A study investigated the effects of teacher nonverbal immediacy and strategy type on college students' likelihood of resisting teacher strategies for gaining compliance. Subjects were 629 undergraduate students randomly assigned to four separate conditions. They responded to four written scenarios that reflected the variables of teacher immediacy…

A Head Start education coordinator who supervised personnel associated with nine child care centers implemented a practicum intervention designed to provide a program of cognitive and affective learning experiences that would help teachers and parents nurture prosocial behaviors in preschool children. A total of 23 teachers and teacher aides, 222…

Literature on parent-toddler affiliative behavior which reflects the dynamic and reciprocal nature of parent-toddler interaction is reviewed in this paper, including an ecosystems perspective. Affiliative behaviors for parents and toddlers are defined with respect to the verbal and physical behaviors of both parent and toddler. Also, research…

Information provided in five major dimensions of the field of normal child development can be useful in increasing the understanding and effectiveness of those who work with preschool children with special needs. The especially relevant dimensions of the child development field are : (1) child development theories, including the theories of…

The purpose of this study was to determine if prosocial development could be positively influenced through a classroom intervention strategy using selected children's books and critical questioning techniques. In order to determine ability to share and to take different perspectives, 99 subjects from kindergarten and first grade classes were given…

The prosocial behavior of 52 preschool children was assessed using three different approaches: naturalistic observation, laboratory measures, and teacher ratings. During the naturalistic observation, an observer, either male or female, focused on one child at a time and recorded any examples of prosocial behavior demonstrated by the child as well…

The ability to empathize, or experience the emotions of another individual, has frequently been suggested as an important factor in the child's moral development and expression of prosocial behaviors. The present investigation sought to explore the relationship between the young child's empathy (as assessed by the Feshbach and Roe measure) and the…

Three experiments involving 345 children aged 5-6, 7-8, and 12-13 were performed to investigate the development of children's motives to help. Two experimental paradigms were developed to determine children's motives for helping behavior in a specific behavioral context. In the first paradigm, situations were created in which children had the…

This collection of papers represents an extension of analytic approaches and concepts from animal social ethology to the study of activities among stable groups of young children. A major emphasis of this research was on the description of organizational patterns in social behavior observed during periods of free play. The papers are: (1) "An…

This overview of studies from 1970 to 1975 sponsored by the American Broadcasting Company summarizes the research efforts of five years. In relatively concise but more than outline form, the studies, the findings to date, and directions pursued, and their implications for the broadcasting industry are presented. The 11 studies described dealt with…

Compared peer and adult social-initiation interventions designed to increase the positive social behavior of withdrawn, maltreated preschool children. Pre-post differences favored the peer treatment group in both treatment and generalization settings. School adjustment data supported these findings. There were no significant differences between…

This paper describes the preliminary results of a study of In Control, an anger management curriculum offered in the middle school of a therapeutic day school for children with severe emotional and behavioral disorders. Twenty students received the program, while 26 did not. Measures were number of anger logs students completed; institutional…

This book presents options for early childhood educators to consider as they make decisions concerning how best to foster the development of children's social competence. The book maintains that social competence is most likely to be acquired and strengthened in an atmosphere of warmest acceptance, respect, and deep faith in the child's capacity…

Research on the social and cognitive effects of grouping children in mixed-age versus same-age classrooms is gaining interest among practitioners and researchers. This investigation used a teacher rating scale to assess children's prosocial, aggressive, and friendship behaviors in mixed- and same-age classrooms. Confounding variables such as the…

This article identifies the components of school programs necessary for preventing physical or emotional "bullying." The need for a systems approach that places power with the "caring majority" and encourages the assertive use of prosocial interventions is stressed, along with the importance of training all school staff and non-bullying students.…