Examined how children of different cultural backgrounds weigh competing considerations when presented with conflicts between two concerns: Justice-Authority; Justice-Interpersonal; Personal-Interpersonal; Personal-Authority. For each concern, subjects selected the course of action to be followed and weighed alternatives. Found differences between…

Trained observers conducted direct observations of Thai and American children's school behavior and obtained teacher reports on the same children. Observers reported twice as much problem behavior and off-task behavior in American children as in their Thai age-mates, contradicting some earlier studies. Findings support the value of direct behavior…

A 6-month prospective study of 138 ninth-grade inner-city students examined links between initial emotional adjustment and subsequent social competence at school. High temporal consistency was found within each social competence domain, with some exceptions. Results suggest ecological influences in adolescent adjustment. (DR)

Examined whether sixth graders' adjustment to the school context (assessed by grades, achievement scores, and disruptive behaviors) was affected by factors from both the family context (as represented by the number of divorce-related parenting transitions and perceptions of current family climate) and the peer context (represented by peer norms…

Examined responses of 6- to 7- and 9 to 10-year olds to adult-child conflict, compared them to responses to adult-adult conflict, and further examined responses in relation to verbal and physical expression of anger. Participants in the conflict, the form of anger, and the age and gender of the subject moderated some responses. (DR)

Positive and negative peer nominations of multiple competencies and incidental recall of positive and negative self-referential adjectives were measured in relatively depressed and nondepressed children from 9 to 15 years old. The relationship between recall of negative information and depression related strongly to children's self-reported…

Explored within-group effects of mother-infant attachment and day care on children's social and emotional development in a high-risk, low income sample of mothers and infants who entered day care early, and a home-reared, middle-class sample of infants and their mothers. Found that the effects of early day care are influenced by security of…

Studied whether behavioral styles at age 3 are linked to personality traits at age 18 after identifying 5 temperament groups (undercontrolled, inhibited, confident, reserved, and well-adjusted). Results pointed to continuities across time. (DR)

A naturalistic home study delineated earlier and later walking groups. Age-held constant analyses indicated that earlier walkers and their mothers generally showed a rise of positive exchanges as well as a testing of wills across the transition to walking. Changes were less clear for the later walkers, and differences were also observed between…

Traditional and evaluative aspects of flexibility regarding transgressions across several domains (gender roles, moral rules, social etiquette, and physical law) were assessed in four-year olds, eight-year olds, and college undergraduates. Found distinctly different patterns of response. Results suggest that masculine and feminine gender roles and…

Two studies explored preschool children's beliefs about the relationship between perceptually based similarity among things and their predicted behaviors by focusing on form-function correspondences. Perceptual similarity, if motivated by intuitive beliefs about correspondences between form and function was found to be sufficient basis for…

Two experiments studied how preschool children acquire a naive theory of kinship (NTK). Overall, results implicate a type of theory building that involves inferences from preexisting knowledge rather than structural change, use of analogy, or acquisition of new knowledge. (DR)

Three experiments explored the developmental relationship between counting and number conservation in children from three to six years old. Results indicated that there was a close relationship between the two; that only the oldest children gave evidence of conserving; and that, in general, there is evidence of protracted development in young…

Assessed maternal characteristics by questionnaire and observed mother-child interactions when children were 3.5 years old. Determined children's attachment classification at 4.5 years. Found that, compared to mothers of insecure children, mothers of secure children were rated higher on positive mood and enjoyment of child and had a higher…

Used behavioral observation and maternal reports to examine the relationship of fearfulness/anxiety, attachment security, and maternal discipline with internalization in 103 toddlers. For relatively fearful/anxious children, gentle maternal discipline that deemphasized power predicted internalization. For relatively fearless children, security of…