In current research on achievement goal theory, most researchers differentiate between performance-approach and performance-avoidance goal orientations. Evidence from prior research and from several previously published data sets is used to highlight that the correlation is often rather large, with a number of studies reporting correlations above…

The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) was begun in 1958 to trace the effects of aging in humans and to distinguish between the true effects of aging and those processes, including disease, socioeconomic disadvantage, and lack of educational opportunity, that may appear or become more pronounced with time but are biologically irrelevant…

Reviews empirical studies of cognitive self-efficacy from childhood through old age, addressing issues of definition and measurement related to the self-efficacy construct. Integrates findings of research on self-efficacy and establishes generalizations regarding the relationship of self-efficacy to choice and goal-setting behaviors, a sense of…

Over 600 White females between 10.5 and 18.5 years of age were studied to test construct comparability across adolescence. Assessed were emotional functioning, eating problems, self-reflection, self-image, and mastery/adjustment to examine meaning equivalence in self-concepts and developmental psychopathology. Results suggest that the five factors…

Two studies that avoided methodological problems associated with inconclusive previous reports found that 6-year-olds had less reliable feeling-of-knowing (FOK) judgments but greater FOK accuracy than did 10- or 18-year-olds. Moreover, 18- and 70-year- olds had equally reliable FOK judgments and equivalent FOK accuracy. (RH)

Maintains that most of the claims made by Morrison, Morrison, and Keating do not undermine the data analysis and conclusion of a study reported in a 1988 paper. Discusses (1) evidence concerning a common rate of developmental change; (2) functions that characterize developmental stages; and (3) procedures for estimating parameters. (LB)

Presents an overview of the topics of planning and control to provide a context for the articles in this issue of the journal. Considers development across the life span, subgroup variations, and correlates. Also explores potential linkages between planning and control. (MM)

To investigate the ability of young children to perceive the feelings of others, 44 preschool children with a mean age of approximately 3 years, 8 months were shown 12 vignettes in which a puppeteer emitting facial and vocal cues twice contrasted all possible pairs of happy, sad, angry, and afraid emotions. Mothers completed a questionniare…

Analyzes multiple components of planning, including problem representation, goal selection, a decision to plan, strategy choice, strategy execution, and monitoring. Analyzes three tasks typically used to study planning: the Tower of Hanoi; errand scheduling; and story comprehension. Argues that the components required to perform a planning task…

Identifies four major areas of recent investigations: cross-cultural studies of political socialization, the focus on the interactive nature of the individual in the process of learning about politics, the need to examine the comparative impacts of the various agencies of political socialization, and methodological and conceptual refinements.…

Used Visual Expectation Paradigm to describe information processing changes and individual differences during first year of life. Found regular age changes in mean reaction time and variability but not in minimum reaction time, suggesting that growth rate of sensory-detection information is constant during first year but age changes occur in level…

Speculates on underlying processes for the reaction time variance and age differences in anticipation latency using the Visual Expectation Paradigm. Discusses the dichotomization of reactive and anticipatory behavior, limitations of longitudinal designs, drawbacks in using standard procedures and materials, and inferences that can be made…

Reviews studies of children's and adolescents' understanding of peace and war. Maintains that findings are influenced by measurement procedures and design and by a number of variables. Notes that recent studies suggest a relationship between understanding of interpersonal relationships and understanding of peace. Other variables such as social…

This study examined individual patterns of the maturation of auditory evoked potential (AEP) in normal infants to determine whether longitudinal data show less variability than cross-sectional data, and to further assess the effect of stage of sleep on AEP. The AEPs for 10 children were examined by repeated testing between the ages of about two…

Function of attention in infants is explored. Assuming (1) that infants respond differently to novel situations than to familiar ones; (2) that the infant's pattern of response is a partial reflection of the process of acquiring a perceptual memory of the stimulus, and (3) that sex differences may occur in the rate of habituation, 120 infants…