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This study examines the role of social representations of gender and knowledge as sources of asymmetry on the features of children's interactions as well as on their cognitive development. The research was carried through an innovative pre-test, first interaction, second interaction, post-test design. One hundred fifty-nine children of the same age (6.5-7.5 years old) but of different levels of knowledge of a spatial-transformation task collaborated in same-sex and opposite-sex dyads to find a joint solution. In the first interaction, a child less developmentally advanced (NC) had to work with a child more developmentally advanced (TC), whereas in the second interaction of the same gender composition, the same NC had to work with a fresh NC. Cognitive progress was assessed using pre-test to post-test gains. The results revealed that the gender composition of the pairs and knowledge asymmetry influence not only the behavioral patterns and strategies that each partner employs in the interaction but also the cognitive outcomes of the children. These findings shed more light to the process through which socio-cognitive conflict gets resolved, which was considered until now a 'black box.' Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct contact between members of ethnic groups is proven to reduce intergroup prejudice. Recent research, however, explores the effects of alternative types of contact, amongst them via social networks in virtual space. This is especially important for e.g. post-conflict societies in which there is limited opportunity for direct contact between the groups. Drawing from a sample of 374 ethnic majority students from three such societies – Serbia, Croatia, and Cyprus, we tested if the number of online interethnic friends predicted more positive out-group attitudes over and above the effect of face-to-face contacts. This relationship testified to the added value of online ties. We also tested if intergroup anxiety and perceived ethnic threat would mediate the relationship between online friendships and out-group attitudes. Results from the combined sample showed clear mediation effects. This suggested that the mechanisms through which online contact reduces prejudice are comparable to the mechanisms detected for face-to-face contact. Yet the mediation was not convincingly replicated at the country level. Further research could make use of this simple measure of alternative contact, as well as test a different set of mediators to identify mechanisms that are possibly unique to online contacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]