Examines secular trends in research on Afro-American children appearing in CHILD DEVELOPMENT between 1936 and 1980. A statistical analysis revealed dramatic changes in the frequency and type of research on this population, and identified some of the changing social issues and perspectives that are reflected in the research. (Author/BB)

Reflects on the history of anorexia nervosa among adolescent ("fasting") girls, suggesting that its psychodynamics have changed over time. Focuses on the social and cultural processes by which anorexia nervosa became a disease. Argues for a conception of anorexia nervosa that incorporates culture as well as biomedical and psychological…

Reports on the origins of the Society for Research in Child Development in light of the management/administrative and funding problems surrounding the founding of the Committee on Child Development by the National Research Council. (BB)

Considers the role of the Committee on Child Development, the organizational nature and function of the Society, and the influence of publications and individuals during the first 25 years' of the Society for Research in Child Development in light of the Depression, World War II, and financial problems. (BB)

Examines the major findings in the history of the family, with special attention to their relations to childhood and child development. The focus is on the family and household structure and the wider kin group, the life course and the relations between the family and social change. (BB)

Focuses on three aspects of the young Puritan child in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: how Puritan ideology influenced attitudes toward children; whether young children were seen as children or miniature adults; and early childhood education in New England, considering the role of the family, church, and school in socializing young…

Reviews early theoretical and research literature on handedness and places it within the larger context of the nature-nurture controversy. Discussion focuses on Baldwin's study of the development of hand preference in infants in relation to the recapitulation theory, mental development ("dynamogenesis"), and speech development.…

Discusses the founding of a post-World War I mass circulation periodical, PARENTS' MAGAZINE, aimed at educating parents in new child-rearing practices through research supported by the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial (LSRM) fund program. Also discusses unsuccessful efforts of two chief program officers to maintain control over magazine…