This paper describes a study that examined parents' beliefs about children's number skill development. Twenty-seven parents of 4- and 5-year-olds were interviewed about number tasks that could be solved by children between the ages of 4 and 7 years. In addition, parents were asked a series of open-ended questions about how they would answer a…

Whether maternal touching of the infant while speaking to him or her about a stranger facilitates or interferes with social referencing is investigated in this study. Thirty-three 10-month-olds received positive or neutral nonverbal messages when their mothers spoke to them about a stranger. Infants whose mothers did not touch them while speaking…

Regulated expressiveness (the modification of expressive behavior) is a complex phenomenon. Accomplished basically in four ways, regulated expressiveness has developmental dimensions, motivational precursors, and cognitive antecedents, including perspective-taking ability and the growth of self-awareness. Ability to regulate expressiveness appears…

The authors found very significant relationship between pregnant unmarried girls' attitudes and plans and that of their mothers. Because of this the authors recommend concrete community support to these mothers in their efforts to help their daughters as well as to involve them actively in prenatal programs for their daughters. (SE)

This study presents data from a study of effects of fathers' alcohol dependence on family functioning and child development. Alcoholic families were recruited from the population of males who had been convicted for driving while impaired or driving under the influence of alcohol, who lived in an intact family, and who had a biological son between…

A study was conducted to investigate the factors related to freshman student enrollment in the College of Agriculture and Home Economics at New Mexico State University. A Likert-type survey instrument was developed and administered to a random sample of 106 freshman students enrolled in the college during the 1989 spring semester, excluding those…

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…

Research suggests that intuitive parental didactics related to infants' production of vocal sounds, vocal imitation, and vocal play are a prerequisite of human language acquisition. Microanalyses of videorecords of parent-infant interactions have revealed intuitive forms of parental behaviors that parents carry out unknowingly and can hardly…

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data show that children in grades 4, 8, and 11 whose mothers work outside the home read better than children whose mothers do not work outside the home--but the difference is small. This conclusion represents one segment of the findings of the 1983-84 National Assessment, which focused on reading…

A study conducted in 1986 found that parents were the critical influence on the religious beliefs and commitment of their adolescent sons and daughters, while the adolescent's peers seemed to have no significant effect. In addition, the content of the beliefs did not seem to act as a strong reinforcer. Thirty-two of the 390 subjects who…

The hypothesis that different communication patterns would be found in South African families with children of high and low social competence was tested on a sample of 36 white families with 5-year-old preschool children. The communication patterns of 18 families with children of high social competence, as assessed by preschool teachers, were…

This paper addresses the issue of how children should be reared from birth to become members of a faith community. The paper begins by seeking answers in psychological theories and research studies of Piaget, Bandura and Sears, Mahler, and Erikson. It is asserted that interactions with primary caregivers are the essential ingredients by means of…

Symbolic interactionists have proposed that one's self-concept is primarily affected by interactions with others to the extent and in the way one perceives those interactions. According to this perspective, an individual's global self-esteem is largely the result of subjective "reflected appraisals" of others' evaluations of him rather…

The research focused on the exploration of gender differences in interaction with infant siblings in the home and the maternal socialization of baby care in girls as opposed to boys. Observations were made of 20 families, each with 2 parents, an infant under the age of 12 months, and an older child between the ages of 46 and 102 months. Five…

From Erikson's (1968) psychosocial criteria of crisis and commitment, Marcia (1964) derived four ego identity statuses, i.e., achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, and diffusion. To explore antecedents of Erikson's ego identity construct, 130 college females completed a modified identity status interview, and questionnaires designed to elicit…