This study examined changes in touch interaction among primary school children. The findings support the generalization that sexual taboos and racial discrimination are important in the reduction of touch from kindergarten to sixth grade. (JMB)

Examined association of individual differences in physical maturation with information-processing speed among 9- and 10-year olds. Found that early maturers were faster than late matureres, although this maturity effect was primarily the result of a significant effect for boys. The early maturers' faster processing times may be specific to boys or…

A 2-year study concludes that cognitive and developmental changes are less important determinants of children's television use than are family patterns and external variables affecting the opportunity to view. Subjects were 326 children within 3 months of their third or fifth birthdays at the beginning of the study and their families, most of…

A six-year study investigated relationships between individual development and: (1) changes in aggressive expression; (2) continuities of aggressive behavior in girls and boys; and (3) convergence between self-concepts and social attributions of others in ontogeny. Participants were 220 fourth grade students who were followed from childhood…

Males and females in grades 5-11 were asked to take a Thematic Apperception-like measure and to perform a series of tasks in competitive and non-competitive conditions. The results suggest that the motive to avoid success affects males and young females differently than it does older females. (JMB)

Results showed that by ninth or tenth grade, males begin to externalize conflict while females tend to deal with conflict internally. This differentiation of defense choice by sex is clearly established by the last two years of high school. (JMB)

Results suggest that adolescent values can be used to illuminate the facets of social competence in adolescence. Supports Ford's (1982) definition of social competence, which requires that explicit value judgments be made prior to defining social competence for any given group or setting. (RH)

Observational measures of monozygotic and dizygotic twins' reactions to simulations of distress in others were obtained when the twins were 14 and 20 months old. Components of concern for others increased with age. Girls scored higher than boys on most measures. There was modest evidence for heritability of empathy. (BC)

Korean, Chinese, and American children were given identical free-narrative interviews about life events and were shown a narrated story. Children were then interviewed about the story. Compared to others, Americans provided more references to specific past events, more descriptives, more references to internal states, and more mentions of…

Examined impact of shame and attributional style on adjustment following sexual abuse. Found that once adjustment at discovery was accounted for, shame and attribution style explained additional variation in adjustment 1 year later; abuse severity did not. Relations between abuse severity and subsequent depressive symptoms and self-esteem were…

Two experiments study the effects of age and sex on the ability of 3-1/2- to 6-year-old children to use nonverbal cues in identifying affiliative relationships. (SDH)

The results of this study indicated that both males and females were more stereotypic in describing an opposite-sex ideal person than a same-sex ideal person. Further, the results reflected an increased endorsement of socially desirable traits with increased age of the respondents (7th graders, 12th graders, and adults). (JMB)