Attempted to determine (1) whether developmental differences existed in children's comprehension of simple necessity and simple sufficiency relationships, and (2) the source of developmental differences in children's causal reasoning. (SB)

Children's drawings of objects about to be moved in space (anticipatory images) were studied in relation to their judgments about Euclidian spatial relations. (SB)

A map-drawing task was used to test the effects of (1) presenting instruction at a cognitive level higher than that at which most of the students in the study were operating and of (2) presenting instruction to groups of students of differing cognitive levels. Subjects were 63 fifth grade students. (JMB)

A set of covariation problems was structured so that the solution pattern across problems would indicate the judgment rule used by each subject. A developmental trend across subjects in fourth, seventh, and tenth grades and in college demonstrated rule shifts toward use of increasingly accurate rules. (Author/RH)

Assesses three sets of Piagetian exclusion operations (of varying the independent variables, of holding the independent variable constant, and tautology) and of levels of thought (concrete through formal) in 33 fifth graders, 27 sixth graders, and 31 seventh graders. (HOD)

Third- and sixth-grade children rated nine single stories which combined three levels of intentions and consequences and which varied by order in which intention and consequence information was presented. Subjects also made choices for three story pairs which varied in terms of the order of presentation of intention and consequence information.…

In a series of three experiments, first-, second-, third-, and fourth-grade children were asked to recall the names of their classmates. Assessment of their organization according to various classroom groupings (e.g., seating arrangement and reading group) was then performed. (Author/MP)

Tests Piaget's assertions regarding compensation, identity, and conservation using a modified replication of Piaget and Taponier's classic study of liquid conservation. A total of 96 children in kindergarten and first grade were presented with a sequence of anticipation-of-liquid-conservation, anticipation-of-water-levels, and standard…

Studied developmental changes in the experience of solitude between late childhood and early adolescence. Fifth through ninth graders (N=483) provided experience-sampling reports on their companionship and subjective states at random times over a week. Found that in early adolescence solitude comes to have a more constructive role in daily life as…

The Sex Stereotype Measure II (SSMII) was developed to assess children's knowledge of conventional, sex-trait stereotypes defined by American university students. The SSMII was administered individually to 5- and 8-year-old children in the United States, England, and Ireland and group administered to 11-year-olds in the United States. (Author/JMB)

Preoperational and concrete-operational first and second graders performed on a training task and a generalization task prior to and after serving in one of five instructional groups. The instructional groups were: no-training control, specific self-instruction, specific didactic control, general self-instruction and general didactic control.…

Examines the relative effectiveness of organizational strategy use at study versus test in a single-trial, free-recall learning task among 90 subjects drawn from second grade, sixth grade, and college levels. Developmental increases in performance were observed for the dependent measures of correct recall, study-trial organization, test-trial…

A data analysis procedure for testing the hypothesis that one task is a developmental prerequisite for another task is illustrated. The procedure was applied to new data on the acquisition of conservation concepts to test the hypothesis that synthesis, visual-scanning skills, and memory capacity are prerequisites of conservation mastery. (JMB)

Tested the hypothesis that focusing attention on relative performance will promote ego involvement and undermine intrinsic motivation in school-age children but not in preschoolers who do not have a normative conception of ability. (PCB)

A total of 95 boys between 6 and 12 years of age were assigned to 1 of 4 groups based on the presence or absence of aggression and rejection and were assessed for conduct problems, sociability, and adaptability to peer expectations. Discusses the distinct problem profiles that emerged. (MDM)