Describes factor analysis of preschool children's play behavior, as measured by the Smilansky-Parten play matrix. Varimax rotation solution suggests three factors: Dramatic-Constructive Play, Solitary Behavior, and Functional-Constructive Play. Study suggests that these factors represent constructs of preschoolers' play. (Author/RWB)

Behavioral observations have the advantages of being direct, tangible, and informative as to the contextual determinants of behavior. Considerable evidence exists that a three-dimensional structure gives meaning to many child behaviors in a variety of life settings. Three bipolar dimensions constitute this framework: introversion vs. extroversion,…

Three studies were conducted in an initial attempt to investigate the psychological importance of trivial everyday frustrations encountered by preschool children. Study 1 analyzed the frequency and quality of experiences that could be interpreted as interfering in some way with children's natural pursuit of their desires. In a nursery school…

The generalization of "trained" creativity in easel painting to untrained creativity in blockbuilding was examined in two preschool boys. Verbal reinforcement of every different form painted in a picture increased both the number of different forms per picture and new forms (those appearing for the first time in the total output of…

An observational account of one pattern of organization and control, as observed in a Headstart preschool program. (DM)

Human development from about ages 2 to 5 is presented in terms of the history of a child conceptualized in terms of stimulus and response functions and his interactions in current situations which consist of organismic, physical, and social conditions. The concepts describing the changes that occur during this developmental period, such as…

Partial and methodologically questionable replications of the Luria experiments on the child's verbal regulation of his motor behavior have led to results and conclusions contradictory to Luria's findings. An error in the methodology of two of these replications is discussed as the reason for a new investigation of Luria's hypothesis. Several…

Four papers discuss the Harvard Preschool Project whose goal is to learn how to structure the experiences of the first six years of life to encourage maximal development of human competence. To determine what competence at age 6 is, a group of 13 highly competent 6-year-olds of mixed residence, class, and ethnicity were compared to a like group of…

The purpose of this investigation was to ascertain whether the age specific expectations of Piaget's theory (1965) regarding the development of moral judgment in children from four to seven years of age were modifiable through use of a certain adaptation of Bandura and McDonald's imitative learning paradigm which had utilized adult models. In this…