Showing papers in "Developmental Psychology in 1981"

Young children's knowledge about visual perception: Further evidence for the Level 1–Level 2 distinction.

Abstract: Three studies were done to test the hypothesis that there is a development in early childhood from a less advanced (Level 1) to a more advanced (Level 2) form of knowledge and thinking about people's visual experiences. Study 1 replicated and further validated a previous finding that 3-year-olds perform very well on tasks that call for Level 1 knowledge but very poorly on those that require Level 2 knowledge. Study 2 showed that children of this age did not perform better when critical aspects of Level 2 tasks were designed to be familiar to them and similar to what they might encounter in everyday life. Study 3 showed that most of the children who performed poorly on Level 2 tasks in Study 2 continued to perform poorly on a retest given 2-19 weeks later. In addition, a brief training period following the retest proved largely unsuccessful in inducing Level 2 knowledge and thinking in these children. The results of these three studies appear to provide strong support for the Level 1-Level 2 developmental hypothesis.

From exploration to play: A cross-sectional study of infant free play behavior.

Abstract: 40 infants, divided into 10 evenly spaced age groups between the ages of 7.5 and 21 mo, were observed playing with 2 sets of toys in their own homes for up to 30 min. Narrative records of Ss' behavior were coded in terms of a 12-step sequence of play development. Analysis of individual performance i

Girlfriend, boyfriend: Age and sex differences in intimate friendship.

Abstract: Changes in intimate friendship with same-sex and opposite-sex friends in preadolescence and adolescence were investigated using Sharabany's Intimacy Scale. The sample consisted of 480 Israeli children from the 5th, 7th, 9th, and llth grades who rated their friendship with a same-sex or opposite-sex best friend. There was a significant age difference in overall intimacy with same-sex friends. Frankness and spontaneity, knowing and sensitivity, attachment, exclusiveness, and giving and sharing were dimensions that exhibited change with age. Trust and loyalty, and taking and imposing did not. Opposite-sex friendship revealed a significant increase in intimacy with age. Boys and girls did not differ in reported opposite-sex friendship in the 5th and 7th grades, whereas girls in the 9th and llth grades reported higher intimacy than did boys. This sex-by-age pattern of interaction was particularly evident for attachment and for trust and loyalty. Girls were higher in knowing and sensitivity, giving and sharing, and taking and imposing. The implications for further differentiation among types of peer relations and interrelation of dyadic friendship and cognitive growth are discussed. The importance of peer relations for the normal social development of the individual has been documented. Studies relate to experiments with animals (e.g., Harlow, 1971; Suomi, 1978), schizophrenic adults (e.g.,

Development of Pointing as a Social Gesture

Abstract: This study sought to discover the age at which infants call interesting objects to another's attention by pointing, to relate their ability to follow another's pointing to their own use of the gesture, and to compare the uses of pointing and reaching. Infants between 10.5 and 16.5 months of age were studied with their mothers in a setting containing six special stimulus objects. By 12.5 months, a majority of infants pointed, usually vocalizing or looking at their partner while pointing. The communicative function of the gesture was further established by the partner's response of verbal acknowledgment and looking at the object. The ability to follow another's points seemed to be acquired before the infants began to point but improved with their own use of the gesture. Reaching partook of the behaviors associated with pointing but developed earlier and decreased as pointing increased. The data show that at an early age infants exhibit an elementary form of the ability to take the visual perspective of others. When adults point to an event or object of interest at some distance, they extend an arm and index finger toward it, usually comment briefly on what is being singled out, and then check to see that their partner is looking in the correct direction. Thus, the act of pointing can be said to consist of three components: the gesture itself, a relevant verbal utterance, and visual monitoring of the intended recipient of the message. At what age do children begin to point spontaneously for apparently the same purpose

Individual differences in language development: Implications for development and language.

Abstract: Differences in characteristics of language development that have been identified in a number of recent studies are reviewed. In these studies, some children have been found to emphasize single words, simple productive rules for combining words, nouns and noun phrases, and referential functions; others use whole phrases and formulas, pronouns, compressed sentences, and expressive or social functions. The evidence for two styles of acquisition and their continuity over time is examined. Explanations in terms of hemispheric functions, cognitive maturation, cognitive style, and environmental context are considered, and an explanation in terms of the interaction of individual and environment in different functional contexts is suggested. Implications for development and the mastery of complex systems are discussed. A new consensus is emerging about the appropriate framework within which to view the important problems of language acquisition. In contrast to the prevailing view a decade ago that language development could only be understood within a linguistic, genetic, rule-testing, individual framework, students of child language today have increasingly accepted the premise of a developing social, cognitive, and communicative system within which language is gradually mastered. The implications o f this shift for our view of both language and development are important, as the burgeoning literature in the journals and in such recent edited collections a s Collins (1979), K . E . Nelson (1978, 1980), and Lock (1978) indicate. A sense o f the richness and interest o f the newer approaches can be gleaned from these sources. Here I would like to consider how the study of individual differences in development fits into this new framework and adds to it. Research reported in this article was supported in part by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. I would like to thank Ellen Tanouye for her valuable contribution to data collection and transcription and

Predicting parent–child interactions from children's activity level.

Abstract: Recent formulations of socialization emphasize a previously neglected facet of parent-child interaction—the effects of child attributes on parent behavior. Empirically, however, little has been done to clarify which attributes of children systematically affect parental behavior and how they affect them. This study examines the relationship between children's activity level and independently assessed parent-child interactions in a group of 117 preschool children and their parents. Four parent-child combinations (mother-daughter, father-daughte r, mother-son, and father-son) were studied. Using Bell's conceptualization of upper and lower limit parental control behavior, it was predicted that parent-child interactions involving active children would be marked by more strife and conflict than parent-child interactions involving more quiescent, less active children. Results indicate that parents of highly active children tend to intrude physically and are described as getting into power struggles and competition with their children. Impatience or hostility toward active children was observed in parents of all parent-child pairings with the notable exception of the father-son combination. In contrast, interactions involving less active children were generally peaceful and harmonious. Implications for parent-child interactions are discussed.

Correlates of Children's Long-Term Adjustment to Their Parents' Divorce

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to assess the nature and correlates of adjustment to divorce in a sample of 58 white, middle-class, 8-through 17-year-old-children whose parents had been separated about 4 years. Measures of the children's understanding of and feelings about the divorce were nonsignificantly related, and the parents' assessment of the children's adjustment was significantly related only to the children's positive feelings about the divorce. The children's understanding of the divorce did not reveal great difficulty of adjustment. The children's feelings about the divorce, however, were largely negative. A 2-year follow-up of 24 of these children (plus 14 of their siblings) revealed moderate stability in the children's divorce adjustment, with significant increases in their positive feelings regarding the loss of the noncustodial parent and peer relations. The profile of the well-adjusted child was consistent at both assessment points. Two agerelated factors, locus of control and interpersonal reasoning, were significant predictors of the children's divorce adjustment independent of age. Finally, the children's specific adjustment to divorce was related to their more global personal adjustment. One theme in recent reviews of how children are affected by their parents' divorce is the identification of factors related to divorce adjustment in particular and to personal adjustment in general (Hetherington, 1979; Lamb, 1977; Longfellow, 1979; Magrab, 1978; Rohrlich, Rainer, Berg-Cross, & Berg-Cross, 1977). Children's age has repeatedly been identified as a strong correlate of divorce adjustment, and information is available on preschoolers' through adolescents' reactions to parental separation (Kelly & Wallerstein, 1976; McDermott, 1970; Sorosky, 1977; Wallerstein & Kelly, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980).' As Hetherington (1979) and Wallerstein & Kelly (1980) noted, these global age changes are likely due to specific developmental changes in children's ability to appraise the divorce, to

Parental competence and styles of problem solving/play behavior with children.

Abstract: The relationship of parental psychosocial competence to parent interaction behaviors in a joint problem-solving/play session was studied in 23 adult-preschool child pairs. Parents were assessed using self-report questionnaires to determine degrees of self-efficacy, optimistic trust, and an active, competent coping style. Children and parents participated in a semistructured problem-solving/play task with observers rating the parental behaviors in the interactions; child responses were not specifically studied. More competent parents treated the child as being more capable and resourceful, showed generally warm and positive feelings, and were more helpful with problem solving. Thus, these parental competence attributes are confirmed as significant variables relating to parental behavior and to their styles of interaction, which are part of the socialization context of their children. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)

Assessment of social competence in preschoolers: Teachers versus peers.

Abstract: The predictive validity and the reliability of a teacher-based ranking method of assessing popularity were compared with those of the traditional picture sociometric approach. In each of two studies, both popularity measures were administered in several day-care classrooms. Behavioral observations of social interaction and teacher ratings of social competence were also collected. Very hi^h reliability estimates were obtained for the teacher popularity measure, with lower estimates obtained for the picture sociometric measure^ In both studies, when validated relative to the social competence ratings and behavioral observations, the teacher popularity measure was a more effective predictor. Stepwise multiple regression analyses were computed in which social competence measures were regressed on the popularity measures, with age treated as a covariate. With age effects partialed out, teacher popularity entered the equation prior to sociometric popularity and was a significant predictor of social competence. The sociometric popularity measure did not significantly improve this prediction. These findings support the use of teacher rankings of popularity as a measure of social competence in the preschool. Peer group social competence in preschoolers is currently a topic of considerable developmental and clinical importance. The methodology by which to adequately assess this construct is not yet clearly established. A common approach is to use indices of peer group popularity based on the sociometric technique (Oden & Asher, 1977). Until recently, the most frequently used technique for obtaining such popularity data with preschoolers was the picture sociometric method developed by McCandless and Marshall (1957). Children are shown photographs of their classmates and are asked in a variety of ways to indicate the pictures of their preferred playmates. In addition, rejection scores may be derived by asking the child to indicate those children with whom they do not like to play. Two factors are regularly cited in support of the sociometric approach to the assess