Paper presented at the Merrill-Palmer Conference on Research and Teaching of Infant Development, February 13-15, 1970. (JE)

A 2-year ethnographic study focused on social behaviors and gender differences among preschoolers engaging in science activities. Findings indicated that boys exhibited curiosity, spontaneity, extensive prior knowledge about nature, and tended toward aggressive, competitive, and sometimes violent behavior. Girls displayed a submissive countenance,…

Many human behaviors (e.g., cognitive, moral, and psychosocial) follow predictable developmental patterns or stages. The study reported examined the interpersonal development of 9- through 13-year-old children. A total of 282 children were administered the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation - Behavior Children (FIRO-BC) test to…

Compares number of classmates' photographs named by boys and girls on four different occasions in two kindergarten classrooms. Patterns of name learning were compared to examine sex differences in the speed and extent to which classmates' names are learned as well as differential selectivity in the sex of peer relationships. (Author/DST)

Narrative observations were made of kindergarten through fourth grade students' challenges of their peers' inappropriate behavior and of the responses made to the challenges. Approximately 90 hours of observation in 10 classrooms yielded 728 occasions in which an interchange began with one child challenging another. Three types of responses to…

This study investigates the interaction of three cognitive (functional, constructive, dramatic) and three social (solitary, parallel, group) dimensions of free play activities and their stability over time among boys and girls in a preschool setting. Subjects were 18 children attending a university preschool in Southwestern Ontario. Data for each…

Frequency of aggression in 5- to 8-year-old children was examined in relation to frequency of helping, comforting and sharing. Subjects (39 boys and 40 girls attending a summer day camp) were each observed for two hours and their aggressive and prosocial behaviors recorded. This study differed from previous investigations of this issue in two…

Second graders were more competitive than first graders, thus suggesting that maturational factors as well as school experience may result in greater competition among children. (Authors)

Explored the simultaneous sequential transition patterns of preschoolers' social play within classroom settings. Found that the proportion of social-play states did not vary during play episodes even when accounting for type of activity center, gender, and SES. Found a reciprocal relationship between parallel-aware and other social-play states…

The objectives of this study were (1) to observe and describe the social quality and the cognitive type of spontaneous play exhibited in a group of 20 children in a child care setting during two age periods, toddler (14-30 months) and preschool (30-48 months), and (2) to chart the developmental trends using a model of play complexity derived from…

Children living with the opposite sex parent seem to be less well adjusted than children living with the same sex parent. However, in both father custody and mother custody families, authoritative parenting by the custodial parent is positively linked with the child's competent social behavior. (Author/GC)

An investigation of peer relationships through longitudinal and cross-sectional studies of 62 children at age 2 1/2 and again at age 7 1/2. These studies specifically examined the differentiation and location of correlates of intensive and extensive peer relationships, sex differences in peer behavior, and the nature of peer-oriented behavior for…

This paper reports an 18-month investigation of the differential effects of social context (i.e., characteristics of people in the child's immediate environment) on infants' positive social behavior. The social behaviors of 14 children from 1 to 2-1/2 years of age were observed at home and in a laboratory playroom. The social context was varied…