The effects of an observer's presence on maternal interactive behavior were examined through observation of mother-child pairs under informed and uninformed conditions. Results indicate mothers played with their children more, were more positive in their verbal behavior, and structured their children's activities more during the informed than…

This study was designed to assess the influence of "Sesame Street" and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," two popular children's television programs, on the social behavior of 26 children. (BRT)

Examined developmental patterns in children's attempts to regulate their expressive behavior in a mildly conflictful situation where they expected to receive a desirable reward but in fact received an undesirable one. Major findings included significant age by sex interactions. (Author/RH)

A transcript-narrative analysis technique was used to identify interpersonal negotiation strategies of two nine-year-old boys selected from a pool of children with socioemotional and interpersonal difficulties. Strategies were classified according to four developmental levels: impulsive/physical, unilateral/coercive, reciprocal/influential, and…

Study found that stimulus presence during a delay of reinforcement interval enhanced performance, and to a large extent prevented the usual delay-produced decrement. (Authors)

Results indicate that there is no simple relationship between type of observer present and children's aggressive responding following exposure to an aggressive model. (Authors)

One hundred and fifty-six children between the ages of 18 and 76 months were observed three times for 10 minutes each during free play in an attempt to describe the helping behavior of preschool children. (Author/RH)

Examines the relationship between cognitive functioning (as measured by the Bayley Scales of Infant Development) and the symbolic play levels of Down's syndrome children. Symbolic play level was more highly correlated with mental age than with chronological age. Performance on the Infant Behavior Record was also highly correlated with symbolic…

Observation indicated that children most frequently represent objects by performing actions appropriate to the represented objects. With increasing age, children represent objects without using functional actions and with objects bearing little physical similarity to the represented objects. (Author/DB)

Examines peer influences on the sex-role development of preschoolers. The occurrence of sex-stereotyped activities and peer responses to them were observed in a naturalistic setting. (CM)

The quality of play that 26 toddlers engaged in was examined in four successive social settings: (1) mother-child; (2) child alone; (3) mother, child, peer; (4) child-peer. Results are discussed in terms of how the social setting and the sex of the child influence play behavior. (Author/DB)

Women pregnant with their first child were observed interacting with an infant labeled as either a boy or a girl. Toy use and other maternal behaviors were examined as a function of gender label, women's attitudes regarding gender differences, and infant behavior. (Author/DB)

Investigates differences between the behaviors of children entering stable preschool groups (six males, six females) and those of their host classmates, and traces the process by which new children come to approximate host frequencies of interaction and social participation. A sequential time-sampling procedure was employed. (Author/SS)

Observers and mothers rated infant behavior in the home on dimensions of temperament once a week for eight weeks. Although week-to-week correlations were modest, aggregates of the eight observations had high reliability for both observers and mothers. When direct observations were compared with mother reports, little evidence of mother-observer…

Demonstrated that time sampling is inaccurate for estimating durations or frequencies of behaviors. Also concluded that (1) individual or group differences can change depending on whether time sampling or continuous sampling is used; and (2) error rates are high when bout lengths of behaviors are short or when interval length is long. (BC)