Examined whether superior recall of items in event-based categorical relations, or "slot fillers," remained when association and typicality were controlled. Found that only children receiving the typical + high association slot-filler list showed significantly better recall than with the taxonomic-coordinate list, with no differences between the…

Describes the slot-filler model of taxonomic knowledge development in which preschoolers derive "slot-filler" categories from event schemas. Maintains that the model has received considerable support across methodologies, ages, and sociocultural contexts. Argues that Krackow and Gordon's theorizing and methods could not lead to reliable,…

Examined whether putative regulatory behaviors widely assumed to be conceptually associated with certain behavioral strategies were associated with the changes in fearful and angry distress in 6-, 12-, and 18-month-olds. The key finding was that the use of some putative regulatory behaviors (distraction and approach) reduced the observable…

Examined 8- to 10-month-olds' responses to standard procedures eliciting joy, fear, anger, and discomfort. Found that response parameters to standard procedures cohered strongly within each episode. Responses cohered across same-emotion episodes, except for anger. Responses and father-reported temperament related to infant's emotional tone in…

Investigated the relation between 7- and 8-year-olds' interpretations of human behavior and children's beliefs about the stability of human traits. Found that the belief that traits are stable predicted a greater tendency to make trait judgments in the academic and sociomoral domains, and an increased focus on outcomes such as performance and…

Used hypothetical vignettes to examine the development of children's and adolescents' understanding of nurturance and self-determination rights. Found that 8- to 12-year-olds were significantly less likely than 14- to 16-year-olds to identify nurturance and self-determination rights as salient. Reasoning about self-determination rights, but not…

Examined quality of children's relationships over time. Found that 9-year-olds' perceptions of teacher-student relationships were associated with teachers' ratings and were predicted by the quality of relationships with first teachers. Perceptions of mother-child relationships were consistent with earlier attachment security. Perceptions of…

Examined relations among family structure, family process, and psychological adjustment of children who had been conceived via donor insemination. Found that the children were developing normally. Their adjustment was unrelated to structural variables such as parental sexual orientation. Parents with higher parenting stress and inter-parental…

Examined relationship of maternal control and sex differences in children taking responsibility for failure and possessing strong standards. Found that, in using control, mothers were more likely to grant autonomy to boys than to girls. This socialization pattern partially mediated girls' tendency to take greater responsibility for failure than…

Used hierarchical linear modeling to explore the effects of the social context of Chapter 1 prekindergarten classrooms on 4-year-olds' learning. Found that children made smaller gains on the Preschool Inventory over the preschool year in classrooms with higher concentrations of minorities, children with special needs, recent immigrants, and…

Compared academic and psychosocial skills of kindergartners attending extended-year or traditional programs. Found that at beginning of next traditional year, extended-year students outperformed traditional-year students in mathematics, reading, and general knowledge and had higher perceived cognitive competence. Mathematics and reading…

Used cases of democratic and non-democratic governmental systems and freedom of speech to investigate 6- to 11-year-olds' notions of political fairness and democracy. Found that political fairness concepts were applied at all ages to evaluate governmental systems and reject non-democratic alternatives. Older children were more likely than younger…

Discusses trends leading to the Society for Research in Child Development's acceptance of applied and social policy research in its journal "Child Development": (1) reconciliation of basic and applied research; (2) the call for social responsibility by prominent developmentalists; and (3) efforts by psychologists to serve the public good.…

Examines aspects of the marital relationship and its assessment relevant to scholars of child development. Reviews current knowledge regarding marital quality, behavior, emotional responding, and cognition in marriage. Makes recommendations for assessment and argues that the child's perspective of the marriage is critical for understanding…

Assessed 8-year-olds' perceptions of emotional support from mother and best friend. Found that preschool attachment security predicted age-8 maternal-support perceptions better than did mother's behavior. Identification of best friends as part of the support network related positively to social competence. The more insecurely attached children…