Teaching social behaviors and other pro-social skills is an important component of intervention for individuals diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Today, there are several procedures which are being implemented clinically and evaluated empirically to improve the overall social behaviors of individuals diagnosed with ASD. Two of…

This study investigates the diversity of early prosocial behavior by examining the ability of ninety-five 2- to 4-year-olds to provide aid to an adult experimenter displaying instrumental need, emotional distress, and material desire. Children provided appropriate aid in response to each of these cues with high consistency over multiple trials. In…

To answer the question of whether teaching social and emotional skills to foster social-emotional development can help schools extend their role beyond the transfer of knowledge, the authors conducted a meta-analytical review of 75 recently published studies that reported the effects of universal, school-based social, emotional, and/or behavioral…

The purpose of this study was to test direct, additive, and mediation models involving family, neighborhood, and peer factors in relation to emerging antisocial behavior and social skills. Neighborhood danger, maternal depressive symptoms, and supportive parenting were assessed in early childhood. Peer group acceptance was measured in middle…

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…

Discusses the development of aggression in young children, methods for dealing with it and ways of helping children acquire more prosocial behaviors. (Author/SB)

Studied the effect of short-term exposure to neutral, prosocial, and antisocial toys on the prosocial and antisocial behavior of preschool children. Found that prosocial toys elicited prosocial behavior and antisocial toys stimulated antisocial behavior. In response to both prosocial and antisocial toys, boys displayed more physical than verbal…

Emotional control has traditionally been emphasized in Chinese culture. The primary purpose of the study was to examine the relevance of early affect to social functioning in Chinese children. A sample of children, initially at two years of age, and their mothers in the People's Republic of China participated in this two-year longitudinal study.…

Relationships between parental report of children's peer play at home and indicators of children's school readiness were examined. Behavior ratings and observational data were collected for preschool children from an urban Head Start program. Play competencies exhibited in the home environment were significantly associated with prosocial behavior…

Examines changes in patterns of prosocial motivation between grades 2 and 12 in samples from West Germany, Poland, Italy, and the United States. Uses a questionnaire to assess within-subject preference for 5 prosocial motives: hedonism, self-interest, conformity, task orientation, and other-orientation. (MW)

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…

The goal of the project presented in the practicum was to help parents develop competencies in interacting with their children in ways which foster self esteem and cooperative behavior. The objectives of the practicum included, first, increasing parents' knowledge of: (1) the factors leading to high self esteem and cooperative behavior; (2) the…

The paper defines and discusses various social learning theories. Central to most theories of how an individual acquires socially acceptable behaviors are the processes of imitation, or observational learning, and identification, or modeling. The effectiveness of each process is noted. (SB)