Showing papers in "Child Development in 1980"

Social cognition and children's aggressive behavior.

Abstract: DODGE, KENNETH A. Social Cognition and Children's Aggressive Behavior. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 162-170. Aggressive and nonaggressive boys from grades 2, 4, and 6 were exposed to a frustrating negative outcome which was instigated by an unknown peer who had acted with either a hostile intent, a benign intent, or an ambiguous intent. Videotaped behavioral responses constituted the dependent measures. Contrary to a hypothesis, aggressive boys did not display any failure to integrate intent cues into their behavioral reactions to the negative consequences, nor were there any significant main or interaction effects for age of subject. All groups responded with more aggression in the hostile condition than in the benign condition. Aggressive and nonaggressive subjects differed only in the ambiguous condition. Here aggressive subjects responded as if the peer had acted with a hostile intent. Nonaggressive subjects responded as if the peer had acted with a benign intent. The hypothesis that aggressive children respond to ambiguous-intention-negative-consequence situations with aggression because they infer a hostile intention was supported by a follow-up study using hypothetical episodes as stimuli. Results of this second study reflect the increased significance of the social reputation of the aggressive child with increasing age. The total pattern of results suggests a picture of the aggressive child being caught up in a spiraling cycle of reputation and behavior.

Effects of Peer Models' Food Choices and Eating Behaviors on Preschoolers' Food Preferences.

Abstract: Preschooler food preferences can be strongly influenced by outside forces, namely, peer pressure, hero worship, role models, etc., but whether the changed preferences persist or not is slightly harder to assess. Experimental taste tests of 9 vegetables were tried on 39 children; they were asked to taste each one, decide whether it tasted good, bad, or OK, and then were helped to rank them by preference. The next step was to determine the effects of social influence by peers--this was done in a lunch-room situation where one child with a strong preference was placed with 3 peers of opposite tastes for 4 days. Data was obtained on 17 different subjects in 17 situations. The first step was then repeated. The target children showed a distinct increase in preference for previously spurned food, as well as a decrease in desire for the favorite vegetable, though not of an equal amount. The social influence thus demonstrated indicates that children will learn to accept a broader range of foods when exposed to preferences other than their own

High-risk neighborhoods and high-risk families: the human ecology of child maltreatment.

Abstract: Based on multiple regression analysis to identify the socioeconomic, demographic, and attitudinal correlates of neighborhood differences in the rate of child abuse and neglect, a pair of neighborhoods matched for socioeconomic level was selected, one high risk, the other low risk. Interviews with expert informants ranging from elementary school principals to mailmen were used to develop neighborhood profiles. Samples of families were drawn from each neighborhood and interviews conducted to identify stresses and supports, with special emphasis on sources of help, social networks, evaluation of the neighborhood, and use of formal family support systems. The results lend support to the concept of neighborhood "risk." Families in the high-risk neighborhood, though socioeconomically similar to families in the low-risk neighborhood, report less positive evaluation of the neighborhood as a context for child and family development. Furthermore, they reveal a general pattern of "social impoverishment" in comparison with families in the low-risk neighborhood.

Sex differences in aggression: a rejoinder and reprise.

Abstract: A meta analysis of observational studies of peer-directed aggression by children aged 6 and younger yields a highly significant sex difference. Out of 32 studies, z values reflected higher male aggression in 24, no difference in 8, higher female aggression in none. Furthermore, boys' aggression is most often displayed in the presence of male partners. Evidence is presented that the sex difference is probably not merely an artifact of higher rates of male activity or social interaction. Existing cross-cultural evidence also shows higher rates of male aggression, as does most of the work on free-living primates. Specifically, the 3 observational studies of chimpanzees show considerably more aggression in males. Evidence for a hormonal contribution to male aggression is clear in animals and inconclusive in human beings, although the existing human findings are consistent with such a contribution. Recent evidence on the differential socialization of boys and girls supports our earlier view: that boys do not receive more reinforcement for aggression than girls, and that rates of punishment are also similar once the differential base rates in aggression are taken into account. The role of self-socialization (including choice of same-sex models) is discussed, and the view is expressed that this probably depends upon the development of certain cognitions about sex identity which normally do not develop until a later age than the age at which a consistent sex difference in aggression first appears.

The influence of social-affective context on the formation of children's food preferences.

Abstract: BIRCH, LEANN LIPPS; ZIMMERMAN, SHERYL ITKIN; and HIND, HONEY. The Influence of Socialaffective Context on the Formation of Children's Food Preferences. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 856-861. The effects of several social-affective presentation contexts on the formation of preschool children's food preferences were investigated. The children's preferences for a set of snack foods were initially assessed and a neutral food, neither highly preferred nor nonpreferred, was selected for each child. This snack food was then presented to the child in one of four social-affective contexts: (1) as a reward; (2) noncontingently, paired with adult attention; (3) in a nonsocial context; (4) at snack time. 16 children participated in each condition. Half of the children in each condition received a sweet snack food, half a nonsweet snack food. Results indicated that presenting foods as rewards or presenting them noncontingently paired with adult attention produced significant increases in preference, and the effects persisted for at least 6 weeks following termination of the presentations. In contrast, no consistent changes in preference were noted when the foods were presented in a nonsocial context or at snack time. The results suggest that the social-affective context in which foods are presented is extremely important in the formation of young children's food preferences.

Picture-Book Reading in Mother-Infant Dyads Belonging to Two Subgroups in Israel

Abstract: NINIO, ANAT. Picture-Book Reading in Mother-Infant Dyads Belonging to Two Subgroups in Israel. CmLD DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 587-590. This study investigated vocabulary acquisition in the context of joint picture-book reading in mother-infant dyads belonging to 2 social classes. 20 middle-class and 20 lower-class dyads were observed, the infants ranging in age between 17 and 22 months. In both groups interaction focused on the eliciting or the provision of labeling information. The most frequent formats consisted of cycles headed by "What's that?" questions, by "Where is X?" questions, and by labeling statements emitted by the mother. Cluster analysis revealed that these formats and other measures of input language fell into 3 groups, each apparently representing a different dyadic interaction style. In the high-SES group, each style was associated with the size of a different vocabulary in the infant: productive, comprehension, and imitative vocabularies. In the low-SES group, the proportion of maternal "what" questions was correlated with the infant's level, whereas "where" questions and labeling statements were not adjusted to the infant's level. Low-SES mothers talked less and provided less varied labels for actions and attributes. They asked less "what" questions and more "where" questions. High-SES infants had a bigger productive vocabulary, and low-SES infants had a bigger imitative vocabulary. The rate of development was slower in the low-SES group, as evidenced by lower correlations with the age of the infant.

Teenage, lower-class, black mothers and their preterm infants: an intervention and developmental follow-up.

Abstract: To assess the combined risks of being born preterm and to a teenage mother, and to evaluate the effects of an early intervention, preterm infants born to lower-class, black, teenage mothers were provided a home-based, parent-training intervention, and their development was then compared with that of nonintervention controls, of term infants of teenage mothers, and of term and preterm infants of adult mothers. Despite equivalence on prenatal care, factors which placed the preterm infant of the teenage mother at greater risk at birth were the small-for-date size of the infant and the less realistic developmental milestones and child rearing attitudes expressed by the mother. The preterm infants of teenage mothers who received intervention showed more optimal growth, Denver scores, and face-to-face interactions at 4 months. Their mothers rated their infants' temperaments more optimally, expressed more realistic developmental milestones and child-rearing attitudes, and received higher ratings on face-to-face interactions. At 8 months, the intervention group received superior Bayley mental, Caldwell, and infant temperament scores.

Child abusers' responses to infant smiles and cries

Abstract: 14 child abusers and a matched group of non-abusers watched videotapes of crying and smiling infants. Their psychophysiological responses were monitored throughout the session. After each videotape, the subjects described their emotional responses on a mood adjective checklist. The crying infant elicited heart-rate acceleration and increases in skin conductance and diastolic blood pressure from both groups, although the abusers experienced greater increases in heart rate and reported more aversion and less sympathy. Like other parents tested in this paradigm, the nonabusers responded to the smiling infant with no change in or declines in physiological activation. The abusers, however, responded to the smile and cry stimuli similarly.

Mothers, fathers, and peers as socialization agents of sex-typed play behaviors in young children.

Abstract: LANGLOIS, JUDITH H., and DowNs, A. CHRIS. Mothers, Fathers, and Peers as Socialization Agents of Sex-typed Play Behaviors in Young Children. CrHiL DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 1237-1247. Differential reward and punishment of 3and 5-year-old girls' and boys' sex-typed behaviors were examined using a laboratory analog of a natural play context. In study 1, mothers' and peers' reactions to sex-appropriate and sex-inappropriate play were observed. Fathers' reactions were assessed in study 2. Mothers used more reward for their children's play than did peers, while peers used more punishment than mothers. Both mothers and peers differentially rewarded and punished girls' sex-typed play, but boys received only differential punishment from peers. Fathers were generally more rewarding to girls and to 3-year-olds and more punishing to boys and to 5-year-olds. Moreover, fathers differentially rewarded play with same-sex toys and punished play with cross-sex toys for both sons and daughters. Implications for social learning and reciprocal-role theories of sex-role development are explored and a social network perspective emphasizing the complementary roles of mothers, fathers, and peers in children's social development is discussed.

Sensible reasoning: A hypothesis about hypotheses.

Abstract: TsCHmcI, JUDrTH E. Sensible Reasoning: A Hypothesis about Hypotheses. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 1-10. This study investigated the asserted differences in reasoning between adults and second, fourth, and sixth graders in a manipulation-of-variables task using common everyday situations. It is proposed that hypothesis-testing skills used in this task do not necessarily develop from an understanding of the logic of classes. These skills may develop through experience in manipulating elements in those naturally occurring situations where it is desirable to eliminate negative outcomes or reproduce positive outcomes. Subjects were given 8 multivariate stories with different outcomes, either good or bad, and asked to choose a test to determine which element caused the outcome. Subjects were expected to choose a test systematically on the basis of sensible considerations of the outcome value of any situation, not on purely logical grounds. For all age groups the general pattern of responses was the same. A logical disconfirming test (vary only the hypothesized variable) was preferred in bad-outcome situations, and a logically inappropriate confirming test (repeat the hypothesized variable in a different context) was preferred in good-outcome stories. The main developmental trend was a shift in choice of strategy to eliminate the hypothesized variable in bad-outcome stories. There was no relation between children's performance on class-inclusion problems and their story-problem solutions. These results are discussed in terms of "sensible" reasoning and problem-solving skills.

Early interaction: consequences for social and mental development at three years.

Abstract: Interaction during feeding sessions between preterm infants and their mothers and that between full-term infants and their mothers were compared. (Mothers and babies were from a low-income, inner-city population.) When the children were about 3 years old, they attended a day camp for 3 weeks, during which their cognitive ability (Stanford-Binet) and social ability (both social competence and social participation) were assessed. Early interaction was quite different for preterms and full-terms, but in general it did not predict either social or cognitive ability at age 3. Birth status (preterm/full-term) did predict cognitive (but not social) ability: preterms scored lower. Finally, the children of mothers who were more emotionally and verbally responsive during a home visit at 20 months exhibited more social and cognitive ability at age 3. These results suggest that the baby, within broad normal limits, may be "buffered" against any long-term consequences of interaction during the first few months of life.

An Assessment of the Relationship among Measures of Children's Social Competence and Children's Academic Achievement.

Abstract: GREEN, KENNETH D; FOREHAND, REX; BECK, STEVEN J; and VOSK, BARBARA An Assessment of the Relationship among Measures of Children's Social Competence and Children's Academic Achievement CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 1149-1156 The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the relationship among 4 measures of school-aged children's social competence (behavioral, sociometric, teacher completed, and child self-report) and their relationship to an academic measure 116 third-grade children served as subjects A correlational matrix and a factor analysis were performed on the data The results indicated that children with high academic achievement scores were liked by and interacted positively with peers Negative peer interaction was not related to popularity, while positive peer interaction was negatively correlated with peer dislike Teacher ratings suggested that teachers can identify children who are liked and disliked by their peers The child self-report measure produced few correlations with other measures The factor analysis resulted in the identification of 5 factors: social status, teacher-perceived deviance, sociability, academic, and peer aggressive Implications of the findings are discussed

The Adult-Child Dyad as a Problem-solving System.

Abstract: WERTSCH, JAMES V.; MCNAMEE, GILLIAN DOWLEY; MCLANE, JOAN B.; and BUDWIG, NANCY A. The Adult-Child Dyad as a Problem-solving System. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 12151221. This study investigates the way that mothers and their preschool children divided up the strategic responsibilities for carrying out a problem-solving task which involves making a puzzle in accordance with a model. The interaction of 18 mother-child dyads was videotaped and analyzed for verbal and nonverbal devices used by the adult to regulate the child's behavior. The child's eye gaze to the model was used as a measure of how well he or she was following an effective strategy. It was found that with an increase in age there was a decrease in the proportion of these eye gazes that were regulated by the adult and thus an increase in self-regulated strategic behavior. In addition, it was found that when an older child looked at the model, he or she was likely to carry out the subsequent steps necessary to select a piece and insert it correctly and independently in the copy puzzle, whereas younger children were likely to need additional adult assistance after an eye gaze to the model. This is interpreted as suggesting that older children differed from younger ones in their understanding of the strategic significance of gaze behaviors and that the adults' communicative moves were fulfilling different functions for children at different ages. It is argued that an analysis of how adult-child dyads carry out tasks requiring strategic skills can result in a better understanding of the origins and development of these skills iri independently functioning cognitive agents.

Correlates and dimensions of prosocial behavior: a study of female siblings with their mothers.

Abstract: This study investigated the maternal, sibling, and situational correlates of prosocial behavior between siblings and considered the relationship of prosocial to antisocial behavior 50 mothers were videotaped with their first- and later-born daughters in a seminaturalistic game-playing setting The relative absence of significant correlations among child prosocial behaviors supported the view that there are distinct dimensions of prosocial activity Moderate but statistically significant correlations were observed between children's prosocial/antisocial behavior toward sisters and a variety of parenting behaviors considered relevant to the development of prosocial behavior Of particular theoretical importance was the relationship between a mother's responsiveness to her child's expressed needs and infrequent-antisocial, frequent-prosocial interaction between her children Although the findings held for both age groups, they were more frequently stronger and clearer for older children A second major finding was an apparent sibling influence on prosocial and antisocial behavior, particularly for younger children Attempts are made to describe patterns of influence among mothers and siblings from these correlational data

Maternal Teaching Strategies in Chicano and Anglo-American Families: The Influence of Culture and Education on Maternal Behavior.

Abstract: The study examined (a) whether differences exist between Chicano and Anglo-American families in the strategies that mothers use to teach their own children and (b) whether such differences, if they exist, are likely to persist or disappear as a result of effective social change toward increased educational and occupational equality in the society where the two groups coexist. Eighty-three Chicano and Anglo-American mothers were observed in their homes teaching cognitive-perceptual tasks to their own five-year-old children. Significant differences in maternal teaching strategies were found between the two cultural groups. Results also showed that these differences appear to be the result of differences in the average level of formal education attained by the mothers in the two cultural populations. These results suggest that the observed differences in maternal teaching strategies may disappear as women in the two cultural groups attain similar levels of formal education.

Measurement of the type A behavior pattern in children: assessment of children's competitiveness, impatience-anger, and aggression

Abstract: The results of a program of research designed to produce an adequate measure of the type A behavior pattern in children are reported. The type A pattern is a risk factor for heart disease in adulthood and is characterized by extremes of competitiveness, impatience, easily aroused anger, and aggression. A questionnaire called the Matthews Youth Test for Health (MYTH-Form O) contains 17 statements that characterize pattern A behaviors in children. Study 1 was conducted to provide psychometric data for the MYTH. Teachers rated how well these statements characterized 485 children enrolled in grades K, 2, 4 and 6. Those children remaining in the school district 3 months later (N = 420) were rated again. Statistical analyses of these ratings suggest that the MYTH-Form O is a reliable, internally consistent instrument, which yields 2 orthogonal factors: competitiveness and impatience-aggression. As expected, there were substantial gender differences in children's type A behavior. Study 2 tested the construct validity of the MYTH in a subsample of children who were challenged to win a car race against an experimenter; were given an opportunity to play with a variety of toys, including a plastic Bobo doll; and were asked to execute a frustrating task during 1 session. RESULTS showed that type A's won a race against a female (not a male) experimenter by a larger margin than did type B's. Type A's aggressed against a Bobo doll earlier and were more impatient than were type B's throughout the session. These impatient behaviors exhibited by child type A's are similar to those exhibited by adult type A's during the standardized adult type A interview. In sum, these data are supportive of the reliability and validity of the MYTH and represent a first step in the development of an instrument to assess pattern A in elementary school-aged children. Language: en

Maternal stimulation and infant exploratory competence: cross-sectional, correlational, and experimental analyses.

Abstract: Research on maternal influence on infant development is criticized on the basis of its limited ability to make strong causal claims. 2 observational studies are then presented; 1 details, cross-sectionally, developmental changes in strategies of maternal stimulation and infant exploration and the interrelationship of these domains of parent and child behavior; the other tests, experimentally, the hypothesis that maternal stimulation fosters infant exploratory competence. Results of the first study reveal: (1) a linear increase in mother's verbal attention-focusing behavior and a curvilinear trend in physical attention-focusing strategies between 9 and 18 months; (2) linear increases in a variety of measures of infant exploration; and (3) positive associations between naturalistically observed maternal stimulation and infant exploratory competence. The experimental study demonstrates that infant exploratory skill, as measured both naturalistically and during a semistructured, free-play assessment, is positively influenced by the enhancement of maternal stimulation. These latter results are discussed in terms of infant stimulation programs.

Make-believe: A mediator of the relationship between play and associative fluency.

Abstract: DANSKY, JEFFREY L. Make-Believe: A Mediator of the Relationship between Play and Associative Fluency. CmLD DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 576-579. Naturalistic observation of 96 preschoolers permitted categorizing them as either players (displayed make-believe) or nonplayers. All subjects were then exposed to 1 of 3 treatment conditions (free play, imitation, problem solving) and subsequently given an alternate-uses test. Free play enhanced associative fluency, but only for players who actually engaged in make-believe. These findings were interpreted as consistent with the hypothesis that associative fluency is not automatically enhanced by the lack of structure in free-play situations, but that it can be enhanced by the freely assimilative character of make-believe.

Decentration and Integration of the Child's Play in the Second Year.

Abstract: FENSON, LARRY, and RAMSAY, DOUGLAS S Decentration and Integration of the Child's Play in the Second Year CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 171-178 2 studies, 1 cross-sectional and 1 longitudinal, examined the relation between 2 developmental trends in play during the second year: the emergence of decentered acts, and the integration of separate acts into simple sequences In both studies, infants were tested at 13, 19, and 24 months of age Decentered acts directed toward inanimate as well as animate or lifelike objects had appeared for most children by 19 months Sequences resulting from the repetition of a single theme generally emerged concurrently with the decentration measures In contrast, sequences resulting from the coordination of 2 different acts did not emerge for most children until 24 months It was suggested that the latter type of sequence may require an additional cognitive skill, specifically, the ability to mentally relate 2 different actions

Children's Developing Understanding of Mental Verbs: Remember, Know, and Guess.

Abstract: JOHNSON, CARL NILS, and WELLMAN, HENRY M Children's Developing Understanding of Mental Verbs: Remember, Know, and Guess CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 1095-1102 Preschool children have traditionally been noted for their ignorance of internal mental events Consistent with this view, recent studies have found young children to judge mental verbs mistakenly on the basis of external states The present research examined 2 components of children's developing understanding of mental verbs First, it was hypothesized that children's ability to distinguish mental from external states would be enhanced under conditions where a subject's directly experienced mental state (ie, an expectancy or belief) contrasts with external conditions Second, conditions were designed to examine children's understanding of the different cognitive implications of the mental verbs remember, know, and guess; namely, that remember entails specific prior knowledge, know requires some evidential basis, and guess is distinguished by the absence of such a basis Results confirmed that young children could differentiate internal from external states under the hypothesized conditions Preschoolers in this case interpreted the mental verbs with respect to their mental state in contrast to external state These children were nonetheless ignorant of definitive distinctions between the mental verbs, completely confusing cases of remembering, knowing, and guessing Evidence is reviewed which indicates that acquisition proceeds from an early sense of distinctive uses of the verbs to later understanding of their definitive descriptions of mental states

The Relation of Home Environment, Cognitive Competence, and IQ among Males and Females.

Abstract: BRADLEY, ROBERT H., and CALDWELL, BETTYE M. The Relation of Home Environment, Cognitive Competence, and IQ among Males and Females. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 11401148. The home environments of 72 children were assessed when they were 6 and 12 months old. Children's performance on the Bayley was assessed at age 1 and their Binet performance at age 3. Some significant correlations were obtained between Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) Inventory scores and 2 clusters of items from the Bayley: goal directedness and language use. Substantial correlations were observed between HOME scores and Binet scores for both boys and girls-albeit there were some sex differences. A significant residual correlation was obtained between 12-month HOME scores and IQ with 6month HOME scores partialled out; however, no significant residual remained when 12-month HOME scores were partialled out from the relation between 6-month HOME scores and IQ. Regression analyses revealed that IQ in boys was most efficiently predicted using 12-month scores on Play Materials, 6-month scores on Play Materials, and the child's language competence at age 1. For girls, the most efficient model included 12-month scores on Play Materials and Maternal Responsivity.

Gender-Related Schemata and Constructive Memory in Children.

Abstract: LIBEN, LYNN S., and SIGNORELLA, MARGARET L. Gender-related Schemata and Constructive Memory in Children. CmLD DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 11-18. To examine the relationship between children's gender attitudes and memories, 57 first and second graders were shown pictures of people in various occupations and activities and were tested for recognition memory. Of the original 60 pictures, 20 were traditional (e.g., female secretary), 20 nontraditional (e.g., male secretary), and 20 neutral (e.g., man reading a newspaper). Children were given a recognition task with 30 of the original pictures and 30 new pictures, in which the sex of the actor had been reversed. A stereotyping measure was also given to classify children as having high or low gender stereotypes. Results showed that on new items, the low number of false recognitions precluded meaningful subject or task effects. On old items, children with relatively highly stereotyped gender attitudes recognized significantly more traditional than nontraditional pictures when the actor was male. Children with low gender stereotypes did not show this differential responding. Results suggest that children's memories are affected by their own gender attitudes and by the differential evaluation of men and women engaged in nontraditional activities.

Cross-Cultural Invariance in Story Recall.

Abstract: MANDLER, JEAN M.; SCRIBNER, SYLVIA; COLE, MICHAEL; and DEFOREST, MARSHA. CrOSs-cultural Invariance in Story Recall. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 19-26. A comparison was made of recall of stories by Liberian nonschooled children, nonliterate adults, nonschooled literate adults, and schooled literate adults. These data were then compared to similar data from American children and adults. Highly similar patterns of recall were found for all groups, although there was improvement in performance from childhood to adulthood. The data were used to support a hypothesis of the universality of certain kinds of schematic organization and their control of memorial processes.

Bayley's infant behavior record: behavioral components and twin analyses.

Abstract: Factor analysis of 25 rating scales from Bayley's infant behavior record were performed for a sample of about 300-400 infant twins tested at 1 or more of the following ages: 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months. The analysis provided 5 major factors and 2 minor factors that were considerably consistent at all ages. As defined by the scales with the strongest loadings, the major factors were denoted as task orientation, affect-extraversion, activity, auditory-visual awareness, and motor coordination, and the minor factors were denoted as kinds of mouthing behaviors. Further analyses by twin pairs generally provided higher concordance for identical pairs than for same-sex fraternal pairs, and the differences in concordance became more evident with an increase in age. Among the factors, task orientation showed the most persistent differences between identical and fraternal pairs. Profile analyses for all factors extracted at each age indicated that the profiles within identical pairs were more similar than profiles within fraternal pairs. Overall, the findings delineate some of the dimensions of temperament observed during testing and suggest that there are genetic influences on several behavioral characteristics and the organization of those characteristics during infancy.

Developmental Patterns in the Solution of Verbal Analogies.

Abstract: STERNBERG, ROBERT J., and NIGRo, GEORGIA. Developmental Patterns in the Solution of Verbal Analogies. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 27-38. 20 subjects in each of grades 3, 6, 9, and in college were tested in their relative abilities to solve 180 verbal analogies based on 5 different verbal relations. Analogies were presented in 3 different formats varying in the number of terms in the analogy stem versus the number of terms in the analogy options. It was found that (a) a componential theory of analogical reasoning was successful in accounting for response-time data at all grade levels and error data at all but the college level; (b) thirdgraders and sixth-graders used a strategy that differed in key respects from the strategy used by ninth-graders and college students; (c) antonymous and functional relations were easier to process at all levels than were synonymous, category membership, and linear ordering relations; and (d) a new method of isolating component cognitive processes-the method of "stemsplitting"-provided new insights into age-related strategy changes in the solution of verbal analogies.

Deliberate facial movement.

Abstract: EKMAN, PAUL; ROPER, GOWEN; and HAGER, JOSEPH C. Deliberate Facial Movement. CmLD DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 886-891. Children aged 5, 9, and 13 years tried to imitate elemental and complex facial actions. Performance improved with age, and also when the children had the benefits of practice, encouragement, and seeing themselves in a mirror. The ability to imitate elemental actions correlated with the ability to imitate complex expressions. Certain actions, primarily those involved in fear, sadness, and anger, were difficult even for the oldest group. The relationship between making faces by deliberate action and making faces by selfgenerating an emotion experience is discussed.

The development of visual accommodation during early infancy.

Abstract: 4 experiments were conducted concerning the development of visual accommodation in 1- to 3-month-old infants. In experiments 1 and 2 dynamic retinoscopy was used to measure accomodation responses at 3 stimulus distances. The results of experiment 1 revealed better accommodative capability from 1 to 3 months than reported originally. The procedure of experiment 2 was somewhat different but the results confirmed those of experiment 1. In experiment 3, accommodative responses at 7 stimulus distances were carefully measured in a small number of infants. These data provided estimates of the shape of infants' accommodation functions. In experiment 4, we used infrared photography to measure infants' pupil diameters while they viewed the stimuli of experiments 1 and 2. 2 simple hypotheses of the developmental mechanisms which underlie early accommodative development were considered. First, development of the motor component of the accommodative system might determine accommodative development. Second, development of the sensory component of the accommodative system might determine the observed development. The first hypothesis was tentatively rejected because it is inconsistent with some clinical findings. Evaluation of the second hypothesis involved calculating infants' depth of focus. We used those depth-of-focus values to predict how well infants of different ages should accommodate if their only limitation were in the sensory component of the accommodative system. The agreement between those predictions and observed accommodation was excellent, suggesting that changes in depth of focus in the first 3 months are largely responsible for growth in accommodation. The theoretical implications of this finding are discussed.

The relationship between out-of-home care and the quality of infant-mother attachment in an economically disadvantaged population.

Abstract: The effects of routine daily separations occasioned by out-of-home care on the formation and maintenance of infant-mother attachment relationships were examined in a population of economically disadvantaged mothers. 3 groups were constituted on the basis of the time in the infant's life when out-of-home care began: (1) before 12 months; (2) between 12 and 18 months; (3) home-care controls. The infant-mother pairs were observed in the Ainsworth strange situation at both 12 and 18 months, and were classified as secure, anxious-avoidant, or anxious-resistant. Because previous research has implicated the psychological accessibility of the mother to the infant in the development of anxious-avoidant attachments during the first year of life, the hypothesis that physical inaccessibility due to out-of-home care would also be associated with anxious-avoidant attachments was tested. The data support this hypothesis. At 12 months 47% of the infants whose mothers had returned to work/school were classified in the anxious-avoidant group, while the other 2 groups did not differ significantly in the proportions of infants assigned to the 3 attachment classifications. At 18 months, differences among the 3 work status groups also showed a large portion of anxious-avoidant infants (41%) in this early working group. However, infants whose out-of-home care began after 12 months did not show an increase in the proportion of anxious attachments. Additional analyses of variables related to mother's return to work indicated that single mothers were more likely to return to work/school, that mothers who worked reported higher levels of life stress than mothers who stayed home with the infants, and that, by 18 months, both anxious-avoidant and anxious-resistant attachments were also associated with non-intact families.

Individual differences in infant-mother attachment relationships at age one: antecedents in neonatal behavior in an urban, economically disadvantaged sample.

Abstract: Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scales (NBAS) were administered to 100 neonates at 7 and 10 days after birth. The infants and their mothers were subsequently observed in the Ainsworth and Wittig strange-situation procedure at age 1. Infants were classified as secure, anxious/avoidant, or anxious/resistant. When compared with the secure attachment group, anxious/resistant infants scored lower on orientation, motor maturity, and regulation items at day 7. The secure and anxious/avoidant subjects did not differ at day 7. The anxious/resistant group improved from day 7 to day 10, and neither anxious group differed from the secure group on the second examination. The results suggest that early neonatal difficulties may reflect probelms in integrative and adaptive mechanisms which continue to influence behavior, interaction, and eventually attachment relationships, despite the tendency of all normal infants eventually to meet the demands of the neonatal period. In view of the resiliency of neonatal behavior, it is assumed that neonatal difficulties must interact with difficult environments to produce anxious attachments.

Developmental differences in the acquisition of basic and superordinate categories.

Abstract: HORTON, MARJORIE S., and MARKMAN, ELLEN M. Developmental Differences in the Acquisition of Basic and Superordinate Categories. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 708-719. This study examined the relative utility of exemplar and linguistic information for acquiring basic and superordinate categories. The perceptual similarity among members of basic categories suggests that a child could learn these categories simply from exposure to exemplars. The dissimilarity among members of superordinate categories suggests a child would also need to be informed of the relevant criteria for categorization. Developmental differences were predicted in the ability to benefit from the linguistically specified criterial information. These hypotheses were tested by having preschool, kindergarten, and first-grade children learn artificial animal categories. Each child was trained on 1 category through exemplar information alone and 1 through exemplar information supplemented with linguistic descriptions of criterial properties. The results supported the hypotheses: Linguistic information facilitated acquisition of only superordinate, not basic level, categories, and only for the older children. These findings indicate that the internal structure of categories and the processing abilities of the learner are important determinants of acquisition.