Task-centered interactions of 12 mother-infant pairs observed between the infants' 14th and 22nd month indicated that infants become aware of their competence in their second year. Five critical aspects of the children's behavior are discussed with respect to mother's influence, action as context for competence, and developmental characteristics…

Four studies revealed that (1) children judged a wrongdoer in a story to feel happy; (2) the incidence of happy judgments did not decline with age; (3) the presence of their teacher had an effect on children's judgments; and (4) some children judged the wrongdoer to feel sad rather than scared. (BB)