Under what conditions will people generalize and remember observed social information? Preschool- (n = 44) and young school-age (n = 46) children and adults (n = 40) heard short vignettes describing characters' actions and motives on a single occasion. Characters were introduced using either proper names or category labels. Test questions asked…

Three experiments explored the significance of deontic properties (involving rights and obligations) in representations of social categories. Preschool-aged children (M = 4.8), young school-aged children (M = 8.2), and adults judged the centrality of behavioral, psychological, and deontic properties for both familiar (Experiments 1 and 2, Ns = 50…

Examines a hypothesis built on the theories of Piaget, Vygotsky, and Parten that children's play becomes increasingly intersubjective during preschool years. The results provide support for the hypothesis that social play of preschoolers becomes increasingly shared from 3-4.5 years of age. (Author/BB)

Examined developmental changes and individual variations in the ways children use expressive information from others. Concluded that processing deficits are more probable for younger children or for children with low perceived control than for other children. (BB)

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…

Used the confirmability model a method for assessing individuals' perceptions of other persons, to study developmental differences in the amount of information children and adults require to infer various traits. Found differences in the amount of information required to infer different traits and evidence of subjects' negativity and egocentric…

Forty 3.5- to 4.5-year-olds discussed past events with their mothers and completed tasks indexing their ability to reason about conflicting mental representations and understanding of knowledge. Found that theory-of-mind scores were related to memory conversation participation, independent of age and linguistic skill, and to the frequency of…

A study found that differences in children's ability to regulate their emotional responses, and in their social and cognitive development, are implicated in developmental differences in children's strategies for influencing others' mood states. (BB)

The study was designed to explore qualitatively developmental differences in disagreement negotiation and resolution skills between adolescent and young adult romantic partners. Twenty adolescent and 20 young adult couples participated in the study. The Knox inventory was used to measure the level of disagreement between partners on ten domains…

The individuation process was explored from a social-cognitive perspective using 61 kibbutz adolescents and youth in grades 4, 7, and 10, and post-high school in military service. Results support the developmental sequence of the individuation construct in kibbutz adolescents and fit the model proposed by A. Mazor (1985). (SLD)

Examined changes in prosocial moral reasoning and gender differences in prosocial reasoning over 15 years. Found that hedonistic reasoning declined and then increased somewhat; needs-oriented and stereotypic reasoning increased and then declined with age. Direct reciprocity and approval reasoning showed no decline into early adulthood, contrary to…

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)

Second and fifth graders from five sociometric status groups were interviewed for their attributional, emotional, and behavioral responses to hypothetical social encounters with same-sex and same-grade peers with the same sociometric status. Results demonstrate that children's manner of processing social information is a complex phenomenon based…

Used the rational facet approach to examine the relationship between age and perceptions of subconstructs of prosocial behavior on the part of second, fourth, sixth, and eighth graders and adult teachers. Differentiation of subconstructs of prosocial behavior increased with age. (Author/BB)

Two studies regarding beliefs about descriptive and prescriptive age norms for adults in developmental transitions were examined in a sample of 214 Australian university students ages 17 to 50. Discusses research methodology. The probable consequences for self-esteem, mental health, and life planning are discussed in the context of the research…