Knowledge about guns and the relation between play with guns and aggressivity was assessed in a group of 5-9 year old children. Each child was questioned about his gun play and his understanding of guns after he was shown a display of two toy and two real guns. This data was then correlated with a teacher rating of aggression for each child.…

Developmental models currently used by child behavioral toxicologists and teratologists are inadequate to address current issues in these fields. Both child behavioral teratology and toxicology scientifically study the impact of exposure to toxic agents on behavior development: teratology focuses on prenatal exposure and postnatal behavior…

This paper describes a program of research into children's understanding of psychological principles underlying social behavior. An initial study had indicated that at about 10 years of age children knew many of the basic principles of social behavior and the rules for social control. Two strategies were developed to explore these findings in…

Political science and its subfields cannot ignore the work being done in two areas of the life sciences: sociobiology and neurobiology. Current theories of political socialization which suggest that society molds the child will be increasingly affected by sociobiological theory which posits that children operate as independent actors in the…

The literature on children's acquisition of sex-typed knowledge, preference, and behavior is reviewed, and a matrix of sex-typing constructs and sex-typed content areas is offered. Two major themes are discussed. The first theme concerns the importance of activities, interests, and peer associations in the early acquisition of sex-typing…

This paper discusses infant attachment, which it defines as a long-lasting emotional bond revealed when a child under stress seeks out and tries to stay close to a specific figure. The paper addresses: (1) What is attachment? Who are the pioneers in attachment theory?; (2) How do we notice attachment in action?; (3) Is attachment the only…

This outline presents a program designed to teach children "how" to think, not what to think--so as to help them solve typical interpersonal problems with peers and adults. Through games, stories, puppets, illustrations, and role plays, children learn a pre-problem solving vocabulary, feeling word concepts, and ways to arrive at solutions to…

This report contains the proceedings of a conference convened to build on the work of those pioneering better teaching and learning techniques for boys. Teachers at the conference were asked to present their schools' experiences in a case study format to maximize the learning and discussion among participants. The report begins with a schedule of…