Observations from a 1977-78 study of children's cognitive development in Kadavu, Fiji, are discussed in terms of setting, adult work and education, medical care, marriage and residence patterns, infant birth and mortality, and, extensively, cultural values and infant care. It is argued that the observed pattern of infant care fulfills important…

Gusii patterns of reproduction and child care evolved in an agrarian setting in which land was abundant and children were scarce. With land now scarce and children abundant, parents continue to be resourceful and strategic in their infant care, but they have not yet altered their reproductive goals of high fertility. (RH)

Although the Yucatec pattern of child care conforms on the whole to the pattern seen in other agrarian societies, it is currently becoming destabilized as the society becomes more modern. Some of the developing customs, such as bottle-feeding, are maladaptive, at least in the short run. (RH)

Data suggest that strategies of infant care at any one point in time may reflect not just one but all three concerns (for physical well-being, economic feasibility, and cultural ideologies) itemized in LeVine's (1974) hierarchy. Child care strategies that serve multiple goals have the best chance of surviving when environmental circumstances…

Illustrates, with data from a sample of U.S. middle-class families, how the structuring of the child care environment is related to culturally defined parental goals and attitudes toward development. Mothers' child care practices seemed to reflect the mothers' emphasis on cultural values such as independence and exploration to further cognitive…

Explores the features of the experience of parenthood and infant care in Sweden that distinguish it from parental experience elsewhere. Swedish parents view pregnancy and early infancy as a time of great vulnerability despite Sweden's very low infant mortality rate. (RH)

Compares the behavior of mothers to their own infants at three- to four- and nine- to 10-months of age in five of the societies described in previous chapters: Gusii of Kenya, Yucatec Mayan of Mexico, Italian, Swedish, and suburban Bostonian. Reveals differences between agrarian and urban-industrial societies, as well as culture-specific patterns…

Data from eight countries were analyzed to explore hypotheses about cross-cultural differences in childrearing patterns. Particular attention is given to LeVine's and Kohn's theories, and Hoffman and Hoffman's new theory that contends that children satisfy certain parental needs and that the satisfaction of specific needs affects parents'…

Defines the field of developmental psychopathology, and briefly describes the articles contained in this volume. (PCB)

Presents a nine-celled matrix to explain psychological stability and change. Considers the relationship between various levels of analysis and internal forces, external forces, and interactive theories. (PCB)

Focuses on the development of children's understanding of feelings. Presents a coding system which describes four levels of emotional understanding, each of which is linked to developmental differences in nonsocial, cognitive abilities. Clinical vignettes illustrate the utility of this cognitive-developmental perspective in clinical observations.…

Considers the period of adolescence and describes how cognitive-developmental concerns might apply to the understanding of adolescent problems in interpersonal and affective adaptation. Also investigates ways in which intervention practices with adolescents might be placed within a cognitive-developmental context. (PCB)

Discusses whether the cognitive development of developmentally delayed autistic children is the same as that of younger, normal children or whether it differs in significant ways that have implications for clinical assessment and treatment. (PCB)

A social development theory of self is introduced as a framework for developmental psychopathology. Built on some of Piaget's principles, the theory is taken into the social domain and used to define the movements of self and important others throughout life. (PCB)

Demonstrates how a transactional developmental psychopathology perspective that focuses on the young child's resolution of stage-salient issues can be applied to the identification and treatment of psychopathology in early childhood. (PCB)