Describes the developmental progression from innate preferences to strong favorites to thoughtful choices in children from infancy through preschool and kindergarten. Offers suggestions at each age level for helping children develop, explore, and even temper their likes and dislikes. (HTH)

A naturalistic home study delineated earlier and later walking groups. Age-held constant analyses indicated that earlier walkers and their mothers generally showed a rise of positive exchanges as well as a testing of wills across the transition to walking. Changes were less clear for the later walkers, and differences were also observed between…

Tested transtheoretical model of change positing stages through which smokers move as they successfully change their smoking habit. Subjects in precontemplation (n=166), contemplation (n=794), and preparation (n=506) stages were compared on smoking history, 10 processes of change, pretest self-efficacy, decisional balance, and one- and six-month…

Purpose - This paper aims to explore the policy background, educational rationale, developmental stages, and the introduction and piloting of a foundation degree FD. Design/methodology/approach - The approach is a description and discussion. The paper draws together, for the first time, the main policy documents and reviews and relates these to…

In addition to his pioneering studies on prenatal development of social responses in the mallard, Gilbert Gottlieb made important theoretical contributions to the study of the evolution of behavior. This tribute to Gottlieb presents his early view that prenatal behavioral development is the product of evolution and his revision of this view in his…

Emerging adulthood is a period in which profound role changes take place across a number of life domains including finance, romance, and residence. On the basis of dynamic systems theory, change in one domain should be related to change in another domain, because the concept of development according to this approach is a relational one. To…

Children's thinking is highly variable at every level of analysis, from neural and associative levels to the level of strategies, theories, and other aspects of high-level cognition. This variability exists within people as well as between them; individual children often rely on different strategies or representations on closely related problems…

Neuroconstructivism is a theoretical framework focusing on the construction of representations in the developing brain. Cognitive development is explained as emerging from the experience-dependent development of neural structures supporting mental representations. Neural development occurs in the context of multiple interacting constraints acting…

Research has established that academic intrinsic motivation, enjoyment of school learning without receipt of external rewards, significantly declines across childhood through adolescence. Math intrinsic motivation evidences the most severe decline compared with other subject areas. This study addresses this developmental decline in math intrinsic…

Attention has been focused for decades on the need to improve high school students' preparation for the workplace. Employers report that nearly half of their entry-level employees are inadequately prepared and lack basic communication and critical thinking skills as well as a work ethic. Although a postsecondary credential is considered necessary…

Using cross-sectional data from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (N = 1,231), this study examines the relationship between grandchildren and their grandparents across early adulthood. Age is used as a proxy for change during the grandchild's life course and the influence of major life course characteristics is examined. Results indicate that…

Undermanaged procedural pain has been shown to have short and long term effects on children. While significant progress regarding empirically supported treatments has been made, theoretical bases for the development and management of procedural pain are lacking. This paper examines the role of social learning theory in our current understanding of…

Russian youth has in recent years been increasingly involved in crime, narcotics addiction, and alcoholism, possibly due to a failure of socialization in childhood. Researchers are seeking the origins of this phenomenon and searching for ways to combat it through rehabilitation of juvenile offenders. The essential nature of social and pedagogical…

Instructors of elementary science methods classes have long lamented the significant difficulties their students exhibit when trying to understand the many complexities of teaching science. As noted by some researchers and practicing teachers, preservice teachers often fail to developmentally function at desired levels with respect to…

This study assessed the unique effects of racial identity and self-esteem on 259 African American adolescents' depressive and anxiety symptoms as they transitioned from the 7th to 8th grades (ages 12-14). Racial identity and self-esteem were strongly correlated with each other for males but not for females. For both males and females, an increase…