Calls for a process-oriented approach to study of categorization in infancy. Maintains that further understanding of infant categorization and its changes with development requires a more direct assessment of infants' category formation. Argues that two research directions will enhance understanding of categorization: (1) contextual variations on…

Examined adjustment problems from late childhood to early adulthood among 500 Swedish girls. Found a diversified pattern of multisyndrome formation in late childhood. The syndrome structure in early adolescence identified externalizing adjustment problems and peer problems. An externalizing syndrome was stable between late childhood and early…

Used data from National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to model developmental trajectories across middle childhood. Found that individual trajectories were extremely diverse in level and sometimes in slope. Compared to girls, boys had heterogeneous slopes for math and behavior problems. Compared to boys, girls showed a significantly higher degree of…

This study used longitudinal data from five Irish American families and nine Chinese families in Taiwan, in conjunction with cultural psychology research evidence, to propose universal, culturally variable, and developmental dimensions of children's pretend play. Findings raise the theoretical issue of how universal and variable dimensions of…

Examined the relation between destructive sibling conflict and conduct problems among 5-year-old boys and their close-age siblings from low-income families. Found that the interaction between destructive sibling conflict and rejecting parenting predicted aggressive behavior problems across time and informants. Sibling conflict was related…

Considers the importance of shaping the kinds of personal qualities that will serve as the motivating force in all a student's learning activities and also will determine the future fate of the student's overall knowledge. Explores the link between the purposeful shaping of abilities and the shaping of the student's personal qualities. (CMK)

Describes an undergraduate course entitled "Nontraditional Families and Individual Development" that focuses on nontraditional families and their implications for life-span development while familiarizing students with psychological research, theories, and applied issues. Explains that this course was created as a response to the changing state of…

This intergenerational study focused upon obstacles confronting three gifted women in three generations in the same family. Obstacles included providing for basic needs of family, children, work, and others; the role of personal satisfaction as a quality of life; and the ability to accommodate wants, needs, and expectations of others. (Author/CR)

Explains how high quality early childhood programs address academics, including assessment, and are accountable to early childhood standards. Describes how the early childhood learning situation that looks very much like play is actually a carefully designed and organized learning environment that provides structure, stimulation, and support for…

Used new longitudinal clustering technique to identify and compare groups of children with distinct longitudinal profiles of peer social preference during elementary school. Identified a stable popular group, stable average group, and unpopular group, all with decreasing social preference. Groups showed overlap over time with closest corresponding…

Several common themes across chapters are discussed and implications for practice and research are offered.

Similarities between adolescents are often the cornerstone of a friendship; yet researchers know little about the similarities in friends' perceptions of the relationship. In the current study, the authors examine similarities in friends' perceived friendship qualities during the transition into early adolescence (n = 77 third graders, 110 fourth…

The Scandinavian working-life tradition is founded on ideas and values similar to the model of conductivity. However, although the Scandinavian working-life tradition is pragmatic and consensus seeking the model of conductivity is stringent following its principles. The pragmatic approach, here represented by the Danish program of "the…

Interest in U-shaped development has itself undergone a U-shaped progression. Twenty-five years ago, interest in U-shaped development was high. This interest was evident at a 1978 conference in Tel Aviv on "U-shaped Behavioral Growth" that resulted in the publication of a book of the same title 4 years later (Strauss, 1982). The breadth…

This article explores the concept of tradition within language teacher education (LTE) and extends our understanding of the elements involved in the formation of identity in preservice, second language teachers. After reviewing various perspectives of identity formation, a discursive model is offered as an approach to individual development within…