The pervasive income-achievement gap has been attributed in part to deficiencies in executive functioning (EF). The development of EF is related to children's planning ability, an aspect of development that has received little attention. Longitudinal data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development study of early child…

Data from 1,364 children and families who participated in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development were analyzed to track the early correlates and later academic outcomes of planning during middle childhood. Maternal education, through its effect on parenting quality when…

The present study examined age differences in performance on the Tower of London, a measure of strategic planning, in a diverse sample of 890 individuals between the ages of 10 and 30. Although mature performance was attained by age 17 on relatively easy problems, performance on the hardest problems showed improvements into the early 20s.…

This study examines the differential availability of family and parenting resources to children depending on their birth planning status. The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data were analyzed, 3,134 mothers and their 5,890 children (M = 7.1 years, range = 1 month-14.8 years), of whom 63% were intended at conception, 27% were mistimed, and…

This study investigated child compliance and maternal instruction during planning. Based on the Child Behavior Checklist and free-play observations, 40 mothers and their 4- to 5-year-old children were assigned to a group with children who behaved within the normal range of compliance (n = 20) or a group with children with high rates of…

Mother-child planning was examined in relation to child emotional functioning and first-grade school performance. Ninety dyads were randomly assigned to the explicit-goal condition (emphasized accuracy and preparation for a child-only posttest) or the no-explicit-goal condition (dyads just asked to work together). In the no-explicit-goal condition…

Six experiments examined children's ability to make inferences using temporal order information. Children completed versions of a task involving a toy zoo; one version required reasoning about past events (search task) and the other required reasoning about future events (planning task). Children younger than 5 years failed both the search and the…

Sixty-four sibling dyads (4-12 years old; 61% males; 83% European-American) were asked to resolve an ongoing conflict. Older siblings provided leadership by suggesting, modifying, justifying, and requesting assent to plans for conflict resolution. Younger siblings countered and disagreed, but also contributed to planning and agreed to their…