Piaget (1962) asserted that children stop engaging in pretend play when they enter the concrete operational stage because they become able to accommodate reality and no longer need to assimilate it to their wishes. Consistent also with the views of Vygotsky, discussion of pretend play in developmental psychology is typically confined to early…

Duncan et al. (2007) presented a new methodology for identifying kindergarten readiness factors and quantifying their importance by determining which of children's developing skills measured around kindergarten entrance would predict later reading and math achievement. The main objectives of this paper are threefold: (a) provide new empirical…

The present paper was written under the auspices of the interdisciplinary research group "Educational Processes, Competence Development, and Selection Decisions at Preschool and Primary School Age (BiKS)" (FOR 543), funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The surveys were conceptualised and supervised as part of the developmental…

The authors show how structural equation modeling can be applied to analyze change in longitudinal multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) studies. For this purpose, an extension of latent difference models (McArdle, 1988; Steyer, Eid, & Schwenkmezger, 1997) to multiple constructs and multiple methods is presented. The model allows investigators to separate…

Previous studies of childhood fear, worry, and ritualistic behaviour have been limited by restricted age ranges, narrow ranges of anxiety phenomena, non-comparable methodologies, and assessment of typical behaviour within a pathological context. Content and intensity of fear, worry, and ritualistic behaviour, and associations among these…

We examined associations between basal respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) in conjunction with RSA regulation with the hypothesis that their interaction would explain unique variability in children's prospective adjustment 2 years later. Participants were 176 children (98 girls; 78 boys) in middle childhood. RSA regulation was assessed through…

As a group, children with hearing loss demonstrate delays in language development relative to their peers with normal hearing. Early intervention has a profound impact on language outcomes in children with hearing loss. Data examining the relationship between degree of hearing loss and language outcomes are variable. Two approaches are used in the…

The current study is a longitudinal investigation of unobserved heterogeneity in the developmental trajectories of problem behaviors among children who have experienced maltreatment. The goal of this study is to inform effective intervention plans with respect to behavior problems of maltreated children by examining the different trajectories of…

Reports an error in "Effect of anxiety reduction on children's school performance and social adjustment" by Jeffrey Wood (Developmental Psychology, 2006[Mar], Vol 42[2], 345-349). The byline and author note should have included the author's middle initial, J. Thus, the byline and author note should refer to "Jeffrey J. Wood." The correction is…

Results of this study of three age groups (5-7, 9-10, and 14-15 years) indicate that there are both individual and developmental differences in cognitive strategy use and that use of strategy is predictable across age levels by personality factors. (Author/SJL)

Examined methodological issues related to the detection and evaluation of behavioral toxicity in infants and children, focusing on the selection of appropriate variables and strategies to control for confounding, sampling strategies and the problem of "overcontrol" for confounding; and the evaluation of dose-response relations and…

Although child or teenage drug use is an individual behavior, it is embedded in a sociocultural context that strongly determines its character and manifestations. Examines drug use and abuse from a multidimensional perspective that includes aspects of the stimulus, organism, response, and consequences. Discusses epidemiology, etiology, prevention,…

Despite a strong and persistent interest in fathers and concern about their absence in children's lives, there is little information on the complex ways fathers make contributions to their families and children. Six major topic areas were covered by panels of experts during the conference: (1) economic, sociological, psychological, and…