Provides an overview of the preceding articles in this journal issue. Considers the timing of gender segregation, compatibility between play styles and gender segregation, possible physiological processes underlying gender segregation in play, children's cognitive knowledge about gender, and the consequences of gender segregation. (BAC)

A Young Children's Social Desirability Scale based on the MMPI was constructed and administered to nursery school children. Results showed that social desirability scores increased with age, showed a low positive relationship to picture vocabularly IQ, and were unrelated to sex in a high socieconomic sample. (KJ)

The authors bring together findings from research dealing with the effects of father absence in children's development. (WY)

Examined children's emotional and behavioral regulation and emotional and prosocial responses to a crying infant. Found that children who could regulate their arousal were unlikely to become distressed and more likely than other children to talk to and comfort the crying infant. Girls were more responsive and engaged in more active responses than…

This study was undertaken to determine the relative contribution of age, sex, and three stimulus features (board shape, block arrangement, and block shape) to perceptual accuracy on 39 board/block adaptations of Piaget's three-mountain task. (Author/SB)

General and specific issues of the risk and resilience framework in the social development of children with learning disabilities include: (1) integrating current research with prior related studies; (2) measurement problems; (3) more differentiation regarding gender and severity of learning disabilities; (4) potential risk and protective factors;…

Grandparents' and mothers' drug use predicted hyperactivity, psychosomatic complaints, and social problems for boys, and acting-out behaviors for boys and girls. Maternal drug use predicted fearfulness, hyperactivity, and social problems for boys, and developmental problems for boys and girls. (BC)

Considers the nature and developmental functions of physical activity play. Distinguishes three kinds of physical activity play with consecutive age peaks: rhythmic stereotypies, exercise play, and rough-and-tumble play. Considers gender differences and function in terms of immediate and deferred consequences in physical, cognitive, and social…

Observed functioning of same-sex triads of middle grade children during an intimate discussion, a cooperative puzzle task, a competitive game, and free play. Found that triads of girls were more intimate, exchanged more information, and were less aggressive than triads of boys. Girls and boys expressed similar attitudes toward triadic interaction,…

Confirms that frequent changes in primary schools deprive a boy of the opportunities to develop his self-concept to the same level as his stable peers. (Published by New Zealand Council for Educational Research, Education House, 178-182 Willis Street, Wellington, New Zealand.) (Author)

This longitudinal study followed the social development of 239 students (including 10 students with learning disabilities) from kindergarten through fifth grade. Repeated measurements of peer acceptance, reciprocal friendship, self-concept, and social skills found a substantial amount of instability in social competence components for the students…

This paper addresses common concerns of parents about the social development of gifted children. It stresses the importance of three key factors: (1) a responsive home environment where the child is respected; (2) opportunities to relate to other gifted children, especially during the early years, when self-concept is formed; and (3) opportunities…

The recognition of linguistic stereotypes based on gender and actual speech production were examined in 10 four-year-old and 10 six-year-old children. Eight linguistic forms were presented to the children in two different contexts in a story. After each sentence containing one of the forms, the children were asked whether a boy or girl had spoken,…

Because of the sparcity of research on infants' response to social events, especially different categories of people, infants between 8 and 18 months of age were introduced to five different social events: strange adult male and female, strange 4-year-old female, mother, and self. The infants' responses indicated that approach affects stimulus…