Significant relationships were found between linguistic maturity of children, speech of parents, and children's helping behavior. Mean length of utterance was a better predictor of cooperative behavior than child age; no comparable relationships were found for parents' nonverbal behaviors. Results support a hypothesis of verbal mediation of…

Attempts to determine the nature and psychological organization of components of referential communication. Investigation is based on the premise that preschoolers often are unaware that a message should differentiate referents from nonreferents and that certain rules are applicable to both speaking and listening. (Author/RH)

A total of 86 children three, four, and five years of age were observed to evaluate the frequency of occurrence and conditions surrounding laughing and smiling. Results were interpreted as supporting interpersonal theories of laughing and smiling and as calling into question theories stressing intrapersonal factors. (Author/RH)

Systematic observations of affiliative interaction in 15 stable peer groups were conducted across three years in an urban day care center. Groups contained 193 French-speaking children ranging in age from one to six years. (Author/RH)

Considers the divergent paths taken by research in cognitive development and research in social-emotional development, arguing that studies of socialization need to become more developmental. Discusses meanings of development that may affect the socialization process. (Author/CI)

Children in preschool, first, and third grades heard similar versions of an unfamiliar script-like story followed by a novel story, then were tested for immediate and delayed recall. Children more often confused parts of the similar stories with each other than with the novel story; in addition, preschoolers showed less evidence of constructive…

Compares sentence interpretation in American and Italian children between the ages of two and five. Results indicated that Italian children relied primarily on semantic cues, whereas American children relied on word order. (Author/CI)

Compares social and private uses of language in 12 children 23 to 25 months of age. Based on videotapes of children's free play with an adult, results showed that regulatory, attentional, and informative uses of language appeared in speech addressed to another, while self-regulation, description of one's own activity, and expressive functions…

Three experiments assessed 252 preschoolers' understanding of attributes and dimensions. A conceptual measure and a linguistic measure were employed. Results indicated that the acquisition of some attribute and dimension labels appears to follow closely the trend in conceptual development. (Author/CI)

Infants between 4 and 21 weeks of age participated in two experiments involving the modeling of from 3 to 5 gestures. Frequencies of infants' reproduction of a modeled act were compared against baseline frequencies and against average frequencies of the act during periods when other actions were modeled. Suggest that imitation of gestures was…

Two implications of Bartlett's constructive theory of memory (better memory for schema-consistent material and alteration of schema-inconsistent material) were tested. Procedures involved the recall of gender-relevant pictures by kindergartners, second graders, and fourth graders with either more- or less- stereotyped attitudes. Findings suggested…

Explores issue of whether beginning readers proceed from print directly to meaning, or whether they need to use phonological information to obtain access to the meaning of printed words. As derived from a group of children between seven and 12, results indicated that, at least at low levels of reading skill, intermediate phonemic codes are used in…

Investigates recall of toy preferences in the parents of 56 four-year-old children classified either as early readers or as nonreaders. Results indicated that early readers cannot be differentiated by IQ or family demographic information alone and that consistent toy preferences precede the acquisition of early reading skills. (Author/CI)

To investigate the effects of instrumental eating on food preferences, 45 preschool children were assigned to either instrumental eating or control conditions. Preference data obtained before and after a series of snack sessions (consisting of milk beverages) demonstrated a significant negative shift in preference for the instrumental groups.…

Two studies assessed the ability of two groups of preschool children (ages two to four and three to five years, respectively) to label and categorize age groups on the basis of photographs and dolls representing the life span. Results indicated age and sex differences. (Author/CI)