A study was carried out to test the hypothesis that mothers' speech to eight-month-olds differs as a function of maternal age. The subjects were 10 adolescent (mean age 16.5) and 10 older (mean age 24.5 years) mothers, all lower to middle class, first-time mothers, and Caucasian. Each mother and child pair was videotaped in a laboratory…

This study investigated whether physical self-awareness and age are significant predictors of interpersonal problem-solving ability in young children. A total of 84 preschool and kindergarten children were administered the Preschool Interpersonal Problem Solving Test and the Body Awareness (Part I) microcomputer program. A backward-stepwise…

Changes in mothers' strategies for eliciting verbal responses (EVR's) as a function of child age were investigated in this study. Seven mother-child dyads were observed in their homes when the children were 16, 21, 24, 30, and 34 months of age. Mother EVR's were coded according to syntactic form, type of cue for child response, and complexity of…

This paper (1) reviews the literature on the relationship between entrance age into kindergarten and academic achievement and (2) reports a study of the effect of entrance age on school success. Some experts say that age alone is the best indicator of success. Others say that chronological age, mental age, intelligence quotient, readiness,…

Family structures are changing because of the divorce rate. Three types of family structures can be identified: (1) intact families with children living with both natural parents; (2) single parent families with children living with one natural parent; and (3) blended families with children living with one natural parent and one step parent. A…

Following an outline of the theoretical approach and method of a study of components of sex role development among German children, results which concern ontogenetic changes in sex role stereotypes preferences are presented. In addition, interrelations of different components of sex role development and cognitive variables are analyzed. The…

Divergent thinking ability of 30 preschool children 4 years of age was assessed with a multiple-use task procedure that was modified to allow the subjects to demonstrate and verbalize their responses. Findings indicated that fluency scores were greater for demonstrated responses than for verbalized responses. The correlation between verbal fluency…

This study examined the relationship of the age and gender of the child, and the occupational status and gender of the parent, to the incidence and frequency of physical punishment and two levels of physical abuse of children, as measured by the minor, severe, and very severe violence indexes of the Conflict Tactics Scales. The subjects were…

An exploratory study was conducted to investigate the impact of health state on academic achievement, attrition, and quality of life satisfaction in a population of students at Bridgewater State College (Massachusetts). The study also explored the impact of specific health factors such as alienation, stress, and general physical/emotional health…

The report examines research on differences in the interpretations of discrepant and nondiscrepant messages by normal and emotionally disturbed children and reports on a study in which tone of voice and verbal content were discrepant in their affective meaning. A review of the research on discrepant messages, their delivery, interpretation, and…

The self-concept construct has been used to explain behaviors across a diverse array of situations, and the attainment of a positive self-concept has been posited as a desirable goal in developmental psychology. The purposes of this study were to examine age and sex effects in multiple dimensions of self-concept during the preadolescence to…

This research focused on the criminal justice system's handling of offenders against children, comparing it with the processing of offenders against all victims. Data were obtained from California, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Virginia for offenses against children and against all victims in the areas of kidnapping, sexual assault,…

Data were obtained from 183 Australia-area children between 5- and 8-years-old who were asked questions about what makes them happy, laugh, frightened, and scared. Children who were selected according to ethnicity, were of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, or European descent. Children were interviewed outside schools, on buses, at church, in…

Developmental differences in attitudes toward physically disabled individuals were measured with an instrument requiring spontaneous responding and utilizing a systematic scoring taxonomy. Additionally, relations between attitudes, moral judgment development, and belief in a just world were explored. Forty high school freshmen and 40 seniors as…

This study examined the effects of computer experience, age, and sex on attitudes toward computers among 142 high school language arts students, 107 community college mathematics students, and 105 students living in dormitories at a small liberal arts college. Computer attitudes (computer anxiety, computer confidence, and computer liking) were…