Examines the relation between children's (1) probability learning performance and a measure of their memory for items presented in a sequence and (2) probability learning and performance on a test of abstractive integration. Participating were 80 six- and seven-year-old boys and girls from both low and middle socioeconomic classes. (Author/RH)

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)

A sequence of interpersonal problems was administered to fourth and fifth graders who initially performed below age norms on perspective taking. The effect of this semistructured training, which actively engaged the children in developing solutions, was compared to that of a "no treatment" and to that of an activity group. (JMB)

Explores the role of premature cognitive closure in the development of inferential reasoning among 62 children aged 7, 9, and 12 years through two studies. Results indicate that despite a strong tendency to close on single alternatives, most children correctly assigned nonzero probabilities to each of the possible alternatives. (RJC)

Two studies were conducted with 8- and 10-year-old children to examine sources of age and skill differences in verbal analogical reasoning. Discussion focuses on the child's "problem space" for the analogy task and possible differences in task understanding that lead to strategy and process differences in older versus younger and skilled versus…

Results showed a clear shift in ways children ordered story units contained in their recall protocols. Children exhibited excellent mapping processes in nonisomorphic transfer problems, except when a salient feature of the base was mapped to a misleading cue in the target. (RH)

The effectance motivation of 624 sixth graders was assessed on the basis of two measures completed by teachers. Student were also observed for their choice of hard and easy problems after being informed of contingencies based on the correctness of solutions. (Author/CI)

Investigated the relation between stressful life events and behavioral and academic adjustment in 361 third and fifth grade students. Higher levels of social support and problem solving skills moderated negative effects of stressful events on teacher-rated behavior problems. (RJC)

In a study of the use of baserates and the representativeness heuristic, children and college students made judgments about scenarios that varied by domain and information provided. The use of baserates and heuristic, and the consistency between subjects' choices and rationales, increased with age. Use of individuating information developed early.…

Second- and sixth-grade boys were paired with a friend or an acquaintance (N=120), and each dyad completed a problem-solving task under cooperative, competitive, or no reward contingencies. Communicative exchange, affective expression, synchrony of task-oriented behavior, and task performance were examined for evidence of purported mutuality in…

In a series of experiments, young children were asked to compare the quantities of classes of objects under two conditions: (1) when one of the classes of objects is a subordinate of the other (the traditional class-inclusion problem), and (2) when the terms refer to exclusive sets but different levels of generality. (Author/RH)

Investigated the contributions of stressful life events and resources to the prediction of changes in children's adjustment. Resources and stressful life events showed some correlation with adjustment after two years. Increases in social support and social problem-solving skills over time were significantly related to improvement in behavioral and…

Tests the hypothesis that high-SES children process information more efficiently using mechanisms associated with the left hemisphere and that low-SES children process more efficiently using the right. A laterality task was administered tachistoscopically to 120 children, divided evenly by SES (high and low), sex, and grade (fifth and seventh).…

Evaluates fourth-to seventh-grade children on two aspects of social cognition: interpersonal understanding and means-ends problem-solving ability. Relates the two variables to sex, age, IQ, social class, and multiple dimensions of competence. Both variables significantly correlated with I.Q. while interpersonal understanding also correlated with…

Examined associations between the quality of the interparental relationship and the success of 68 family triads (mother, father, preadolescent son) in solving family problems. Parental agreement on child rearing issues facilitated problem solving, whereas strong parental coalitions inhibited problem solving. The latter result may be attributed to…