The goal of this study was to examine the links among attachment, child temperament, and the quality and frequency of mother-toddler conflict. Sixty-four mothers and children took part in a series of laboratory tasks when the child was 30 months of age and an audio-recorded home observation when the child was 36 months of age. All episodes of…

The social dimensions of family-peer linkages of 4- to 6-year-old children (N = 63) with developmental delays (IQ range, 50-80) were examined in this study. Hierarchical regressions revealed consistent and meaningful patterns of association relating children's influence attempts directed toward their mothers and their interactions with peers. A…

A cross-sectional and a longitudinal study were conducted to answer questions about (1) the development and nature of premenstrual adolescent girls' expectations about menstrual symptoms, (2) expectations for and beliefs about menstrual symptoms as they relate to the actual experience of menarche, and (3) sources of information about menstruation…

Three experiments tested whether 12- to 24-month-old children showed systematic search, persistence, and/or end-screen search in the invisible-displacement task. A fourth study tested whether end-screen search resulted from seeing the experimenter move his hand through the series of screens. (RH)

Asserts that theory of mind is unique to humans and that its original function was to provide a more abstract level of describing ancient behavioral patterns, such as deception, reconciliation, and gaze following. Suggests that initial selective advantage of theory of mind may have been increased flexibility of already-existing behaviors, not…

Data provide strong evidence that studies of stress and cortisol release in infants must take into account basal level, circadian rhythm, and behavioral effects and employ appropriate statistical procedures. Participants were infants of two, four, and six months of age from whom salivary cortisol was obtained before and 15 minutes after an…

Imitation, vocabulary, pretend play, and socially insightful behavior were investigated in 5,206 same- and opposite-sex 2-year-old twin pairs in the United Kingdom. Individual differences in imitative ability were due to modest heritability (30%), while environmental factors shared between twins (42%) and unique to each twin (28%) also made…

Do children have coexisting but contradictory beliefs about things like magic? Some patterns of behavior that seem to reflect contradictory beliefs may stem from children's recognition that their knowledge about events is incomplete and therefore things may occur without them understanding how. In addition, children may hold certain beliefs that…

An experiment was performed to determine if unfamiliar laboratory conditions can affect infant research results. (JMB)

Mothers of firstborn infants were videotaped playing with a six-month-old infant with sex-appropriate or cross-sex clothes and names. Toy choice and interaction styles varied with the perceived sex of the child. (BD)

The social behavior of 38 preschool children in a village play group was shown to exhibit considerable consistency from one half term to the next, from one term to the next, and between indoor classroom and outdoor playground situations. (Author/JMB)

Results showed that, although adult male monkeys are less active and more stable in their behavioral levels than mates or offspring, they clearly distribute both initiates and responses differently to male offspring, female offspring, mates and infant and adult monkeys from other families. Implications for human father-infant interaction are…

Determines the time course of circulating cortisol following circumcision in 80 healthy newborns and investigates whether changes in behavioral state following circumcision in anyway paralleled the adrenocortical time course. Adrenocortical and behavioral data indicated that subjects were able to cope with circumcision trauma. Cortisol levels…