DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY (JOURNAL OF IRANIAN PSYCHOLOGISTS)
Year:2007 | Volume:3 | Issue:10|Papers Count:11

The development of classification operations among middle school students was examined. A random section of 510 boys & 510 girls in five socio-economic regions of Tehran were selected by multi stage sampling and two piagetian classification operation tests were administered to them. Findings showed: 1) A low achievement rate of the final stage of classification operation and the cumulative frequency in the transitional stage; participants did not achieve the base success rate of 75%. 2) There were no significant gender differences in these aspects of the tests. 3) Mean scores of students in the under privileged regions (9, 13, 16) were lower than those of students other regions (3, 6). 4) A comparison between Iranian students and their international counterparts revealed a three-year delay among Iranian students. This delay can be explained by the inadequacies and shortcomings of Iran's formal education and school system in encouraging spontaneity among children.

The degree of agreement between two or more judges who rate a number of objects on certain characteristics can be expressed by means of an association coefficient (e. g., product moment correlation, PMC). The agreement among judges can rarely be perfect. If two judges produce two identical sets of scores the PMS will attain its maximum value, which equals + 1. However, a PMC that equals + 1 does not mean that the two sets of data are exactly equal. Different judges actually make judgments only based on the relative states of individuals, objects, or phenomena, and not based on their absolute states. This article aims to introduce association coefficients that are indicative of the degree to which there is an absolute agreement and real similarity among the ratings by different judges. Some properties of the PMC in specific situations may be undesirable.Many association coefficients have been purposed for those situations, many of which belong to the class of Euclidian coefficients. A discussion of the desirable properties of these coefficients demonstrates that how the identity coefficient and its generalizations can be used to assess the interrater agreements.

60 first graders were randomly selected from primary schools in Tehran, Iran. In the pre-test stage, Form A of the Individual Differences in Children's Addition Strategy Choices (Kerkman & Siegler, 1997) was administered to both experimental and control groups. Next, instructions of using min strategy were given to participants in the experimental group, but not in the control group. In the post-test stage, Form B of the same test was administered to both groups. Findings showed that instructions influenced the frequency of usage of min strategy in the experimental group. But in spite of, the two groups in retrieving the responses were not significantly different, the accuracy of backup and min strategy were greater in the experimental group than in the control group. Two groups were significantly different in the speed at which they executed the min strategy and the experimental group was faster than the control group.

This research explored the relationship between shyness and communication skills, the gender differences in these two constructs, and the differences in communication skills between shy and non-shy individuals. 115 female and 69 male Shiraz university students completed the Revised Communication Skills Test (Queendom, 2004) and the Shyness Scale (Cheek & Buss, 1981). Findings showed a significant negative correlation between shyness and communication skills (r = -0.35, P < 0.0001). Gender differences in shyness were significant (t = -2.3, P < 0.02), females being shyer than males. No gender differences were observed in communication skills. The differences in communication skills between sky and non-shy individuals were significant (t = 4.25, P < 0.0001).

This research examined the relationships among learning styles, cognitive styles, and the choice of academic courses among Iranian male high-school students. 300 male tenth graders enrolled in mathematics, science and human sciences in Tehran area participated in this study. Kolb's Learning Styles Inventory (LSI) and the Withkin's Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) were completed to measure participants' four dimensions of learning styles (convergers, divergers, assimilators, and accommodators) and two dimensions of cognitive styles (field dependent and field independent). Data show that more field independent participants chose mathematics or science as their academic major than did field dependent participants. In contrast, more field dependent participants chose human sciences as their academic major than did field independent participants. Whereas convergers and assimilators more than divergers and accommodators chose mathematics and science, diverges and accommodators more than convergers and assimilators chose human sciences.

108 female and 69 male Iranian university students, during the stressful period of final exams, responded to the following scales: Integrative Self-Knowledge (Ghorbani, 1385), Mindfulness Attention Awareness (Brown & Ryan, 2003), Private Self-Consciousness (Fenigstein et al., 1975), Defense Styles (Andrews, et al.,1993), Perceived Stress (Cohen et al., 1983), Subjective Vitality (Ryan & Fedrick, 1997), Symptom and Illness (Watson & Pennebaker, 1989), and Symptom Checklist (Barton, 1995). The main hypothesis was that self-knowledge processes would be negatively correlated with illness and unhealthy defensive styles, where integrative self-knowledge plays the key role. Data showed that, among different self-knowledge pricesses, only integrative self-knowledge predicted illness, symptoms, vitality, and healthy defensive styles. In addition, integrative self-knowledge and internal state awareness predicted mature defensive styles and perceived stress. Minfulness was negatively related to the immature defensive styles.

This research examined the validity and reliability of the Trait Emotional Intelligence questionnaire (Petrides & Furnham, 2001), as well as the academic level and gender differences in emotional intelligence. A random selection of 936 Iranian middle-school and high-school students, living in Gilan Province (North of Iran) were administered this questionnaire and the Shrink's Emotional Intelligence (1999) Test. Factor analysis of data showed that the Petrides and Furnham's questionnaire (2001) measures the main aspects of theoretical structure of the emotional intelligence construct, including perception and assessment of affects in self and others, optimism, self-awareness, and social skills. The high correlations among different scores of the two scales confirmed the convergent validity of the scales.The internal consistency and test-retest methods indicated scale reliability at 0.76 and 0.71. Results indicated higher levels of emotional intelligence among female than male students. The main effect of level of education on the emotional intelligence and the interaction between gender and the academic level were not significant. Findings support the validity and reliability of Trait Emotional Intelligence questionnaire. A need for research on academic level and gender differences in emotional intelligence is addressed.