Customarily, several parent figures rear black infants. The effects of this practice on infant-parent attachments have not been studied even though they provide the chance to test the attachment theory contention that infants form a primary attachment when several attachment figures are available. To study this issue, 21 male and 16 female black…

In this article, we examine similarities and differences in the academic, social, and behavioral skills of high school students with emotional disturbances (ED) and learning disabilities (LD). Two groups of high school students with ED (n = 45) and LD (n = 49) were compared on nine measures in academic, behavioral, and social domains using…

Social competence of 239 students with and without learning disabilities (LD) was followed from kindergarten through fifth grade. Students with LD demonstrated the same trends in social competence as non-LD students. Students with LD differed significantly from average-high-achieving non-LD students on social skills and behavior problems, but not…

Studies the frequency with which preschool children used 11 play centers, engaged in social and nonsocial activities in each play center, and interacted positively and negatively with each other. (HOD)

Compares the parent-child interactions of rejected, neglected, and popular boys aged three, four, and five years, in a paradigm emphasizing physical play. Results indicate the importance of the regulation of affect for social competence and illustrate strong links between the parent and peer social system. (Author/RWB)

Assumes a process-in-action approach to studying young children's concept of self. Conceptualizes self-concept as spontaneously emerging from social interaction. Pedagogical implications are provided to suggest that teachers can take a number of positive steps toward respecting and enhancing children's attempts to achieve self-other knowledge.…

Parents of 20 children with autism and 14 children with mental retardation, with comparable cognitive developmental levels, completed the Preschool Social Behavior Checklist. Results revealed that autistic children exhibited deficits in imaginative play, peer play, and imitation skills compared to the other group, and that parents are capable of…

Part of a 10-year project that will follow five waves of educationally advantaged children from preschool through the fourth grade, this study examined the immediate effects of attending preschool on social competence. Once in the year prior to kindergarten entry and again near the conclusion of kindergarten, trained testers completed the…

Examines the ability of 30 normal and 30 learning disabled children across a three-year period to understand a sequence of instructions, communicate the steps in a sequence to others, and rephrase their verbal messages through a referential communication task. (HOD)

Eighteen language/learning-disabled adolescents were compared with 18 nondisabled adolescents and 18 linguistically matched nondisabled preadolescents on requesting assistance from listeners who vary in power and familiarity. The language learning-disabled adolescents were sensitive to social and contextual features and modified their requests…

A study was conducted to test the hypothesis that adults' differential definitions of social competence for boys and for girls may contribute to lack of agreement between teachers' and classmates' ratings of children's social competence. Subjects were 540 children in fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms in four public schools in the greater Boston…

Written for a variety of audiences, this volume describes the University of Western Ontario Preschool Project in sufficient detail to permit its replication; findings of formative and summative program evaluations are reported along with research developing new criterion measures of social competence. Begun in 1973, the program was primarily…