Studies the reactions of 24 infants 18 to 24 months of age to simulated and naturally occurring incidents of distress in others. Additionally investigates the relationship between self-recognition and infants' prosocial or altruistic responses to others in distress. Results provide strong evidence for infants' tendencies to help and comfort.…

Investigates preschool children's behavioral responses to linguistic cues regarding ownership of objects, examining the effects of such cues on children's physical or verbal attempts to take an object in another's possession, and on verbalization of claims of ownership. (RH)

Argues that in order to understand how the capacity for altruism develops and comes under self-control it is necessary first to understand the nature and development of the self-control. (MP)

A total of 42 middle-income kindergarten and sixth-grade children were exposed to a person modeling generosity, selfishness, or neither characteristic. As expected, younger children patterned their behaviors more on the model's example than did older children. (MP)

Examined whether children's goals in peer conflict situations were related to the strategies they proposed for resolving conflicts, and how these strategies were related to acceptance by peers. Subjects were 142 fourth through sixth graders. Found that peer acceptance was negatively related to hostile/coercive strategies for girls, and negatively…

Responses of day care and home care children to an adult dropping items, banging her knee, giving the children opportunity to leave the larger of two prizes for a peer, and asking for donation to sick children were compared. Prosocial reasoning in these 47- to 75-month-old children was assessed via their responses to stories in which help was…

Compared the prosocial moral reasoning of Israeli city, kibbutz, and American third graders. Children responded to four moral dilemmas about helping situations. Although there were considerable similarities in reasoning across the three groups, there were also clear differences. (Author/BB)

Kindergarten and fourth-grade children participated in a study designed to assess the effects of number of models and type of behavior modeled on developmental differences of children's subsequent generosity. As predicted, generosity of younger children was affected by behavior of model(s) to a greater extent than was that of older children.…

Research relevant to the development of internal control of altruism is reviewed, and the need for integrating the various approaches to the study of altruism into one model is noted. (MP)

Children's restrictive disclosure to friends, which is a facet of intimate friendship, was investigated. It was found that children in kindergarten, second, and fourth grade showed restrictive disclosure to friends, and that greater disclosure of positive personal information to friends than to nonfriends was exhibited with age. (PCB)

Naturalistic observations were made of children in grades one through six on school playgrounds. Observers coded interactive behaviors, affective valence, and play states. Aggressive children displayed more verbal and physical aggression, antisocial behaviors, and interaction than did nonaggressive children. Peers made similar initiations to the…

Examined the relationship between three behaviors (physical aggression, relational aggression, and prosocial behaviors) and three social outcomes (peer rejection, acceptance, and reciprocal friendships) in 131 third-graders and 135 sixth-graders. Found that among girls, but not boys, relational aggression explained variance in rejection beyond…

Investigated the associations made by fifth- and sixth-grade children and their closest age siblings between siblings' affective relationship quality and conflict strategies. Found that focal siblings who engaged in more destructive conflicts reported greater negativism in their relationships, frequency of conflict was positively correlated with…

Examines the naturally occurring social interactions of five- to eight-year-old children at a summer day camp. Children were observed in their routine camp activities, which took place in a variety of settings: some highly structured and adult-centered, some less highly regulated. (Author/MP)