This paper outlines a qualitative research tool designed to explore personal identity formation as described by Erik Erikson and offers self-reflective and anonymous evaluative comments made by college students after completing this task. Subjects compiled a list of 200 myths, customs, fables, rituals, and beliefs from their family of origin and…

Videotaped conversations of Spanish-speaking children aged two or four years, first with their mothers and then with each other, were compared. Results support Vygotsky's hypothesis that children's skills in following regulations by others and in regulating others emerge in the social context of conversations. (PCB)

Examines and discusses origins of parents' beliefs concerning children's developmental processes and specific abilities, and the relations between these beliefs and parental behavior on the one hand and children's cognitive development on the other. (PCB)

Families in which one or both parents are diagnosed as being depressed are observed in this ongoing study of how the behavior of depressed parents relates to the child's present and long-term development. Each family which enters the study has a child approximately two years old and a child between five and seven years old. Families are initially…

Developmental outcome was compared in 1,031 Singleton children of teenage mothers and 10,950 Singleton children of older mothers. Children born to teenage mothers and living with them through the first five years of life performed less well than other children in tests of vocabulary and behavior, were shorter on the average, and had smaller head…

As researchers continue to analyze the role of parenting both in the development of childhood overweight and in obesity prevention, studies of child nutrition and growth are detailing the ways in which parents affect their children's development of food- and activity-related behaviors. Ana Lindsay, Katarina Sussner, Juhee Kim, and Steven Gortmaker…

To provide a context for a discussion of parental modernity and child development, this paper explores concepts of societal and individual modernity and examines historical evidence of increasing levels of intellectual competence and an active orientation in the conduct of life. Specific attention is given to sociological theories of Bell (1973)…

Progress in developmental/social psychology has occurred in three major areas: (1) knowledge of cognitive development, (2) knowledge involving the various concepts related to the self, and (3) knowledge of how to take explicit account of social context. These areas can be integrated by taking a "life course approach," which emphasizes the…

Reports on a study of 36 mothers and children to determine the role played by preschool children's intellectual and behavioral characteristics on their parents' expectations for school performance. Finds that children whose parents had lower expectations came from lower social classes and tended to be boys. (CFR)