The significance of adolescent literature has been judged on the basis of the developmental tasks encountered by the main character. One writer has identified eight developmental tasks that teenagers must undertake as they move toward adulthood: discovering one's sex role in our culture, developing relationships with peers, achieving an easy…

A range of language use model is proposed as an alternative conceptual framework to a stage model of egocentric speech. The range of language use model is proposed to clarify the meaning of the term egocentric speech, to examine the validity of stage assumptions, and to explain the existence of contextual variation in the form of children's…

This paper illustrates the relevance and utility of non-parametric statistical tests, such as the Kolmogorov-Smirnov two sample test, for analysis of developmental phenomena. This statistic tests the null hypothesis that two samples have been drawn from the same population by comparing their whole distributions, rather than specific parameters and…

The aim of this study was to document the development of illness and health causality concepts in young hospitalized children (ages 4-10 years) whose stage of cognitive development may limit understanding of illness and treatment. It was hypothesized that distinct qualitative levels would characterize children's conceptions of illness and that…

Styles of representing regular three-dimensional figures were studied in a sample of 80 Jamaican boys and girls from 7 to 15 years old. (BD)

Demonstrates that conservation of amount does not always precede conservation of weight. Subjects were 60 six-year-old children. (BD)

Explores the extent of dialectical operations within the decision making processes of older adults. (BD)

The author examines three phenomena--the inconclusiveness about the nature of intelligence and how to deal with it, the supplanting of learning theory by behavior modification, and the rise of human technology--and argues that a confluence of ethological theory applied in the human context may provide a coherent theoretical picture of…

Attempts to show that many early adolescent behaviors which adults attribute to bad motives, derive instead from intellectual immaturity as described by Piaget. The apparent hypocrisy of adolescents is often a failure to distinguish between the expression of an ideal and its pragmatic realization. Piaget helps shift a whole new set of behaviors…

Examines the developmental sequence of skills involved in the understanding of relational concepts and in the development of conservation. Fifty kindergarten children participated in the study. (BD/BR)

Suggests that theoretical expositions of adolescence have completely ignored the differential effects of industrialization on males and females and have utilized a single explanation for both sexes. (Author/AM)

Indicates that the evidence in support of an identity-equivalence sequence is much weaker than Brainerd and Hooper claimed. Suggests that for most children, identity and equivalence appear to be contemporaneous developmental achievements. Some general methodological and theoretical issues raised by the identity-equivalence studies are discussed.…

Attempts to show one way in which cognitive theories can be used to draw implications about development during adolescence. Epstein's theory of self-concept (1973) is presented along with a discussion of Piaget's formal operations stage. (Author/RK)

The work of John Wilson, now teaching at Oxford University, as moral educator is summarized and evaluated. His rationalist humanistic approach is based on a componential characterization of the morally educated person. The rationale and conceptual status of the components is discussed. His position is compared to that of Peter McPhail, R. S.…