The purpose of the study was to examine the contributions of maternal encouragement of autonomy and maternal encouragement of connectedness to the prediction of children's social behaviors. A sample of children (N = 94), initially aged two years, and their mothers in China participated in the two-year longitudinal study. Child autonomy and…

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…

Theory and research on sex differences in adjustment focus largely on parental, societal, and biological influences. However, it also is important to consider how peers contribute to girls' and boys' development. This article provides a critical review of sex differences in several peer relationship processes, including behavioral and…

A method for direct observation study of early peer-social and object directed behavior in humans was designed to articulate with techniques widely used in studies of social behavior of infra-human primates. Occurrence of behavior fitting the definitions of each of six categories of object behavior and nine categories of social behavior is noted…

The ethological approach may become an important methodology in the developmental studies of children. The ethological approach takes into consideration the total world of the child, social and cognitive, when the child's development in that world is analyzed. Information can be obtained both from studies of other primates (for example, the study…

This document, presented at a symposium on violence and aggression in America, reports a longitudinal study of environmental influences in the development of aggressive behavior. Subjects were 875 third graders when originally assessed with a peer nomination technique in 1960. High, moderate, and low degrees of aggression were identified in the…

This selective bibliography contains references to 255 ERIC documents from "Research in Education (RIE)," and "Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE)," January 1970 - March 1974, related to social development and behavior in children. Topics include peer relationships, interpersonal competence, social attitudes, socialization and…

Investigates the manifestations and socialization processes of only and sibling children for improved implementing of the Chinese one-child family program planning. (HOD)

Examined the role of pretend play interactions in stimulating social and emotional competence by comparing the quality of pretend and nonpretend social play. Found that pretend play involved more complex, mutually responsive, and emotionally invested social interaction than nonpretend play. Expression of psychosocial issues within pretense was…

Explored interrelationships among day-care experience, temperament, and preschoolers' social behaviors in a peer play laboratory. Found that sex predicted both aggressive and prosocial behaviors, and daycare inhibited socialization for some children. Findings suggest that variables of temperament and day-care experience are important to consider…

This newsletter issue's feature describes difficulties the special child faces in acquiring social skills, and ways in which families and teachers can help. It outlines the socialization process beginning in early infancy, with eating habits being one of the first ways an infant is socialized into his or her culture. In early childhood, the…

This book seeks to explain how gender affects human development from infancy through adolescence and into adulthood. The book's introduction states the two theses of the book: first, gender differences appear primarily in group, or social, contexts; and second, gender differentiation can be understood only in a developmental context--the sexes…

Observational, exploratory and verbal learning, and verbal and imaginal processes of Pueblo Indian children were compared with those of non-Indian (Anglo and Chicano) children. Both Pueblo and non-Indian adults and children were observed, interviewed, and asked to carry out various tasks. The children attended either a Tanoan or a Keresan day…