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Organizations and institutions invest heavily in judging performance, championing individuals who have overcome adversity and achieved through hard work. Yet the current three studies sampling Hong Kong Chinese participants (N = 570; 313 women, M age = 20.31 years) suggest that even in a society where hard work is a valued norm, people exhibit a preference for talented naturals over hardworking strivers. In Study 1, we tested participants’ explicit beliefs regarding strivers and naturals, and found that they favored strivers over naturals (ds ≥ 0.31). In Study 2, participants read a vignette of a protagonist who attained networking skills either through natural talent (in the natural condition) or hard work (in the striver condition), and then evaluated the protagonist. Participants in the natural condition rated the protagonist’s competence more highly than those in the striver condition (d = 0.34), although no between-condition difference was observed in ratings of the protagonist’s warmth. In Study 3, participants were again assigned to either the natural or the striver condition. In addition to rating the protagonist’s competence and warmth, participants also indicated the likelihood of their endorsing advice on networking from the protagonist. Participants in the natural condition perceived the protagonist as more competent (d = 0.36) and preferred to endorse professional advice from the protagonist (d = 0.33) than those in the striver condition. Our research indicates that the naturalness preference is robust, primarily impacts competence-related judgments, and consequently shapes trust decision-making.

Despite the wide usage of screen media among young children, less is known about the relationships between children's screen time and their social competence development as impacted by family-related factors. Here, we investigated parents' engagement, children's screen time, and their social competence among Taiwanese Chinese children's families at three time points as the children aged (Time 1: N = 2,037, including 991 girls, M = 3.00 years; Time 2: N = 1,785, including 868 girls, M = 4.00 years; Time 3: N = 1,749, including 842 girls, M = 5.01 years). Research Findings: From ages 3 to 5 years, parental engagement positively predicted children's social competence, whereas children's screen time negatively predicted their social competence. Examination of the mechanism underlying these longitudinal relationships suggested that when parents engaged less frequently in interacting with children, their children tended to spend more time on screen media, and then developed a lower level of social competence during the early years. Practice or Policy: Our findings indicate that young children's time spent on screen media should be monitored and restricted. Instead of keeping children occupied with screen media, parents and educators should engage more actively in interacting with children to promote their social competence.

The national Study of Education Data Systems and Decision Making documented the availability and features of education data systems and the prevalence and nature of data-informed decision making in districts and schools. That study, like past research, found that teachers' likelihood of using data in decision making is affected by how confident they feel about their knowledge and skills in data analysis and data interpretation (U.S. Department of Education 2008). Unfortunately, teacher training programs generally have not addressed data skills and data-informed decision-making processes. Understanding the nature of teachers' proficiencies and difficulties in data use is important for providing appropriate training and support to teachers, because they are expected to use student data as a basis for improving the effectiveness of their practice. This report describes an exploratory substudy on teachers' thinking about data conducted in conjunction with the larger Study of Education Data Systems and Decision Making data collection and the implications of the substudy findings for teacher preparation and support. Teachers' thinking about student data was investigated by administering interviews using a set of hypothetical education scenarios accompanied by standard data displays and questions to teachers in schools within case study districts selected as exemplars of active data use through an expert nomination process. Data scenarios were administered to both individual teachers and small groups of educators who typically work together. Conducting both individual and group interviews provided information about how teachers reason independently about data as well as about how they build on each other's understanding when they explore data in small groups. Part I of this report describes the responses that 50 individual teachers and 72 small groups gave to the data scenario questions. The teachers interviewed are not a nationally representative sample, but they do provide a detailed initial look at how these particular teachers think about student data in schools that were thought to be ahead of most schools in the nation with respect to data use. This detailed description of teacher thinking can help inform those responsible for training teachers in data-driven decision making about the kinds of difficulties and misconceptions teachers are likely to encounter. Part II of this report provides material that can be used in training teachers on the use of data to guide instruction. It contains the seven data scenarios used in the exploratory substudy, along with guidance on how a professional development provider can use the scenarios as part of teacher training or teacher learning community activities and the particular points that should be looked for in teachers' responses to each scenario. (Contains 17 exhibits, 3 figures, 6 tables and 8 footnotes.)

The purpose of this report is to provide descriptive information about educational technology practices related to the core objectives of the U.S. Department of Education's Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program. The EETT program is part of the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" ("NCLB") and, like other elements of "NCLB," targets "high-need school districts." The authorizing legislation specifically states three goals for the program: (a) to improve student academic achievement through the use of educational technology, (b) to ensure that every student is technologically literate by the eighth grade, and (c) to encourage the effective integration of technology in teacher training and curriculum development to establish research-based instructional methods that can be widely implemented as best practices. From the program's inception in FY 2002 through FY 2008, approximately $3.4 billion was allocated to EETT. In FY 2008, the program was funded at approximately $267 million. This report is structured around the EETT program objectives and specific performance measures developed by the U.S. Department of Education to meet the requirements of the "Government Performance and Results Act" ("GPRA") of 1993, which are aligned with, but not identical to, the goals stated in the legislation. "GPRA" requirements address each of the following EETT program priorities: teachers' and students' access to technology, technology-related professional development, technology integration, and student technology literacy. This report's key findings are organized by "GPRA" measures for the EETT program (see Exhibit ES-1). Overall, states and districts are showing some progress in developing the infrastructure necessary to support student and teacher capacity to use technology in robust ways. Computers and Internet connections are increasingly in place within classrooms, suggesting the suitability of a renewed focus on high-quality teacher professional development, how technology is used in instruction and learning, and the skills that teachers and students gain as a result. Appended are: (1) ETT Program Administration; and (2) Data Sources and Methodology. (Contains 28 exhibits and 31 footnotes.)

Deciding whose words to trust profoundly impacts children's knowledge acquisition. In evaluating informants' trustworthiness, children are attentive to their social dominance. Previous studies have shown that children's trust preferences may differ across cultures based on the dominance of the informant: children in Western cultures prefer to trust in testimony from dominant informants, whereas children in Eastern cultures prefer to trust subordinate informants (Bernard et al., 2016; Charafeddine et al., 2019). We aim to investigate the potential cultural difference in the trust preferences of European American children (in the United States) and Chinese children (in China) from informants of varying levels of dominance, using a more refined method to assess children's trust preferences. We propose that different levels of authoritarianism - advocacies to obey authorities - in Western and Eastern cultures may explain the potential difference in children's selective trust. Specifically, as impacted by societal cultures, Chinese parents may possess a higher level of authoritarianism than European American parents and may place a higher emphasis on obedience in their parenting. Consequently, Chinese children may show stronger trust preferences from subordinate informants over dominant informants than European American children. Our research will offer insights into the potential mechanism underlying children's different learning preferences across cultures.

The way in which children consider information may depend on the groups to which they belong and the social status those groups occupy. In three studies, we examined how children infer their peers’ wealth status based on the possessions present and ethnic group membership. We recruited 242 Hong Kong children (Mage = 5;11, SDage = 1;0) from the ethnic Chinese majority (Study 1: 115 children) and two ethnic minorities (Study 2a: 84 South Asian/Southeast Asian children; Study 2b: 43 White/Biracial children). Overall, participants were able to distinguish between low- and high-wealth items, and make correct wealth-based inferences. Compared to both groups of ethnic minority children, ethnic majority children tend to judge their ingroup peers as wealthier even when they possessed fewer resources than outgroup peers. Thus, children inferred peer wealth status based on the resources present, but such inference was impacted by their own ethnic group membership and socioeconomic status.

Both talent and effort are considered essential sources of achievement, but past research suggests a preference for people who appear to achieve through talent. This research examined the potential naturalness preference in 306 Chinese children (M-age: 6.12 years; 164 girls) and 352 adults (M-age: 19.87 years; 182 women) in 2019. In Study 1, participants evaluated a natural or striver protagonist of equal achievement. Children attributed greater competence and warmth to naturals than strivers; adults exhibited this preference only when attributing competence. In Study 2, participants indicated their behavioral preferences between the two protagonists. Children, but not adults, interacted more with naturals than strivers. These findings indicate the naturalness preference emerges early (ds >= .27) but declines in strength over time.

Forecasts of the trajectory of an infectious agent can help guide public health decision making. A traditional approach to forecasting fits a computational model to structured data and generates a predictive distribution. However, human judgment has access to the same data as computational models plus experience, intuition, and subjective data. We propose a chimeric ensemble—a combination of computational and human judgment forecasts—as a novel approach to predicting the trajectory of an infectious agent. Each month from January, 2021 to June, 2021 we asked two generalist crowds, using the same criteria as the COVID-19 Forecast Hub, to submit a predictive distribution over incident cases and deaths at the US national level either two or three weeks into the future and combined these human judgment forecasts with forecasts from computational models submitted to the COVID-19 Forecasthub into a chimeric ensemble. We find a chimeric ensemble compared to an ensemble including only computational models improves predictions of incident cases and shows similar performance for predictions of incident deaths. A chimeric ensemble is a flexible, supportive public health tool and shows promising results for predictions of the spread of an infectious agent.

Adults with high authoritarianism—the advocacy of obeying authorities—often defer to conventions and dominant figures (Stenner, 2005). As parents, adults’ authoritarianism can positively predict their children’s trusting behaviors towards conventional informants (Tagar et al., 2014). However, less is known about the relationship between parental authoritarianism and their children’s trusting behaviors towards informants who vary based on perceived dominance. Children’s selective preference for learning from dominant over subordinate informants also varies between Eastern and Western cultures (Charafeddine et al., 2019), which may be associated with societal variability in parental authoritarianism. Here, we examined the potential relationships between parental authoritarianism and their children’s preference for learning from dominant (versus subordinate) informants in China and the U.S. Thirty-two Chinese children (Mage = 5.81, SD = 0.32; 22 girls) and 19 European American (EA) children (Mage = 6.16, SD = 1.12; 13 girls) along with their parents participated in the study. Across three trials, children saw two puppet protagonists who proposed different locations to place objects in a park; the protagonists always placed the objects in the location proposed by one protagonist (i.e., the dominant) instead of the other protagonist (i.e., the subordinate). In each of four subsequent trials, children heard explanations from the two protagonists about the function of a novel object; children were then asked which explanation they would endorse. Parents were surveyed about their authoritarianism using parents’ authoritarian disposition questionnaire (Tagar et al., 2014). Results showed no cultural differences in children’s preference for novel explanations, F(1, 49) = 0.31, p = .58, η²p = 0.006. Chinese children (M = 2.28, SD = 0.73) were above chance (= 2) to endorse explanations from the dominant protagonist, t(31) = 2.18, p = .02, d = 0.39; EA children (M = 2.42, SD = 1

Talent and effort are both foundational to our achievement, and how we perceive them can critically impact our decisions across multiple domains, from setting individual goals to supporting societal policies. Previous work has shown that while people explicitly value effort over talent, they implicitly privilege naturals possessing talent over strivers expending effort to achieve the same goals, a phenomenon known as the naturalness bias (Tsay & Banaji, 2011). Research on the naturalness bias has been largely based on Western adults; relatively little is known about how it might emerge in a non-Western culture. Therefore, we conducted two experiments with young children and adults in China to examine the naturalness bias further. In two mid-sized Chinese cities, 189 preschool children (Mage = 6.32 years, SD = 0.35; 97 girls) and 223 undergraduate students (Mage = 20.12 years, SD = 1.88; 116 women) participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to either a natural or a striver condition. In both conditions, participants heard a story of a protagonist (gender-matched to participants) who had succeeded in socializing with others, either by making friends (children) or by business networking (adults). The protagonist’s achievement was attributed to talent in the natural condition and to effort in the striver condition. Following the story, participants rated the protagonist along multiple dimensions, which included perceived success, warmth, competence, and performance. At the end, participants reported their explicit beliefs about the importance of talent and effort. Results showed that even at a young age, Chinese participants exhibited the naturalness bias when considering other individuals. Compared to those in the striver condition, Chinese children in the natural condition rated the protagonist higher on the dimensions of success, t(187) = 2.41, p = .02, d = 0.35; warmth, t(187) = 2.59, p = .01, d = 0.38; and competence, t(187) = 2.49, p = .01, d =

The way people value talent and effort—two essential determinants of success—can substantially influence their preferences and behaviors. Despite explicitly valuing effort, adults often prefer naturally talented individuals over individuals who strive to attain the same level of achievement. Previous research on this naturalness bias (Tsay, 2016) has been largely conducted with adults in Western cultures. Here, we investigated the naturalness bias in Chinese society. Specifically, we hypothesized that children would also exhibit the naturalness bias, though the degree to which they preferred naturals may vary from Western populations. We also hypothesized that children’s preferences would be impacted by their parents’ attitudes. Participants were recruited from two mid-sized Chinese cities; 189 preschoolers (M = 75.84 months, SD = 4.20 months; 97 girls) and their parents participated in Experiment 1, while another 117 preschoolers (M = 69.60 months, SD = 4.08 months; 67 girls) and their parents participated in Experiment 2. In Experiment 1, children were randomly assigned to the natural condition, featuring a protagonist who succeeded through talent, or to the striver condition, featuring a protagonist who succeeded through effort. They then rated the protagonist’s success, warmth, and competence, as well as the importance of talent and effort. In Experiment 2, children’s behavioral preferences were examined after hearing stories about natural and striver protagonists; that is, they were asked to indicate with whom to socialize and from whom to learn along with rating the importance of talent and effort. In both experiments, parents of the participating children were surveyed on their attitudes towards talent and effort. Across both experiments, children preferred naturals over strivers, even though their ratings for the importance of effort were consistently higher than their ratings for talent. In Experiment 1, children’s protagonist ratings for success, warmth, a

We examined differences among children in their endorsement of an adult’s claim, their subsequent empirical investigation of that claim, and their resolution of any potential conflict between the claim and their empirical investigation. American and Chinese preschool (N = 171, M = 4.71 years) and elementary school (N = 128, M = 7.59 years) children were presented with five, different-sized, Russian dolls and asked to indicate the heaviest doll. Children typically selected the biggest doll. Children then heard either a false, counter-intuitive claim (i.e., smallest doll = heaviest) or a claim confirming their initial intuition (i.e., biggest doll = heaviest). Children frequently endorsed the experimenter’s claim even when it was counter-intuitive. The experimenter then left the room. During the experimenter’s absence, older children who had heard the counter-intuitive as opposed to the confirming claim explored the dolls more than younger children, especially when subtly prompted to explore. Moreover, only older children who heard the counter-intuitive claim simultaneously picked up the smallest and biggest doll, a more deliberate test of the experimenter’s claim. By implication, children engage in selective exploration following a surprising claim. Older children’s more systematic explorations of what they have been told may reflect improvements in their ability to test such claims and in their greater sensitivity to the fact that unexpected claims can and should be empirically investigated. © 2021 Taylor & Francis.

The attitudes, both implicit and explicit, that people hold toward sexual minorities and those who identify as gay or lesbian remain understudied, especially in Asia. In the present study, we examine the implicit and explicit attitudes people in Taiwan have regarding same-sex attraction. Participants (N = 1,696; 1,025 women; Mage: 24.36 years, SD = 5.40 years) completed implicit and explicit measures through the Project Implicit Taiwan website. Analyses revealed that participants, especially those who identified as gay or lesbian, demonstrated positive implicit attitudes toward gay men and lesbian women. Participants’ reported attitudes toward heterosexual as well as gay and lesbian individuals were related to their own gender and sexuality. In particular, participants showed the strongest preference for members of their target sexuality category (e.g., heterosexual men toward heterosexual women). Women were more positive than men toward gay and lesbian individuals. Participants were supportive of same-sex marriage, although this support was stronger among women and gay men; participants’ explicit and implicit attitudes also impacted the degree to which they supported same-sex marriage. Our findings represent an initial investigation into the current attitudes people hold toward same-sex attraction and related societal issues, in Taiwan and potentially in the broader Asia region. (APA PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)

The early use of person perception terms was examined via an analysis of the spontaneous speech of four young children in conversation with their parents at home. All four children were producing such terms early in their third year. Like their parents, children used the terms in two distinguishable ways: to attribute a trait to a person or to characterize a person’s ongoing action. Most of these terms were evaluative, whether positive or negative. Parents often made direct comments to their children about both their traits and ongoing actions; children made similar comments about themselves. Parents also used person perception terms to make comments about others who were not party to the conversation; children did likewise. A considerable proportion of the trait terms that children produced served as interpretive comments on someone’s actions or preferences. Our findings suggest that from an early age, children are trait theorists. Not only do they describe ongoing actions using trait vocabulary, they interpret those ongoing actions by attributing traits. © 2020, © 2020 Taylor & Francis.

This multiple case study investigates the involvement of foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) in Hong Kong early childcare. Three middle-class families were chosen; one parent, one FDH, one teacher, and one preschool child within each family were interviewed. A grounded theory analysis approach was adopted to examine the interviews. Analyses revealed the following four themes: (1) reasons for FDHs’ involvement in childcare; (2) discrepancies in childcare beliefs and practices; (3) interactions among children, parents, FDHs, and teachers; and (4) the influence of FDH-involved childcare on child development. Parents were driven more by the financial benefits of FDH-provided childcare rather than by pedagogical considerations; however, they also expected the FDHs to discipline children according to their educational goals. Because FDHs could only offer basic childcare, they frequently came into conflict with the parents. FDHs also faced multiple challenges with the school teachers, with the children, and even from the local cultural context. These conflicts and challenges FDHs experienced had a substantial impact on the childcare provided, and subsequently on the children’s language and socioemotional development. A theoretical framework was established to conceptualize FDH-involved non-parental childcare. The implications for childcare-related policies in Hong Kong and other societies were discussed. © 2019, © 2019 Childhood Education International.

This multiple case study investigates the involvement of foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) in Hong Kong early childcare. Three middle-class families were chosen; one parent, one FDH, one teacher, and one preschool child within each family were interviewed. A grounded theory analysis approach was adopted to examine the interviews. Analyses revealed the following four themes: (1) reasons for FDHs’ involvement in childcare; (2) discrepancies in childcare beliefs and practices; (3) interactions among children, parents, FDHs, and teachers; and (4) the influence of FDH-involved childcare on child development. Parents were driven more by the financial benefits of FDH-provided childcare rather than by pedagogical considerations; however, they also expected the FDHs to discipline children according to their educational goals. Because FDHs could only offer basic childcare, they frequently came into conflict with the parents. FDHs also faced multiple challenges with the school teachers, with the children, and even from the local cultural context. These conflicts and challenges FDHs experienced had a substantial impact on the childcare provided, and subsequently on the children’s language and socioemotional development. A theoretical framework was established to conceptualize FDH-involved non-parental childcare. The implications for childcare-related policies in Hong Kong and other societies were discussed. © 2019, © 2019 Childhood Education International.

Research Findings: This study evaluated the impact of Chinese literacy interventions on Chinese language learning of South Asian children and their mothers in Hong Kong. A total of 44 children and eight of their mothers participated in Chinese literacy interventions that consisted of two approaches–Copying and Morphological Awareness Training (CMAT) and Integrative Perceptual Approach (IPA). Children in the intervention group who underwent four weeks of CMAT followed by four weeks of IPA were compared to a control group of 29 children who only attended regular Chinese classes in their preschools. After controlling for non-verbal intelligence, ANCOVA analyses revealed that the intervention group did significantly better than the control group at posttest in (i) morphological awareness, word reading and writing when taught using CMAT; and (ii) word reading when taught using IPA. Mothers made gains on most Chinese literacy measures and children whose mothers participated in the intervention had higher gains in mean scores relative to their pretest scores on most measures than those whose mothers did not, suggesting the effectiveness of combined child and parent interventions. Practice or Policy: Findings support the development of evidence-based interventions to cater to the language learning needs of SA children and parents. © 2019, © 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Across different societies, families have increasingly relied on non-parental childcare, especially within industrialized nations where both parents of a familial unit are often employed outside of the home (Bonizzoni, 2014). Although there has been growing research on the impact of non-parental childcare on children (e.g., Cortés & Pan, 2013), less work has focused in-depth on the nature, quality, and influential factors of such care. The present study focuses on non-parental childcare in Hong Kong, where more than ten thousand families have hired foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) to assist them in raising their children (Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department, 2017). To investigate the role FDHs play in the lives of the children they help raise, without the limitations imposed by experimental paradigms, the present study adopted a grounded theory approach (Martin & Turner, 1986). Three Hong Kong middle-class families were recruited upon the recommendation of the principals of selected kindergartens. The following criteria were applied: (a) at least one preschool child was part of the family; (b) at least one FDH was employed; and (c) the FDH was involved in childcare at home. Data was collected from the following stakeholders (N = 12): one preschool-aged child chosen from each family (2 boys, 1 girl), their mothers, their class teachers (all female), and their FDHs (all female). These individuals were interviewed using the same protocol; the interviews were then transcribed and coded in several iterations to identify themes that were common to all three families, as well as the unique characteristics within each family. The results (see Table 1) indicated that all parents were primarily driven by the financial, rather than pedagogical, benefits of non-parental childcare. However, parents still held beliefs regarding childcare, and conflicts arose if these beliefs were not adequately practiced by the FDHs. More specifically, although parents all reported long-ter