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The European Society for Developmental Psychology (ESDP) has now come into existence. We are registered with the British charity commissioners and a constitution and bye-laws have been formulated and accepted. The ESDP has been formed as a direct result of the success of the European Conferences in Developmental Psychology and in accordance with the overwhelming vote of the membership at those conferences. We retain our links with ISSBD and indeed, we hope to foster links with other international organisations concerned with the scientific study of development.
The interim Executive Committee comprises the first 5 organisers of the European Developmental Psychology conferences. The committee represents regional and disciplinary interests. The members drawn from previous conferences are A. Jackson (Groningen), G. Attili, (Rome), M. Kalmar (Budapest), G. Butterworth (Stirling), G. Rudinger, (Bonn) and J. Palacios (Seville). These people will represent Dutch, East European, English, German, Italian and Spanish speaking countries. Two other committee members have been invited to join following a committee meeting in Amsterdam on the occasion of the ISSBD conference. They are C. von Hofsten (Sweden) and S. de Schonen (France) - who has also agreed to represent developmental neuroscience within the society.
We have a means of communication already! Charles Crook, who organises the European electronic mail system for developmental psychologists from the University of Durham, England has agreed to become overall editor for the ESDP newsletter. This will combine electronic and more conventional, paper means of international communication. He wishes to establish a strong network of regional editors, so anyone interested in helping, or who has specific news about European developmental psychology, should contact him. His email address is : c.k.crook@durham.ac.uk . Please write with your news and information about developmental science in your own part of Europe.
We are collating a membership register. For 1994/95, membership will be free, so this is the time to join! Please send your name address, telephone number, email address and 6 key words listing your research interests to Charles Crook at Durham, by email if possible. Please pass this information on to anyone who might be interested in joining ESDP. The qualifications for membership are simple, all we require is an undergraduate degree in a discipline relevant to developmental science. Our focus however will be on an interdisciplinary approach to advancing knowledge in developmental psychology.
We still have a lot of work to do in establishing the ESDP as a major forum for developmental science in Europe. The constitution allows for several more members of the executive committee and we will move to a fully elected group over the next six years. We hope to have a journal for the society and this also will represent European perspectives on development to the international community.
ESDP 1995 will meet during: The VIIth European Conference on Developmental Psychology. This will take place in Krakow, Poland from 22-26 August. Conference chair is Prof Adam Niemcynski (email: upluczyn@cyf-kr.edu.pl - ordinary mail: Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, ul Goleba 13 , 31-007 Poland. Fax (48) 12 22 15 38). The annual business meeting of the society will take place at the conference. Please see your conference programme for details.
This forthcoming European conference at Krakow promises to be a great success. The next thereafter will take place in 1997, in Rennes, France, and will be organised by Professor Michel Deleau. By then, I hope we will have a strong and enthusiastic membership of ESDP, for whom the European Conferences will continue to be a major intellectual and social focus.
Please register your interest and join the society. We look forward to meeting in Krakow and often again in the future. I shall be pleased to hear from anyone with suggestions for ways in which the society might serve the membership and develop in the next few years.
George Butterworth,Chairman of the Organising Committee ESDP
email: g.butterworth@sussex.ac.uk
Snail mail: Division of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, Sussex BN1 3BF, England.
What is the Internet? A term describing what has happened now that lots of computers all over the world have linked up to each other - the main point being that files can be more readily exchanged between them.
How do I get on to internet? For the typical desktop office machine, this usually involves having some sort of local link to, an "account" on, a bigger, institutional computer (which is more properly described as what is "on the internet"). In many universities this will be straightforward. Computer Centres will have machines attached to the internet (gateway computers) and you are probably entitled to an account on one of them.
What is the point of being on it? The most straightforward advantage is access to electronic mail. Elsewhere in this newsletter you will find the email addresses of over 200 European developmental psychologists. Electronic mail offers a comfortable and fast way of communicating with these colleagues. The other resource most widely used on internet is World Wide Web (WWW). Internet users with information to shared with others would typically make it readable in point-and-click fashion on this so-called web. For access you need (i) an account on an institutional gateway computer and (ii) a WWW "browser". This latter is simply a program that resides on your, say, PC or Mac desktop machine. The best loved are Mosaic and Netscape. Both are available free and any University Computer Centre should be able to help obtain one.
How do I locate ESDP on the internet? You WWW browser needs to be given the Society address (actually this is a computer file that specifies the starting page of a point-and-click hypertext document). These addresses are called URLs and our is..... fnord.dur.ac.uk/eurodev/. Instruct your browser to go this address and then use your mouse to navigate around the Newsletter material.
This article was contributed by Vanna Axia and describes something of the current situation in Italy relating to teaching and research in developmental psychology. The newsletter looks forward to publishing other national summaries of this kind in future - please contact Charles Crook for more details.
Psychology is a relatively recent discipline in the Italian University. The first important centres of teaching and research started in the early Seventies in Padua and Rome. Very soon, huge numbers of Psychology students (around 10.000) attended both these universities. and the necessity to start new centres for teaching and research became apparent. Thus, most of the big Italian universities now have Departments of Psychology and give degrees in Psychology; for example, Torino, Trieste, Bologna, Milano, Firenze, L'Aquila, Palermo, and Cagliari. One might conclude that in Italy Psychology has been an outstanding success - as far as the number of centers of research, teaching opportunities, and number of students involved are considered.
Developmental Psychology has always been an important discipline since the very start of academic psychology in Italy. For example, both in Padua and Rome there are Departments of Developmental Psychology. Developmental psychologists teach in all the most important Italian Universities. In the last few years, the teaching programs for Psychology have been changed on a national basis. Now, to get their degrees in Psychology, students must attend five years of courses. During this period, Developmental Psychology is compulsory for all. In addition, students can specialize in Developmental and Educational Psychology and take several courses in those disciplines. After the degree, a further year of practice under the direct supervision of an expert is required to have access to professional practice. Again, Developmental Psychology is one of the four major areas of specialization. In the major Universities there are postgraduate courses in Developmental Psychology (PhD), for example in Padua, Rome, Parma, Bologna, Pavia. Postgraduates in developmental psychology have four-year courses and receive a salary from the State. It can be said that this is the first step into an academic career. Most Universities have post-graduate and post-doctoral grants which support young people in the first year or so after their degree. As an aside, it should be noted that the present economical and political situation is very hard upon the Italian academic life and that young researchers have serious difficulties in getting academic jobs in Italy.
In all the Universities quoted above there are important centers of research in Developmental Psychology. When the number of developmental psychologists is high, they group themselves in Departments, as has happened in Padua and Rome. Research in developmental psychology is carried out also at the Institute of Psychology of CNR (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, National Research Council) in Rome. In addition, there are centers of research in clinical developmental psychology in a few hospitals, for example in Bologna and in Pisa (Fondazione Stella Maris). An interest in developmental applied psychology is present also in the biennal meeting on "Techniques of assessment of psychological development" coordinated by Luigia Camaioni, at the University "La Sapienza" in Rome. Following several years of cooperation in research and teaching, two units of research in developmental psychology have recently been set up in the Pediatric Clinic of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Padova (Developmental Clinical Psychology, Prof. G. Axia; Neonatal Psychology, Prof. F. Simion).
Research is funded by two national sources. The first is the Ministry of the University, and the second is the National Research Council (CNR). About 25% of the funds for psychology are for developmental psychology. Applications for funds can be done both by individual researchers and by groups. In the last few years, the major research projects grouped together several researchers from various Universities. Thus, the funds were given according to a national basis. Examples of projects in developmental psychology which were funded are the following: "Socialization processes and related cognitive development", "Early cognitive development in newborns", "Risk factors of psychological and social risk in children and adolescents".
There is a national society of academic developmental psychologists (about 200 members). The story of this society is not long, yet it is complex. In 1980, the Developmental Psychology Section of the Italian Society of Psychology (SIPs) was born. The major aim of the Developmental Psychology Section was to promote research in that area and to enhance the quality of Italian developmental psychology. The first president of the Developmental Psychology Section was Luigia Camaioni, followed by Marta Montanini Manfredi and by Giovanna Axia. The Developmental Psychology Section had an annual meeting and kept close links with the Developmental Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society. However, in the late Eighties, a deep crisis become apparent in the Italian Society of Psychology in which professionals and their interests came to dominate the interests of academics and researchers. Thus, in the early Nineties, a new society of researchers was created: The Associazione Italiana di Psicologia (AIP, Italian Association of Psychology), chaired by Remo Job. In 1993, the members of the Developmental Psychology Section (president Anna Silvia Bombi) voted their separation from the Italian Society of Psychology (SIPs) and, in 1994, a new Section of Developmental Psychology was formally constituted in the Italian Association of Psychology.
Vanna Axia
There are a number of developmental research studies going on at present in the Irish Republic. A sample of these are briefly mentioned below.
The Dublin Child Development Study is a longitudinal study which began in 1985 with a sample of 200 first-born infants and their families. Various aspects of development, such as attachment and its determinants have already been looked at and one of the co-ordinators of this study is Dr. Sheila Greene at Trinity College, Dublin.
Research into the patterns of use of various forms of child-care is being investigated at present by Dr. Eilis Hennessy and Noirin Hayes, who are based at University College Dublin and the Dublin Institute of Technology respectively.
The Child Studies Unit based at the Department of Psychology University College Cork is involved in research into vulnerable children in Bosnia and Ethiopia. Further information on this is available from Professor Max Taylor at U.C.C.
Finally, I myself am involved in research into loneliness in school-age children and worries and anxieties across the lifespan.
Aine de Roiste: Athlone RTC
by Judit Gervai
The Developmental Psychology Section of the Hungarian Psychological Society was founded in 1926. Presently, the membership is 30 (Hungary is a small country). Most members are affiliated with universities and research institutes.
Research funding is decreasing ever since the late 1980s due to the declining economical situation of the whole country. Funding for basic research is awarded by the National Science Fund (OTKA), and applied research in preferred areas is funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture. Individual research ventures, especially those by young scientists get occasional support from various foundations, of which The Soros Foundation-Hungary is the most significant one. The Johann Jacobs Foundation and the ESF have also made possible for many Hungarian colleagues to participate at various Conferences and Meetings.
In Budapest...
Institute of Psychology, Eotvos University: Undergraduate and postgraduate education
Institue for Psychology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences: Postgraduate education
Institute of Psychology, College of Teachers for the Handicapped: Undergraduate education in pathologies
National Institute of Day Care Centres
Autism Research Group
In Debrecen...
Institute of Psychology, Kossuth University: Undergraduate education
In Szeged...
Institute of Psychology, Jozsef Attila University: Undergraduate education
Martyn Barrett describes some research planned and in progress that concerns children's understanding of Europe and its peoples. Towards the end are details of a number of research appointments arising from this initiative.
The University of Surrey has recently been awarded two grants to fund a programme of research into the development of children's representations of the constituent peoples and countries of Europe. These grants have been awarded by the Commission of the European Communities (CEC) and by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) of the UK. The research is additionally supported by an ESRC research studentship.
This research is set in the context of the social, political and economic changes which are currently occurring within the European Union. These changes are intended to produce a greater integration between the member states of the Union. However, the trend towards integration has been accompanied in some parts of Europe by a dramatic upsurge of ethnic and regional nationalisms and xenophobias. These movements, and the dominance of nationalist belief systems, have the potential of leading to prejudice, hostility and violence towards migrant workers, and amongst the different ethnic and regional groups living within individual member states. This programme of research, which is set against this background, is aimed at obtaining an understanding of the development of children's and adolescents' nationalist and regionalist belief systems. It will focus in particular upon the development of children's beliefs and feelings about the people who live in their own country and about the people who live in other European countries; it will also explore the development of children's cognitive representations of European geography.
The CEC financial support has been awarded under the Human Capital and Mobility (Networks) Programme to establish a transnational research network, directed and coordinated by Martyn Barrett (University of Surrey), to investigate the development of children's beliefs and feelings about their own and other national groups in Europe. The six research teams making up this network are led by Evanthia Lyons (University of Surrey), Mark Bennett (University of Dundee), Ignasi Vila (University of Girona), Almudena Gimenez de la Pena (University of Malaga), Luciano Arcuri (University of Padova) and Annamaria Silvana de Rosa ("La Sapienza" University of Roma). The financial award from the CEC will enable the network to employ five research fellows to assist in the execution of the research. The work will involve collecting data from children ranging in age from 6 to 15 years in six regions of the European Union: South East England, Scotland, Catalonia, Andalusia, Northern Italy, and Central Italy.
The specific research objectives of the network are: to document the cross-national and cross-regional constancies and differences which occur in the development of children's beliefs and feelings about their own and other national groups, and in the development of their regional and national identities; to document how children's beliefs and feelings about their own and other national groups vary as a function of their social background, as a function of their contact with members of other European groups, and as a function of their factual knowledge of the geography and customs of other European countries; to document how the acquisition of a regional identity relates to the acquisition of a national identity; and to document how children's cognitive and affective functioning are related in this domain of development.
The ESRC research grant has been awarded to fund a study by Martyn Barrett and Evanthia Lyons at the University of Surrey into English children's representations of European geography. There have been surprisingly few previous investigations into children's knowledge of the geography of other countries, and this research is aimed at obtaining an understanding of how English children's knowledge of the geography of Europe develops. The award from the ESRC has enabled the appointment of two research officers, Caroline Purkhardt and Alison Bourchier, to assist in the execution of the research.
The study will assess children's knowledge of the various countries and landmarks which exist within Europe, their knowledge of the spatial relationships which exist between these countries and landmarks, and their knowledge of the routes which may be used to travel from one location to another. The children's affective responses towards other countries and places in Europe will also be assessed. The research will examine three possible sources of influence on the children's knowledge and feelings in this domain: parental attitudes to other countries, direct experience of other countries obtained via travel, and educational input. The children who will be tested will range in age from 6 to 13 years. The research has been designed to explore the development of both working-class and middle-class children, and both metropolitan and non-metropolitan children. The hypothesis underlying the choice of these groups is that parental attitudes and direct experience of other countries will vary as a function of these demographic variables. Thus, this study will explore whether children from different demographic groups occupy different social niches which afford different developmental opportunities for the acquisition of knowledge and the development of feelings about other countries.
The ESRC research studentship has been awarded to Hannah Wilson, to fund PhD research at the University of Surrey into the development of regional identity in English children. In this study, the regional identities which are acquired by middle-class and working-class children living in Liverpool, London, and rural South East England will be explored; the children will range in age from 7 to 12 years old. The research will explore the impact of various demographic and social variables on the development of the regional identities of these children.
Further information about this programme of research can be obtained from Martyn Barrett, at the address shown below. We are particularly interested to hear from anyone who is conducting research into similar or related issues.
Applications are invited for the five research fellowships which are available under the CEC-funded programme of research described above (which is investigating the development of children's beliefs and feelings about their own and other national groups in Europe). Because the funding for this research has been awarded under the CEC Human Capital and Mobility (Networks) Programme, any individual who is appointed to one of these posts must, in accordance with the EC grant regulations, fulfil the following two criteria: (i) they must be a national of a Member State of the European Union or of a State associated with, or eligible to participate in, the Human Capital and Mobility Programme; and (ii) they must not be a national of the Member State in which they are employed for the purposes of this research.
For all five positions, the period of employment will begin on 1st September, 1995. The posts are based at the following five Universities, with the duration of each post being for the period shown in parentheses: University of Surrey, UK (9 months); University of Girona, Spain (6 months); University of Malaga, Spain (6 months); University of Padova, Italy (6 months); "La Sapienza" University of Roma, Italy (6 months). The salaries for these positions vary and are determined by local conditions of employment. Applicants for these positions should either have recent research experience or hold a doctorate, either in Developmental Psychology or in Social Psychology.
For further details of these posts, and of the application procedures which should be followed, please contact:
Dr. Martyn Barrett, Department of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 5XH, UK; email m.barrett@surrey.ac.uk; fax ++44-1483-32813; telephone ++44-1483-300800 ext. 2444.
The RedePsi consists of electronic forums for dissemination and discussion of topics which are relevant to all psychology professionals (psychologists, psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, among others). The idea is to try and bring together such Latin-American professionals integrating them to the international community. Although the main language for communication is Spanish or Portuguese, we will certainly end up using English in order to integrate Spanish-Portuguese- speaking participants to the international community. So the communication is expected to be either in Spanish, Portuguese or English. Besides allowing for the quick exchange of information, it will provide a space for interdisciplinary collaboration in conducting research, as well as in theoretical development and professional practice. The RedePsi will comprise a general forum for dissemination of information, and several forums for thematic discussion, listed below.
Forums in RedePsi include the following INFOPSI (general coordinating discussion)
Informations: RedePsi@VORTEX.UFRGS.BR, or to Professor Cesar A. Piccinini/ UFRGS/CPG PSICOLOGIA/Rua Ramiro Barcelos 2600 - Porto Alegre, RS - Brazil - Telfax +55.51.330-6768.
Adult attachment interview training (AAI): A two-week training workshop Facilitator: Dr. Patricia Crittenden Family Relations Research Institute, Miami
Patricia Crittenden of the Family Relations Institute, Miami, will be offering training in the AAI this autumn in the U.K. The AAI devised by Mary Main and Ruth Goldwyn, is a clinical and research tool. It is structured around issues in attachment. It combines aspects of the questionnaire and the clinical interview, It repeatedly asks for memories and reflections on personal experience through evaluation of these experiences and through specific biographical episode. Participants should be free of other major obligations during the training. Apply to: Mrs Ginny Farmiloe, Department of Psychology & Counselling, Roehampton Institute London, Whitelands College, West Hill, London SW15 3SN.
This is a relatively new journal welcoming submissions in the broad area of social development. The next issue (vol.4, no.1) is out in March and will contain the following articles:
Children's reasoning about authority in home and school contexts, by Marta Laupa
Paternal participation in toddlers' pretend play, by Jo Ann Farver et al.
The intergenerational transmission of maternal discipline and standards, by Katherine Covell et al. Children and their child care caregivers: profile of relationships, by Carollee Howes et al.
Interactional harmony at 7 and 10 months predicts security of attachment as measured by Q-sort ratings, by Michael Lamb et al.
Children's responses to angry adult behaviour as a function of experimentally manipulated exposure to resolved and unresolved conflict, by M.El-Sheikh and E.M.Cummings
Playing with conflict: a longitudinal study of varieties of spontaneous verbal conflict during mother-child interaction at home, by Wendy Haight & Catherine Garvey.
Book Review: Peter Mundy & Jennifer Stella on Peter Hobson's "Autism and the Development of Mind".
Address all enquiries regarding subscriptions and submissions to the editor: Rudolph Schaffer Department of Psychology University of Strathclyde Glasgow G1 1RD UK (e-mail: h.r.schaffer@uk.ac.strath.vaxa)
To the participants of the next European conference on developmental psychology (Summer 1995, Krakow, Poland) coming from former Eastern European/ post-socialist countries:
As the organizers of the congress have only limited resources to support participants coming from former Eastern European countries, we would encourage them to apply for support from different funding agencies that have offices in their own countries. Just recently several foundations have started a policy to provide support for researchers from these countries - in order to provide them an option for participation in international congresses. One of the key groups providing support is the Soros Foundation. Please, approach your national office of the Soros Foundation to receive more information about funding application procedures. Note, however, that there are typically several other similar foundations also supporting the expenses of participating international activities (e.g Tonisson Foundation in Estonia). Please discuss these possibilities with some of your colleagues for further information.
Jari-Erik Nurmi Department of Psychology Box 4, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki
Quite recently it was announced that Krakow airport will be closed during summer for technical reasons. However, there is another airport in the area, near Katowice, which is to take over the flights bound to Krakow. There will be buses taking passengers from the airport to the center of Krakow. The bus ride will take approximately 2 hours. The other possibility is to fly to Warszawa and to go to Krakow by train (3 hours). We hope that this obstacle will not influence our conference.
Jan Luczynski, Conference Secretariat
As this is the first issue of the newsletter, there are no book reviews. We are negotiating with publishers to ensure that we gain fast access to new books and that this service can provide an efficient and quick turn around of new book information. Please contact Charles Crook for further information.
To the participants of the next European conference on developmental psychology (Summer 1995, Krakow, Poland) coming from former Eastern European/ post-socialist countries:
As the organizers of the congress have only limited resources to support participants coming from former Eastern European countries, we would encourage them to apply for support from different funding agencies that have offices in their own countries. Just recently several foundations have started a policy to provide support for researchers from these countries - in order to provide them an option for participation in international congresses. One of the key groups providing support is the Soros Foundation. Please, approach your national office of the Soros Foundation to receive more information about funding application procedures. Note, however, that there are typically several other similar foundations also supporting the expenses of participating international activities (e.g Tonisson Foundation in Estonia). Please discuss these possibilities with some of your collegues for further information.
Jari-Erik Nurmi Department of Psychology Box 4, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki
