Recent research has suggested that young children have relatively well-developed trait concepts. However, this literature overlooks potential age-related differences in children's appreciation of the fundamentally dimensional nature of traits. In Study 1, we presented 4-, 5-, and 7-year-old children and adults with sets of characters and asked…

Kohlberg's (1966) hypothesis that the attainment of gender constancy motivates children to attend to gender norms was reevaluated by examining these links in relation to age. Ninety-four 3- to 7-year-old children were interviewed to assess whether and how constancy mediates age-related changes in gender-related beliefs. As expected, results…

Investigated awareness of strategies for coping with uncontrollable stress of 72 children of 5-12 years. Children mentioned approach strategies infrequently. Findings showed an age increase in the proportion of cognitive distraction strategies suggested. Behavioral distraction strategies were most frequently suggested by children of all ages. (RJC)

Two studies examined the positivity bias in children of different ages. Findings indicated that children from grade two and up selected the correct cause(s) when the effect covaried with only one cause, but only at a later age when covariation with two causes was presented. Ability estimations and expectation of success were more positive in…

The relation between past history of outcomes and achievement expectancies was examined for 72 elementary school students. (JMB)

In the studies, subjects from different age groups (5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 18-22 years) observed vignettes designed to reveal an actor's abilities or personality traits, and were told about one instance of an actor's behavior, respectively. The subjects were then asked to predict the actor's behavior in related situations. Results focused differences in…

In 2 studies, age differences in children's self-evaluative responses as a function of success/failure outcome and task ease information were explored. (SB)

Tested the hypothesis that in predicting future behavior of an actor, older children rely on trait inferences, whereas younger children rely on global, evaluative inferences. Found that 9- and 10-year-olds' behavioral predictions were mediated solely by trait ratings, whereas 5- and 6-year-olds' predictions were mediated by evaluative ratings. The…

Examines personal relevance in relation to the ability of 48 5- to 10-year-old children to describe others in terms of psychological characteristics. Results suggest that verbal inferencing skills of young children have been underestimated and that they may be more oriented toward affective goals than older children when anticipating interaction…

A proposed study of the differences in the way children perceive, approach, and behave in problem-solving situations is described. The behavioral measure to be used is "glancing," which has been related to outerdirectedness. Children will be given two sets of two puzzles to put together. On the basis of the number of glances and the situation in…

Elementary school children were observed and interviewed to examine sex and age differences in evaluations of, and attributions to, school performance of self and others. (PCB)

Examines the conditions under which information regarding competence would mitigate the negative side of rewards on the intrinsic interest of preschool and elementary school children (N=147). (MP)

Children between 5 and 10 years of age watched boys and girls endorse toys of varying attractiveness and then play with the toys. Boys with gender constancy spent more time than other boys in playing with unattractive sex-typed toys. Among girls, toy play was related to the toy's attractiveness. (BC)

Studied children's sex-category constancy judgments and accompanying explanations over three years. Found that constancy improvements were linked to explanations based on operational reasoning. Lower constancy scores were linked to explanations emphasizing gender-role norms and external appearances. Judgment-explanation relationships were stronger…

This paper presents a series of studies related to the question of how children learn to evaluate themselves in achievement situations. The approach to the research is based on the Weiner et al attributional model of achievement. The paper describes three studies designed to determine the extent to which first, second and third grade children use…