Investigated young African American children's stories to determine how preschoolers portray themselves and what social processes accompany these narrative portrayals of self. Found that all subjects demonstrated remarkable objective understanding of self. Girls chose to talk about self in the context of past events, whereas boys chose to talk…

Examined children's social comparisons in conversational stories of past personal experiences as they related to development of concept of self. Found that comparisons of self with others increased with age. The 2-1/2-year olds used comparisons to convey similarities between self and others, whereas the 5-year-old subjects used social comparison…

Representations of 40 3- to 6-year-olds' perceptions of Oedipal conflicts among family members were assessed through a doll-play task and parental diaries. Complementary information on children's understanding of family roles and age relativity was evaluated independently. Oedipal behaviors appeared to increase and then decrease during this age…