctly. As the student practices, the teacher can conﬁrm that the student is practicing the skill cor- rectly through frequent monitoring and questioning. Daily practice of automatic decoding and reading ﬂu- ency ensures a high level of student proﬁciency by allowing the student to shift attention from decoding to comprehension. Comprehension concepts, such as cause and effect, reality and fantasy, and literal and inferential questions, can be taught using explicit instruction. Explicit teaching focuses on student mastery and teaching subskills sequentially, usually through small group instruction. In mathematics, explicit teaching is used to demonstrate performing steps in algorithms. The teacher describes aloud what he or she is thinking at each step. The teacher leaves a completed model with the student as a referent for cuing purposes. Imi- tating the teacher’s process, students try solving simi- lar problems. The teacher, monitoring the student’s repeated practice, ensures a mastery level of basic mathematics facts ﬂuency and of operational proce- dures by the student. At-Risk Students Explicit teaching is effectiv e for helping low-performing students acquire reading, spelling, and mathematics skills. Students at risk for school failure, with learning disabilities or other special needs, or with limited expe- rience or proﬁciency with lesson content are most suc- cessful when taught through explicit instruction with educators maintaining a bri sk lesson pace, fostering high student accuracy, and prompting students rather than telling them correct answers. Procedure for Explicit Teaching Explicit teaching provides a clear statement and pre- vents vagueness and ambiguity, thus increasing the likelihood of understanding by the student. Using explicit teaching, the teacher 1. states the goals of the lesson; 2. reviews previous learning whose mastery is a prerequisite to learning the new skill or concept; 3. presents new material in small steps with clear, detailed, sequential step-by-step instructions and explanations; 4. models each step by physically demonstrating the directions and verbally describing the mental processes; 5. provides active student practice until each step is mastered; 6. guides, monitors, and provides systematic feedback during students’ initial practice; 7. checks for student understanding through detailed questioning; 8. provides students with high levels of successful independent prac tice until mastery l evel is obtained; 9. provides students with opportunities for skill application; and 10. continues weekly and monthly reviews to ascertain students’ sustainability of mastery level of skill. The emphasis of explicit teaching is on student mastery. The pedagogical processes (i.e., modeling, highlighting, feedback, review, practice, and applica- tion) provide the teacher with many opportunities to check on skill mastery by the student. The principles of explicit teaching are inherent in direct instruction, effective teaching practices, exogenous constructiv- ism, and behavioral theory. Paula Hartman See also Effective Teaching, Characteristics of; Teaching Strategies Explicit Teaching 385 Further Readings Bryant, D., Hartman, P., & Kim S. A. (2003). Using explicit and strategic instruction to teach division skills to students with learning disabilities. Exceptionality, 11 , 151–164. Duffy, G., Roehler, L., Meloth, M., Vavrus, L., Book, C., Putnam, J., et al. (1986). The relationship between explicit verbal explanations during reading skill instruction and student awareness and achievement: A study of reading teacher effects. Reading Research Quarterly , 21 , 237–250. Mercer, C., Lane, H., Jordan, L., & Allsopp, D. (1996). Empowering teachers and students with instructional choices in inclusive settings. Remedial and Special Education , 17 , 226–236. Rosenshine, B. V. (1986). Synthesis of research on explicit teaching. Educational Leadership , 43 , 60–69. E XTERNAL V ALIDITY External validity refers to the ability to generalize the ﬁndings of an experiment to other settings, populations, and times. For educational psychology, this ability is a vital one, because it indicates the extent to which var- ious programs shown to improve learning in one (per- haps artiﬁcial) setting ca n be conﬁdently expected to show similar improvements in other (real) classroom settings. Without high external validity, the program may not have its intended or presumed effect in the various populations of intere st. This entry will describe external validity in detail, of fer suggestions for increas- ing it, describe threats to it, and discuss the trade-off between external validity and internal validity. When a new educational technique or program is being evaluated in an experi mental trial, of necessity the evaluation involves, for example, a speciﬁc school or district or set of classr ooms. In addition, it takes place with speciﬁc children, teachers, materials, and at a particular time. However, researchers and educators clearly do not wish to restrict their conclusions to those particular schools, teachers, children, and so on; they prefer to generalize, that is, assume that their conclu- sions about the program extends to other (or even any) schools, teachers, children, and the like. The issue of external validity concerns whether such a generalization is defensible and true. Logically, such a generalization is hardly ever completely justiﬁable. Even if the experiment is later replicated in many classrooms or schools, and the same result is found, it remains logically possible that the next school will ﬁnd different results. Although such an outcome always remains a logical possibility, its plausibility is related to the external validity fea- tures of the experiment. Increasing External Validity One approach to increasing a study’s external validity is to ensure that it is conducted under conditions that are both realistic and similar to those in which the program will later be used. A more demanding approach is to use several exemplars (e.g., schools, districts) that differ in numerous ways in the initial or subsequent studies and observe whether the results replicate. The most demanding approach to achieving high external validity is to randomly select a relatively large number of exemplars from among those to which the results are hoped to eventually generalize. Under such a circumstance, schools or districts might be included as a random factor in the statistical analy- sis, which allows a statistical basis for generalizing. External validity information is also often available after the study has concluded and the results have been analyzed. Subgroup analyses may indicate, for instance, that only girls’ learning was increased by a speciﬁc mode of teaching and that the teaching mode had no impact on boys’ learning. Consequently, the effects of the teaching mode on learning cannot be generalized across gender, because the effect is only present for girls and not boys. Many experiments are speciﬁcally designed to probe external validity by examining a previously evaluated treatment program with a new population, to establish if the program is effective with that new population and thus determine the limits of generality of the treatment effect. Threats to External Validity Because the experiment needs to deal with speciﬁc schools, teachers, or students, any speciﬁc element of it might be shown by later research to limit or threaten external validity. However, theorists have identiﬁed three such threats that are common across a wide range of studies. One is the interaction between selection and treatment, which refers to the possibility that those who choose to participate in the ex periment differ from those who choose not to participate in ways that might cause the results to differ. For example, voluntary programs that take a considerable amount of time might elicit participation only from highly motivated or needy indi- viduals; the same results might not have been found 386 External Validity with less motivated or needy participants. This chal- lenge can be avoided, in part, if participation in the experiment is made as convenient and easy as possible. Another threat to external validity is that of the setting by treatment interaction. An experimental effect observed in a classroom on a college campus may or may not gen- eralize to a workplace setting or to a social function. Thus, the effect of the treatment may depend upon the setting in which the experiment is conducted. This con- cern can be alleviated by c onducting the experiment in multiple settings, to determine what, if any, impact the setting has on the effectiveness of the treatment. Finally, a third threat to validity involves the interaction between history and treatment. An e ffectobservedinanexperi- ment conducted immediately after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks may not have had the same potency 5 years later. However, this threat can be dimin- ished by conducting the experiment again, to see if the relationship still holds, or by critically examining other evidence that may support the effect. Trade-Offs Between Internal and External Validity In practice, external validity may frequently work in opposition to internal validity, the extent to which the conclusion that it was a spec iﬁc program that altered a certain outcome, as opposed to alternative causes of that outcome, approximates truth. This is because inter- nal validity increases as control increases, especially control over these potential alternative causes, whereas external validity increases as variability, the antithesis of control or constancy, increases. Thus, more artiﬁci- ality and purity of execution tend to rule out alternative explanations, but at the same time they compromise gen- erality and realism. Although in creasing internal validity often comes at the price of limi ted external validity, some experimental research designs are better than others at maximizing both. For example, the pretest-posttest control group design is highly internally valid, but the necessity of assessing outc omes twice may be highly arti- ﬁcial, compromising external validity. Designs that are relatively high on both include the posttest only control group design; many quasi-experimental designs, such as the interrupted time series and switching replications designs; and the combined modiﬁed design, for assessing palatability of intervention s simultaneously with their efﬁcacy. Sanford L. Braver and Melinda E. Baham See also Evaluation; Experimental Design; Internal Validity Further Readings Braver, S. L., & Smith, M. C. (1996). Maximizing both external and internal validity in longitudinal true experiments with voluntary treatments: The ‘‘combined modiﬁed’’ design. Evaluation and Program Planning , 19 (4), 287–300. Campbell, D. T., & Stanley, J. C. (1963). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research. Chicago: Rand-McNally. Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (1979). Quasi-experimentation: Design & analysis issues for ﬁeld settings. Boston: Houghton Mifﬂin. Shadish, W. R., Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (2002). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for generalized causal inference. Boston: Houghton Mifﬂin. E XTRACURRICULAR A CTIVITIES Extracurricular activities encompass a broad range of organized adult-sanctioned activities that fall outside the scope of the regular curriculum and usually occur during the after-school hours. They can be sponsored by either the school or the community, though most research has focused on school-based extracurricular contexts. They include such diverse contexts as sports, drama, student government, math clubs, and service activities. Despite the differences in focus, extracur- ricular activities share several common features. They are generally voluntary, have a regular participation schedule, are supervised by adults, include other parti- cipants, involve some structure and rules, are orga- nized around particular competencies, and include activities that require sustained attention, opportuni- ties for meaningful participation, and clear feedback. This entry describes why the study of extracurricular activities is important to educational psychology, dif- ferent ways to deﬁne and measure activity participa- tion, effects of extracurricular involvement, and challenges researchers face in studying these contexts. Importance to Educational Psychology Extracurricular activities are an integral part of the school experience for many youth. In the 1999 National Survey of America’s Families, 81 % of 6- to Extracurricular Activities 387 11-year-olds and 83 % of 12- to 17-year-olds reported participating in an at least one extracurricular context over the past year, with sports being the most com- mon activity. However, although a large percentage of youth participate in extracurricular activities, many still spend a great deal of time unsupervised during the after-school hours. In fact, 40 % to 50 % of young people’s waking time is spent in discretionary activi- ties. In a recent national study, on average, youth reported spending 5 hours each week participating in organized activities. At any one time, around 40 % of youth were not involved in any organized activities. Most youth reported spending signiﬁcantly more time in unstructured leisure activities, such as hanging out with friends or watching television, than they spent in organized activity contexts. Another reason for the inte rest in extracurricular activities is the potential role of such activities in pro- moting achievement and pr eventing school disengage- ment. Conventional wisdom holds that by participating in extracurricular activities, individuals learn skills that will help them achieve in school, for example, a strong work ethic, respect for auth ority, time management, and perseverance. Participation also may have academic beneﬁts because some types of activities are structured to reinforce classroom learning and offer students the opportunity to apply academic skills in real-world con- texts. Involvement in extracurricular activities may be especially important for youth who do not excel aca- demically, offering the indi vidual another setting to develop skills and gain recognition. Participation in extracurricular activitie s also may enhance students’ attachment to school and reduce the likelihood of their dropping out by contributing to their sense of being a valued member of the school community. Finally, spending time in these settings may have motivational beneﬁts. Youth report high r ates of alienation and bore- dom in traditional curricular contexts but positive affect and motivation in organized out-of-school activities. Demographic changes also have fueled the interest in research on the effects of extracurricular participa- tion. An increase in parents’ work commitment has resulted in large numbers of youth who are unsuper- vised during the after-school hours. Research has shown that the lack of adult supervision places these children at a higher risk for negative outcomes. High rates of family mobility and the disorganization of many neighborhoods have also weakened the informal supports for many youth. Participation in organized programs, like extracurricular activities, during the after-school hours can help to compensate for the absence of family and community supports. Effects of Participation Researchers in such diverse areas as leisure studies, sociology, sports psychology, and adolescent develop- ment have explored the effects of extracurricular involvement. Converging evidence from these litera- tures generally supports the hypothesis that participa- tion has beneﬁcial effects. There is a more extensive literature on sports than on other activity contexts, though more recent research has begun to take a nuanced approach and examine developmental out- comes across a range of activities. This research has helped to illustrate which ﬁndings are unique to sports and which ﬁndings hold more broadly across a range of activity contexts. Much of the research has focused on the academic effects of extracurricular involvement. Several studies have linked activity particip ation to grades, test scores, school engagement, attendance, and educational attain- ment. Other work has shown a correlation between par- ticipation and indicators of psychological adjustment. For instance, extracurricular participation is related to higher self-concept and int erpersonal competence and lower rates of depression and anxiety. Involvement in high school extracurricular activities also appears to have some beneﬁcial effects for adult development, including a higher likelihood of college attendance, more favorable mental health outcomes, and increased involvement in political and civic causes. Finally, extracurricular involvement is associated with a reduc- tion in problem behavior. For example, participation predicts staying in school, l ower rates of delinquency, and lower rates of substance use. The protective bene- ﬁts seem to be largest for high-risk youth. Although most of the effects are positive, there is evidence of some potential costs to participation in certain types of activities. For example, some studies ﬁnd that sports participation is related to higher levels of alcohol use. One explanation for this ﬁnding is that drinking is a part of the culture of athletics and is sup- ported and reinforced by other peers. Another concern is the inappropriate behavior of some parents and coaches in youth sports. The potential for negative peer group dynamics, especially in less structured extracurricular contexts, also has been highlighted. Finally, some have expressed concern over the com- petition and the stress associated with excessive 388 Extracurricular Activities involvement in extracurricular activities, especially among upper-middle-class families. Explanations for Benefits The primary goal of most studies has been to correlate extracurricular participation with individual-level out- comes. Although these studies provide evidence of the beneﬁcial effects of activity involvement, these predic- tive ﬁndings provide little information about the rea- sons for these associations. A few scholars have begun to explore the charac teristics of activity contexts that may help to explain the effects of extracurricular par- ticipation, though this research is clearly in its infancy. One explanation is that partic ipation in extracurricular activities links adolescents to a set of similar peers. These peer groups develop an activity-based culture with shared norms and values. Participation in extra- curricular activities also affords youth the opportunity to form close bonds with caring, nonfamilial adults out- side of the classroom who can provide them with sup- port, mentorship, and advice. Another explanation for the possible beneﬁts of participation is that in these contexts, youth can explore their identity by trying new activities and clarifying their values and interests. Par- ticipating in orga nized activities also may help to foster initiative, or self-direct ed action, because these are contexts in which youth experience high motivation, challenge, and attention. Fin ally, the beneﬁts of extra- curricular involvement may be explained by the fact that youth can develop social, emotional, and psycho- logical competencies that may transfer into other domains of their lives. Student Characteristics and Extracurricular Participation The extent to which extracurricular participation has an impact on the outcomes of development varies as a function of individual factors, such as gender, age, and ability. With the exception of sports, girls are more likely to report participating in all other types of extracurricular activities than are boys. Another com- mon ﬁnding is the decline in participation in many organized activities as children move through adoles- cence. In the later grades, there are fewer slots and increasing competition for positions in many activi- ties. The decline also likely reﬂects competing demands for time from school, peers, and work. An individual’s ability level also affects participation. Many schools have policies requiring students to maintain a minimum grade point average to partici- pate in extracurricular activities. In addition, member- ship in some types of activities, such as music and sports, is determined by skill level. Contextual factors also shape extracurricular par- ticipation. Access to extracurricular activities varies depending on school and neighborhood factors. In low-income communities, there are fewer resources, like athletic ﬁelds and community centers, to support extracurricular participation. In contrast, in some upwardly mobile communities, there are concerns about the overinvolvement of youth in school and community-based extracurricular activities. Parents desire to enroll their children in extracurricular activi- ties, and their ability to manage this involvement also varies depending on time, economic resources, and their beliefs about the value of this participation. Measuring Extracurricular Participation The relation between extracu rricular participation and development is likely to vary as a function of the type of activity, frequency of participation, breadth, and duration of involvement. A common method for asses- sing involvement is to ask individuals to check off on asurveywhethertheyhadparticipatedindifferent activities (yes or no) and aggregate these items into a single composite measure. One assumption underly- ing this measurement strategy is that all activities are similar. However, the reality is that extracurricular activities offer different affordances for developing skills and relationships wi th adults and peers. For example, an activity like sports takes place several times a week, involves competition, is closely super- vised by a coach, and has extensive opportunities for social interaction. In contrast, an activity like a foreign language club takes place less frequently, involves fewer opportunities for social interaction, and has less contact with an adult leader. Few studies have exam- ined qualitative differences in the nature of participa- tion across a wide range of activities, making it difﬁcult to identify both the commonality and diversity of developmental experiences youth encounter in extra- curricular activities. Other studies have examined the relation between the total number or total time in extracurricular activi- ties and development. Thi s research has been guided by a zero sum model of time involvement. Greater Extracurricular Activities 389 participation in extracurricular activities is assumed to negatively inﬂuence achievement because time spent in these activities takes away from time that can be spent on academics. A similar concern has been raised in popular media reports about overscheduled adolescents and the negative conseque nces for family functioning and youth well-being. A few studies have found a curvi- linear relationship between activity participation and development. This work suggests that there is a thresh- old in which the number of activities no longer exerts positive inﬂuence on developmental outcomes. How- ever, in contrast to the media reports of the stressed-out and overscheduled adolescent, the majority of research has shown that more partici pation is beneﬁcial. More time in organization activities is likely linked to less time in either unsupervised risky activities or unproduc- tive activities, both of which have been associated with less positive outcomes. In fact, evidence from a recent national sample of youth, shows that only a small per- centage of youth (3 %–6 %) spend considerable time on organized activities; most youth report spending the majority of their leisure time in unstructured activities. Another important question concerns differential associations between the breadth of activity involve- ment, or combination of extracurricular activities, and outcomes. Surprisingly few studies have explored this question. Limited research shows that youth in a single extracurricular activity have more favorable outcomes than youth who are not involved in any organized activities, but youth who are involved in a variety of domains have the most beneﬁcial outcomes. Participat- ing in a range of extracurricular contexts may be related to the most positive outcomes because different activities provide different affordances for develop- ment. Finally, there are likely to be differences in out- comes depending on the intensity or duration of involvement. Skill building and fostering relationships with adults and peers take time. The few empirical studies that have examined the effects of the duration of involvement show a positive relationship between sustained activity participation and youth development. Limitations of Research and Future Directions There are several gaps in the literature on extracurric- ular activities. Although researchers have learned a lot about the predictive effects of extracurricular involvement, there is much less information on what is happening inside these activity contexts. In fact, few studies outside of sport psychology have mea- sured characteristics of the activity setting. This is a critical issue as both policymakers and educators ask what about these activities matters and why. Qual- itative studies that explore the contextual features of different extracurricular contexts can advance the knowledge of activity settings in important ways. The ﬁeld will also beneﬁt from longitudinal studies that are designed to evaluate theoretically based hypothe- ses about possible explanations for the effects of extracurricular participation. Finally, experimental studies that actually test the hypotheses about mediat- ing factors, such as relationships with adults or peer characteristics, can help to shed light on which fea- tures of the experience matter and why some extracur- ricular contexts are related to more favorable patterns of development than others. In a recent review of organized community and after-school activities for youth, the National Research Council identiﬁed eight characteristics of high-quality programs that promote positive development: 1. Physical and psychological safety 2. Appropriate structure 3. Supportive relationships 4. Opportunities for belonging 5. Positive social norms 6. Support for efﬁcacy and mattering 7. Opportunities for skill building 8. Integration of family, school, and community efforts This list provides an important framework for how and why different extracurricular activities like sports, student government, and drama might promote posi- tive development. However, more research is neces- sary to understand what each of these features look like in different extracurricular contexts, how they interact to effect development, and which features are most important for different activities and why. Accounting for self-selection into and out of activi- ties is another methodologica l challenge. Unlike most parts of the curriculum, extra curricular participation is voluntary. As a consequence, individuals who choose to participate are often fundamentally different from youth who are not involved. Participants tend to be of higher socioeconomic status, academic ability, and have more parental support than nonpar ticipants. Because these factors also predict positive developmental outcomes, 390 Extracurricular Activities failing to adjust for self-selection into activities likely overstates the beneﬁts of extracurricular participation. In fact, in studies that have ad justed for self-selection, the strength of the relationshi p between extracurricular participation and developmental outcomes is reduced and, in some cases, is no longer signiﬁcant. Although there is some research on why youth select themselves into extracurricular activities, few studies have examined the factors that explain why they maintain this involvement over time. The ﬁeld will beneﬁt from longitudinal studies that begin before children start participating in extracurricular activities and track their development through adolescence and into adulthood. Person-environment ﬁt models repre- sent one framework for understanding why some individuals continue to participate in extracurricular activities and others drop out, especially during adoles- cence. Initially, youth choose to participate in activities that match their interests and talents. They will be more likely to remain in activities if the characteristics of the setting continue to match their competencies and motivation. The decline in organized activity par- ticipation during adolescence may be explained partly by the fact that some extracurricular activities fail to change to reﬂect the developmental needs for auton- omy, respect, and belonging during this period. Reﬁning the measurement of extracurricular partici- pation is another important area of future work. Extra- curricular activity is a blanket term used to apply to any activity that is ‘‘extra’’ or outside of the curricu- lum. There has been very little discussion in the litera- ture of the deﬁning characteristics that are common to all extracurricular contexts, as well as the subtle and not so subtle ways organized activities differ. There are also variations in the nature of extracurricular participation in school-sponsored and community- sponsored activities, though few studies have made this distinction. Much of the previous research has focused on describing the characteristics of single activities rather than comparing organizing activities with each other or with other aspects of young people’s lives (i.e., unstructured leisure, school, family, peers). This makes it difﬁcult to disentangle whether differences in extracurricular contexts reﬂect the types of individuals who choose to participate in each type of activity or the characteristics of the activities themselves. A common approach is to group different extracur- ricular activities together and aggregate these activities into a single item. Failing to account for differences among activities likely m asks some of the effects of extracurricular involvement on developmental out- comes. However, considering a large number of separate activities often is not realistic because of constraints of sample size. In developing measures of extracurricular participation, researchers face an ongoing tension between conceptual clarity and practical reality. The decision to use more nuanced or more global categories of extracurricular participation depends on the sample size and goals of the study . It may be more appropriate to use nuanced measures of participation when the goal is greater theoretical understanding about the character- istics of activity settings and the unique contributions of different activities to varia nce in outcomes of interest. However, it may not always be feasible or even practical to include such detailed measures because of the large number of survey questions and limited number of youth who participate in some extracurricular activities. Most of the literature has focused on the effects of participation in one activity context at one point in time. However, the reality is that youth move in and out of different extracurricular activities over the course of a year and often participate in several domains at the same time. Future research should explore patterns of participation and how the se different trajectories are related to indicators of adjustment. For example, research on the consequences of very high amounts of organized activity partici pation over time can help to inform the debate about whether involvement in extra- curricular activities has become excessive for some youth. Another interesting que stion is what combination of extracurricular activities is associated with the most positive outcomes. Person-cent ered, analytic techniques can help to illustrate different conﬁgurations of activity involvement and the relation of these proﬁles to a range of developmental outcomes. Moreover, for many youth, participation in unstructured activities ﬁlls a much larger portion of their leisure time than participation in extracurricular contexts. Exploring the ratio of struc- tured to unstructured activities may be one way to assess this involvement. Another critical issue is whether the effects of extracurricular participation vary by student character- istics. To answer who beneﬁts most from extracurric- ular participation, researchers need to expand the range of populations that are being investigated. More is known about extracurricular participation and development for middle-class White youth than for individuals from diverse backgrounds. Moreover, an underlying assumption guiding much of the literature is that participation has the same effect on all youth. Extracurricular Activities 391 The effects of extracurricular participation may differ depending on the child’s gender, race, socioeconomic status, risk level, and achievement, though few studies have explored this question. There also are likely to be important differences by the level of involvement and success with an activity. For example, the star of the basketball team is likely to have a different expe- rience than a substitute who rarely plays. Most of the previous research has examined extra- curricular contexts in isolation. These activities are nested within schools and communities and are func- tions of the available resources and larger culture of these contexts. Ecological models assume that devel- opment is shaped by multiple overlapping spheres of inﬂuence, such as the family, school, and peer group. Examining the experience of extracurricular participa- tion in relation to these other contexts will provide more insight into the effects of activity participation than will exploring a single domain in isolation. Extracurricular involvement may have a different effect on development depending on whether these contexts are in synchrony or conﬂict. An interesting question is whether a positive experience in an extra- curricular context can compensate for a negative experience in another domain. Limited research sug- gests that high-risk and low-income youth may beneﬁt more from extracurricular participation than other youth. This ﬁnding may reﬂect the fact that these youth have access to fewer of the developmental affordances in extracurricular activities in other aspects of their lives, though more research is needed to evaluate this claim. There is a need for more sophisticated research designs to identify interrela- tions between different contexts and examine the role of context in shaping extracurricular participation. In conclusion, extracurricular activities are impor- tant settings in the lives of children and adolescents. Extracurricular participation has been associated with many positive academic, psychological, and behav- ioral outcomes. An examination of the nature and consequences of extracurricular participation is espe- cially timely in an era of shrinking resources for schools. Extracurricular activities are often viewed as less important than academics and are one of the ﬁrst items to be cut during ﬁscal constraints. Future research should examine the impact of student charac- teristics (e.g., gender, socioeconomic status), degree of participation (e.g., type of activity, intensity), and characteristics of activity setting (e.g., peer networks, relationships with adults) on development. This infor- mation is critical for designing extracurricular activi- ties that are appropriate and tailored to the needs of youth from diverse backgrounds. Jennifer A. Fredricks See also Athletics; Competition; Identity Development; Motivation; Peer Inﬂuences; Risk Factors and Development Further Readings Eccles, J. S., & Barber, B. L. (1999). Student council, volunteering, basketball, or marching band: What kinds of extracurricular involvement matters? Journal of Adolescent Research , 14 , 10–43. Eccles J. S., & Gootman, J. A. (Eds.). (2002). Community programs to promote youth development. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Eccles, J. S., & Templeton, J. (2002). Extracurricular and other after-school activities for youth. Review of Research in Education , 26 , 113–180. Feldman, A. F., & Matjasko, J. L. (2005). The role of school-based extracurricular activities in adolescent development: A comprehensive review and future directions. Review of Educational Research , 75 , 159–210. Holland, A., & Andre, T. (1987). Participation in extracurricular activities in secondary school: What is known, what needs to be known? Review of Educational Research , 57 , 437–466. Larson, R. W. (2000). Towards a psychology of positive youth development. American Psychologist , 55 , 170–183. Larson, R. W., Hansen, D. M., & Moneta, G. (2006). Differing proﬁles of developmental experiences across types of organized youth activities. Developmental Psychology , 5 , 849–863. Mahoney, J. L., Harris, A. L., & Eccles, J. S. (2006). Organized activity participation, positive youth development, and the over-scheduling hypothesis. Society for Research in Child Development: Social Policy Report , 20 , 1–30. Mahoney, J. L., Larson, R. W., & Eccles, J. S. (Eds.). (2005). Organized activities as contexts of development: Extracurricular activities, after-school, and community programs. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Marsh, H. W., & Kleitman, S. (2002). Extracurricular school activities: The good, the bad, and the non-linear. Harvard Educational Review , 72 , 464–514. 392 Extracurricular Activities F Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes. —John Dewey F AILURE,E FFECTS OF All people face obstacles and failures in a variety of life tasks. In academic, athletic, and business settings, failure feedback is often clear—receiving a poor grade, losing the game, or not getting a promotion. On a personal level, failures can range from the breakup of a relationship to not accomplishing a goal. For many psychologists, the question is not if an individ- ual will experience failure, but how will he or she respond to it. Failure can have devastating conse- quences for an individual because it may conﬁrm preexisting negative beliefs or require downward revi- sions in self-image or goals. Repeated failures may lead to feelings of helpless ness and depression. Chil- dren experiencing failure in school may experience decreases in self-efﬁcacy and self-esteem (maladaptive reactions). However, not all people experience these events as negative. Failure may motivate some by presenting challenges or opportunities to demonstrate competence in the future. They can use this informa- tion to change behavioral strategies to obtain success or establish attainable goals (adaptive responses). There are many reasons why individuals respond dif- ferently to failure feedback. The general model used to assess reactions to failure consists of antecedent condi- tions and post-feedback reactions (including affective, cognitive, and behavioral responses). Antecedent condi- tions include performance expectations, personality characteristics, and the investment in the task. After receiving failure feedback, i ndividuals will likely expe- rience some negative affect , make attributions about why they failed, and then behave in certain ways. It is important to note that failure feedback is a rela- tive term: For some individuals, a grade of C is an abysmal failure, whereas for others, it represents an outstanding accomplishment. Personal expectations and reactions from others inﬂuence one’s perception of failure. When failure is unexpected or when others respond negatively to the outcome (e.g., by saying ‘‘How could you have failed?’’ ‘‘Everyone else did very well,’’ or ‘‘This task was so easy’’), the indivi- dual’s response to the feedback will likely be stronger. Although personality dimensions also affect how individuals respond to failure (e.g., those high in neu- roticism or having a high need for achievement will likely respond differently than those who are low on these scales), most educational research has addressed the individual’s orientation to the task. Carol Dweck and Ellen Leggett argue that motivational orientation can predict adaptive and maladaptive responses to fail- ure feedback. An individual’s motivational orientation inﬂuences how he or she will evaluate feedback based on his or her goals. Those who have learning (or mas- tery) goals focus on understanding, knowledge, and improvement. These individuals are motivated to 393 understand, and the feedback informs them if they have mastered the material. Individuals setting performance goals seek to demonstrate ability or to gain favorable judgments from others. These individuals are moti- vated to defend or enhance their self-worth, and there- fore, feedback is something used to make social comparisons of themselves with others. Carol Midgely and colleagues developed the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Survey to assess performance orientation. This test assumes that motivational approaches are independent, such that individuals can be high on one, both, or neither dimension. Understanding this motivational approach can help researchers understand how individuals approach tasks and how they respond to feedback. Learning-oriented individuals tend to believe that intelligence and many other abilities develop through effort (incremental theory). They seek out tests or other performance indi- cators to provide them with a sense of their current ability level. When they encounter failure, they attri- bute causality to lack of effort. Mistakes indicate areas where more effort is needed. When faced with similar tasks in the future, they will often modify their beha- viors to spend more time on mastering the task. They do not show signiﬁcant decreases in self-efﬁcacy or self- esteem. Although they exp erience negative emotions following failure, they s how more self-compassion, offering kindness and understanding toward self, gradu- ally decreasing the negative e motions. These individuals may reevaluate their goals, the value of the task, or the importance to mastering the material, but then they tend to avoid maladaptive responses. On the other hand, individuals focusing on perfor- mance goals believe that abilities (including intelli- gence) are ﬁxed and uncontrollable (entity theory). These individuals can adopt different goals for testing situations. Those with performance-approach goals desire feedback to gain a favorable judgment, whereas those with performance-avoidance goals avoid situa- tions where there could be a negative judgment. In both cases, these individuals view the potential for making a mistake as threatening. These individuals tend to attribute failure to ability (‘‘I am not smart’’) or external causes (‘‘The teacher hates me’’). In either case, these individuals experience decreased self- efﬁcacy and self-esteem. They also show lower levels of self-compassion, leaning toward self-pity (exagger- ating their personal suffering). Performance-avoidance goals are associated with fear of failure; these people view testing situations as threatening, and this leads to increases in worry, fear, and anxiety. For these individuals, even success can be interpreted as ‘‘not failing.’’ Not surprisingly, those motivated by perfor- mance goals tend to avoid situations where there will be future challenges. Teachers, coaches, friends, a nd relatives often desire to reduce the negative consequences of failure for an individual and motivate him or her to succeed in the future. Although it is difﬁcult to change an individual’s motivational orienta tion directly, some researchers sug- gest that changing attribut ional responses can lead to more adaptive behaviors. Jeffrey Noel, Donelson For- syth, and Karl Kelley suggest attributional retraining as a ﬁrst step in helping students cope with failure. This approach provides students with models of adaptive attributional responses to failure. Students are encouraged to focus on internal controllable attri- butions (effort) and to avoid internal stable (ability) or external attributions. Compassionate social support is also helpful when it focuses on mastering the mate- rial rather than on evaluating the person. This strat- egy has yielded some success but requires more research. Receiving failure feedback generally is a negative experience for most people, although the longer-term effects vary greatly. These individual differences can be partially explained by individual’s motivational orientation. Those with a learning (mastery) orienta- tion respond to failure with more adaptive responses than those with a performance orientation. These orientations represent complex approaches to tasks that include implicit theories of the task and the self. In helping others effectively cope with failure and persist on tasks, social support is important, speciﬁ- cally when it encourages the person to focus on effort and other controllable attributions. Karl Kelley See also Learning Strategies; Motivation; Teaching Strategies Further Readings Ames, C. (1992). Classrooms: Goals, structures, and student motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology , 84 , 261–271. Ames, C., & Archer, J. (1988). Achievement goals in the classroom: Students’ learning strategies and motivation processes. Journal of Educational Psychology , 80 , 260–267. 394 Failure, Effects of Dweck, C. S. (1986). Motivational processes affecting learning. American Psychologist , 41 , 1040–1048. Dweck, C. S., & Leggett, E. L. (1988). A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality. Psychological Review , 95 , 256–273. Midgley, C., Kaplan, A., Middleton, M., Maehr, M. L., Urdan, T., Anderman, L. H., et al. (1998). The development and validation of scales assessing students’ achievement goal orientations. Contemporary Educational Psychology , 23 , 113–131. Noel, J. G., Forsyth, D. R., & Kelley, K. N. (1987). Improving the performance of failing students by overcoming their self-serving attributional biases. Basic and Applied Social Psychology , 8 , 151–162. F AMILY I NFLUENCES Family inﬂuences are factors, characteristics, or beha- viors exhibited by the family that can bring about changes to one or more members of that family. Though there are numerous and diverse family arrange- ments, research has often focused on the relationship between the parent and the child. Because parents are generally considered the primary caregivers in the family, they have a great inﬂuence on their child’s bio- logical, social, emotional, and intellectual develop- ment. Depending on the context, family inﬂuences can contribute to positive outcomes for the child as well as negative outcomes. Genetic and Environmental Influences One important family inﬂuence factor is the funda- mental fact that parents pass their genes on to their biological children. Genes can determine the child’s physical characteristics (e.g., eye color, hair color, and height), how the child’s body will function, and even personality. In addition, there has been evi- dence that suggests that genetic factors, along with environmental inﬂuences, can contribute to the etiol- ogy of a variety of mental health and physical health disorders, such as schizophrenia, clinical depression, substance abuse, and different types of cancer. For example, a parent may pass on genes that convey risk for a speciﬁc disorder, such as schizophrenia, or a bio- logical disposition or temperament that may allow the child to become more vulnerable only in risky social environments. If a parent or relative has a history of major depression, then the child is two to three times more likely to develop this condition than those who do not have a parent or relative with depression. For parents with a history of alcohol or substance abuse, research evidence suggests that certain genetic inﬂu- ences (e.g., comorbid psychiatric disorders in parents) substantially affect the likelihood that children will develop alcohol abuse or other psychological disor- ders as they reach adulthood. The implication for these ﬁndings is that there may be a major genetic or hereditary inﬂuence interacting with the environment that can lead to speciﬁc developmental outcomes for the child. However, well-functioning families can protect children who are at genetic risk and circumvent pro- cesses that usually lead to negative outcomes. For example, adopted children who are currently living in dangerous communities and whose biological parents have a history of criminality are more likely to dis- play criminal behaviors than are adopted children liv- ing in safer neighborhoods. If these at-risk children are adopted into stable and loving families who live in safer and more supportive environments, the children’s risk of developing criminal or antisocial behavior is decreased signiﬁcantly. Therefore, genetic vulnerabilities that are expressed only in the presence of environmental triggers, such as parenting or envi- ronmental contexts, suggest that interpersonal and family inﬂuences can also play a signiﬁcant role in the child’s development. Attachment The behaviors of parents and caregivers inﬂuence children’s behaviors and personalities as early as infancy. When emotional bonds are formed between the parents and the child, this process is known as attachment. There are two general types of attach- ment: secure and insecure. Parents, particularly mothers, who form a secure attachment with their children, are available and responsive to their child’s needs and establish a sense of security within the child. Though infants initially exhibit distress when separated from their parents, the infants will reconnect warmly with the parents when they return. When frightened, securely attached children will constantly seek comfort from their parents or caregivers. These children know their parent or caregiver will provide security and reassurance, so they are comfortable seeking them out in times of need. As these children grow older, they become friendly, cooperative, and self-conﬁdent, and they adjust easily to the classroom Family Inﬂuences 395 environment and establish amicable relationships with teachers and peers. Children with insecure attachments to their parents, that is, children who do not have the opportunity to form such a relationship in early development, can become immature, dependent, and prone to disruptive and externalizing behavior disorders later on in life. Insecure attachment can be divided into three differ- ent groups: avoidant, anxious-ambivalent, and disor- ganized. Parents of children who exhibit avoidant attachment are often unavailable and unresponsive to the children’s needs. As children grow older, they ﬁnd it difﬁcult to allow themselves to trust or depend on others and often prefer working alone. Children with anxious-ambivalent attachment to their parents tend to be anxious in their environment, even with their parents present. These children will often become resentful and resistant when the parent initiates atten- tion. As children with anxious-ambivalent attachment reach adolescence, they may display social and emo- tional difﬁculties because their behavior in relation- ships may be perceived as needy or clingy by other people. Parents of children with disorganized attach- ment are seen as abusive, frightening, and severely neglectful of the child’s needs. These children often show a mix of avoidant and resistant behaviors. For example, the children may exhibit dazed behavior and are often confused and apprehensive when the parent is present. Disorganized attachment appears to be a signiﬁcant predictor of later childhood maladapta- tion, in which older children and adolescents are more vulnerable to a variety of emotional, social, and moral problems, such as aggressive and antisocial behavior. Parenting Styles Closely related to attachment, parenting and the parent–child relationship have been implicated repeat- edly as correlates of child development both in nor- mative situations and under adverse conditions. There are three different types of parenting styles: authorita- tive, authoritarian, and permissive. Parents who dis- play an authoritative parenting style provide a loving and supportive home environment, hold high expecta- tions and standards for performance, explain which behaviors are or are not acceptable, enforce household rules consistently, and include children in decision making. Though these parents are very responsive to their child’s needs, they are demanding as well. Chil- dren with authoritative parents are often cooperative, energetic, self-conﬁdent, and cheerful. They often per- form well academically, establish strong interpersonal relationships with peers, and show self-control and concern for the rights and needs of others. In contrast with authoritative parents, authoritarian parents are highly demanding and directive and enforce strict rules without explanation or compromise. They provide well-structured environments and expect their children to obey them without question or ﬂexibility. Children who are raised by authoritarian families tend to perform moderately well in school and be unin- volved in problem behavior, but they are often unhappy, anxious, and lack ing in social skills. They also are more likely to exhibit higher levels of depres- sion than are children from authoritative families. On the other hand, permissive parents are highly respon- sive to the children’s needs but are not very demand- ing, as there tends to be very little structure within the home environment. Permissive parents do not require mature behavior from their children, provide no consis- tent set of rules, and often avoid confrontation. Chil- dren from permissive families are more likely to be involved in problem behavior and perform less well academically, but they often exhibit higher self-esteem, better social skills, and lower levels of depression than children from authoritarian or authoritative families. Family Influences as Risk and Protective Factors Research on risk and resilience shows that families can function as direct or indir ect inﬂuences on child behav- ior.

bundet

Family characteristics or behaviors that predict psy- chopathology or negative chil d outcomes are described as risk factors. There has been research aimed at identi- fying representative risk factors in development of cog- nitive and social-emotio nal competence within the family context. Some of these variables include a history of maternal mental illness, hi gh maternal anxiety, nega- tive or few parental interactions with the child during infancy, minimal parental education, disadvantaged minority status, stressful life events, large family size, poor family relations, and parental criminal behaviors. Many times, it is not only a single risk factor in the child, family, or environment that leads to negative out- comes but a combination of these factors that contribute to the problem in the family. Effects of the family that demonstrate positive or desired outcomes for the child are described as protective factors for the child. Although resiliency 396 Family Inﬂuences research has focused primarily on personal attributes, recent research also examines protective factors in a social and family context. There are currently three broad sets of variables that have been found to oper- ate as protective factors for positive child develop- ment: (1) characteristics of the individual child (e.g., temperament, cognitive ability); (2) families that pro- vide warmth, support, and structure; and (3) the avail- ability of external support systems. These protective factors can help children from very high risk families and environments to avoid negative outcomes (e.g., academic failure, delinquency, depression, and sub- stance use) and also develop successful and positive life adaptation. Family Influences as Moderator Variables Family inﬂuences can act as moderator variables,such that the inﬂuence of the family can alter the effect of another condition or factor on the child, in either a posi- tive or negative way. In situations where there are moderating factors, there is a conditional or joint effect present, which determine s the direction and/or the strength of the relationship between the predictor vari- able and the outcome. In one common type of interac- tion, positive family inﬂuence functions as a buffer to shield the child from any harmful exposure to, or impact of, adversity. For example, a protective family provides shelter and security for the child in an unsafe community so the child will not be harmed. Protective factors can often be activated by adverse events, in which parents are compelled to protect their child if they perceive that their child may be at risk or in dan- ger. In other situations, family inﬂuences may exacer- bate the effects of already- negative contexts or risk factors. For example, lack of monitoring by the parents (i.e., moderator variable) may be unsafe for children residing in bad neighborhoods (i.e., negative context) because these children do not have the security they need to live safely in these neighborhoods. Therefore, the quality of monitoring by parents in risky or danger- ous environments can be described as a moderator. Individual differences in children and parents can moderate the effects of the family as a whole, suggesting a reciprocal relationship involved. Parents can change their own perceptions and behavior in relation to their children’s developmental changes and also according to how their children respond. Differ- ences in child temperament and personality can be moderator variables of parent behavior, and these ways of relating to people and the world often change over the course of development. In addition, the qual- ity of parenting can be moderated by ecological sys- tems that regulate parent behavior, such as parents’ marital status, the extended family, and the social sys- tems of work, culture, or community. For example, a supportive spouse or grandparent can be a protective factor for the children during periods of stress and hardships experienced by the family, by regulating the behavior and affect of the parent. If parents expe- rience numerous problems at work, these problems might inﬂuence their parenting style when they come home, thereby affecting the behavior of the child. Family Influences as Mediator Variables Whereas a moderator variable inﬂuences the strength of the interactions between variables and the outcome, mediator variables serve to explain the relationship between the predictor variable and outcome. Diverse family inﬂuences can serve as mediator variables that explain the child’s outcome. For example, parental involvement in a child’s education is a protective fac- tor that contributes to positive child academic perfor- mance, such as high attendance and graduation rates, improved homework completion, and decreased vio- lence and substance abuse. Parents often intervene in their child’s education if they discover that their child is failing in a subject area. As the parents work with teachers and with the child in the school, the child’s grades eventually improve. Thus, parental involve- ment in the school acts as a mediating variable, because it helps explain how the child was able to achieve positive academic results. Parental inﬂuences can potentially mediate many risk factors, including genetic disorders, low social class, or economic difﬁ- culties, in addition to academic failure. For example, in studies that explored the genetic and environmental effects in the development of resilience among chil- dren in poverty, researchers found that maternal warmth and support mediate the effects of genetic risks to adaptation in unfavorable circumstances. However, family inﬂuences as mediator variables can also help explain undesirable or negative child out- comes. If a child’s parents a re physically abusive or neglectful to the child’s basic needs, this might help explain why the child is experiencing academic and social-emotional difﬁculties . Therefore, parenting styles Family Inﬂuences 397 and attachments may also act as mediator variables that can affect the child’s psychological well-being. Families can produce all kinds of risks, resources, and opportunities for the same child over the course of development, varying from biological and societal fac- tors to academic and economic resources. Family inﬂuences can also have an indirect effect on the child when the inﬂuence is mediated by inter- vening factors and the processes the factors represent. For example, mediator variables can be features of the child, the child’s nutrition, the school, the neigh- borhood, the community, or any other system outside of the family that inﬂuences the child’s behavior. One example of this type of mediating factor is school support, which can inﬂuence both the family and the child, especially if the family has very little education and few economic resources available to assist in their child’s education. School support, therefore, acts as a positive mediating variable to improve the child’s academic skills even when the family is unable to help the child succeed in school (e.g., because of stressful conditions or difﬁcult circumstances the par- ents are facing). Families Influences as Sources of Risk Because parents are an integral part of the child’s lives, they can also be a potential source of threat to their child’s development and well-being. These inﬂu- ences can be passive in nature. Although some actions may not be necessarily deliberate, family members may harm their children’s well-being through neglect or incompetence. Parents who have a physical or cog- nitive impairment or other mental health disorders may not be able to provide normative levels of nutri- tion, security, or teaching for their children, or they may not be able to notice impending danger and take protective action, which can place the child at risk for negative outcomes. Socioeconomic status and func- tional competence of the parents are often associated with child competence and academic achievement. For example, incompetent parents may be more likely to expose their children to danger, deviant peers, or other harmful inﬂuences in the environment due to their circumstances, choices, or behaviors. Younger children, who are still exploring their environment, are especially vulnerable to these hazards and risks if parents do not pay attention to or monitor their safety. Family inﬂuence can also be an active source of threat. One example of this type of threat is child abuse and maltreatment, in which parents inﬂict phys- ical and/or psychological harm on the child, affecting the child’s welfare and safety. Studies have shown that child maltreatment perpetrated by a parent is a direct threat to children, and studies suggest that maltreatment by an attachment ﬁgure inﬂicts more harmful physical and/or psychological effects on the child than does maltreatment by a stranger. Children who experience maltreatment are at risk of developing health and psychological problems as adults, such as substance abuse, eating disorders, and depression. Children whose parents use harsh disciplinary meth- ods can become deﬁant, explosive, and unpredictable. Even those from exceptionally abusive families tend to experience emotional difﬁculties and low self- esteem. In addition, because children are also social learners, children observing domestic violence or parental conﬂict may be disturbing for younger chil- dren, affecting their sense of security within the home environment. There has been extensive research that explores family contextual factors for early-onset substance use (e.g., alcohol, marijuana) as children reach adoles- cence. Besides child abuse and maltreatment stated earlier, children whose families experience extreme poverty are considered to be at higher risk for a very early onset (before age 13) of alcohol or substance use than other children. In addition to low socioeco- nomic status, other early family contexts that have been shown to enhance risk for early-onset substance use include being raised in a family without a biologi- cal parent, parental stress, family medical conditions, and unemployment. However, one of the most potent risk factors is living with a parent who abuses alcohol and other substances. Research suggests that parental alcoholism and substance use signiﬁcantly increase a child’s likelihood that the child will experience sub- stance use in adolescence. Divorce, Remarriage, and the Family Parental divorce and remarriage have an inﬂuence on the child’s well-being, behavior adaptation, and aca- demic performance. Children and adolescents whose parents are divorced or in the process of getting a divorceareatahighriskofdevelopingexternalizing behavior problems, such as antisocial behavior, aggres- sion, and noncompliance. In addition, children and adolescents may develop internalizing behavior pro- blems, such as depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, 398 Family Inﬂuences and withdrawn behavior. However, parental divorce may be considered a positive solution for some fami- lies, if there is an extremely high family conﬂict involved. Family conﬂicts that involve hostility and abuse lead children to develop negative emotions that can be destructive; thus, a divorce may be an appropri- atesolutionforthefamilytopreventthechildfrom witnessing or experiencing this conﬂict. There may be some children who feel they are caught in the middle of this conﬂict or even feel helpless during this stress- ful period. Research suggests that parental marital hos- tility is associated with lack of emotional regulation in children and adolescents, which can lead to behavior problems in the future. Marital transitions can bring positive and negative life changes to the family. Although divorce leads to an increase in stressful life events, such as poverty and psychological problems in a djustment for both child and parent, it also may allow parents the opportunity for personal growth. Remarriage provides the family an additional adult as a resource for family manage- ment and child support; however, parental monitoring tends to be lower in stepfamilies and in single-parent households than in nuclear families. In the early stages of a remarriage, stepparents a re often less affectionate with their stepchildren even though they spend time with them attempting to form a relationship. In addi- tion, biological mothers often become inattentive and less affectionate and more i rritable and inconsistent in discipline. It may also be difﬁcult for children to adjust having a new parent present especially if they still desire their biological parents back together. Children with certain individual and family pro- tective factors may be less likely to exhibit negative emotional and behavior outcomes after a divorce or remarriage. They may possess coping strategies, strong relationships with parents, or social support, which help children to experience less stress and emo- tional instability. Authoritative parenting throughout the divorce or remarriage can improve child outcomes as well. Parents who are able to provide warmth and support, along with control and monitoring of their child’s behavior, can lead to diminished exter- nalizing behavior and increase social responsibility in children and adolescents. Nevertheless, there are many challenges that arise in stepfamilies as parents try to build a marital relationship in the presence of their child and the child tries to develop meaningful and secure relationships with biological parents, step- parents, and stepsiblings as well. Family Influences in Social and Cultural Development Parents have numerous roles and responsibilities to teach, model, and socialize with their children in order for them to learn and adapt in their social envi- ronment. Beginning early in life, most children learn that there are some things they can or should do and other things they should not do. For instance, children learn lessons about their culture’s standards and expectations, such as personal hygiene, table manners, and interpersonal skills such as knowing when to say ‘‘please’’ or ‘‘thank you.’’ However, they also learn from parents not to interrupt when an adult is speak- ing, not to turn in homework late for school, and not to hit other children. Parents therefore attempt to instill beliefs that are acceptable in their own society. They shape or model their child’s behavior through rewards and punishment, and reciprocally, the child can also inﬂuence and shape the parent’s behaviors through interactions with the parents. Families also have cultural values and beliefs sys- tems that may inﬂuence their child to adopt those same values and beliefs or even different ones. Parents from culturally and ethnically diverse backgrounds teach or expose children to various ritu als and traditions that are partoftheirfamilylife.Childrenlearntoprayormedi- tate and to participate in culture-speciﬁc or religious rituals. Families also have their own histories and life stories that serve many functions for children, such as imparting family values or life lessons. In various ways, parents play an important part in establishing their child’s social and cultural identity through both direct education and indire ct provision during their child’s growth and development. In some families, for example in Latino, Native American, and Asian comm unities, family bonds and relationships are especially important, and extended family members often live nearby. Children who are raised in these cultures are likely to feel responsible for their family’s well-being and display loyalty and respect for their elders. It is not unusual for a child to leave school when help is needed at home. School achieve- ment is also highly valued, and most parents encourage their child to do well academically. However, there are a few cases where academic achievement may be less valued than achievement in other areas. For example, in some Polynesian families, parents expect children to excel in creative arts and dance rather than aca- demic subjects such as readi ng and writing. Therefore, Family Inﬂuences 399 families have cultural expectations that may inﬂuence what their child is learning in school. Many families also have different attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions about their role in their child’s educa- tion, which can affect how parents communicate with teachers in their school. The customs and beliefs of culturally diverse families often conﬂict with those of the educational system. For some immigrant families, parents have beliefs and expectations that teachers are the experts in educating children; therefore, parents may not want to interfere in their child’s schooling. For other families that are close-knit, they prefer to resolve their child’s academic difﬁculties within the family rather than with school professionals. In addi- tion, linguistic barriers make it difﬁcult for parents to communicate with teachers, especially if their child is having academic or social problems in the school. Addressing these concerns may potentially help schools and parents build the partnership necessary to improve the child’s learning in the school. Family inﬂuences contribute to a child’s develop- ment in positive or negative ways. They may be sources of risk and adversity or sources of support and protection. The accumulation of many risk factors leads to many problems in children; however, having the child exposed to a variety of family protective fac- tors can contribute to positive outcomes. Parents pro- vide resources in the family, teach children values and family traditions, and allow children opportunities to develop their skills academically and socially. Thus, in direct or indirect ways, families inﬂuence their child’s development across multiple domains including the child’s competence, physical and psy- chological well-being, adjustment, and life successes. Andy V. Pham and John S. Carlson See also Attachment; Child Abuse; Parenting; Parenting Styles; Risk Factors and Development Further Readings Clarke-Stewart, A., & Dunn, J. (Eds.). (2006). Families count: Effects on child and adolescent development. New York: Cambridge University Press. Davies, P. T., & Cicchetti, D. (Eds.). (2004). Family systems and developmental psychopathology [Special issue]. Development and Psychopathology , 16 , 477–481. Elizalde-Utnick, G. (2002). Best practices in building partnerships with families. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology (4th ed., Vol. 1, pp. 413–429). Washington, DC: National Association of School Psychologists. Epstein, J. L. (1996). Perspectives and previews on research and policy for school, family, and community partnerships. In A. Booth & J. F. Dunn (Ed.), Family-school links: How do they affect educational outcomes? (pp. 209–246). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Potvin, P., Deslandes, R., & Leclerc, D. (1999). Family characteristics as predictors of school achievement: Parental involvement as a mediator. McGill Journal of Education , 34 (2), 135–153. Repetti, R. L., Taylor, S. E., & Seeman, T. E. (2002). Risky families: Family social environments and the mental and physical health of offspring. Psychological Bulletin , 128 , 330–366. F IELD E XPERIMENTS Field experiments are randomized interventions that take place in naturalistic settings, as opposed to research laboratories. Education experiments may take many forms. Examples include preschool readi- ness programs, curriculum supplements, reductions in classroom size, and alterations in the cooperative for- mat of the classroom, as well as larger institutional interventions, such as voucher systems that allow par- ents to choose among schools. In each case, ﬁeld experimentation involves the random assignment of students, classrooms, or schools to treatment and con- trol conditions. The primary purpose of experimentation is to iso- late causal relationships. Random assignment ensures that exposure to the intervention bears no systematic relationship to background factors, such as students’ home environment or peer inﬂuences. Field settings enable the researcher to draw causal inferences under naturalistic conditions, which enhances the external validity of the results. Field experiments strive to address four aspects of external validity: (1) How closely does the intervention resemble what will be deployed in other settings, for instance, as the result of a new policy initiative? (2) To what extent was the experimental stimulus delivered in a context that resembles the setting within which the intervention is likely to be deployed in the future? (3) How closely do the subjects in the experiment resemble those who are likely to be presented with the intervention? (4) How closely do the outcome measures resemble 400 Field Experiments the outcomes of most interest from a policy or theo- retical perspective? The ideal ﬁeld experiment is one that is conducted as unobtrusively as possible, using subjects and interventions that allow for generaliza- tion and outcome measures that meaningfully gauge the short- and long-term effects of the intervention. Field experimentation is especially useful in educa- tional environments where the intervention and setting interact in complex ways. Here, the advantages over laboratory experimentation or observational research are clear. For example, to test the inﬂuence of class size on student performance, researchers in a labora- tory study might divide subjects into different sized groups for an afternoon to see how quickly the sub- jects learn a new skill, such as long division. A researcher conducting an observational (nonrando- mized) study of the effects of class size has the ability to observe actual classroom behavior but is unable to distinguish the apparent effects of class size from other factors, such as school funding and parental involvement; even the use of multivariate statistical methods leaves open the possibility that the treatment and control groups differ systematically in unmea- sured ways. A ﬁeld experiment that randomly assigns students to different sized classes during elementary school has the potential beneﬁt of isolating this one change in the students’ educational environment while maintaining the advantages of unobtrusive measure- ment within a naturalistic setting. In practice, ﬁeld experiments often confront practi- cal challenges. Schools and parents may be unwilling to participate in a randomized study or to adhere to a protocol that, for example, assigns some students to classes with lower student–teacher ratios. In a class size experiment, for example, parents may withdraw their children from large classes and exit the school or pressure administrators to reassign them to small classes. This problem of noncompliance may be cor- rectable using statistical methods such as instrumental variables regression, where the instrument is assign- ment to the treatment group and the independent vari- able is whether or not the subject received the actual treatment. Noncompliance, however, not only compli- cates the analysis and interpretation of the results; it also undermines the statistical power of the experi- ment. More difﬁcult to correct statistically are pro- blems of attrition, as occur when subjects assigned to one experimental group are more likely than those in the other group to exit the study. A third problem is spillover, or indirect treatment of some subjects as a function of other subjects receiving a treatment directly. For example, if improving the educational environment among children in small classes has positive educational effects on their counterparts in larger classes, a simple comparison of treatment and control groups will underestimate the effects of the intervention. Finally, ﬁeld experiments are potentially susceptible to Hawthorne effects. The mere fact that an intervention is administered under the watchful eye of the evaluator may change the quality of the intervention or the manner in which participants respond to it. The use of randomized ﬁeld experiments also raises ethical considerations. Exposing students to varying interventions may be interpreted to mean that some students will be denied, for the sake of science, the best education possible. Given this ethical concern, researchers may be unable to deny access to existing services by removing pieces of an established program; instead, they must augment an existing program with new beneﬁts and compare the effects of these changes to the baseline outcomes o f the preexisting program. Sometimes resource limitati ons create opportunities for acceptable randomized inter ventions. For example, if school vouchers are in limited supply, and receiving a school voucher is determined by a lottery, researchers may discern the inﬂuence of the voucher program by comparing the educational outcomes of those who were randomly selected to receive a voucher to those who applied but were not selected. When ﬁeld experiments are impractical for logisti- cal or ethical reasons, researchers may examine natural experiments, that is, situations in which events or insti- tutional practices sort subjects into treatment and control groups in ways that mimic randomized assign- ment. For example, when a benefactor offers college scholarships to all third graders in a given school, one may examine the effects of this incentive program on graduation rates by comparing to these third graders the corresponding outcomes of second and fourth gra- ders in the same school. Similarly, it is possible to examine the inﬂuence of kindergarten enrollment on a child’s intellectual development by comparing chil- dren whose birthdays fall immediately before and after a speciﬁc cutoff date. Natural experiments permit researcherstoexaminetheconsequencesof‘‘asif’’ random variation. The drawba ck of natural experiments is that ‘‘as if’’ randomization is not necessarily the same as actual randomization. The researcher may be mistaken in asserting that the treatments were applied Field Experiments 401 in a random fashion, in which case, causal inferences may be biased. Donald P. Green and Rachel Milstein Sondheimer See also Descriptive Statistics; Experimental Design; External Validity; Internal Validity Further Readings Angrist, J. D., Imbens, G. W., & Rubin, D. B. (1996). Identiﬁcation of causal effects using instrumental variables. Journal of the American Statistical Association , 91 (June), 444–455. Cook, T. D. (2003). Why have educational evaluators chosen not to do randomized experiments? Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science , 589 , 114–149. Cook, T. D. (2005). Emergent principles for the design, implementation, and analysis of cluster-based experiments in social science. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science , 599 , 176–198. Green, D. P., & Gerber, A. S. (2002). Reclaiming the experimental tradition in political science. In I. Katznelson & H. V. Milner (Eds.), Political science: The state of the discipline (3rd ed., pp. 805–832). New York: W. W. Norton. Heckman, J. J., & Smith, J. A. (1995, Spring). Assessing the case for social experiments. Journal of Economic Perspectives , 9 , 85–110. Mosteller, F., & Boruch, R. (Eds.). (2002). Evidence matters: Randomized trials in education research. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. Rosenzweig, M. R., & Wolpin, K. I. (2000, December). Natural ‘‘natural experiments’’ in economics. Journal of Economic Literature , 38 , 827–874. F IELD I NDEPENDENCE – F IELD D EPENDENCE Field independence –ﬁeld dependence (FI/D) is a dimension of cognitive style that affects the degree to which individuals rely on their own internal frames of reference in perception and performance of cognitive and social tasks. The degree of reliance on internal or external referents, in turn, affects other cognitive and social domains of behavior. The result is the portrait of a ﬁeld independent person who is perceptually and cognitively analytic—able to see the trees in the for- est. The same person is socially introverted, thinking his or her own thoughts rather than engaging with others. The ﬁeld dependent individual perceives and thinks more holistically and can even be overwhelmed by extensive data in the ﬁeld—unable to engage selective attention without help. The ﬁeld dependent person relies on others for direction, help, and conﬁr- mation and thus exhibits a socially engaged interper- sonal style. People develop from a relatively ﬁeld dependent style as children to more ﬁeld independent with age, but this general developmental trend does not have a uniform outcome, and therefore, FI/D remains a variable of individual difference within the adult population. The descriptions of individuals falling at the extreme ends of the FI/D continuum are immediately recognizable by any teacher. Some students seem to take off on their own, cognitively speaking. These ﬁeld independent learners like to work independently and even get impatient when they are placed in a group for discussion and problem solving. Their ﬁeld dependent counterparts are happy when it is time for group work. They are lost on their own and, there- fore, subscribe to the notion that two heads are better than one. The fact that these types of individuals are so recognizable to teachers may be one reason that the construct of FI/D remains important in educational psychology. A second reason is that all educationalists are attracted to the idea that individual differences in stu- dents can be characterized in terms of style rather than solely in terms of ability. A style is expressed on a horizontal continuum with neither end being inher- ently superior to the other. Ability is expressed using a vertical metaphor, with some students on top and others at the bottom. The top is good; the bottom is not. Bottom students need remediation; top students do not. Differences in the style continuum suggest that all learners can do well if they are situated in the appropriate learning environment. In this sense, cog- nitive styles such as FI/D are the predecessors to the idea of multiple intelligences, which also has appealed to teachers. The utility of these conceptions of individual differences is in the promise they offer for learners and the responsibility they place on edu- cators for structuring instruction in a way that helps learners to succeed. Despite the conceptual attraction that the FI/D con- struct holds, the empirical research on this construct has been plagued by measurement problems. The origi- nal measure of FI/D in the mid-1900s was administered 402 Field Independence–Field Dependence individually and required the examinee to orient perceptually and physically to a ﬁeld of objects as they were rotated. This cumbersome procedure was replaced by the Group Embedded Figures Test, which consists of a booklet containing line drawings in which examinees are to ﬁnd hidden shapes. The ratio- nale for the task design is that children with the ﬁeld independent style will succeed in ﬁnding the hidden shapes without becoming distracted by the overall ﬁg- ures. The task resembles sections of intelligence tests that measure ﬂuid ability, which is one aspect of some deﬁnitions of intelligence. Indeed, the Group Embed- ded Figures Test has been found to load on ﬂuid abil- ity when factor analyzed. Moreover, the scoring of this measure results in an overall score indicating number of correct responses; a high score means high ﬁeld independence. In other words, this measure transforms the attractive, value-neutral style construct into a value-laden ability. Some connection undoubt- edly exists between the ﬁeld independent end of the style continuum and the ﬁeld independent ability (or ﬂuid intelligence) measured by the Group Embedded Figures Test, but research attempting to understand the role of the FI/D style in learning requires better measurement procedures. Because of the measurement problem, some researchers have become discouraged about the utility of FI/D as a construct that can help educators under- stand learning. However, others see this construct as extremely salient for success in the variety of contexts that learners face today and, therefore, these research- ers attempt to improve its measurement. Moreover, research results typically reveal a weak to moderate correlation between the Group Embedded Figures Test and measures of learning success under particu- lar conditions, such as classroom second language learning. In other words, empirical results, although not dramatic, are sufﬁcient to keep some researchers interested. In particular, researchers studying learning through technology see FI/D as an important means for understanding how individual differences intersect with technology use. Can instruction be designed in a way that ﬁts indi- vidual styles? Can online instruction be modiﬁed on the basis of dynamic assessment of style? Can tea- chers use technology to provide individual and social alternative learning environments for learners in the same class? These are some of the questions that researchers hope to address, but in order to obtain results about the success of such learning conditions, a valid measure for assessing the FI/D style is needed. Whereas ﬁndings about individual differences may have been difﬁcult to act on in classrooms, the range of learning options availed through technology prompts researchers to seek solutions to measure- ments issues. Carol A. Chapelle See also Cognitive and Cultural Styles; Fluid Intelligence; Individual Differences; Intelligence Tests; Multiple Intelligences Further Readings Abraham, R. G. (1985). Field independence–dependence and the teaching of grammar. TESOL Quarterly , 19 (4), 689–702. Chapelle, C., & Green, P. (1992). Field independence/ dependence in second language acquisition research. Language Learning , 42 (1), 47–83. Jonassen, D. H., & Grabowski, B. L. (1993). Handbook of individual differences, learning, and instruction. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Witkin, H., & Goodenough, D. (1981). Cognitive styles, essence and origins: Field dependence and ﬁeld independence. New York: International Universities Press. F LASHBULB M EMORIES , T HE N ATURE OF Psychologists interested in people’s memories of life events have suggested that memories of some events may be different from others in that people are able to recall not only the events but also the circum- stances surrounding the events and, further, that these memories may be more detailed and subject to less forgetting than others. These memories have been termed ﬂashbulb memories. Two fundamental ques- tions psychologists have posed with regard to ﬂash- bulb memories are whether they are somehow special with regard to the nature of the information stored about the event and whether they respond differently to the ravages of time than other memories. Another important question is what factor or factors contribute to the formation of a ﬂashbulb memory. In other words, what, exactly, is necessary for individuals to form a ﬂashbulb memory? Flashbulb Memories, The Nature of 403 Flashbulb Memories and the Study of Memory in General Psychologists interested in how individuals acquire and use knowledge have devoted much attention to the study of memory. Indeed, there have been more studies of memory than of any of the other cognitive processes that psychologists have investigated. From both a theoretical and practical standpoint, the study of memory is important and provides valuable infor- mation to psychologists and educators about the way to best present material to enhance learning, the most effective strategies to promote remembering, and an understanding of the variety of factors that often serve to limit how much individuals can remember. Much attention has been paid to how individuals of all ages encode, store, and retrieve information they have experienced. The study of memory has had a long his- tory in psychology and remains a topic of great study and fascination today. Psychologists have found it helpful to categorize memories into short-term and long-term memories. Short-term memories of newly presented information, such as someone’s phone number, may last for several seconds but are often displaced when individuals are distracted in some way or kept from rehearsing the information. Thus, a new phone number that one has looked up and intends to dial may be lost as one answers a question posed by a child entering the room. Chances are, if the information is not familiar, for example, if this is the ﬁrst time that one has attempted to think about or remember this particular phone num- ber, the phone number that is displaced is unlikely to be remembered at a later time. It has, for all practical purposes, vanished. Long-term memories are generally thought to be more permanent than short-term memo- ries (although all long-term memories are not necessar- ily permanent) and can last for several minutes up to several years. An adult’s recall of the ﬁrst day of kin- dergarten, assuming that such a memory exists, would be a good example of a long-term memory. People’s ability to recall information can be very impressive, as in the case of many long-term memories, or not, as in the case of many short-term memories. Long-term memories are generally classiﬁed into one of several types of memory. Within the broader category of long-term memory are episodic memories, or memories for events; semantic memories, or mem- ories for general knowledge (e.g., that a kangaroo is a type of mammal); and procedural memories, or memories for procedures involved in various skills (e.g., in typing or playing the piano). A ﬂashbulb memory is a type of episodic memory. With regard to episodic memories, psychologists have been particularly interested in the numerous fac- tors that produce either heightened or hindered recall of an event. As mentioned earlier, individuals’ long- term memories can be quite impressive. What are the characteristics of an event that may make one’s mem- ory for the event particularly salient and long-lasting? Are some memories so ‘‘special’’ that they may be even more salient and long-lasting than others? These are questions that have intrigued not only psycholo- gists but also individuals in all walks of life. Studies of Flashbulb Memories An early article by R. Brown and J. Kulik is generally thought to be the ﬁrst article detailing an examination of ﬂashbulb memories. The article is quite important, because it motivated others to begin to examine ﬂash- bulb memories in a systematic manner and because the authors presented somewhat inconsistent concep- tualizations of ﬂashbulb memories. Brown and Kulik suggested that when individuals experience an event in their life that is highly unexpected as well as conse- quential, they are likely to remember not only the event but also the contextual circumstances surround- ing the event. So, for example, an individual might still remember the circumstances surrounding being told that her father died (such as the time of day, the activity being engaged in, where she was when given the news, what happened immediately afterward), even though several decades have passed, or upon hearing the news of the Challenger explosion. It should be noted that psychologists have most often studied individuals’ memory of public rather than pri- vate events. Because of their nature, highly unex- pected and consequential public events are likely to produce memories in a large number of people, mak- ing public memories more open to psychologists’ investigations than are more personal and private ﬂashbulb memories. Thus, psychologists know more about public than private ﬂashbulb memories. In an initial study conducted by Brown and Kulik, individuals were asked, in part, whether they recalled the personal circumstances of hearing the news that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated (since Brown and Kulik’s study, psychologists have investigated several other highly surprising and 404 Flashbulb Memories, The Nature of consequential events, such as other assassinations, the Challenger explosion, the Loma Prieta earthquake, and the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001). To have what Brown and Kulik considered a ﬂashbulb memory, participants had to indicate that they did, indeed, remember the circum- stances surrounding being made aware that Kennedy had been killed and also had to be able to provide information about at least one of six ‘‘canonical’’ categories of contextual circumstances (place, ongo- ing event, informant, affect in others, own affect, and aftermath). What is interesting about Brown and Kulik’s operational deﬁnition of ﬂashbulb memories is that it would clearly seem to ‘‘pave the way’’ for the allowance of forgetting in ﬂashbulb memories. However, at the same time, Brown and Kulik sug- gested that individuals might remember the circum- stances surrounding a surprising and consequential event because of the potential biological signiﬁcance of the event and the relatedness of the event to sur- vival of the species. Thus, the authors emphasized the importance of remembering the event to a species’ very survival and, further, suggested a photographic metaphor to describe the mechanism by which these types of memories might be formed. Even the term used by these authors, ﬂashbulb memories, suggests that such memories have rich details that are frozen in time, much like a photograph. Thus, depending on which of Brown and Kulik’s conceptualizations one focuses on, he or she may end up with the understand- ing that ﬂashbulb memories are special and involve lit- tle forgetting or the understanding that ﬂashbulb memories may be special, but , perhaps, not so special. Since Brown and Kulik’s study, several investiga- tors have examined individuals’ reactions to surpris- ing and consequential events to determine the nature of ﬂashbulb memories. One important debate in the literature has been whether ﬂashbulb memories are different enough from other memories to suggest that they must be formed differently than are other memo- ries. If so, ﬂashbulb memories for important events in people’s lives (and the circumstances of hearing about the events) may be impervious to the types of rampant forgetting that individuals experience for more mun- dane events. To examine the ‘‘special mechanism’’ hypothesis, psychologists have frequently examined individuals’ ability to recall the circumstances of hearing about a surprising and consequential public event fairly soon after hearing of the event and then again, after a longer delay. For example, individuals might be asked a series of questions regarding their memory of hearing about the Challenger explosion a day after the news event and then again 6 months or 1 year later. Of interest is whether individuals remem- ber the event and the circumstances of hearing about the news event and whether their memories of the event and circumstances after a delay are similar to those they had initially. It is generally assumed in this type of research that individuals’ initial recollec- tions, typically examined within days of the event, are accurate. When psychologists have examined individuals’ memories of public events in this way, it has gener- ally been the case that individuals’ memories are not consistent over time and involve a loss or distortion of details. Some recent research suggests that these types of changes are less likely to occur when the ini- tial memories are investigated about a week or so after the event, rather than immediately following the event. In any case, it appears that ﬂashbulb memories are not so special as to warrant the hypothesis that they are formed from a special set of processes. Some psychologists have found, however, that individuals often have a great deal of conﬁdence in their inaccu- rate memories. Thus, although the individuals’ memo- ries for important events may not be accurate, these individuals believe that their memories are accurate. Another important issue is what factor or factors are necessary to form a ﬂashbulb memory. Psycholo- gists have examined the role of several variables in the formation of ﬂashbulb memories, including rehearsal, emotional state, importance or consequenti- ality, surprise, novelty, and prior knowledge. Psychol- ogists have also developed and tested fairly complex models of how these variables might interact to pro- duce ﬂashbulb memories. It does seem clear at this point that some of these variables may play a more crucial role in the formation of ﬂashbulb memories than others. Psychologists are continuing to reﬁne their models of ﬂashbulb memory formation. Although it is now generally agreed upon that ﬂashbulb memories involve forgetting, it is also the case that individuals’ memories for some events, and the circumstances of hearing about the events, can be impressive. There have been cases in the literature, for example, of older adults recalling a striking amount of details for crucial historical events that occurred decades earlier. For this reason, psycholo- gists have begun to concentrate on identifying the circumstances leading to such superior memory. It Flashbulb Memories, The Nature of 405 appears that rehearsal may be critical in the formation of ﬂashbulb memories, as individuals retell important narratives about their life history. It also appears that direct involvement in an event may be an important component in the formation of ﬂashbulb memories. For example, living through an event such as an earth- quake or being in close proximity to such an event leaves a much stronger impression than hearing about this event from many miles away. Thus, there is a dif- ference in having ‘‘been there’’ for something like the Loma Prieta earthquake or the 9/11 attacks in New York City. As research on ﬂashbulb memories con- tinues to progress, psychologists will no doubt dis- cover other important factors related to the formation of ﬂashbulb memories and gain an even greater understanding of what factors are responsible for the very impressive memory for circumstances that may occur in some situations. Karen M. Zabrucky and Lin-Miao L. Agler See also Emotion and Memory; Episodic Memory; Long-Term Memory; Memory Further Readings Brown, R., & Kulik, J. (1977). Flashbulb memories. Cognition , 5 , 73–99. Finkenauer, C., Luminet, O., Gisle, L., El-Ahmadi, A., van der Linden, M., & Philippot, P. (1998). Flashbulb memories and the underlying mechanisms of their formation: Toward an emotional-integrative model. Memory and Cognition , 26 (3), 516–531. McCloskey, M., Wible, C. G., & Cohen, N. J. (1988). Is there a special ﬂashbulb-memory mechanism? Journal of Experimental Psychology , 117 (2), 171–181. Neisser, U., & Harsch, N. (1992). Phantom ﬂashbulbs: False recollections of hearing the news about Challenger. In E. Winograd & U. Neisser (Eds.), Affect and accuracy in recall: Studies of ﬂashbulb memories (pp. 9–31). New York: Cambridge University Press. Otani, H., Kusumi, T., Kato, K., Matsuda, K., Kern, R. P., Widner, R., et al. (2005). Remembering a nuclear accident in Japan: Did it trigger ﬂashbulb memories? Memory , 13 (1), 6–20. Smith, M. C., Bibi, U., & Sheard, D. E. (2003). Evidence for the differential impact of time and emotion on personal and event memories for September 11, 2001. Applied Cognitive Psychology , 17 , 1047–1055. Winningham. R. G., Hyman, I. E., & Dinnel, D. L. (2000). Flashbulb memories? The effects of when the initial memory report was obtained. Memory , 8 (4), 209–216. F LUID I NTELLIGENCE Fluid intelligence is the set of cognitive processes that people bring to solving novel tasks and representing, manipulating, and learning new information. Conse- quently, ﬂuid intelligence is an important construct in educational psychology because it attempts to describe and explain aspects of the individual that inﬂuence how, and how well, people solve unfamiliar problems and learn previously unfamiliar material. The history, nature, and current controversies sur- rounding ﬂuid intelligence are herein reviewed. History Early research in intelligence proposed that intelli- gence was composed of a single, unitary characteristic (known as general intelligence, or g ) and a relatively large number of speciﬁc abilities. Whereas g was viewed as broad ability having a profound effect on learning, problem solving, and adaptation, speciﬁc abilities were viewed as narrow and largely trivial. However, subsequent research differentiated intel- lectual abilities that were based, in large part, on culturally speciﬁc, acquired knowledge (known as crystallized abilities, or g c ) and intellectual abilities that were less dependent on prior knowledge and cul- tural experiences (known as ﬂuid abilities, or g f ). Although this work was primarily inﬂuenced by fac- tor analysis of relationships among cognitive tests, prediction of future learning, experimental studies, and other forms of evidence also supported the crystallized versus ﬂuid distinction. More modern research has identiﬁed other abilities in addition to crystallized and ﬂuid abilities (e.g., working memory, quantitative reasoning, visualization), although scho- lars have not yet agreed on the exact number and nature of these abilities and whether these abilities are independent faculties or subordinate to g : In con- trast, there is strong consensus on the distinction between ﬂuid and crystallized intellectual abilities and their substantial roles in human learning and adaptation. Nature Contemporary neuroscience deﬁnes ﬂuid intelligence as cognitive processing independent of speciﬁc content. Fluid intelligence is characterized by the ability to 406 Fluid Intelligence suppress irrelevant information, sustain cognitive repre- sentations, and manage executive processes. Measures of ﬂuid intelligence are strong predictors of cognitively demanding tasks, including learning, education, voca- tional performance, and soc ial success, particularly when such performance demands new learning or insight rather than reliance on previous knowledge. Research also suggests strong biological inﬂuences on the development of, and individual differences in, ﬂuid intelligence. For example, studies demonstrate that (a) ﬂuid intelligence is more heritable than most other cognitive characteristics; (b) localization of ﬂuid intelligence operations in the prefrontal cortex, ante- rior cingulate cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus; © life-span changes associating neurotransmitter dec- reases with decrements in ﬂuid intelligence; (d) mod- erate associations between neural speed of response/ conduction and (untimed) measures of ﬂuid intelli- gence; (e) that unusual exposure to language (e.g., deafness, nonstandard language background) has little effect on the development and performance of ﬂuid intellectual abilities; and (f) ﬂuid abilities have been rising steadily in Western countries for over a century in contrast to relatively stable crystallized abilities (i.e., the Flynn effect). Although there is an associa- tion between environmental advantages (e.g., parental education, socioeconomic status) and ﬂuid intelli- gence, this association may be partly or entirely explained by gene-environment correlations. There is little evidence to suggest that deliberate environ- mental interventions (e.g., compensatory education programs) substantially inﬂuence ﬂuid intelligence, although such programs may have at least short- term effects on crystallized intelligence. Nearly all major clinical tests of intelligence include measures of ﬂuid and crystallized intelligence. Most notably, tests that historically invoked different mod- els of intellectual processes have recently adopted a hierarchical model in which measures of ﬂuid and crystallized intelligence (and sometimes other abilities) are viewed as subordinate to general intelli- gence and are combined to produce a composite esti- mate of g : Current Controversies There are a number of unresolved issues regarding ﬂuid intelligence. One such issue is how ﬂuid intelli- gence relates to other forms of intelligence. Some have argued that general intelligen ce is a statistical artifact (i.e., there is no genuine all- purpose intellectual ability captured by g) and that ﬂuid intelligence is an inde- pendent, distinct intellectu al ability (i.e., the multiple intelligences perspective). Although the notion of mul- tiple intelligences is popu lar among educators, most cognitive scientists hold that a bilities are hierarchically arranged, with g as a superordinate construct. Some hold that ﬂuid intelligence is synonymous with g and that g f is, therefore, the superordinate construct in any hierarchy of intellectual abilities, but most hold that g is distinct from, and superordinate to, g f . Another controversy is whether measures of ﬂuid intelligence provide a more ‘‘culturally fair’’ approach to estimating the intelligence of individuals from linguistically, ethnically, or culturally diverse back- grounds. Cross-cultural and cross-linguistic research generally supports this contention, as ﬂuid intelligence tests can typically be used with few changes and still yield reliable and valid results. However, the case for ethnic groups sharing a common language (e.g., English-speaking Black and White Americans) is more controversial. Whereas measures of crystallized intelligence produce substantial differences between groups and are often cited as examples of cultural bias in assessment, the ﬁnding that measures of ﬂuid intel- ligence reﬂect similar (and in many cases, larger) dif- ferences between groups is not as widely recognized. Although at this time, the bulk of evidence is consis- tent with the conclusion that tests reﬂect, rather than create, intellectual differences within and between groups, some scientists continue to search for expla- nations of differences between groups that attribute the differences to nonintellectual factors. The processes that constitute ﬂuid intelligence are also a matter of debate. For example, some argue that working memory and ﬂuid intelligence are synony- mous, whereas others argue that ﬂuid intelligence is a unique characteristic related to, yet distinct from, other cognitive processes. Yet another controversy relates to the methods used to decide competing theo- ries. For many decades, the dominant source of evi- dence was factor analytic. However, more recent research has invoked brain imaging, functional mag- netic resonance, genetic, and other forms of evidence. The generation and integration of evidence from these disparate sources promise to help resolve current con- troversies, and pose new controversies, regarding the nature and deﬁnition of ﬂuid intelligence. Jeffery P. Braden Fluid Intelligence 407 See also Crystallized Intelligence; Intelligence and Intellectual Development; Intelligence Quotient (IQ); Intelligence Tests Further Readings Ackerman, P. L., Beier, M. E., & Boyle, M. O. (2005). Working memory and intelligence: The same or different constructs? Psychological Bulletin , 131 (1), 30–60. Blair, C. (2006). How similar are ﬂuid cognition and general intelligence? A developmental neuroscience perspective on ﬂuid cognition as an aspect of human cognitive ability. Behavioral and Brain Sciences , 29 , 109–160. Conway, A. R. A., Cowan, N., Bunting, M. F., Therriault, D. J, & Minkoff, S. R. B. (2002). A latent variable analysis of working memory capacity, short-term memory capacity, processing speed, and general ﬂuid intelligence. Intelligence , 30 , 163–183. Gray, J. R., Chabris, C. F. & Braver, T. S. (2003). Neural mechanisms of general ﬂuid intelligence. Nature Neuroscience , 6 , 316–322. Johnson, W., & Bouchard, J. T., Jr. (2005). The structure of human intelligence: It is verbal, perceptual, and image rotation (VPR), not ﬂuid and crystallized. Intelligence , 33 , 393–416. Neisser, U. (Ed.). (1998). The rising curve: Long-term gains in IQ and related measures. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Neisser, U., Boodoo, G., Bouchard, T. J., Jr., Boykin, A. W., Brody, N., Ceci, S. J., et al. (1996). Intelligence: Knowns and unknowns. American Psychologist , 51 , 77–101. F REQUENCY D ISTRIBUTION It is not only important to understand what descriptive data represent but, if possible, to see it as well. One way to do this is through the use of a frequency distri- bution , a visual representation of a distribution of data. Table 1 shows 25 scores on a math test for which a frequency distribution will be created. The ﬁrst step in creating a frequency distribution is to deﬁne the class interval that will be used. A class interval is a range of numbers, and the ﬁrst step in the creation of a frequency distribution is to deﬁne how large each interval will be. Some guidelines for creating a class interval are as follows: 1. Select a class interval that has a range of 2, 5, 10, 15, or 20 data points. 2. Select a class interval so that 5 to 20 such intervals cover the entire range of data. A convenient way to do this is to compute the range, then divide by a number that represents the number of intervals you want to use (between 10 and 20). 3. Begin listing the class interval with a multiple of that interval. 4. Finally, the largest interval goes at the top of the frequency distribution. Once class intervals are created, it is time to com- plete the frequency part of the frequency distribution. This is done simply by counting the number of times a score occurs in the raw data and entering that num- ber in each of the class intervals represented by the count. In the frequency distribution created earlier, the number of scores that occur between 80 and 84 and are in the 80–84 class interval is 8. So, an 8 goes in the column marked Frequency. Table 2 shows the frequency distribution following the guidelines listed previously where all 25 scores are represented and can, of course, only appear in one interval. Another way to visualize a distribution of scores is through the creation of a histogram such as that depicted in Figure 1. Table 1 Sample Math Scores 70 77 80 84 90 72 78 80 84 91 72 78 82 85 91 74 79 83 87 93 76 80 84 87 94 Table 2 Sample Math Scores—Frequency Distribution Class Interval Frequency 90–94 5 85–89 3 80–84 8 75–79 5 70–74 4 408 Frequency Distribution Neil J. Salkind See also Descriptive Statistics; Quantitative Research Methods Further Readings Salkind, N. (2003). Statistics for people who (think they) hate statistics. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Warner, R. (2007). Applied statistics. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. F RIENDSHIP Making friends, keeping friends, and being a friend are considered important develo pmental tasks from early childhood to the adolescent years. Friendships set the stage for children’s development of numerous compe- tences, including communication and cognitive skills, as well as emotion regulation and emotion under- standing. Friendships also allow children to measure themselves against others, to develop a sense of self- concept, and to acquire the social skills they will use throughout their adult lives. This entry discusses the role that friendships play in school adaptation, in being accepted, and in childhood development. This entry then addresses deleterious effects and other implications of friendships. Friendships and School Adaptation Friendships appear to play a crucial role in chil- dren’s adjustment and adaptation to school. One way that friendships may contribute to children’s school performance is by directly stimulating cognitive growth and learning, thus setting the stage for later intellectual performance. Consistent with this pro- posal, empirical evidence suggests that children demonstrate greater problem-solving ability, task mastery, and creativity when interacting with friends than when working alone and that these skills trans- fer to other situations. When children collaborate with friends, they are more efﬁcient and productive problem-solvers across a variety of tasks, including creative and oral tasks, as well as more academic tasks, such as scientiﬁc reasoning problems or writ- ing assignments. Further evidence links the quality of children’s friendships to children’s academic per- formance. Such associations appear as early as the preschool years, with the quality of preschool chil- dren’s friendships predicting academic performance in elementary school. A second way that children’s friendships may inﬂuence adjustment to school is by shaping chil- dren’s attitudes and motivation toward schooling. For example, research by Carollee Howes indicates that children who moved from one day care setting to another, accompanied by friends, demonstrated higher levels of social competence than children making a sim- ilar transition without a friend. Brian

bundet

Vaughn and his colleagues report a similar ﬁnding for preschool chil- dren advancing from one Head Start classroom to another. Gary Ladd and his colleagues document the positive value of entering kindergarten in the company of friends on children’s adjustment. Particularly note- worthy is their ﬁnding that children who moved into kindergarten with mutual friends were better adjusted to school than children who made the transi- tion with acquaintances who were not friends. The transition process from elementary to middle school also appears to proceed more smoothly for children who have friends. Speciﬁcally, Kathryn Wentzel found that students who had a friend upon entering middle school displayed better academic and social adjustment at the end of their ﬁrst year of middle school than students without a friend. In addition to helping children cope with the normative stress that accompanies the transition to a new school, evidence suggests that friendships may help children cope with nonnormative stresses such as becoming the victim of a school bully. In contrast, children without friends not only report being lonely and feeling depressed but also exhibit inappropriate classroom behavior. 0 2 4 6 8 10 70 74.8 79.6 84.4 89.2 More Frequency Frequency Figure 1 Sample Math Scores—Histogram Friendship 409 Friends, Acquaintances, and Peer Acceptance The impact that friendships have on children’s school adjustment may result from the uniqueness of the friendship relationship compared to children’s other social relationships. A grea t deal of research has been devoted to identifying differences between children’s interactions with acquaintances versus friends. Evi- dence from this body of work suggests that friends feel a sense of responsibility for one another’s needs, that they assist each other in meeting those needs, and that they expect no repayment of the assistance they pro- vide to their friend. In contrast, acquaintances tend to feel less responsibility for one another and are more likely to distinguish the circumstances under which they will provide support to each other. In a compre- hensive meta-analysis of studies comparing friends and nonfriends, Andrew Newcomb and Catherine Bagwell concluded that friends engage in more frequent positive interactions, including talk ing, cooperation, and posi- tive affect, than do peers not identiﬁed as friends. Friends are also more similar behaviorally to one another, more egalitarian, more loyal to one another, and less likely to assert dominance over one another than are children who are simply acquaintances. These characteristics are presumab ly a consequence of friends’ greater proximity, heightened mutual interest, and intense concern for one another, and they point to the unique afﬁliative bond that friends share. A particularly noteworthy behavioral domain in which friends differ from acquaintances is conﬂict management. Although friends engage in conﬂict at rates similar to those of nonfriends, friends are distin- guished from nonfriends in their conﬂict resolution efforts. For example, Willard Hartup and his collea- gues found that, compared with conﬂicts between children who were not friends, conﬂicts between (4-year-old) friends were less heated, were more likely to be resolved by both partners disengaging from the conﬂict, were more likely to end in compromise, and were more likely to be followed by continued interac- tion. The authors suggest that because friendships are founded on emotional commitments, children have a lot at stake in their friendships, and failing to resolve conﬂict puts the friendship at risk. Conse- quently, children appear to be particularly motivated to reduce conﬂict with their friends in order to main- tain the relationship. This evidence joins with other research documenting differences in the behavioral qualities of friendship and children’s interactions with acquaintances to suggest that friendships offer chil- dren unique experiences, provide distinct develop- mental resources, and serve different functions than do children’s other relationships. Friendships have also been distinguished from chil- dren’s social status, or level of acceptance, in the larger peer group. Acceptance refers to being gener- ally well-liked by a group of peers, rather than partici- pating in a speciﬁc, close dyadic relationship with one other individual. Research with school-age children and adolescents suggests that acceptance and friend- ship are unique but related domains of children’s peer relationships. For example, in a study examining both friendship status and peer acceptance in early child- hood, Ladd found that children who formed new friendships in their kindergarten classroom experi- enced improvements in school performance over the course of the school year. However, even after taking into account children’s friendship status, peer rejec- tion predicted less favorable attitudes toward school, greater school avoidance, and lower levels of aca- demic performance at the end of the school year. More recently, Ladd and Wendy Troop-Gordon found that children who were friendless in ﬁrst grade had more internalizing adjustment problems and reported being more lonely at school in fourth grade than chil- dren with friends. Moreover, the connection between being friendless and children’s internalizing problems held true even after taking into account children’s chronic peer rejection. Thus, it appears that being accepted by peers and having friends may provide children with different developmental opportunities and may have different connections to children’s adjustment in school. At the same time, however, popularity with peers appears to overlap with the development of friend- ships. In their summary of research on connections between children’s acceptance among peers and par- ticipation in reciprocated friendships, Willard Hartup and Nan Stevens concluded that friendship is a positive correlate of social competence for preschool children. Consistent with this view, Brian Vaughn reported that the number of reciprocated friendships enjoyed by preschool children was a positive and sig- niﬁcant correlate of overall social competence scores. One way that peer acceptance appears to inﬂuence friendships is by determining the amount of choice that children have in friends. Those children who are more popular tend to have more friends, engage in 410 Friendship more cooperative activities, and display more social conversation than children who are socially rejected or neglected. At the same time, however, being well- liked by peers does not guarantee that a child will have a speciﬁc friendship, nor does being rejected by one’s peer group preclude a child from having a friend. A recent study of second and third graders found that 39 % of children rejected by their peer group had at least one mutual friend in that group and that 31 % of popular children did not have a recipro- cated friendship. Although there is some question as to when chil- dren form friendships, evidence suggests that children begin to discriminate among peer partners and form preferences for particular playmates within their peer groups as early as toddlerhood. Children as young as 30 to 73 months of age (nominal ‘‘preschool’’ ages) have been conﬁrmed to show preferences for speciﬁc peers in their day care and preschool groups. These early friendship preferences manifest themselves by the maintenance of close proximity and frequency of interaction between two children. By 36 to 48 months, over half of all children have reciprocated friendships, and many of these friendships are stable over time. Preschool friendship preferences can be reliably assessed using a sociometric choice task, a procedure that asks children to identify their most preferred playmates. Evidence suggests that these early friend- ships may be differentiated from other peer relation- ships by the amount of time children spend in reciprocal and complementary interaction. Friendships and Childhood Development Age plays a major role in deﬁning the speciﬁc behav- ioral qualities that distinguish children’s friendships from other peer relationships and in shaping expecta- tions for interpersonal behavior within friendships. Based on well-deﬁned physiological, cognitive, emo- tional, and social changes, development during child- hood is divided into three major periods: early childhood (3–7), middle childhood (8–12), and ado- lescence (13–18). Throughout these periods of devel- opment, friendships are characterized by reciprocities, mutual liking/attraction, and by affection and having fun together. However, there are marked qualitative differences in children’s friendships during different age periods, and the behavioral processes involved in the formation and maintenance of friendships change as children develop. Consequently, friendship inter- action during any given developmental period has a characteristic structure and content that give it a dis- tinct signature or theme. The themes of each period and their developmental progression are normative in that they reﬂect children’s attempts to adapt to the demands of their social-ecological niche. Early Childhood During early childhood, friendships are deﬁned by the theme of playmate. Young children place a pre- mium on a child’s potential as a playmate, both in their descriptions of actual friendships and in their beliefs about friendships in general. Consequently, in this developmental period, friendships may be identi- ﬁed by children’s maintenance of close proximity, engagement in mutually interesting activities, and time spent together. The level of enjoyment and satis- faction children experience with playmates depends almost completely on the level of coordination they achieve. Coordination refers to the extent to which two children are able to ﬁt together their separate actions into jointly produced discussions or activities. Coordination is easier to achieve when children share similar interests and behavior patterns. For this rea- son, similarity is a key factor in young children’s friendship formation. However, it is not the speciﬁc nature of their similarities that interest young children, but rather the mere presence of commonalities. In their effort to establish commonalities, a good deal of young children’s friendship conversation involves social comparison processes. Once friendships are formed on the basis of commonalities, efforts to main- tain those relationships are motivated by the desire to achieve coordination of play. Thus, the interactive emphasis of young friends centers on play negotia- tion, emotion regulation, and conﬂict management. Middle Childhood As children transition from early childhood to mid- dle childhood, their conce ptions of friendship change from a self-centered view of what a friend can do for them as an exciting playmate to a more balanced per- ception of friendship, involving reciprocal and mutually satisfying interactive exchanges. In addition, children move developmentally from an emphasis on friendship being a momentary act between individuals to a focus Friendship 411 on the enduring affective nature of the relationship. Consequently, during middle childhood, children’s friendships have been characterized by the theme of companionship. During this period, friendships become more stable and are more often reciprocated. Also by middle childhood, as a function of growing interper- sonal awareness, the basis of friendships centers more on shared norms and personal qualities, as opposed to common interests. The behavioral processes that are salient to friendship also change during middle child- hood. For example, fantasy play among friends appears to decline dramatically from preschool to middle child- hood, whereas animated conve rsation, games, and con- tests become more common. In addition, during middle childhood, the content of conversations between friends begins to focus more on sharing intimate information about the self, and children come to expect that friend- ship creates an obligation for mutual aid or support when needed or requested by a friend. Adolescence In adolescence, friendships depend on and manifest themselves in intimate, dyadic exchanges that feature openness, honesty, and affection. Evidence suggests that as adolescents become preoccupied with concerns about developing autonomy and self-governance, they begintorelymoreonfriendsforintimacyandsupport. Accordingly, the theme of friendships during this developmental period is intimacy. Friendships serve the function of helping adolescents to achieve individ- ual identity and self-understa nding. This role is evident in the expectations that adolescents espouse about friendships, which focus on similarities in interests and personalities, and processes of intimacy and validation. Likewise, the interactive e mphasis of adolescents’ friendships center on self-disclosure, positive gossip, and shared intimacy. During adolescence, friendships become the primary social relationships in which young people share their conﬁdences. Emotional sup- port and autonomy are also seen as essential elements of friendship among adoles cents. However, compared to previous ages, adolescents are less preoccupied with what beneﬁts they derive from their friendships and are more conscientious of their friends’ needs. Negative Effects Although it is clear that friendships typically fea- ture reciprocity, loyalty, shared positive affect, and companionship at all ages, it is also important to note that friendships can serve as contexts for less-amicable social processes. As previously indicated, conﬂict is prevalent in interactions between friends, and although- friends typically manage conﬂict in more optimal ways than do children who are not friends, the fact remains that excessive interpersonal conﬂict is predictive of adjustment problems. Friendships can also serve as the setting for harmful interpersonal processes, such as coercion, jealousy, and betrayal. Moreover, chil- dren may form friendships with children who demon- strate antisocial characteristics. Such friends, in turn, can pressure children to engage in behavior they might not otherwise consider. In addition, some friendships can magnify the child’s own antisocial tendencies, or they may lead to bully-victim relation- ships. For these reasons it is important for parents and teachers to consider the quality of children’s friend- ships and to give attention to whom children form friendships with. Implications Research clearly indicates that most children have at least one friend. Moreover, empirical evidence points to the signiﬁcant role that friends play in children’s adjustment to school and academic performance. Friendships can be distinguished from other social relationships in which children are involved. Friends engage in interactions that are qualitatively different from those of children who are not friends. Children who are friends communicate clearly, self-disclose more often, and resolve conﬂicts in ways that enhance the likelihood that their relationship will continue. Friendships also have been distinguished from chil- dren’s social acceptance in their peer group. A signiﬁ- cant portion of children who are well-liked by their peer group do not have a speciﬁc friend, and a sub- stantial number of children who are rejected by peers do have a friend. Characteristics of children’s friend- ships change with age. As children grow older, their thinking about friendship progresses from the con- crete to the abstract, and this change is manifested in their interactions with friends. Speciﬁcally, over time, children’s friendships become more stable, demon- strate more reciprocal altruism, and consist of more shared intimate personal knowledge. Recent research also indicates that friendships can have deleterious as well as constructive effects on children’s adjust- ment and can involve both positive and supportive 412 Friendship interactions as well as conﬂictual and stressful interac- tions. Moreover, who a child chooses as friends appears to be as important as whether a child has friends or not. The implications of this information concerning children’s friendships are complex and important for both educational policy and classroom practices. Eric W. Lindsey and Heather Stopp See also Emotional Development; Gender Differences; Peer- Assisted Learning; Peer Inﬂuences; School Readiness; Social Development Further Readings Hartup, W. W. (1996). Cooperation, close relationships, and cognitive development. In W. M. Bukowski, A. F. Newcomb, & W. W. Hartup (Eds.), The company they keep: Friendship in childhood and adolescence (pp. 213–217). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Hartup, W. W., & Stevens, N. (1997). Friendship and adaptation in the life course. Psychological Bulletin , 121 , 355–370. Howes, C. (1988). Peer interaction of young children. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development , 53 (1, Serial No. 217). Ladd, G. W. (1990). Having friends, keeping friends, making friends, and being liked by peers in the classroom: Predictors of children’s early school adjustment? Child Development , 61 , 1081–1100. Ladd, G. W., Kochenderfer, B. J., & Coleman, C. C. (1996). Friendship quality as a predictor of young children’s early school adjustment. Child Development , 67 , 1103–1118. Ladd, G. W., & Troop-Gordan, W. (2003). The role of chronic peer difﬁculties in the development of children’s psychological adjustment problems. Child Development , 74 , 1344–1367. Newcomb, A. F., & Bagwell, C. L. (1995). Children’s friendship relations: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin , 117 , 306–347. Vaughn, B. E., Azria, M. R., Krzysk, L., Caya, L., Bost, K. K., Newell, W., et al. (2000). Friendship and social competence in a sample of preschool children attending Head Start. Developmental Psychology , 36 , 326–338. Vaughn, B. E., Colvin, T. N., Azria, M. R., Caya, L., & Krzysk, L. (2001). Dyadic analysis of friendship in a sample of preschool-age children attending Head Start: Correspondence between measures and implications for social competence. Child Development , 72 , 862–878. Wentzel, K. R., Barry, C. M., & Caldwell, K. A. (2004). Friendships in middle school: Inﬂuences on motivation and school adjustment. Journal of Educational Psychology , 96 , 195–203. Friendship 413 G The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible—and achieve it, generation after generation. —Pearl S. Buck G ANGS The topic of gangs has generated extensive literature and social action. Questions over both deﬁnitions and solutions typify gang research, policy, and interven- tion. Law enforcement efforts at containing gangs date back to colonial America. In turn, modern empir- ical research into gangs began in the late 1920s. Despite the longevity of gangs as a social problem, there is still ongoing debate concerning the composi- tion of gangs, their behavioral dynamics, and the most effective gang reduction strategies. This entry discusses the deﬁnitions of gangs, the factors that cause them, gang typology, and the dynam- ics of gang membership. This discussion is followed by an examination of the various types of gangs. Finally, differing anti-ga ng strategies and problem- solving approaches are explored. Differing Definitions Probably the biggest challenge to researchers, anti-gang practitioners, and policy ma kers alike is that there is no standard or widely accepted deﬁnition of the word gang. Because there are so many competing deﬁnitions, any discussion or collaboration between different groups suf- fers; there is no common voc abulary. Communication is hindered by muddled comparisons and lack of termino- logical clarity. This confusion in deﬁnitions and concepts contributes to greater problems in trying to understand the proliﬁc growth of gangs from the 1990s onward. Furthermore, this confusion c ontributes to the difﬁculty building consensus around the most effective anti-gang strategies. This deﬁnitional p roblem raises the question of which comes ﬁrst: Does g ang membership push youth into criminal activity, or does criminal activity push youth into gang membership? Because the concepts underlying membership in gangs are similar to the concepts underlying membership in other social organi- zations, the result is contra dictory deﬁnitions and con- ﬂicting problem-solving approaches. Every group involved in solving the gang ‘‘prob- lem’’ agrees that there is a need for a universally accepted deﬁnition that would serve as a basis for action, policy, and research. However, this is where agreement ends. Depending on the perspective, the deﬁnition of gangs and gang membership differs. Deﬁnitions derived from criminal justice and law enforcement diverge from those utilized in the social sciences and comprehensive academic approach. Although there is some strong overlap between these deﬁnitions, each is distinct. Criminal justice deﬁnitions focus on violations of the law. Academic deﬁnitions focus on the structure and motivation behind gang behavior. Additionally, there i s frequently little agreement 415 on deﬁnitions at the federal, state, and local levels of government; laws and policies developed at different levels conﬂict. Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement According to criminal justice professionals, a gang is any group that gathers on an ongoing basis to engage in antisocial or criminal activities. Gang mem- bers identify with one another based on geographical location, clothing colors, symbols, and names. They communicate their gang afﬁliation through hand signs and grafﬁti. Law-breaking activities enhance the gang’s credibility, create fear in the community, and may provide an ongoing source of income for the gang and its members. The magic number of individ- uals necessary to constitute a gang is universally acknowledged to be three. Nevertheless, rigid deﬁni- tions such as these frequently omit information needed to understand the phenomenon of gang mem- bership and guide both policy and research. Academics and Social Sciences Academic deﬁnitions are aimed at understanding and communicating information regarding the struc- ture and motivation of gangs. Gangs are viewed as loosely organized groups of individuals who assemble together for social and criminal purposes. Member- ship in a gang fulﬁlls complex and interrelated psy- chological needs. Gangs proliferate as a result of social conditions and cultural pressures. Comprehensive Definition Gangs can best be deﬁned as any type of ongoing group or organization of three or more individuals, usually adolescents and young adults, who interact frequently with each other and are recurrently and deliberately involved in violence and criminal activ- ity, individually and collectively. This criminal activ- ity includes ﬁghts, intimidation, and threats. Gangs may be formal or informal in nature, but all generally form an allegiance for a common purpose. Most nota- bly they share a collective identity that is usually expressed through a gang name as well as identifying signs or symbols. Each gang typically identiﬁes with, and claims control over, certain ‘‘turf’’ or territory in a community—which is not limited to geography but can mean other individuals, objects, or businesses. Gang membership generally forms along ethnic and socioeconomic boundaries. L ong associated with urban settings, gangs have migrated to suburban and rural set- tings as well. Gangs are now found in all types of com- munities and socioeconomic strata. Gangs are loosely controlled by a leader or leaders who direct the gang for their own beneﬁt as well as for the beneﬁt of their followers. Usually, a gang’s leaders are characterized by their d esire to maintain a strong or ‘‘bad’’ reputation, their need for respect, and their drive to respond to actual or percei ved disrespect with acts of retaliation or revenge. A gang’s reputation is based on both the actions and inﬂuences of its individual membersaswellasthegangasacollective. Much debate focuses on the extent of gang organi- zation, structure, and cohesion. One position, held by many in the criminal justi ce system, maintains that gangs are extremely cohesive and organized with rules, rituals, and stratiﬁed social roles. There are dire warn- ings about the increased migration of street gangs into legitimate business and even politics. The opposite position, predominant among social scientists and gang interventionists, holds that gangs are informal, con- stantly shifting groups that lack any authentic organiza- tion. However, research and practice reveal that both cohesiveness and structure vary with the gang and the setting. Most street gangs are loosely organized, with several members who serve in leadership roles com- monly referred to as ‘‘shot callers.’’ Membership ﬂuc- tuates and gang members possess varying degrees of commitment and loyalty to the gang. Gang cohesive- ness and feelings of commitment are always highest when the gang is challenged by other gangs or by outsiders—in particular, law enforcement. Some gangs are extremely organized and cohesive, but most remain transient, ﬂexible, and fragmented. Most importantly, there is almost never a central gang authority coordi- nating gang structure or movement. Changes in Gangs Gangs are no longer an exclusively urban phenomenon. Although they remain ﬁrml y anchored in urban set- tings, their presence has spread to rural environments, and many gangs now have tra nsnational afﬁliation. Additionally, gangs have ‘‘aged.’’ No longer restricted to juveniles, their upper age limits for membership have increased, with individuals remaining in gangs for longer time periods. Moreover, gangs are growing more intergenerational. Ma ny possess third and fourth 416 Gangs generation members, the great-grandchildren of ‘‘origi- nal’’ gang members. In another shift in exclusivity, gang membership is now no longer limited to males. Additionally, the division between street and prison gangs continues to weaken, with growing integration between formerly separate entities. Types of Gangs Deborah Prothrow-Stith offered a typology that describes three major gang types: 1. Scavenger gangs are best described as under- achiever gangs. These groups are loosely orga- nized, with activities that are largely impulsive and unplanned. Their leadership may shift on a frequent basis. In gang culture, scavenger gangs occupy the lowest status, typiﬁed by unsuccessful criminal efforts that are derided by other gangs. Alternatively, these groups can be viewed as ‘‘gangs in the making.’’ In fact, many evolve into the more structured territo- rial gangs. 2. Territorial gangs are organized around territory or turf. These are the stereotypical gangs associated with Los Angeles and other urban settings. Their membership is usually well organized. These gangs practice complex, formal initiation rites for new mem- bers as well as other ceremonies, rituals, and customs that differentiate members from outsiders. Gang membership is a source of pride, status, and power. The major activity of these gangs is ﬁghting—the crossing of territory or turf lines is used as an ongoing excuse to brawl. These gangs may engage in drug dealing, but only as a secondary activity. Their pri- mary activities remain social and criminal. The drug dealing that occurs is usually a matter of economic survival, not a result of a complex marketing or distri- bution cartel. 3. Corporate gangs are highly structured, criminal entities organized around drug trafﬁcking and proﬁt- making. Their members fulﬁll the roles and responsi- bilities of traditional gangsters, sharing characteristics with organized crime more than with inchoate street gangs. These gangs enforce strict codes of secrecy and discipline, with severe consequences for trans- gression. Their membership is highly intelligent and their leadership, akin to any corporate entity, exhibits sophisticated strategic planning as well as ﬁnancial and personnel management. Description and Causes Gang Member Profile The mystique of gangs has generated myths con- cerning the ‘‘typical’’ gang member. In truth, the typical gang member may be uneducated but above average in intelligence. Most gang mem bers exhibit sophisticated street survival skills, and many are accomplished in the art of manipulation. Additi onally, they follow a strict code of conduct as deﬁned by the gang. Each gang member is concerned with proving their worth, being recognized for their work, and establishing a reputation for being ‘‘bad.’’ They are loyal to all other gang mem- bers, their loyalty bordering on a family-like afﬁnity, and they are very protective of their turf. This does not minimize the antisocial, destructive core of their behav- ior but rather places it within context. Etiology Gangs ﬁnd their genesis in the sociological and eco- nomical conditions that foster and reinforce individual and psychological vulnerabilities. The three predominant, interrelated factors promoting the existence of gangs are family dysfunction, community violence, and extreme poverty. Children growing up in gang-saturated and eco- nomically deprived urban ‘‘hot spots’’ often perceive few alternatives to the gang lifestyles. However, as gangs have spread to rural, nonurban environments, the com- mon denominator in their continued existence and further proliferation is family disintegration. The gang replaces the family as the new source of attachment, security, and stability. By fulﬁlling these basic human needs, gangs solidify their control over individual gang members. Characteristically, gang members come from unin- volved or dysfunctional fami lies. Their family relation- ships are unstable, and many have parents or siblings who encounter ongoing probl ems with substance abuse. Immediate and extended family members are often involved in gang or criminal activities. Many youth who join gangs have been phy sically, emotionally, or sexually abused or have suffered extreme child neglect. Gang membership appears as an attractive alternative to the child welfare system and likely placement in foster care. Equally dangerous entice ments arise when parents, older siblings, or other relatives have been, or continue to be, gang members. These family members embody role models for young individuals to emulate. All individuals possess needs for feelings of self- worth, identity, acceptance, recognition, purpose, and Gangs 417 security. Gangs often supply what traditional systems have failed to provide. Youth who are frequently poor, uneducated, and adrift experience the gang ‘‘surrogate family’’ as a source of security and iden- tity in the absence of other support systems. The gang offers acceptance and structure, which—when con- trasted with the instability of family life—presents an alluring substitute. Psychological attachment paired with social and environmental factors provides strength to the dynamics of gang membership. Gang youth believe, often defensively, that they will never succeed in conventional society. Disenfran- chised, they lack even the most basic employment skills, such as maintaining a proper appearance or demeanor. However, more fundamentally, gang mem- bers feel disconnected from mainstream social and cultural values. They do not perceive the future as ﬁlled with opportunities. Additionally, individuals believe that illegal activities provide the only means by which to earn money easily without working. Gang membership offers a sense of empowerment and status. Members who may have dropped out of school and are unemployed obtain a sense of purpose, identity, and occasionally even ad hoc leadership train- ing. For many individuals, this constitutes a heady mixture of excitement, power , and success. This is inte- grated with a need for acceptance that may also be fueled by intimidation from others. Many join gangs out of the need to belong or feel accepted by others; young women may join because they have boyfriends in a gang. In more severe circumstances, an individual may join a gang as a response to violent peer pressure from within the gang or as a form of protection from violent threats from rival gang members. For many in gangs, there is a sense of fatalism that masks their feelings of aimlessness and lack of control. This fatalism often translates to a preoccupation with death and how one dies. Many gang members report dreaming of their deaths, how they wish their funerals be conducted, and their despair at not living to see their children grow up. This morbid preoccupation is a moti- vating factor in the contrad iction of having children while, at the same time, participating in the acts of vio- lence that are hallmarks of gang membership. Dynamics of Gang Membership The evolutionary process that brings a child or youth from innocence to gang membership involves a gradual yet powerful set of forces. Gangs work on recruiting vulnerable youth and monitoring their progress. These recruits are slowly allowed to associate with the gang. When gang leadership determines that the youth is ready for full membership, elaborate initiation rituals are imposed to test loyalty, extinguish individuality, and promote service to the gang. The most common initiation ritual of being ‘‘jumped in’’ includes being beaten, humiliated, and, if the gang member is female, raped by multiple gang members. Occasionally, a desir- able member is ‘‘courted in’’ and proffered regular gang membership without any initiation ritual. Gang Membership Typology Gang membership can best be divided into ﬁve major categories: 1. Hard-core gang members compose approxi- mately 10 % of the gang population. Hard-core gang- sters usually have been gang members for the longest time periods and are inﬂuential in directing gang activities. They are frequently in and out of jail, unemployed, and using and selling drugs. 2. Regular gang members are the younger gang population, ranging in age from 14 to 20 years. Hav- ing been initiated or ‘‘jumped’’ into the gang, they back up hard-core gang members in word and action. Those with juvenile status often act as lead partici- pants in gang activities because it is believed that the juvenile justice system will be less punitive. In this way, their commission of crime protects older gang members. In many cases, they consider themselves to be veritable hard-core gangsters ‘‘in training.’’ 3. Associate gang members can be characterized as ambivalent concerning their gang status. They believe there is no way to exit the gang. These indivi- duals exhibit a certain degree of moral awareness as to the cost of their involvement. However, due to a combination of intimidation, fear, and loyalty, they remain unable to renounce membership and unrespon- sive to intervention efforts. 4. Wannabe gang members vary in age, but gener- ally range from 10 to 13 years. Anecdotal evidence suggests even younger children are increasingly aware of and attracted to gangs. These individuals are not formal gang members but act as if they are in the gang. They dress in gang attire, spend time with gang members, and tag (i.e., write grafﬁti associated with the gang on surfaces visible to the public). 418 Gangs 5. Potentials are individuals who live in or close to areas populated by active gangs. These youth may have a family member who already belongs to a gang. How- ever, individuals in this cate gory perceive that there are alternatives, such as school, which can be accessed in order to avoid gang membership altogether. Consequences of Gang Membership The price of gang membership is high, and conse- quences are extreme. From the onset of membership, violence is a hallmark of life in the gang. Initiation rituals involve several forms of physical force, includ- ing being ‘‘jumped in.’’ This involves a group of gang members physically beating the youth. In addition to this beating, there is typically a requirement that the individual commit serious criminal and violent acts to prove his or her loyalty. Once a youth is initiated, gang membership invariably guarantees a criminal record along with the physical risks associated with ongoing violent activities. It is also important to remember that labeling an individual a gang member is a stigmatizing event. In general, mainst ream culture is extremely judgmental, and many believe that once an individual belongs to a gang, that membership is retained for life. Usually, gangs depend on their youngest regular members to carry out the most serious offenses in the mistaken belief that juveniles receive more lenient treat- ment when found guilty of a crime. Instead, following the passage of anti-gang laws in several states, this is no longer the case. Youth are now legally criminalized at progressively younger ages. Correspondingly, youth are now socially assigned a career of gang membership at earlier ages. This phenomenon is reﬂected in both gang recruitment efforts an d gang prevention programs, both of which are aimed at younger-aged children. Violence There is a great deal of disagreement in the theoretical literature about the association between gangs and violence. However, although reports on the day-to- day existence of gangs reveal that violence is not per- petual, statistics point to a high association between gangs and ongoing violent crime. Dynamics of Gang Violence The potential for gang violence occurs most fre- quently during gatherings in which gang members enter the turf of a rival gang. It is an oversimpliﬁcation to assume that this occurs only on certain streets or in certain neighborhoods under the control of a gang. In reality, such ‘‘turf vio lations’’ may also occur in regional centers for sports, recreation (parks), entertain- ment (movie theaters and concert venues), and schools. Any bus stop, street, or freeway is also ‘‘fair game’’ in terms of gang violence if a gang crosses turf lines. Potential gang violence may also erupt over the issue of ‘‘disrespect,’’ which assumes many forms. One com- mon form of disrespect involves tagging and occurs when one gang crosses out the grafﬁti of another gang. Menacing looks or stares, ‘‘throwing’’ gang signs, hand signals, and other nonverbal confrontations are also invitations to violence. Verbal precursors include talk- ing trash, ragging on, bragging, and calling out gang namesaswellastauntsorthreats.Otherformsofintim- idation, such as stepping on toes, bumping, or other ‘‘accidental’’ or intentional physical encounters can spark an incident. Though childish in quality, the smal- lest incident often can be perceived as disrespectful and constitutes a virtual call to arms. Indeed, the random- ness of gang violence is exacerbated by the impulsivity with which gang members determine what actions are disrespectful as well as what to overlook. Guns Gang involvement or membe rship is strongly corre- lated with gun possession and use. This is due to com- bined factors: the growing availability of weapons, intimidation by other gangs, the need for self-protection, and the quest for status and identity. However, the power and protection provided by gun possession also pose an added threat: Gang members are at greater risk for being harmed or killed by someone with a weapon. Increasingly, gangs acquire and use automatic and semiautomatic weapons. The se are employed in drive- by shootings, as gang members in a motor vehicle ‘‘drive by’’ and shoot at rival gang members. The use of such lethal weapons has altered gang activity, render- ing it more deadly. Painful and unanticipated losses have resulted from this lethality, particularly when gang members miss their intended targets and instead hit uninvolved community members, including children. Drugs Both law enforcement and social researchers have sharpened their focus on drugs as a mainstay of gang Gangs 419 activity, revenue, and power. There are few data on the actual relationship between drugs and gangs. Long- term involvement in drug sales and distribution entails secrecy and cohesion not traditionally associated with gang organization and membership. Nevertheless, gangs may be involved in ongoing, albeit erratic, drug usage and dealing. There is considerable disagreement about whether or not drug dealing is separate or part of an ongoing gang business enterprise. Many law enforcement professionals insist that gangs are busi- nesses with elaborate systems for managing cash ﬂow, laundering money, collecting ‘‘taxes,’’ and conducting drug wars. In reality, although some gang homicides arise from disputes over drugs, most violent incidents involving gang members evolve from ﬁghts over turf, status, and revenge. Also, most gangs are not akin to the traditional tightly organi zed, drug distribution car- tels. Subgroups within gangs deal drugs, with varying degrees of organization a nd success. Although the extent of involvement varies, it is reasonable to con- clude that drugs are an ongoing and growing compo- nent of gang life. Problem-Solving Approaches Four major approaches underlie most anti-gang strategy: 1. Suppression 2. Prevention 3. Intervention 4. Comprehensive approach Overall, the general solution to gang membership and its associated criminal activity involves the use of multifaceted and comprehensive anti-gang programs. These programs include alternatives for at-risk youth, strong law enforcement, and committed community leaders all collaborating to combat the gang culture and offer youth options. However, before the compre- hensive approach is examined further, each of the other three anti-gang strategies and the impact each hasonreducinggangmembershipandactivityare discussed. Suppression The goal of suppression is to reduce gang activity. Based on traditional criminal justice methods, its practitioners, usually comprising law enforcement ofﬁcers, probation ofﬁcers, and prosecutors, use arrest and incarceration to control gang violence and sup- press criminal activity. Suppression practitioners enact gang injunctions to keep identiﬁed gang members from assembling in public. They also utilize vertical prosecution along with sentencing enhancements for gang involvement, gang membership, or both. Prevention Prevention is designed to identify high-risk chil- dren and youth who have not yet joined a gang and to preclude their joining a gang or participating in gang activity. Primary prevention is aimed at broad popula- tions, for example, children from birth to 5 years old who are growing up in a gang-saturated neighbor- hood. On the other hand, tertiary prevention programs speciﬁcally focus on youth who are gang potentials or gang associates. Currently, prevention efforts concentrate on middle school youth, with some additional programs devel- oped for elementary school children. Strategies include offering mentoring and academic support as well as activities to initiate and enhance parental involvement. Additionally, sports and rec reation as alternatives have been developed in community settings. When a setting is not in crisis, prevention pro- grams command the greatest attention. Once gang crime develops, suppression assumes the predominant role in reducing gang activity—with the sentiment that prevention can be practiced once neighborhood safety is reestablished. Intervention Gang intervention encompasses a broad range of actions and strategies designed to constructively inﬂu- ence and divert either individual gang members or one or more gangs in a locale or setting. It is aimed at individuals or neighborhoods that have progressed past the point of being labeled ‘‘at-risk.’’ Gang intervention strategies are limitless in design and focus; some strategies involve individuals who are currently active gang members whereas other interventions focus on individuals reentering society after release from incarceration. Individual interven- tion includes tutoring, job training, tattoo removal, counseling, assistance with substance abuse, legal aid, and using both community- and faith-based groups to convince gang members to leave the gang. 420 Gangs