Despite being eclipsed in recent years by simulation theory, theory of mind and accounts of executive functioning, social-relational approaches to perspective taking and coordination based on the ideas of Jean Piaget and George Herbert Mead have never completely disappeared from the literature of developmental psychology. According to the…

Toward the end of his life, George Herbert Mead developed a theory of perspectives that may be used to reinterpret his social, developmental psychology. This paper attempts such a reinterpretation, leading to the emergence of a theory of perspective taking in early childhood that looks quite different from that which is assumed in most extant work…

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…

Argues that a single life event has the capacity to affect not one but several lives. This thesis is related to theories on attachment, roles, and convoys. The concept of life-event webs is introduced to explain complex relations among individuals within networks such as families. (Author/RH)

Constructs a tentative stage model of the development of the understanding of suicide motives, based on interview data from 14- to 22-year-old male and female subjects of different SES backgrounds. Development is characterized by these trends: extension of time perspective; differentiation and individualization of actor schemata and motive…

Discusses difficulties in measuring interpersonal understanding, ego development and moral development. Compares Loevinger's and Selman's theories, showing how cognitive and sociocognitive structures may be used to reconstruct many ego development test items. (NH)

Critically reviews research on developmental differences in reactions to the physically disabled in order to illustrate age-related influences and to provide a clearer conceptualization of such reactions. (Author/CM)

Suggests that the central focus of the article by Raver and Leadbeter (PS 521 712) in this issue is the ways individuals know. Examines two ways of knowing, verbal responses to questions and action without verbal response; and outlines a four-level developmental sequence of knowing that develops from one's own knowing to having a perspective on…

This paper reviews literature on conceptualizations of empathy, examining (1) whether empathetic response is an understanding or sharing of affect; (2) whether empathetic response is a response to an object, another's affect, and/or circumstance; (3) which mechanisms explain empathy; and (4) whether various definitions of empathy require…

In a study of the development of role playing, 67 seventh graders were given Feffer's Role Taking Task. Measures of the child's perception of parent behavior, IQ, Marburg Education Scales and educational attainment were collected. (MS)

Reviews the literature pertaining to spatial perspective-taking and attempts to account for the inconsistent findings in this area of research by examining the methodological differences between studies. (Author/SS)

Discusses three research questions pertinent to person-perception research: (1) identification of dimensions employed by adults in the process of interpersonal perception; (2) developmental changes in the content of expectations; and (3) developmental changes in the role expectations play in influencing behavior. Discusses implicit personality…

Suggests an approach to understanding moral functioning incorporating developments in biological and cognitive theory. (Author/MP)