Focuses on three questions related to attachment theory: whether it requires distinct patterns of attachment, how taxonomic analysis contributes to understanding individual differences in attachment security, and whether attachment theorists are asking the right questions. Asserts that attachment theory is indifferent to the structure of…

Discusses four questions concerning commentaries on the taxometric analysis of Strange Situation behavior related to: (1) whether the categorical model of attachment facilitates theoretical and empirical innovations; (2) whether and how a continuum of security fits into the two-dimensional model; (3) the role of types and dimensions in…

Examined effects of early physical maturation and accelerated pubertal changes on symptoms of major depression among 639 African American adolescents. Found that for girls, early maturation was consistently associated with elevated levels of depressive symptoms. For boys, early maturers showed elevated depression only at age 11, with symptoms…

Examined gender-typed behavior and interests in 2- to 10-year-old girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and in unaffected girls matched for age. Found that, compared with unaffected girls, girls with CAH were more interested in masculine toys and less interested in feminine toys and were more likely to report having male playmates and…

Data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care were examined to explore five propositions that would support a causal relationship between child care quality and child outcomes at age 4.5 years. Three propositions were supported, particularly in the cognitive domain. Associations between quality and outcomes remained even with child and family…

A theoretical model was examined linking early adolescent interpersonal relatedness and self-definition, autonomous and controlled regulation, and negative and positive life events. Findings indicated that self-criticism predicted less positive events, whereas efficacy predicted more positive events. Effects were fully mediated by absence and…

In three experiments, 9-month-olds were given the opportunity to induce specific phonological patterns from manipulated syllable structure, consonant voicing position, and segmental position. Infants were then familiarized with fluent speech containing words that either fit or violated these patterns. Subsequent testing revealed that infants…

The role of self-perceptions in peer selection was examined among seventh-graders and third-graders. Findings indicated that when evaluations (supposedly of unfamiliar peers) related to specific competence domains, seventh-graders preferred positive peers to negative peers, whereas third-graders selected peers who viewed them as they viewed…

Asked eight adults to instruct third- and fourth-graders individually in a math problem. Found that the adults offered more variable instruction to children who produced gesture-speech mismatches than to children with no mismatches--more types of instructional strategies and more instructions that contained two different strategies, one in speech…

Examined patterns of conceptual and procedural knowledge of addition in 5- to 8-year-olds. Found that children were more successful in noticing that addends had been reordered rather than decomposed and in noticing the decomposition of addends presented with objects rather than with symbols. Also found that profiles of procedural competence were…

Examined free recall narratives of younger and older children and their parents independently interviewed about injuries requiring hospital emergency treatment. Found that mothers' narratives were more cohesive and coherent than fathers', and girls' narratives differed from boys' in parallel ways. Parent and child measures were correlated;…

Examined contributions of cognitive processing speed, short-term memory capacity, and attention to infant visual recognition memory. Found that infants who showed better attention and faster processing had better recognition memory. Contributions of attention and processing speed were independent of one another and similar at all ages studied--5,…

Examined whether African American first- through sixth-graders' perceptions of occupational status and their own vocational interests were affected by racial segregation of the workforce. Found that for familiar jobs, children's judgments related to their knowledge of racial segregation in these jobs. Novel occupations depicted with African…

Assessed the role of attention processes as mediators between family environment and school readiness, analyzing data from 1,002 children and their families participating in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care. Found that sustained attention partially accounted for the link between family environment and achievement and language outcomes.…

Two experiments examined problem solving in 16-month-olds' adaptive locomotion (crossing bridges of varying width with/without handrail). Findings indicated that toddlers attempted wide bridges more than narrow ones. Attempts on narrow bridges depended on handrail presence. Toddlers had longer latencies, examined bridge/handrail more closely, and…