Testing of the similar structure hypothesis (which states that when matched for level of cognitive development, mentally retarded and nonretarded individuals do not differ in cognitive processes) with 40 mentally retarded adults and nonretarded mental age peers on Piagetian tasks found the developmental theory favored 4:1 over the difference…

Applies Erikson's life cycle conception of ego integrity versus despair in old age to three octogenarian women: Augusta Turnley (fiction), Florida Scott-Maxwell, and Arie Carpenter. Both dialectical struggle in Erikson's model of old age and specific components of ego integrity, despair, and wisdom are made concrete in theoretical exploration of…

Investigates whole body stiffness as a function of developmental level in the hopping of seven children of four-eight years. Proposes that stiffness may be a key parameter that is controlled by the central nervous system when children hop. (RJC)

Used physical systems with effects of continuous magnitude to examine development of causal prediction in 30 children of 5 and 9 years and adults. There were clear age differences in the ability to integrate information about potency and resistance into sophisticated causal predictions of the magnitude of an effect. (RJC)

Two experiments demonstrated that by the age of four years, children can use the difference between an object's initial and final state to work out what happens to an object when it changes. In contrast, three-year-old children have difficulty in using the difference between initial and final states to make a causal inference. (RH)

Used the Piagetian interview and observation to investigate the understanding of death of 378 children of 2-10 years. Results showed that most children revealed a well-structured understanding of death at 4-5 years. (RJC)

Argues that developmental spelling theory has made primary school teachers aware that spelling is a developmental process, has heightened teachers' awareness of the important relationship between young children's early spelling and word reading efforts, and has influenced work on the use of derivational morphology in the middle grades. (RS)

Two studies examined children's concept acquisition for complex emotions. Four- to seven-year olds described situations that evoke a variety of emotions and their feelings about each; four- and five-year olds rated the same emotions for feelings of pleasure and arousal. Combined results suggest children attain partial conceptualization of each…

Claims that contemporary moral development theory follows pathways laid down by Kant. Defines formalists and altruists, claiming that both interpret the moral domain too narrowly. Proposes a character-based redefinition that reintegrates moral development with the development of the self (Eudaimonism, or "human flourishing") and of…

Submits that useful quantitative measure of aging is provided by measures of athletic performance. Describes development of model for top athletic performance and for performance of any person at any age. Explains that model shows that athletic performance undergoes significant changes at certain ages and that these change points break the aging…

Self-assessment leads to greater awareness of the methods one uses to make meaning. It enhances responsibility, self-direction, shifts in perception, and self-questioning. (SK)

This preliminary investigation of stuttering development and maturation of speech motor processes recorded the electromyographic activity of the orofacial muscles of nine children who stuttered. Results suggest that the emergence of tremor-like instabilities in the speech motor processes of stuttering children may coincide with aspects of general…

Evaluation of canonical babbling of 13 infants with Down syndrome found that age of onset of babbling was approximately 2 months later and less stable than that of 27 typically developing infants. Age at onset of canonical babbling for Down syndrome infants was correlated with scores at 27 months on the Early Social-Communication Scales.…

A three-stratum theory of intelligence was tested using hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis with the LISREL computer program. Results from subsamples of a group of 6,359 participants aged 2 to 90 years supported the 3-stratum theory, but did not support developmental changes in the organization of cognitive abilities. (SLD)

Examined relationship between Jung's concept of psychological type and accomplishment of developmental tasks among matriculating traditional-age college students (n=472) using Myers-Briggs Type Indicator-Form F and Student Development Task Inventory (2nd edition). Results supported notion that individual differences exist beyond traditional models…