Interviews were conducted with 721 students in fourth, sixth, and eighth grades to study whether children's perceived reality of television would affect the relationship between pro-social and anti-social television content and pro-social and anti-social behavior. Social behavior variables, a perceived reality index, and television exposure…

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…

Strategies for teaching social skills to students from diverse cultural groups are described. Teaching social skills accepted by the majority culture empowers students to function successfully in inclusive society. It is a proactive approach to managing behavior for culturally diverse adolescents with behavior deficits. To teach these skills…

Defines normalization and deviations in child development. Discusses the three different levels in the normalization process. Asserts that guiding the process of normalization should drive the practice of Montessori education. Concludes that whenever there are brief episodes of normalization, the true nature of the child shows itself. (JS)

This study analyzed the effect of (1) teacher priming and (2) the presence of novel gross motor play equipment on peer interaction. The subject was a 2 1/2-year-old boy who seldom interacted with his classmates in a toddler class. In the teacher priming condition, teachers verbally and nonverbally prompted the subject to interact with peers, while…

In order to investigate developmental trends in the sex differences of two dimensions of proxemic behavior, distance and shoulder orientation, 406 elementary and junior high school students were studied while interacting in same-sex and heterosexual pairs. After engaging in discussion for one minute, the pairs were asked to stop and hold still…

This paper presents a study designed to determine if providing information to primiparous mothers about the behavioral characteristics of their infants would affect reciprocity in mother-infant interaction. Thirty married, Caucasian, middle class mothers of healthy, normally carried and delivered 48-hour-old first-born infants served as subjects.…

This study, which focused on the social behavior of 4-year-old children toward peers and adults, investigated relationships of 54 children in California and Japan who were observed for 20 minutes while they were playing in preschool or day care. All their behaviors during the first 30 seconds were observed and written down during the second 30…

Networks have emerged as a major topic of interest in the behavioral sciences, and network concepts have recently been extended by community psychologists to higher education. To examine the effectiveness of peer networks within an introductory psychology class, networks of four students each met weekly in place of a lecture to review material and…

This study investigated the effect of labeling a girl as "patient" on the girl's subsequent self-imposed delay of gratification. Subjects were 78 girls from 5 1/2 to 9 years of age. In a delay task, each child's possession of accumulating candy rewards was made contingent upon her stopping further accumulation. Labeled girls waited longer than did…

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…

Psychosocial adaptations are sometimes affected by experiences that are ordinarily considered to be amusements. In 1974, a field study was undertaken by the Program on Psychosocial Adaptation and the Future to determine if it is possible to measure the effect of television on adult viewers. A sample of 260 couples, controlled for demographic…

This paper reviews evidence obtained from an analysis of the behavior of 3 to 11 year olds as observed in natural settings in the six culture study and preliminary findings from observing the behavior of mothers and children in a variety of settings in Kenya. The definition of "modern" includes at least three separate indices--the…

This research paper describes various aspects of the 12-day July Festival and period of preparation for it in one valley on the island of 'Ua Pou, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia. This case study is of a well-delineated cultural event which exemplifies many themes presented in "Patterns of Social Interaction and Concepts of…

Numerous studies have demonstrated predictive links between children's attachment relationships with parents and teachers and their success in the social contexts of child care and school. This body of research underlines the importance of children's ability to establish positive relationships with adults and to effectively use these adults to…