Preschool children's behavorial and physiological responses to separation were monitored before, during, and after their mothers' hospitalization for the birth of a sibling. Play sessions were videotaped simultaneously with activity level and heart rate monitoring, nighttime sleep was timelapse videotaped, and parents completed questionnaires…

The IQ performance of children who experienced the birth of a younger sibling was found to drop 10 points during the next two years for singleton children and 5.8 points for last-born children from families of comparable size. The study controlled for sex, family size, age at assessment, and IQ before the birth of the sibling. (Author/RH)

The behaviors of 57 mothers, their preschool-age children, and their infants were observed using a modified "strange situation" to explore the older siblings' potential to act as subsidiary attachment figures. Gamelike tasks were used to assess the conceptual perspective-taking abilities of the older children. (Author/RH)

Black grandmothers, mothers, and children between the ages of 8 and 14 were interviewed using Bronfenbrenner's Parental Behavior Scale. The 60 participating families represented two levels of family structure, single-parent or dual-parent, and two levels of grandmother's domicile, living with the family or in the local community. (Author/RH)

Provides a comparative assessment of maternal and nonmaternal infant caregiving practices in own-home and unregulated family day-care homes, respectively. A total of 30 caregivers (10 employed mothers, 10 substitute caregivers, and 10 nonemployed mothers) were observed in interaction with five- to six-month-old infants. (Author/RH)

A longitudinal study examined the connection between mothers' and fathers' sex role orientations and employment situations and the parents' involvement in child-oriented activities. Reported are interrelations among measures of husbands' and wives' sex role orientations, association between sex role attributes and extent of participation in the…

Investigates whether the hypothesis that the mother's work situation influences parents' perceptions of their three-year-old children can explain reported differences in effects of maternal employment on the child. The sample consisted of 152 white, two-parent families. Results support the generalization that maternal employment may entail both…

A total of 16 mothers and 16 fathers were recorded in dyadic sessions with their children (eight five year olds, eight two year olds; half boys, half girls) and with an adult. Noise-free questions and declaratives were analyzed for pitch and frequency range. Results suggest that both fundamental frequency and range are significantly influenced by…

Four-month-old rhesus monkeys were removed from their social group under three different conditions of perceptual isolation from their mothers and peers. Infant behavior was recorded and blood samples were obtained for analysis of plasma cortisol. Infants never showed signs of depression; their responses following separation were seen as attempts…

Eight stump-tailed macaques were reared individually and either given all of their daily social experience in darkness or given half in the dark and half in the light. Results suggest that vision is especially important in the maintenance of assertive behaviors and in the instigation and direction of aggressive behaviors. (Author/RH)

Investigates whether unpopular children exhibit a bossy interpersonal style in a problem-solving situation. A detailed sequential category coding system was constructed and focused on patterns of influence among children. Sociometric measures were used to pair 44 third- and fourth-grade children into 22 dyads containing an average-status child and…

Directives, social conversation, on-task play, and positive, negative, nonsense, and task-related verbalizations of preschool-aged and school-aged peer dyads were observed in a laboratory playroom in the presence or absence of observers. Results revealed that the frequency of all of the behaviors sampled, except positive verbalizations, decreased…

First- and third-graders, shown pictures of same-sex younger, older, and same-age peers, were asked to specify that peer with whom they preferred to enter into relationships involving friendship, leadership, giving or receiving help, sympathy, and instruction. Results provide support for the hypothesized symmetric-asymmetric nature of same-age and…

The stability of standard score and probability method sociometric group assignments was examined over a two-year period with an initial group of 334 fifth graders. Popular, neglected, and controversial groups evidenced low stability of group members over intervals of approximately 1, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months. (Author/RH)

The concurrent and predictive relations of sensorimotor behavior and play to language in the second year were assessed among 19 preterm and 20 full-term infants tested at 13 1/2 and 22 months of age. Numerous associations between play and language were identified; sensorimotor behavior and language in the same age period were relatively loosely…