Tests the ability of 43 children, ranging in age from 20 months to 40 months, to discriminate between pictures of boys and girls and male and female adults. Compares children who passed this gender-task with those who failed it on three behaviors most often categorized as sex-typed: toy choice, aggression, and peer playmate selection. (HOD)

Analyzes relationships between directly observed infant and mother behavior and infant temperament characteristics, as described in maternal ratings; separates the effects of different variance components in prediction of the observed behaviors; and explores possible interactions between infant sex and infant temperament in determining both infant…

Observes parents' socialization practices in 24 homes of families with first-born infants at 11, 14, and 17 months of age. Four kinds of socializing practices were observed and compared by parents' sex, infants' age, and infants' sex. (HOD)

Investigates children's person-by-situation knowledge of probable causes of emotion in self and in others, and compares this to adults' construals. Shows that children can generate contextual explanations for affective states in self and others that are both shared by other children and adults and selectively related to different kinds of…

Reports on a longitudinal study that provides a prospective view of children's personality functioning prior to their subsequent experiencing of divorce. Shows the behavior of boys as early as 11 years prior to parental separation or formal dissolution of marriage to be consistently affected by predivorce familial stress. (HOD)

Examines whether there are sex differences during middle childhood in children's choices to participate in activities differing in level of adult-provided structure; effects of structure on children's compliance, leadership, and recognition seeking directed to adults and to peers; and relation of sex-typed social skills or dispositions and…

In response to reports that have received widespread attention decrying the failure of science education in the United States to prepare sufficient numbers of scientists, projects have sought to determine what can be done to encourage academically oriented youths to enroll in more science courses in high school and preserve their option of going…

Adolescent determination of behavior can be viewed as the result of perceived locus of control. To investigate adolescent perceptions of control in terms of age, loci of control (internal or external), situations (community and home), and direction of control (from or over the environment), 909 adolescents (345 males, 564 females), aged 11-19,…

For the individual, gender difference falls along the feminine-masculine continuum with strong neurodevelopmental influences at various points throughout the lifespan. Neurodevelopmental influences are conceptualized in a vector model of sex difference. Vector attributes, direction and magnitude, are influenced initially by differences in levels…