This study of 150 males and 121 females approximately 16 1/2 years of age explored relations among developmental levels and styles of interpersonal negotiation strategies (INS) and competence in social problem-solving skills. Also assessed relations among levels and styles of INS and self-reported engagement in problem behaviors. (RH)

Examines the relationship between development of logical processes required in deductive reasoning and their use by preschoolers, also considering possible explanations for children's deductive reasoning. The relationship of problem content to real-world knowledge and the sequence of presentation of problem types were found to affect the display…

To reduce confusion and controversy about the nature of self-care and its consequences for children, this commentary defines the self-care child as one between the ages of approximately six and 13 years who spends time at home alone or with a younger sibling on a periodic basis. (RH)

Advances arguments against defining self-care children exclusively in terms of elementary school students who are home alone or with a younger sibling after school. (RH)

To avoid reduction in observational data resulting from correlational techniques for analyzing interpersonal interactions, a data-transformation method based on multidimensional scaling techniques was applied to the Family Interaction Coding System. Two resulting dimensions, prosocial-deviance and high-low involvement, were applied to observations…

A total of 64 preschool children were assigned to one of three conditions--fantasy play, play, or imitation--with common objects, or to an alternative-materials group. Subjects were tested for associative fluency for familiar and novel objects, both immediately and after a delay of one week. No significant main effects for condition were found.…

A longitudinal study investigated variations in the coping patterns of 52 married men who experienced infertility problems in their first marriage. Styles of coping considered were initial substitutes, subsequent parenting resolutions, and final marital outcomes and the impact of these variations on the men's subsequent success in achieving…

Reports four experiments focusing on Piaget's claims that conservation and transitivity concepts are experienced as logically necessary truths. Two experiments examined feelings of certainty and necessity in college students presented with Piagetian tasks. Two other experiments extended these procedures to children and the issue of developmental…

Evaluates the efficacy of a multisystemic approach to treatment of juvenile offenders and their families. One group of delinquent adolescents received family-ecological treatment, another group of delinquent adolescents received an alternative treatment, and normal adolescents served as developmental controls. Findings support a multisystemic…

Investigates children's misbehaviors and parental discipline strategies in families with abusive and nonabusive parents. Twenty abusive families with children between 4 and 10 years old and a matched control group of 20 families participated. Behavior of abusive parents and their children was more aversive than that of the control families.…

First-, third-, fifth-, and sixth-grade children were administered 20 relational reasoning problems in which they had to deduce the possible sizes of one item relative to two others on the basis of a visual comparison and a written clue. Dramatic differences were observed between fifth- and sixth-grade children. Corrective feedback improved…

The hypothesis that differences in definitions of perceived internality in Piagetian and locus of control viewpoints account for paradoxical findings was tested empirically using two independent samples of children. Results suggest that perceived internality depends on the aspects of means-ends beliefs on which one focuses.

Examined developmental changes in maternal control strategies and children's responses to maternal directives. Found that: (1) maternal control strategies shifted from physical to verbal modalities with age; (2) maternal explanations, bargaining, and reprimands increased with age; and (3) children's passive noncompliance and defiance decreased…

Examined the relation between the developmental social-cognitive capacity for interpersonal negotiation and both parental-risk and adolescent outcome variables in adolescents 11 to 19 years of age. Found that adolescents' interpersonal negotiation strategies (INS) negatively correlated with duration of parental illness, and that INS level…

Compares the semantic processing skills of younger adults (mean age 25) and older adults (mean age 68). After reading a sentence, subjects performed a task in which responses did not depend on retention. Results provided no evidence for age-related changes, including those associated with access to implied information. (Author/RH)