Children and even infants have clear intuitions about power early in development; they can infer who is dominant and subordinate from observing a single interaction. However, it is unclear what children infer about each individual's status from these interactions--do they think dominants and subordinates will maintain their status when interacting…

In response to the enduring "deficit" approach to the educational attainment of Aboriginal students in North America, we hypothesized that academic underperformance is related to a cultural mismatch between Aboriginal students' cultural background, which emphasizes connectedness and interdependence, and the mainstream White model of…

Examined the development of compliance and self-assertion toward parents in two-, four-, and six-year-old children. Found that older children were more compliant, more likely to use logical argument, and less likely to ignore. Boys showed higher levels of compliance to their fathers, whereas girls were more likely to state their preferences and to…

Employs three demographic variables (sex of child, socioeconomic status, and family size) as predictors of parental discipline. Subjects were 44 (22 male, 22 female) fifth graders and their mothers. (MP)

Parental power assertion is traditionally studied in the behavioral domain--discipline triggered by the child's immediate misbehavior--but rarely in the cognitive domain--parent-child discussions of the child's past misbehavior. Maternal power assertion was observed in "do" and "don't" discipline contexts from 14 to 45 months and in the context of…

Findings provide tentative support for the hypothesis that strategy information derived from enactive interviews is more predictive of children's behavior in peer situations than is information derived from the verbal interview method. This suggests that preschool children automatically access cognitive scripts for behavior in social interactions.…

Examined parent-child play with sex-stereotyped toys in young U.S. children of varied ethnic background. Found that the play activity accounted for a large proportion of the variance in parents' and children's mean affiliation and assertion ratings. Identified gender and ethnic group differences. Highlighted the importance of role modeling and…

Reviews results of research related to the control system model of how parents and children regulate each other's behavior. Confirmed early formulations that postulated individual differences in children's assertiveness, activity, and person orientation as explanations for differences in parents' child-rearing techniques. (HOD)

Mothers and children were observed in laboratory and home settings in a study of the relationship between maternal control strategies and child behavior. Child compliance and self-assertion were associated with less powerful control methods; defiance with power-assertive methods. A combined control-guidance strategy elicited greatest compliance…

Reports a cross-sectional investigation of the behavioral and academic correlates of victimization in Chinese children's peer groups. Structural equation models indicated that peer victimization was associated with poor academic functioning, submissive-withdrawn behavior, aggression, and low levels of assertive-prosocial behavior. Findings suggest…