Outlines how levels of the interpretation of reality and categories of a naive theory of action that constitute these levels are differentiated and coordinated in a specific developmental sequence. Subsumed within this theoretical framework are the distinction between action on physical objects and social interaction and the distinction between…

Eight low-functioning and non-verbal children with autism were presented with a modified version of the "still face" paradigm in an investigation of their expectancies concerning human social behavior. Results indicated the children were unable to form a generalized expectancy for social contingency in human beings with whom they have not yet had…

This compendium, a deliverable for "Assessments for Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning with Preschool/Elementary-School Children," focuses on tools to assess the social and emotional learning (SEL) of preschool and elementary school students (i.e., five- to ten-year-olds), along with aspects of the contexts in which they learn and…

Explored infants' capability to request a partner's participation in social games. Nineteen infants who were 9, 12, 15, and 18 months old played games for 30 minutes in a laboratory setting with an adult partner. Children's nonverbal behavior and vocalizations after the adult discontinued play were compared with behavior during game-playing…

Thirty first-born infants were filmed in face-to-face interaction with their mothers and unfamiliar adults each month between 1 and 7 months of age. Adults interacted both playfully and unresponsively. Developmental trends, differential responsiveness to mothers and strangers, and social expectations in face-to-face interaction were explored.…

This study assessed social perspective taking in 57 children classified as educable mentally retarded divided into 3 age groups from 8-16 years. Significant differences in social perspective taking were obtained between the three groups in understanding individuals and between the older and two younger groups in understanding friendship.…

Vocal and object-directed behaviors of parents and infants were examined according to the social-construction view of development. Interactions of 66 infant-parent dyads were observed. Normative changes and stability of individual differences of joint-action variables and the relation of these variables to 30-month cognitive-development status…

Self-disclosure is a process by which individuals permit themselves to be known by a select other and has been shown to be central to the development and maintenance of close relationships. Two studies were done to investigate whether people self-disclose for reasons that are related to a relationship with their listener and whether the intimacy…

This paper explores the neural systems underlying social behaviors as they pertain to autism. It discusses major channels for transmission of social-emotional information, neural pathways subserving social behaviors, and social cognition in autism. A hypothesis of autism based on deviant development of the widely distributed neural system…

Investigated the extent of children's loneliness, their perceived ease in making friends, their estimated social competence as a function of grade and sex, and their preferences concerning eight childhood activities. A loneliness scale and a sociometric peer nomination form were administered to 364 students in grades two, four, and six. (Author/BN)

Four social-cognitive processes (encoding, cue interpretation, strategy generation, and evaluation of consequences) were investigated with 55 upper elementary children with mild mental retardation. Analysis of responses to videotaped vignettes of social conflict situations indicated children more accurately interpreted hostile than benign…

This paper presents the individual's life span trajectory as a unique construction within a unique context for that individual's interactional and adaptive self-regulatory strategies. Issues of adaptive coordination between caregiver and infant are discussed, and five propositions concerning individual development summarize the work. (Author/JDD)

Examines cognitive processing and semantic influences on the developmental patterning of everyday social explanation in a cross-cultural investigation undertaken among American and Hindu adults and children (ages 8, 11, and 15). (HOD)

This study sought to validate two measures of social cognitive development: a measure of conflict resolution (Shantz and Shantz, 1982), and a social rule measure (Shantz, 1982). Participants were 214 kindergarten through fourth grade children from two suburban schools, one a public school and the other a Catholic parochial school in the Chicago…

This review examines research done on affection behaviors of children with visual and hearing impairments. A social interaction perspective is utilized, and areas for further empirical investigation are identified. (DB)