Suggests that banning superhero play is not most effective means of dealing with children's exposure to inappropriate television. Maintains that valid data on possible increases in classroom superhero play are not available, superhero play may fulfill some developmental functions, and superhero play may provide an opportunity to teach about values…

Investigated the ability of young children to recognize themselves in delayed videotapes and recent photographs. Results suggested a significant developmental delay in young children's success on mark tests of self-recognition using delayed feedback as compared to live feedback, which may have important implications for characterizing the…

Investigated effects of depressed mothers' touching on their infants' behavior during still-face situation. Subjects were 48 mothers and their 3-month-old infants. Findings suggested that by providing touch stimulation for their infants, depressed mothers can increase infants' positive affect and compensate for negative effects often resulting…

Evaluates the effectiveness of a parenting intervention, namely The Positive Parenting Program, in reducing child behavior problems in the classroom. The levels of teacher reported conduct problems were significantly lower in the intervention schools. The results provide evidence that a parent training program can be effective in reducing the…

Asserts that associations between child and adolescent aggression and competence need to be understood according to basic aspects of group process, such as dominance, resource control, and regulation of retaliatory gestures between group members. Maintains that although moderately aggressive children may be given status and power within the peer…

This study examined relations of reactive versus proactive aggression to second-graders' anger after losing in a board game to a cheating confederate. Found that reactive aggression, but not proactive aggression, was positively related to skin conductance reactivity and observed angry nonverbal behaviors, both at an aggregated level and in terms…

Defines parental tolerance for misbehavior and provides reliability and validity data for two newly developed parent report measures of tolerance, the Child Rearing Inventory (CRI) and the Annoying Behavior Inventory (ABI). Data were collected from 262 primary caretakers of children ages 3 to 10. Results provide preliminary evidence of good…

Examines the communicative use of gestural and vocal modalities by normally developing Italian children during the transition from one- to two-word speech. Results indicate that gesture and gesture-word combinations during this transition is a robust feature of communicative development in a rich gestural culture. (37 references) (Author/CK)

Maternal instructional behavior at home and maternal ratings of children's temperament when children were 18 months old predicted mothers' problem-solving behaviors and children's performance on a cognitive problem-solving task at 30 months. Mothers' cognitive assistance to children during tasks at 18 and 30 months predicted children's cognitive…

Presents the theoretical background for the concept of mastery motivation and describes three characteristics of mastery motivation in toddlers: behavioral manifestations in multiple domains, developmental changes in those manifestations, and the influence of the socializing environment. Implications for assessment of individual differences and…

Used time-in and time-out to reduce undesirable behaviors exhibited by a child with severe language disabilities and by a child with a moderate mental disability combined with cerebral palsy. Unwanted behaviors were reduced dramatically shortly after the initiation of intervention. Follow-ups indicated a continued high rate of compliance. (RJM)

Child and caregiver conversations were studied within a highly redundant caretaking routine in a preschool setting with six children and three caregivers. Results suggest that the hypothesis of predictability and semantic contingency are of relevance in explaining how children learn to talk about the here-and-now. (SLD)

Describes a graduated reentry behavioral intervention to treat a child with school refusal. Following a multimethod evaluation, an initial graduated exposure to school combined with positive reinforcement for staying in school was chosen. The mother's influence prompted a change to rapid exposure to school, which proved effective. (RJM)

Examined early development of guilt in 106 children observed in laboratory paradigms in which they were led to believe they had damaged valuable objects during 2 sessions at 22, 33, and 45 months. Found support for a mediational model in which fearful temperament contributed to guilt proneness, which served to inhibit children's tendency to…

Contends that our materialistic culture has drawn in families and created pampered, spoiled, and unhappy children which parents, child care providers, and educators are left to deal with. Asserts that parents should not be tempted by "things" to make their children happy; rather they should provide time, attentiveness, hugs, and an…