A review of play in nonhuman animals indicates that play increases with phylogenetic status, is important for mature social development in more advanced species, reflects intentional activity, and is essential for the development of tool-using strategies. (Author)

Found that increasing generation level was associated with decreasing frequency of altruism/group-enhancenment and equality choices and increasing frequency of rivalry/superiority choices, supporting an acculturation to the majority rather than acculturation to the barrio model. (Author/AM)

A description of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," a program that offers a content and methodology to teach young children prosocial behavior. (Author)

Study examined peer sensitivity to (1) differences in the social behaviors of hyperactive and normal comparison peers, and (2) medication-related behavioral differences. Discussion focused on children's detection of treatment-related differences in social behaviors of peers, as well as on the imperfect relation between social behavior and social…

Explores the potential usefulness of R.F. Bales' systematic method for the multiple level observation of groups (SYMLOG) by testing the predictive capability of the three SYMLOG dimensions and the amount of member dispersion on each dimension with the amounts of conflict, reported satisfaction, styles of conflict management, and quality of…

Reports two studies of 3- to 12-year-old children's social decision making which were designed to demonstrate that previously shown age differences may result from development of the requisite information-processing capabilities and social-situational factors. Implications for the cognitive developmental influence upon social behavior are…

Investigates the differences in social knowledge said to develop in high and low self-monitors. Reveals some support for the self-oriented representations of low self-monitors and the other-oriented representations of high self-monitors, but generally shows that self-in-situation information is more readily accessible for both high and low…

Develops a system for analyzing the management of multiple communicative goals in interpersonal arguments that classifies messages in terms of (1) communicative role of the message producer, (2) position taken toward the issue on the floor, (3) explicitness with which conflict is acknowledged, and (4) manner in which subsidiary communicative goals…

Because academic success alone does not ensure success in society, schools need to teach fundamental social skills, such as following instructions, accepting criticism or a consequence, accepting "no" for an answer, disagreeing appropriately, greeting someone, making a request, and getting the teacher's attention. Proper social behavior is not…

Compared stage acting items of Snyder's Self-monitoring Scale with face-valid measure of social acting devised to measure ability to regulate one's self-presentation in everyday social situations. Results from 224 college students showed that the two measures had little in common, pointing to necessity of distinguishing between contingent and…

The study investigated the influence of spatial density on four 3- and 4-year-old children's social behavior during freeplay periods. Group data analyses indicated that the restricted freeplay setting resulted in a greater percentage of intervals with child-child socially directed behavior. (Author/DB)

Psychosocial functioning of adult epileptic outpatients as assessed by the Washington Psychosocial Seizure Inventory (WPSI) was compared to that of adult multiple sclerosis (MS) outpatients and normal subjects. When only valid WPSI profiles were considered, the only significant finding was that the epilepsy group and the MS group had more…

Examines children's conceptions of parental authority. A total of 120 children were interviewed and asked to evaluate social events (stealing, family chores, friendship choice) pertaining to restraint of behavior and maintenance of parental rule systems. Results suggest that children's notions of authority are heterogeneous with respect to the…

Observes early social interactions in free play settings of Israeli kibbutz and urban preschool children. Kibbutz preschoolers displayed some aspects of more advanced group functioning (e.g., coordinated play) but also more behaviors reflecting affective distancing (e.g., solitary play, reduced affective expression, verbal aggression). (Author/NH)

In a survey of 508 undergraduates, males reported significantly lower levels of emotional intimacy in same-sex friendship than females. Masculinity, defined in terms of "instrumental" qualities, had little effect on the degree of reported intimacy, while femininity, defined in terms of "expressive" qualities, was positively…