Processing the self-relevance of information facilitates recall. Similarly, processing close-other-related information facilitates recall to a lesser degree than processing self-relevant information. This memory advantage may be viewed as an index of the degree to which the representation of self is differentiated from representations of close…

Adolescents' beliefs about the legitimacy of parental authority and obligation to obey were examined in 568 Chilean adolescents (11-14 years old at Wave 1), followed once a year for 4 years. Adolescents' beliefs about parental legitimacy and obligation to obey declined with age. The steepest decline occurred during early adolescence, particularly…

Individual differences in affective decision making were examined by recording event-related potentials (ERPs) while 74 typically developing 8-year-olds (38 boys, 36 girls) completed a 4-choice gambling task (Hungry Donkey Task; E. A. Crone & M. W. van der Molen, 2004). ERP results indicated: (a) a robust P300 component in response to feedback…

This study examined the development of joint attention in 95 infants assessed between 9 and 18 months of age. Infants displayed significant test-retest reliability on measures of following gaze and gestures (responding to joint attention, RJA) and in their use of eye contact to establish social attention coordination (initiating joint attention,…

Studies 16 three-year-olds' and 17 adults' hedonic reactions to odorants by using a forced-choice procedure embedded in a simple game. Analyses revealed essentially the same pattern of preferences in both groups. In general, the odorant was a much better predictor of its hedonic quality than was the age of the subject. (RJC)

Stability in cardiac indicators before birth and their utility in predicting variation in postnatal development were examined. Fetal heart rate and variability were measured longitudinally from 20 through 38 weeks gestation (n = 137) and again at age 2 (n = 79). Significant within-individual stability during the prenatal period and into childhood…

Cognitive functioning at 15 months (as measured by the Uzgiris and Hunt scales) was examined in terms of individual differences in habituation of independent groups at 2, 3, and 4 months of age. (Author/JMB)

States of 40 newborn infants were observed during 2, 35- to 70-minute periods that were separated by 6-48 hours. Analyses identified 3 state profiles that differentiated infants on a behavioral assessment measure at 2 weeks of age. Scores showed significant agreement on individual differences in neurologically based measures. (RH)

Discusses the conflict between situational influences and stable individual differences in attachment behavior and attempts to resolve this conflict by examining the functions, outcomes, and context sensitivity of attachment behavior and the underlying behavioral control systems that organize it. (JMB)

Intelligence test scores were obtained from parents and children in 300 adoptive families and compared with similar data available from the children's biological mothers. Results support the hypothesis that genetic variability is an important influence in the development of individual differences in intelligence. (Author/RH)

Proposes a theory of development in which experience is directed by genotypes and in which genotypic differences affect phenotypic differences, both directly and through experience, via three kinds of genotype-environment effects. The theory adapts the three kinds of genotype-environment correlations in a developmental model used to explain…

Examines the relationship between young children's spatial exploration and their cognitive representations of environments. Children ages 20-28 months and 36-44 months explored a museum room; measures of the quantity and mode (active versus passive) of their exploration were recorded. Results indicate individual differences in the extent to which…

To measure characteristic levels of energy output at the very beginning of life, the activity and crying patterns of 72 normal neonates were monitored for 1-3 days by an electronic activity monitor. (Author/MP)

Examined relationship between temporal contingency of maternal behavior and interactional quality. Found that although prompt responding was typical, the existence of individual differences indicated that this tendency was expressed in different communicative channels. The relationship between contingency and ratings of interactional quality was…

Using a genetic design of 840 60-month-old twins, this study investigated the genetic and environmental contributions to (a) individual differences in four components of cognitive school readiness, (b) the general ability underlying these four components, and (c) the predictive association between school readiness and school achievement. Results…