Many social interactions require the synchronization--be it automatically or intentionally--of one's own behavior with that of others. Using a dyadic drumming paradigm, the authors delineate lifespan differences in interpersonal action synchronization (IAS). Younger children, older children, younger adults, and older adults in same- and mixed-age…

There is strong evidence to suggest that individuals with autism show atypicalities in multiple cognitive domains, including theory of mind (ToM), executive function (EF), and central coherence (CC). In this study, the longitudinal relationships among these 3 aspects of cognition in autism were investigated. Thirty-seven cognitively able children…

We examined individual differences in shame responding in early childhood and predictive relations with shame proneness in middle childhood. Child shame responding, parental shaming, and child temperamental inhibition were assessed at Time 1 (n = 225, aged 3-4 years), shame responding was reassessed at Time 2 (n = 199, aged 5-7 years), and shame…

This study examined children's and young adults' use of three mental capacity criteria for treating an entity as one to which moral subjects have moral obligations, that is, as having moral status. In line with philosophical theorizing, these criteria were the capacity to (1) perceive; (2) suffer; and (3) think. In this study, 116 respondents aged…

There is a vast body of literature devoted to an examination of life-span development. Several authors have described the characteristics of the life-span approach and have distinguished it from more traditional forms of psychology. Emphasis has been placed on the multidirectional and multidimensional nature of development and change, as well as…

To examine the number of subjective age categories in the post-high school portion of the American lifecycle, adult respondents sorted cards describing people in terms of major life events and classified them according to age. A nonlinear decrease in the number of age distinctions occurred in the late portion of middle age (46-65 years). (Author)

Offers a developmental perspective on research risk that emphasizes the idea that some risks to children decrease with increasing age; some increase as the child matures; some change in a curvilinear fashion; and some remain essentially stable. Suggests that researchers are in an optimal position to safeguard children's rights. (RH)

Personally important autobiographical memories are the smallest unit of the life story, which begins to emerge in adolescence. This study examined 2 features of self-defining memories in late adolescence, the meaning made of the memories to garner an understanding of the narrative construction of identity as a life story and how those memories…

This study tested certain implied predictions regarding conceptual learning at each of four sequential levels of development: concrete level, identity level, classificatory level, and formal level. For this purpose, scaled batteries to assess the level of conceptual development of children, kindergarten through high school, were constructed and a…

Reports a series of studies conducted to investigate possible differences in the exploratory manipulation and play behavior of human infants 7-1/2- 11-1/2 months of age as a function of the attributes of the stimulus, the familiarity of the subject with the stimuli, the age and sex of the infants, and individual differences. (Author/CS)

A total of 240, 7- and 10-year-olds were tested on memory and sex-role preference tasks. The memory task was the Wickens release from proactive inhibition paradigm in which short-term recall of words is tested on successive trials. On trials 1-4 words were selected from 1 of 2 categories, either words with masculine or feminine connotations. On…

Using "Patterns of Childrearing," by Sears, Maccoby and Levin (1957) as a starting point, this paper touches on the schism between developmental and social psychology and attempts to assess the progress of research in social development during the past quarter century with respect to five major perspectives that are at once evolutionary,…

The theoretical work on attachment behavior by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth spawned one of the broadest, most creative lines of research in twentieth century psychology. This volume compiles articles discussing attachment theory and research, measurement issues, and contributions of recent theoretical and empirical developments to the study of…