This study examined the relationship between moral reasoning and altruistic behavior in 120 boys, 4- to 11-years old. Subjects were administered Damon's Positive- Justice Interview, and were presented helping and sharing tasks under five behavioral conditions corresponding to Damon's justice levels. Findings supported cognitive- developmental…

When assessing the influence of empathy on prosocial motivation, analyzing empathy alone would lead to a misunderstanding. We must also assess other elements of the situation, such as the altruist's coping skills and situational constraints. In a similar manner empathy itself should be conceptualized as a process with many elements. One way to…

As part of an ongoing longitudinal study of early cognitive, affective, and social development in economically disadvantaged children, this investigation assessed the classroom behavior of 500 urban preschool children from Portland, Oregon, St. Louis, Missouri, and Trenton, New Jersey. The majority were black and enrolled in Head Start. Primary…

A social cognitive developmental model is presented integrating a Piagetian developmental model and Flavell's processing model, to describe three aspects of development. The utility of the model was tested in two studies. The results demonstrate that it is possible to increase children's social cognitive abilities instructionally. (Author/CTM)

The authors examined aspects of reliability and validity of the Goode-nough-Harris Draw-A-Person Test (DAP; D. B. Harris, 1963). The participants were 115 seven- to nine-year-old students attending regular or special education schools. Three judges, with a modest degree of training similar to that found among practicing clinicians, rated the…

Preschool-age children who are experiencing delays in physical, cognitive, communication, social, emotional, or adaptive development are often referred for a comprehensive assessment to make diagnostic determinations and to help develop appropriate interventions. Typically cognitive assessment has a key role in a comprehensive evaluation of a…

This research project evaluated and compared three educational programs of high, medium, and low structure in family day care settings for a period of 10 months, to determine their impact on cognitive and social development in 60 children aged 2 1/2 to 4 years. The high-structure program followed the Bereiter-Engelmann approach, the…

Research in Bahrain has demonstrated that children in educationally-oriented day care centers made significantly greater gains in cognitive, social, and emotional measures than children in care-oriented centers or at home. This study provided further data and addressed the question of whether there are differences in the daily learning experiences…

Describes three perspectives from which middle school teachers can plan laboratory activities for the purpose of improving students' scientific literacy. Perspectives are the learning cycle approach categorizing activities by stages of development; problem-solving skills approach categorizing activities according to the amount of teacher control;…