This paper examines relevant research in comparative sociology, social anthropology with primitive societies, the behavior of primates, the hormonal control of social behavior, and contemporary social psychology. The reciprocal influence of social and biological factors on human societies is discussed. Moreover, the effect of attitudes on social…

Two studies, labeled A and B, were conducted (1) to investigate relationships between early infant and mother behaviors over situations and over time, (2) to explore relationships between maternal experiences and behavior, (3) to compare infant-mother pairs with and without interaction problems, and (4) to compare infant-mother pairs in which…

This study compared different strategies for computing sociometric status to determine the extent to which they agree. It is argued that, if the different strategies lead to significant differences in whether a child is classified as popular or unpopular, then the technique for computing social acceptance would be an important issue in…

This study examined effects of interpersonal and intrapersonal cognitive conflict tasks on 54 fifth and 18 seventh grade children's sociomoral rule awareness. Preconventional stage children 9 years of age were paired in same-sex dyads with 9- and 11-year-old children intermediate between preconventional and conventional stage reasoning. Six legal…

This study investigated the relationship between peer relations and help-seeking behavior. Seventy-four subjects, predominately black boys and girls, were drawn from the third and fifth grades. A roster-rating sociometric scale was used to obtain measures of children's perceived academic competence, desirability as a helper, and friendship status…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between young children's sociometric status and their communication patterns. A total of 43 middle class children enrolled in three preschool classes were asked to select three children they liked to play with (measure of social acceptance) and three they did not like to play with (measure…

A study of decision making processes and communication rules, in a corporate setting undergoing change as a result of organizational ineffectiveness, examined whether (1) decisions about formal communication reporting systems were linked to management assumptions about technical creativity/effectiveness, (2) assumptions about…

The Preschool Interest Inventory (PSII) has been developed to meet the need for an informal measure of the interests, play behaviors, and communication skills of young children between the ages of 2 and 6 years, particularly those exhibiting delays in language development. The first step in the Inventory process is the Caregiver Interview. In the…

The reliability and validity of the Inventory of Socially Supportive Behaviors (ISSB), a measure designed to tap behaviors pertaining to the provision of social support, were studied. Data were analyzed on a pre-test sample of 100 adults from a community-based, epidemiologic study of 1,008 black adults in Virginia. Findings are presented on the…

Reported in this paper are the findings of five meta-analyses assessing the relationships among children's interpersonal cognitive problem-solving (ICPS) skills, training, and behavioral adjustment. Five hypotheses were examined: (1) Adjusted children score higher on ICPS measures than do nonadjusted children; (2) Children trained in ICPS skills…

In a study that aimed to distinguish three levels of peer relationship and assess behavior at the three levels, a within-subjects design was used to investigate target preschool children's behavior toward their best friends, associates, and acquaintances in preschool classes. For 6 weeks, 22 target children in 7 classes were observed while they…

A study examined American college and university students' successful reentry, hypothesized to be influenced by their locus of control for affiliation, interpersonal uses for communication, and relational satisfaction. The subjects, 54 returned sojourners (i.e., students who had studied abroad), filled out a questionnaire to measure reentry shock…

Discussed are three issues in early childhood education that have been addressed extensively by the research literature, namely: (1) the risks of early academic pressures on young children; (2) the importance of play in early childhood education; and (3) interaction as the context for early learning. Several reasons that child development and…

A total of 20 infants 8 months of age were videotaped in dyads with each parent during 10 minutes of free play in a laboratory setting, to investigate reciprocal behavior among parents and their infants. Questionnaire data on parents' caretaking involvement were also collected. Findings indicated that mothers and fathers did not differ on the…

Self-disclosure is a process by which individuals permit themselves to be known by a select other and has been shown to be central to the development and maintenance of close relationships. Two studies were done to investigate whether people self-disclose for reasons that are related to a relationship with their listener and whether the intimacy…