The ability of three-year-old children to deceive was examined in order to determine whether they were able to hide their emotional expression intentionally. Results indicated that very young children have begun the process of learning how to mask their emotional expressions and support the role of socialization in this process. (RH)

The study compared the attention-directing behaviors of 15 autistic children, 14 children with developmental language delay, and 13 young normal children. Although the autistic children's behavior was most unlike that of the other groups, autistic children did not produce more attention-directing behavior when a high degree of adult direction was…

Examines relations between Matthews Youth Test for Health ratings on hyperactive boys and diverse measures obtained from five sources: direct behavior observations; staff evaluations, nonparticipant observer ratings, peer nominations, and self-reports. (HOD)

Using the Ainsworth Strange Situation Procedure, a study examined the interrelations between dimensions of emotion and social interactive behaviors to explore the regulatory role of each in mother-infant interaction and how these roles may change in the second year. (HOD)

This study used data from the Berkeley Guidance Study (1954) to identify children with a pattern of temper tantrums in late childhood (ages 8-10) and to trace the continuities and consequences of this behavioral style across the subsequent 30 years of their lives. Life course continuities in behavioral style were found for both sexes. (Author/BN)

Explores children's understanding of a variety of interpersonal events, focusing mainly on the question of whether, and in what way, their conceptions of these events were heterogeneous or undifferentiated. (HOD)

This paper describes the implementation and evaluation of a social competence promotion program conducted in the sixth grade of a middle school. The need to increase social competence within the school arose from the results of enumerative and stakeholder data collected at the school. This paper outlines the steps of the needs assessment, program…

This study examined Autism Diagnostic Interviews Revised (ADI-R) data for 69 autistic subjects from multiplex (MP) families (with more than one autistic member) and 88 autistic subjects from singleton (SP) families (with only one autistic member). Multivariate analysis revealed no differences between verbal or nonverbal MP and SP groups for ADI-R…

Principal components analysis was employed on the Adaptive Behavior Scales with scores of 122 older (mean age 63.5) individuals with severe intellectual impairment living in England. The study found the structure of adaptive skills and interpersonal maladaptive behaviors similar to that found for younger retarded adults. Two factors, personal…

The verbal and nonverbal behaviors of five children (ages seven and eight) with specific language impairments wishing to gain access into established social interactions were evaluated. Although comparative children without language impairments had no difficulty, three of the subjects were unable to gain access at all and the other two did so…

Explores the differences between boys and girls (5- and 7-year-olds) in their use of two kinds of strategies with interpersonal conflict: (1) active persuasion and negotiation, and (2) mitigation without disrupting social harmony between the interactors. (HOD)

A cluster analytic study was conducted to derive behaviorally homogeneous subtypes of pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) based on a range of behavioral symptoms that characterize autism. Analysis of data on 34 children with PDD, 27 of whom met criteria for autism, indicated 4 distinct groups differing on independent measures of social,…

Explores the relations between temperament, communicative competence, and humor expression among four- and five-year-old nursery school children. Shows that ratings of communicative competence and various dimensions of temperament account for a significant proportion of the variance in the reported frequency of children's laughter and verbal and…

Reviews and integrates several aspects of peer interaction in the infant/toddler period. Reveals convergence between age-related changes in social skills and similarly timed cognitive developments. (HOD)

This study compared 29 females with Turner syndrome and 21 females with fragile X syndrome (ages 6-22) on a videotaped role-play interaction with 34 females in a comparison group. Three of eight behavioral measures of social skills differentiated the participant groups. Fragile-X subjects required more time to initiate interactions and Turner…