This study used a genetically informed design to assess the effects of friends' and nonfriends' reticent and dominant behaviors on children's observed social reticence in a competitive situation. Potential gene-environment correlations (rGE) and gene-environment interactions (GxE) in the link between (a) friends' and…

Some research has found that observers believe overt mimicry is socially unacceptable and embarrassing in the presence of a stranger. It was hypothesized that observers would inhibit their mimicry of learned pairs of gestures in the presence of a stranger, and that their learning would be adversely affected unless they compensated for the…

A pair of 9-year-old boys with socioemotional and interpersonal difficulties was observed unobtrusively in 35 weekly hour-long therapy sessions over the course of 2 school years. A transcript/narrative analysis technique was used to identify all interpersonal negotiation strategies each child used within each session. Strategies were classified…

A study was conducted to observe the behavior of preschool children (1) varying in age, sex and identified by teachers as thriving or not thriving; (2) in day care programs differing in mode of choice-making, i.e., teacher initiates or child initiates; (3) in the context of an analysis of physical setting and program structure; and (4) in terms of…

Two studies, labeled A and B, were conducted (1) to investigate relationships between early infant and mother behaviors over situations and over time, (2) to explore relationships between maternal experiences and behavior, (3) to compare infant-mother pairs with and without interaction problems, and (4) to compare infant-mother pairs in which…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of group size on toddlers' peer interactions and social interactions with mothers. In particular, the study sought to answer the following questions: (1) When both mothers and peers are available to the child, with whom does he/she prefer to play? and (2) Are there differences in the types of…

A method for direct observation study of early peer-social and object directed behavior in humans was designed to articulate with techniques widely used in studies of social behavior of infra-human primates. Occurrence of behavior fitting the definitions of each of six categories of object behavior and nine categories of social behavior is noted…

An observational schedule to assess child behavior in natural settings was devised, using a system of precoding of types of behavior. The schedule was designed to discover the opportunities the adult has provided for the child and the personal setting the child has selected from those available. Two types of codes are used. The first-level coding…

Women and men characters on primetime TV were observed to determine the amount of distancing behavior enacted by them. Distancing behavior, which indicates discrimination, was demonstrated more frequently by men TV characters toward women than toward men. Women demonstrated equal behavior towards both sexes. Implications are discussed. (JS)

Three studies were conducted in an initial attempt to investigate the psychological importance of trivial everyday frustrations encountered by preschool children. Study 1 analyzed the frequency and quality of experiences that could be interpreted as interfering in some way with children's natural pursuit of their desires. In a nursery school…

Research has provided support for the existence of certain actor-observer and self-serving biases in individuals' retrospective analyses about the causes of behavior. A question that has been relatively unexplored deals with whether the findings on actor-observer differences and the self-serving pattern in attributions are generalizable to…

There is a growing need for instrumentation which can enable us to observe and compute phenomena that take place in time. Although problems of observation, computation, interpretation and categorization vary from field to field and from problem to problem, it is possible to design an instrument for use in any situation where time-variables have to…

This paper describes an ecological observational study of social interaction and cognitive socialization in family day care. The study employs a reciprocal model which analyzes effects of the caregiver on the child and of the child on the caregiver by comparing the interaction of the same caregiver with "own" and "other"…

Fifth grade social behavioral profiles of 75 arrested and nonarrested adolescent boys were assessed to determine their ability to predict the later arrest status of the boys in grades 5-7. Using such measures as teacher ratings of social skills and observations of negative aggressive behavior, 75 percent of subsequently arrested subjects were…

Describes an activity in which students observe pairs of students engaged in conversation. Observations of "body language" are made, shifts in stance, and duration of stance. Discusses the application of this type of study to other species. (TW)