Examined whether activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical system, as indexed by average home afternoon levels of cortisol in children age 4.5 years, would predict socioemotional adjustment measured a year and a half later. Found that higher cortisol levels were associated with withdrawal-type behaviors of internalizing and social…

Examined relations between social-cognitive skills, aggression, and social competence using teacher questionnaire and tabletop tasks with preschool and kindergarten children. Found that generation of forceful solutions in a traditional social-problem solving task and performance on the false belief tasks were significantly related to social…

Three studies were conducted in an initial attempt to investigate the psychological importance of trivial everyday frustrations encountered by preschool children. Study 1 analyzed the frequency and quality of experiences that could be interpreted as interfering in some way with children's natural pursuit of their desires. In a nursery school…

This paper presents a summary of behavior concepts that together provide the outline of a possible developmental theory of prosocial motivation. These concepts, based on human role-taking capacities, include empathic distress, sympathetic distress, personal guilt, and existential guild. At first, a child cannot discriminate between himself and…

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…

The main question explored in this article is whether behavior analysts are more interested in examining the variables of which socially important behaviors are a function, or in improving those behaviors. It is concluded that improvement is currently more important to researchers than analysis. (Author/AM)

This paper examines whether a morally developed person is one who feels strongly about moral issues, or understands moral issues, or acts ethically when dealing with other people. It argues that the meaning of the term "moral" is concerned with how people ought to treat each other and that studies in morality should deal with the actions…

Studies that show the effectiveness of self-management have been conducted with young children who have behavior problems, children with developmental delays, children at-risk, and children with identified disabilities. This "What Works Brief" presents strategies for teaching young children to manage their own behavior. It uses a simple format…

Studies the effectiveness of a token economy on specific inappropriate social behaviors of three first grade students. Suggests that token economy systems can be very effective in decreasing disruptive behaviors of primary aged students. (MG)

Ways to promote generalization of social skills of students with learning disabilities (LD) are considered. Approaches include: sequential modification, introducing naturally maintaining contingencies, training sufficient exemplars, training across settings, training loosely, using indiscriminable contingencies, programming common stimuli, and…

Two children with autism, aged 10, were exposed to peer-implemented pivotal response training (PRT). Typical peers implemented PRT strategies by modeling, role playing, and didactic instruction. Both children with autism maintained prolonged interactions with the peer, initiated play and conversations, and increased engagement in language and…

The Adlerian concept of behavior being purposeful and socially embedded offers a contextual backdrop for understanding teens. This article offers an overview of the Dreikurs scheme, its applicability to understanding teen behavior, and, through a case study, the method to be used to speculate about the goal and purpose that undergrid a teenager's…

During recent years, there has been increased interest in the relationship between neighborhood environments and social deviancy. This article reports on the development of an index of neighborhoods, which is built upon community features of social and physical incivilities (Wandersman & Nation, 1998). Factor structure and internal consistency…

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…

Describes research on the training of children to acquire prosocial behavior, especially through television viewing. Published by the Journal of the American Speech and Hearing Association, The Interstate Printers and Publishers, Inc., Danville, Ill., (Subscription: $28.00; $31.00 Foreign; single copy $2.50; $2.75 Foreign). (MH)