A central theme of research on human development and psychopathology is whether a therapeutic intervention or a turning-point event, such as a family break-up, alters the trajectory of the behavior under study. This article describes and applies a method for using observational longitudinal data to make more transparent causal inferences about the…

A total of 23 infants were longitudinally studied to ascertain how kind and amount of prereaching activity changes with age during the first four months of life. Substantial changes were observed in the pattern of prereaching around two months of age. (RH)

Challenges the typical treatment of causal effects in longitudinal data, arguing that models should be conceptualized and tested in ways that directly reflect prior assumptions as to the trait- or state-like nature of the variables. Examples demonstrate that meaningful longitudinal studies of state variables can be conducted without assuming their…

Using data from a broader longitudinal study, this investigation explores within-subject and cross-generational stability of intellectual competence and the relationship of such stability to aggressive behavior. Data were gathered three times (when subjects' modal age was 8, 19, and 30 years). Initially, subjects included the entire population…

Findings highlight the importance of development-related control efforts and beliefs for achieving a subjectively favorable balance of developmental gains and losses and for maintaining an optimistic perspective in middle and later adulthood. Results are discussed with reference to a theoretical model of development-related control activities. (RH)

Inherent limitations on the feasibility of experimentation have made it difficult for investigators to formulate an adequate understanding of individuality as a psychological phenomenon. Recently, Fiske (1979) and Sontag (1971) have suggested that application of a longitudinal or developmental strategy might be of some use in remedying this…

Discusses research on human development from an interactional perspective; methodological problems connected with interindividual differences in biological maturation (using empirical studies from a longitudinal program); and major implications for further development research in an interactional perspective. (Author/BE)

Self-definition is a thought pattern, scored from imaginative fantasy, which is related to constructive behavioral independence of social norms. Research has shown that self-definition seems related to the opportunity for operant initiative-taking, especially when active and less sex-stereotyped activities are chosen. Senior college women (N=118)…

Major life changes and role transitions, though often treated as stressors necessitating adjustment, in fact produce a wide range of effects on mental health. Focusing on the role context within which transition events occur, finds that life transitions can be nonproblematic or even beneficial when preceded by chronic role problems. (AF)

West German research on children's interests is described, with emphasis on a 3-year longitudinal study of 12 children, aged 3 to 7. Two main lines of interest research are identified: (1) research activities rooted in the tradition of differential psychology emphasizing vocational interests, traits, and attitudes; and (2) research based on a new…

Many educational questions of research interest focus on individual differences in attitudes and behaviors related to academic achievement, changes in such attitudes and behaviors over time, and the types of academic environments that facilitate or prevent development of achievement attitudes and behaviors at school. This paper, the first in a…

In a longitudinal study of socialization processes, 182 Finnish students were asked--at ages 15 and 18--about the importance of schooling. At both ages 164 subjects considered schooling had terminal/instrumental value. By age 18 differences in other variables formed a consistent pattern, suggestive of two different life orientations toward…

This article traces the development of 22 children with learning disabilities and 22 controls at ages 1, 2, 10, 18, and 32 years. Most learning-disabled individuals made a successful adaptation to adult life, with marriage, divorce, and employment rates similar to the cohort as a whole. Clusters of protective factors were identified. (Author/DB)

This fifth volume of a six-volume study of a school district code-named "Milford" sketches life histories and careers of the school's original faculty some 15 years after the school was founded. Section I outlines the study's problems and procedures; describes the faculty as a group of true believers initially characterized by humor, inexperience,…

A study designed to examine biological, sociological, and early maturational correlates of intelligence collected data prospectively, from birth to 15 years of age, on a sample of 987 black children. Multiple indicators of eight independent and three dependent variables were tested in a structural equation model. Altogether, clear sex differences…