Examines the quality of conversation produced by small groups of subjects in fifth, ninth, and twelfth grades and the last year of college. Results supported Piaget's sequence of conversational development. However, topical coherence apparently is not fostered by focused turns but emerges as a generalization of the normative constraints applying…

Defines and discusses instructional games in terms of their uses in education. Nine categories are suggested for assessing games: instructional development, skills development, perceptual development, development of social awareness, pupil's readiness, use, design quality, adaptability, and flexibility and validation. (MS)

Human social and cognitive development is largely an outcome of the child rearing practices of the cultural subgroups which make up modern society. While the social classes are the most pervasive and powerful in their influence, ethnic subgroups are also effective. (MS)

High-quality early childhood education programs provide young children with experiences that promote healthy cognitive and social development and the basis for thriving in school. Over the past 20 years, states have made strides in terms of their attention to and provision of early childhood education. While 20 years ago, only about 10 states…

Sure Start Scotland is part of a broader action program for children from birth to age three and their families with the objectives of improving children's social and emotional development, health, and ability to learn, as well as strengthening families and communities. This summary report details a "mapping" project to identify services…

Early evidence from an evaluation of the Child and Family Resource Program (a Head Start demonstration) suggests that this program influences parent-child interaction in ways that promote children's social and cognitive development. (Author)

The higher order objectives of applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating must be accomplished to maintain an interest in physical education through the elementary grades. However, higher order objectives can only be attained after lower order prerequisites, the fundamentals of locomotor movement, and basic physical behaviors are met. (JN)

Early childhood educators have long recognized the value of early socialization experiences provided by the peer group. Early peer experiences contribute to social development in that the importance of cooperating, sharing, and competing among equals is learned for the first time. (JN)

This article discusses cognitive development research as it relates to social competence. Two research approaches are summarized: (1) attempts to isolate sequential stages in the development of social cognition, and (2) conceptualization of broad organizing principles hypothesized to mediate all social cognition. (Author/SJL)

Investigated whether a preschool intervention program for children from single-parent households could be effective in establishing the conditions appropriate for allowing the child to recover from the harmful consequences of divorce and limited adult-child interaction. (Author/DB)

To place the concept of emotion in perspective, various issues must be considered: the usefulness of emotion as a unitary concept; the measurement of emotions and the relations among diverse measures; developmental changes; the origins of individual differences in emotional behavior; and the relation between emotional and cognitive development.…

Replicated the Clarke-Stewart (1973) cross-dimensional study of mother-child interaction using different children at different ages and in a series of four different samples. Variables included measures of children's cognitive, language, and social development and mothers' attitudes, ability, and behavior, assessed in standardized tests,…

A portion of the Child Care Cost, Quality, and Outcomes study finds that quality of center-based care was positively related to preschool children's concurrent cognitive and socioemotional development. More advantaged children are not necessarily buffered from effects of poor quality care. In addition, stronger positive effects of child care…

Investigated associations among constructive and destructive sibling conflict, pretend play, internal state language, and sibling relationship quality among sibling pairs with one kindergarten-age child. Found that specific resolution strategies were associated with conflict issues, aggression and internal state language, and that conflict issues…