The developmental precursors of the “fully functioning person” (Rogers) have not received much systematic attention neither in psychological research nor in theories of personality and its development. Likewise, the developmental conditions for maladaptive personality functioning and the formation of psychological symptoms have not been the primary target of research in clinical psychology during the past decades (Castonguay, 2011). On the basis of a theory of personality that specifies a functional architecture of personality (i.e., personality systems interactions theory: PSI theory) developmental pathways are described that promote successful or impaired development of the integrated self which plays a pivotal role in PSI theory. Adaptive developmental pathways are described in terms of the developmental conditions promoting the ability to initiate unattractive instrumental activities (action control) and the integration of self-alien and painful experiences into an ever growing personal knowledge base (self-development). Maladaptive pathways are proposed to describe the developmental conditions for two major forms of psychological disorders: symptoms related to impaired action control (e.g., procrastination, eating disorders, depression) and symptoms related to impaired self-growth (e.g., rigidity, failure to learn from mistakes, psychosomatic symptoms). Any theory of personality should be able to explain adaptive and maladaptive forms of personality development. However, this issue does not belong to the prime targets of research efforts made in personality, developmental, or clinical psychology. Instead, competing hypotheses are derived from global constructs such as self-effi cacy, irrational thinking, poor self-esteem and the like. Typical questions arising from this globalconstruct approach are: Does a man who has problems initiating simple activities at home (despite his effi cient performance at his work) suffer from impaired self-efficacy, poor selfesteem, or does he simply have chauvinistic attitudes against his wife? Global constructs are also offered by the two major schools of thinking in psychology: From a psychoanalytic point of view, a woman’s overeating may be caused by an “oral regression” which dictates her behavior to eat as impulsively as oral needs drive baby’s feelings during the oral stage of development? In contrast, behavioristic learning theory would attribute those and other symptoms such as disturbed sleep, impaired immune function and stress-dependent pain like headache or backpain to the acquisition of irrational thinking or maladaptive behaviors that can be remedied by rewarding more appropriate behaviors.

The professional development of psychologists in the field of diagnostic competencies – some aspects

An important component of the professional development of psychologists is an improvement of professional competencies. The aim of the paper is to present the model of the development of selected diagnostic competencies in the course of professional expierience after academic  education. The author uses the competency cube model of Rodolfa et al. (2005) and Fouad et al. (2009) and the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition (1986, in Wolf, 2009). The author analyzes the diagnostic competencies, such as: knowledge of diagnostic methods, nosological diagnosis, case conceptualization and reflection on practice.

Children’s suggestibility – the review of research on the misinformation effect among children

The main aim of this review article was to present the issue of children’s suggestibility. Firstly, the definition of suggestibility and misinformation was discussed. Secondly, the history of children’s suggestibility research was briefly reviewed. The most significant experimental outcomes, concerning, among others, children’s susceptibility to leading questions, children’s susceptibility to misinformation, and individual differences in children’s suggestibility were presented as well. It was also argued that a child as a witness might be accurate, so the interviewer ought to optimize the conditions during an interrogation.

Cognitive, social and affective perspective taking: interrelations in preschool children

The study on the interrelations of perspective taking ability in different domains is presented. The theoretical background of the study is the theory of Perspectival Understanding of Mind (PUM; Perner, 2000). According to this theory, the core ability that develops in the 5th year of life and that underlies many tasks that children start to accomplish in that time, is an ability to understand and coordinate different perspectives. 120 children aged 3;6–5;6 participated in the study. The measures used to assess the perspective taking ability were as follows: Flexible Item Selection Task (FIST; Jacques and Zelazo, 2001) in the cognitive domain, Test Wiedzy o Emocjach (TWE; The Test of Emotion Knowledge; Stępień, 2007) in the affective domain and the classical false belief tests in the social domain. The results obtained suggest that after the fourth birthday children start to accomplish different tasks that demand perspective taking ability. However, the interrelations of perspective taking in different domains are differentiated, and they change in the preschool period.

Creative preschoolers twelve years after

The article discusses the topic of children’s creativity and its research presented in the book Creative Action in Preschool Children (Kubicka, 2003). The book describes the projective method of measuring creative strategies in symbolic-constructive play. In a 1997 sample, 120 children aged 3 to 6 were tested. 12 years later a second version of the method was worked out, and a group of 18 of both the most and the least creative of the original sample was tested again. The pupils were also interviewed for all facts and questions important for the development of creativity both at preschool age and in adolescence. The results show many determinants of the prognostic value of the proposed method and warn against making conclusions about child’s creativity on the basis of simple paper and pencil tests. At the same time the fi ndings suggest the need for more dynamic complex developmental approach to diagnosis of creativity in children in order to uncover the mechanisms of self-development of these functions.

Parenting and the self-regulation abilities: Educational antecedents of the satisfaction degree of basic needs, standards internalization and strength of volition

This article describes two researches on relation between parenting and the degree of satisfaction of the basic psychological needs postulated by Self Determination Theory: relatedness, autonomy, competence, standards internalization level and strength of volition. The results of study 1 confirmed that positive, affectionate, and autonomy-promoting relations with parents have positive effect on the degree of satisfaction of the basic psychological needs. Unduly severe demands and inconsistency both have negative effect on this satisfaction. The patterns of results concerning relation between parenting and the degree of satisfaction of the basic psychological needs differed between male and female participants. The data obtained in study 1 also indicate that positive parenting (positive, affectionate, and autonomy-promoting) causes internalization of standards pertain to school activity, and that negative parenting (unduly severe demands and inconsistency) is harmful for this  internalization. This conclusion is also confirmed by the results of study 2 with regard to “personal strivings”. Additionally, study 2 proves that acceptance – displaying, and autonomy-promoting parenting both have a positive effect on strength of volition and that inconsistency and severe demands have adverse impact on volition..

Sprawozdanie z XX Jubileuszowej Ogólnopolskiej Konferencji Psychologii Rozwojowej „Wiedza o rozwoju w poznawaniu człowieka”, Kraków, 13–16 czerwca 2011

„Wiedza o rozwoju w poznawaniu człowieka” – pod takim hasłem przebiegała w dniach 13–16 czerwca 2011 roku XX Jubileuszowa Ogólnopolska Konferencja Psychologii Rozwojowej. Spotkania naukowe poświęcone dyskusjom nad zagadnieniami z zakresu psychologii rozwoju człowieka są corocznie organizowane przez Sekcję Psychologii Rozwojowej Polskiego Towarzystwa Psychologicznego. Pierwsza konferencja odbyła się w dniach 8–11 stycznia 1992 roku w Przegorzałach koło Krakowa. Kolejne spotkania psychologów rozwojowych miały miejsce w różnych naukowych ośrodkach w Polsce. Tegoroczna, XX konferencja została zorganizowana w Krakowie przez Sekcję Psychologii Rozwojowej oraz Instytut Psychologii Wydziału Filozoficznego i Instytut Psychologii Stosowanej Wydziału Zarządzania i Komunikacji Społecznej Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego.

RECENZJA
Memory, Aging and the Brain. A Festschrift in Honour of Lars-Göran Nilsson, Lars Bäckman, Lars Nyberg (red.) (2010), Hove, New York: Psychology Press, 355 s.

Publikacja jest zbiorem referatów wygłoszonych podczas konferencji, która jesienią 2006 roku odbyła się w Näsby Castle pod Sztokholmem. Celem tego spotkania było uhonorowanie dotychczasowej pracy prof. Larsa-Görana Nilssona (Stockholm University), wybitnego badacza pamięci, mózgu i procesów starzenia się. Redaktorami książki są dwaj szwedzcy badacze – Lars Bäckman (Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet) i Lars Nyberg (Umeå University), uczniowie Nilssona.