This study examined research on children's block play, using content analysis to review 75 documents that focused on such play. Each document was coded by type (empirical study or nonempirical article) and by 15 topics and 76 subtopics grouped into 4 broad categories: (1) environment/ecology; (2) block play and the school curriculum; (3) block…

Effectance, defined as the child's independent, effective interaction with people and things, is studied through observation of the play of 36 preschool low income black children. The children were observed and filmed in semi-structured play sessions, primarily with family dolls, doll furniture, and small baby bottle. Instruments used were: (1)…

Observations of 469 children in nursery and day care classrooms revealed sex differences in the expected directions for aggression and dependency, but not for cooperation. Age differences varied by sex, social class, and type of behavior. Although social class effects were weakest, they were significant for aggression and cooperation. (Author/RL)

This volume is intended for use in college courses that combine educational psychology with child and adolescent psychology or human development. Section I, an introductory chapter presents selective groups of readings in the field of child developmental theory. Sections II through X each deal with one of the explanations of behavior that have…

Separation and greeting responses were examined in a longitudinal study of 26 infants, aged 15 to 54 weeks, observed at home. All instances of a person's leaving and entering the room during home visits were observed. The developmental trend--both onset and relative frequency--of each separation behavior was plotted at three-week intervals. The…

THE INTENT OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE THE PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR OF NURSERY SCHOOL CHILDREN, AND TO DETERMINE HOW THESE ARE RELATED TO BEHAVIOR PATTERNS AND ACHIEVEMENT IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. IN 1930-1938, THE BEHAVIORS OF 138 NURSERY SCHOOL CHILDREN WERE CHARACTERIZED BY THEIR TEACHERS IN TERMS OF 61 MOLAR VARIABLES. SUB-SAMPLES OF THIS GROUP…

Nonverbal behaviors in young children, including facial expressions, gesture, and body movement, were studied. Decision-making behaviors were viewed on a less intentional-intentional continuum ranging from beginning or pre-decision behavior which suggested little or no intent to middle or exploratory behaviors indicative of more intent to end…

The objective of this research paper is to present evidence showing that sex differences in aggression are universal, but that within limits the differences are also highly susceptible to experiential modification. Aggression is defined as any behavior that intends to hurt a person or a thing, physically or verbally. Investigation was conducted…

Six experiments were designed in order to compare the cooperative and competitive interaction of five-year-olds with that of older children up to age 10. For all experiments, children of the same age and same sex were matched in dyads. The children played various two-person games where they could obtain prizes in a variety of reward contingency…