Attachment theorists suggest that attachment security with parents supports the quality of social adaptation in peer groups during early childhood, and numerous studies supporting this conjecture have been published. Most of these studies used enacted representations rather than mental representations of attachment security, and most studies…

Peer victimization appears heritable, but it is unclear whether the traits that confer genetic risk require time and familiarity with a perpetrator to manifest or whether novel and brief interactions can lead to received aggression that demonstrates similar genetic risk. We examined 20-minute, peer-play interactions between 5-year-olds, pairing…

Understanding knowledge acquisition involves a comprehension of the relationship between a person's access to relevant information and that person's subsequent knowledge. This report investigates how preschoolers improve in their ability to evaluate the effects of two distinct types of messages--ambiguous and informative--on a listener's…

Biological kinds undergo a variety of changes during their life span, and these changes vary in degree by organism. Understanding that an organism, such as a caterpillar, maintains category identity over its life span despite dramatic changes is a key concept in biological reasoning. At present, we know little about the developmental trajectory of…

This study investigated different forms of pretend and physical play as predictors of preschool children's "affective social competence" (ASC). Data were collected from 122 preschool children (57 boys, 65 girls; 86 European American, 9 African American, 17 Hispanic, and 10 other ethnicity) over a 2-year period. Children participated…

Mothers' spontaneous teaching of their 4-year-olds was observed during block play in 230 dyads from low-income African American, Mexican, Dominican, and Chinese backgrounds. Blocks contained graphics that could be used to teach concepts in literacy, math, construction, or body/color. Coders noted how often mothers taught each of the concepts,…

Children of ages 3-5 ("N" = 62) were assessed by using standard theory-of-mind tasks and unusual belief tasks related to false information and beliefs endorsing violations of moral (welfare and fairness) and social conventional (school rules) domains. Younger children (under 5 years) did not accurately attribute unusual factual beliefs…

This study examined differences in the quality of child care experienced by toddler boys and girls. Boys were more likely to be in lower-quality child care than girls, assessed with both setting-level measures and observations of caregiver-child interaction. A possible explanatory mechanism for the gender differences is suggested by evidence that…

This study examined via teacher reports the behavioral correlates of different forms of nonsocial play among Chinese preschoolers, as well as potential gender differences in the linkages in a sample of preschoolers (249 boys, 257 girls) from two cities in mainland China. Measurement models estimated with two-group confirmatory factor analyses…

This study investigated how Chinese adults adjusted their scaffolding in interactions with children during problem-solving tasks. Fifty-seven 5-year-olds (from low and high socioeconomic status [SES] backgrounds) completed a playlike task (puzzle) and a school-like task (worksheet) with their mothers and teachers, respectively. Adult-child…

Empirical and theoretical literature on cooperative problem solving in preschool children suggests that integrating features of play into structured, experimental settings should increase the benefits of joint peer interactions and task performance. Four- and five-year-old peer dyads completed a playful, flexible, and child-driven building task or…

This study investigated parenting practices among families of preschoolers in a middle-income community, as well as the contributions of these practices to children's literacy and learning-related social skills. A total of 229 families of preschoolers were recruited. Parents completed a survey describing their parenting practices, while children's…

To better understand peer exclusion in young children, 42 four- to six-year-olds were observed in an outdoor setting, and their verbalizations were recorded using wireless microphones. The frequency of peer exclusion and social aggression, the various techniques children used to exclude their peers (unmitigated, mitigated, ignoring, and planning…

This study assesses the relationships between children's shy and antisocial/aggressive behaviors and maternal beliefs, and concomitant parenting behaviors. Structural equation models examined 199 mothers' perceptions of aggression and shyness in their preschool-age children (average age = 59.63 months); maternal beliefs (i.e., locus of control,…

Achieving consensus on the definition and measurement of social competence (SC) for preschool children has proven difficult in the developmental sciences. We tested a hierarchical model in which SC is assumed to be a second-order latent variable by using longitudinal data (N = 345). We also tested the degree to which peer SC at Time 1 predicted…