Discrepancies in first- (M = 14.97 years, SD = 1.82) and second-born adolescents' (M = 12.20 years, SD = 1.90 years) and their parents' perceptions of parental authority legitimacy (PAL) were examined in a longitudinal sample of 145 predominantly White, middle-class, U.S. families. Utilizing a growth curve modeling approach, changes in the…

Using longitudinal data from the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development, the authors assessed 1,977 adolescents across Grades 5 to 8 to determine if there were distinctive developmental paths for behavioral and emotional school engagement; if these paths varied in relation to sex, race/ethnicity, and family socioeconomic status (SES); and whether…

Three studies compared beliefs about natural and late blooming positive traits with those acquired through personal effort, extrinsic rewards or medicine. Young children (5-6 years), older children (8-13 years), and adults all showed a strong bias for natural and late blooming traits over acquired traits. All age groups, except 8- to 10-year-olds,…

Analyzing problem-behavior trajectories can be difficult. The data are generally categorical and often quite skewed, violating distributional assumptions of standard normal-theory statistical models. In this article, the authors present several currently available modeling options, all of which make appropriate distributional assumptions for the…

The effects of delay of information feedback interval (0 or 7 seconds), postinformation feedback interval (1, 8, or 15 seconds), difficulty (one or three variable irrelevant dimensions), and presence or absence of a tractor in the postinformation feedback interval were investigated with 240 junior high school children in a modified…

Examines the relationship between the level of moral development, (as conceptualized by Piaget), and children's appreciation of humor. (DP)

Ratings of pattern goodness and of pattern preference were made by 96 subjects for each of 50 stimulus patterns of known pattern uncertainty. Equal numbers of male and female subjects were used in each of four age groups (9-10), (13-14), (5817-18), (20-21). Pattern preference was similar for all age groups, with the least uncertain patterns…

Male and female students from grades 1, 3, 6, 8, and college watched a videotaped scene of a young female actress breaking a chair. Subjects were then asked to make attributions of causality and "naughtiness" to the chair breaker. Results were consistent with predictions based on Heider's theory of social attribution. (Author/JMB)

The ability of 4th, 6th, and 8th graders to use structures inherent in a list of permuted symbols, defined in terms of Piagetian theory, was investigated. Age differences were noted. Results supported the theoretical notion that environmental event structure facilitates learning. (ST)

Investigates the dimensions junior high school students use to conceptualize school competence. Verbatim descriptive statements regarding perceptions of school competence were obtained from junior high school students. A sociometric questionnaire using these statements was administered to another 203 students. Factor-analytic procedures were used…

Two experiments were conducted to examine developmental changes from middle childhood to adolescence in metaretrieval plans offered to solve different retrieval problems. (Author/JMB)

The sighting dominance and acuity of second-, fourth-, and seventh-grade children, and of college students were measured. Results showed a right versus left sighting dominance occurring in a ratio of 2:1 at each age. Patterns of acuity dominance also remained constant across grades. (Author/JMB)

This study examined adolescents' self-ratings of the timing of puberty and the relation of these self-ratings to an objective measure of pubertal timing, pubertal status, and feelings about pubertal timing. Results suggest that actual and perceived timing are overlapping but distinct timing measures that reflect different biological and…