This study examined the extent to which children are willing to be coached into giving false descriptions of events and children's ability to provide such coached descriptions. Participants were 37 children from 3 years and 7 months to 7 years and 1 month of age. When children were urged to trick a "friend" of the experimenter, 1 child…

A discussion of informed consent in research on children focuses on the history of informed consent and problems of obtaining informed consent from young children. It is argued that, in the past, researchers and research monitors have assumed that parents will act in the best interests of children participating in research and protect them from…

School leadership today demands skills, knowledge, and attitudes much different than those required a short time ago. With the increased accountability for principals to achieve and maintain adequate yearly progress, test scores are often seen by teachers and parents as principals' top priority. Relationships are seen as secondary and they should…

The acquisition order of four Japanese verbs for the act of clothing was investigated. Each of the verbs investigated corresponds to the act of clothing different body parts. There are two theories for the prediction of acquisition order: the checklist and the prototype theories of word meaning. According to the checklist view, word meanings…

If interpersonal spacing is a component of sex-role development, then gender identity development may partly mediate age and sex differences in personal space, as well as variations in distances due to the sex of the stimulus person. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate this possibility. Personal space preferences of 36 male and…

A 4 1/2 year old autistic-like child participated in a sign language training program using nine words, each with a corresponding toy and play activity. For each word the teacher held up the appropriate toy and said, or under the sign condition said and signed, the corresponding word. The S learned to sign, but the introduction of sign training…

This study examined the ability of young children to correct comprehension errors, considered to be an aspect of comprehension monitoring. Kindergartners and second graders (N=32) heard a story about an unfamiliar situation, then answered questions which either assessed information contained within a single sentence, required the correct…

This study was designed to identify the age at which children who are between 1 and 8 years old display the least anxiety during their first dental visit. Parents completed a survey that asked for the child's gender, age at first dental visit, and general reaction to the first visit. Children's reactions were classified as resistant, anxious,…

This paper poses three questions about early symbolic or pretend play. (1) How does the child's play differ when the child is alone or with his mother? (2) How does the mother influence her child's play? (3) What are the long-term consequences of joint mother-child play? A study conducted with 32 mother-child pairs equally divided by sex of child…

Viewing computers in various forms as developmentally appropriate objects for children, this discussion provides a framework for integrating conceptions of computers and conceptions of play. Several instances are cited from the literature in which explicit analogies have been made between computers and playthings or play environments.…

A case study of the use of reflexive constructions by a Spanish-speaking child from age 2;5.2 to 3;5.2 is presented. Sixty hours of audiotaped utterances were recorded monthly over a one year period. The utterances are analyzed in terms of self-induced actions, impersonal constructions, and two-argument predicates. The data show the regular…

The spontaneous use of two deictic forms in the speech of Samoan children was examined. Recordings were made of four Samoan children interacting with their families at monthly intervals over a ten-month period. The children were approximately 2 years old at the start of the study. The speech elements examined were the particles signifying…

The form and function of conditional structures in the speech of English speaking children between the ages of 2;6 and 8 years were investigated. Two types of conditionals were distinguished: reality conditionals and unreality conditionals. Data were obtained from audiotapes of the subjects under naturalistic conditions. A five-stage acquisition…

This paper explores the development of the "ecological human brain" in children, children's intellectual culture of "naturalist intelligence," and developmentally and culturally congruent curricula for young children. In early cognitive development, nature-given perception conducts thought. In contrast, for adults, intellectual…

For 75 children aged 6 months to 3 years, observed expressions of children's fear and adult caregivers' responses to children's distress in public areas such as shopping malls. Found that 61% of the children responded by crying when frightened. Caregivers responded by picking up the frightened child 41% of the time. (MDM)